Jeff Burmeister

The Minneapolis Half Marathon, Or my Second Half Marathon Ever, and Second during the Month of May

The need to do another half marathon became apparent when I was not able to get the folks over at the Twin Cities Marathon registration team to allow me to have a Corral #1 spot based on a time I got during the Minnetonka Half under someone else’s name…. Sure I get it you can’t verify my result, so I’m cool with that. I’ll figure something out before October. What? I only have four weeks from now to submit a qualifying time? Okay, no big deal, I’ll sort it out. That gives me how long… Ahhh, well then it looks like I can do either the Minneapolis event or… the Minneapolis event. So, I’d better see if I can still get in.

On the Thursday morning prior to the race, I entered as one of the last people before it sold out. Then that afternoon I decide I should get my training in for the event. “Lets do a 5K run during the lunch break, that should be enough right?!” I said to myself. But the weather Thursday night was beautiful, and the girls went to a movie together. So let’s go for a hill climb bike ride in St Paul. Good idea…

Friday I take off so that I can rest up a bit because on Saturday morning I’m leading the Birchwood Cycling Team’s Track Event at the National Sports Center up in Blaine. I spent the whole morning teaching and riding the Velodrome with the guys. I did my best to not hammer on myself too much. But I let it fly a few times and put some hurt on myself before we left.

Sunday morning, 5:55 AM the alarm clock goes off. I roll over and hit the snooze bar. The race starts at 7:00 AM. Plenty of time right? 6:15 AM and I starting to roll out of bed, start the espresso maker, and try to find my sox, shoes, shorts, t-shirt, sweats, and iPod. In that order. Opps need that heart rate monitor. Go back for that. Jump in the car at 6:40 and start heading downtown. I decided to park by the Sushi restaurant “Origami” which is a full mile from the start/finish area. I get in a nice long walk/jog to the staging area, and the announcer has already given the 3 minutes to go announcement while I’m still walking.

I’m starting to get nervous now. I’m running solo at this one. I won’t have Michael Schmaltz to watch my pace for me. You see, I simply lack the running experience to hold a steady pace. And this is what truly scares me. Because I tend to go out fast and I always end up pay for it in the end. So I need a plan, and quick. I need to find someone here that looks like they’ll be holding a pace that’ll work for me and my goal time so I can get my corral 1 qualifier… And what the hell is that up there?

Huge flags along the side of the staging area are showing various race paces based on minutes per mile. And people are hanging out around them for the start. These are the paces they think they’ll be running. Score!!! I’m saved! I’m starting to smile and look around to try and take in the experience of the start when someone starts to sing the national anthem. Then suddenly the announcer say, “Racers… GO!”

I’m still taking off my sweatshirt and looking for the guys I saw holding up a card that had “8:00 Minute Mile” before I loose him in the mass of people. The crowd of people are now walking forward towards the start line, I finally get there, put my foot down twice on the electronic chip reading start pad and I’ve officially started my second half marathon this month.

The Minneapolis course starts in front of the Mill City Museum, then goes down to the river front, turns back towards NE Minneapolis, loops over the Broadway bridge, down the north side of the river, back over the lower falls bridge towards the start area, then turns left and goes down the south side of river road down to 32nd street, turns around back onto itself and runs back north to the Guthrie theater. It’s a great course even if it had an out and back built into it.

I took the first mile of the race as a nice slow warm up as we ran through the Mill City museums and around the Guthrie. My newly adopted pace group hit the first mile marker and I look at my watch. 8:11 mile, ouch, I need to get going or I would never make my goal. So I tried to move through the countless bodies in this group and started looking up the road for someone with a sign that I can us for pacing. I didn’t see one. So I’m going to need to try and focus on a steady cadence by myself now. Exactly what I didn’t want to do! When I got down to the Broadway Bridge I’m starting to settle into a good rhythm. I check my watch and I’ve been running 7:21 miles for the last two miles!!! Okay I’m back on target and I’m putting in some cushion for my goal. The good news, I’m feeling really good. But then a strange thing happened, I stopped thinking and feeling. I’m just simply put one foot in front of the other and running without thought or concern.

I had finally found “the thing” that I find when I’m on my bike. My body takes over my brain and I just go. 7:27, 7:23, 7:29, 7:39 minute miles go by. Nothing seems to bother me… until. We’ve crossed back over to the South side of the river and we’re hitting steep hills. That rhythm is gone now, I’m now thinking about running and my body worried about feeling again. The next two miles are nothing but “Ouch was that my calf muscle?” “I think I just turn my ankle in that pot hole?” “This is starting to hurt!” I just turned out a 7:59 mile.

I’m starting to slip into a mentally dangerous place now and I know it. It’s time to quickly find a way too stop thinking. I’m finally arriving at the turn around at mile 9 now. The last few miles have not been fun. There are lots and lots of spectators here, and I’m starting to run back against the people I was running with earlier. Find Distractions! Time to look for people you know. Play number games in my head. I’ll count people wearing “Livestrong” t-shirts. There are two in black one in yellow. I see Tim Redpath from the office. I see a woman who definitely needs a new mirror at home. I see someone from the YWCA that’s goes Sheila’s spin class. I jack up the volume on my iPod and select a drum and bass Jungle remix. I’m starting to let go again. Miles 10, 11, and 12 go by and I don’t remember them just like miles 4-8.

Then there it is… the thing I told myself I would have to save up time to compensate for. The two tiered hill that we ran down from the Guthrie and that makes up the final mile of the Half Marathon. What sadistic bastard puts the steepest hill of the race in the last mile?! Seriously!?! Who does that? Bastard!

I look at my watch. I read 1 hour 32 minutes and a few seconds. Crap, I need a sub 7:30 mile on a huge hill in order to reach my goal. I start to kick as hard as I can. “This hill isn’t going to stop me from reaching my goal,” I tell myself. I check the watch again, 3 minutes to go, I can sprint when I ride bike for that period of time, I can sprint now damn it! I reach what looks like the peak of the hill and there’s still the false flat finishing stretch, and less then 30 seconds to get there. I’m in what feels like a full out sprint. I hear my name called out over the PA system and a few people shout my name as I kick for the line. I check my watch and hit the line. I think I made it by 5 seconds by my watch!!! But the official time is the only one that matters! The timing computer makes a little chirp noise and confirms that I’ve completed the half marathon at a new personal best of 1:39:52 a full eights seconds faster then my goal time. I have achieved a Corral 1 position for my first Marathon is now secured! I get to run with the Elites!

All in all I’m calling this race a great success. Surprisingly, I felt pretty good after the race. I’m walking fairly easy (thank god because I have a long walk back to the car) and I feel like I have enough energy left in me that I could have kept going if it was needed. But most important to me is the fact that I ran with a steady pace for long parts of the race. I was able to take my mind out of the equation and I just ran. It was a good feeling and I’m even more excited for the Twin Cities Marathon now.

bib number: 3770
overall place: 140 out of 2257
division place: 19 out of 155
gender place: 109 out of 827
time: 1:39:52
pace: 7:38
15k split: 1:10:23