Half-Assed Runner

Runs: 11
Miles: 75.35
Races: 0 (0.00 miles)
Outdoors: 1 (9.10 miles)
Indoors: 4 (16.05 miles)
Treadmill: 6 (27.59 miles)
Longest: 9.10 miles

My mileage did pick up in December after an epic dropoff in November.  I only managed to do one run outside (taking advantage of an unseasonably warm and snow-free day early in the month).  The other 10 runs were all indoors.

I did score a big win by purchasing a treadmill at the end of the month.  I don’t like running outside in the winter.  I found out last year that the temperature is not a big deal, but I live in a rural area and the trails and sidewalks are not cleared.  I have a gym membership with a (tiny) indoor track and tons of nice treadmills, but it’s a 20 minute drive away.  There is a gym in town (and we used to have a membership there) and I was going to get a winter membership there, but decided to get a treadmill instead.  I hit up Craigslist and found a ton of great used treadmills.  I fucking hate Craigslist.  The seller response rate blows.  Those sellers that do respond generally take days to do so.  My wife suggested looking at Sears Outlet stores and I found a new NordicTrack T5.7 for $400 (it was a floor model…but had less than 2 miles on it).  I’m very happy with it.  Now I have no excuse not to run.

I chose drinking over running this year.  I was planning on doing the Polar Dash again this year.  I kept vacilating between running the 10K or the half marathon.  I felt I wasn’t ready for a half at this point and I wasn’t keen on dropping $60 on a 10K so I decided to skip it this year.  I’m glad that I scratched this race because the temperature was -5 with a wicked wind.

I have no races scheduled for January or February.    I did sign up for a bunch of races as a number of races offered discounts.  I took the leap and signed up for marathon #2: Grandmas Marathon in June.  I ran the half last year and had a great time, so I’m hoping for the same enjoyment at twice the distance.

I am going to faithfully follow a marathon training plan this time.  I decided on the free one listed on the Grandmas website.  It’s an 18 week plan by Dick Beardsley.  This plan requires that you run 6 days a week.  I trained running 4 days a week this year (3 days a week last year) so this is going to be a step up in training.  The plan starts in mid-February, but I’m going to spend the next weeks increasing the number of runs per week so I’m ready to run 6 days a week when the plan begins.  Luckily, most of the runs are “easy” runs.  The treadmill will be a great asset as I can run anytime and can fix my pace.  I am not fast, but I tend to run at “tempo” pace on all runs other than my long runs.  As strange as it sounds, I need to slow down.  My easy runs should be 1.5 to 2 minutes per mile slower than my race goal pace.  I haven’t dialed in a race goal pace yet, but it’s going to be 10 minutes per mile or more.  It’s actually difficult (especially on shorter distances) for me to slow down to 11 minute miles.  The treadmill will help our a ton in this area.

Runs: 10
Miles: 44.58
Races: 0 (0.00 miles)
Outdoors: 4 (19.05 miles)
Indoors: 3 (9.24 miles)
Treadmill: 3 (16.29 miles)
Longest: 6.17 miles

Wow.  What a drop off month November turned out to be.  Least total miles since June of 2011.  First month without a race since February.  Least number of runs since May of 2011 (I started running in April of 2011).

So do I feel bad about it?  Not at all.  Well…not much.  I knew that there would be a drop off in motivation after an October where I ran a marathon, two half marathons, and a 10 miler.  I went overboard on the running break though: I had two periods of 7 days straight without a run.  Halfway through the month and I had only run about as much as I did on my low mileage weeks over the last few months.  I was going to run the local Thanksgiving Day 5K (weather was perfect) but blew it off to do a hilly 4 mile training run instead. Meh.  I needed the break.

I did get back on the horse after the midpoint of the month and have not gone more than 2 days without a run since then.  I have had to get used to running indoors more than outdoors.  The early sunsets coupled with drop in temperatures (plus lack of motivation) has meant very few outdoor runs.

I did pick up TWO new pairs of shoes.  I bought my 3rd pair of Saucony Triumph 9s as well as turning over a new leaf with a pair of Brooks Ghost 5s.  The Brooks feel good, but are a bit stiffer than the Sauconys.  I haven’t fully broke in either pair yet.

I won’t be running any races this December either.  I am still wavering on whether or not I will run the Polar Dash again this year.  I was close to signing on for the half marathon, but with the weather being such a question mark and not wanting to curtail my New Years Eve partying again this year, I am now leaning towards skipping it or doing the 10K.  That would mean that I will not run a race until March.  I’m cool with that because I did sign up for 4 out-of-state races already.  I’ll be running the Flying Pig in Ohio, the 500 Festival Mini Marathon in Indiana, the North Country Run in Michigan, and the Kansas City Half Marathon in Missouri.  I am still trying to decide whether or not I want to run Grandmas full or do the lottery for the half with my wife.

For the second year in a row I ran the Monster Dash 10 Mile race.  Last year this was probably my happiest running experience as I ran the entire 10 miles without walking which was my longest continuous run ever.  Since then I’ve run a bunch of half marathons and even managed to finish a marathon.  My longest continuous run now stands around 18.5 miles.  But the Monster Dash 10 Mile run remains a bright spot as I never thought I could run double-digit miles without stopping.

This year I debated either skipping the Monster Dash or running the half marathon instead.  I managed to meet my quota of 12 half marathons this year and I’m burned out on the distance.  My wife decided last year that she wanted to do the Monster Dash and I convinced her to try the 10 mile distance.  I finally decided to run it with her.  I offered to pace her, but she decided she didn’t need/want me helping her, so I was free to run my own race.  This worked out great as I needed a “win” after disappointing results in my last few races.

I got to skip the expo this year as my wife picked up our packets.  The jacket is pretty nice this year and I like it better than last year’s jacket.  It still has the “woman’s zipper”, but fits well and feels good.

