Half-Assed Runner

Archive for August, 2011

If a PR falls in a race and no one records it…

God I hate 6am…especially on a Sunday.  I got up, showered, and made sure that my son did the same.  We headed south to participate in the race for a nearly unpronounceable German "founders festival".  I was running the 5K and the Monkey was running a 1/2 mile kids run.

The weather was very nice.  55 degrees with a light, intermittant breeze.  For some reason the humidity was at 96%.  It definitely did not feel that humid.

There was a pretty good turnout for the run.  So much so that the start was delayed (only about 5 minutes) to allow everyone to finish registration.  I had pre-registered so this was not a problem.  The race shirts were nice, funky green (white for kids) technical shirts.  The race was chip timed using B-tags (the "chip" is in the bib and is disposable) and the bibs were printed with the race name.

I had no expectations for this run.  I was just hoping to have a fun run and that my son have the same experience.  I lined up very near the back once again.  After a nearly inaudible announcement by the race director, the starting pistol was fired and we were off.  I waited until I actually crossed the starting line to start RunMeter.

The first mile went by quickly.  There were at least two nice downhill sections.  On the second of these, I passed about 20 runners by blasting down the hill on the left.  Of course, I slowed up substantially as that hill lead right into another incline.  The splits were well marked with large, white mile markers.  Shortly after passing the first of these, RunMeter announced (it always seems to measure long miles) that my pace was 9:02/mile.  Looking at my splits after the run, it was actually 8:59/mile.  Another RunMeter idiosyncracy is that it announces the splits slower than it actually measures them.  Anyhoo…I was flying.  Well, flying is relative when talking about my slow ass.  Still, my first sub-9 minute mile.    This was also accomplished with the usual glacial start and jockeying for position.

Mile 2 was a bit up and down.  I settled into a slower pace and picked a runner to follow.  I had (as usual) forgetten my heart rate monitor.  I would have been interested in seeing my heart rate because I felt pretty relaxed (as much as I ever am during a run).  We got out of the downtown area and I saw the water stop up ahead.  Right behind it was a big ass hill.  The course description mentioned "two or three challenging hills".  I walked through the water stop.  After about 15 seconds of walking and drinking, I started up the incline.

The hill was long, but the climb was not too steep.  As this was an out and back course and I could see some of the faster runners coming down the hill in the other direction, I started looking for the turnaround.  I have RunMeter set to announce every half mile.  The last announcement I remembered was at the 1 mile mark which seemed to have been at least 5 minutes ago, so I was waiting for the 1.5 mile announcement which generally coincides very closely with the halfway (turnaround) point.  This was the only part of the race that sucked.  I looked ahead and the turnaround was at the top of the hill.  I reached the turnaround and decided that I must be running very slowly because the time between the 1 mile mark and the 1.5(5) turnaround point seemed to be closer to 10 minutes than the 5(ish) minutes I expected.  I reached the top of the hill and took my second, short walk break before hitting the second half of the run.  I looked at RunMeter and it showed 1.89 miles.  WTF?  Not only had I missed the 1.5 mile announcement, but it looked like my 3.1 mile run was going to be close to 4 miles.

My mind went back to the race director’s announcement.  Although I couldn’t hear most of it, I did recall him saying that the turnaround point had been moved back 20 meters to make it a "true 5K".  After running a long 5K last weekend, I was sure I was looking at an "ultra" 5K today.  If RunMeter was right, I would be running nearly 4 miles.  Crap.  With my speedy first mile, I was hoping to be in a position to PR.

I started down the hill and I was definitely not in my happy place anymore.  Oh well, it was a nice day and I was going to enjoy the decline after the long climb.  Shortly after I started running again, I saw the 2 mile sign.  That meant that the course was measured accurately.  The halfway point must have been the water stop (that’s probably why I didn’t hear the 1.5 mile announcement – I had removed my headphones briefly at that point) and – although this was an out and back course – the second leg must take a different route.  Sure enough, when we got back down to the bottom of the hill, instead of going straight we veered left.  I would have noticed on the way up the hill if I had not been paying so much attention to the water stop and hill.

I had settled into a comfortable pace at this point.  I did a little mental math and calculated that I was near the 2.5 mile mark.  I was determined to run the rest of the route since I could have easily skipped the last walk stop.  I was now in a group of about eight runners and decided to keep pace with them.

