Race Report: 2018 Mankato Marathon

On October 21st, I ran the Mankato Marathon.  This was a last-minute addition to my race schedule.  Until last weekend, it didn’t even occur to me that there was a local race this weekend.  While I was in Bemidji for the Blue Ox Marathon, my friend Andy from Texas mentioned in a Facebook post that he was doing this race.

Last weekend, I felt nervous about running marathons on two consecutive weekends, because I hadn’t done it in more than a year.  Afterwards, I felt pretty good about it.  One of my goals for this year was to cut back on marathons, but that’s mainly so I could cut back on the travel.  Mankato is close enough that I could drive down there the morning of the race.

Like mostly people, I used to do long training runs at least every other weekend.  Eight years ago, I joined Marathon Maniacs and started running marathons every week or two.  When you race that often, the marathons take the place of your long training runs.

In the past year, I cut back to not much more than one marathon per month, but I still wasn’t doing any long training runs.  From January through June, I was walking 15 to 20 miles per day, but it was usually split into three workouts.  When you’re doing that many miles per day, it doesn’t matter if it’s only seven miles at a time.  I had good race results even without the long training runs.

More recently, my mileage has dropped off, and I’m feeling the difference.  Suddenly a 10 mile workout feels really long.  I realized I either need to resume doing long workouts, or I need to race more often.  Since I could do this race while still sleeping at home, it was hard to resist doing it as a long training run.

It was still possible to register for the race, but the logistics were less than convenient.  It’s a point to point race.  They provide transportation to the start before the race, but not back to the finish after the race.  That meant I had to get to downtown Mankato early enough to find parking and then take a bus to the start.  That meant leaving home by 4:30 and doing the 70 mile drive in the dark.  It also meant driving home after the race in my sweaty running clothes.

When I looked at the weather forecast, I started to have second thoughts.  The overnight low was going to be 27 degrees, and I would have to wait in the start area for at least an hour before the race started.  How badly did I want to do a long training run?  Was it worth getting up at 3:30 and then freezing for an hour before the race?  It was going to be much warmer in the afternoon.  I could just do a training run on my own, but I knew I wouldn’t hang in there for 20+ miles.  I’d be lucky if I could talk myself into doing 10.

When I pin a race bib to my shirt, I can coax myself to run farther, and I can coax myself to run faster.  I’ll also grit my teeth and tolerate uncomfortable weather.  When I’m just out for a training run, it’s harder to do that.  On training runs, I want to stay in my comfort zone.

I considered getting a room for the night.  I’ve done this race twice before.  On both of those occasions, I started at a Hilton Garden Inn that’s near the finish line and only a few blocks from where buses load.  If I booked at the AARP rate, I could get a 2 PM checkout.  That would give me a chance to shower before driving home.  They still had rooms available, but the rate was outrageous.  It was $348.  To put that in perspective, the rate for that room on any other night would be $116.  They tripled the rate for the night before the race.  For that kind of money, you can stay at a four star hotel in midtown Manhattan.

There’s only one other hotel in downtown Mankato.  They had availability and a reasonable room rate, but I wouldn’t have been able to get a late checkout there.  If I had to check out before leaving to catch a bus, I wouldn’t save much time in the morning, and I still wouldn’t be able to shower afterwards.  I would defeat the purpose of getting a hotel room.

By now, I was emotionally invested in doing the race, so I went ahead and signed up for it.  I decided to get up early and drive to Mankato the morning of the race.  The forecast wasn’t as bad as it looked at first.  While it would dip into the upper 20s overnight, it would warm to about 30 by the time the race started.  It was going to be a sunny day, so the temperature would climb quickly once the sun was up.

They have race morning packet pickup, but I drove down to Mankato to pick up my race packet on Saturday.  It took a few hours of my afternoon, but it made race morning much simpler.  I didn’t have to get to the start area as early.  I also didn’t have to pin on a race bib or attach a chip to my shoe at the last minute.

Packet pickup was at the Mankato campus of Minnesota State University.  While I was there, I bumped into Dick Beardsley and we had a nice chat.  He was one of my running idols when I first started running, and I’ve heard him speak at a few different races.

I got to bed early and slept well for about four hours.  Then I woke up and had trouble getting back to sleep.  I eventually rolled over and looked at the clock.  It was 4:08.  I though my alarm was set for 3:30.  I accidentally set it for 3:30 PM instead of 3:30 AM.  I got ready as quickly as I could.  My brain was now wide awake, but my body was still sleepy.  I had a cup of tea and a small bowl of cereal and got dressed as quickly as I could.

I still managed to get to Mankato by 6:00.  I parked in the ramp by Hilton Garden Inn.  Normally, it’s only for free for hotel guests, but on Sunday, it’s free for anyone.  By now, I needed to pee.  I found a bathroom I could use inside the building and then walked over to Cherry Street to board a bus to the start.

