Twin Cities Race Weekend

Friday around lunch time, Toni was off work so I went to pick her up and head to the cities! A pre-road trip car wash and selfie felt necessary at the time.

The drive there felt like it flew by. I think we had two bathroom stops, and we were there. Whoa. We arrived at our hotel and received this visual reminder of just how close we were to the finish line. yessssssss!!

Our hotel has a shuttle to take you within a few miles of the hotel for food/shopping/whatever, but we opted to walk to dinner since we'd spent a few hours in the car. On the way to our dinner destination, I found FALL!.

St. Paul is so adorable, I can't even handle it. I was starving, so I only let myself stop every once in awhile for photos.

We tried to eat at the Red Cow, but they were at an hour wait. Kyle and I ate there after the Monster Dash Half and it was GOOD. We wondered up the road, and The Happy Gnome had immediate seating, but only outdoors, on their super adorable patio, on a gorgeous fall night. Uh.... yes.

Toni and I couldn't decide on our meals, so like good travel partners, we split two: a burger and a veggie/cheesy melty sandwich. So freaking good.

Also, a beer, obviously. 

Saturday morning, we woke up fairly early to head out on our shake out run. The plan was to run 3 miles, ending at a coffee/breakfast place near our hotel and walk back after eating and retrieving breakfast. Except I somehow picked a breakfast place in a hotel, and we had to walk quite a ways to find a caribou. Just what you want the day before your race: unplanned time on your feet. Oops!

We headed back to our hotel and headed out to the expo. We were about a third of a mile from the expo so we walked there as well. Despite bringing all the monies to spend at the race expo, I walked out having only purchased GUs (several toasted marshmallow), and a TCM pint glass. There were some really cute things at Mill City Running but nothing in my size. Bummer.

We stayed close to the expo for lunch and had a decent meal.

Then we headed back to the hotel for some r&r, including a nap. Traveling with Toni is my favorite. Mid-day nap? Yes please. 

When we woke up, it was time to head to dinner. I love that this race weekend was all about food and running, because those are two of my favorite things! We took a ride this time, to Pizza Luce and again split a couple of pizzas. I still have dreams about this mashed potato pizza. It tastes like happiness.

After the race, I grabbed a beer, we showered up and headed back outside into the rain to cheer on all of our running friends!! Such a great race weekend, and I can't wait for next year when it's our turn to tackle 26.2! eeps!

Twin Cities 10 Training Week 4

Week of July 31-August 6

Monday Planned: General Aerobic 4 miles 
Monday Actual: Sigh. Another rest day. I took a yin yoga class that was amazing, and I spent about 15 minutes foam rolling before class. I probably *could've* run after, but I opted for one more day of recovery to be on the safe side.

Tuesday Planned: General Aerobic 8 miles 2 sets 5x150m strides
Tuesday Actual: 3 miles and 30 minutes of yin yoga. We ran 3 miles for the group run, and my right quad was still pretty tired and fatigued feeling. I contemplated running the extra miles after but opted not to. Pretty hopeful it'll be back to normal tomorrow *fingers crossed*.

Wednesday Planned: General Aerobic 3 mile Wednesday Actual: Ugh. My legs hated me. During a downhill portion, my right leg locked up on me and I knew I was better off turning around and heading for home instead of pushing it for 3-4 miles, as was the plan. Womp. I got in two super easy miles, and then spent some time with the rumble roller before yoga class started. 

Thursday Planned: General Aerobic 7 mile 
Thursday Actual: General Aerobic 7 mile. I was really nervous about this run and how my legs would feel. I brought my stick to work and spent all of my breaks working on my quads/it bands. And we were treated with a gorgeous afternoon of 7 miles!






After our run, we met a bunch of our running friends at our favorite local brewery to wish Sally safe travels as she departs on her next adventure. She's such a lovely human/yogi/runner and will be missed dearly!!

Friday Planned: Sanford POWER
Friday Actual: Sanford POWER. I really wanted to do an easy 2-3 miler after POWER to get the fatigue out of my legs, but I didn't have enough time to get ready for work. Womp.

Saturday Planned: Endurance 9 miles
Saturday Actual: Ugh. My legs just weren't having it on this run, and I was way underfueled. I ended up calling it quits and turned around at 1.5 miles for 3.33 for the day.

Sunday Planned: Rest
Sunday Actual: Endurance 9 miles. Whoo! I was nervous my legs were still going to be toast like yesterday. My hamstrings were kind of ouchy before I started, which is something I never deal with, so that was weird. I suspect I was working them extra hard with weird form on Saturday. Extra bonus points for calling it early, I think. Luckily they warmed up within a mile.

