I made it, marathon number 3 is now behind me! My time- although short of my goal- was a 5 second improvement over my spring marathon time. Things didn't go exactly as I had planned but overall it was probably the most enjoyable of the 3 marathons I've run.
It started Saturday with the expo - packet pickup was a breeze! We milled around the expo for a bit - everything and anything related to running and then some. Fun to look at all that stuff. I realized none of it was going to actually make me any faster- It would just make me
look like I was faster. Saturday night I carbo-loaded on an giant bowl of Pad Thai. My family had a spectator strategy session, I laid out all my stuff for Sunday and I was off to bed!
Sunday morning I was dropped off around 6:30AM near the Metrodome and made my way inside for warmth. The weather was looking good- light drizzle on the way there but looked like the skys were clearing. Temp was about 40F very light breeze. I wandered around the concourse of the Metrodome and just took it all in. It was a riot to see everyone practicing their pre-race rituals. Some strange stretches I'd never seen before, interesting use of garbage bags, a few people sleeping on the floor, lots of folks drinking massive amounts of sports drink and water, and many bananas and energy bars being consumed. Around 7:15AM I headed outside. I ditched my sweats in my bag and loaded them up on the truck to St. Paul. I wandered to the start area and lined up near the 4:15 pace group in corral 2. Myself and 10,000 others stood quite for the national anthem. As if on que the sun broke through the clouds and brighten up downtown Minneapolis.
The horn sounded and corral 1 was off. Corral 2 moved up to to the line and a few minuets later we were off. The start was good. For as many people as there were I expected more chaos. Everybody kept moving right along at a good pace. Compared to the Fargo Marathon start this was 100 fold better! I was sticking close to the 4:15 pace group. The leader 'Star' told us she was going to run 9:40 miles so we would have some time in the bank for the decent hill around mile 22. Sounded fine to me? We made our way through downtown, which was amazing - something about running through the urban canyon is exciting. The buildings faded away and the bells of the Basilica could be heard. The closer we got the louder and louder they rang. When we passed the Basilica it was so loud I could feel the ringing in my chest. An exhilarating way to leave downtown Minneapolis. I sharp turn to the left and a slight hill and there was the first bank of potra-potties - of course they were all full but that didn't stop the 150 people that "had to go" from using the near by wooden fence- quite a sight!
We had left downtown and were in a neighborhood now- crowd support was heavy! Lots of music, cheering and cow bell of course! Star - our firey pace leader began telling us how we were going to do this in 4:15:00. She frequently had to stop because the crowd was too loud for her to be heard. She warned that the first water stop was similar to a bar fight and to be prepared. I knew from my previous races she was not kidding. I experienced it first hand when I took an elbow to the ribs from a 5'4" 110lbs woman who was determined to get water ahead of me. Once I had my cup I slowed to walk and tried to stay out of the way!
Around mile 5 or 6 I saw my family - a welcomed sight! They were cheering loud and it gave me a needed boost. At this point I was feeling good - just another day running! As planned, I walked the water stop without loosing the pace group. Star and her ramblings were starting to get to me now. I enjoyed not having to worry about my pace and just sticking with the group but the marathoning lessons were getting old. I decided to run a bit ahead of the group where there was a little more open road.
Around mile 9 or 10 The pace group had almost 2 minuets in the bank! I think Star was running a little fast. I was OK with it - I'd much rather have a little extra than not enough. I was starting to feel it a little bit by now and I knew it wasn't going to be a walk in the park to finish.
We rounded another lake and it was the half way point. I was ahead of pace. The legs were getting tired but I had faith they would make it. Star thought it would be nice if we each went around and said where we were from and told a little about ourselves. At that point I had about had it with the yaking but I didn't want to leave the group. I tried to tune it out - it wasn't easy. I spotted the family again and their cheers gave me another boost.
I came upon the dreaded 16th mile - where I have faltered each time before. I could tell it was unlikely my legs were going to make it without cramping to the end but they were doing good for now. By mile 17 I could feel twitching in my legs - not a good sign! I slowed down and let the pace group go- I walked another water stop. At that point it was 1 mile at a time. 17 miles meant it was a single digit count down to the finish. I made it to 18- no cramps. Almost to 19 and bam I cramped up. Uggh!
I had been here before so I didn't let it break my spirit. I slowed down and walked when I felt a cramp coming on. At mile 19 I was still ahead of pace by a little bit. We crossed the bridge into St. Paul and that's when the real fun started! The first bit took us along the river nice and easy running with an occasional walk break to ward off cramps.
Turned a corner and I saw the dreaded campus of St. Thomas - it was hill time. You actually can't tell Summit Ave. is much of a hill at all but after 20 miles your legs definitely knew it was a hill. I struggled through a lot of it walking a good portion. At some point I felt pretty good and started running at a decent 9:50 pace. I kept that up for over a mile- I saw my family and told them I felt great- I wasn't lying- at that point I did feel great.
The next few miles were kind of a blur. I walked, shuffled, stopped to stretch, ran slowly and generally tried to make forward progress. After mile 25 you could see the top of the cathedral which marked almost done! There was a little downhill and a turn and there was the whole cathedral in view. It was enormous and with my mental state at that point in the race a very strange but awesome sight.
A few more little turns and I could see mile 26. I could see the capital. It was all downhill from here. That turned out to be not a good thing. My legs were not into going downhill. They weren't really into doing anything at this point. The streets were lined with people for this final stretch. I knew I had to run - I could not let myself walk this part of the race! I ran but slow - I guess it was more of a shuffle. People were blowing by me like I was a statue. I wanted to take off running full speed so badly but I knew I'd cramp up and roll like a ball to the finish. All I could think of was the collective gasp of the crowd if I fell down because I cramped up! I Frankenstein shuffled with cramped up legs and a ton of pain to the finish.
4 hours 33 minutes and 22 seconds after it started I was finished!
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