Twin Cities Marathon

WELLLLLLLLL...this post will be a long one. Consider yourself warned. 

For those of you that read my last post, you know I decided a week before the race to give it a go, after being fully healed from my stress fracture a while and giving myself a few test runs (of 10 miles or less - mind you). I figured I was already going to Minneapolis, I couldn't get my money back, and I wanted to try. My parents were going to be there specifically for this race, I was running with Kelly, Michael was coming...I just wanted to try for myself, and kind of for everyone who had planned to be there to support me, too.

SO glad I did. 
We rocked it. Slowly but surely.

The weekend started off great. We got there to cold and wet weather, but my parents picked us up and took us to the expo. Our sweet parents waited rather patiently while we oooh'd and awww'd over all the running goods, and finally after about two hours my Dad threw in the towel and shoo'd us out the door :) We took a rest and then ate dinner all together at The News Room, and Michael and Alissa joined us. I wish I would have taken more pictures before Sunday. But, we had a low-key night and called it an early night.


Saturday Kelly and I did our last training run and ran to the Metrodome and back, which is where the race started. The weather was great. Still overcast, but no rain, and in the high 40's. Saturday was SUPER low key, we walked around the city and stumbled upon a walk/protest for immigration reform, which was neat to see. Then, we watched a movie at the hotel (aka napped a bit), and Michael and I called it quits early. We drove around Lake Minnetonka and pretend-house hunted and then drove through this cutesy little lake town. I loved it. Fall there is to die for. So, I had a lovely dinner of pasta and water water water. I think I was in bed by 9:00 :)

Flash forward to Sunday morning

TC 10 mile (on the way to Kelly's hotel)

I SLEPT LIKE A DREAM. I felt SO well rested, and actually naturally woke before my 6:15 alarm went off. Stretched, had my banana and Honey Stinger waffles, and a little coffee. Perfect. We met Kelly at her hotel, and of course, took some pics :)

Pre-race excitement. And maybe some nievity :) You don't have to tell me how sexy we look, we know.

So, we booked it to the Metrodome and I went to put our check bags up. Welp, of course it can't go perfectly and I had to put my stuff in a different coral -- so Kelly and I lost each other. We had both realized this at the start and said a prayer for ourselves/each other, and *wham* found each other :) Thank the Lord -- because looking back it would have been trouble without her.

At the start line, after we got separated. Taking pictures to ease the anxiety  

So, we knew Kelly's mom, Mrs. B, was going to be with Alissa and her sister at miles 8 and 18. And my parents were going to stagger along the way, too. Michael was at mile 5 and 13, so we had mini-mile markers to get us through the first half. We eventually decided to just stop and stretch when we saw our friends/family, because -- hey, why not? :) Social stretch, anyone?

We even saw some famous people, like Chubacca. 

Kelly and I getting excited to see some familiar faces! 

So, about 10 miles in was about when I started to be more aware of how long this race was going to be. 26.2 miles, to be exact. While I knew this in theory....it really hit home in between 10-13 miles. So, we just kept running, with intermittent conversations and anecdotal comments about the scenery, runners, spectators, etc. We chatted with a few runners, listen to tunes intermittently, and just took in the scenery and the fact that we were seriously running a marathon.

After seeing our family at mile 18, I asked my parents to come somewhere between 22-24, because going from 18-26 without seeing anyone seemed too long for us...we were tired and I think fading a little bit. So, Mom and Dad said they would do whatever we needed, even if they missed the finish.

Around mile 20 we saw Michael with his sister Michelle and her fiance, Dan - they live in Ramsey and came up to spectate which was super sweet. So, we stretched and hugged and left, with the "6 miles left" mantra. We chatted this man who was on his 349th race (marathons and ultras) -- and his advice was that the race was actually two separate races -- the first 20 miles and the last 6. Man, was he right.

My parents creeped up around mile 22 or 24 (I can't remember) and offered some final moral support.

There I am...jogging along.

We took two pictures, and this was our "How we really feel" picture. Again, we rock the same hat and the same fuel belt. Don't be jealous. 

Mile 26 -- praise the Lord! 

Andddd mile 26. This was where I was walking faster than I was running, but I think Kelly and I were both determined to finish it running. So, we did. After a quick little side hug emotional "i cant believe we are doing this and doing it together" moment, we ran through the finish. Wow. 26.2 miles. Done. We got our medals, grabbed some food, and changed clothes ASAP. Then we met our families and hugged and chatted :) Took a ton of pictures. I think Kelly and I were "run-drunk" and still in shock. Heck, I may STILL be in shock.

ONE AND DONE! First Marathon in the books! #TWINSIES

My AWESOME parents :) 

My sweet giant. 

Dan, Michael, Me, Michelle. 

Awesome medal. 

Let's just talk about the weather. It went from a 60% chance of rain all morning to a 30% chance, with minimal rain the whole race. We couldn't have been more blessed. Even so, it got colder in the later morning, and I found myself feeling so thankful for the spectator support when it was rainy and gross. There is no way it would have been as enjoyable without all the spectators and the signs and the volunteers. And of course, our family.

Even my family and friends that weren't there helped get through those miles. I knew I had support and prayers coming my way the whole race, even though most of my friends and family (obviously) couldn't be there. I appreciated all the pre- and post-race texts :)


We went to the yellow room overlooking the city in the evening, and it was so pretty! Of course Kelly and I wore our finisher shirts and medals!

Yay us

Well earned Marg's at Rosie's. We just love to match everything, drinks included :) 

We were SOOOO sore after. Obviously, I know. But no one really warns you. My body was SO tired and our mental states were less than stellar. I felt really "cloudy" -- mixture of exhaustion, disbelief, and joy.
This followed into Monday, too. We got up at dark:30 to catch our flight, and I went straight to class (even though I was dead tired -- that's grad school life for you).  I went home after stopping at the grocery store for a nap, and overslept. I had to pick up my nanny children at 3:00, and woke up at 2:57. Yikes. Leave it to Michael to provide comedic relief.

PMSD. A real thing. 

I can't believe I ran a marathon. After a major lack of training, I still finished, and although I was slowwww, I still accomplished my goal. Next time, I will hopefully finish before 5:30:06. But, for this race, I am perfectly content and thankful. Quite the experience.

Fargo Marathon 2014, see you in May :)