Race Report: Twin Cities Marathon 2019

The morning of the race, we woke up at 5:30 a.m. and I started eating my Picky Bar breakfast. I was really thirsty throughout the night, but avoided drinking when I'd wake up because I didn't want to have to pee constantly. I was pleasantly surprised at how well my stomach was. Maybe my focus on my stomach issues the last couple of weeks was paying off!!

We got on the bus to the start line at 6:30 a.m. and it took less than 15 minutes to get there, which led to 75 minutes of waiting around to the race start. I was pretty excited and was okay being there that early, but I think Melissa may have froze to death waiting.

I wore my sweats while we hung out and tossed them in my bag to be dropped after I found one final bathroom and did some glute activation drills. Melissa and I got in our starting corral and were ready to rock! She had planned to stay with me for a mile or so just to make sure she didn't go out too fast. I had gone back and forth about whether I should let my watch auto lap like normal or if I should manually do it at the mile markers. Last year it got pretty messed up within mile one, but I opted to leave it. When it beeped way before the mile marker, I opted to lap it again when I actually hit mile one so it'd beep closer to the mile markers going forward.

I was so hungry early on, while we were waiting to start I actually had hunger pangs. Yikes. I opted to take my first GU at mile 2 because of this, and was nervous if that would make my stomach feel not so great. I skipped the first few water stations since it was pretty cool to start, and found a glass shortly after I took my first GU. And just like last year, I developed a side stitch on my left side. Last year, this side stitch developed into a whole host of digestive issues, so I was hoping for the best, but fearing for the worst.

It was around this time that I ran into a fellow blogger, Heather who ran up to me and asked if I was Jeri and introduced herself on the run. I'd been following her training on Strava, and was really excited to see her out there. Her goal was quite a bit quicker than my A++ goal, so when she was ready to run ahead, I let her.

Melissa had left me shortly after mile 1 as I expected and I was running an easier pace than I had expected. While trying to find a rhythm, I saw my HS BFF Nikki and her family around mile 4 or 5! I knew they were planning to be out spectating, but I wasn't sure where they'd be on the course. At the same time they were cheering for me, Melissa came up behind me. Without thinking I blurted out, "What the hell are you doing behind me?!" She had stopped for a bathroom break and had caught up to me, she quickly went off again ahead.





1. 10:22
2. 10:01
3. 10:20
4. 10:08
5. 10:06

After the first few miles were slower than the 10:00 pace that I had planned for, I tried to speed up a little bit closer to goal pace. And my side stitch was just unrelenting. Usually when I get a side stitch it's because I'm dehydrated, so I decided to take 2 water cups at the next station. When I glanced at my HR at mile 8 I was a little startled at how high it was. I had expected my heart rate to be in the high 130s or low 140s based on the easier pace I was running, but it was 160. Uh.... usually my heart rate doesn't ever get above low 150s, even for a 3 hour run. Maybe it'll get in the high 150s if we're doing a cutdown with the last few in the 9's...... I tried not to panic, but let up off the gas at that point... I still have a long way to run! I decided that going forward, I would walk through the water stations to make sure I was taking in two full cups of water in hopes that would help with both my heart rate and this darn side stitch. I took my second GU and first salt tab at mile 7.

6. 10:11
7. 10:10
8. 10:10
9. 10:29
10. 10:27

I don't remember exactly where I saw Nikki and her family next but I did make a point to joke with them that I was able to pick them out of the spectating crowd by seeing Adam's grey goatee on the course. Hah. It was around this time that I realized that today's race was just going to be a finish 26.2 miles sort of day. I was calculating a finish time but knew if I was feeling this cruddy this early on in the race that it could be a very long day.











I switched my focus for the day to just having fun. Chatting up other runners. Commenting on people's signs. Giving high fives to any and all children along the course that wanted them. I took my third GU and second salt tab at mile 12. I also decided to throw the chance of digestive issues to the wind around this point and took a shot of pickle juice as my calves were starting to feel on the verge of cramps. It tasted heavenly.