The rest of the run was great. Really smooth, fairly even splits, and it was magical being able to run long at 10:30am in August and not melting. I finished and felt like I could've ran for another hour which is a damn good sign for where my fitness is right now. Wahoo!!


Recovery game: so strong. 
Recovery socks AND recovery sandals. Hoka sandals are just as weird looking as Hoka shoes but they feel magical!


Total Mileage Planned: 31 miles

Total Mileage Actual:  24.37 miles

I heart running + TC 10 Race photos

I don't want to jinx myself or anything [just knocked on wood, tossed salt over my shoulder, and crossed myself twice] but I'm really loving my running lately.  Now I know, the last time I said this, I ended up hurt, literally the next day, but I'm hoping I have that out of my system [again see above ritual for non-jinxing purposes].  I wake up in the morning, and my legs feel fresh.  On my rest days, I want to run.  On my "easy paced" runs, I actually want to complete them (this almost never happens).  Last week, I was psyched to take on a tempo run, and aced it!  I knocked out a 16 mile long run without fueling properly and with a smile on my face.  Me thinks my knee issue did just the trick to rejuvinite my heart and soul [soles] for this round of marathon training.  Heck ya.

Monday afternoon I finally got around to knocking out my 6 mile run after a leisurely afternoon nap (I love "banker's holidays").  It was warm enough for me to wear a tank and shorts but still a cooler afternoon.  However, I did see people in long sleeves and capris.... shame on you!  It's so nice to have your easy pace actually feel easy.  So often my easy runs are sandwiched after tough speedwork sessions, and kind of suck, to be honest.  It was nice to run easy and have a good time.  And it was amazing to crunch through the leaves for 6 miles as well.

I did 6 miles in 57:38 for a pace of 9:37.

And now to tell a sad tale:  It appears that I have broken my super terrific photogenic racer streak.  [single tear].  I was emailed my photos for the Twin Cities 10 Miler, and for the first time didn't tweet/blog/fbook the heck out of them.  Oh well.  Guess you gotta look like you're actually running some of the time, eh?

So yeah, about that "my shoes help me not to be such a terrible heel striker"..... = LIES!!!   But in my defense I am hauling ass here.

So easy I could do this with my eyes closed.  Er wait... what?

And this is going to be the Jerbear Christmas Card circulating for 2010.  I like to call it the "Run 10 miles and try to catch as many bugs as possible" look.  Tyra and Giselle should give it a try.

Apparently I'm  having troubles getting in some O2 here.  Not impressed.

30 degrees?  Don't mind if I still pit out all hardcore like......awesome.

Ok, this one is cute.  Yay me. :)

Check out Racing With Babes' Giveaway!

Race Report: Twin Cities 10 Mile

After hounding Alyssa all weekend about what my race goal should be, I think she finally realized I was serious and sat down with me to look at the elevation chart and help me plan it out.  We determined that my shoot for the stars goal would be 1:21.  With a goal in mind, it was time for bed.  After tossing and turning for.ev.er. I think I finally dozed off at 12:30.  Four hours later I was up and at 'em getting ready for the race.  I felt sick as soon as I woke up.  Not fun.  I choked down my protein bar and banana, even though I felt like it was going to come back up.  When I got to my car to head to the Metrodome, I found it covered in frost.  Uh... brrrrrrrrrrr.  

I got to the Metrodome, and I was happy to say that my first visit inside had nothing to do with the Minnesota Vikings.  :)  While stretching (or really just wrestling with pre-race nerves) Julie came up to me!  Julie was running her FIRST MARATHON!!!!  We have very similar race times, so we talked race strategy and goals, and before I knew it, my stomach was dictating the gazillionth bathroom break of the morning, and I didn't have much time before I had to be lined up in my corral.  I said goodbye to Julie, waited in an insanely long line, and hit the cold cold outdoors.


After growing goosebumps on top of my 2 layers of goosebumps, it was almost time for the race to start. At one point, a guy dressed for a winter blizzard came up to me and asked if I was cold, and said that I made him feel like a wuss.  Hah.  I almost told him he'd surely have the upper hand if it was hot and humid, but decided to just roll with the complement...ish.