Race morning rolled around and neither of us were too excited to run.  We’ve both been suffering from mild head colds.  Plus it was 24 degrees when we woke up.  I told my wife that it was the same last year as it was 26 degrees at the start of the race last year.  It was actually a bit warmer (30 degrees) this year, but did not warm up during the course of the race as much as last year.

We hit the road and instead of trying to use 94 to get to the start of the race, we decided to attack it from the south.  Great idea, except for the fact that 494 went to one lane around the airport.  I wasn’t panicking because were being driven by a friend of ours and would be dropped off with plenty of time to get the race.  In fact, that’s what happened: we got dropped off about 1.5 miles from the start.  I was wearing my manly tights with running shorts over them and a short-sleeved tech shirt.  I was wearing the Monster Dash jacket over the shirt.  I planned to leave the jacket, but I was too damn cold to do it.  I knew I would not be able to keep the jacket on the entire run, so I would have to tie it off around my waist.  My wife was in costume (I went as a “runner” again this year) with 4 layers.  She said later she got hot around mile 2, but was fine afterwards.  We obviously have different biological temperature regulation units. 

We got to the start line around 8:20.  I was shocked that there was plenty of room for runners to line up.  I decided to start with my wife so we lined up just in front of the 10 minute pacer.  The cumulative body heat of 10,000 runners warmed me up so that I probably could have done without the jacket.

Soon enough the race was underway.  We moved forward about 100 feet, then stopped dead.  I don’t know if Team Ortho did wave starts or not.  If so, we were in the first wave.  It took over 5 minutes of walking, but once we hit the starting mats we were able to start running immediately.

I stuck with my wife for the first half mile.  I figured that we were just under 10 minutes per mile as the pacers did not pass us.  I picked up the pace slightly to get past some large groups of runners.  I was surprised when Endomondo announced a 9:11 first mile.  It felt at least 30 seconds slower than that.  I was pretty happy to hear this pace as I wanted to run this race around a 9:20 pace.  A mile later, Endomondo told me that I clocked a 9:02 mile.

I felt like I was pushing just a tiny bit but felt fine.  The biggest issue was the jacket.  As I warmed up, I unzipped it more and more.  By mile 2, it was completely unzipped.  I would have to take it off and tie it around my waist.  Not a big deal, but it would kill time.  It didn’t really matter much as the first water stop was almost 3.5 miles into the race and I was getting pretty thirsty by that point.  I walked the entire stop and drank a cup of water and blue stuff.  This would be my slowest mile (9:29).

I was feeling great at this point and miles 5 and 6 were just under 9 minutes each.  I knew that the course was a gentle downhill, but last year I didn’t appreciate how beneficial that is.  After some hilly halfs this year, I was loving this course.

I went without music until mile 6.  The combination of the crowds and costumes kept my mind occupied.  I took a GU at the water stop around mile 6.5.  This was the only mistake I made.  I ate a flavor I hadn’t tried before: Mandarin Orange.  I figured that you can’t really mess up orange, but this thing tasted like medicine and ass.  Miles 6 through 9 were all run around a 9:15 pace.

I kept holding back a little bit as I wanted to make sure I had some energy left for the last mile.  There was only one hill of any significance and it was around mile 7.  I knew that the last half mile was downhill and fast, so I was saving my energy for that.  I felt great.  Nothing hurt, I was pushing the pace only slightly, and I was feeling much better after removing the jacket (hell, I was sweating in the 30 degree weather).

I didn’t see the mile marker for mile 9, but Endomondo announced it.  I toyed with really picking it up at this point, but I was feeling slightly tired and didn’t want to fizzle out prior to the end.  I told myself I would speed up after passing the giant inflatable rainbow bridge.  Unfortunately, that bridge was not on the course this year.  Rather unceremoniously, the 10 milers and half marathoners split and I could see the finish line.  I picked up my pace and finished with an 8:35 final mile.  The race clocked showed 1:37, so I wasn’t sure of my chip-time, but I was happy to see it as just south of 1:32.  I had shaved 10 minutes off of last year’s time and felt great.  It was nice to have a good race for the first time in quite some time.

I nabbed the standard Team Ortho food bag (banana, chips, mini salted nut roll).  I was a little disappointed that there was no bottled water (there were cups of water) and no foil blankets like last year.  Not a big deal as I had my jacket with me.  I saw the line for the buses to the half marathon finish area and was glad I didn’t have to wait in it this year.  I think that the bag check was at the half finish, so bag check would have been a waste (and a logistical nightmare) for me this year.

I walked back past the finish line and waited for my wife.  She had a great race as well and finish only a bit slower than I did last year.

We found our friends and our son and started walking back to the car.  Little did I know that this would be an almost 2 mile hike.  It was still just above freezing and I was cold as hell by the time we got to the car.  We did get to see the sweeper car and the last runner as she hit mile 8 [I would HATE to be the last runner as the sweeper was literally 15 feet behind her].

My wife wanted to head to the half marathon finish line to enjoy a beer.  I was shivering by this point even with the car’s heat cranked and I talked her out of it.  We decided to hit Coopers in Saint Louis Park as she could still get her free beer and I could avoid the crowds and hopefully warm up.  When we got to Coopers we were the only runners there.  By the time we left, there was a pretty long wait for tables as a bunch of Monster Dash runners (many from the 5K race in Minneapolis) had the same idea we did.  After three cups of coffee and some tomato basil soup, I was finally warm enough to drink my victory Guinness.

We had a great time at this race.  It’s a huge race (they announced 11,000 10 mile and half marathoners (but only 9400 finishers, so that might have been inflated/rounded up) and 3,000 5K runners (in Minneapolis)), but I feel it’s really well-organized.  The course is an absolute dream to run as it’s pretty and downhill or flat for 95% of the race (10 mile).  The swag is nice and so is the medal (I’m kind of burned out on the Team Ortho wedge medals though).  It’s a blast to see all of the crazy costumes and there is great crowd support as well.  I will probably do this race again next year.

