Twin Cities Marathon: Spectators wanted!

So, as you've probably heard, the Twin Cities Marathon is this coming Sunday, starting at 8am. The route goes from the Metrodome in Minneapolis to the State Capitol in St. Paul. I'm planning on running a 5:30 (five hour thirty minute) marathon, which translates to about a 12:35 pace (12 min, 35 seconds per mile.)

• Participant guide
• Map of the course [squares on the interstate are ramps]
  
• Road closures

Remembering that the elite runners are in the first corral at the starting line, it's possible it could be up to ten minutes before I actually cross the starting line timing mat and am officially on the course, you can guess what time I'll be at each mile. Here's a rough estimate, assuming I maintain a 12:35 pace. But, avoid the guesswork... there will be a timing chip map updated on the Twin Cities Marathon website that will be updated when I cross timing mats at miles 1, 2, 5k (3.1 miles), 10k (6.2 miles), 13.1 (half marathon), 30k (18.64 miles), and one other spot TBA. But here's a general idea:

1 - 12:35 (12th St/Hennepin Av; 8:22am)
2 - 25:10 (Lyndale/Douglas Av; 8:35am)
3 - 37:45 (Douglas Av and Oliver Av?; 8:47am)
4 - 50:20 (Dean Parkway/Lake of the Isles Pkwy; 8:59am)
5 - 1:02:55 (West Calhoun Pkwy, between 32nd St & 36th St; 9:11am)
6 - 1:15:30 (West Calhoun Pkwy/Sheridan Av S; 9:25am)
7 - 1:28:05 (22nd/East Harriet Blvd; 9:38am)
8 - 1:40:40 (W Minnehaha Pkwy/Humboldt Av S; 9:50am)
9 - 1:53:15 (Minnehaha Pkwy/35W; 10:03am)
10 - 2:05:50 (Minnehaha Pkwy/Chicago Av; 10:15am)
11 - 2:18:25 (Minnehaha Pkwy/Cedar Av; 10:28am)
12 - 2:31:00 (Cedar Av S/E Nokomis Pkwy; 10:41am)
13 - 2:43:35 (E Nokomis Pkwy/52nd St; 10:53am)
14 - 2:56:10 (Minnehaha Pkwy/Nokomis Av; 11:06am)
15 - 3:08:45 (Godfrey Rd/Hwy 55; 11:18am)
16 - 3:21:20 (42nd St/W River Pkwy; 11:30am)
17 - 3:33:55 (West River Rd/36th St; 11:43am)
18 - 3:46:30 (West River Rd/28th St; 11:56am)
19 - 3:59:05 (West River Rd/Franklin Av; 12:09pm)
20 - 4:11:40 (East River Rd/St. Anthony Av; 12:21pm)
21 - 4:24:15 (East River Rd/Marshall St; 12:34pm)
22 - 4:36:50 (Summit Av/Cleveland Av; 12:46pm)
23 - 4:49:25 (Summit Av/Snelling Av; 12:50pm)
24 - 5:02:00 (Summit Av/Oxford; 1:12pm)
25 - 5:14:35 (Summit/Dale, 1:24pm)
26.2 - 5:30:00 (John Ireland Blvd & 12th St/Rice St, 1:40pm)

Spectator tips

• West River Road is known as a vacuum for spectators. If you can be there, your cheers will be greatly, greatly appreciated!
• Don't yell "You're almost there" until mile 25. When you're really tired, a few miles seems like a LONG way!

Cheer suggestions from Twin Cities Marathon:

• "You're looking awesome!"
• "You can do it!"
• "Way to run!"
• "One stride at a time!"
• "Way to focus!"
• "Stay relaxed!"
• "Keep it up!"
• "Way to go!"
• Call out something unique about the runner (bib #, color or logo on the shirt, etc.)

See you there!

5 days to Marathon: What have I gotten myself into, Race preparation, and Spectator's guide

Well, the marathon is on Sunday. My god that went fast. Knock on wood, the weather is supposed to be good - low 60s (forecast is saying 59 today), no rain. Runners dress for temperatures about 20 degrees warmer than it is, so an ideal running temperature is mid-50s. And of course no rain. If any of you paid attention to last year's Twin Cities Marathon (I surely did not), it was cold and rainy. Our current TNT head running coach actually ended up dropping out because she became hypothermic. So do your anti-rain dance - no rain please!

Our race will start at 8am. I am planning on running a 5 hour 30 min (running with the Clif Bar pace group, I think), which would make my pace about 12:35 on average, and possibly as slow as 13:10 per mile. The lowest pace a participant can go without getting picked up by the bus will be 13:44. I should be fine if my IT band doesn't act up. We'll see.

Now's the time: download and print your spectator's guide!

