When starting this blog, I wanted to write all of my races in order I accomplished them. However, since I have taken a rather long hiatus from writing (5 years to be exact), I figured it would be best to just start again with my most recent races, then go back and fill in the gaps from the past.

A lot has happen in those past 5 years, I personally am still struggling with some of the long-term effects of COVID, and as a runner, it has drastically affected my moral. When the whole first shut down, I was suppose to run the Big Sur marathon in April of 2020, and I was at the prime of my life. Female runners tend to reach their peak performance between the ages of 25-34. When the whole shut down, my allergy shots were stopped. This brought my asthma back in full force and it was only made worse after catching COVID in January of 2021. I went from maintaining a 8:56min/mile pace to a 12:30min/mile pace. Though I felt defeated, I wasn’t going to let that stop me from reaching my goal of running a Marathon in every state.

When I finally got to run the Big Sur Marathon in April of 2022 (I was suppose to run it in April of 2020), it was more of a “oh crap, I actually have to do this again” moment and was highly unprepared. But, it helped me prepare more mentally for marathon lucky number 7, the 40th Running of the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon.

For those of you that do not know, the Twin City area has some of the best public transportation in the mid-west. The MetroTransit Lines connect you to just about everywhere, and for everywhere else, you can use the bus lines. This was the primary reason why I selected Minnesota to be my Fall Marathon location in 2023. It would have been my first marathon I ran with no side-line support, and the ability to easily get around (and quickly) made me feel safer in case I was unable to finish the race. Especially since, while I was more prepared than the Big Sur Marathon, I still had to take the month leading up to the Twin Cities Marathon off of running due to personal issues.

Day 1: Arrival

I flew to Minneapolis after work on Friday, September 30th. Once landed, I grabbed my carry-on and followed the signs to the Light Rail station so I could take it to Government Plaza. The Twin Cities Marathon starts in Minneapolis, but ends in St. Paul, so I decided to stay close to the start line to maximize the amount of sleep I would have in the morning.

I made it to the Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel, The Depot a little shy of 6pm. The Depot is combined with Residence Inn, so they had the same check in counter – but different wings of the building. This meant I had a bit of a walk to get to my room, “all the way down the hallway on the left, past the conference rooms, and then take the elevator to the mezzanine floor.” I am now a Gold Elite member, so I was upgraded to an external view, which let me look out to the street leading toward the river. After dropping off my bag, I headed back down to the hotel restaurant, Milwaukee Road, for dinner. While there, I ended up chatting with some other guests that were in town for the marathon.

Day 2: Expo Day

The next day, I woke up bright and early. I spent the night looking up activities I could do in Minneapolis, I still have never been to the Mall of America, but given that I will be running at minimum 26.2 miles the next day, I decided I would focus on going to the expo only. After putting on my Big Sur VIP 1/4 Zip, I once again ate at Milwaukee Road, but for the breakfast buffet this time. Like a good marathon runner, I slipped a few banana’s into my coat pocket so I could have them the next morning.

The Expo was all the way in St. Paul, at the Saint Paul RiverCentre. This required me taking the Green Light Rail Line all the way to downtown St. Paul (which only took ~30mins) then take a short walk to the RiverCentre. The way I went, I got to cut through the Minnesota Wild Stadium (Xcel Energy Center) then turn down a corridor with a row of windows that would let you look down into the Expo. After heading through the security screening (metal detector), I took the escalator down to the expo floor.

Thankfully, when I got there, it was still fairly early so it wasn’t too crowded yet. I made my way to join the “line” to pick up my bib number. I say line because even though it was early, there was still a lot of people just standing around and myself and the people in front of me possible cut in front of some runners without realizing it. Then I walked all the way back to look at the merch. Since Brooks Running is an Official Sponsor of the Twin Cities Marathon, it also has the primary licensing contract for Marathon Merch. This made things a little pricier, especially since I had to buy a full outfit at the Expo. That’s right, when I got dressed this morning, I realized I forgot to pack any clothes to wear after the marathon… So to not be in my cold, sweaty running clothes all day, I ended up going on a bit of a Runner’s Shopping spree. I ended up going with the Fall Brown and Orange colours to match the trees outside.

After purchasing my Twin Cities Marathon gear, I walked around the rest of the expo. At this point, I started to get pretty crowded so I tried to maximize my time. I couldn’t find the Goodr sunglasses I bought at the Big Sur Marathon when I was packing, so I was pretty pumped with I saw they had a booth here as well. In fact, it actually ended up being the same women I bought my sunglasses from in Monterey because as soon as she saw my Big Sur 1/4 Zip she said “I thought you looked familiar! Big Sur! We were there! I think I sold you this same pair!” We both got a pretty good chuckle out of it. Another booth I ended up purchasing from was OPE Running. They had softest, most adorable sweatshirt ever that I just had to purchase (in the feature photo). Thankfully, I got the last medium. I also swung by the Athleta booth because there was a spin-the-wheel and raffle, but the line was too long and I was starting to get hungry again.