When we were dropped off at the starting line, it was freezing.  The wind was really howling.  I walked straight to a Caribou Coffee that’s right across the street.  I ordered a cup of hot cocoa and sat down inside.  At first, I just held the cup in my hands, to warm them up.  Then I took an occasional sip.  I wasn’t in any rush.  I had more than an hour to kill, and I wasn’t in any rush to go back outside.  Before I felt, I had to pee again.  That’s fine.  They had bathrooms, and there weren’t too many people waiting.

There was a 10K race that started at 7:30, but the marathon and half marathon didn’t start until 8:00.  At 7:45, I started walking over to the starting line.  As soon as I crossed the street, I felt rumbling from my digestive system.  I realized I needed to take a dump before the race.  Why couldn’t I figure that out while I was still in the coffee shop?

The race had an adequate number of port-o-potties.  The lines weren’t too long, and they were moving quickly.  I got in line just 12 minutes before the race.  A few minutes later, I was able to do my business.  Then I had to hurry to line up for the start of the race.  I wanted to look for Andy, but I didn’t have time.

I always look for the pace groups to figure out where I should line up.  Ideally, I wanted to line up between the 4:00 and 4:15 groups.  At this point, I couldn’t get that far forward.  I had to settle for lining up within sight of the 4:15 group.  After the race started, there was more room.  I gradually moved past the 4:15 group and kept moving through the field until I was right behind the 4:00 group.  Their pace felt easy at first.  Then we rounded a corner and turned onto County Road 8.  Now we were going straight into the wind.  Suddenly, the pace didn’t feel quite as easy, but I stayed behind the group.

It was 30 degrees, but the wind made it feel like 20.  To cope with the cold, I dressed in layers.  I realized I might be too warm later in the race, but I would worry about that later.

I was wearing both gloves and mittens on my hands.  After about two miles, we reached an aid station.  I decided to skip it.  Handling a cup with mittens might be awkward.  Besides, I really didn’t want to stop or slow down until I got out of that cold headwind.

Because I didn’t stop to drink, I accidentally got ahead of the 4:00 pace group.  Just before the three mile mark, we reached the point where marathoners turn left and half marathoners turn right.  Now we had a cross wind, and I was more comfortable.  I eased up, so the 4:00 group would gradually catch up to me.  I must not have eased up enough.  I never saw them again.

The marathon route starts on a plateau.  The first half is basically a big loop with no net elevation change.  The second half includes a long gradual descent into the Minnesota River valley before finishing downtown.  While the first half doesn’t have any net elevation change, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have hills.  There’s a hilly section that starts at about five miles.  There are two big hills and a few smaller ones.  The hills aren’t as tiring as the wind.  My biggest worry about the hills is that I might start to overheat if I was working too hard.  I was dressed pretty warm.

Before I got to the hills, I took off my mittens and put them in my fanny pack.  I didn’t need them now that I was no longer running into the wind.  I also partially unzipped my Tyvek jacket.

After the first big hill, we turned left again.  Now the wind was at my back.  On my head, I was wearing a warm hat, and I was also wearing a neoprene headband that covered my ears.  I needed the headband for the first few miles, but now it was too much.  I took it off and stuffed it into my fanny pack with my mittens.

I unzipped my jacket almost all the way.  I considered unzipping it completely, but I might want to zip it up again when we ran into the wind again.

I was feeling perspiration on my arms and torso.  My base layer was a warm polypropylene shirt.  Ordinarily that’s all I would need for a cold day.  I also wore a singlet, so I could pin my race bib to it.  The jacket was too much.

As I approached the next hill, I realized I would get too hot running uphill with the jacket.  I took it off and tied it around my waist.

Another runner started talking to me, and we ran together for the next several miles.  His name was Joel.  His goal was to break four hours.  I questioned whether I should be trying to run that fast, but I enjoyed our conversation, so I matched his pace, even though it felt fast at times.

At the halfway mark, I looked at my watch for the first time.  I ran the first half in 1:58:02.  I was on pace to break four hours, but I questioned whether my current pace was sustainable.  We were now running into the wind again, and I knew we’d have to fight the headwind for another three miles.  It was much stronger now, and running into it was tiring.

At this point in last week’s race, I set twin goals of breaking four hours and running negative splits.  This time, I wanted to break four hours again, but I wasn’t as concerned about running negative splits.  It didn’t seem like a realistic goal.

On paper, this course sets up well for negative splits.  There’s a long downhill section in the second half.  Before I could get there, however, I had to get through the next three miles without the wind wearing me down.  I was also worried I would overheat in the late miles.  I couldn’t really shed any more layers, and I was dressed awfully warm.

In colder races, I usually wear tights.  Today, I was wearing some tight-fitting sweatpants that are much warmer.  I’ve worn them in training runs, but never for more than about 10 miles.  I didn’t know if I would overheat.  Running into the wind, I was cold, but it was supposed to warm into the 40s in the second half of the race.  It was also a sunny day.

Joel and I were both concerned about the wind.  We just wanted to survive the next few miles without wearing ourselves out.

At one of the aid stations, I got a little bit ahead of Joel.  Then I saw where we were going to make the right turn that would get us out of the wind.  I was excited to be done running into the wind, and without really trying, I sped up a bit.  I left Joel behind and passed three other runners.

