Twin Cities Marathon, Cold wet marathon. (Read 694 times)

First, I get way to nervous about these races. I get a sore throat, the chills, dizzy spells, jaw locks up all from the stress of potentially being disappointed. It all seems to clear up after the race. I didn’t think it would rain, at least not till 11:00. I was stupid, and did not bring garbage bag with, it was silly to trust weather report. It rained from the start, light at first, felt good, but I was worried what would happen when my throw away shirt got soaked. Then it started raining heavy, and around the lakes it was really cold. Mile 8 I decided to throw my shirt away because it was completely wet, lots of people were running in tanks. By mile 12 I was getting worried, I was too cold. My legs were ice, and all I could think about was that this road leads to a warm shower. I had to tie my shoe, and struggle to get my hands to work. The volunteers all had rain jackets on and I stopped and asked if they had any extra, said I was worried I wasn’t going to make it. A volunteer said, “take mine.” I shook my head, “No I can’t take yours, I’ll be fine. She was firm, “No take mine, I’ll find another.” She saved me. I wore it till about mile 19. As far as pacing, the miles felt fast. I constantly tried to hold myself back, but with the cold I think everyone was trying to keep warm. Also I struggle to see my watch, I'd have to clear the water on the screen just to read it. The four hour pacer got ahead of me when I started to cramp, girl issues were not on my side today either. The last 10K my hip flexors were extremely tight and my calf muscles were acting up. It was a different suffering than my other two marathons. It wasn’t that my quads were so very tired and I was struggling to lift my legs. My legs just felt tight, and done with. Chip time 4:03 as I crossed the finishline, I was in tears because I knew that I was struggling out there and could have been even more off my goal. It was three minutes faster than when I ran it two years ago. Funny I ran Grandmas 2007 in 85F and ran a much better race, where I felt like I was still running at the end...I think I hobbled in this time. I'm OK with my time but a little unsure how the hell I’m going to get faster at this marathon running business. 1 8:14 - WTH? 2 9:04 3 8:58 4 8:48 5 8:32 6 8:55 7 8:48 8 8:51 9 9:00 10 8:49 11 8:56 12 9:25 <- stop="" and="" get="" rain="" jacket="" 13="" 8:52="" 14="" 9:03="" 15="" 8:50="" 16="" 10:10=""></-><-cramp, porto-potty="" stop="" 17="" 8:50="" 18="" 9:09="" 19="" 9:44=""></-cramp,><-cramp, porto-potty stop 20 8:48 21 9:06 22 9:26 23 10:11 24 9:58 25 9:26 26 9:52 porto-potty="" stop="" 20="" 8:48="" 21="" 9:06="" 22="" 9:26="" 23="" 10:11="" 24="" 9:58="" 25="" 9:26="" 26="" 9:52=""></-cramp, porto-potty stop 20 8:48 21 9:06 22 9:26 23 10:11 24 9:58 25 9:26 26 9:52 >

Congratulations! What a great effort under tough conditions!

Good job Bugs in that cold weather! I'm a weather wimp, too, if it's cold. You're going to have your perfect day soon! Arla PS I wish I could get a time like that!

Hey a new PR is a new PR. Congrats. Now if I were you I would look to see if in the next month another marathon was happening close to you. Might be nice to try it on a nice day since you have put all of this training in. Just a though.

Hey a new PR is a new PR. Congrats. Now if I were you I would look to see if in the next month another marathon was happening close to you. Might be nice to try it on a nice day since you have put all of this training in. Just a though.

It was a course PR, my personal best is actually 3:58:46. Funny that was on less training in 85F heat & humidity. I know there are marathons close to me in the next week or two, but think four weeks would be better. If I find a good fit and my legs feel up to it, I'll consider it. On an upbeat note, I DNS this marathon last year due to injury. I was pretty careful not to get injured this year. I think I peaked a little early though. If my base in the spring had been bigger, I think I would have been able to train faster the months before. But who knows........

Excellent results under the circumstances, Great job!!

Rain's not so bad...unless it's cold rain. Ick. It really sucks that you work so hard to prepare, then the running gods laugh at your plans and throw you a curve ball like that. Under those circumstances that's a damned nice effort and result Bugs, well done.

Nice race. To come that close to your PR with the conditions is great!!!