The Twin Cities Marathon: Training with a Professional Coach, Achieving a Good Time—but Still Not Under 4 Hours
At 54, I’ve become a quick crier. A heartfelt podcast story or an act of kindness can tighten my throat and fill my eyes with tears. It happens often, and I usually try to hide it. But deep down, I welcome it. These moments remind me that I’m alive, that I care deeply about the emotions and struggles of others. When I’m alone, I sometimes let the emotions take over completely, crying until exhaustion. It’s a guilty pleasure, but a profoundly human one. Some of my most recent and cherished cries happened while preparing for the Twin Cities Marathon. This time, I had trained with a professional coach, pushing my body harder and smarter than ever before. Three weeks before the race, I entered the tapering phase—a period of reduced training that allows the body to recover and be at its peak for race day. With the physical workload decreasing, my focus shifted to mental preparation. I meditated often, visualizing every detail of the marathon: the streets, the starting line, the course. I wa...