Six days ago I struggled through my first marathon.  An intelligent runner would be enjoying a nice break from running and recovering.  I has not the smart.  Instead I was running my 11th half marathon.

The race begins and ends at Court Square Park, which is home to the nation’s only two-story outhouse.

Yup. 

I did not want to run today.  I woke up at 7 am to an overcast, chilly morning.  I was in no mood to run.  It was a one hour drive to Belle Plaine and I had to get there before the 9 am start in order to pickup my packet.  I dinked around until just before 8 am.  This meant I was going to need to haul ass to make it to the start on time.  Luckily, the drive is through farm country and I made it to the park in Belle Plaine and picked up my packet with enough time to jog back to my car and stow the t-shirt.

The sky was still overcast, but the promised rain never fell other than a slight on and off drizzle.  I decided to wear a long-sleeved black tech shirt and shorts.  I was pretty cold at the start.  This was a smaller event (about 180 half marathoners) but there were pacers, so I lined up with the 2:10 pacer at the start.  Soon enough the race started and my weary legs started to propel me forward.

I had no expectations other than to finish this race.  I still don’t have my legs back 100% from the marathon.  It felt pretty liberating to not worry about pace.  I was surprised when I finished the first mile (a circuitous jaunt through the town) in 9:06.  I felt like I was running much slower.  I started to wonder if maybe I had fast run in me.  I was right behind the 2:05 pacer…who was about 10 feet behind the 2:00 pacer.  That bewildered me.  I suppose that after 1 mile there is only about a 25 second difference between the two pacers, but they were much closer than that.  We left town and started on a downhill after the first mile.  This gave me a little bit of hope that I might be able to make a run at 2 hours.  The hills soon dashed that idea from my skull.I had peeped the elevation profile and there was a big hill around mile 7.  What I did not notice was that there were a number of other smaller hills on the course.  From mile 2 to mile 6, the course was basically one long 200 foot climb.  I dropped behind the 2:05 pacer (who was still within twenty feet of the 2:00 pacer) at mile 2 and settled into a slower pace.

The course ran on roads that were not fully closed off with a brief gravel stretch through a construction area.  There were only a few sections that ran right along the river, but there was enough variation to make it a very nice course.

I carried my big (24 ounce) bottle with me.  I had planned on just bringing the smaller (10 ounce) bottle, but could not find it in my gym bag.  I only had enough Gatorade to fill the bottle half way, so I was treated to the sloshing of the liquid.  This made me start listening to music very early on in this race.

After the water stop around four miles in, another runner pulled up on my right and we started chatting.  I never do this, but for the next few miles we ran together.  He was running this as his last long run before a marathon next week.  I was happy to chat away as it took my mind off the miles.  We reached the big hill around mile 7 – which turned out to be only the third steepest hill – and we powered over it.  I honestly would have walked that sucker if I had been alone.  On the downhill I inadvertently picked up the pace so were running 8:30/mile at the 8 mile water stop.  I walked through the water stop and he continued on ahead of me.  I dialed back my pace as I was starting to tire a bit.

I struggled a bit from miles 8 to 11.  I was thinking that after running a marathon last week, that a half marathon would feel like a 5K.  Not so much.  My pace was relaxed, but I was definitely losing steam.

At the 10.5 mile point, the course hits its lowest point, then starts uphill for the remainder of the race.  The water stop around this area was fun though.  I started seeing signs with questions like “What do you call a dog with no legs?” then a few hundred feet later another sign with the answer “It doesn’t matter.  He won’t come”.  There were a handful of these cheesy jokes and the signs kept me smiling and took me away from the hilly misery that was the end of this race.

I knew I was not in any position to PR on this course, but I was taking pride in the fact that I had not walked at all (other than through the water stops).  That ended 12.5 miles in.  At mile 12 there was a huge hill as we ran back into town.  I (slowly) ran the first half of it, but ended up taking two walk breaks on the second half.  After cresting the hill, I only had enough energy to make a half-hearted dash for the finish line.

My time was pretty crap, but I didn’t care.  I had a pretty good time, except for that last hill.  The course was challenging, yet it did live up to the “scenic” moniker.  It would have been more scenic had the weather been clearer.  The medal was crappy, but the race cost $40 and was part of the Explore Minnesota Challenge, so I had no complaints.  After the race you voted for the best water stop (I chose the one with the goofy signs) and then were given a ticket for a free beer.  There were plenty of treats afterwards as well.

Next week I run my 12th and final half marathon in Mankato.

This was the first “adventure” race I’ve run.  I signed up for this race months ago with a $29 entry via Groupon.  I was running this one with a friend and it would be my second 5K of that day.

The race has wave starts every 30 minutes.  When you sign up you choose the wave you want to be in.  We chose the 1:30 wave as it gave me time to finish my run in Saint Cloud, pick up my friend in Saint Paul, and get out to Taylor’s Falls (I ended up putting over 300 miles on my car that day).  Up until registration closed you could easily change your start time (as long as the time you wanted was not filled up) and even transfer your entry to another runner.  If you ran late on the day of the race, you could move to a later wave for $5.  There was an option for early packet pickup on Friday (in the Cities) or race day pickup (which we opted for).

I love that we live in an age where I can pull up a map and pinpoint my position via my phone at any time.  There was construction backing up traffic on the highway into Taylor’s Falls, but we were able to find an alternative route.  We arrived at the ski hill hosting the race right around 1 pm.  I was scared that parking would be a mess, but we were able to park about 200 yards from the starting area.  We did see a number of cars parked in a second lot about .5 miles away, but with runners from earlier waves leaving all the time plus I think the later waves were not as popular, we scored great parking.

