Notes
BIB #1869
Missed taking a split at Mile 23. :(
2013 Twin Cities Marathon
Another year, another Twin Cities Marathon completed. Coming into this race, I didn’t have a very good summer training cycle leading up to this race. While my goal at the beginning of the year was to try and attempt a sub 3:00 marathon, my hamstring injury after the Minneapolis Marathon prevented me from doing any real serious speedwork through the summer for me to even consider sub 3:00 possible. The failure of Minneapolis Marathon to even run a sub 3:10 also loomed in my mind. Coming in, I figured sub 3:15 would be a suitable goal and as I will be turning 40 later this year, 3:15 is actually my Boston Qualifier time. Not that I really ever intend to run Boston again, it’s always nice to still be able to run and say you qualified for Boston. This year, there was a lot more drama in the morning than my previous 8 Twin Cities Marathon. Had originally set my phone alarm to go off at 4:30 but had unknowingly put PM instead of AM. Luckily I also had the TV setup to turn ON automatically. Ended up waking up to the TV being on at 4:55 AM and no phone alarm. Bad luck right out of the start. Had my traditional pre-race morning breakfast of bagels with cream cheese and headed off to the light rail station by 5:35AM. In most of the previous years, I typically catch the train just after 6AM and arrive at the Metrodome around 6:30AM in time to meet the 10 Mile participants. This year I wanted to get to the dome earlier and the earlier train arrived at the 50th Street station at 5:47AM. Unfortunately I was late to the station and arrived at 5:45AM. As I stood in line waiting for the previous individual to buy his ticket, the train bell started to ring signaling that the train was coming. I know in the past no one has ever checked the runners to verify that they have a valid ticket and while I probably could have just not bought a ticket and jumped on the train, I decided the best moral thing to do is buy a ticket. As I fiddled with trying to buy a ticket, I finally got my ticket just as the doors on the train closed and was unable to get on. I thought bad luck #2 had just struck me. I therefore had to wait another 20 minutes for the next train which arrived just after 6AM which is the normal train that I have ridden in past years. Oh well for getting to the dome early this year. This year the team members were pretty good at keeping to the time schedule I had put together. By 6:30, the three 10 Mile participants were at Gate G so we got a team picture and by 7AM, all eight Marathon participants were at Gate G. This is probably one of the first years that we have a photo with all participants. Usually 1 or 2 don’t show up on time and so I end up not getting them in the team photo.
Start
At 7:30AM, it was time to leave the comfort of the dome and head out to the starting corral. Weather this year I can say was pretty much ideal for running a marathon. A little chilly at the start but that is actually pretty good as your body warms up as you start running. New this year the start line for the Marathon moved to the intersection of 6th Street and Portland Avenue. I think because there was more street area for the race to move runners to, the start corral didn’t appear too crowded to me as it had in previous years. I spotted the 3:15 pacer and knew I wanted to run at least 3:15 so I made sure to line up just behind the pacer. At 8AM, we were off and running. Because the start line had moved about 0.2 miles further than in previous years, I knew the familiar mile markers for the first 12 miles would be moved by 0.2 miles. For the first 5K of the race, I focused on relaxing and made sure to stick just behind the 3:15 pacer. Lots of runners were also following the 3:15 pacer so it was quite congested from where I was running. As we made turns to the left and right, I had to be careful so as not to step on shoes for the runners in front of me. I wanted to run as much of the tangent as possible but sometimes that was difficult for these first few miles because of the volume of runners.
5K-10K
I stuck with 3:15 pacer as we crossed the 5K mark. For the first few miles we were average around 7:20 min/mile. 3:15 marathon is really a 7:27 min/mile pace so we were ahead of schedule. I knew we would be ahead of schedule as the pacers always tend to bank about a minute or 2 minutes for the first half marathon. People accustomed to running even pace usually do not do well with pacers as they almost always will bank some time during the first half. In all my years of doing Twin Cities however, I’m convinced it’s really hard to run equal splits due to the hill leading up to Summit and the slight incline on the first half of Summit Avenue itself in St. Paul. As we headed towards Lake of the Isle, within the pack of runners I spotted the women I ran with for the last 10 miles of the 2007 Twin Cities Marathon in the upper 70F+ heat. I remember using her as a point of focus to get through that race and she told me later that she was keying off me to push her through. I waved hi to her and told her “good luck”. For the past few Twin Cities Marathon races, I always seem to pass her at some point near Lake of the Isles. As I made my way to Lake Calhoun, I was still following along with the 3:15 pacer. With my heart rate in the low 160’s, I was feeling pretty good and knew my target heart rate was around 168-170 bpm. I made the conscious decision along with several other runners to go ahead and ditch the 3:15 pacer and get ahead of him. Once ahead of him, the course actually opened up quite a bit and it was no longer too congested with other runners. I found I could actually start to run the tangents of the course with little to no ease. Passed the 10K mark as I made my way to Lake Harriet.
