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Other’s Thoughts about Twin Cities Marathon

You’ve read my thoughts about my race during the Twin Cities Marathon, but I thought I would share what other people have said.

First, here is a list of other bloggers:

Running Down My Dreams ran a PR.
Life By the Falls ran an amazing and inspirational race.
Down the Backstretch has a lot of coverage.
Monomelic-Amyotrophy-tastic had a DNF.
Make it a Masterpiece finished his 30th marathon.
Team Unattached Running has a great list of their teammates performances.
Simon Says… Run had a decent race.
Kristin Armstrong‘s thoughts over at Mile Markers.
I found Miss Alleycat’s comments through Technorati. She wrote about the spectathon!

Have you heard about Marathon Guide? They are a great resource I’ll have to right more about sometime, but for now, they let people comment on a race. Here are a couple highlights:

Outstanding race, year after year (about: 2008)
Course: 5 Organization: 4 Fans: 5
S. W. from St. Paul, Minnesota (10/14/08)
6-10 previous marathons | 4-5 Twin Cities Marathons

I love the Twin Cities Marathon and have now completed the marathon four times with this year (despite the rain and 48-degree weather), achieving a PR time. As is the case with Minnesota weather, you should be prepared for almost anything. In 2007, it was 80 degrees with 70% humidity, so if you do not train for varying conditions, the TCM can become a challenge very quickly. Overall, though, the fans were outstanding and seemed louder than ever, given that they must have been freezing while standing in the cold, rainy weather. The course was organized with plenty of volunteers at the water stops. Although, the event achieves a near-perfect mark in my opinion, I think the TCM fails miserably with post-race refreshments. Compared to Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, which is stockpiled with goodies, the TCM should look to get more food sponsors and thus give runners a real treat when finishing. It seems like this area of the organization continues to decline every year.

TC Marathon – Thumbs Up! (about: 2008)
Course: 5 Organization: 4 Fans: 5
Ryan Nied from Plainfield, IL (10/9/08)
11-50 previous marathons | 1 Twin Cities Marathon

Twin Cities 2008 was marathon #13 for me in 7 short years. I recommend you run this race.
I’ve read a number comments about the weather. I ran Chicago last year in 88-degree weather, so although I did fear hypothermia at one point, it was much better than last year.
The reason? The spectators were downright awesome. I couldn’t believe how many weathered the storm along with us runners.
The finisher’s shirt is great.
I set a 55-second PR despite the challenging conditions, and I am totally ecstatic about how the morning went. It was an extremely memorable, positive experience for me.
Couple of minor suggestions:
1. Aid stations need to be more frequent earlier on – not a fan of having to wait until almost mile 2.5 for a drink. Later on, they are in good frequency.
2. Check mile marker #3’s position for accuracy. Had an unusually fast mile – and it felt short.
Overall, great job by the organizers.

Holy Hannah! (about: 2008)
Course: 5 Organization: 5 Fans: 5
L. Y. from Southeast USA (10/7/08)
3 previous marathons | 1 Twin Cities MarathonWow, what can I say. The weather was AWFUL!!!!!!! But the race was fabulous!

As everyone stated previously, the fans were amazing. Hats off to the guy dressed up as the televangelist with the “BELIEVE” sign. You definitely were the best out there!

I keep reading these comments about the hard hills from 21 to 25, and I’m thinking, “Really?” Seriously, they were not that bad. Very slow and gradual. Totally doable.

I have to agree with the comments about the porta-potties. There were definitely not enough. Sadly, I had to stop twice, and each time I did, it cost me about five minutes off my time. And since I’m a woman, I don’t exactly have a choice but to wait in line.

The post-race support was great and the food was adequate. I appreciate the simple things, so I was psyched when I saw the rolls!

Overall, no complaints about this race. The weather was terrible but the city, support, and beautiful route more than made up for it! Kudos to Minneapolis!