The last leg had plenty of small rises and falls.  Much of it was spent on a paved trail.  After what must have been around the 2.75 mile point, the route became mostly uphill.  I was actually moved ahead of the group I was pacing with and was on my own between them and another small group ahead of me.  The last bit was a pretty steep uphill climb.  I turned the corner, saw the 3 mile sign as well as the crowd near the finish line and started sprinting.  Even running uphill, I blasted past the entire group of runners that were ahead of me before crossing the timing mats [Is this a dick move?].  I caught a glimpse of the clock and it read 28 something.  Holy crap.  I had set a PR. I went to hit stop on RunMeter…but it was already stopped.  Crap.  I must have hit the stop button when bringing the app to focus on my iPhone preparing for the final sprint. Nuts.  Oh well, I would just have to wait for the official timing to see what my official time was.

I grabbed a sport drink and a banana before locating my son.  The race was well stocked with after-race goodies.  There were apples, oranges, bananas along with water and zero calorie sport drinks.  There was also an assortment of breakfast bars.

We waited until the last 5K runners finished before the kids 1/2 mile run began.  The boys ran first.  My son did much better than he had anticipated.  Just like his old man, he finished in the middle of the pack, but was happy with the results.  He even received a sweet medal for his efforts.

We headed back home.  I knew that the rest of my day was shot as I was on call and Hurricane Irene was taking out a number of our east coast networks.

So what was my official time?  There was no official time!  Not for me.  For whatever reason, my results did not show up.  According to the results…I didn’t run at all. 

I was able to identify the last guy I passed and I finished just in front of him (I passed him about 5 feet from the mats).  He finished with a 28:35, so my time was most likely 28:34.  This is a PR by just over 30 seconds.    Not bad for a relatively hilly course on a run which I had no expectations other than to finish.  Too bad there’s no official record of it.  Not a blazing time by anyone’s standards, but it’s 4.5 minutes faster than my first 5K…which was only two months ago.  At this pace, I’ll be running sub-20 minute 5Ks by January. 

My legs were a bit dead yesterday after my 5 mile run on Thursday night.  When I woke up on Saturday, they seemed fine.  This would be my third Saturday in a row running a 5K.  Today’s run was in a small town only about 10 minutes away and the run started at 10 am, so I got to sleep in later than the past few Saturdays.  I did not, however, escape the humidity curse.  The last couple of Saturdays the humidity level had been over 87%.  Being a sweaty beast, I had hoped for a respite, but it stormed last night and well into this morning.  The humidity level was at 97% when I woke up and was at 86% at race time.  Other than the humidity, the weather was outstanding.  64 degrees with a slight breeze and the sun was buried behind the clouds.

I had run around this lake a number of times, so I was familiar with the course…except that the 5K was going to be run in reverse of the route I usually take.  Still, I knew that there were a couple of long inclines on the first half of the run.  The course we took was slightly different than the one I run and it (thankfully) meant missing one of the big hills.

I had preregistered for this run.  Check in was quick and painless.  I always get a bit worried with the old skool mailing of paper registration and check as opposed to registering through a website.  I like having instant verification that I can reference at any point.  The post office did not fail me and I was preregistered.

Around 9:50 I wandered to the starting area.  This was going to be a pretty small field.  I estimated that there were probably only 50 or so runners.  This is a blessing and a curse.  A blessing in that I would not be dodging runners at the start of the race, but a curse in that I would not be able to hide my crappy running.

Even though I positioned myself at the back of the pack, this was the first race where I could actually see the starting line at the beginning of the race.  At 10 am a pathetic sounding horn signaled the start of the race.

I started out at a good pace.  I was going to really try to finish this race under 30 minutes.  I was going to allow myself short walk breaks (a holdover strategy from my Galloway Marathon training).  My strategy was to try to get through the first half of the race with a 9:30 minute per mile average.  Since the first half was pretty much uphill, I figured that even if I could pull that pace off, I would have a decent shot at finishing under 30 minutes even with breaks as the last half would be somewhat downhill and I was familiar with the course.

It still takes me about half of a mile before I get into “running mode”.  My body fights me a bit at the start and my breathing is a bit fitful.  I worked on keeping my arms low and my strides and arm pumping short.  Even though I find this a bit counter-intuitive, it helped me keep a nice pace on my last few runs.

About a quarter mile in, the small field pretty much broke into even smaller clumps of runners.  I found a guy about my age and followed him.  I had no idea what pace I was at, but I didn’t feel like I was pushing too hard.  Near the beginning of the course, there was one of those electronic signs that flash your miles per hour in order to slow down speeding drivers.  I laughed as it flashed the speed for the runners as we passed.  According to the sign I was setting a blazing 8 miles per hour pace at that point.

