Grandma's Marathon: Post-race reflections & mind-blowing stats

This is my fifth and final post in my Grandma's over the top precise recap series; my main summary post can be found here, with links to all of my other posts about the event.

The more I pondered the race afterward, the more I was filled with gratitude.  I'm thankful to be able to run, even more so after experiencing 10 weeks off running with an injury fairly recently.  I'm thankful I'm still 100% healthy and that I've recovered well from the race.  I'm glad I had the opportunity to be part of several packs of women working together for a common time goal.  I'm grateful that I can keep chasing my goals.  I'm glad I began working with my current coach instead of continuing to self-coach (this is highly related to me being 100% healthy, I am sure).  I'm also simply just glad I get to do something I love nearly every single day.

I'll actually buy the photos if I ever run
2:45:00 or better, hah

So much of running is about self-improvement and pushing personal potential.  Maybe 2:47 is my personal max, but maybe it's not.  All I know for sure is that I'm going to do my best to find out, and enjoy every step along the way!

In this race where many, many women ran fast, 45 women broke 2:45!  At this point 340 women have qualified for the 2020 Trials (this list is updated weekly), already making for the largest field the Trials have ever had, with 6.5 months still left in the qualifying window.  I am confident we will see this number grow substantially after Chicago, Indy, and CIM.  Women's marathoning is really on fire in the U.S. right now, and I love being a part of it!

Also, 139 women broke 3:00 in this race!  This is a significant time barrier, not to mention that a sub-3:00 would win most marathons!

Finally, my age-graded time was 2:42:23...when is the USATF going to start accepting these, haha!? Although it also makes me feel old that I get over 5 minutes taken off...oy.

I enjoyed this Grandma's race recap on Salty Running.  The sun really did make it the warmest 50-55 degrees ever!

I highly recommend Grandma's Marathon to anyone; I've now had two very positive experiences with it.  It's one of those races that offers something for everyone and is great for runners at all levels.  We also vacationed post-marathon both years, which is a nice opportunity to take advantage with school being out of session in June.  If I'm ever a grandmother, you bet I'm going to return and see how I can do in the fastest grandma competition (my friend Susan won that this year with a 2:52 in her 50's - yet another example of women doing amazing things at this race).

I didn't plan a single fall race prior to Grandma's (which is insane for me), but in the past week I have decided to return to CIM in December for my attempt to run 26.2 miles 2:14 faster than I ever have before.  The main question is - how am I going to wait 5 months to do this again?!