11. 10:18
12. 10:48
13. 10:59



Around the halfway mark, I realized that I needed a walk break more regularly than every water stop, as the stations were still every other mile at this point. I gave myself .05 walk break at the top of every mile for quite a while, which led to two walk breaks for the miles that had water stations in them.

14. 11:02
15. 10:55
16. 11:39

This stretch of any marathon is hard. You've already ran for 16 miles and you STILL have another ten to go. I started taking walk breaks whenever my heart rate would feel really high and yucky, which was way too often. In hindsight, I should've brought enough salt tabs to take two every 45 minutes like I typically do for a long run. The cooler temps that were forecasted were basically negated by the intense sun as soon as it was up and in full force. I also should've brought an emergency GU. I usually take a GU about every 45 minutes on a run. I equated that to every 5 miles based on my goal pace for the race, but really ended up taking them every 55-66+ minutes as the race went on and my pace got even slower. But hey! I didn't have any stomach issues AT ALL so I'm going to celebrate that win!

17. 12:14
18. 12:20
19. 12:21

The fun hill started at mile 19 and I made myself run up most of them. Of course that meant I would have to walk when I got to the top so my heart didn't explode, but I could actually hear my running buddy Chris tsk tsk me for walking up the hills, so I tried really hard not to. Around this point I ran back into Heather, and could tell she was having a rougher day than she had hoped. I got a second wind, even though my splits don't really show it, and enjoyed running over the bridge toward St. Paul. Most importantly: THERE WAS A WOMAN WITH A PUG ON THE BRIDGE. I repeat: A WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE WITH A PUG. So obviously I stopped and asked if I could pet her pug. And then there was a whole team of guys cheering people on, so I hammed it up like crazy and let their cheers propel me for quite some time.

This right here... is a cooked Jerbear. Uff da.

And THEN, possibly the only reason I finished the race, honestly, there was a spectator handing out small gatorade bottles shortly before mile 20. I chugged half of it, and thought about tossing it, but decided carrying it, as annoying as that would be, would probably pay off. I drank the whole thing within a mile's time and that coupled with some shade and the quick math that if I didn't pick up the pace, I'd be looking at a marathon finish time that started with a 5, gave me the kick in the pants I needed.

20. 11:21
21. 12:36
22. 11:50

By kick in the pants, I should clarify that I didn't actually speed up at all, so maybe I should rephrase it to the will to live?? Or maybe I used up that kick in the pants busting out some choreography to N'Sync's Bye Bye Bye, I'M NOT SURE!

Hah, I knew I'd see Nikki around mile 24 so I just put one foot in front of the other to try to get to her. This is the part of the course where there are spectators lining up on both sides of the course, honestly that can be said for almost the entire course from start to finish, and so many people were cheering me on by name, since it was printed on my bib. I tried to thank everyone and I so appreciated the encouragement, because I really needed it.

Finally I saw Nikki, and said something along the lines of "You're coming with me, let's go!" So she joined me for a block or so, and I'm so glad I asked her to jump in. I was struggling so hard and told her that, and she told me I was amazing, and I was going to finish and she was proud of me and it was everything I needed to hear in that moment. I gave her a big hug, knowing that they weren't planning to go to the cluster F that is the finish (I did not blame them, and needed them at mile 24 much more!)  and continued on.









I love that our running form is in step 100%. Before running was my favorite thing ever, Nikki and I lived in our gym playing basketball, practicing so many hours of the off season. <3

23. 12:10
24. 12:13

The final two miles seemed to stretch on forever, and I swear my mental math was telling me I needed to run 10 minute miles to come in under 5 hours. Well apparently my brain was lacking some very important oxygen, because I did not run 10 minute miles to finish yet I came in just over 4:50. And I'm really good at math, not to brag.



Around this point, I saw a spectator holding a sign that said "YOUR MOM CALLED. SHE SAYS SHE'S REALLY PROUD OF YOU!" And I started crying, of course. The amount of voicemails I have saved on my phone from her saying this after races she couldn't attend is kind of obnoxious and I cherish them dearly.

