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| Philip and I at the finish of the Twin Cities Marathon 2014 |
Yes, I really did race a 5k and then turn around the next day and do a marathon. Possibly not my smartest move, but it did all turn out okay and (mostly) went according to plan. The week before at Harvest Moon Hustle, I ran a 20:14...as this was my last 5k of the year, out went my chance to go sub-20. When Philip and I arrived in St. Paul for the marathon on Friday afternoon, I found out that the 5k that went along with the marathon weekend festivities was only a couple blocks from our hotel. And we had no plans for the following morning. And I really wanted to break 20 minutes. So, I signed up at the expo and the next morning we found ourselves trekking out to yet another race. (And yes, I know that I have maybe taken it a bit overboard this year with racing...) Anyway, before signing up, I neglected to check out the course profile...while there was a magnificent down hill at the end of the race, the beginning boasted the same hill going UP. No, this was not going to be an easy course to achieve my goal. At this point, it was inevitable that I was running so I had no choice but to run my hardest. That morning's races included a 10k at 7:30am, the 5k at 9am, and then some shorter races for kids as the morning progressed. We found out that some people were completing an "Ultra Looney Challenge" where they would finish the 5k, 10k, and then the 10 mile or full marathon the next day. I told Philip at least I wasn't that crazy...
I lined myself up at the front of the group as there were tons of people in the race. When the gun went off, we immediately started trucking up hill...I'd say that most of the first mile was up, BUT as it was an out and back course, I'd get a hefty downhill to the finish line as well. As the weather was about 40 degrees, it was the first time this year that I'd raced in cooler temps. I felt good the entire race, but wondered if it would be enough. All in the matter of a few seconds, I got passed by a female and saw that my finish time was 20:11. I was a little disappointed once again, but there is always next year. Besides, there were 26.2 miles tomorrow to get ready for.
Twin Cities Marathon
After attempting to stay off our feet the rest of Saturday (we ended up going to a movie--Gone Girl), we awakened bright and early Saturday morning for what would be my husband's first marathon. When we signed up last May, we planned on running the event together. It was tough to stay on board with our marathon training after the 70.3 in August, but Philip and I managed to get through our training runs and arrived to this point injury free and ready for the distance. After talking about our race plan, we decided that a 4:10 would be a good goal time for Philip's first (and only) full marathon. Ideally, we would run two back-to-back 2:05 half-marathons. Our nutrition plan, derived from LOTS of trials and errors on my part, was to take a gel every 4 miles starting at mile 5. That was the plan. What could go wrong?
We left our hotel about 5:45am and headed to another hotel nearly a mile away as shuttle buses were taking runners from the finish line in St. Paul to the start (we were staying by the finish). This went very smoothly and we found ourselves at the starting area at 6:20am (marathon was slated to start at 8am). Having lots of time to kill, we walked over to the start of the 10 mile event and watched those guys get ready for their race and eventually take off. Cool to see. We then made one more stop at the port-o-potties and headed to our corral. The race was divided into three starting corrals and you were placed according to speed. Philip and I both qualified for the first corral so were able to start right up front. However, once the gun went off, starting the first group, we had a tough time holding ourselves back as it seemed like literally everyone was passing us by. I wasn't feeling as great as I'd hoped those first few miles and became increasingly nervous as time went on. Philip noted this and kept asking if I was okay. I was...BUT I have done enough of these races to know how bad it can get if things blow up. Please don't blow up. Please don't blow up. We went through 13.1 in 2:05, perfectly on pace. By the time I hit mile 15, I started to feel better mentally. Physically, I still didn't feel the best, but at this point in the race, that was okay. As the next few miles ticked away, I started to feel stronger and much more confident. (And in case you are wondering how Philip felt, he felt great the entire time. Well, at least until mile 23. But that is pretty normal.) By the time we went through miles 24 and 25, I knew that we were going to be right on our time goal of 4:10. As we went through the finish, I saw that our time was 4:10:24. We walked through the chute, got our medal, a mylar blanket, and some chocolate milk. We then got a couple finisher's pictures and looked around to find where we went to get our shirt (only official finishers get a shirt at TCM). We rested for a little bit, and then hauled our sore but accomplished bodies back to our hotel to get cleaned up and head home to our boys.
I still have a couple races left this fall, but this event closed out the two BIG events that my husband and I trained for this year. I felt good that we were able to accomplish both the half-iron and marathon in the midst of a difficult year, but a little sad it was all over. And I still have big goals for the marathon distance. Those goals will have to wait for another year. For now, I am so very thankful for a body that allows me to put it through such rigor without much argument, and an extremely supportive husband and family--without them, there is absolutely no way that I'd be able to do this.
Cheers, friends. I'll be seeing lots of you next week at Market to Market. WRN is ready to race! :)
Complete results to both races can be found here: http://www.mtecresults.com/race/show/2568/2014_TC_5K-5K
http://www.mtecresults.com/race/show/2569/2014_Medtronic_Twin_Cities_Marathon-Marathon
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