Packet pickup was painless.  The race site advised that you needed to print out and bring a signed waiver.  I did this, but the volunteer seemed almost surprised to see it, so I doubt it was necessary.  You did print and sign your name after picking up your packet, so maybe that served the purpose of promising not to sue if you paralysed yourself in the course of the race.

The packet contained a blah cotton shirt.  The race was chip-timed so you had to tie a chip to your shoes with twist-ties.  We were able to get our packets and be ready to run by 1:10.  We walked around and killed time until about 1:20 and then joined some other runners at the starting area.  In a sign of things to come, you had to scale a mini-barrier to get into the starting area.

This was my friend’s first race of any type.  He has been running on the treadmill and doing 2 – 3 miles every couple of days.  I told him not to worry as we would just jog between barriers.  I did ask why the hell he was running the race in a cotton shirt, Rolex, gold bracelet, and $170 sunglasses.  It seemed to come as a shock to him that there would be a lot of water and mud on this course.  He told me that he would skip the water and mud obstacles.  WTF?  He thought that the barriers would be all of the climbing/monkey-bars type.  It’s not like there was a website describing the obstacles that he could have read over the last 5 months. ???

We started out running up a ski hill.  This was not how my buddy wanted to start his first race.  Soon he was winded and we began the first of many long, uphill walks.  We were far from alone in walking though.  The first obstacle was a series of sandy hills.  Next up were the first of several inverted v-shaped wooden barriers that you climbed up and down.  Then came the first mud obstacle.  You had to climb through a giant mud puddle while keeping under barbed wire.  I was having a blast getting my mud on until my right knee hit a big rock under the water.  Later in the race I would have the same thing happen to my left knee.  I finished and threw mud at my friend as he had skipped the obstacle.

There were probably three or four mud obstacles on the course.  One more crawling section that delivered the most mud coverage.  Otherwise, the vast majority of the obstacles were wooden barriers.  Most of the non-obstacle portion was going up or downhill.  I was a little disappointed that the obstacles did not match those listed on the website.  There were a number of minor obstacles like rope climbs, walls, tires, and cargo nets.  The major obstacles were the two mud crawls, a giant downhill slip and slide, a weird tube crawl into an underground mud puddle, and the final obstacle with a climb and a roll over a cargo net about 20 feet above the ground.

The most fun obstacle was the slide.  The most difficult was a 10 foot wall that you scaled via rope.  The wall was slippery and there were only two knots in the rope that were far apart.  Otherwise, none of the obstacles were anything that would pose too much of a challenge to anyone in reasonable shape.  There was a fire leap towards the end that was pretty trivial.  The most difficult part of the race was the uphill (and some of the steep downhill) sections of the race.  But since we (and many others) were not running those sections, it was a pretty easy course.

The weather was gorgeous.  It was sunny and the temps had risen to around 80 by the time we were done running.  There was a water stop in the middle of the course, but the low humidity, shade, and breeze made the race enjoyable.  Not to mention being covered in mud and walking. 

After we finished we removed our timing chips and I chucked my socks.  There were about 30 outside “showers” which were just garden hoses.  The water was not freezing which was a blessing.  You really could not get all the mud off, but you could rinse of a lot of it.  There was a free beer which I enjoyed along with bottled water and some orange slices.  We sat around for a bit to enjoy the day and listen to the live band.

All in all, it was a fun race.  Registration started at $48 and was $88 after September 7th.  I paid $29 with a Groupon.  At $29 I felt it was worth the cost.  I could not recommend it at $48 or above.  I would also suggest doing this race with a friend or group of friends.

Today was my first repeat race ever.  Last year I surprised myself by running 5 miles without stopping; something I never thought I would be able to do.  Since then I’ve run much further distances, but I still look back at that race as a huge accomplishment.

Dassel

The race takes place in a nearby city during an annual Labor Day festival.  My wife and I were running again this year.  Race day packet pickup was painless and quick.  For the second year in a row I managed to miss out on getting some caffeine in my system.  The smell of hundreds of chickens cooking (there’s a huge chicken dinner later in the day) and the scent of mini donuts reminded me that I had not eaten either.

Chicken roast

I knew the course well from running it last year plus running it a couple of times in the last few weeks as part of my 9 mile run.  The course starts on city streets then follows a paved trail before turning on to country roads.  Just before the 3 mile mark there is a huge hill followed by an equally huge descent.  Then comes the soul crushing ascent of Monster Hill.  Once you crest that sucker, there is no corresponding downhill.  You join another paved trail then finish up on city streets again.

My goal this year was to improve my speed.  I was very happy last year to finish under 10 minutes per mile.  This year I wanted to see if I could crack the 9 minute per mile barrier.  I had run a hilly 4 miler with 8:59/mile so I was hoping to get close to that on this race.

Lots of cornfields

The weather was a sunny and pleasant 68 degrees, but the humidity was high (82%) so I was prepared for a sweaty run.

The field was about the same size a last year, between 150 – 200 runners.  I started out faster than normal.  I wanted to make sure I was well positioned when I hit the trail portion as it’s hard to pass people there if there are any groups of side-by-side runners.  I knew I could use the two block downhill section early on to blast past some runners.  Knowing the course really helped me to runner a faster race.

I hit the trail and felt well positioned.  I was pacing off of a group of runners about 20 feet ahead of me.  There was a volunteer at the 1 mile mark with a stopwatch reading off the times.  I heard her say “twenty” as I passed.  9:20?  That seemed a bit slow.  Then Endomondo announced that I had clocked an 8:24 for mile 1.  I was happy with that time, but decided to dial it back a bit as I did not want to run out of energy, especially with the hills still coming up.

Hills ahead

I ran without music for most of the race.  I’ve started doing this more in races.  It lets me find a good rhythm and I can use music later on to give myself a boost.

