Twin Cities Marathon Report

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Short story -- Chip time 4:20:10 -- a 10:57 PR...

Much longer story:

Rolled into town with my family Friday late Friday evening. On Saturday we went to the expo to pick up my packet and spent some time with Coachmarkos and his wife. We went back to my wife's sisters house where we were staying and had a nice spaghetti dinner, the only thing that was missing was a nice glass or two of red wine. Wink

We got the kids down and I managed to make it to bed shortly after 9 and slept very soundly until about 2:30. From then until about 4:30 I was wide awake...finally fell back into a deep sleep just as the alarm went off around 5:15. I got up and took a warm shower and then grabbed a bananna and a piece of cinnamon bread. Amy was kind enough to get up and drive me down to the Metrodome where I patiently waited for the race to start.

It was rainy and kind of a miserable day on Saturday and the forecast for Sunday was a low in the lower 50s with temps reaching highs in the lower 70s. As we were driving to the start I spotted a bank sign that reported that it was already 55 degrees at 6:30am and I feared that once the sun came up that going to be warm side.

After spending about an hour pacing around the Metrodome with other anxious runners it was time to head to the starting line. I lined up near the 4:15 pace group. I didn't intend to run with the group but it would be nice to now where they were throughout the race since I hoped to finish around 4:15.

As I was lining up Coachmarkos spotted me on his way up to the 3:30 starting area and we chatted for a couple of minutes and then wished each other luck before settling in and waiting for the race to start.

The race started and not having run in a couple of days, it took me a little bit to find a comfortable pace. I missed the first mile marker and slowed a little bit on the second mile because I wanted to make sure that I didn't go out too fast because in the back of my mind I was still a little worried that it might get warm before the end of the race. Somehow I missed the second mile marker as well, but I wasn't too concerned because I could see the 4:15 pace team about 20-30 seconds ahead of me. Mile 3 came and I finally was able to hit the lap split on my watch at 29:27, a couple seconds slower then I wanted but that was okay, since if I was going to err early I wanted it to be on the conservative side. During mile 4 we left the downtown Minneapolis area and headed through the first of the chain of lakes. The streets were lined with enthusiastic spectators. My legs were loose and feeling strong. I let the the excitement get the better of me and was only a little surprised when my watch showed 9:09 for the mile.

I was feeling really good at this point and flirted with the idea of trying to hold this pace for a couple of miles to see how it felt. While it may have been possible to maintain for awhile I was concerned how I would feel at 18-20 at this pace and not wanting to crawl through the last 10k. Common sense prevailed because and I took it down a notch to 9:30. Mile 6 was a water stop and I ran into a crowd trying to get water and spent a little more time there then I would've liked to but still clicked it off in 9:48. I missed another marker at mile 7 but by now I'd settled into a pretty comfortable pace and was pretty sure I was running between 9:30-9:40 and my 2 mile split at mile 8 confirmed this at 18:59.

It was now 1:15 into the race and the temp and overcast skies didn't budge a bit since the start and my 6th sense told me that it wasn't going to as it started to mist just a bit. As it turned out this is the way it would stay throughout the race.

I was really pumped at this point of the race. The course was beautiful, the spectators were numerous and enthusiastic and while there were enough participants so that you were never running alone, it wasn't so crowded that you had to continuously dodge slower runners or worry about stray elbows. I took up a notch over the next couple of miles. I planned on evaluating how I was feeling at mile 8 and adjust pace upwards if I was feeling good. My legs were strong and mile 9 came in at 9:16, mile 10 -- 9:34, mile 11 -- 9:23 and mile 12 -- 9:30. I was running alot more even at this point then it might appear as the water stops were still pretty crowded and I lost a couple of seconds on 10 and 12.

Mile 13 included the last in the series of 4 lakes and this was also were I was expecting to see my own little personal cheering section. I was still holding a pretty good pace (9:27) when I spotted my family and gave everybody a quick smile and put my head down to get to the halfway point (2:06). I was feeling pretty good about my chances to hit 4:15 at this point. I'm not sure what happened at 14 but I started to slow a little as my concentration drifted just for a bit (9:50). But I picked it up without much problem for 15 at 9:25. I wasn't struggling to maintain pace at this point but I was getting a little stiff and did begin to feel that I needed to work just a little bit harder at this point. Mile 16 came in at 9:46. I missed another mile marker at 17 and was just concentrating on staying loose. I stumbled across an open port-a-john during the 18th mile, which I'd been looking forward too for about the last 10-12 miles, so I lost a little time but felt much more comfortable having emptied my bladder. Mile 17 and 18, including trip to john came in at 20:39, I estimated that I lost about 40 seconds during the 'side trip' so my pace was slowing to about the 10 minute range. This was confirmed over the next 2 miles, both 19 and 20 were clocked at 10:02.

This is where the course gets a little tougher as the uphill portion of the race begins, just as you past the 20 barrier. I was still able to maintain a 10:13 for 21. Mile 22 is the toughest of the race and my pace slowed to accomodate it at 11:05. The 4:15 pace group (which was literally just the leader at this point) passed me climbing the hill and as much as I wanted to, I just wasn't able to tag along.