Runmeter announced my half mile pace in the 8 minute per hour range.  I was a bit surprised.  Though this isn’t a blistering pace for most runners, it’s a pretty quick pace for me – especially at the start of the race.  I wasn’t feeling like I was going too fast, so I settled in and followed the pace of the guy ahead of me.  At the 1 mile split a race volunteer announced that we were running an 8:42 pace.  Wow.  I was well ahead of my goal of 9:30/mile and this was on the uphill portion of the race.  As usual, Runmeter announced my 1 mile split quite a bit later and a bit slower (8:57/mile).  Still, I was well ahead of schedule.

The uphill portion continued until about the 1.2 mile mark.  There was a brief downhill stretch, followed by another brief uphill stretch.  I was near the crest of that hill that I took my first walk break.  I had conflicting emotions about this decision.  I know that I could have kept running and I’ve completed at 1.55 miles with no stops on every 5K I’ve run so far.  I was testing to see if using quick walk breaks would benefit me on a 5K as it had on my long (okay, “long” is relative here) run on Thursday.  At the start of my break, Runmeter was showing that I was still at a 9:15/mile pace.  I kept my first break to about 15 seconds and resumed running.  I couldn’t tell if the break had aided me or not.  I did lose the guy I was pacing at that point and a couple of runners passed me.  I would stop a total of six times on this run.  Most of my walk breaks were less than 15 seconds.  I really hated taking them and I’m sure that I pissed off the couple of runners that would pass me during my breaks, only to have me pass them again later.  One thing that kept me hopeful was that there was a woman about 400 yards ahead of me who was taking breaks as well.  She seemed to be maintaining her position through the entire race.

Mile 2 is where I generally lose my mojo.  The last couple of 5K runs, this is where I’ve stopped.  For whatever reason, between the 2 mile mark and the 2.75 mile mark, I run out of juice.  I was about this point that the course changed from paved streets to a dirt street.  Eventually, it would change again into a gravel path for the last .75 miles.  Runmeter announced the bad news at the 2.5 mile mark: my pace for the entire run was now at 9:48.  Granted, Runmeter paces seem to be about 10 seconds or so off of the “official” pace, but that still meant that I needed to make up 8 to 18 seconds per mile over the last .6 miles.  My walk break strategy seemed to have failed and I was doomed to coming in after the half hour mark yet again.

Oh well, I was feeling pretty good so I picked up the pace.  I had been pacing a woman since the halfway point who ran the entire race.  I would actually take my walk breaks when I caught up with her, so I never actually passed her.  After my last walk break, I started off a bit quicker, but not at a full gallop as I knew that I didn’t have it in me to push it too much over a half mile.  I caught up to my pacer and passed her.  I picked up the pace a bit and caught up to the next runner.  As I passed her, a race volunteer announced “300 more yards.  Less than a minute left.”  I had no idea how far 300 yards was in miles (turns out to be about .17 miles) but I decided that I could sprint 3 football fields in order to finish this damn run.  I took off and even kicked it up one more gear once I could actually see the finish line.  I finished only about 5 feet behind the woman who had also been taking walk breaks who had also maintained a healthy lead over me throughout the entire race.

I hit stop on Runmeter and gasped for breath after slowing down in the chute.  I ripped off my race tag and handed it to the race volunteer at the end of the chute.  There was no digital clock (and the race was not chip timed) at the finish line.  I looked at my iPhone with dread because I was sure that I had missed the 30 minute mark again.  To my shock, not only had I broken the 30 minute mark for the first time, I was within 6 seconds of breaking 29 minutes.  My final (unofficial) time was 29:06.  While this is a time that most runners would spit on, it represented a new PR for this slow bastard.

Needless to say, I was very happy with my time.  I still need to work on my stamina.  I’m hoping that increasing my long, easy runs will eventually make 3.1 miles seem like a short stroll, but for now the 2 mile monster is still kicking my ass.  This may well simply be a mental barrier.  I’ve been trying to determine which part of my body is making me want to stop and I can’t narrow it down.  My breathing is not labored, my legs don’t hurt, and I’m not exhausted physically.  The humidity might be a factor, but at this point I’m chalking it up to a lack of will on my part.