I really tried to pick up the pace during the last 5k, and I probably did, but I kept having to stop to get my heart rate to come down. It was really annoying. I was leap frogging with lots of people and could've swore that they put the finishing stretch much further away than last year. :P Finally we approached the final stretch. The final mile of the race was probably the first full mile I had run with no walk breaks since mile 8 or 9. I didn't have my usual sprinter's kick, but I think I was just enough freaked out about how poorly my body was feeling, I didn't want to be that headline in the next day's paper about a runner collapsing just before the finish line. Is that too dark??

25. 11:27
26. 11:35
.5 4:32 (8:50 pace)



I finished my 9th marathon, 26.5 miles in 4:52:57 for a pace of 10:59.

Once I finished, I could not wait to get my shoes off. My feet hurt so bad. I think they were super swollen from whatever was going on with my hydration/electrolyte situation. I was so incredibly sore. I couldn't find Melissa and almost had a breakdown on the phone because I just wanted to sit down. Luckily I found her, and plopped myself down on the hill I would call home for what felt like hours after.

This little lady almost snagged another PR (just a minute shy) after a major medical set back late this summer. I'm so proud of her and can't wait to be there when she PRs by 20+ minutes next year. For real.

We attempted to recreate the post-Skedaddle race photo once I was back to standing again.

And I made Melissa take a picture of my face so I could see if it was as salty as it felt. The answer: yes.



And eventually meandered over to the beer tent to enjoy our post-race beers. My. mantra for the last 14 miles of the race was essentially, "this is a lot of work for a free beer" so it seemed only fitting to cash in on that hard earned beverage.

And then it was time for our walk back to the hotel. I love staying at the finish line. It's so convenient!

Some reflections:

• I am so thrilled that my stomach felt good all of race morning and throughout the race. I was diligent about taking my daily probiotic for 10 days leading up to the race, and really cut out foods and beverages that tend to upset it--caffeine and Qdoba's quest, namely. I also cut out my night before beer as I've suspected that may have contributed to issues in the past.
• I'm not sure if this is why I was so hungry at the start, but I didn't eat a ton the day before the race. Again, I think I was so nervous about upsetting my stomach that I may not have eaten enough to support the energy I needed for 26.2 miles! 
• I don't think I was hydrated well enough going in to the race. I brought my water bottle to the race start, but barely drank anything. Because I had to use a portapotty at mile 2 in 2018, I think I was afraid that would happen again. I was really amped up on the forecasted cool temps and neglected hydration, especially with how thirsty I was when I woke up. I think next training cycle, I will experiment running with a hydration vest so I can take fluids whenever I need it and can tell how much I'm taking in throughout.
•  Sometimes you just have a bad day. And that's okay. I really made the most of my experience trying to lift up others and just have fun. When I first started running marathons, if I had a day like this I would've had a 26.2 mile pity party for myself and had been devastated for months after. I'm bummed, but I do know that my training will come together on a most excellent day, and I'll earn a shiny new PR! Hopefully next fall! :)

Race Report: Twin Cities Marathon

Our alarms went off at 5am which seemed like sleeping in compared to the crazy times I woke up to get my stomach ready to go for long runs all summer long. We got dressed and boarded the buses outside our hotel at 6am after doing some glute work in the lobby. 

We were to the race start in no time, with 75 minutes to spare before our race started. Oops. I wasn't kidding with wanting to get there early I guess! We took a bunch of pictures and I darted to and from the bathroom pretty frequently with a nervous stomach. I was smart and brought my water bottle to continue to hydrate, as sometimes my stomach troubles cause me to dehydrate. YAY JERI! So SMART!.

We were told to be in our corrals 30 minutes before the race start so around 7:30 am I made one last bathroom trip, I did another round of glute drills (since we'd been sitting around waiting, and I wanted to be sure they were AWAKE), dropped our bags and did a quick warm up. Mostly the routine that we do pre-POWER. And then I rolled my ankle like a total ding dong. Oy. We made our way into the corral and the energy was so insane I thought I was going to explode. The announcer mentioned 1000x what a perfect day it was for a run, and he was right. I wore a long sleeve to throw away at the start and wore gloves for the first 2-3 miles before my hands were sweaty and toasty.