There was a water stop around the 2 mile mark.  I probably could have skipped it, but did grab a cup.  Soon enough we were approaching the hills.  I took a couple of photos and a runner came up on my right.  He had run the race for the first time last year as well and we laughed about the crazy hills coming up.  I was going to pace off him, but he slowly kept pulling ahead of me.  He was the only person to pass me after the first water stop.

The first hill is actually more of a beast.  It climbs 120 feet, but does it over 1.2 miles.  Monster Hill “only” climbs 90 feet, but does so in .12 miles.  I powered through the first hill and felt fine.  I used the steep downhill to rest a bit.  There was a water stop at the bottom of the hill.  They were once again handing out ice-cold mini water bottles at this stop.  I planned to take one and carry it for the rest of the race.  Unfortunately, in an effort to help runners, they had removed the caps.  I drank as much as I could and poured the rest down my back to cool me off.

Monster Hill

I started my music and began ascending Monster Hill.  Last year I crested this beast without stopping, but I was barely moving when I got to the stop.  I made it up 90% of the hill before I walked the last bit.  I still had plenty of legs, but my heart was pounding.  I decided to eat a 16 second walk and try to make it up on the flat last mile.  I was doubtful I would break the 9 minute mark as my last two miles were 9:33 and 9:43.

I got on the trail and decided to pick up the pace.  At this point there was a guy about 20 yards ahead of me and I quickly picked him off.  I saw a group of 3 women in the distance and concentrated on closing the distance.  I end up passing them with about a quarter of a mile to go.  I passed another woman soon after.  There was another guy ahead of me, but he was too far ahead to catch before the finish.  But then he took a walk break and I was able to pass him on my final sprint.  I looked up to see the clock just pass 44 minutes.  I figured that the clock was off by a minute or so as there was no way that I could have broken 9 minutes per mile by that much time.  I looked at my splits and my last split was a 7:35.  WTF?  That’s by far my fastest mile ever.  I didn’t start my sprint early enough to account for this fast of a finish.  I normally would suspect the GPS being off, but the mile announcements were really close to the mile markers on the course including the mile 4 marker.  Maybe the course was a bit short, but both my wife’s GPS and mine agreed that it was 5 miles.

Red Rooster Finish

I grabbed a bottle of water and waited for my wife to finish.  One of the women I passed near the end was approaching the finish line and she looked like she was in a bad way.  I had noticed when I passed her that she looked wobbly.  Now she looked like she was leaning back as far a possible.  She had slowed to a hobble and at one point looked like she was going to fall over.  Another runner was by her side and waiting to catch her if she fell.  She made it over the finish line without toppling.  It looked like she was having an issue with her lower back.

I cheered my wife to the finish.  She had a good race as well.  She improved on last year’s time and did not walk at all.  We left soon afterward to get started on BBQ and beer.

Red Rooster shirt

Red Rooster course

Runs: 15
Miles: 117.29
Races: 5 (46.44 miles)
Outdoors: 15 (121.08 miles)
Indoors: 0 (0.00 miles)
Treadmill: 0 (0.00 miles)
Longest: 15.39 miles

After a craptacular July, I ran a respectable amount in August.  In yet another string of three half marathons in a row I did miserably at the Minnesota Half Marathon, decently at the Gopher to Badger Half Marathon, and less than stellar at my second out-of-state half marathon: the Madison Mini Marathon.

While I did fewer runs than most months, I did manage to clock longer runs.  I set a personal record for average run length of 7.82 per run.  I’ve gotten to the point where I can run 6 miles without any problem.  In half marathons I can stretch that to 9 – 11 miles.  After that I crash.  I only got one long run in this month (15 miles) due to schedule, heat, and laziness.  I now have a 9 mile loop that I will use as my normal run.  I will be piling on the long runs this month because it’s now do or die training time for the Twin Cities Marathon.  I fully expect to eclipse 150 miles this month.

Racewise I have a five miler on Labor Day (my first repeat race), a 20 miler (I fear this race), two 5Ks on the same day (one is an “adventure” race), another adventure/mud race 5K with my family, then maybe a 10K to fulfill my last Explore Minnesota requirement.  No half marathons this month.

I still have a nagging pain in my left Achille’s tendon.  It’s not debilitating.  It is barely painful during runs, but after long runs it is an issue for a few hours.  Even then it’s only about 30% as painful as when I first injured it at the end of July.  I’m pretty sure that I either have tendonitis or a tear that has not fully healed.

I’m worried about the Twin Cities Marathon.  I’m completely drained after 13.1 miles, I can’t imagine running twice that distance.  I was probably in better shape back in April/May than I am now.  Like I said, I haven’t been doing my bi-weekly long runs.  I feel like I’m back in college, cramming for a final exam.

Today was the last of the three event in the Endless Summer Trail Series of races.  I ran the first race in the series at Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve back in July.  That race was a brutally hilly 10K race.  I skipped the second race in the series but signed up for this race a month ago because it was closer (within 5 miles of my work) and was a 5K.  Plus, I’ve been to French park quite a few times and did not remember any big hills.

Endless Summer Trail Series – French 5K

I went back and forth about whether or not I was going to run this race or not.  My heart was really not into it.  It rained a lot that day, I was behind on some projects at work, blah, blah, blah.  I tried to talk myself out of running, but in the end I drove to French and picked up my bib and race pint glass.

Pre race

The weather was nice.  It was 68 degrees at the start of the race.  The humidity was nearly 80% though.  I lined up near the back of the pack and off we went.  Although it had rained quite a bit earlier in the day, I didn’t notice it during the run.  The grass was not wet and there were no puddles or mud bogs.  I had not pregamed the course, so I was not sure where the hills were nor how big they were.  I started out pacing off the pack, but quickly started passing runners.  About .5 miles in I found myself between the larger packs of runners and was pacing off of a lady in front of me.  I was pretty surprised to hear Endomondo announce my first mile pace at 8:40.  That’s by far the fastest trail mile I’ve ever run.  In the four previous trail runs, I’ve never broken 10 minutes per mile and a couple have been very close to 11 minute per mile.  Hell, my road 5K PR pace is around 8:20 mile.  I decided to slow it up a bit at that point because we had not hit any monster hills, but I knew that they were in the mix.

