This is it. This weekend I'm running the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. Sunday's race will be my 45th run in the last 16 weeks. It didn't start so well. In the first two weeks, I seriously doubted that I could do it. I wasn't making my intervals, struggling to meet the tempo paces and just frustrated about the whole thing. So I reworked my paces and found that I could work hard and meet the targets. I was on my way.
Of those previous 44 runs, four have been for twenty miles, several were 18 miles, and even more were 13 miles. In my last 13 miler, I extended it by a tenth to complete the half-marathon and finished nine seconds faster than my personal best set two years ago. Kris biked along with me for many of the long runs, serving up water, Gatorade, conversation and support. Each long run got faster, and some got harder. Some where in the heat of the summer, some were on hills. One was on both. (That one hurt.) But it all built to this weekend.
My limits were tested. There was big breakthrough learning that I could go fast, and I didn't need a watch to tell me so. I learned that what I expected to be easy, wasn't. Why should it be? I had to learn to train hard and recover. And do it all over again. Limits had to be broken.
The course scares me. It's billed as the most beautiful urban course. But they don't mention anything about the three miles of hills before the finish line. My cousin made a great observation that the race's halfway point is at mile 21, just before the hills hit. So that makes the halfway point of the race one mile beyond my furthest run.
I'm pushing my limits with a 3:30 goal. I know, I know, it's my first marathon, I should know better. First marathons never go as expected. But it's better to push yourself and learn from what happens than to set the bar low and not learn anything at all.
But this is it. As nervous as I am, I'm ready. I just need to keep my wits about me and I will have a great day. Should be fun.
I'm #3792. You can track me on-line on the race site on Sunday. See how it compares to my projected pace.
Those last few miles aren't THAT hilly. There are hills, yes, and you have just ran over 20 miles, but they aren't crazy bad. I'm about to e-mail the crew directions to our house for the pre-race meal, and I'll send you a different set where you can leave downtown and drive the last 4 miles of the course backwards and end up at our place. It'll give you a little bit of a preview. GOOD LUCK ON SUNDAY!!!
Good luck on Sunday. Sounds like you did the work, now you can go get your reward of a great race.
Enjoy the day...
Good Luck Robby! I hope you meet your goal and have a successful day. It better be actually, you are missing my birthday. Best Wishes!
The hills really aren't that bad at all. The only reason they're tough is that you've already run 20-21 miles by then. Once you get to Summit (after the 3 nasty ones), there's actually just a couple of small ones and one that's a slow steady incline over 1/2 mile. The croud support there is AMAZING, so just let them take you to the finish line. Don't forget to enjoy the people out there cheering. They're what make the race! PS - the weather looks to be GREAT!
You really rocked it out there! Well done!