Guest Post: Running Back-to-Back Marathons in One Weekend!

I have a special guest post for you today!

Lindsey Pierret, a fellow Calhoun Beach Running Club member, and 2014 winner of the Mississippi Blues Marathon in Jackson Mississippi  and 2014 2^nd place finisher of the First Light Marathon in Mobile, Alabama is here to share with you her story of running these two marathon back-to-back on the SAME weekend! 

She won the first one, and came in second place in the other. Insane, right?  But also inspiring!  I’ll let her share the story of this amazing accomplishment:

My Newest Form of Crazy…

By Lindsey Pierret

“Would you like to participate in our back-to-back challenge?“ Most people would say “Hell no!” Me…I always love a new way to challenge myself both mentally and physically. That {someone asking the question} was all it took. I registered for my first back-to-back marathon competition including Mississippi Blues Marathon of Jackson, MS and First Light Marathon of Mobile, Alabama. Eric Stevenson {one of the coaches for the CBRC with a marathon PR of 2:49} was the one “lucky enough” to participate with me.  Since he has a goal of 50 marathons in 50 states, I knew it wouldn’t take that much convincing {knocking out two states in one weekend- pretty impressive!}

Having run only two other marathons in the past, the question for me became how to train and what to do differently. I only had 3 to 4 months to prepare, and I knew going into the races that I wasn’t going to be able to race either one. That said, just like any other runner would do, I looked up last year’s results. The winning times of the Mississippi Blues Marathon and First Light Marathon were 2:47 and 3:17 respectively.

So began the internal debate. “Do I sandbag the first marathon so I can win the second one?” “Do I run the first one at 7:30 pace and just see what I have left the next day?” I don’t think I knew the answer to these questions until race day, but one thing I did know for sure was training back-to-back long runs was going to be essential. I deemphasized the speed work, partially because I didn’t plan to race, but after a standard long run on Saturday I would do a half long run on Sunday. That meant my peak week was 22 miles on Saturday followed by an “accidental” 13 miles on Sunday.

Marathon #1!

Fast forward to the first marathon and I decided to start out at a comfortable 7:30-7:40 pace. That lasted until about mile 15 when a spectator yelled from the sidelines, “You are only 3:38 behind the lead woman.” “I can make up 3:38 in 11 miles,” I thought to myself. At that point, Eric Stevenson and I started to pick up the pace slightly mile-by-mile. At mile 21 I was the second female. Mile 22, the first female was in my sight and at mile 23 I took the lead to find myself winning the Mississippi Blue Marathon in 3:15:16, my second fastest time.

Between Marathons: I have always been fast to recover, so I sat down to ice my quads and calves immediately. I was sore, but nothing out of the ordinary in my mind. The ice was purely preventative knowing Eric and I had a three and a half hour drive to Mobile, AL that afternoon. I don’t know how many prizes I will have to compare it too, but the blue electric guitar I won was pretty amazing, even if I do not know how to play it.

Lindsey with her 1st place award!

Eric and I made sure to stop about every hour to walk around and stretch on our way to Mobile, AL.

Marathon #2!

The night before the second marathon was business as usual: expo, pasta dinner, tons of stretching and some well-deserved rest and relaxation at the hotel. Day two came, and I was sore before the race even started. Again, warming up and stretching were critical. Eric and I ran into many other participants in the back-to-back challenge that morning. I remember one saying, “It will take about 6 miles to loosen up and then it will feel like normal.” All the while I have not forgotten that I still have a chance to win this marathon too. I knew it was going to be tough, but I was aiming for 7:30 pace again. The race starts and I think Eric and I were both surprised at our ability to keep up a decent pace. For me, until about six miles to go.

With six miles left I was in the top three women with one more in sight. I passed the second place female with about three miles to go and knew I just didn’t have the win in me. A biker joined me about a mile and a half from the finish and I could not have been more thankful. She kept me going and cheered to the crowd my victory from the day prior. I crossed the finish line of the second marathon in 3:17.23, second place female, about 6 minutes behind the leader.

Eric and I drove back to Jackson, MS that day and let it all soak in. Completing two marathons in two days at around 7:30 pace is arguably one of the achievements I am most proud of, especially coming out of the weekend with a win. If someone asked me now, “would you like to participate in another back-to-back challenge some day?” I would have to say, “Hell yes, it is my newest form of crazy.”

Thanks to Lindsey for taking the time to share your story. I had a few follow up questions that I thought of after reading her post. If you also have additional questions for Lindsey, feel free to comment directly on the blog and I will let her know how to respond to you there!

1: Can you share a little about your running background?

I have been running since I was in fourth grade and have increased in distance ever since then. I ran D1 cross country and track in college all four years at Quinnipiac University. I did 5k and 6k in cross country, 3k and k5 indoors, and 5k and 10k outdoors. I have always known I was born and bred to run long distance, it was just after of being patient till a time my body was ready for it.

2: What was it like to "break the tape", i.e. WIN a marathon? Do you get any special treatment at the end?

So the funny story that I left out is the women's lead biker from the Saturday marathon didn't come with me when I passed the last woman. The tape wasn't ready for me and they figured it out obviously after I had finished. I got interviewed by a few news crews, which is cool.

3: What's next for you?

Grandmas Marathon (June 21^st) is next, and I seriously want to consider doing an ultra marathon.

4: if someone wants to do a back-to-back marathon, what is your advice?

Go for it, you never know until you try! You know your body best, so train and listen to it when it is talking to you.


There you have it! What a great story, thanks for sharing Lindsey- you definitely made the Calhoun Beach Running Club proud!