We started the race in corral 2 and said approximately 1 million times, "OMG WE'RE RUNNING A MARATHON!!" It was insane. We had some weird GPS blip during a tunnel in the first mile that resulted in both Toni and my watch reading an 8:18 pace. This did wonders for us to make sure we were going out conservatively and I didn't panic at ALL. I knew we weren't running that fast, but it was so hard to tell how fast we were running with all of the crowds and excitement and slight downhill. Our watches beeped early, and the actual mile turned out to be just fine. Phew. 

While we were waiting in our corrals I mentioned that I maybe I should hit the porta potties just one more time. I had done an excellent job of hydrating and couldn't tell if I actually had to pee or if it was just one of those nervous pees that'll go away once you start running. Well not too long into the race I realized it was a real pee, and I told Toni I was going to have to make a pit stop. It should've been a 17 second stop a la Shalane Flanagan, but there was a line and people were just running up and jetting in to a potty, ignoring the line of people completely. In Michelle Tanner's words: how rude.

In a minute or so, we were back in the fold and Toni mentioned that Melissa and Karissa were just ahead. I spotted Melissa's purple shirt and hoped we'd catch up to them to all work together for the run. Spoiler alert: we did not catch them, and when I saw Melissa's splits after, I understand why!

Now that my bladder was empty, we were having a blast. I opted to take my first GU at mile 3 with the expectation that my stomach would be unruly and I'd want fuel sooner rather than later. This was the right call. We danced and sang through so many cheering sections, and we were having a blast.

1. 8:59 (actually closer to 9:50)

2. 10:43 (1 minute bathroom stop)

3. 9:50 (actual running!)

I was a little antsy during the first 5k because I was having a hard time getting a read on our pace and how I was feeling. I tried not to focus too hard on the pace and just take in the miles and the atmosphere. I couldn't believe how much fun we were having. Some may argue too much fun for running 26.2 miles. ha.

We ran through the most beautiful neighborhoods and people were out lining up both sides of the streets with unofficial aid stations with water, and oranges, and bananas, and bottomless mimosas. I missed a water stop at mile 5 with some accidental zigging and zagging and kind of panicked, because I was sweating a lot, plus I know that GU can make my stomach cranky if I'm not hydrating enough. Luckily I was able to get some small shots of water from other tables along the way.

I saw my high school bestie and her fam around mile 4 or 5 and they were all dressed up in GREEN. Our signature color. I realized at that moment I wasn't wearing a stitch of green. No wonder the race wasn't going to plan. LOL jk.

When we hit our next aid station, I took a glass of gatorade and some water, because I thought I could stand a little extra hydration and electrolytes, plus we were getting to about an hour in to the race and that's usually when I start my electrolytes. This might have been my mistake, but I'm not 100% sure.

Within a mile or two I got an excruciating side cramp up really high on the left side in my ribs. I stopped chatting and carrying on with Toni so I could focus on my breath and my stride and just do my best to work it out. In 2 miles or so it dropped down a bit to the regular spot that you'd feel a side ache, in the side of your abdomen. At least here I was able to grab on with my left hand and apply some pressure to see if that would release it. 

4. 9:33

5. 9:46

6. 9:43

Eventually that cramp worked itself down to my hip area, almost where you'd get cramping from your menstrual cycle (TMI? meh.) and that really was messing with my stride. I felt like it was connected to the top of my leg and I couldn't run as hard. Toni was a ray of sunshine and during each mile alert on our watch would announce, "that was a great one!" even though I knew we weren't at our goal pace ranges for these early miles, nor were they feeling like I had hoped they would. Easy breezy was the plan for miles 1-10, 9:30-9:40 pace. 

I took my second GU at mile 8, which was a gamble with how my stomach felt, but I knew I didn't want to get behind in my fueling. When we hit mile 9 I said that I'd like to try to pick it up at mile 10 as planned, but I wasn't sure what that pace would look like. Just "let's try something a little faster". I think I was hoping I'd shake out whatever was going on. 

