DETROIT (WXYZ) — It’s been a week since I finished the Detroit Free Press, and it’s an experience I’ll always remember – not just because my muscles are still sore, but because it was actually enjoyable. I’m serious. Here’s the deal: I’m not a runner. In fact, I didn’t even run the entire thing. Some might say I “wogged” it (that’s a walk, jog combo.)
I signed up in April, but my wife, Carol, signed up in January. After watching our friend, Lia, complete the full marathon last year, Carol wanted to challenge herself and also raise awareness for Type One Diabetes (T1d).
Some quick background: Carol was diagnosed with T1d back in early 2023, just a few months after we got married, and after dealing with the challenges of being misdiagnosed as Type 2. It caught us off guard, but she’s been on a mission to raise awareness about T1d ever since.
The sign up was easy, but the training – not so much. While I am an active person – doing cardio work and rock climbing – I’m also not the stereotypical runner. I have a bad knee and two bad ankles and I’m incredibly clumsy. I was concerned that even with a training plan, I wouldn’t be prepared for the race. My anxiety was high and really only subsided the minute I shuffled into my place on the starting line that morning.
I’m sharing my story and training plan in the hopes that it might inspire another non-runner to consider lacing up their shoes and hitting the pavement.
Leading up to the race
I started training for the half at the start of July, following a training plan suggested to me on my Garmin watch. I didn’t have to pay for the plan, and it was all there on my phone and tracked on my watch.
Over 16 weeks, I ran 186.94 miles. On July 1, I ran .7 miles, and the numbers kept increasing as the weeks went on.
My strength was building with a combination of sprints, progression runs and long runs, and I watched the miles tick up. By the end of August, I ran eight miles in one run, the longest so far in the plan. The day before Labor Day, I ran my fasted 5K as part of a run near the Mackinac Bridge with the Yooper Run Club, and I logged my longest run on Sept. 28 when I did 12 miles on the Paint Creek Trail.
See video crossing the bridge and then back in the tunnel below
After that long run, I learned about tapering – which is reducing your mileage leading up to the race. It turned out to be the hardest part of the entire training plan.
As race day neared, my anxiety got worse, the runs got harder, and I started feeling low. Runners in the Detroit Free Press Facebook group and a lot of Googling reassured me that I was going to feel worse in the tapering portion of the training. I talked it through often with my wife, and eventually with my therapist, and with a few days left before the race, I was starting to feel good and getting more excited.
The day before the race, several family members ran the 5K along the Detroit Riverfront. Thousands participated in that run. We checked out the expo, got our bibs, did some shopping, and the countdown was on.
Race day
I woke up excitedly at 5 a.m. and knew it was going to be a good day. I got a good night’s sleep after an early bedtime and I felt fantastic. We got ready and headed to Campus Martius, about a mile away from our apartment. It was dark and just after 6 a.m., but the downtown area was buzzing with thousands of runners and the people cheering them on ready to go.
We got into our corral, the second-to-last, and so began a 45-minute waiting period. Because of the sell-out, we didn’t end up crossing the start line until 7:30 a.m.
The one thing I wanted to focus on was not running too fast. I heard stories from people who were too excited and burned themselves out too quickly. Thankfully, after a 12-minute mile, that didn’t happen.
My goal was to finish in under three hours – which was about a 13:45/mile pace. In training, I averaged around a 13-minute pace, and I kept it from there.
I had two major concerns during the race: running up the Ambassador Bridge and then coming out of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.
We walked up the rise of the bridge, and it turns out I didn’t pay much attention to the incline. Instead, I was focused on the beauty of Detroit as the sun rose over Windsor and the bridge, bathing the city’s skyline in an orange glow.
Going over the bridge was my favorite part of the race. It was an incredible feeling as you crossed into Canada and were supported by the thousands of Canadians on the other side, welcoming you with jokes and smiles throughout the nearly three-mile route.
The “Underwater Mile” started at mile 7, and I was still feeling good and my pace was on track. It’s really interesting running through the tunnel, and I know many people get claustrophobic, but that’s not something I experienced. You’re surrounded by people and you know it won’t last too long.
You come out of the tunnel at mile 8 and then it’s a run through Downtown Detroit being cheered on by more people, and after reaching mile 10 in Midtown, I just kept telling myself there’s only a 5K left.
Pushing through some right Achilles pain, my pace got a little bit better as we got closer to the finish line, going back up Cass, Woodward and Washington through Midtown and Downtown.
As we neared the 12.75-mile mark, I switched my podcast to my playlist, because I figured why not cross the finish line with Eminem playing in my headphones.
We saw our friends right at mile 13 and then our family at the finish line as we sprinted across, smiling and celebrating.
The people who lined all 13.1 miles of the course made such a difference. They always had great things to say, hilarious signs, and brought an energy that powered me and so many others through the race.
There were also the thousands of volunteers who handed out water and Gatorade, cheered you on and made sure everything went smoothly during the race.
I’d just like to finish by shouting out all of the people who supported me throughout training, showed up on race day and celebrated with us afterward with pizza and beer.
This was my first Detroit Free Press half marathon, but it will not be my last!
Trying something new – whether it’s a half marathon, a new hobby, or recipe – is a great reminder that we all can do hard things.
