Today was the 25th running of the Twin Cities Marathon. This was my 2nd TCM, and I was out to battle the "gremlins" that slowed me down the first time up Summit Avenue. "Gremlins" or simply bad nutrition and poor race plan, call it what you want. But I bonked big time in the final 6 miles of my previous TCM.
This year I wanted to stay smart, and run strong those last, long 6 miles up Summit. I had also hoped to beat my PR (set at TCM that year) of 4:09. Initially, that was secondary, but I knew deep down as I toed the line this morning, coming in as close to 4 hours as I could would really be the main goal.
The horn blew at 8am outside the metrodome, and on a clear, sunny morning we were off. Myself and 10,000 others. It took me awhile to get across the line, nearly 7 minutes, but thankfully what really counts is chip time.
The crowds are pretty thick those first couple miles, so I just allowed my legs to warm up and monitored my breathing. I felt good. I tried to use the downhill stretches as much as I could to help build a bit of a pace cushion. It worked. I logged multiple sub-9 min miles (9 out of the first 13 miles), but by then I could tell that I had probably gone out too fast... At 8 miles my legs thought that a 10 mile run would have been ok, then by 10 miles, a half marathon would've been perfect, and by 13, it was time to play mind games. It's not that I was in any real trouble yet, I just knew from experience how bad it was going to hurt. And I wasn't sure how soon before it was going to hurt 'really bad.' I kept thinking back to Grand Island, and how much those last couple miles hurt, and that was on trail! My feet were already starting to bark from all the pavement. But I kept on moving.
My pace stayed in the mid 9min pace range until I passed mile 20 and the ALARC wall. I knew that Matt would be there and a bunch of others, so I put on my game face and kept on moving. The motivation from that kept me going into mile 21. By mile 22 I was starting to slow me down. I managed to keep running, but I knew it was still 4 more miles. And even though I'd done many mulitples of 4 today, those last 4 miles felt like a long way! I allowed myself to walk more than I had earlier in the race at the aid stations, up to a full minute. Then it was back to running, because as much as I wanted to stop, it hurt just as bad to walk as it did to run, so I'd better buck up and run it in!
Nutitionally I was fine this race. The longer distance triathlons and having 4 marathons behind me has really helped get that in order. I knew exactly what to do, and when to do it, and I never felt funny. That is so important. Especially as I watched the ambulances come screaming up to the race course to load fallen runners.
It was a warm day for a fall marathon, with temps hitting 80 by mid-afternoon. It felt warmer than that after having the previous 3 weeks with below average temps. I don't think anyone was ready for the warmer day!
Today was a good race for me. I managed to bring home a 4+ minute PR with a finishing chip time of 4:05:13. This was a great way to wrap up a season of fun events. I do think it'll take me awhile to recover from this one, so I'd better take it easy for awhile. Until next time, as a fellow runner used to say, "Run fast, take chances."
You might be amazed what you can do.
Kate
