Twin Cities Marathon race report

So, here it is- I apologize in advance that this might end up being awfully long!

Here is how race day all shook out.

Sunday, October 7

5am- Alarm sounds and I burst out of bed!  My sleep overnight was spotty, but not terrible.  I DID, however, sweat a significant amount overnight.  Gross.  But, who takes a shower before running 26.2 miles?  Not this girl.  Still, not a nice feeling to start my morning feeling all grimy.

I puttered around the room, grabbed my two slices of wheat bread nicely packed away in a ziplock baggie, and went downstairs in search of coffee and a toaster.  Score, I found both.  Slightly surprised the toaster wasn't made in the mid 1980's.  Surprisingly modern for the 80's hotel.  I do have a sneaking suspicion, though, that the coffee had been brewed in approximately 1987, based on the fact that it tasted like total shit.  Just a guess though.  (Let me be clear, this didn't stop me from drinking 2 cups of that sludge).

Sludge coffee in hand, I am ready to head to the Dome!

Got dressed and checked over everything about 50 more times.  Made Jay take several photos of me.  Slowly made my way outside, dreading the 28 degree temps.  Crossed paths with a bunch of marathoners who stayed at the hotel and exchanged "good lucks" with each other.

Started walking towards my meeting spot with Stacie.  We chose an intersection that was about halfway between each of our hotels.  I was all turned around and went the wrong direction for a few blocks, but after realizing my error I turned around and found Stace.  Because she's awesome and adventurous, she was donning a bright green tutu.  Because I am not adventurous, I was simply wearing pants.  She did, however, supply me with the rockinest pair of neon green fishnet 80's gloves.  Sweet.

Brr! 

It was still only about 7am, and the race didn't begin till 8, so we went into the Metrodome to try to relax and warm up.  I expected it to be a madhouse in there, but it was actually pretty low-key.  The lines for the bathrooms were even moving quickly!

We took a few nervous self-portraits and I realized that I was hungry again- so I took a chance and ate a Clif Bar, hoping that wouldn't screw up my tummy.

Around 7:30a we made our way to corral 3 and tried our best to get up close to the 5:00 pace team that we planned on running with during the race.  For a 5:00 finish, we would have to average 11:27 pace.  We had no concerns about being able to run that pace as we had comfortably done that pace for all of our long runs.  My experience with pace teams for half marathons is that we run a little bit faster than the average pace so we could walk through water stations.  I figured it would be a similar scenario for the full marathon.

The gun went off and about 10 minutes later we finally made our way to the starting line.  And we were off!  It was about 30 degrees, but I think my adrenaline warmed me up, so I was able to shed the throw away cotton hoodie I was wearing.  The air was cold in my lungs and it felt like we were keeping a pretty quick pace.  The first mile went quickly... wanna know why?  Because we ran mile one in 8:02.  Yes, you read that right.  8:02.

Uhhh..... enter in my first sliver of doubt about this pace group.  Miles 2 and 3 were slower, but our 5k split was 33:33 (a 10:47 pace).  Between that fast pace and a pretty significant hill in that first 5k, I was still feeling *good*, but not *great.*  Oh and somewhere around mile 2ish, Danny (the pace leader) announces "okay!  walk for 1 minute!"  Stacie and I were like... um, huh?  There was no aid station, it was just a random order to walk.  This is when I realized that the pacing was going to be one of those run/walk deals.  NOT how we trained, but I had heard from some people that they really like run/walk.  I tried to be positive about it and keep trusting the pace group.  But I was feeling some doubts.

The course was absolutely GORGEOUS.  The trees were colorful and we ran through piles of crunchy leaves.  It smelled like a beautiful Fall morning.  When I wasn't distracted by weird pacing, I was trying my best to take in the scenery and the experience.

The first aid station was kind of a cluster because there were soooo many people on a narrow street and then I couldn't tell right away if we were running through the aid station or if we were walking it.  The communication coming from Danny was poor.  My irritation level was on the rise, but I was trying my best to shake it off.

Mile 11

The miles ticked away and was excited to see my hubby at mile 4, my friend Amanda at mile 7ish, my friend Kori around mile 8, and Jay again around mile 11!  Was still feeling pretty solid and there weren't a ton of hills during this stretch.  According to my watch, we were still keeping a pretty quick pace, and as I got more fatigued, I was feeling more and more annoyed with the pace group.

We crossed the half-marathon point at 2:27.

Around mile 15, I couldn't deal with feeling irritated any more.  I purposely fell back from the pace group and just decided to run even splits at this point.  I planned on trying to run 11:20ish and walk through water stops.  I figured it was time to just go with what had worked for me through all of our training runs.  Stacie was looking great still and I told her I was just going to do my thing.  She ran ahead and I was going solo.