I can't say that I hit the 'wall' at least in the sense that I did in my first marathon, I was very stiff and sore and hit mile 23 at 11:12. Now the course had evened out again, and I remembered a passage in Glover's 'Competitive Runner's Handbook' that said when you were tired and sore, sometimes you would actually start to feel a little better if you picked up your pace a little, since you'd start taxing other muscles.

So I consciously started to pick it up and I was feeling better both mentally and physically...when my left calf cramped badly for a couple of seconds. I'd had problems with this calf since straining it on a tempo run in early August. While it was quiet up to this point in the race, I had ugly visions of it cinching up and having to walk the last 3 miles. I kept trying to push it a little at the same time being a bit wary not to overdo it because of my calf. Every quarter mile it would tighten and I'd begin shaking my head until it went away. The specatators must of thought I was having an interesting conversation with myself as I'd be running along fine and then all of a sudden begin shaking my head 'no' wildly for a second or two before proceding as if nothing had happened. Smile

But I was able to pick it up a bit to a 10:46 pace for 24. I knew it would be over soon and shook my head through 25 at 10:42 and then just concentrated on a smooth finish. I knew that I still had an outside chance at 4:20 so I tried to maintain an even pace through 26. The last 1/4 mile is downhill and I still had enough to put together a pretty good kick and managed a 12.13 for the last 1.22, crossing the line at 4:20:10.

I was extremely satisfied with my effort. When I started training, I'd hoped for a chance to break 4 hours but after coming down with a virus in mid August and missing a full week and then taking a couple of more weeks to fully regain my strength, this was a good effort. As recently as 3 weeks ago, I was considering not running because after struggling to regain my strength after being sick I wasn't satisfied with the state of my training.

I finished in much better shape then my first marathon. Even though my marathon training didn't go as planned, I had a much better base entering this marathon. I hit a pretty hard wall at mile 22 during my first one and really had to struggle to complete the last 4 miles. Yesterday, I gradually started to decline around 18, but I never felt mentally that this wasn't going to have a good outcome and I was able to keep a positive attitude throughout. I finished this one feeling strong and know with the right training that I will have a real decent shot at 4 hours during the next year or so...once I get there: look out Boston!

On the downside, I suffered very little soreness after my first marathon...I'm making up for that now as I can literally feel every single muscle in my legs right now. Smile

I can't say enough about this race. The organization was fantastic, the course beautiful, 280,000 enthusiastic specatators...if you have a chance to run this one please do. It's the best race of any distance that I've ever run, which is quite a compliment.

Thanks once again to my virtual training group and my lovely partner Camelia Bedelia for all there support...it takes more then one to be able to do this and still hold any semblance of a family together.

Well time to think about recovery and then consider my future plans...(maybe Madison in the spring?)...

---
megawill

Master of Prissface

Jerry, what a great report!!! I felt like I was there the whole way......although without the next day muscle soreness Wink

Congrats on that awesome PR, too....you rock!! I know how concerned you were a few weeks ago after having been sick, and I'm glad you did so well! That's interesting what you said about picking it up when you're tired and taxing different muscles, I'm going to try that in my next long race and see if it works.

You're an inspiration to us all, buddy....I'm really proud of ya! Hope you guys can make it to Madison! Mr. Green

Excelent

Congats on the PR Jerry. Great report.

Member

awesome race and the race report was a great read
Congratulations!!

Member

Excellent report Jerry, congrats on the new PR also, sounds like you had a very enjoyable weekend. Glad you were able to have your own private cheering section there also, that always adds something special to a race, hopefully I'll see you in Madison-cjay

Adjunct

nice pr 10 minutes is heck of a job

Member

Excellent job and report, Jerry! Was hoping to make it down there to watch a little of the race, but was stuck in Plymouth with the boy. Can't wait to see you in Madison!

my boys could swim

Great Report Jerry!

This is gonna make mine look pretty weak! My report that is.

Member

Great report Mega! Congrats on having such a great race and on setting such a big PR! Smile

Member

Member

Great report and even better race, Jerry! Congrats on the PR! I love your mental fortitude, shaking your head and telling your calf no, it wasn't going to ruin your run. Great!
TCM was my first marathon. An absolutely beautiful course.

Member

Who's my Daddy?

[scroll:e68f0f75f1]M E G A W I L L ! ! ![/scroll:e68f0f75f1]

Congratulations Mega! and thanks for the detailed and finely written report. It's like I was right next to you the whole time (of course I would've been on a motorized scooter)...

Oh, and the mafia thanks you for your generous contribution!

joel

The Pinball

congrats on a well-run race and a great report.

buttslap to CB for holding things together too cheers

minding sweetpea for the weekend is a marathon in itself Wink

Gone Fishin

PR, PR! Good going on #2. When I ran the full 26.2 at TCM two years ago it was definitely the spectators that impressed me. What a crowd. The 10miler must have been too early for them though. Mostly the last few miles had crowds is all. Madison is a must on the calendar Wink

Member

Madison is a must on the calendar Wink

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??????why???? or........better yet.....can I talk ya out of it? jk.....but don't expect much other than a beautiful run.

sue

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