Twin Cities Marathon Bound + Long Run PSA

Last spring, my dear bloggy friend Susan was trying to decide on her fall marathon.  It was between a marathon in Maine, where my dear running twin Danielle lives, or the Twin Cities Marathon, which is a mere 4 hour (ish) drive from me.  I threw out all the stops in convincing her that she should pick TCM by saying that if she ran it, I'd be there to be SUPERFAN! 
<--gorg fall pic from last year's TCM weekend

Well the weekend is upon us and I'm so stoked to cheer her on to a super fast finish.  For reals.  Her goal is sub-3:15.  When I was telling Kyle about how excited for the weekend I was and how speedy she is....

Me:  So if Susan needed me to pace her in the marathon, I could only do it for 2 miles tops (and I'd be d-e-a-d).  And she's capable of doing it for 24.2 more miles.
KK:  Wow, so her time is like... almost an hour faster than your best.....
Me:  Well now you're just rubbing it in.  :P

Last year I ran the TC 10 miler, and it was a blast, and then was able to spectate the finish line of the full as well.  I've never full-on spectated a marathon before, so I'm excited for my first.  Now everyone head over to Susan's blog and shoot her some speedy vibes.

And also send Danielle some speedy wishes.... she needs a 4:20 finish to take the lead in our "challenge"!
 And you know what the best part is... I get to enjoy all the fun of a big marathon without actually having to travel 26.2 miles on foot.  WIN!
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Public Service Announcement:  It is ill advised to eat coffee ice cream, a few cheese curds, and chips with queso (in that order) for dinner the night before a long run.  It is even more ill advised to eat these items if you are lactose intolerant and fail to eat any lactase pills.

So my morning was a treat.

Despite my idiocy and a somewhat slow start to my morning, I had a delightful long run.  Since I’m skidaddling out of town for the weekend, Wednesday was the only day that would work to fit in my long run.  I had 12 miles to do, and when I stepped outside in shorts and a tee I was COLD.  Mmmm perfection.

My legs felt pretty sucky to start but it was beyond gorgeous out.  I seriously wish I had my camera with me, because the way the sun was falling through the trees was insane.  I had planned to do 3 minute pick-ups/surges every 20 minutes of the run, and I’m glad I did.  For one, it breaks up the monotony of the long run, giving you something to look forward to, for two, it lets you pick up the pace and the HR for a smidge of time, and most importantly, it shook my legs out.  Uff.

To add to my morning running ecstacy, I learned that the part of the bike trail that has been under construction all g.d. summer long is fixed.  So I was able to do my whole run on the trails.  Yayzies.  And this means that the races I’ve signed up for along the trail this fall will run on their normal courses.  Whoooooooo.

I ended up with 12 miles in 1:52:54 for a pace of 9:22.