2:45:01 and Beyond: Susie Duke

Susie experienced the Trials in 2016, but didn't quite make it back (despite phenomenal efforts!), so she can truly understand both sides of the coin.  After Susie and I finished fairly close at Indy Monumental, I began following her impressive journey and was amazed as she ran two more speedy marathons shortly after, making for three 2:46-2:47s in 10 weeks!  She fell more in love with the marathon through this journey, and at 39 she looks forward to breaking all her PRs as a master and wants to tell others that "it's never too late".  Oh, also she ran 30 miles for her 30th birthday, and she makes her own kombucha!

Name: Susie Duke
Age: 39
City/State: Grinnell, IA
Occupation: Associate Director of Global Courses at Grinnell College

Hobbies/interests outside of running:

I work international education and always have opportunities to travel, which I love. But truly, I am most recharged by time at home with family on my farm. I have horses to ride, a bunch of chickens, a way-too-big garden to manage, and we keep bees. When I’m not outside, I love cooking and fermenting. I always have a batch of kombucha and sauerkraut going.

When did you start chasing the OTQ and what inspired you to try?

In 2014, I qualified for the 2016 Trials. Soon after running 2:42 in Indy in 2014, I injured my back. I was a wreck. Overtraining combined with a few other SI-joint injuries—including a snow sledding accident and some unfortunate horse episodes—had weakened my low back. One morning I just woke up, bent over to pick something up, and it felt like I’d been run over by a truck. With a herniated L5-S1, I spent the next several months just getting back to walking without pain.

About a year later, I ran the very hot LA Trials. I only did it because I’d earned the right to be there. I was in terrible shape and in pain. Eventually, late in 2016, I had surgery to clean up the messy disc. I have and will always have permanent low-grade numbness in my right foot/ankle. Surgery was the best thing I could do to move me past much of the chronic pain that was holding me down. It took several years after my injury to get to a place where I could actually train consistently again. In the fall of 2018, I ran a 2:53 at my hometown marathon. That got me to thinking that maybe I could get within OTQ range. I started chasing the 2020 OTQ in the spring of 2019.

Tell us about the races you attempted to OTQ at and the outcomes.

Fueled by my previous positive experience, I chose Indianapolis for my attempt. I knew the course and amazing elite organizers. And I have family in Indy, so it was an easy choice. But, the race felt like a struggle from the start. I felt cooked not long after halfway. My pace slowly declined over the second half. There were many points where I had a mental pity party, planning how it would be my last marathon. I finished in 2:46:23, wrapped my head in Mylar and cried for 30 seconds. Then I snapped out of it.

Until November 9, 2019, Indy had been the only attempt on my calendar. Later that day after the race, I started to look for other options. I decided on Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio that fell a month after Indy. It was a total long shot because my family went to France for Thanksgiving. We got home 48-hours before taking off to fly to Texas. I was jet-lagged and sickly with a sinus infection, but I felt great running. I probably felt too great and pushed a bit too hard the first half. Then I hit the hills. I had a perfect 20-miles and then bombed the last 10K. I finished first but in 2:47:something. So another miss.

At this point, the obsession was high. I decided that I wouldn’t be able to let it go if I didn’t give it one more go, since I still had time within the qualifying window. By then Houston was full, I decided to race Rock’n’Roll Arizona in Phoenix. The weeks leading up to Phoenix were actually perfect. I felt like a good day was possible.

Then we had a blizzard the weekend of the race. I was to fly to Phoenix with a friend on Saturday morning. Just a quick, direct flight down and then back late the night after the race. I didn’t want to miss work or make a big deal out of it. Just go and get it done. It’s never that simple. The forecast was bad enough that the airlines allowed flight changes. I moved to a Friday flight, but I didn’t choose a flight early enough. We got caught right in the middle of the storm. The Friday flight was cancelled. We were stranded in an airport hotel—a really nice one with a sweet pool, sauna, hot tub and solarium, which was a silver lining—then had to be rebooked but my original flight was full. AH! So we had to be routed through Philadelphia. I spent 14 hours on a plane waiting, deicing, and then flying across the country only to arrive in Phoenix less than 12 hours before the start of the race. I ran a shakeout mile on the hotel treadmill at 8:30pm and went to bed.

It was an absolute whirlwind getting there. So stressful. So tense. The race went as expected after all of that. I felt horrible from the start. Tired. Weighed-down. Just bad. I hoped that I might shake it and did from about mile 5-10. I thought I might settle in and be able to pull off a miracle, but then the sun came out and started to roast us. It was hotter that day than the previous several days. I don’t run well in heat. Somehow I hung on and ended up finishing fourth in 2:47:something. I’m consistent to say the least.

What did you gain from this journey?

I loved the training. I loved all the long miles. Through all of the training and then running three marathons within 10-weeks, I fell completely in love with the marathon all over again. And I’ve run a lot of marathons. Actually, a product of all of the OTQ attempts was something I’d been hoping to do, which was make my 2:42 less of an outlier. My 2014 Indy race was my only 2:40-something marathon I had run, but I have run in the 2:50s five times. Now I have several 2:40s to add to my resume.

What are you most proud of about your OTQ pursuit?

I am proud that I persisted each time. In each race, there were many miles where I knew it wasn’t going to happen. As one of my good training buds exclaimed after Indianapolis, “You knew for 12-miles that you weren’t going to do it, yet you didn’t give up!” I guess I am proud of that. I’m also pretty glad that I didn’t listen to myself when I thought about throwing in the marathon towel after Indianapolis. The other races—while not the outcome I was hoping for—were so much fun and great memories.

Do you have any regrets or things you wish you’d done differently in your OTQ pursuit?

I only wish that I had started trying sooner. When I was in the thick of recovering from my injury, I thought that I might never run another marathon, at least not race one. Then one of the things that put me over the edge with recovery was hopping on the indoor bike trainer. I started doing Zwift early in 2019. My fitness skyrocketed. As I got stronger, I was able to run more and more miles. I regret some of my months of recovery were spent moping about how I’d let myself become so injured rather than actually doing something about it.

 
What message would you like to send to those following your running pursuits?

It’s never too late. I have run most competitively in my 30s. I have a goal to PR in several distances later this year. That way I can claim that I truly am faster as a Master.

Tell us something unique about yourself.

I ran 30 miles on my 30^th birthday. But it was a Thursday and the first day of school—I was teaching at the time. I had to get up and start running at 2am so I had time to get back for school.

What’s next for you?

I’m going to try really hard to not run another marathon this year. We’ll see. First, I’m going to train for some speed and shorter events and see where that takes me.