Twin Cities Marathon: Saturday

On Saturday morning, Mike, Bill and I scoped out the final four miles of the marathon on a run. The night before at dinner, my mom had suggested we take a driving tour of the last 10k of the marathon course, and then get dropped off at the 22 mile mark to check out the final miles of the marathon. We all thought it was a great idea, one that we had stolen from Ruth who was going on the Marathon Tour bus with other elites. I didn’t like the idea of sitting on a bus for two hours the day before the marathon, so I opted out and did this instead.

Around 8am, we all met in the lobby and piled into my parent’s VW Jetta Diesel. We drove the biggest hills from mile 20 and on, and then turned back around to head back to mile 22. We stopped at a gas station and got out of the car. It was cold this morning and I quietly hoped it would be above 40 degrees tomorrow morning. The three of us ran together and noticed there was a gradual incline of maybe about 1% grade. It didn’t seem so bad, but at the same time, we hadn’t covered 22 miles at a much faster clip yet. The houses along Summit Street were absolutely beautiful and I soaked in the beautiful scenery of the fall leaves with a vibrant array of colors. We rounded a turn and a nice downhill awaited us and Mike informed us that this was the final 1200m of the course. He also told us that a photographer would be here to take a picture of us coming down the hill, with a huge Catholic Church in the background.

After we finished the run, I did a portion of the Tabata workout with Mike and Bill and then we walked back to the hotel since the Holiday Inn is just two blocks from the finish line. I drove Bill back to the Crowne Plaza and on my way back in, I saw Mile walking on the street. I immediately called him and asked if he was looking for breakfast. I told him that he should turn around and drive with me to get a bagel from Bruegger’s Bagels. He agreed. After some navigation, we eventually found the downtown bagel shop and ordered our breakfast.

After I got back to the hotel, it was already time to head back to the Crowne Plaza for the Elite Technical meeting, which was mandatory for all elites to attend. Before we headed to the conference room, I stopped by the Hospitality Suite and, to my delight, found an array of prepared sandwiches for the elite athletes. I immediately thought they would not have a vegetarian option, but fortunately they did! It was delicious and free. My mom even got one too! We arrived at the Great River Room to hear a presentation of how the events would unfold the next morning. Really, the presentation just reiterated everything that we had received in our elite packet of information.

My mom, dad, and I walked back to our hotel five blocks away and ordered Toy Story 3 on demand. It was a great movie! The day flew by as we headed to the Marathon Pasta Dinner at 5pm. I had a simple dinner of spaghetti with marinara sauce and salad with parmesan cheese. I also had a cookie because I felt hungry still. I’m glad I had that cookie.

Upon arriving back at the hotel, my dad had coordinated with my high school coach where to see us the next day. They would be at miles 9, 17, 20.5, and 26.2. I got all my gear ready to go, with my bag packed full of Body Glide, two “This Apple walked into a bar” Bars, water, Gatorade, and cold weather gear. Ruth knocked on our door and we figured out the rides for the next morning and her husband, Dean, would join my dad and Holda to see us throughout the course and take pictures. All in all, everything was falling into place. Lights were out at 9pm.