Today was one of firsts.
It was my first run after the marathon. My legs felt good and I felt pretty good too. My hamstring still twinges, but it hasn't caused a problem yet, just worry.
It was my first run EVER with my college roommate Wendi. She has gotten the running bug! (big sly grin here!) When I talked to her late in summer she mentioned doing a 5K together. THEN the next time I talked to her she said she had just run a 10 miler!!! Sneaky Women!
It was great to share the love of running with her along the lake shore of Milwaukee. Maybe that is why my first run after the marathon didn't seem so bad. I was just enjoying the moment being with one of my best friends in life while doing something so great! And just LOVING it! One more thing we can share together.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Twin Cities Race Report
It is time to report on the Twin Cities Marathon! Great weather, amazing spectators. The spectators are second only to Chicago. There was hardly a place on the whole course where there wasn't someone cheering you on. The course truly has to be the most beautiful urban course. It takes you through many parks and all of the grand old houses of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The course itself was truly challenging.
I knew that there was a 2 mile long long hill starting about mile 21. So, around mile 15 I started telling myself to just put in good miles until then and then have the goal of getting up the hill without stopping. It was very, very hard though. It hit just as I was starting to struggle. I am surprised I didn't get pulled out of the race by medical for going a little looping. I started breaking the course into smaller, manageable chunks such as ... the next stop light.... the bright green sign..... the light green tree.... followed by "I can do this, I can do this". Unfortunately for all those around me... I was not saying this in my head, but out loud and I found that I got louder as it got harder. I caught a couple of side long glances from fellow runners.... who I might add I was passing.
As always I found myself at the point where I thought "Who the F**** cares how fast I do this race. I knew I wasn't going to PR... which makes it hard for me mentally and I thought I wasn't going to be close to my past 3 marathons of 4:09. But I have to admit the illusion of the 2 mile down hill helped me work through it.
I say illusion because their idea of downhill is MUCH different than mine! True, when I reached the last half mile it was downhill, which was great. But earlier when I could see the heads and shoulders of runners several blocks ahead, I wanted to stop and yell "Where is the downhill?!?" Sandy said she saw a women stop at somewhere in mile 24-25 and yell "Where the hell is the finish" I can totally sympathize with her!
The post race was good, but when they isn't beer then it will never be the perfect post race party. The Salty Nutrolls were fantastic! I think that is now a favorite post race treat for me, replacing the cinnamon sugar donut holes at Whistlestop. The T-shirts were technical long sleeve which is always nice. I was disappointed that I couldn't find a decent race t-shirt at the expo. It looked like they were sold out.
My foot held up very well, my left hamstring didn't give me much problem. My right quad got pretty tight and I was afraid that it would start cramping, but it didn't. When I was going down the home stretch my quads felt very tight and I was just hoping they wouldn't seize up before I crossed the finish line and thankfully they didn't. Plus they didn't right after the finish line either. The day after the race my foot feels real good and my quads are sore like they normally are. I can go downstairs the right direction, but it isn't pretty.
All in all I would do Twin Cities again, but try and enjoy the race and surroundings much more. Something I struggle to do at every race. After the race when we are discussing what we saw, I never see anything. This is a race that it would be fun to relax and take it as a long run and not worry about time.
I knew that there was a 2 mile long long hill starting about mile 21. So, around mile 15 I started telling myself to just put in good miles until then and then have the goal of getting up the hill without stopping. It was very, very hard though. It hit just as I was starting to struggle. I am surprised I didn't get pulled out of the race by medical for going a little looping. I started breaking the course into smaller, manageable chunks such as ... the next stop light.... the bright green sign..... the light green tree.... followed by "I can do this, I can do this". Unfortunately for all those around me... I was not saying this in my head, but out loud and I found that I got louder as it got harder. I caught a couple of side long glances from fellow runners.... who I might add I was passing.
As always I found myself at the point where I thought "Who the F**** cares how fast I do this race. I knew I wasn't going to PR... which makes it hard for me mentally and I thought I wasn't going to be close to my past 3 marathons of 4:09. But I have to admit the illusion of the 2 mile down hill helped me work through it.
I say illusion because their idea of downhill is MUCH different than mine! True, when I reached the last half mile it was downhill, which was great. But earlier when I could see the heads and shoulders of runners several blocks ahead, I wanted to stop and yell "Where is the downhill?!?" Sandy said she saw a women stop at somewhere in mile 24-25 and yell "Where the hell is the finish" I can totally sympathize with her!
The post race was good, but when they isn't beer then it will never be the perfect post race party. The Salty Nutrolls were fantastic! I think that is now a favorite post race treat for me, replacing the cinnamon sugar donut holes at Whistlestop. The T-shirts were technical long sleeve which is always nice. I was disappointed that I couldn't find a decent race t-shirt at the expo. It looked like they were sold out.
My foot held up very well, my left hamstring didn't give me much problem. My right quad got pretty tight and I was afraid that it would start cramping, but it didn't. When I was going down the home stretch my quads felt very tight and I was just hoping they wouldn't seize up before I crossed the finish line and thankfully they didn't. Plus they didn't right after the finish line either. The day after the race my foot feels real good and my quads are sore like they normally are. I can go downstairs the right direction, but it isn't pretty.
All in all I would do Twin Cities again, but try and enjoy the race and surroundings much more. Something I struggle to do at every race. After the race when we are discussing what we saw, I never see anything. This is a race that it would be fun to relax and take it as a long run and not worry about time.
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