TC Marathon

Yay! I finished my second marathon (in 4 1/2 months..am I nuts? Don'tanswerthat) today! I did the Twin Cities Marathon- and it was awesome. Yes, I did just say it was awesome running 26.2 miles, but I'm all nuts like that.

Seriously, I am beyond elated right now. After my last marathon, if you remember correctly, because you know each and every detail of my life and never forget, right? Um, ok, I'll recap then. I hurt my IT band pretty bad. It started to hurt pretty badly around mile 19 and was downright miserable by mile 21. I was in tears at a few points along the way. My training for this marathon was pretty sporadic, with the injury and the house remodel.

I was hoping that I could start out with the 4:30 pace group and stick with them as long as I could, then drop back if I needed to. My goal was to stick with them until at least the 13.1 mile mark.

My goals?

- Make it to mile 18 or so if I could without major knee pain. I was not going to finish if it hurt as badly as last time- besides, the rehab was a major pain.

-Finish in 5 hours if possible

I started the race behind the 4:30 group, and could see them most of the time, but never caught up with them. Around mile 12, I caught up and ran with them for 4 miles. Then? At mile 15, I was feeling really good, and I took off. I ran ahead and felt awesome the rest of the time. The last mile, I was passing people left and right, because I was tired and wanted my Salted Nut Roll at the end. I finished in 4:24:03, which was a full 13 minutes of my last marathon! Yippee and stuff! (that is pretty good for me, I mean, my strategy is to start slow and slow down from there)

It was seriously like a 26.2 mile party. There were bands, spectators, oddly dressed people... they had it all. I ran with a guy wearing a business suit for a couple of miles, passed a man wearing full army fatigues, including a 50 lb backpack, saw a few nuns, and a girl dressed up like a pumpkin. There was even a guy who, no lie, had calves that were bigger than his thighs. Pretty creepy. The spectators made every mile worth it, and it was an amazing experience. Best of all- NO knee pain! I finished, showered and stopped at a pet store, Target (duh), came home and did laundry, cleaned, played with the boys, made dinner, grocery shopped...no pain! Tomorrow? Probably will be immobile. Right now? Heading there. I'm officially exhausted. Good night!