Lead up

After finishing the 70.3 race in Oceanside I thought it might be a good idea to do a full marathon while I was in decent shape. My goal at that time was to complete a full marathon under 4 hours as that was an artificial time limit I somehow made up. I asked someone that I knew what his favorite marathons were and he recommended two that were in Minnesota. Unfortunately, one was in two weeks so that one was quickly scrapped but the Twin Cities Marathon was several months away and it just so happened to be in the same city where my sister-in-law lives which meant we could also visit family as well.

At the same time I also decided it would be a good idea to sign up for a full Ironman that would be six weeks after this marathon. I thought it would be a good idea for me to know that I could complete a marathon so this race turned into a training day much like the Half Marathon in February was a training day for Oceanside.

Prior to the actual race day I had never run more than 2 hours or 13.5 miles before. The week before the race I did a 13.1 mile run to Blue Diamond followed by a 3K swim on Saturday and a 4.5 hour 80 mile bike ride on Sunday, quite the taper. That 13.1 was also the first time wearing the shoes I was going to race in.

Upon arriving in Minnesota on Friday I did a quick 35 minute warmup run where my nephew rode his bike with me.

On Saturday we went to packet pickup and toured around the expo before having lunch at Cecil's Deli. I realize that it's going to be a little cool in the morning so we make a trip to Goodwill before dinner and get a $9 sweatshirt that Jess was actually sad to see get donated 🤣.

The big day

I had a hard time going to sleep but eventually got a few hours of sleep in before waking up for the breakfast of champions, apple sauce and a plain bagel. A quick drive to downtown with Jess and Rachel where I was surprised about how easy it was to get REALLY close to the start line with minimal traffic. The bathroom lines weren't too long and everyone seemed to be in a good mood. The weather at the start was pretty much ideal in the low 60s with a bit of cloud cover. I mulled around waiting for the start and ate a Gu a few minutes before we were off.

I was in Corral #1 and was also surprised that for only having 3 corrals that it didn't feel too crowded at the start.

It's go time! My coach had told me to try and go out at a 8-8:15/mile pace and I jog across the starting mat and follow the crowd settling in to what feels like a nice pace when I pass the 1st mile marker and see that it was in fact 7:30...It was slightly downhill but I know that I need to slow down a little bit and I settled into a more obtainable pace.

Around mile 4 my heart rate suddenly spikes and I get concerned that there are still 22 more miles to go and it's going to be a long walk if I don't get back on track. I focused on my breathing and purposely slowed down a little bit and things went back to normal, maybe it was just a false flat. From here on out the miles kept clicking off at a pretty consistent 8:15 pace without having to really think about it.

Around mile 5 I see Jess and the Carlson's. I was actually surprised that I saw them with the sheer number of other supporters on the course and not even knowing what side of the street they were going to be on. My only other marathon experiences have been on the Las Vegas strip and was surprised how many spectators lined the entire course. Even the homeowners that live along on the course got into it. Some were having parties in the front yard with bounce houses and large screen TVs with the Vikings game on.

Around mile 9 I see Jess/Carlson's again and Jess gives me a fresh bottle.

It's about half way through the race and I start getting the urge for the bathroom but see all the bathrooms have a line from the cheering crowds. I assume they'll let me cut but I decide to see if there are any without a line and around mile 15 I finally found a bathroom that was merely occupied but no luckily no line.

I see the family again at mile 16 and am impressed how they have been able to successfully leapfrog the course several times. With the amount of people along the course I would have thought it would be more difficult to find each other.

It's now about mile 20 and as we cross the bridge over the Mississippi River I'm suddenly passed by the 3:40 pacer. I look at my watch and I'm still on pace for slightly under that and I think maybe I'm in real trouble. The course photographers got a great shot of this moment, really flattering. I know that the 3 mile hill is coming up and start to prepare myself that it's only 10k to go. As I start running up the hill I focus on staying in control and slowing to whatever pace I need to. I'm not going to lie, it started sucking about now but my pace still was hovering around 9:00. I knew if I kept this up I'd be well under the 4 hour goal. I started getting a pain above my left calf almost behind my knee and my right calf started showing some cramping signs. I had been eating a Gu every 30 minutes or so but I took an extra as well as started adding some SaltStick Chews periodically.

When I got to the top of the hill I knew there was only 5K to go and a slightly downhill finish. I tried to tell myself to pick up the pace but the legs weren't having it and I started noticing people dropping like flies on the side of the road with cramps and other issues. I decided to just let the body figure out whatever pace it could muster and get to the finish.

Finish

The final stretch is a downhill on John Ireland Boulevard where I see the family for a final time. It does give a little boost but the legs still don't have a sprint to the finish in them. I finished in a time of 3:42:28. I'm very happy with that result and don't have any current plans to try and beat it anytime soon.