Thank you, Twin Cities (about: 2008)
Course: 5 Organization: 5 Fans: 5
Gregory Ruthig from Iowa (10/7/08)
6-10 previous marathons | 1 Twin Cities MarathonPros:
1. The course is as nice as advertised. The lakes and neighborhoods in Minneapolis and St. Paul were pretty, even in the pouring rain. Running over the Mississippi was a cool experience.
2. Crowd support (considering the weather) was phenomenal. I never got tired of hearing: “Goooo!” being shouted with thick Minnesota accents.
3. Volunteers were equally as good. Not only were they friendly, but they were clearly well trained by the organizers. For a runner who only wants to think about running on race day, they really made everything run smoothly.
4. Despite never having visited the cities before, my wife was able to drive around town and see me five times along the course. I can’t imagine that this is possible at most urban marathons.
5. I was worried that with only two corrals that slower runners would clog up the front of the starting line. This was not the case at all. From what I could see, everybody in the first corral was very conscientious about starting with similarly paced runners.
6. Finisher’s shirt. I usually don’t care about this sort of thing, but putting on the dry finisher’s shirt after running in the cold rain was heavenly.

Cons (these are very minor and more like constructive criticism):
1. The layout of the receptacles for the warm-up bags made dropping them off pretty chaotic. If they were placed in a long line, or just more spread out, it would have been easier.
2. Getting up to the first corral involved waiting in a slow-moving line that made me get a little panicky about the race starting while I was in line. In the end I was able to make it up there with several minutes to spare.

Breaking my PR by three minutes may be affecting my comments, but after running six marathons in four states, this was among my favorites, despite the rainy weather. This race combines much of the excitement of the mega marathons, especially the fan support, but lacks many of the logistical headaches. This was my first trip to Minnesota and I found the people made the visit and the marathon a great experience.

Wonderful first marathon, despite the weather (about: 2008)
Course: 5 Organization: 5 Fans: 5
J. W. from Savage, Minnesota (10/7/08)
1 previous marathon | 1 Twin Cities MarathonThis was my first marathon and I had a wonderful experience. The logistics of signing up for the race, to picking up my racing bib and chip at the expo the day before the race, to getting situated at the starting line all went extremely smoothly. Despite the pouring rain and 47-degree temperature, there was fan support for the entire length of course. I had an overall wonderful experience and plan on doing it again next year.

That’s enough random thoughts. Did I miss your post? Let me know in the comments and I’ll add it to the list.

[tags] Twin Cities Marathon, Twin Cities, Marathon[/tags]

Post Marathon Thoughts

1 Reply

Image by crossn81 via Flickr

One of the main reasons I run is to race, I really enjoy racing and the feeling that comes with it, even when I place 700 and something! When I have a goal race or races it gives me something to look forward to and to be motivated by. So after completing my goal race, no matter the distance, the next week or so is always a little like a slump.

Things are no different for the marathon. It has been a week and a half since I conquered the beast and for the first few days I was so stiff and sore that running never really crossed my mind. But as the pain and fatigue wore off I started to get a little bit of an itch to go running. I scratched the itch by biking to work and that helped a little… My schedule wasn’t really conducive to running without getting up really early (and I was tired) so I didn’t worry too much about running.

One week after the marathon I went for a 5k run, I made it a little more special by running on trails and enjoying the fall beauty of the Mississippi River. This was great and after the first little bit I felt pretty good. A few days later on Wednesday I went for another short run and it felt pretty good too. But I am severely unmotivated. This is maybe the best time of year to run, the temps are cool, scenery is amazing and I lack motivation. That is a little frustrating.

I know that running a marathon takes a lot out of you and things have been extremely busy since the marathon. I’m sure that hasn’t helped. Neither has the fact that the sun doesn’t come up as early anymore. I’ve been eating a ton of food at each meal and sometimes walk away hungry and my sleep schedule hasn’t been the best either. All of this to say that while I was so extremely focused before the marathon to make sure I was taking excellent care of my body, that isn’t the case now. In fact I should be sleeping instead of writing this post and last night I played around on Delicious for hours instead of getting some needed sleep.

I think if was taking care of myself better I might not be feeling as unmotivated and fatigued. What do you think?? Have you experienced similar thoughts and feelings?

Ok enough ramblings from me… I’m going to put my thoughts into action and get some sleep..

Grading the Race Plan

6 Replies

Feeling good at 2.5

Plans are made to be followed, reviewed, analyzed, and improved for next time. So how did I do on Sunday compared to the Race Plan I published for you on Saturday? Did I pass or fail?

