Twin Cities Marathon: Spectating Report

Sunday morning arrived quickly and with the BLARING of Susan's cell phone alarm.  It was...jarring... to say the least, but it's her rodeo.  <--that was my motto for the weekend.  We were up and at 'em and ready to get on the road before too long. 

True story:  I was almost as nervous about driving Susan to the Metrodome as she was about running a super speedy 26.2!  Ok not really, but I was super nervous about me getting us lost and her being late/rushed.  YIKES!  PRESSURE!  Naturally we got there with no problem, but I did manage to get turned around on my way back to the house.  ahhh yes.... that's more like it Jerbear.

I had time to sip some Caribou while waiting for Erika's mom to return, and soon we were off to Lake Calhoun to spectate around 4.5 miles.  It was such a gorgeous crisp fall morning, and for about 26 seconds I was jealous of those runners.  But then I remembered.... 26.2 miles is a LONG WAY TO RUN!

We chatted with some of the spectators around us and soon enough the lead runners were upon us.  I love watching elite runners because they just look so effortless!  And not too far behind were the women.  Girl power---channeling my inner spice girl, NBD.

I was concerned that I was going to miss Susan, until I heard her yelling and waving wildly in the distance.  I started screaming my face off while trying to take as many pics as possible.  FYI this is difficult.  She looked like she was flying, but was running just as effortless of the speedy mcspeederson’s leading the race.

From there I tried to keep my eyes peeled for some other runners I knew racing, but stupid me, I had no idea what they were wearing, and it’s freakin’ hard to pick someone out of those crowds of people.  Before long, I heard my name and realized Karla was cruising through, well ahead of the 4 hour group, and was looking good!  I was too slow to snag a pic of her.

Next it was time to meet up with Erika to stake out mile 17 of the course.  At first we thought we could see Susan at the halfway mark, but the girl is so fast you don’t have a lot of time to get from point A to point B!  When we got to the course, I realized that we had chosen a spectating spot along with another crew of Green Bay Packer fans.  Yes….this is where I belong.  :)

While looking for Susan, I saw Christopher, another DailyMile friend looking strong and bright (your yellow was easy to pick out!). 

Finally we saw Susan jazz-handing it up down the slight decline.  She was flyyyyyyyyyyyying.

Next we tried to go near mile 21/22 to hopefully see her again before the finish, but they were so packed with cars that we couldn’t find anywhere to park.  With some quick mental math, we knew we wouldn’t have much time to sprint to the course to see her, so we sadly, carried on to the finish line.  As we were walking up to the finish line, we heard the announcer cheering on the ladies who were shooting for an OT qualifying time.  INSANE!  We found a decent spot to spectate and yelled and screamed for all the runners.

It was getting close to 3:15:00 and we realized we didn’t know what time Susan actually started the race!  The text I had gotten confirming she started was at 8:13am.  Surely it hadn’t taken her that long, had it??  The thought bubble was still hovering over my head when we saw her flyyyyyyyyying down the finishing stretch.  Depending on when she started, I knew she’d be close to a PR and couldn’t help but to scream my face off for her (duh, SHE CAN’T HEAR YOU!) and then silently cursed the volunteer who was obstructing my finishing photos. :) 

Shortly after Susan came through I saw Chris cruising in to the finish line.  YAY!  Go Chris! 

We met up with Susan and got to hear all about her race (make sure to check out her race report!). 

As I was logging on to the tracking page to see how Karla did I heard the announcer over the loud speaker saying her name as she finished.  I see a sub-4 marathon chaser/running buddy for the spring!

I think one of the coolest things about watching the finish of a marathon is seeing all the chicas who don't have the "typical teeny tiny runner body" crushing 3:10 marathons.  Granted, I'll never be that fast, but to see someone who's essentially built like me cruise through in 3:30 gives me hope that I can keep working my booty off (although not literally) and be that speedy someday too.

After some chillin’ and a shower for the marathoner, it was time for me to hit the road and bid the gals adieu.  I’m already plotting when we can meet up for another race weekend! 

Busted out my ol' cheerleading skillz to make this sweet sign. :)

When I rolled in to town, I just wanted to curl up in my bed and sleep.  Snuggling sleeping on a futon with a buddy all weekend as a very light sleeper, I was tired, to say the least.  But I laced up my shoes and hit the bike trail for my run.

a)       My legs, particularly my ankles, were very swollen from spectating.  For some reason when I walk/stand a lot I get massive cankles.  It’s so freakin’ weird.  I’m guessing that driving home probably didn’t help.

b)      My knee was super swollen (from my spill).  The fluid would bounce up and down with every step I took.  It didn’t hurt but it felt weird.  I almost felt like I needed a sports bra for my knee!

It wasn’t the most fun I’ve ever had while running, but managed to make it through 5 miles in 48:52 for a pace of 9:47.