Twin Cities Marathon/USA Marathon Championships

It's been more than a week since the USA Marathon Championships, and I think it's time to post my thoughts on this wonderful race.  I've spoken to many friends about how the race turned out, and the positives and negatives I took away from the weekend, but haven't quite put it into written context.  One thing I want to touch base on, is how well I felt leading up to this marathon, compared to how busy I was with "life".  This marathon was my second fastest marathon (2:20:57), and as a full time teacher, I can honestly say I was happy with the out come.  My fastest marathon came when I was finishing up Grad School, and student-teaching; nowhere near as stressful as having your own class(es).  Nevertheless, there are many different factors that I took away from this cycle compared to my PR cycle.  And that's what I'll be comparing the most.

So the weekend started off as soon as I got off work the Friday before the race.  I was done with my 2nd grade class at 2:50pm, and Arlene and Loren were in the parking lot ready to go.  Our flight was at 4:10pm, so we were cutting it a little close.  But of course we made it into Minneapolis without incident.  Liz was there at 10:30pm to pick us up, and we in bed at midnight after some chatting and late night snacks.  Arlene, Liz and myself slept in till about 9am, and went on a short 30min shake out run.  A pleasant jog through some Minneapolis parks and some light drills were enough for me.  Once we got ready, the whole group of Turner's (Liz, her mom and dad) took me to the host hotel and let me relax on my own.

I ventured around a little bit on Saturday to the elite hospitality suite and to a local coffee shop for a decaf vanilla latte.  The majority of the afternoon was set aside towards getting my bottles ready, and watching movies in the hotel room.  I had a nice time catching up with John and Ariel Heitzman for lunch, but besides that, I wasn't doing a whole lot.  And once it was time for dinner, Arlene and company came and picked me up for an awesome dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory - one of my favorite places on earth!  John and Ariel were there, along with many other Albuquerqeños.  Dinner was amazing, and then it was time for a long night of nerves and tossing & turning.

Race morning provided us with some perfect weather!  I had my usual breakfast, and boarded the elite bus.  I sat with an old friend of mine; Nick Arciniaga, and we chatted a bit about race nerves and goals.  I knew he was going to race well when he pointed out how nervous he was.  I also had a feeling that I was going to run well too, but things slightly changed.  Once, we got to the staging area, I got in a short warm up and was ready to go.  I knew there would be a solid pack of runners in the front going out in 66:00 for the half, so I didn't want anything to do with that.  I was looking for a 68 minute group.  Well, after about a half a mile, the race looked like a tear drop, with a ton of guys in the front group, and a dwindle of guys stringing out to where I was.  I would guess I was in about 30th place at the mile, which was hit in 5:14.  I wasn't wearing a watch, so after that I had no real idea of where I was at.  Mbarak came up on me just after the mile and I was with him for a bit, but wanted to catch anyone in front of me.  I saw another familiar head up front - Solomon Kandie, so I raced up to his little group of 4 runners.  Once I caught them, I decided to keep the momentum and continue on.  I felt pretty comfortable running by myself and catching a guy or two every mile, but that ended when I reached the halfway point.

When I came up on the clock at 13.1 miles, I had no idea that the clocks were off.  The clock read 66:47 when I passed it, and I was a little freaked out at how fast that could've been.  In reality I came through the half in 68:24, a time I wanted to be at, but I didn't know it at the time.  So, I was thinking that I was going to blow up hard.  Another thought I had was that I might blow up a little and still run a pr or the Olympic Trials Standard.  Either way, the wheels came off at around 20 miles.  I remember two guys coming up on me at 18 miles, one Hansons guy and a BRC guy.  A tried to run with the Hansons guy for about a mile, then faded off of him and attempted to run with the BRC guy.  We ran a few strides together, and I asked him his name.  "Sean", is what he said, and then he wanted us to work together.  I've heard that phrase so many times in the later stages of a marathon, and always believe I can stick with them to the finish.  Well, in this case, I ran another mile with Sean and faded.

I came to the hill at mile 20, and slugged myself up it, and kept on moving until Mbarak and Solomon caught me at mile 22.  Again, I rallied myself to go with them, and faded at mile 24.  The last 2 miles were a struggle, and once I could see the clock, I made out a 2:20 something ticking away.  I wasn't too surprised, and still didn't want that number to tick any higher, so I kicked it in to finish 20th in 2:20:57.

After all the mayhem at the finish, and getting ready to come home to Albuquerque, I started to assess my training.  I figured I had a solid 19 weeks of high mileage, but once I plugged the numbers in, it turned out to average 87 miles a week.  This was a little surprising to me!  I now know that working really takes a ton of time, but if I can squeeze a few more miles in, I know my performance in the marathon will improve.  2:20 is a good start to another training cycle, and a great spring marathon attempt at the standard.  Cheers to many more miles!    

From Instagram user bethholine

Grandma's Marathon Recap

I wouldn't say it was a GREAT race, but it was a great effort for me!  A 2:22:44 finishing time, and a 15th place finish are in the record books for the 2012 Grandma's marathon.  And of course, I wish it went a lot better...

After the race(from left: Dana, Lauren, me, Arlene)

The entire trip was another great experience, as Arlene and I flew into Minneapolis, MN. and drove up to Duluth.  We also had some really great friends in Superior, Wisconsin that were excited for everyone to be up in Duluth racing the marathon.  John and Ariel Heitzman use to live in Albuquerque with their manly 2 yr. old baby, but decided to move back to the midwest to raise another child (Ariel is pregnant and will be due in August) in the fertile lands by lake Superior.  So, it was great to see them the entire weekend.