On the Light Rail here, I was pulling up the best places to eat dinner in Minneapolis, and I saw that one of the restaurants listed, Bolé, served Ethiopian Cuisine. Ethiopian is my absolute favorite genre of food. Since it was located on my way back home, I walked to take the 3B bus route to Bolé. The only problem was, because of construction the stop I needed was closed. So I ended up having to get off around Energy Park and called a Lyft to pick me up and take me the rest of the way. Very embarrassing on my part.

However, I soon got over how embarrassed I was calling a Lyft to drive me 4 mins, because I ordered the Half Meat/Half Veggie platter for 2+ people at Bolé. I am sure the staff got a laugh out after I left since I was the only person at the restaurant, sat directly at the bar counter, and eat as much Injera and lentils as I could eat. After an hour, I paid my bill and asked if I could take some Injera to go (also to eat Sunday Morning before the race).From there, I walked to a different bus stop, and took the 3A all the way back to Governorment Plaza.

I put the Injera into the fridge in my hotel room, then walked the few blocks to get to the Trader Joes. I picked up a jar of pickles (for pickle juice), some potatoes, a potato peeler, and some band-aids. I dropped the groceries off in my room and laid down for a nap. When I woke up, it was already 7:30pm!! I thought about just heading back to sleep, but knew I needed to get a solid dinner in as well to be properly fueled for the next day so I headed to Eato, across the street from the hotel and ordered Seafood Linguini. I then laid all my stuff out to run, and pass out for the night.

Day 3: Race Day

sed was from the Big Sur Marathon, where I just barely beat the strict 6 hour cut off). Since the start line, near U.S. Bank Stadium, was only a 14min walk away, this game me plenty of time to get ready. The first thing I did was eat the banana and left over Injera from the day before. Then, I made sure to get all of my running gear on. Finally, I peeled my potato and pored some pickle juice into an empty travel-sized mouthwash bottle and headed that way.

For the Twin Cities Marathon, I signed up with the VIP Experience. After being VIP for Big Sur, it was hard to not be VIP again. This meant that I got to use the “Vikings Long House” as a warm place to wait until it came time to run, with plenty of water, fuel, and it’s own bathrooms. It was also conveniently located by Corral 3, so I was able to maximize my indoor wait time as long as possible. One of the benefits of getting VIP, is that it has it’s own distinct bag check – making it easier to get at the finish line. However, I decided against using bag check. I have never used it before, and wasn’t ready to start. Then, at 8:00am I made my way to the start line with one last cup of water from the VIP tent and began chopping down my Honeystinger Waffle. I was near the front of the Corral, so I actually did start my Garmin watch right at 8:12am (when the corral was suppose to take off).

My goal before running this was to just take the marathon as my body felt. There was no need to pushing myself into getting injured. And unlike the Big Sur Marathon, there was a 7 hour cut off time, so I knew even if I had to walk the whole thing I would finish. Thus, I start off by just running a long as I could before needing to walk. This lasted me approximately, 3.1 miles (aka a 5k) before deciding to walk for a minute. My first mile I 100% came in too hot and heavy. The adrenaline really gets to you sometimes, especially with all the cheering, so I tried to get back to a steadier pace on Miles 2 & 3.

Mile 1: 9:53.8
Mile 2: 10:31
Mile 3: 10:26

5k Total Time: 00:33:05

I ended up getting to the 5k mark officially at 33:05. After running the first 5k straight, I decided to take a quick minute walk break. It was at this moment, the sun really started to come out. We were no longer in the shade of downtown Minneapolis, so the temperature began to raise above 60degrees. I ran my next mile, at 10:22 pace, and decided I needed to take another minute walk break…which turned into a two minute walk break as I decided I needed to ditch my long sleeve. It was one of my favorite Athleta pull-over, but I really didn’t want to have to tie it around my waist and run the rest of the way like I did at Big Sur. Plus, knowing all abandoned clothes would be donated made me feel better about my decision.

At this point of the run, we we running all along the lake side. I cannot stress how gorgeous it was. It really made the next 4 miles go by quickly. I was sticking to run a mile, walk a minute plan. During the running portion, I was maintaining around a 10:30/mile pace and felt comfortable doing so. Possibly two comfortable because the ninth mile I ran, I ended up getting back down to a 10:03/mile pace. Worried that I won’t have enough left to finish, I began to slow it down again with my next 3 miles I ran.

