For this year's Twin Cities my only goal was to finish. I still had the taste of last years race and I wanted to get it behind me.
Since I am behind on my posting on races, here's a quick summary of my 2021 prep for TCM events:
- Knee surgery in mid June
- Resumed running in mid July while doing PT
- Ramped up mileage starting in late August into September
- Ran the 10k/5k on Saturday before the marathon - the weather was very humid, temps in the mid 60's
- Dropped at mile 18 breaking my Ultra Loony streak as I was having breathing issues and knee pain (humidity had drained me)
This year my training had gone a bit better having done Grandma's virtually in June but it wasn't until after that race that my knee pain got resolved. I then continued to add in distance and worked on refining my run/walk pace splits to where by the time October arrived I thought I was ready. My only concern at all was the 6 hr cutoff as you lose 15 minutes getting to the start although they do claim to keep the finish open to allow for that. It was still stressing me out though. Hopefully by next year, I will add more margin so that this cutoff becomes a don't care.
The day arrived and although the weather wasn't perfect (blue sky, almost no clouds and tempes going from 52 to low 70's) I was able to finish my 17th TCM, 70th marathon and 52nd marathon in MN just past my 65th birthday, I saw a lot of old friends along the way which made the day even better along with great support from my wife, my oldest daughter, granddaughter and future granddaughter and text support from my youngest daughter.
Only issues were no electrolytes for a few aid stations in a row and of course this was the first time I was counting on it, oh well no harm done. I used the Galloway methodology, my splits were 20/40, run/walk through mile 18 and after 18 I allowed some extra walking to avoid the overheating. My breathing was pretty good throughout with no significant coughing issues. It was interesting to my HR stay higher than normal (Avg - 134, Max 150) but I think that goes to the weather and the pace I was trying to hold for most of the race.
Here are a few pictures from the day.
This is my view from corral 3 waiting on the start
Heading to the finish, then seeing my wife, daughter and granddaughter and onto the finish line
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