Starting Line

Around the 1.2 mile mark there were volunteers handing out water.  I passed and wondered why they were offering it so early.  I made a right turn and saw the first monster hill.  I laughed and understood why they chose that spot to have the water stop.  I chugged up the hill and actually passed a couple of runners.  I got about 90% up the hill before walking.  I felt pretty good about tackling most of the hill, but I was getting winded and there was still another 2 miles left, so I didn’t feel bad about walking.

What goes up, must come down: soon after we hit a couple of steep downhills.  By that point there were only about 5 runners around me so I was able to zig-zag down the steepest hill to keep my speed in check.

Downhill

The course was quite pretty.  There was single-track, grass, sand, very little rock, and mostly packed dirt trail.  We ran through a lot of tree covered areas, across a small bridge, and along the water.  There were three big hills and – compared to the Murphy-Hanrehan hills – they weren’t too bad.  They weren’t too good either. 

My second mile (which included the monster hill) clocked in at 9:45.  While the first mile was a bit fast, this felt a bit slow, so I picked up the pace a little.  I was not feeling too tired, but I was sweating like a beast.  Stupid humidity slays me.  I felt pretty good about my race as I had only been passed by three runners since the 1 mile point and had probably passed about the same number since then.  I’ve been in the last group of males to complete each of these trail runs but I knew that – barring a major collapse – I would finish in front of a number of male runners.  I would not be threatening the leaders, but I wasn’t bringing up the rear either.

Around the three-mile mark I could hear the clanging of a cow bell and started up a medium-sized hill.  I then saw a volunteer pointing to the left.  I turned left…and saw that the hill continued up to the finish line.  Fuck!  It seems that trail races like to end on hills.  I ground out the last hill and finished under 30 minutes.  That was in itself a minor victory as it meant this would be my fastest trail race to date.

Finish Line

Like the other runs in this series (and last year when it was the Lifetime Trail Series) the after party was great.  Tons of pizza, beer, water, and soda.  I nabbed a couple of slices and stood around while sweat poured off my body.  I stuck around for the prize drawings and extended my streak of never winning a prize drawing.  I did pickup a free Scott water bottle before calling it a day.

I’m glad I ran this race and it sounds like they will be bringing the series back again next year (there were about 170 runners for this event).  I love the views and the feeling of being out in nature that trail runs provide, I just need to get better at running the short, sharp hills.

Pint Glass Front

Pint Glass Back

Endless Summer Trail Series – French 5K Course

Half marathon number 10 and state number 3 is in the books.  This week I spent some time in central Wisconsin with my family before running the Madison Mini Marathon.

Madison Mini Marathon Finish Line

I booked this run a few months ago and with it booked a night of camping at Devil’s Lake State Park.  My plan was to get in and out on the cheap.  After telling my wife about this, she decided to turn this into a mini-vacation and hit up Wisconsin Dells with the Monkey.  She signed off on camping and eventually decided to run the Madison Mini 5K with the Monkey while I ran the half.

Wisconsin Dells

We spent all of Thursday and half of Friday in Wisconsin Dells crushing a giant water park.  Then we drove a little over an hour south to pick up our packets in Madison.  The packet pick up was on campus.  The road construction made the drive slower than planned and finding parking was a pain.  Of course, after we parked and walked over to the packet pickup, we noticed parking about 100 yards from the building.

Packet pickup was quick and painless.  I love the race shirt.  Dark blue is my jam and the tech tee quality is very good.  My wife and son got white cotton shirts for the 5K.  We also each got “I ran this city” magnetic stickers, which my son plastered our car with.

Devil’s Lake

We did not stay long in Madison as it was getting towards 4 pm on a Friday and we did not want to find out if Madison has a rush hour.  We got back to Devil’s Lake and after spending some time at the beach, I persuaded my family to join me in a “quick hike” to see Balanced Rock.  This “quick hike” turned into an hour and a half with the last 30 minutes being in the dark.  This was also not the usual graded/paved trail “hiking” I am used to.  There were a ton of climbs (with great views of the lake) as well as steep declines.  Getting to the actual rock was confusing due to the signage.  You have to climb down what is basically a field of slippery boulders to reach the actual rock.  When I first saw it, it looks like a mini version of the photos I had seen on the Internet.  My wife was going to push both the rock and myself over the ledge at this point.  As we got closer, we found it to be about 12 feet high.  The worst bit of the whole trek was climbing back out of the boulders.  I got my hill work in for sure.

Balanced Rock with Monkey for scale

At 4:30 am, we got up and stumbled to the car in darkness to begin the drive to Madison.  Other than a bad patch of fog, the drive was fine.  We arrived at the start area well in advance of the 7 am start.  Parking was again an issue as we do not know the area.  There was a long line of backed up cars even as early as we arrived.  We spotted some really close street parking and nabbed the spot.  The meter cost nearly $2 per hour and only took coins.  Plus there was a 3 hour limit.  We fed the beast and my wife agreed to top it off again after she finished running so it would not run out while I was on the course.

Meat Mascots? It must be a WI thing

The 5K and the half marathon shared a starting time but had different starting areas (only a couple blocks apart).  I wished my family luck, then stood in line for a porta-pottie.  I generally don’t do this, but I didn’t want to run with a full bladder.  By the time I finally got to relieve myself, it was only a few minutes to start time.

Starting Line (notice the polar bear?)