10K: 1:06:47
15K: 1:41:22
20k: 2:16:24

13.1 Mile Time: 2:26:24

When I finally hit the half-marathon mark, my total time was 2 hours 26 minutes and 34 seconds. I was proud that I made it under 2:30:00 and maintained an 11:11/mile running pace even with all the walk breaks I had taken. At this point, my feet were ABSOLUTELY KILLING ME!! I wasn’t too surprised. I didn’t put any Vaseline on them in the morning, or any blister pads. I also had to use the restroom so I made the decision while I waited for the port-o-potty that I would take my shoes off and apply the Vaseline I had in my belt bag. THESE BLISTERS WERE BAD! Like, if a medical professional saw them I would have been pulled from the course BAD. I quickly used half a jar of Vaseline on each of my feet and shoved them back into my shoes. Never before in a run, have I received blisters this early in the race. Typically, I would start to develop them until at least the 16-18 mile mark. It was at this point, I had to make the difficult decision to really just go with the flow of how my feet feel. I ended up taking 1000mgs of Tylenol with my Pickle Juice to try to ease the pain and swelling as well.

This meant, I was primarily walking now. There was no rhyme or reason behind when I would walk or when I would run. At one point I tried to maintain a run a minute: walk a minute schedule; but, it really did not help my feet. So, I admitted defeat and would just try to run for at least 45 seconds between every 1-4minutes. I would walk up hills, and then run down them. Anytime I saw a camera man, I would run by them and stay running for at least 45 seconds, sometimes more. I did my best to just keep moving, and never stop. The main thing that kept me moving was how gorgeous our route along the Mississippi River was.

The trees were the most perfect fall colours – reds and yellows and greens covered the Minnesota landscape. No matter how rough my feet felt, I couldn’t help but thing how incredibly lucky I was in that moment to experience such a beautiful view. I kept a smile on my face, but then something awful happened. As I turned the corner to say goodbye to the Mississippi River, right before Mile 22, I felt a pop. One of the blisters in my right foot has broken open, and I was in even more pain than ever. I only had 4.2 miles left to go, and I was going to continue pushing threw the pain. I took another 500mg of Tylenol I had on me and continued with my “run when I can” racing plan.

25k: 3:00:59
30k: 3:39:50
35k: 4:20:17

Averaging now 11:58/mile Pace

Looking back on the race, the Twin Cities Marathon crowd really kept me going. Though it wasn’t the largest crowd I had (Burlington) or the loudest (Philly), the Minnesotans knew how to have a good time. The same weekend as the race, the Minnesota Vikings were playing the New Orleans Saint. These Viking fans were not about to let the running Viking Fans finish the race without knowing the score. Cheering along the sidelines, everyone was dressed in the game-day purple best, and kept holding signs up with the current score, and the name of the most recent Viking touchdown player. Though I am not a Viking Fans, I did have Dalvin Cook on my Fantasy Team so I appreciated ALL of the updates. When the final score came down to 28 Vikings – 25 Saints, the race crowd absolutely lost it and started sharing vodka shots with the runners. The energy was contagious, and it gave me that extra push I needed to cross the finish line.

Though I was in pain, I made sure to run that last half a mile to the finish line. As I picked it up from a light jog to a sprint (my pace was an 10:00/mile again), I had the largest smile across my face as I knew I was going to finally make it. I ended up finishing at 5:18:45, which meant that this was my third slowest marathon. I also could say this marathon has landed in 5th place out of 7 marathons. After crossing the finish line and getting my medal, I had to take a turn to the right were the VIP finishers tent was. Most of the food and drinks were already picked through, but there was still a few VIP gift bags left over. I made sure to grab one so I had enough room to bring by all the stuff I bought the day before. The VIP tent had a view of the finish line so while I ate my finisher meal, I made sure to cheer on everyone who was coming in after me.

Final Thoughts:

I am so incredibly happy that I chose to go with the Twin Cities Marathon as my Minnesota Marathon. I was debating between this one and the Grandma’s Marathon for a while. Grandma’s Marathon is often voted as the best race in Minnesota because of the scenery; but I think Twin Cities Marathon may have had them beat. The course was challenging, but the scenery of downtown Minneapolis, to lakes, to the Mississippi River, to downtown St. Paul never left me without something to look at. The fans were evenly spaced, and there was never a period longer than half a mile without someone cheering us on. To make matter’s even better, there was plenty of fuel stations along the course with both water and Nuun so if you are a runner who doesn’t bring a hydration pack, you could make it the whole time without one. The race was also packed with people! After the race, I learned that Twin Cities Marathon was one of the few races that were back to Pre-Pandemic participation numbers. This race is also beginner friendly.