Well, I guess I could talk about the race now.  I had my usual, half-awoken nights rest, until about 3 hours before the start of the race when I can official get out of bed and begin the pre-marathon routine.  It's nothing special; just oatmeal, coffee, and enough liquids to stay hydrated, as the forecast would be warm and very humid.  Arlene and I went to the Starbucks downstairs for breakfast and nervously ate in our hotel room.  Over 90 percent humidity would be waiting for us at the starting line in Two Harbors, so the required guzzling of water and Powerbar drink was essential during breakfast as well.  I would find myself nibbling nervously on a Powerbar as well.

Once we had all our gear ready, we headed downstairs to the shuttles.  The "Elite" shuttles were scheduled to leave at 5:45am, along with the other shuttles, but I just rode with Arlene and we enjoyed the long bus ride to the start.  It almost brought back some memories of CIM, but it wasn't cold enough for me to be shivering as much as I was on that December morning bus ride to the start.  Once we got off, settled down, and completed a short warm up to sweat even more, the start would only be seconds away.

Now, since it was warm, I was going to start off conservative and attempt to finish strong.  My first mile with the large pack of runners was hit in 5:33, and felt much slower than that.  Once many runners around me saw that split, they took off and started pounding each other over the pavement.  I tried to keep my cool, and stay within myself until at least halfway.  Even trying to keep it easy, the next mile was 5:12, and I found myself in the company of 3 other runners.  Mubarak, and 2 other runners with Utah running stores printed on their singlets composed our little 4 man pack.  I took advantage of being around other runners to share the work, and we cruised along the river road clicking off the miles between 5:11-5:17 pace.

I was able to place 8 tiny 8ounce sport top water bottles on the course, and consumed them with ease.  I also taped 4 Powerbar Energy Gels to the bottles that were located at mile: 7, 11, 17 & 21.... I think.  There were a lot of aid stations, and I don't remember exactly which ones had Powerbar Energy Gels tapped to them.  Regardless, I found myself grabbing water, ice and wet sponges at all the aid stations to stay cool, and keep my head wet.  By mile 11 the small pack started to fade, and I could sense the other 2 guys, who appeared to be from Utah start to lose contact.  We came through that mile in 5:22, and knew I had to make the decision to run my own race at my own effort.

Once I ventured on for another mile, I would see that Mubarak stayed in contact, and was running strong.  He came up beside me, and we worked together until I lost contact with him.  I started to feel that bogging sensation and checked my watch after I had missed the last 3 mile splits.  15:59 for 3 miles,  that's 5:20 pace, so I guess I wasn't slowing down much.  Mubarak still carried a decent lead on me, but I wanted to stay comfortable for the next 4 miles, which would get me to the 20 mile mark, and then I would reassess myself, and start to "hammer".  But that mentality wasn't a smart one to have.

The next 4 miles were significantly slower, and I started to lose my rhythm.  And even though Mubarak stopped ahead of me to stretch out his tight Achilles, as I passed him, I went from a comfortable 5:20 pace, to 5:30's, then 5:40's and finally running 5:50's.  The 20 mile mark came, and I knew I couldn't quite "hammer" it home.  I started to think about how to bring the pace back down, and stay positive.  I was thinking so much, that when I came up to my bottle at mile 21, I passed by the table without even noticing it.  I was about 15 meters past the table, and realized that I needed that fuel, and turned around to run back and grab it.  Believe me, it was easy to stop, turn around to run backwards on a marathon course, then grab the bottle and resume pace.  I think I ran a 5:56 that mile, so I knew I could stay strong and not hit any miles in the 6 minute range.  Only 5 miles to go, and the weather started to cool as I entered Duluth.

The clapping, and screaming of a few people felt candescent, as suppose to the silence that occupied most of the point-to-point race course as Duluth approached.  The light mist of a thick cloud loomed over the last 4 miles or so of the course, and felt amazing.  I was fading, but with the help of the cooler temperatures I was able to finish stronger that anticipated.  I was now in the 5:40 range, and actually ran a 5:28 mile for my 25th mile in the city.  I was also doing the math and calculating my finish time if I could maintain a certain pace, and knew I wasn't going to venture into 2:23 territory.  And in most cases, when you attempt to do the math, it's usually a very bad sign.  But I sorta kept it together and finished relatively strong, with a 2:22.

I was a little disappointed at first, but after realizing that this is just another race, and I have many more to prepare for, I became more content.  I also was hoping that Arlene would PR, and when I saw John and Ariel, they told me how amazing she was doing and should be on 3:15 pace.  We watched by the finish, and I saw her come in at 3:14, which is a 14minute PR!!!  So, that was exciting.  And after thinking about the course, I have come to realize that I really enjoyed that course.  It's nice a slightly rolling, but can be very fast with the right conditions!  I would definitely do this race again as a late spring marathon.


Mile Splits:

1- 5:33
2- 5:13
3- 5:11
4- 5:13
5- 5:12
6- 5:11
7&8- 10:34
9- 5:22
10- 5:12
11- 5:22
12, 13&14- 15:59
15- 5:27
16- 5:19

The joy of a marathon

17- 5:27
18- 5:35
19- 5:28
20- 5:52
21- 5:56
22- 5:42
23- 5:50
24- 5:42
25- 5:28
26- 5:40

The home stretch

The pain of the marathon