Obviously, I passed because I finished the race, although there were definitely points in the later stages where I wanted to stop, sit on the curb and wait for medical to come get me. I looked in the medical tents (they were pretty empty) and they had those pool chairs with the multiple settings to lay back on… you know the ones with plastic webbing? Yea, those… they seemed a lot more comfortable than the pain I was in at the time, but failure didn’t seem like a good idea either!

A Look at the Goals

1) To qualify for Boston with a 3:10 (7:15 pace),

2) To break 3:30, or

3) To have fun and finish.

I hit my 2nd and 3rd Goals pretty well. I was told several times that as a first-timer my only goal should have been to finish and then place other goals below that. My MDRA Coach said that my A goal should have been to finish and my A+ goal the 3:10 and B goal be to break 3:30. So I’ll do the average of an A-.

This quote may have been a little too arrogant:

The others are plans B and C in case I fall apart out there – but I don’t foresee that happening at all.

Umm, hello the marathon is a beast and I wasn’t treating it with the complete and utter respect it deserves. TCM humbled me in that regard! As solid as my training had been I shouldn’t have taken for granted how I would respond.

Simply put, my race plan is to go out easy and finish hard.

Well, simply, I didn’t go out easy enough and the finish was hard, but it wasn’t the good kind of hard! On the simple race plan I’ll take a C.

For the more detailed plan I’ll put Saturday’s post in italics and my thoughts in regular font:

In the early miles “Take it easy—take it too easy.” I should have taken it much easier. I was 22:48 through the first 5K which is 7:20 pace. And that includes a sub-7 3rd mile. Ooops!! I should have been at least a 7:30 pace or slower. I did take it slow up the hill on Hennepin and right after the turn. I also let the 3:10 pace group pull way ahead of me from the starting line. D

Stay well-hydrated. We got some help on this one with the early middle miles being rain-soaked. I still took fluid at every water stop. I was going to take water at every one and Powerade at every other, but often got confused on whether I had just taken a Powerade or not at the last one! I usually compensated by taking the Powerade just to be sure! I had a slight urge to pee at some point but never enough to have to stop and it went away. A+

Take a Shot Blok every 5k – this worked well in training and past races. This was easier said than done! I did take one every 5K and after the half-marathon switched to every 3 miles (basically the same thing but easier to think about). The hardest part about this was trying to get the shot blok out of the package! Before the start I opened both packs, but my fingers were so cold during the race that I basically had no manual dexterity to manipulate the packages. It took a lot of focus and determination to make sure I got them out without dropping any. I don’t think I calorically bonked during the race – compared to previous experiences, so I think this plan worked pretty well. I took 8 total Bloks and there are 8.4 5K’s in the race so I was right on! A+

“Cruise” around the lakes and enjoying the “Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America.” I guess I should have defined cruise… My splits around the lakes were pretty much all below marathon goal pace, which really isn’t cruising! I probably should have been just over goal pace during this section. I actually caught back up to the 3:10 pace group around mile 7. I did try to enjoy running the lakes, but I threw my gloves off at 2.5 and the wind and cold started hitting around the Lakes again. It was very pretty along here, until the rain started. Just as we got to Lake Harriet I saw lightening and heard thunder… shortly after the water stop the deluge began and probably the most scenic part of the course was run while getting drenched by buckets of rain! Sad, but there were still tons of cheering spectators along the course so props to them! B- (I’ll curve up for the weather!)

Part of my support crew!

Relax through the middle hills, feel good, and smile for the camera at the half. I consciously slowed down through the rolling hills on Minnehaha Parkway, even though my splits don’t really show it. I would watch the pace group pull away over the hilly sections and then catch back up again before the next set. The rain started to slow down and I tried smiling for the cameras but was starting to feel a little fatigued as well. After each hilly section it became a little harder to pick the pace back up. I was right on goal pace at 13 miles, with little aches and pains that came and went. B+

Soak in the spectators and stay focused on the West River Parkway. There were a decent number of spectators on the course along the Parkway. I was impressed with the crowd support along the entire course, especially during the deluge. West River Parkway was one of the thinner spots, but one of my visiting college teammates came from the crowd and ran with me for a few strides to check-in, offer a dry shirt, etc around 17. For the record, I didn’t take the cotton shirt, even though my number was on my shorts so I could have easily done it. My hip was starting to hurt, but I lied and said I was fine, which he relayed to my other friends and wife who were cheering wildly for me! I stayed focused and tried to relax. A

