Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon #RunMSP

  1        2        3        4       5        6         7       8         9       10     11     12      13  
5:48,    5:48,  5:38 , 5:35,  5:41, 5:38,    5:44,  5:45,    5:55,  5:46,  5:53,  5:56,  6:00,

    14   15    16      17    18     19    20     21    22     23    24    25      26    26.2
 6:06, 5:57, 6:08, 6:08, 6:11, 6:14, 6:16, 6:29, 6:46, 6:46, 6:28, 6:32, 6:21, 1:20   Time = 2:38.57

Have you ever walked into a play that you thought was going to be a comedy and been surprised to find out that it is actually a tragedy? Well, that is what I discovered when I got to about 16 miles into the Twin Cities Marathon. I made the rookie mistake of letting someone else dictate my race – I was reading lines from a tragedy in the middle of my own comedy.

When I set off from the starting line I had one goal in mind, the win. The start went out fast which surprised me and instead of sticking to my own pace I began to rationalize. My mind turned over as quickly as my legs – “I’m as fit as these girls, if I want to win I have to run with them.” “I know this pace is faster than I wanted to average, but they are probably trying to gain some cushion time right now where the course is a little easier”. “I feel good, this pace doesn’t feel crazy, I’m going to do fine”.

I was in the top three, stalking the leaders. As the leaders continued to push the pace, I eventually decided that I could let them go a little bit, keep them in sight but allow them to play themselves out and I would pick them up later. But that didn’t happen, the early damage was done and the rest of the race was a lonely fight to the finish line.

People have asked “When did you feel it?” And my response is, there was never one moment where I said to myself “oh crap”, just a slow deterioration of my pace and with it the accumulation of a few more women in front of me. I was able to hold on to finish in the top 10 and get an Olympic Trials A qualifying time, but that was about it. Mostly I felt foolish….I said to myself over and over again before the race, “I’m going to run my own race” and yet I didn’t execute that plan. I didn’t trust in myself enough.

Lance Elliot (who did trust his own abilities and ran a brilliant race), who I spent a lot of time training with in the past months ended up passing me just before mile 24, just in time for the “smile cam” to snap a picture of us in the mere seconds that we were on the course side by side that day. And instead of smiling as the huge sign next to the camera suggested, I just wanted to give that sign a swift kick. If only I could have picked my legs up more than the few inches needed to clear the pavement for my next step forward.

Oh, and the cherry on top of the cake. I was the only lucky woman that weekend to get drug tested on both Saturday and Sunday! I got to spend a lot of quality time exposing myself to the nice people from USADA. I say this in half jest, because it’s great to have USADA there helping to ensure that the sport that I love is clean. But at the same time, no matter how many times you do it, it is never a comfortable thing to have to drop your shorts with a pair of foreign eyes watching on.

Well now it is over and it’s back to the grindstone for 6 weeks, until the US Championships on Nov 17th in Alexandria, VA. This will be a 12K race which will serve as the “culminating event of USATF’s USA Running Circuit and USATF’s flagship road race, featuring $100,000 in prize money, the race offers an opportunity for everyone to test their limits and enjoy a scenic run through historic Alexandria” (USATF.org).  I am currently in 6th place on the leader board, with the 12k counting as triple points towards the road racing circuit. Can I catch the women in front of me and jump into one of the top three spots? Stay tuned. Make sure to watch the race on Sunday Nov. 17th, or even better yet come out and run!