When I turned the corner at 16 miles, it felt easier … at first.  It was no longer a headwind, but it was still strong.  The road I was on was surrounded by flat farmland.  There was nothing to stop the wind.  As it blew across the road, it was pushing me sideways.  I had to avoid running too close to the edge of the road, so I wouldn’t be blown into the grass.

The next mile was level.  At 17 miles, the road started bending to the right, and it also started sloping downwards.  I was beginning the gradual descent toward the river valley.  The next few miles were not only downhill, but we were gradually turning away from the wind.  I picked up my pace.

At about 18 miles, we had left the road for a paved path that curved in and out of the woods.  We had a tailwind, but it was mostly blocked by the trees.  Without the wind, I felt hot.  The grade wasn’t uniform, but it was mostly downhill.  I tried to maintain the best pace I could without wearing myself out.

Often during races, I compare how I feel to how I felt at the same point in a different race.  I walked this race last year, and faded badly in the late miles.  At 19 miles, I realized this was where the wheels came off last year.  I felt much better this year, but it was a reminder that there were still several miles to go.  I had to be careful not to overdo it.

Occasionally, we came out of the woods, and I could feel the wind at my back.  Those were the only times I didn’t feel hot.

At 22 miles, I left the woods for good and recognized a few downtown buildings.  As the crow flies, I was less than a mile from the finish, but first I had to cross under a highway and do a loop through the western edge of the city.  For a block or two, there were runners coming the other way.  They were already done with this loop.  They didn’t seem to be going any faster than the runners going in my direction.  Then I realized we were going slightly downhill and they were going slightly uphill.  I remembered that for later.

After crossing under the highway, I saw a row of colorful signs.  I don’t know if they were put there by race volunteers or spectators.  They had different slogans.  One said “Just Run.”  That one stuck in my head.

I felt more wind now.  It wasn’t a direct headwind, but it was still tiring.  I focused on the positive and reminded myself that the wind was the only thing keeping me from overheating.  At this point in the race, wind was my friend.

At 23 miles, I wondered if I should look at my watch.  I hadn’t looked at it since the halfway point.  I didn’t know what pace I was running, nor did I know what pace I needed to run the rest of the way to break four hours.  I was just running by feel and trying to estimate how hard I could work without running out of gas. Should I look at my watch?  If I knew I was on pace to break four hours, would that motivate me to keep pushing?  If it looked like I had fallen off the pace, would that cause me to lose motivation?  Was it better to not know?  Maybe the sign was right.  Just run.

I felt a slight sense of relief when I reached the westernmost part of the loop.  Now I was running back toward downtown and the finish.

At 24 miles, I was starting up a small hill that would take me up to the top of a levee overlooking the river.  I just ran.

Finally, at 25 miles I decided to look at my watch.  Now I wanted to know what it would take to reach my goals.  My time for 25 miles was 3:45.  I would easily break four hours.  What about negative splits.  It was possible, but it was going to be close.  I couldn’t slow down at all in the last 1.2 miles.

After a few short ups and downs, I got back to that section with two-way traffic.  In addition to being uphill, it was also into the wind.  Just Run.

Since 16 miles, I had been steadily passing other runners.  Only one had passed me.  I passed a few runners in this section, but it took more effort.  I skipped the last aid station, turned left at Burger King, and headed into downtown Mankato.  I ran as hard as I could.

At the last turn, there was a small hill.  Just as I was getting there, I heard someone say, “Just a quarter mile to go.”  As I rounded the turn, I looked for the finish line.  I didn’t see it yet, but I saw the 26 mile banner.  As I got there, I checked my watch.  It read, “3:54:03.”  If I ran the last two tenths in two minutes, I’d have negative splits.  I knew I was going faster than that.

I heard a familiar voice call my name.  It was Andy.  When I didn’t see him before the race, I assumed I wouldn’t see him before the finish.  I didn’t see him, because I was looking at my watch.  I said hello, but kept running as hard as I could until I finished.  My time was 3:55:42.

After crossing the line, I turned around and waited for Andy.  We got our finisher medals, and Andy retrieved his gear bag.  We didn’t see the tent with the finisher shirts.  After walking around a bit, we eventually found it.  It was right next to the finish line.

The finisher medal has a cool design.  The center is a spinner.

My race bib had a coupon for a free beer.  I went to a pub next to the finish line where I could redeem my beer coupon, and while I was there, I had lunch.  The owner came over to talk to me.  He saw I was a marathon finisher and congratulated me.  Then he asked me how many marathons I’ve run.  When I said, “360,” he was more than a little surprised.  He offered me a free dessert, but I had to decline.  It was all I could do to finish my entrée.

I broke four hours for the third straight weekend.  I also ran negative splits.  My second half was 22 seconds faster than my first half.  That’s not bad for a training run.  Negative splits has been an elusive goal for me.  I almost always start too fast.

I’m beginning to think I should wear race bibs for all my training runs.  Do you think it would help?

Race Statistics

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  3:55:42

Average Pace:  8:59 

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  360

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  49