The race is broken up into corals based on your estimated finish time.  I was in the back with coral G.  Getting to my coral was painless and I was soon lined up and had all my music and GPS tracking ready to go.  Directly in front of me, there was a runner donning a polar bear suit.  To run a half marathon in August in a full bear costume is dedication.  Luckily, the weather was absolutely perfect.  It was 46 degrees at 7 am (the coolest start temperature for me since April).  The only downside was there was little wind and 96% humidity.  I’m not sure why it was so humid.  That probably accounted for the fog on the drive to Madison.

The course was varied and beautiful.  As stated earlier, the weather was outstanding.  There were mile markers at each mile with a clock (set to gun start time obviously).  There were a ton of water stops (it seemed like almost every mile had a water stop on the back half of the race) which offered Gatorade and water.  The cups were filled completely (my mark of a great water stop) and the volunteers were plentiful and exuberant.  Outstanding race support.  The Madison Mini was staffed to support a mid-August half marathon – even though we ran in April temperatures.

Camp Randall

The course started on the UW campus and followed city streets past Camp Randall stadium (where the Gophers go to die) and then past the Wisconsin State Capital building.  From there we ran along a lake (Lake Wingra) then into a gorgeous, tree-covered area.  I loved this part of the course (of course I forgot to take any photos).  We were on a street still, but there were tall trees lining each side of that blocked out the early morning sun (looking at a map, this area is Arboretum Drive).  We then dipped back into the city, running through residential areas before finally running on a trail along the shoreline of Lake Mendota.  The trail ended shortly before the finish line, which was back on campus.

Capital

The course was somewhat hilly.  I remember only a couple of moderately difficult hills and there were plenty of flat areas.  There were some steep downhills as well.  GPS shows an elevation gain of 209.97 feet, which would mean it was as hilly as the Lake Waconia Half Marathon, but I don’t remember it being that hilly.

So it was a beautiful course with amazing weather and outstanding race support – that means I ran great, right?  Nope.  I wanted to finish this race around 2:07 and I was on track to do that for the first half of the race.  The wheels came off after that.  My hamstrings started barking on the back half.  I suppose it was from all of the climbing in Devil’s Lake as well as at the water park in Wisconsin Dells over the last two days.  The thing was, it was just slight tinges of pain on uphills – nothing drastic.  Around mile 9 my calf muscles joined in.  Again, nothing major, just a kind of electric shock feel that only lasted about .5 miles.  I think I used this as an excuse to start bombing the race.  I’m still running out of energy after the 10 mile mark.  I really need to build up my stamina.

Madison Mini Marathon

I averaged around 9:30/mile over the first 7 miles.  I averaged over 10/mile over the last 6.  Mile 13 was an embarrassing 11/mile.  I started walking the hills (all small from what I remember) to “save my hamstrings”.  The last mile was a buffet of fail.  In addition to walking the hills, I would run for a minute or so and then walk.  This meant that I was kept playing leapfrog with the same runners over the last mile.  There were signs that said “1/2 mile to go” and “1/4 mile to go”, but I could not even draw inspiration from them.  I did manage to suck it up for the last .1 miles and not walk across the finish line.

Mile 4 Marker

I was tired, disappointed, and completely drenched.  A local car dealership handed out small hand towels.  This was a god send as I could mop some of my sweaty mess.  The final indignity occurred as my calf muscles locked up while scaling a whole 3 stairs.  All I can do when that happens is grimace while trying not to scream obscenities at the top of my lungs and try to stretch them out.

Trail near the end

I am now officially worried about my upcoming marathon.  If I’m crashing this hard at half the distance, what hell awaits me at 26.2?

The finish area – the 14th Mile Party – was great.  Plenty of goodies.  I grabbed a banana, water, and chocolate milk (for the Monkey) then tracked down my family.  They had enjoyed the 5K run and even had cool medals to show for their efforts.  The Mini medal was shaped like beer stein and had an integrated bottle opener.  I hated it when I saw it online prior to the race, but it has grown on me.  It is heavy and looks like pewter, plus it has the outline of the state of Wisconsin as well as the Capital building on it, so it will serve well as my Wisconsin half marathon keepsake.

I did manage to beat the polar bear

We drove back to Devil’s Lake Park and spent a few hours relaxing on the beach before driving the 5 hours back to Minneapolis.

I would definitely recommend the Madison Mini Marathon for anyone wanting to run a Wisconsin half marathon.  The course is varied and beautiful, the race support is top-notch, and Madison is a beautiful, relaxed city.

Madison Mini Marathon medal and shirt

Madison Mini Marathon medal

Madison Mini Marathon course

“Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes… well, he eats you” – The Stranger to The Dude

I had been looking forward to the Run For Blood Quarter Marathon for some time now.  Not only would I tick off another race for the Explore Minnesota Challenge, but I would get a medal and finally get to run Lake Calhoun…twice.

I got up early and drove to the lakes.  The one thing I hate about this area is finding parking.  The streets were already blocked off for the run when I arrived, so I spent some time circling looking for parking.  I finally nabbed a street spot near the Lake Harriet band shell.  It wasn’t the closet spot, but it was free.  I would have to jog about a mile to the get to the starting area, but the race did not start until 8:30 so I had plenty of time.

I got to the starting area just before 8 am and went to pick up my packet.  I gave my name and the volunteer started searching for me on her list.  I noticed that this was the 5K list, and said “I’m in the quarter marathon”.  She then shouted excitedly to another volunteer who quickly nabbed a shirt and my packet and thrust it towards me excitedly.  While she was explaining (quickly) how to fasten my timing chip, I noticed that there were only about a half-dozen remaining quarter marathon packets left on the table.  I guessed that there was a pre-race pickup on Friday and/or most people got here early.  It was odd that I was one of the last to grab a packet when I was here 30 minutes early.

At this point I heard some announcements over the PA and a long line of runners streamed past.  I wondered if these were the 5K runners.  I saw a bunch of pacers with balloons tied to sticks and thought it odd that they had pacers for a 5K race.  Then I heard, “There go the quarter marathoners.  5K runners should start lining up as the 5K race will start in about 5 minutes.”

