Twin Cities Marathon Weekend: A Jeroni Reunion

We started off our Jeroni weekend by Toni getting in so late that I was already asleep. Luckily she was up and at em for our regular coffee run! We ran a nice and easy 4 miles, had all the time to catch up with friends over coffee and time passed so quickly that Kyle left for work before I had a chance to say goodbye for the weekend. Whoops!

We got on the road, mid morning but not without some extra coffee for the road. Mmmm.... coffee.

Per standard traveling with Jeri I made it 100 miles before I was ready to pee my pants. Luckily the light was excellent for a selfie. :P

I had to steal a couple of onion rings for this very important photo op at our lunch stop in Albert Lea. Not the best race weekend food but shockingly my stomach was fine with it.

We arrived in the cities and made our way to the expo. 

This is our view upon arrival at our hotel. gulp.

After the expo we went to dinner. Kyle and I had gone to this place for pizza before the Monster Dash half, and it was a short walk from the expo. It was delicious.

Saturday morning Toni was sleeping really hard, really late, so after I was up for an hour or so, I decided to go back to bed and catch some extra Zzzz's myself. Around 10:30 I woke up and realized we needed to get out for our shake out run ASAP! 

 We went out for a nice easy 3 with strides with an accidental extra one mile walk because I suck at navigating in the cities. Always. Full stop. Luckily we had time to take some excellent BRF photos mid-run.

When we got to breakfast, which was now lunch based on how late it was, the place was packed. I ordered a beautiful rainbow latte and a crepe with chick peas, avocado, arugula, and goat cheese. It was the most delicious thing I've ever eaten and I want it again daily for the rest of my life.

They also had lattes with edible glitter and a s'mores latte that looked like heaven in a cup.

This is how happy I am to be drinking a beautiful latte. 

When we got back to the hotel, I was ready to start working on my race day nails. I had bought nail wraps from Sarah Marie Design studio for me and Toni and I was nervous about how hard they'd be to put on. Nope. They were super simple and looked amazing! So fun.

We got ready for dinner and Melissa and Karissa joined us. Melissa and I ran a lot of miles together and Karissa is the sweetest human who was running her first marathon. We ate pizza and pasta and chatted all about race morning. It was so fun.

Toni and I finally got the chance to wear our BRF jackets together. YAY!

 After dinner, it was back to bed to lay out Flat Jeri, foam roll, and get into bed. What a fast weekend! Toni left right after the race, after a shower to start her 10 hour drive home, so it was short but sweet. <3

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 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.