by Beth on August 29, 2010
Marathon training is a good thing. Racing my first duathlon is a good thing. Doing one right after the other is still good, but very tiring.
It doesn’t work out very often, but occasionally I run with my gym’s run club. This Saturday, they had a supported long run for fall marathon training. With a nice course, lots of friends and plenty to drink along the way, it was too good to pass up. It occurred to me that the timing wasn’t the best since I had a race the next day, but I decided that marathon training was more important so I went ahead with the run. The last mile or two was hard, but I got my 16 done and then went home for a shower and a nap.
This morning, my friend and I headed downtown for the Minneapolis Duathlon with a 5K run, 18 mile bike and 5K run. This was my first du and it was billed as the world’s largest duathlon. Packing up for a duathlon is a lot less stressful than packing up for a triathlon. With no wetsuit, goggles, or swim cap to worry about, my pack seemed almost empty. It was also nice to not worry about the water temperature or the usual jostling during the swim, I wasn’t too anxious about the race. I assumed my legs would be dead from the day before. My goal for the day was to run the second 5K faster than the first. Actually, I made this my goal so that would take it easy on the first 5K and the bike with the hopes that the second 5K wouldn’t be excruciating.
On the whole, the size of the race wasn’t overwhelming. The downside was that the race didn’t start until 8 a.m. and my wave didn’t start until 9. Since I had been up at 5:30, it was a long morning waiting for my turn at the start line. It also meant that it was getting warmer and windier as the morning passed. Finally, it was time for my wave to start. The first 10 steps of the race were terrible! It felt like I had already biked 50 miles before my first step. My legs were completely dead. Mentally, I had to break the race down to a mile at a time. Somehow, I managed to run the first 5K at a 9:17 pace.
I was really looking forward to the bike. I figured I would just take it easy and enjoy the ride. Well, the first 8 miles were really crappy. The road was in terrible condition and I felt like I was getting beat up with all of the bumps. I couldn’t get down on my aero bars at all because I felt too unstable. It finally improved and I was able to get into a rhythm. I biked at 17.2 mph, which I was happy with considering the few hills on the course and the poor road conditions.
Coming off the bike, I tried to steel myself for the final run. It really came down to just gutting it out. I was tired. I considered walking several times but was able to convince myself to try to keep going as long as possible. Somehow I ran at a 9:04 pace. It’s a miracle that I achieved my goal of running the second 5K faster than the first. I didn’t look at my Garmin at all and just tried to shut my mind down and run. I was pretty surprised that I ran as fast as I did. Good surprises are always welcome.
I’m tired now. Even though I took a nap again today, I’m just exhausted. Even so, I am really happy that I went ahead and did the race after my long run. Being able to race 2 hours on tired legs gives me confidence that they are going to have the strength to get through the marathon training. I feel less anxious about the rest of my training and I’m really proud of myself for getting out there today. I’m also really proud of my friends who did the same. Some of them ran 20 miles yesterday because their marathons are earlier than mine. Now I guess I’m a duathlete along with being a triathlete and a runner. I enjoyed the format of the race and will try to put one on my schedule for next year. Oh, my. I’m too tired to think about next year. Time to get some rest.
by Beth on August 22, 2010
Lately, it seems like the things I plan for turn out terrible and the things I do last minute turn out great. In June, I ran the Minneapolis Half and it did not go well. I had signed up early, trained hard, and had my worst half marathon ever. Today, I ran the 13.1 Marathon Minneapolis which I signed up for on Tuesday, hadn’t even heard of prior to last weekend, and it turned out to be one of my best.
Let me start this race report with a little disclaimer. I hadn’t heard of this race prior to last weekend, but I got an email through my blog offering me a discounted entry if I would give it a try and write about it. It’s the inaugural year for this race, and they were looking for people who would spread the word about the race for next year. I had a 14 mile training run on my schedule, so I figured I would give it a try. Let me just say that if they came back and asked me for the money I saved right now, I would happily give it to them because this is a great race. While I’m glad I got the discounted entry because it got me out there, this is my space to tell it like it is and that is what I’ll always do.
This race starts at St. Anthony Main, which is a great location for many reasons. Not only is it scenic, but on a Sunday morning there is oodles of cheap parking. We only had to get there 30 minutes before the 7:10 start which was nice. The start area was really the only thing that I thought needed improvement from a race planning standpoint. The lines for the porta-potties were confusing but we were able to take a turn before the race started. The pace signs were also too close together. There were just over 2,000 runners and not everyone could fit in the right spot. Everyone seemed good natured about it and the road was wide enough that, once we got going, passing people wasn’t a problem. Here I am before they opened up the starting area:
Here is Mike acting like he is going to run a 7 minute mile for the whole race:
Once the race started, it was all good. The course really was the star of this race. Much of the course was shaded, so even though it was warm and humid, it wasn’t terrible. In the open areas, there was a little breeze. The first part of the course was relatively flat, followed by a downhill around mile four. Of course that meant there had to be an uphill. After a pretty good climb at mile six, the course remained pretty flat for the rest of the race. We ran along the river as we headed south and then ran along one of the parkways with beautiful trees and houses to Lake Nokomis. I ran a 10K here last month so I knew the area around the lake was flat. There would be no need to hold back anything for the finish.
Besides the beautiful course, the other best thing about this race was the water stops. Not only were there lots of them, but they had COLD Gatorade. Yes, I’m telling you someone must have hauled ice around and the Gatorade was kept in coolers, because it was delightful. It was also mixed properly which isn’t always the case at races. Gatorade, I love you. Why can’t you be at all races? Sorry, Heed, I’m talking to you. Please no more Heed at races. Bleck.
So, how did I do? Awesome! This was my 8th half marathon and my 2nd best time. My finish time of 2:07:26 is a full 2 minutes faster than my third best time which was the Minnetonka Half that I did in May. It also finally puts to rest all of my half marathon anxiety from my crash and burn at the Minneapolis Half Marathon in June. It’s even 2:18 faster than my Rock ‘n Roll Vegas time which was in ideal weather and on a perfectly flat course. I had a negative split for this race by 16 seconds, so I’m calling it a success. Mike did well also so everyone was happy. Here I am after the finish:
So the course was good, the water stops were good, but what about the hardware? The medal is really neat. Here is a picture which doesn’t do it justice. The center part with the 13.1 spins. It’s pretty cool.
The t-shirts are also very nice. They are Craft technical shirts with a tasteful design. I’m wearing mine right now but Im’ not going to take a picture because I have bed head from my post-race nap. 
In case you can’t tell, I really liked this race. I’ll fit it into my schedule for next year and hopefully word will get around about it. Oh, and did I mention that there was chocolate cake at the end? I was too sweaty to eat it, but it looked delicious. I love chocolate cake. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that next year I’ll be able to eat it.
by Beth on August 17, 2010
There’s a new race in town and I’ve decided to give it a try. It’s 13.1 Marathon- Minneapolis and it coming up quick! The race is this Sunday, August 22 and there is still time to register online before the deadline on Wednesday. 13.1 Marathon is a series of half marathon races in various cities, reminding me of the Rock ‘n Roll series. I checked out the course and it’s similar to the Minneapolis Half, but this race starts at St. Anthony Main and ends at Lake Nokomis. There is 80’s music along the course and it looks like there will be plenty of water stops.
My training schedule for NY Marathon says 14 miles, so I’ll warm up for a mile and then run the race. I’m really excited about it! Leave me a comment if you are going so I can look for you.