I am anxious - not only because it's my first marathon, but also I've had a nagging IT band injury that's prevented me from running my short workouts during the week (hello pool jogging, the most ridiculous-looking exercise you will ever do.) I've tried to keep up with the longer weekend runs, but have had to cut the last three short. Been to a chiropracter once on Friday, once yesterday, and will probably go once or twice again this week. Did I mention that while he's excellent and helped me a great deal, the office is not in network? Yep. Thank goodness for my Health Care Flexible Spending Account.

So my time these days is spent on the following priorities, at work and at home:

* Taking two to three naproxen a day to keep down swelling (race day, this will become acetaminophen, as I understand this is a better choice for the kidneys during the marathon);
* Icing my knee and left quad (I feel like such a jock talking about "icing my quad") as often as I can during the day - my chiro says apart from the anti-inflammatory properties of icing, this also acts as a "pump," telling fluids to leave when it's cold, and pumping them back when the ice pack is removed, accelerating healing);
* Drinking at least 64 oz of water a day;
* "Grazing" carbs starting on Wednesday;
* Getting up around the time I'll get up on Sunday all this week to get my system, ahem, going at the proper time. (Runners are a very, very earnest and upfront bunch.)
* Getting to the chiropracter at least one more time, and possibly two, before race day.

To add to that, I have the following regimen to squeeze in twice a day:
* Rolling my IT band with a roller (big foam roll) - also an awkward exercise
* Massaging the bejeezus out of my quads, calf muscles and IT band with "the stick"
* After 5 minutes of a warmup activity, stretching my IT band.

Off to my stretching routine. More soon!

Cheer me on at TCM Oct 4!, thank you, hills, 18 miles and knee injury

Mark your calendars - cheer me on at the Twin Cities Marathon on Sunday, Oct. 4, 8am! TCM is a mere 28 days away,. I'd love to see you at a Team In Training cheer station! I'll be finishing around 2pm. More details soon - they're all in my gmail which seems to be down now. Boo. Here are the details!

Thirty-five TNT athletes - including myself - will be racing on Sunday, October 4 and could really use some TNT fans out there to support them.

Leukemia and Lymphoma staff are looking for people to man cheer stations and the finish area tent. If you can help, please contact Kim Mitchell. We will need help from 7:30 a.m. to about 2:30 p.m. Please let her know what times you are available and preference of cheer station below. We need every station to be loud, crazy and fun! TNT gear is a must!!! Wigs, crazy hats, TNT logos, signs, cowbells, etc. - the more purple and green the better!

Mile 4.5 (Cheer Captain: TBD) - 8 a.m. Located in Minneapolis at the northwest corner of Lake Calhoun near the Calhoun Beach Club (corner of Lake St. & Dean Parkway)

Mile 10 (Cheer Captain: TBD) - 8:40 a.m. Located at the intersection of Portland Avenue and 50th Street.

Mile 17 (Cheer Captain: TBD) - 9:15 a.m. The TNT cheering section will be just prior to the official mile 17 water stop of the marathon. We will set up at about 34th Street and West River Road. Park along Edmund Boulevard. It runs parallel to River Road. You will need to walk down a small hill to get to River Road. (It is about 4 blocks south of Lake Street)

Mile 22.75 (Also Mile 6.75 of the 10 miler) (Cheer Captain: TBD) - 9:35 a.m.
This is our official Honoree Cheer Station. Located at the intersection of Summit Avenue and Snelling Avenue.

Finish Area Check-In (Captain: TBD)

Wow... it's hard to believe that the marathon is less than a month away. I am increasingly excited and especially anxious. I know that my training is preparing me, but at the same time... I've never done this before. I just started running in January, for heaven's sake. But I should remember that even in that amount of time I've come so far. I remember when we first started training on lock and dam hills - we did two and I was exhausted. Our last hill team training I did six!

First things first - a tremendous thank you to fellow TNTer Jennifer Koper for her contribution towards my goals. Jennifer was a participant in the Lifetime Tri for Team in Training and a veteran of Team in Training. Thank you so much, Jennifer!

I haven't run for about a week - on my last long run a week ago, I had a lot of tightness and some pain in my outside left knee. I've been taking it easy, and even had a NP look at it when I was in for an unrelated condition (viral conjunctivitis - good times) - she suggested if it continues, to go into a sports medicine specialist. I am hoping that rest and naproxen will do the job, but I might end up in a doctor's office yet.

In any case, I went on a long-ish walk yesterday - hoping that lower intensity would be charitable to that knee. Today I ran hills - 1 mile warmup, 6 reps of hills at the cabin we're at (up and down BOTH sides of the hill - the lock and dam hills that regularly test my endurance in team runs are only ONE side of the hill!), and another mile cooldown. Still felt tightness in my left knee, and my PT friend suggested a technique to "recruit" my inner knee muscle to hopefully reduce the strain on the outer knee (thank you Jen!). I'll try that for awhile and see if it takes care of the problem.

My long run this weekend - 18 miles, which will be a new personal record - is scheduled for Tuesday. And next weekend, right before the Autumn Brew Review, I'll be completing a 21 mile run - the longest run in our training. Onward!