10K-Half
Around Lake Harriet I was thinking I would see some familiar faces but I didn’t see anybody I knew. As we made the turn from Lake Harriet to Minnehaha I finally hear some shout outs on my name. First from Chris McMahon on my left and then almost immediately there’s Tracey Patterson on my right. I stayed focus and didn’t say much to the people next to me. Was running more around 7:15 min/mile pace as we entered into my local neighborhood (Hale, Page, Diamond Lake). Throughout this section, I saw a few familiar faces from parents I see at my kid’s school and also some people yelled my name out. As we entered the new section of the course around the Lake Nokomis lagoon, I’ve come to realize the women in green shorts and blue shirt has been running around me since the 5K mark. The course has cleared out quite a bit so I’m basically running with just her. She starts to talk to me about looking for the 3:10 pacer but I have to inform her that there is no 3:10 pacer. Just 3:05 and 3:15 so if we were to encounter another pacer it would be the 3:05 pacer who would be well ahead of us. She also tells me that there appears to be a lot of people who know me. No kidding, I live in this neighborhood. As we approach the Half Marathon mat, I see the first real victim of the race course as there’s an elite woman walking who I know is basically done. Usually I see the first walking victim after the half marathon mat but not this year. Me and my partner cross over the Half Marathon mat together and I notice that the half marathon clock must be reading wrong by at least a minute. Didn’t worry too much about the time and focused myself to keep running ahead.
Half-Mile 21
After passing the half-way point on Lake Nokomis, the course leads back to Minnehaha Parkway towards the Falls. Now they have just recently completed a road construction project on Minnehaha Parkway so I was hoping the path would be new asphalt all the way to the Falls. I was disappointed to find out that the section of road from 28th street to the Falls was still the original and therefore not very smooth and filled with bumps here and there. I see Tracey Patterson again cheering me on. As I make it to the Falls, I check my heart rate again to see that now I’m only in the mid 160’s. I decide now by Mile 15 that ok I’m going to push it and get my heart rate up to Marathon Pace of 168-170 bpm. Somewhere around here I meet and pass Tom who I know is gunning for 3:10. Tom’s daughter skates in the same club that my daughter skates at and I’ve had many conversations with him about the upcoming race and his attempt for 3:10. I figure he’s still on pace and I’m going to see if I can get under 3:10. At this point, I also lose my female running partner in green shorts and blue shirt. Whoever you were, you’re probably upset at me for just taking off. As I’m running up the River Road, I’m starting to pass quite a number of runners. Somewhere around 36th Street, I see Duncan Lasley who I always see around this point. I know he was looking for me and I think I caught him a little by surprise. At the 30K point, I see Tom’s wife cheering me. I was hoping Tom wasn’t too far behind me. As I reach the Franklin Avenue Bridge and cross over, I’m running by myself but directly behind some guy name Joe who obviously has his name on his shirt as everyone is yelling his name out. Still passing many people and preparing myself for the last 10K of the race after Mile 20. This year after Mile 20, I’m surprised to see there’s still quite a bit of kick left in my legs. We’ll push it till there’s nothing left to push.
Mile 21 - Mile 24
After Mile 21, we start the first real hill climb with the hill leading up to Summit Avenue. One foot in front of the other and just stay focus on the top of the hill. I make it up without too much difficulty and pass a few runners. In fact, there was a quite a few who immediately started walking once we reached the start of the hill climb. I should have yelled at them to suck it up and keep running but I stayed more focused on myself as I knew the start of Summit there’s a slight incline till Snelling Avenue. As we make the left turn to Summit and start the second hill climb, I see that I’m passing many people along this section. Still feeling ok so I push as hard as I could. I actually had to back off a little as I started to get a cramp in my right calf muscle climbing the second hill up to Snelling Avenue. A female runner passes me on the hill. Towards the end, another girl passes me. Those 2 girls really saved their game for the end. I keep track of the second girl with the green top and try to keep pace with her. Somewhere around here I see Tracey one last time as she gives me words of encouragement. Highlight of this section was watching the St. Thomas cheerleaders cheering me and the other runners along.
Mile 24 - Mile 26.2
Ok, only 2 miles left but I’m starting to feel fatigue and a little dizzy. I know near Dale Street there is one more dip and rise in the course before we get to the final downhill. I don’t think too much about anything at this point and just stay focus on keeping myself moving. I lose the girl in the green top. She’s just too fast for me at this point of the race. As I’m running, I’m still passing many people so I pick people in front of me to focus on and pull myself towards them. Once I pass them, I pick the next victim. I know it sounds cruel on my part, but it really helps to keep the mind focused. As I weave my way passing people left and right, I finally make it the slight left bend on Summit avenue and know that there’s only about a half mile left before the big hill at the cathedral. As I hit the cathedral, I know the end is finally near. As we go down the hill and on to the last stretch to the finish line we pass over the Mile 26 marker. I catch sight of the guy in front of me not wanting me to pass him as he speeds up when I approach. Alright, we got ourselves a little competition here. Not wanting to pass too early, I wait till we get right near the finish line and make my move to pass him. Expecting a response from him, I see that he has conceded as I pass him with ease. I raise my arms in Victory as I cross over the finish line.
Final Thoughts
Based on the training I had over the summer, I am quite surprised that I was able to get in under 3:10 for the race. I think the weather being ideal made this possible. I’ve always told people that Twin Cities is a hard course to run an even split between the 2 halfs and that banking for a 2 minute positive split is probably realistic. On this day, I did run a negative split but I think the majority of the reason behind that is because I took it easy for the first 5 miles and ran with the 3:15 pace group. My half marathon times were 1:35:31 for the first half and 1:33:35 for the second half for a negative split of 1:56.