Monday, June 23, 2008

Michelina's Revenge

This weekend, Nate ran his first marathon in Duluth!! The day literally could not have been more beautiful, and it was perfect running (and spectating!) weather.

We arrived Friday night and headed down to Canal Park to partake in the racing festivities.


Here is the official moment of Nate picking up his race packet. He looks a little nervous to me, but he swears he was cucumber cool the whole time.
















Now, for those of you who may not know, Nate suffers from "runners Trot," or what we like to call "evil poop monster" at the Hanson household. Either way...I think you get the picture. You are probably thinking...TMI Greta...TMI...but it is completely relevant. Stick with me..

When Nate started training for the marathon, some 16 weeks ago, he hired me on as his nutritionist. Nate had second thoughts about this as I began to take my job seriously (it is me after all...) and was nixing things left and right that could potentially flare the "trot". After getting the nutrition on track, and a daily dose of the "miracle product" of Yo-Plus, runner trot was gone from Nate's running life.


Fast forward to the evening before the race. Michelina's was the presenting sponsor of the Spaghetti dinner. I think you may be starting to draw some conclusions based on the blog title.....

Here is Nate enjoying the Michelina's....













Race day came....and it was GORGEOUS. Nate left at 5:30AM to get on the bus, and he looked strong, confident and a little nervous. I got into place as a spectator at about 8:30 at mile 23. I got the text message at 9:30ish that said Nate just crossed the half way point! He was seriously truckin...sticking to his goal pace.

Then....disaster (or Michelina) struck Nate. Unfortunately, Nate had a few bouts of "the evil poop monster" that did not quite allow him to finish in his goal time, but let me tell you when I did see him at mile 23....he looked strong and had remained positive. I was SO impressed with him and so proud of him.



And he is raring to get to the next marathon....without the Michelina spaghetti dinner.















CONGRATS NATE! You did an amazing job....something many people cannot do...and you did it under some adversity! Looking forward to cheerleading you at the next one!

More official race pictures to follow........

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

hooray, congrats nate!!! i suffer from nervous poops, distant cousin to the evil poop monster, i am sure.

Anonymous said...

Yes, The Evil Poop Monster cannot stop any Vernon County Boy!!!! WAY TO GO NATE!!! That is quite an accomplishment...I'm sure your nutritionist will have the ever watchful eye on your food intake in the future...:)))!!

Reid

Anonymous said...

Nice work Nate! Why did your nutritionist let you eat lettuce? Next time bind yourself up with cheese curds from the Westby creamery.
Uncle Todd

Anonymous said...

Way to Go Nathan! Great photo's. Sure wish I could have been there to cheer you on with Gert. I am applying for back up nutritionist. Congrats! Are you considering the location of your next marathon?
Love, Mom Ekern

Anonymous said...

TMI is right! You know how I feel about such things, but I read the entire post anyway. I did it for Nate. I figured he ran 26.2 miles, the least I could do was read about his EPM if that's the highlight that his loving wife wanted to blog about:) Way to go Nate!!!

-Katie

Becca said...

Nate - Congrats.....you know I am so proud of you and will be looking for any and ALL tips as I embark on my own race this fall. You are my inspiration. Never been ailed with an EPM I cannot IMAGINE!!!! You are totally hardcore for sticking with it and finishing with a smile on your face. So proud of you! See you both TOMORROW! YAY!

Anonymous said...

WAY TO GO NATE!!!!! AND TO HELL WITH EPM...LET IT RUN AND WEAR IT WITH PRIDE!!!..ALITTLE POOP NEVER HURT ANYONE!!!WHAT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT!!!.. IF I COULD DO, I'D NEVER WORRY ABOUT THE EPM!!!..WAY TO GO!!!TOF