Twin Cities Marathon Recap

Happy Beautiful Fall Weather! Here in Minnesota, it has been crazy awesome weather, so we have been outside nonstop, trying to enjoy it while it lasts! 
I figured I would get my recap of the TCM out before I forget everything  too late, so here goes...

I had mentioned a while back that I was planning to pace my sister through her first marathon, while worried about the super stomach issues I've been having...and that I wore stupid girl shoes and gave myself some sweet blisters the Wednesday before the run...both of which were going to serve me well! 

Anyway, I knew that since it was not going to be a PR race, and that I could make it, I would just go and enjoy the race. The TCM is beautiful course, the spectators are amazing, and it is extremely well managed. The day before, we went to  a couple of apple orchards and a fall train ride to see the leaves. (nothing like staying off your feet the day before, right?) 

We also were lucky enough to stroll through this corn maze. It was really comfortable on the feet, stepping on all that corn and broken off stalks...

My sister decided she was not ready to run a marathon, but her boyfriend had signed up and was running, so we decided to run together. His goal was to not die, which sounded like a good plan to me as well. Although dying during a marathon garners you some media coverage, it doesn't have much benefits beyond that, you know? 

Since my ADHD is kicking in, I think I'll bullet the highlights of the race. (people with adhd LOVE bullets, they are so eye friendly...and of course, I mean the • bullets, not real ones. those? don'tloveatall) 

• Prerace and first several miles? Vinh and I were chatting up a storm. Talking about life, apartments, cars, college, you name it. (I wasn't going to press to hard on his intentions for my sister until he was a bit more fatigued...figured delirium would set in and he would be more open. However, he must be pretty serious, because the guy has survived 2 outings with our entire family, which could take any sane person down fast.not to mention the fact my sis is a nutjob)  

• Best signs I saw along the way? 

             Worse Parade Ever

             26.2, because 26.3 would be crazy

             Run! The zombies are coming! 

             Running looks good on you!

             Chaffe now, pride forever

          My greatest fear is having to run a marathon.          -Jillian Michaels 

              

I feel the same about you Target. 

• Who, who put all the hills in the course? I so do not remember them from '09 or '10. I told Vinh around mile 9 that I was done with the hills, and there had better not be any more the rest of the course. That worked out well for me. 

• By mile 13, our (and by our, I mean mostly me, since I do most of the talking anyway) talking had slowed down some. My lower back was hurting (some dork had managed to fall down the stairs that morning) and Vinh was starting to feel some pain in his shins.

• Mile 14, 15, 16, 17...spent looking for a porta potty with a line shorter than 13 people. Also discussed why it is nice to be a man in these types of situations, as they can duck into the bushes.

• Mile 18: Realized it would be better to wait in line than to...not...  

• Miles 19, 20, 21, 22: We walked through the water stops (Vinh's shins were really starting to hurt him at this point. By mile 22, he was hobbling a bit.) Everytime we started again, we would see how many steps we could take before moaning in pain and using colorful language. 

Why am I running the opposite direction here at the 20 mile marker? Well, it made for a better picture? I wanted to add a few extra feet to my distance? I was mixed up? I have nothing.
• I text my sister, asking where in the world she was. We needed some cheer, and she was nowhere to be found. She let us know she, Elijah, and my nephew would be cheering us on at the MILE 26 MARKER. #sisterfail

She even took this picture of us! We are...well, actually I don't see us anywhere in the picture.

Post race? We were sore, but happy. And by happy, I mean besides the fact there was not ONE porta potty with toilet paper in it, because that was not cool. Nor was the fact my sister parked 3.5 bajillion miles away from the end. She was all, "Well, if I parked closer I would have had to pay $3! This spot was free!" I totally hit her in the head with one of those medtronic blowup things. I'd have taken her down, but I needed her to drive because I wasn't feeling up to it. 

A couple of people asked me if I was disappointed by our time - 4:46. My answer? No. I knew going into this race it would not be a PR. My training this year has been off, in fact, I did not follow a plan at all, or do any crosstraining besides Zumba. I feel like I knew going into this year that my times would be really far off. All through my training (from March on) I kept telling myself, "Everyone has a bad year, when their times are down, or they aren't feeling the greatest." I believe I gave myself a self fulfilling prophecy in this way. That was a mistake, and unnecessary for me. 

Although? It was the first year since I started running 5 years ago that I ran and trained with friends. It was a new- and awesome- experience for me to run a race with friends. There is something amazing about pushing through those hard points in a race with a friend by your side, bonding over stomach pains, laughing over blisters...I needed these experiences to recapture some of the joy of running. 

Besides, running 3 marathons, 2 half marathons, and a Warrior Dash in less than 5 months is pretty sweet to me!