Today I ran the [Minnesota] Twins Territory TC 4K with 1,300 of my closest friends in downtown Minneapolis to raise funds for the Minnesota Twins Community Fund. 

My wife has run this event last year (inaugural race) and we decided to make it a family event this year.  So the whole half-assed clan was on hand for this run.  The race began at 7 am and packet pickup/registration began at 6 am.  Not only would this be my earliest start time, but it would mean starting the 40 mile drive from my western exburban (read: backwoods) home at the ungodly hour of 5 am.  To avoid this we booked a hotel room in cities.  This also worked out well as part of the registration included tickets for that afternoon’s Twins-White Sox game.  I was concerned about the logistics of getting to Minneapolis by 6:30 am, running a race, sweating like an excited hippo, then killing up to four hours before the game started.  We got up around 5 am, got ready, and then drove into Minneapolis (as promised, there was plenty of parking available at that early hour).  The starting point was near the Metrodome.  We were even able to grab a street spot, feed the meter with a few dollars in quarters [enough for 3 hours – since the run was not a loop we needed to allocate time for the walk back], and walk to the nearby starting point.

Packet pickup was fast and easy.  There were lines based on the first letter of your last name.  My wife commented that last year’s packet pickup was a clusterfuck, so they seemed to have improved the process this year.  That said, the “packet” consisted of a shirt and bib.  One of the reasons we drove in from the hotel and did not take the light rail was because we wanted a place to stow the race bags before the race (also, I didn’t want to be crammed in the train after the races while sweating my brains out).  This turned out to be a non-issue.  We could have easily run the race either wearing the shirts (I know! Race faux-pas!) or just carried them.

The starting area had a ton of port-a-potties and there was a gas station around the corner which was a bit of a life saver as I had not properly caffeinated myself prior to leaving the hotel and none of the local coffee shops were open at 6 am on a Sunday.  A quick Starbuck’s espresso shot later, my body was at minimal caffeine levels.  We dropped off the shirts in our car.  After Mrs. HaR and the Monkey used the porta-facilities, we were about 10 minutes from race time.

The weather was actually pretty good for running.  It was an uncommonly comfortable 67 degrees with a slight breeze out of the north.  Unfortunately, the Minnesota summer humidity was still in full effect at 87%.  Anticipating another sweatfest, I carried a small hand towel with me for this race.  It served me well as I was completely soaked in sweat by the end of the race.

There was a DJ pumping crap pop songs at a relatively low volume level (I’m guessing that the local residents would not appreciate LMFAO at the crack of dawn…or any other time if they had more than three operational brain cells).  Shortly before the race, it was announced that there would be 1,300 runners in this year’s race.  This was more than 3 times the size of the largest race I’ve run to date.  Shortly after, the Star Bangled Banner became the Star Mangled Banner as whomever sang it sings about as well as I run.

I tried to position myself closer to the middle of the pack than usual (I usually shoot for the back 20%).  I thought that Mrs. HaR and the Monkey were near me, but they opted to start near the back of the back.  The announcer counted down the last few seconds and an air horn sounded….and absolutely nothing happened.  I didn’t expect to be sprinting out of the gates, but it was a full 45 seconds before I moved an inch.  It probably took another 20 seconds to reach the starting line.

Eventually, the mass of running humanity started moving.  I quickly began running more left and right than straight forward as I passed runner after runner.  I was running well below my “race pace” – such that it is – and seeking an opening where I could have enough space to get a full stride in without stepping on someone’s heels.  It took about a half mile before I found an pocket large enough to do this.

The only thing that irked me a bit was the number of walkers who lined up near the start of the pack.  I’m not talking about runners who ran out of steam and were walking to catch their breath, I’m talking about folks who knew that they were going to walk the entire distance, yet still decided to start the race in the front 50% of the pack.  Of course, they were rarely lone walkers, and they decided to walk three to six abreast.

The run itself was really nice.  Even though there were a lot more runners around me than I am used to, the width of the city streets eventually gave enough room to maneuver.  This tightened a bit at the turns as everyone closed in on the corners.  The congestion and having to keep my head on a swivel for the first half mile or so meant that I missed a lot of the best part of the race: running through some of the nicer bits of downtown Minneapolis.

