Race Report: Bayshore Marathon

Posted by Katie and Matt

Now that we are walking a little better it is time for a race recap! Personally I can’t believe the race is over, I was so psyched up and nervous for this race that it seemed to fly right by. Well… not every mile, but overall I would say it seemed to be over so quickly. I really didn’t know what to expect from this marathon based on my training as I mentioned before so I was super happy to run with Emily the whole time and finish feeling strong with a PR of 7 minutes! I have to admit Matt was right, the weather was perfect, cool at the start, not too windy, basically cool the whole time, until the last few miles when it started to get a bit warmer but not too bad. We had a great cheering squad of parents and it was such a huge boost to see them at 10, 16 and the finish. Also with an out and back course I was able to see Matt (sooner than I expected of course) and give him a big high five. The course itself is gorgeous, right along the East Traverse Bay, great views the whole way and very gently rolling hills. Usually I whine about any sort of incline late in the race but this course really was gentle. I have been really focused on running by heart rate the past few weeks, especially as race pace was so hard to predict, running by feel and by heart rate seemed more reliable. My entire race plan (made night before) was basically to keep the first 2 miles at around 10 min/miles and then see what happens. Overall I think that strategy really worked out, this is definitely the strongest I have felt finishing a marathon so far and I was happy with my heart rate and consistent pace.

Pretty consistent! 

I think this has definitely been my favorite post-race day. Immediately following the race we got the usual food stuff, bananas, cookies, pretzels etc and then huge iced creams (Moomers was a race sponsor and let’s just say they were not skimpy with the free iced cream!). After getting cleaned up (the race provided showers at the high school) our first order of business was lunch. We made a beeline to North Peak Brewery which had amazing beers and food. Then we went back up the peninsula that we had just run on and stopped at two wineries. I know California friends, I can hear you cringing internally… well fear not, this wine was really good! We went to Peninsula Cellars which has a tasting room in an old converted school house, and Two Lads which is perched high up on a hill looking over the course we just ran. Back to our rented lake house, we enjoyed BBQ, more iced cream, and ended the night with smores by the fire. A perfect post-race day.  Spirits are high and we are already plotting our next race (and vacation). 

Post race Moomers!

North Peak Brewery

Best pizza ever consumed.

Relaxing back at Little Traverse Lake. Life is good :)

Matt's comments:

Every time I finish a Marathon or other endurance event, a feeling of Euphoria overcomes me. It's stronger, of course, if the time on the clock is under your goal time, but, even if not - as in Traverse City - it's still a moment of pure happiness. There were plenty of signs in my training that 3 hours was too high of a goal, but I ignored that in my race plan (starting out too quick for too fast of a goal) and paid the price by hitting a wall way earlier than planned.  Nonetheless, Traverse city has been one of my favorite marathons - it ranks as one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful courses, I've ever ran and we had a great cheering squad of family on the course. And of course, a truly awesome post-race experience, as Katie wrote about above. We got to see a gorgeous area of the country I probably would not have visited otherwise and learned that Michigan wine can actually be pretty tasty! 

I've been making a new training plan since about mile 23 of the Marathon - can't wait for the next one!