7. 9:44

8. 9:34

9. 9:50

Over the next stretch Toni would start running ahead for a bit, I think in an effort to pull me along with her. And I realized that I felt a little more relaxed, so when she came back to me I told her that she might want to consider leaving me. I felt like I was running about as fast as I could, and was confident that I could keep up the pace for the duration of the marathon, but I knew she wanted to try to break 4 hours or at least be very close to it, and I knew the math on that wasn't checking out. She said no and was fine sticking with me, but before too long she darted off like a Bambi off into the distance. I was surprised and happy to notice that I wasn't feeling defeated or bummed but focused on making the most of the day, however that was going to play out.

10. 9:35

11. 9:30

12. 9:37

I got a water bottle from a friend around mile 12 and put in my nuun to see if some electrolytes would put some pep into my step. I took another GU at mile 13 and noted that my half marathon split was around 2:11, putting me around 4:22 for a finishing time. I could feel the collective cheering group of running friends from home panicking for me, knowing my goal time was closer to that 4:05-4:10 range. I tried to send out a bat signal that I was fine, and was just going to keep plugging along, but I don't know that anyone got it. My husband definitely didn't. Hah.

13. 9:45

14. 9:49

15. 9:58

I saw my race squad again during this stretch and was shocked to see they had an outfit change! Nikki and I were obsessed with tie dye in high school, we'd always have a big tie dye party leading up to the basketball season. Seeing their little faces gave me such a boost! Someday I'm going to convince Nikki to train for all of the races too. :)

As the race tracked on, I was nervous that I'd get to "that point" in the race where the remaining miles just seemed overwhelming for how I felt. like "I can't possibly run X more miles based on how I feel!" But I never did get there. Every time a mile would pass, I'd do the backwards math (like an idiot) and would enthusiastically think, "I can do X more miles!" I don't know where this positive attitude came from, but I suppose the pace was relaxed enough that it started to feel like a long run, and long runs are easy. NBD. 

After a little reprieve from the dreaded side stitch that made it's way down my body, it finally settled into my guts and decided it was ready to be done with me. I started frantically looking for a porta potty and pulled off when I saw two of them with 3 runners in line. As I was looking at my watch to see how much time I was losing, a female spectator announced that her husband had been letting runners ahead of him and he needed to get in there without letting anyone else go ahead. I looked and realized there were two spectators standing way back from the porta potty lines. I was super annoyed but knew I couldn't stand around for 5 people to use the bathroom when 3 seemed like a lot. I jumped back on to the race course and kept my eyes peeled for another bathroom.

I needed to take another GU at mile 18 but was nervous to do so with my stomach acting up. For a few minutes it seemed like my stomach had settled down. What a miraculous happening! And then my eyes spotted a porta potty and my body was like, nope jk. Luckily a super kind spectator insisted I cut in front of him, and the person in the porta potty hustled in and out and I only lost about 1:10 total waiting and bathrooming. I half considered GUing while using the facilities and then realized that was the grossest idea ever.

16. 9:42

17. 9:57 (attempted bathroom stop)

18. 9:43

19. 10:51 (actual bathroom stop)

I felt like a new woman when I stepped out of that porta potty. I took in my GU and vowed to put the hammer down to the best of my abilities for the next 7 miles. I had been doing some mental math based on 10 minute miles and could see I was around 4:20-4:24. I made a new goal of running as close to sub 4:20 as possible. My stomach could explode and my legs could fall off, but with 7 miles to go. It's on. 

Around mile 20 I took a salt pill, without water. I almost met my maker. I choked on the pill so hard that it cut off oxygen and I started to black out. OMG, I can't die in the middle of a marathon. I attempted to swallow, cough, gag, and repeat and nothing worked. I breathed solo out of my nose for part of a mile until I came upon someone handing out orange segments. I was nervous to put something else in my stomach at this point but I felt like choking to death was also a bad idea. Luckily the orange helped it slide down and crisis was averted. Oy.

And just in time for the infamous uphill from 20-23!