I wasn't too far behind the pace group and for the next couple of miles I was able to see them a block or two ahead of me.  Just because I wasn't running with them anymore, I still hoped to keep them in sight to know I was still somewhat on track for a 5:00ish finish.

Then mile 17 happened.  I think there was a hill?  Or maybe there wasn't... but I started to fade fast.  It started to feel hard.  I took a little walk break and when I started running again, it hurt.  I stopped to pee at a port-o-potty.  I was starting to lose momentum.  I was really happy to see Amanda again soon after and I shouted to her "I feel like shit!" and she shouted something encouraging.  :)

Mile 19! Still trying to smile!

I kept on going, saw my friend Nancy at mile 19 and I stopped to say hello for a second and take a quick picture.  I needed to have a break anyway again, and seeing Nancy cheered me up.

Around mile 20ish or 21 I hit the wall for realz. I was sooooo tired.  My legs were starting to feel like lead.  The thought of GU was making me gag.

 My longtime friend (and former Subway boss) Howard came out on his bike and he actually rode on the path alongside the course from mile 20 all the way to the end.  It was awesome to know that there was a friendly, familiar face nearby during those last 6 miles.

And it was seriously the LONGEST 6 miles of my life.  I had to take what felt like a million walk breaks and I was feeling absolutely discouraged.  My 5:00 pace group was long gone and I spent some time in my head feeling disappointed in myself that I was going to finish so far behind my goal time.  I felt embarrassed and had a lot of negative self talk happening.  I was feeling pissed off that I felt like I burned up my energy too much in the beginning by running with the pace group and wished I could go back in time and just done my OWN pacing for the marathon.  I now know what they mean when they say not to do things different on race day than you did on your long runs.  If I were more experienced, maybe I would have figured this out early on and broke away from the pace group right away (like after we ran an 8 minute mile in mile 1).

and OHHHH the hills in those last 6 miles.  RIDICULOUS.  It felt like I was climbing mountains.  At this point, when I DID run, the pace was more like a 12:00 pace.  I would run for a few minutes, walk for a few minutes.  I never had any doubt that I would finish, but I knew that my time was going to be really impacted.

And then something magical happened at mile 25.  Something magical called Carly Rae Jepsen happened.  Call Me Maybe was a last minute addition to my iPod Shuffle when I made my marathon playlist.  I don't know why I love this song so much, but I had a brief moment of joy and suddenly I was running a 9:00 pace and was smiling and mouthing the words and felt light as air.  Call it a moment of delirium?  I don't know, but it was a bright spot for sure.  As soon as the song ended, I was back to walk/running.

I knew I was close to the end and I tried to do as much running as possible (it felt more like shuffling) and suddenly we rounded a corner and the State Capitol was in sight.  I teared up a little and knew it was almost over.

Jay was on the sideline at mile 26 and I probably would have cried, but I was too tired.

And then I crossed the finish line.  5:17:46.

Not the time I hoped for, but I finished!!!

I hobbled over and got my medal.

I hobbled through the lines for food.  Nothing really sounded good.  I grabbed a bag of chips and a chunk of bread.

I hobbled over and got my weird mylar blanket.

And then I saw Stacie and her family.  I realized how lonely I was without her over the last 11 miles.  The rockstar told me that she actually finished BEFORE the pace group (4:53).  We hugged and I cried.  I was so glad to be done but kind of sad that it was over.  We said our goodbyes and I hobbled over to get my finishers shirt.

I met Jay at the Caribou tent.  Coffee never sounded so good!

And so it was done.  I wish we would have had time to hang around the Capitol for awhile and celebrate, but we had a Vikings game to get to!  We slowly made our way to the car that was a few blocks away.  Weaved our way through traffic, and headed back to the Metrodome!

I was exhausted, but the Vikings game was awesome.  I didn't have time or opportunity to change my clothes, so I wore my marathon clothes the whole time.  Gross, huh?  Luckily for me my sweat glands aren't stinky, so I honestly didn't smell bad.  I wore my medal to the game and didn't take it off till we got home.

We hit the road after the game and finally made it home a little after 10pm.

And then I took the BEST.SHOWER.EVER.

And then I went to bed.

And I was so sore that it hurt to even lay in my bed.

And now I end the longest blog post ever.

Can't wait for my next marathon!

Here are my stats, if you're interested.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/231557359#.UHNn7zrJVVU.blogger

Mile 26!  Almost done!!!

Sweaty, salty, and proud as hell!

So tired.

At the Vikings game!