Before I knew it, my iPhone was announcing that I was a mile into the race.  My pace was hideous though, but a lot of that could be chalked up to the slow start and zig-zagging through runners.  Still, I was in no hurry.  My goal (especially after yesterday’s poor 5K performance) was to simply finish the race with no stops and try to keep under 10 minutes/mile.  The 4K distance really suited me as I start to fall apart around the 2 mile point.  With a 5K, that means I still have over a mile left, and that distance seems to be far enough to make my mind start scouting for points to start walking.  With a 4K, the two mile marker means that there’s less than half a mile left and since I’ve already run 80% of the course, I’m able to suck it up and “tough” out the last bit.

The course was a very slightly uphill for the first mile with a couple of minor hills.  The second mile was mostly downhill.  With more space to run and the downhill grade, I was able to turn in a 9:30 split.  Not blazing fast, but damned good by my (admittedly low) standards.  Every 1K there was a large marker in the street representing a baseball base.  I only saw the one for third base and made sure to “touch the bag”.  I was then that it finally dawned on my dull mind why this run was a 4K (one kilometer for each base) instead of a more standard 5K.

Near the end of the course was probably the largest incline of the race.  A lot of runners became walkers at that point.  I was not going to stop running this close to the end of the race.  I shortened my stride and “baby-stepped” that fucker to the top.  I could see the finish line at this point.  I held off on my customary sprint a bit due to the number of runners around me.  I did sprint a bit at the very end, gave high-fives to Shelly the turtle and Harry the…hare?  I finished 24:36.  I met my main goal of not walking at all and just missed getting under 10 minutes/mile.  Runmeter showed a distance of 2.44 miles and 10:04/mile.  If I subtracted the 40 – 60 seconds it took just to get to the starting line and added the few hundredth of a mile needed for a full 4K, I would have met both of my goals.

I shuffled through the chute, grabbed a bottle of water and a banana, then got my awesome medal.  My first medal!   I didn’t stay for long in the finishing area as I wanted to get back to the finish line to see Mrs. HaR and the Monkey finish the race.  About 7 minutes later, my 10 year old streaked across the finish line.  He ran most of the race.  He wasn’t happy about his performance until I told him that I probably would not have been able to run that distance at his age.  Plus he got to gorge on energy bars and wear his medal, so he was happy to have completed the race.

While we didn’t stay too long in the finishing area, there were tons of post-race snack and hydration offerings.  If you presented your race bib to the Life Time Fitness Arena Club you could use their facilities to get an after-race shower.  The start (Metrodome) and finish (Target Field) are on the light rail line, so you could take the light rail back to the start after the race.  We decided to walk instead.

Afterwards, it was back to Bloomington where I took the Monkey swimming and Mrs. HaR did some shopping.  We then checked out and jumped on the light rail to go back to Target Field to watch the Twins-White Sox game….well the White Sox game as the Twins did not decide to show up that day.  When we registered, you could pay $20 (I think…something in that price range) for Twins tickets for one of three games (you submitted your choices for the dates from first to third).  The tickets were first come, first served.  We got the date that we wanted, but the tickets themselves were pretty crap.  We we in the next-to-last row in the upper left center deck.  This section was filled with runners and many of them were wearing their race shirts and a few were even sporting their finishers’ medals.  We would have actually been better served if we were in the last row as there was a decent breeze up there.  Once the sun came out from behind the clouds, we started to get fried.  We suffered through 6 innings of watching the punchless Twinkies get bitch-slapped by the White Sox before we called it a day.  Next year, we will either skip the game (my vote) or choose a night game (my wife’s vote) instead.

Race: Twins Territory TC 4K
Distance: 4K
Registration Fee: $30/$36 Race Day
Timing: Gun start, clock at finish line, no results recorded
My time: 24:36

For the second Saturday in a row I go up early and drove north to the Saint Cloud area.  Just like last week, the temps were cool for this time of year, but it was threatening to rain.  I swear that I received the same trivial dusting of pathetic rain drops during the same stretch of my drive.

I got to the location of the race, parked, checked in, took my shirt back to my car, and still had about 40 minutes to kill.  The 5K took place entirely within a park.  I walked around a bit and checked out some of the course.  A number of runners were jogging around the park to warm up.  There seemed to be a larger percentage of “serious” runners warming up for this race.  I’m still not up to running before I, well, run.  After walking around a bit, I messed with my playlist and read my email.

Soon enough, we were lined up for the start.  I positioned myself in the next to last row of runners.  The race director mentioned that there would be a couple of loops through the park and which way to turn based on the color of the marker.  I didn’t pay much attention because it was incredibly unlikely that I would end up leading the race and having to navigate the course on my own.    The race began with a canon being fired (pretty loud and cool).  We were off.

