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Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon - Run


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Minneapolis, Minnesota
United States
Twin Cities in Motion
50F / 10C
Precipitation
Total Time = 4h 50m
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Woke up around 6am for the 8am start race, ate a Clif Bar and drank some Powerade, otherwise didn't really feel like eating anything else, stomach was a bit grumbly. Walked down to the race start from the hotel which was probably 3/4 mile. Then sat inside the Metrodome to stay warm and meet up with a few friends. Ate a Stinger waffle about 15 minutes prior to start then a Gu about 5 minutes before the start.
Event warmup:

Warm up was the walk to the start line and some light stretching.
Run
  • 4h 50m
  • 26.2 miles
  • 11m 04s  min/mile
Comments:

This is a great marathon, my first year doing it. I've always done the TC 10 Mile, which skips the first 18 miles of the marathon so I've never run around the lakes in Uptown before. It's not an easy marathon course, but not necessarily difficult either, I just wouldn't categorize it as a good BQ course or PR race.

Everything about today was done on a whim. I decided the day before the race to go ahead and do the marathon. I hadn't signed up for either race, I had a bib for the 10 mile from an injured friend, then last minute I was able to get one for the marathon from another injured runner. I was supposed to do 20 this weekend anyways, getting ready for NY Marathon, so why not just run a marathon and have my long training run catered?

I ended up going out way too fast and ran the first 13.1 in about 2:07. Considering I was planning on just taking it easy and finishing around 5 hours, that was not what I should have done. By mile 16 I was having some aches and pains so I decided to just take it easy and walk run my way into the finish. My thought process was that if this was NY, and I didn't have anything for two months, I would have pushed through the pain and tried to keep up my pace for a huge PR, however the last thing I wanted to do was run hard enough that I had to take two weeks off to recover from this.

Highlight of the day? The homeless man sitting on the side of the course around mile 6 or 7, smoking a big fat joint. Just right there on the side of the race course with all kinds of other people around cheering for us. Nice.
What would you do differently?:

I probably should have gone out a big slower. I'm going to have to figure out over the next few weeks what my plan will be for NY, then I've got to stick to that plan!
Post race
Warm down:

Made my way through the post-race food and drink lines, grabbed my sweats bag as fast as possible to get something warm to put on. Went and got my Women's small shirt (because don't forget I played the part of a 25 year old female today), then made my way to the buses back to Mpls. and the car. Drove down to the big mall (MOA) to pick up the kids who were with some friends there, walked around a bunch and ate alot.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Fear of injury or extended recovery from the race. Didn't want to screw up NY Marathon next month.

Event comments:

This is a great race, certainly ought to be on everyone's list of must-do marathons in the US. If you're looking for your 50 states or whatever then come do this one! Super organized (31 years running), tons of volunteers and you're never anywhere on the course without crowd support. Literally, you can't run more than 30 feet without fans cheering.




Last updated: 2013-10-07 12:00 AM
Running
04:50:00 | 26.2 miles | 11m 04s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Course: Point to point course, starts at the Metrodome in downtown Mpls., heads into Uptown and around all the lakes for the first 18 miles, then crosses over into St. Paul and runs down the river then up onto Summit Ave. for 5 miles down to the Capitol building in St. Paul. Beautiful race course, well deserving of the official title, "Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in the US".
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2013-10-07 8:18 AM

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Expert
1544
100050025
Alexandria, MN
Subject: Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon


2013-10-07 4:37 PM
in reply to: #4872110

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Champion
10018
50005000
, Minnesota
Bronze member
Subject: RE: Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon
I'm glad you were able to pull back in favor of recovery for NY.  That will be such an exciting race (and I am way jealous).   Good job on making the most of your training run
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