When it was corral #2's turn to toe the starting line, everyone kind of chuckled as the race director yelled at "GO!" to start the race.... that is until we realized she was serious.  Oh ok then.  The crowd was pretty tight for the first mile.  By 1.25 I was so very happy that I had decided on shorts and a short sleeved shirt.  Oh who am I kidding?  I only brought shorts and a short sleeved shirt, there was no "deciding."  :p    By the second mile I was able to find a bit of a groove, and found my race pace.  Mile three was met by our first steep incline, followed immediately by a steep decline.  I tried to work hard up the hills, and ran somewhat tentatively down the hills as I wasn't sure how the knee was going to handle them.
1. 8:25 
2. 8:16 
3. 8:49


I had been going sans iPod for the beginning miles of the race and just enjoying the sounds of other runners' footfalls.  When we approached the hill at mile 4 I decided it was time to turn on the tunage.  No I didn't decide to listen to Rihanna's Only Girl (In the World) on repeat..... but I might have for the final 3 miles.... don't judge.  :)  We ran over a bridge that was covered by early morning mist and fog, and it was gorgeous.  Couldn't have asked for a better morning for a race.  I knew from looking at the elevation map that there was a steady climb from mile 4.5-7.  I found myself going back and forth between running hard and settling in to my comfortable running pace.  Each time I would catch myself running vs. racing I gave myself a stern scolding and the legs picked up the pace.
4. 8:25 
5. 8:37 
6. 8:49 
7. 8:40 


For some reason, I kept expecting my legs to crap out on me like they had during the Sioux Falls Half Marathon.  Yes, this was a full 5k shorter, but this route was much hillier than that one, and it slaughtered me.  Yet my legs still felt good.  At 3 miles to go I tried to pick up the pace.  At the 9 mile marker I realized I had a TON of gas left in the tank.... and a decent sized downhill to the finish.  I also knew that my Garmin was showing ~.06 long, and if I didn't want my official time to be 1:25 I would need to haul ass.  I started flying past people and down the hill.  My usual IT band screams were non-existent...whaaaaa?????  As I got close to the finish line I heard Alyssa yelling for me, and the announcer say my name.  YIPPEE!
8. 8:17 
9. 8:23 
10. 7:36 <---Uh oops!
.06 :23 (6:45 pace) 6:00 max pace.


I crossed the finish line and immediately started looking for my medal.  Shirt?  check.  Food?  Check.  Water?  Check.  Medal?  Hells to the no.  MINNESOTA RACES WHY MUST YOU SCREW ME OVER SO????  Sigh.  I understand a 10 mile race might not necessitate a medal, but if I'm dropping $70 on it (which, btw, is $5 more than I paid for the Green Bay Marathon) I best be bringing home some bling.  Rant done (for now).


I finished 10.06 miles in 1:24:44 for a pace of 8:25.
Yes, this is an auto-PR as I've (clearly) never raced a 10 mile before. :p

Results:

Field Placement:	1777 / 7017 (25.3%)
Age group:	22 – 29
Group Placement:	158 / 1029 (15.4%)
Gender Placement:	630 / 4311 (14.6%)

I met up with Alyssa shortly after grabbing my shiz (did I mention sans medal?) and we made a short trip to her car to change clothes and ditch some of my crap, and then it was marathon spectating time!  We got to see the wheelchair champion, men's champion, and women's champion come through.  We even got to slap hands with the men's champion.  Yes, we were slightly giddy over it.  :)

Alyssa and I both had the maximum number of racers we could track on our phones, and were beyond frustrated with it's successfulness.  We received multiple updates at the beginning of the race, but none after the half marathon mark.  We didn't know if our peeps had gotten injured, fell way off pace, decided to stop in at a bar and call it a day (office hubby).  We just had to keep staring at the throngs of people for certain colors of shirts.  Let's just say that for blind betty over here, that was not a treat.  My poor eyes are still killing me!

First to come through was my former manager and studly runner, Angie!  She was attempting a BQ, and came up just shy, but still posted a 7 minute PR.  Of course I attribute the PR to the fact that she was wearing green, but that's just me, you know?  :)

Next up was office hubby Tom!  I was concerned because he got hurt mid-way through training and only got an 18 mile long run in about 7 weeks ago.  He's definitely athletic enough to take on a marathon, but I didn't know if he would get hurt in the process.  After my phone updates failed me, I turned in to major office wife freak out mode.  It didn't help that every third dude was wearing yellow, and was so not him.  Finally I saw him coming down the way, and I screamed my little face off for him.  He gave me a smile slash I-hate-my-life-right-now look.

It was at this point that I had to leave and come to terms with the fact that I had probably missed Julie and Heather.  :'(  Turns out Julie had come in way under what she was expecting and I did miss her.  And based on Heather's finishing time, I'm guessing she was coming down the final stretch as I was heading out.  Damn you faulty race trackers! :(  Congrats anyway ladies!!  (Please check out their reports for their awesome race reports!!)