I thought that I had started off at a pretty decent pace.  I passed quite a few runners before we made the first turn into the trails.  It started to sprinkle just a bit once we hit the trail.  I was hoping that it would continue as I welcomed the cooling rain, but after only a minute or so the rain stopped.  So no rain, but the humidity was now even higher than the pre-race 87%.  Joy.

Each mile, there was a volunteer with a stop watch shouting out split times to the runners.  At the 1 mile mark, I was told 9:40 something.  RunMeter (as it’s prone to do) clocked me at a slower 10:13.

I was still feeling good at this point.  The terrain was definitely varied on this run.  We started out on a paved street, then hit the trails.  The trails were paved, but not flat.  They looked like someone squeezed out a very large toothpaste tube containing blacktop and large rocks.  It was slightly uncomfortable to run on, and the sides were definitely sloped down a bit.  This was the first race (and only the third time altogether) that I wore my Nano Zigs.  A number of times the course changed to grass as we ran across fields.  There was even a bridge crossing over a small creek.  I should have been enjoying the scenery, but for whatever reason I was not liking this run.  I could blame any number of things: the humidity, my shoes, the course, but it just came down to me just not having “it” today.

I felt that I was running okay at this point though.  I had passed a number of runners near the start of the race and I had only been passed by one runner since then.  There was a decent distance between me and the next group of runners behind me.  I was pacing behind a woman since just before the first mile marker.  This is something that I get a little self-conscience about.  I don’t want to be the creepy, sweaty, heavy-breathing dude following some random woman during the race.

Around the 2 mile mark, I started thinking about walking.  This is the same point that I broke down and walked on my last race.  I regretted it last time, but this time I was mentally not into running the whole race.  Pissed off at myself, I took my first walk break at the 1.94 mile mark.  RunMeter had me at a torrid 10:49 pace up to that point.    It was pretty unlikely that I was going to break the 30 minute barrier on this run even without the pathetic walk break.

I walked for about 20 seconds and then started up again.  This was enough time to allow my “pacer” to get well ahead of me and for the group of runners behind me to catch up and pass me.  If my last race was any indication, then this would be my only walk break.  Unfortunately, the hill at the 2 mile mark had other ideas.

I actually laughed out loud and muttered “fuck me” when I saw the hill.  I should mention here that the course consisted of two loops.  After the first loop brought us back to the starting point, we headed down the trail again, but shortly afterwards were directed to the left.  Goodbye open fields and cute little bridge.  Hello big fucking hill.  At this point I was pretty sure that the Marquis de Sade had plotted this course.  Since I had just taken a breather, I began powering up the hill.  I made it 95% of the way, then took my second walk break.  I don’t know what mental barrier makes me  stop near the top of big hills, but I gave in and took a quick break before resuming running down the other side of the hill.

To be fair, that hill ate a few runners.  I actually passed a couple of people on the hill.  For whatever reason, after about a minute after the hill, I stopped again.  I was disgusted with myself at this point.  When I resumed running, I was in an interesting position: completely alone.  The path (now gravel) was winding enough that I could not see anyone in front or – or behind – me.  I “treated” myself to one more brief walk break (for a total of four stops) before scraping some measure of self-dignity and running the remaining .3 miles.

I finished just over 32 minutes.  I was wiped out and disgusted with my “performance”.  I had managed to turn in my second worst time ever [okay, being as this was only my 5th 5K ever, and I had only been running 5Ks for a just over a month – I may have been a bit harsh on myself]. I think what really got to me was that I like running trails and should have enjoyed this run.  I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I will never be a fast runner, but I really figured that a gym monkey like myself should be able to handle a few hills and terrain changes.

Oh well, I have to keep in mind that just a few months ago I would have never believed that I could run 3.1 miles with *only* four stops.  What seemed like a huge disappointment today, would actually have been a great run at the beginning of the summer.

This race is put on by a local running group (the Saint Cloud River Runners) and was very well organized.  There were plenty of volunteers manning the course and a decent turnout (about 120 runners).  The race was CHEAP.  It only cost $10 ($15 the week of the race) and included a t-shirt.  No chip timing or goodie bags, but the t-shirt is my favorite race shirt so far, even though I generally don’t like cotton shirts.  I would definitely recommend this race…as long as you keep that stupid hill at the 2 mile mark in mind..

Tomorrow I will run yet another race.  This time it will be a 4K on the paved streets of Minneapolis with my family.