Cross Franklin Ave bridge feeling good and don’t bust up the hills – stay even and consistent. Well good wouldn’t be the word I would choose to describe my feeling crossing Franklin. The slight incline of the bridge, which hadn’t bothered me in training, seemed steep enough. Not a good sign. I was starting to feel the exhaustion and pain set in. I stopped at mile 20 which has the ALARC Wall to try and stretch my IT Band/hip – to no real avail. And walked for the first time later that mile on the hill up to Lake Street, but was able to run/jog up the St Thomas hill before trying to finish up Summit. D

Run the tangents, unless it is really sunny – then run the shade. I felt like I ran the tangents pretty well throughout the first half. I can’t really remember as well about the second half but almost half of that is straight up Summit – so I’ll say it went pretty well. As a group we tacked on some extra mileage evading huge water puddles. I’m not sure if it really mattered or not, but seemed like the right thing to do. My overall Garmin distance ranged from 26.4 – 26.68 (depending on the program) so that wasn’t toooo bad. There was no sun! I’ll go with a B.

Stay consistent but start reeling in the runners while cruising up Summit. Hmm consistent is not quite my middle name! In this last section, when I was running my pace was fairly consistent. The key word being “when.” I walked a total of 4 times during the last 10K and 3 times in the last 4 miles. I took the extreme opposite meaning of “cruise” for this part of the course!! I walked for right about 3 minutes during each of the breaks but only stopped once more to stretch. That was a mistake – it was really hard to start walking again! Each time I picked a mark on the course and said I have to run when I hit that spot. I think if I had maintained a slower pace during the running portions I could have cut out a walk break. I actually did pass people while I was running again each time. One of my training partners passed me with about 3 to go or so and encouraged me. This section really really hurt! D+

Kickin to the end!

When you see the Cathedral – bust a move and kick it on the downhill finish. Well I busted something… Comparatively I was busting a move – even though it didn’t feel like it! Mile 21 included my first walk break and was my first mile over 8 (and actually 9) minute pace. The last 1.2 miles were all under 9 minute pace, so in comparison that was a kick!!! A group of MDRA runners/friends were at mile 24-25 somewhere in there and I like this quote from their blog, “Nick Cross who did his best to block us out, but couldn’t resist the cowbell.” I was so out of it, that it took me a while to realize someone was cheering me on by name, then I looked and recognized the faces… but had no energy to really acknowledge them. Did I gesture in your direction?? After seeing them and being so close, I knew I couldn’t walk any more. The downhill was pounding. The last 0.2 miles hurt a lot, my muscles were seizing up on me and saying NO MORE, PLEASE STOP NOW. Eugene, my college buddy from mile 17, yelled “get the girl in yellow”… so I did, but that was all the energy I had. Raise my arms for the finish picture and shuffle, shiver, and ache through the finish area! B

And for the record, Halie Gebrselassie’s quote from his recent WR two Sunday‘s ago did not come out of my lips:

“Today, I’m so, so, so happy. Everything was perfect today”

My overall score… Let’s call it a B or B-. Ok, I know I am being a little hard on myself – this is the first marathon, its a learning game. Take it and learn… I will, but I have to be hard on myself to make sure I learn from it. Yes, I’m disappointed I missed my 3:10 goal. Yes I’m excited about finishing. Yes, I’ll take a 3:25 marathon debut. And… Yes I’ll probably do another one!

[tags] Marathon, Twin Cities Marathon, Twin Cities, Race Review[/tags]

Marathon Training: Week 18

Quick Marathon Post

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I just woke up from a short nap following the marathon debut. It was a cool pretty much perfect start at 8am that turned miserable with a deluge of rain for 4-5 miles starting around 7. I hit the wall shortly after 20 and finished in 3:25.

I finished and am now a marathoner!!

I’ll have a more in-depth review later this week but wanted to let you know. Thanks for all the spectators who endured nasty weather this morning and for all those who cheered me on!

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