Amy Lu's View

Previously on my blog, I tried to delve into poetic, even spiritual, aspects of running the 2022 Twin Cities Marathon. 

Now that I’ve got that out of the way…this will be a more prosaic “I did this and saw this and felt this and learned this” post (not surprisingly, this post will be longer). 

I did this:

• Successfully completed my fourth marathon!
• Ran my SLOWEST marathon (here are all my times):
  • Twin Cities Marathon 2022–4:19:05
  • Twin Cities Marathon 2018–4:04:55
  • Grandma’s Marathon 2018–4:03:48
  • Twin Cities Marathon 2017–4:16:34
• Ran my first mile WAY too fast!! This is the classic marathon runner’s mistake, so I guess I needed to make it at least once in my running life? Good news: I ran an 8:15 mile; Bad news: I ran MUCH slower miles at the end of the marathon.

I learned this:

• According to Facebook posts, several runners had difficult marathons because of the heat.
• Not doing any strength training probably made me slower–not sure if that’s enough motivation to do some if there’s a next time.
• Doing fewer long runs and shorter long runs than what I did with my previous training plan was just fine–if it did make me slower, it was worth it.
• I should give more thought to my nutrition and hydration–both during training and the race itself. Nothing disastrous happened, but I may have been slowed down by my fuel deficit. 
• Running a long distance with braids works (I took a bit of a risk by not trying this out in advance–my run hairdo is usually a ponytail or bun). I think it would be really awesome if I learn how to do french braids for any other longish race I might do. 

I felt this:

• Pleased and relieved that Chad dropped me off close to the start line and that I found the gear drop off spot easily, and that the bathroom lines weren’t too long and that it was easy for me to discard my warm-up blanket.
• Soo so tired from mile 17 on. Not in pain, but definitely spent. Not sure if this feeling was worse than in previous marathons. Also felt low-level nausea (but no puking) which is NOT unprecedented. 
• Reassured that others had a difficult run because of the heat–not that I take joy in the misfortunes of others, or that I’m even sure to what extent the heat affected me
• Thankful for all the supportive and entertaining spectators, especially those that yelled “Go, Amy” or some other personalized message for me (my name was on my Bib)…AND a little embarrassed and self-conscious for the cheers directed at me.
• Entertained by the spectator signs that gave updates on the Vikings game, even though I have absolutely NO interest in the Vikings.
• Slightly deflated and disappointed that this was my slowest marathon, although I consciously decided to do a less time-consuming training plan and knew this was likely. (Now I mostly feel like, “Whatever, I did a marathon, whoo-hoo!”)
• Disappointed and discombobulated that I NEVER heard any spectators blasting “Sweet Caroline”! Is it even a long race without that?
• Bemused and flattered that a significant number of people on Facebook remarked how “good” I looked in my post-race photos after having just ran a marathon. And these comments were on just my selfies! I tried even harder to intentionally look mighty and happy and proud at the finish line and whenever I noticed an official race photographer. I’m not sure if this is a reflection on my marathon prowess or my dedication to trying to get good photos for social media.

I didn’t, and still don’t, feel like “ I MUST do that again” or “I will NEVER do THAT again” which means it’s likely that I will run a marathon again. Maybe there is a “Feisty Fifth” in my future. Oh wait, that sounds potentially ill-advised.