For me, running 26.2 miles is a very humbling experience.  There are times when I want nothing more than to turn the next corner and see the finish line only steps away.  I don’t feel this way the entire 4+ hours it takes me to complete a marathon, but it does enter my mind throughout the race and with greater frequency as the miles pass by.  As strange as it may sound though, after crossing the finish line and pondering my recent accomplishment, I am routinely overcome by disappointment that it is indeed over and my training season has concluded. I felt this way after completing my first marathon in Cincinnati last May and the thoughts returned this past Sunday after I finished the Twin Cities Marathon.

On Saturday, we landed in Minneapolis and drove to the race expo at The Saint Paul RiverCenter. We picked up our race bibs and walked up and down aisles lined with race inspired clothing, sneakers and a multitude of other items runners use on a daily basis. We left the expo, drove back across the Mississippi river and checked into The Minneapolis Hotel.  After unpacking our bags, we started to hydrate and discuss our hydration and calorie intake strategies for the race.  I was going with the same strategy I used in Cincinnati…carry a handheld water bottle filled with water and a NUUN electrolyte tablet and supplement that with a GU energy gel every hour.  Later in the race, beginning around mile 18 or 19, I would begin taking in solid food when available.  In Cincinnati, this ranged from orange slices, twizzlers and portions of Hershey chocolate bars.  It was only a matter of hours before I’d put this strategy to the test once again.

After a light dinner, I set out my running shorts, pinned my bib to my t-shirt and set aside cold weather items that I would possibly need as one never truly knows what the weather is going to be like on an October morning in Minnesota.  I also planned on wearing arm sleeves that I would be able to take off if I became to warm during the race.  With all this complete, I went to bed hoping to catch as much sleep as I normally do the night before a race, which is not much at all.

I woke around 5:20 the next morning, jumped in the shower and ate a bagel around 6:00 am, two hours prior to the race start time. I found in the past this pre-race eating schedule has served me well. Our hotel was less than a mile from the starting line so that eased our nerves, as we didn’t have to rush out of the hotel and catch a shuttle to the starting line.  We left the hotel around 6:45 am and made our way to the starting line close to US Bank Stadium.

The weather Sunday morning didn’t warrant any of the aforementioned cold weather clothing except for a possible winter hat and a light pair of gloves, both of which I chose not to use as the temperature was expected to rise as the morning progressed.  However, standing at the starting line, I wished I donned gloves as my hands were cold but there was no way to remedy that so I chose not to think about it and only concentrate on the 26.2 miles that lay in front of me. We were assigned to Corral 2 and minutes after 8:00 am we crossed the starting line and made our way onto the course.

I go through a mental checklist very early on in any race I run:

How does my body feel physically?

Do I feel any immediate pains or discomfort?  This was important due to the ankle pain I felt in training leading up to this race.

Did I drink enough leading up to the race to avoid any serious muscle cramping while not drinking too much thus forcing me to duck into a porta-potty along the course?

Am I in the right state mentally to combat any negative thoughts that may enter my mind?

Am I maintaining my goal pace for the race?  It is quite easy to be caught up in the atmosphere and start the race with an average minute/mile pace well below your goal.  Failing to get this under control can make for a miserable last half of the race.

I felt no pain through Mile 1. I also felt good about my pre-race hydration and diet.  My mental state was as good as it could be for someone staring down a marathon.  I approached the Mile 1 marker and glanced at my watch; I was a full minute under my goal minute/mile pace.  I have a habit of leaving the gates to fast so I told myself to slow down because it’s going to be a long morning.

Thru Mile 2, I remained happy with how I felt. My pace had slowed since Mile 1, so that was heading in the right direction.

My pain-free morning lasted until mile 14 or so when the nagging ankle pain from my training run reappeared.  It was a nuisance pain, nothing severe enough to make me contemplate dropping from the race. I knew it probably wasn’t going away so I’d have to run through it.  If I could get to mile 20 I’d make it, even if I hobbled the last 6.2 miles.

This is also the portion of the race when I really try to let my mind wander and not focus on any discomfort I’m feeling. You’re past the halfway point, but not yet close enough to the finish to get excited.  Many things can still go wrong between mile 14 and 26.2.

The miles continued to tick by although not as fast as they had earlier in the day. My handheld water bottle was almost empty so I took advantage of the water and PowerAde stations setup along the course. This was also around the time I started to eat solid foods that were handed out from the crowd. This included pretzels, twizzlers, orange slices and pieces of banana. For me, GUs become intolerable late in a race. They may still be able to provide me the calories I need to finish but after having one every hour, the taste gets stale and I need something different.

At mile 20, we crossed under a large banner that stretched the entire width of the street. Sitting next to the banner was an announcer who proclaimed that we had reached mile 20 and had just over 6 miles remaining, 6 miles that he described as very tough. From the elevation chart I examined prior to the race, I knew he wasn’t lying. From my recollection miles 20 through 23 were uphill and the last 3.2 miles were a series of hills that would feel like mountains that late in the race. I wanted nothing more than to reach that finish line and stop moving. I put my head down and continued on.

As I slowly made my way from mile 20 to the finish line, the crowds along the course increased and provided the motivation I needed to put one foot in front of the other. I made my way over the remaining hills and turned corner after corner until I saw the finish line in the distance. I find it hard to describe the elation and relief I feel during these races when the finish line comes into view and I realize that in a matter of moments I’ll have that finisher’s medal around my neck.

I crossed the finish line and could not have been happier. I stopped my watch and realized that I had bested my personal record time in the full marathon by 10 minutes. I walked towards the volunteers handing out the medals, lowered my head and let that medal fall against my chest. It was over. I had just completed my second full marathon.

There were many unknowns leading up to race day: would my ankle/foot pain reappear, how would my cardio hold up after running only a 5k in the previous 3 weeks, would the weather play a significant factor in the race? The weather was not a factor at all; I don’t believe my lack of training recently played a role either. I did feel some pain in my ankle but everyone suffers pain in one area or another on race day. Overall, I am pleased with my results from the Twin Cities Marathon.  The discomfort I felt both during and after the race is slowly going away and I look forward to lacing up my sneakers yet again and training for the next one.