I can say with 100% confidence that I trained well for these hills. I felt like I was flying up them. I felt so strong and light in my feet and just zoom zoomed up. I also didn't think they were nearly as hard as I was anticipating. I'd done the 10 mile twice, the first time I did it the hills chewed me up and spit me out. Last year they felt fine. I assumed they would feel like a mountain after running 20 miles, but nope! Thanks for all the Monday night hill routes Chris! I think they paid off.

20. 9:58

21. 9:51

I started doing finishing math based on 9 minute miles for the remainder of the race. That kept me on for that low 4:20 finish, but I was having a heckuva time figuring out the extra race distance. With the extra bathroom non-tangents, I was a full half mile over. So I was having to count an extra 4 minutes on to anything I was calculating. Good thing I enjoy mental math! We got up the hills and it was go time. Let's go legs, you got to take it nice and easy for 18 miles, it's time to fly.

22. 9:38

23. 9:35

I knew I'd get to see my HS bestie Nikki one last time around mile 24. When she had asked where she should spectate, I told her she could probably get from 5 to 15 to the end. She had mentioned that getting to the actual end last year was almost impossible and wanted to know if it'd be ok if they weren't there this time. I told her that I would love to see her at the end but I knew I'd need to see her face around mile 24 and that would give me the mental boost I needed to run hard. When I saw her, she sprinted to the other side of the road to be on my side and forgetting about my goal time for a second, gave her the biggest sweatiest hug. She ran along side me for a few seconds and then I sprinted away saying, "ok I gotta go run fast now. LOVE YOU!" It was such a boost to see her.

I saw a fellow SFWR gal, Kristie, and seeing her unexpectedly gave me such a boost of confidence and another jolt of speed. She also snagged some sweet pics. Thanks Kristie! Shortly there after, I saw another fellow runner SFWR Joy who used to kick my butt in her sculpt classes, and seeing her gave me another jolt of energy. In my head, I was thinking the last 3 miles were downhill, so I would get slightly annoyed when there was another little uphill. I was ready for my finishing sprint. Finally the finish line was in sight and I was ready to give it everything I had.

As I was passing the capitol building I saw a huge group of SFWR--Kelly, Kate, and Emily and Kate screamed at me to "over take him"! (If you haven't seen the video floating around facebook, find it, it's amazing.) Aye aye captain! And I took off like a bat out of hell. I was already running to my maximum ability as I had done the math and realized I needed to basically sprint the final half mile to come in under 4:20. And the guy took off too!!! Oh no you don't, buddy. I ran like I was sprinting a 200 m dash, and spent some significant time the last 20-40 seconds trying to control my breath so I didn't toss my cookies. Woof.

24. 9:42

25. 9:08

26. 9:24

.77 6:21 (8:16 pace)

I ran 26.77 miles in 4:19:58 for a pace of 9:43.

Average HR 157 Max HR 171

I crossed the finish line, threw my hands in the air and stopped my watch. Within a few seconds my watch cycled through some screens and showed me my "marathon PR" of 4:15. Knowing that wasn't my official time, I was still pretty pleased that I ran that time over the course of 26.2 miles including 3 bathroom stops.

More than anything I was proud of my mental game for the race. When my stomach cramp didn't subside FOR-EV-ERRRRRR I knew my PR wasn't in the cards anymore, but I knew I could still fight hard and have a day where I ran as strong as I could. And I'm so incredibly proud of my finishing time. I ran my second fastest half marathon ever, I negative split by almost 2 full minutes (and I've never negative split a marathon, only positively split in a COMMANDING way :P), and felt so strong at the finish. I never doubted my body's ability to finish and my mind was strong.

On the drive home from the cities, I got to thinking that two years ago, Kyle and I came up to the cities for the Monster Dash half. I had been just getting back into training hard, and had shocked myself with one of my best half marathon times in years. I ran a 2:09. Two years later, I ran that same pace (actually faster based on my monster tangential fail) for twice as far. Progress means everything, and I'm super proud. But man am I itching for more!

After the finish, I caught up with Toni and Melissa and got to hear about their finishes. I never caught up to Melissa because she ran a 4:12! And Toni basically sprinted the second half of the race to run a 4:05. 

 

I have the best running buddies, and I could never have dreamed that running could be this fun again. Running buddies make the world go round, man.