What. The. FUCK?!?!?

I looked at my phone one more time as a sanity check.  Here’s the email I had saved in my calendar:

Thank you for registering as a participant in the 2012 American Red Cross Run for Blood! Your support will make us successful in providing programs and services to help you, your family and your neighbors prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.
…
The Red Cross Run for Blood is Saturday, July 28. Check-in begins at 7:00 a.m and the Walk and Run begins at 8:30 a.m. If you have any further questions or need assistance in any way, please contact us.

Good luck in your efforts!

They had started the race 30 minutes early?

As quickly as I could, I fastened my race bib and tied my timing chip to my shoe.  It was too hot to wear a shirt, let alone two, so I folded the shirt and stuffed it in my running shorts.  It barely fit.  So not only would I be starting the race late, but I would have to run it with a wobbly bulge in my shorts [I’m cringing as I write this].  I ran to the starting area, but I had to work my way through the gathering 5K runners to get to the starting line.  When I got there, the timing mat had been moved to the side of the road.  Oh well, I guess I would get my first DNS ever.

I took off at a brisk, but not sprinting, pace.  I was starting over 5 minutes after the starting gun.  My only goal was to somehow catch up to the back of the pack.  God bless the walkers, I was able to catch up to the last of them within the first .3 miles.  Soon after I saw the last of the runners and mixed in with them.  I actually ended up passing a pacer (I did not see the time on his sign) before long.  When Endomondo announced my mile split at 8:03, I knew I needed to slow down.  I think that’s the fastest mile I’ve ever run (since boot camp at least).  By this point I was in a thick grouping of runners and I paced off of them because I knew I would bonk long before the 6.5 mile finish if I continued at this pace.  My next mile was at a much more realistic 9:20 pace.

It was 75 degrees with 60% humidity and no wind.  Though cooler than much of the summer so far, I was sweating buckets almost immediately.  There was a water stop manned by some Boy Scouts around the 1.5 mile mark and another at the first pass of the finish line.  Since the race was two laps around Lake Calhoun, you ended up with 3 water stops during the quarter marathon.  On the second lap, I ended up drinking 4 cups of water at the 3rd water stop.  I walked briefly at the 2nd and 3rd stops.

Run For Blood Quarter Marathon

I never really got into a rhythm during this run.  The nervous energy from the start of the race quickly burnt off and the sun beating down on me sapped much of my remaining mojo.  The last 4 miles were at a very consistent 9:30 pace.  I ended up passing quite a few more runners and was even passed a few times (were these runners late starters as well).  I did enjoy the scenery for the most part.  This was the first time I had ever run around Lake Calhoun (I had walked it many times in college).  Lake Street was partially closed off (right lane) but the parking lots on the north side of the lake were still open.  Since I was in back of the pack where there tended to be gaps between runners, I did see some cars zip through to get out of the parking lot.  One lady tried to pull out before I crossed.  I ran in front of her and slammed my fist on her hood.  I was in no mood to play “let’s ignore the runner”.

The could was pretty flat.  There was a minor incline on the north side and a minor decline on the west side.  There were a number of interesting characters to take your mind off of running.  I saw two bagpipers, an Elvis impersonator, and a number of Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders.

At some point on the second lap, my left ankle hurt a bit.  Nothing major, but every step felt like running on an old bruise.  I had played football a few days earlier and attributed this to the amount of stop and start sprinting I did that day.

I crossed the finish line with a sprint.  A volunteer stood in the middle of the course about 20 feet past the finishing mats and held his right hand up in the air.  I figured that he was motioning me to stop because my timing chip would not show a starting time.  I came to a dead stop about two feet in front of him.  He looked confused and mouthed some words.  I say “mouthed” because I was still blasting music in my ear buds and did not hear him.  I yanked out my ear buds, and said “What?” in what I too late realized was a shout (I had not yet adjusted from the thundering volume of the music).  Now he looked more confused and taken aback.  He still had his hand up like he was telling me to stop.  Actually, he was congratulating me and was trying to high-five me.  I felt like a fool.  I laughed and apologized.  I told him my mind goes to mush after a run.  I quickly collected my medal and looked for some water.

I sat down and finished off a banana and a bottle of Muscle Milk (love that stuff).  When I got up again, the slight pain in my left ankle had intensified.  By the time I finished walking back to my car, I was hobbling pretty badly.  I could not put any weight on my left foot.  I had suffered my first real running injury.  I could barely walk for the next three days and did not run for another six.  My wife filled me with horror stories about tendonitis and such.  I knew it was my Achilles tendon that was hurting.  I still think it stemmed from playing football and was due to repeated planting and quick sprints and movement changes.  I run a ton more than I ever did, but it’s not fast and I don’t make sharp turns.  I don’t know what prompted the injury during the quarter marathon nor why it manifested itself three days after playing football, but it was just another loss in a day full of fail.

The only other photo I took at the race

I checked the race website for the starting time, and did not see it listed.  Of course, it was splashed all over the Facebook page and the race update emails I received.  I just never looked at them too closely and had used the initial email to schedule the race in my calendar.  Oh well, if I had been running as late as I usually do, I would have missed the start by nearly 25 minutes.  I did manage to check in at the Explore Minnesota booth after the race, so that was a minor victory.

I will definitely run this race again next year.  My time was a few seconds over one hour.  I really wanted to break an hour, but all things considered, I was happy with the time.  I did not end up with an official DNS, instead my time was simply recorded using gun start, so it shows up as about 6 minutes slower than my actual time.  The medal was very cool and the race shirt was very nice as well.  Next year I’ll triple check the start time and make sure to start on time. 

Run For Blood Quarter Marathon shirt and medal

Run For Blood Quarter Marathon shirt back

Run For Blood Quarter Marathon medal

Run For Blood Quarter Marathon course