Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon - RunMarathon


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Minneapolis, Minnesota
United States
Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon
77F / 25C
Sunny
Total Time = 4h 52m 46s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Toast and PB a couple hours beforehand.
Event warmup:

Got a good stretch on. No reason to run around much to warm up because it was already too stinkin' warm.
Run
  • 4h 52m 46s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 11m 10s  min/mile
Comments:

First marathon. Well, a PR is a PR, I guess. After spending most of the summer not running at all with a stress fracture, the wise runner would have probably skipped this one. That person is not I. Knowing full well I was way underprepared, I figured I paid the fee, so I might as well have a go. Ran (rather started to run) with a buddy who is well faster than me, even when I am fit. He hadn't trained as much as he liked, and claimed that he would just go at whatever pace I wanted, and have a good time with it. He lied. Looking at my splits, I would say I last saw him fading in the distance around mile 6. I obviously went out too fast to really have a smart race, and most of the rest of the day was a struggle. I walked a lot, at irregular intervals. A lovely group of people around mile 18.5 probably were responsible for me breaking 5 hours. I was pretty down at that point, and they were handing out little cups of beer (good beer, at that - James Page!) - just what I needed! That probably got me through at least the next 4 miles. The highlight was when a blister that I knew formed on my pinky toe around mile 3 broke wide open at mile 26.1 - literally as I was about 150 yards from the finish line. I was actually running and I wasn't about to quit at that point, so if there is a finish line photo, I am likely grimacing and run/skipping in a sideways manner so as to minimize impact to my little toe. Lovely. Chalk the whole thing up to a good learning experience.
What would you do differently?:

Many, many things. I am glad to have finished, though, so I'll save the real performance critiques for after a run that I go into feeling like I am prepared.

A couple small items: 1) Nip Guards are a rip-off. Both sweated off my nipples within 4 miles. 2) Chafing sucks. Must basically bathe myself in Body Glide next time. 3) Avoid the Apple Pie flavored Clif Shots. I am sure people actually get hungry enough that it tastes reasonable, but I don't plan on ever being that hungry.
Post race
Warm down:

Immediately removed shoes, hobbled around to find my stuff and my family.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Training, heat.

Event comments:

Volunteers were great. Kickass long sleeve technical finisher shirt!




Last updated: 2007-01-11 12:00 AM
Running
04:52:46 | 26.2 miles | 11m 10s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Below average
9.40, 9.02, 9.05, 8.37, 8.54, 9.16, 9.43, 9.51, 9.45, 10.16, 10.12, 10.30, 11.54, 12.19, 11.32, 13.11, 11.08, 13.35, 12.46, 11.46, 11.25, 13.34, 13.35, 15.07, 11.27, 12.18, 2.05
Course: Rollers, nothing too steep, lots of flats. Wind around the lakes, then up and down the river, then inland again.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4