Twin Cities Marathon

First things first.....YAY! I'm so excited that I now can say I am officially a marathoner! And a HUGE thanks to all my TNT "family" that was out there cheering for us. I can't even begin to tell you how much inner fuel I find after seeing someone I know standing on the edge of the course cheering for us. It's a runner's high that only an athlete can understand :)

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So details of the race....let me start the night before...
After stuffing my face full of pasta and talking marathon strategies with Dana and Jon, I headed home to look over, and over, and over my stuff for the next morning. Luckily the night before I got plenty of sleep because I was wound up and knew I wouldn't get much sleep this night. I kept thinking.."why am I so nervous about this race? I've done so many races, why is this marathon different?" I'm still not 100% sure I can accurately answer why I was so nervous but the next morning, nerves turned more to excitement.

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As our usual neurotic selves, Dana and I were parked and at the TNT meeting spot by just after 6am. We met up with our friends racing and spectating the race, along with the TNT team that actually trained for this event. After many "good lucks" it was down to the start. It was fairly cold so we stuffed ourselves into trash bags to stay warm until the start. Let me tell you....it works! We stood near the back of the 4:30 pace line and as soon as the race began, we shuffled our way to the start line and clothes were flying everywhere for the next 2 miles. Good tip for marathoning, stay warm by wearing extra layers of clothes you wouldn't mind just throwing away to the side of the street. By mile 3 it started to rain and we were all trying to avoid the puddles. By mile 5 it was POURING and we gave up on avoiding the puddles. At first I was worried about the rain and potentially blistery feet but it was actually kind of fun. My body flipped the switch to "runner's high" somewhere around mile 5 and I felt so good I could care less about the rain....I just wanted to keep going while it was still good :) We took short walk breaks only to grab water/gatorade at most every water stop and found it somewhat disturbing and amusing to see how many guys and even girls, would run just off the course behind a bush or up against a fence to relieve themselves. Port a Potties people! Wait in line....seriously! :)
Somewhere near mile 20, Dana and I were both starting to feel it in our knees, ankles and back. My left knee was worse and the pain slowly moved to be all the way up and down my leg. Dana was having knee issues as well but we were going to tough this out together damn it. NPA right Captain Cartwheel? :) Our "family" was strung out all over the course and we seemed to see someone every few miles. It's hard to explain if you aren't an endurance athlete but seeing each and every person gave me a huge smile and helped me find a little more inner "fuel" to keep going. But one occasion was extra cool. Dana and I hadn't seen anyone for awhile and were trying to distract each other by just yammering on about whatever we could think about. I look up and see these big neon signs "Mielke is amazing! D. Rutt you rock!" SWEET! I've never had a sign made for me before! The one and only JAM (one of the best cheerleaders ever!) made us a huge sign and that fueled us through those next few miles. There were definite ups and downs in the last 6.2. We saw Ms. R and Fury along the east river parkway and dang that girl is smart! (whether she knows it or not) She ran with us for a few steps, asking how we were doing and giving out hugs. Just as she left us, Dana and I looked at each other and smiled.....we didn't even notice we just went up a hill! Thanks Ms. R :) I originally thought that once we turned onto Summit we had 6 miles left and was happy to know once you get to Summit there is only about 4 miles left. But as everyone had told me.....those were the longest 4 miles EVER! At one point I thought we had to have missed seeing the 25 mile mark but sure enough just about the time I wanted to see 26, 25 showed up. Ugh! Thankfully somewhere in those last few miles we were greeted by more of our family at what I think was a TNT cheer station. It was a very happy moment! I got such a huge smile and was so excited to see them all cheering! It was one of those times where another athlete was probably running by going "man, they really have a cheering section!" The last 4-5 miles, it was a lot of inner power that kept us moving. I just tried to spit out every last positive thought I could think of and ignore all the negative thoughts and pain in my legs. We were finishing and we were finishing in under 5hrs....damn it! One last visit by JAM as he handed us some final carbs and salt to intake. Dana's sisters found her along the last stretch and I think the hug from her little niece Lily gave her plenty fuel to finish as well. Just before we came over the last hill , I had the weirdest rush of emotions and had to gasp real short to keep from crying. Where did that come from? It was the strangest thing but I honestly think it was my body searching for any energy that is left. We came around the corner to see the downhill and finish line in sight. "C'mon girl, let's go". I just set my sights on that finish line and gave it just a little extra. We officially crossed the line at 4:42:23.

After a few emotional moments, hugs, chips, water, chicken broth and Nut Rolls....Dana and I posed for the professional photographer together and got out of our wet clothes as quickly as possible. It's funny how I could feel my legs tightening up with every step. They even had a volunteer helping us up and over the curb to get out of the athlete area. And I appreciated the assist. Funny how insignificant a 6" curb can be until you try to run 26.2 miles then just step up and over the damn thing.

We hung around for awhile trying to see as many people as we could. Got a picture with our cheerleader JAM, then headed home. I quickly took a shower and flopped onto the couch with my ice packs. ("how in the world did I get such a huge bruise on the top of my foot???") I spent the rest of the night VERY stiff but also super happy to have completed the marathon.


Today I'm still pretty sore but nothing I didn't really expect. No workouts today. I'm not even leaving my place at all actually. Got up just in time to start work, put in a full day, and now after just finishing my supper I'm going to plop on the couch with my blanket and watch football. Go Vikes!


In closing I had one thing on my mind surround this marathon. When it comes to looking ahead to my Ironman.....2 pieces down, 1 to go. I've done the marathon. I've done a 100 mile bike ride. Still haven't swam 2.4 miles but hope to do a 2 mile outdoor swim with the Masters group early next summer. Then I just have to figure out how to put it all together in one very long day :)