Half-Assed Runner

Archive for October, 2011

Packet Pickup/Expo

Bleh!

This was my first race with a packet pickup prior to the day of the race.  Packet pickup was in downtown Saint Paul between 11 am and 7 pm.  I knew that I would not be leaving work until at least 6 pm, so I decided to pop down during lunch to nab my packet.  The drive from Maple Grove to Saint Paul should have taken me about 30 minutes each way.  Unfortunately, I decided to use 394 to 94.  It’s been a long time since I’ve gone this route.  I know it backs up where 394 dumps into 94 (3 lanes into 1), but it was noon so I figured that traffic would be fairly light.  Well, it wasn’t.  And there was construction that closed off one lane about 3 miles past the Lowry tunnel.  I got to get my road rage on as I spent an hour and a half in traffic (plus my gas light went on as I planned to fill up on the way back).  Downtown Saint Paul is still the same steaming shit stew that I remember it being.  The only bright spot is that I skipped the “event parking” ($6) at the hotel hosting the packet pick up and only dropped $1.50 (plus a 2 block walk).

I know that this isn’t Team Ortho’s fault, but I was in a pretty bad mood by the time I hit the expo.  I had remembered to bring my bib number (there was a bib look up kiosk if you forgot).  The half marathon booths were clearly marked as such.  I queued up for the 10 mile area to get my bib…then was told that I was in the 5K line.  I then got in the correct line and got my bib.  I was pointed to another area where there were bags and where they were handing out the jackets.  The volunteer who gave me my bib was super nice.  The dude that stared at me like I was from Mars at the jacket handout was less than helpful. They had huge banners denoting the different sizes.  I finally just grabbed a large and put it in my bag.  I could have grabbed a couple if I wanted.  There were some cool shirts and stuff for sale.  I really wanted to grab one of the 5K shirts with a skeleton on it (they said that they would be for sale at the race) but I was already well on my way to missing my 2 pm meeting.  I headed for the exit.  At the exit, a volunteer scans your racing chip.  After that there was a long line to get a green wristband so you could have a free beer at the race.  I skipped that line and left.  All told, I was able to get in and out in about 15 minutes.

I called work and told them I was going to miss my meeting and took a different (longer distance, but less traffic) route back.  I was going to sign up for the Polar Dash (you can pick up your bib, chip, and fleece…and skip that race’s expo) at the expo, but was too short on time and patience to do so.  I was thinking that much of the merchandise as well as the future race registrations will be available the next day at the race as well.

Race Day

What a day.  At 6 am my iPhone honked at me.  After hitting snooze, my wife honked at me.  I showered and dressed.  I was cold as hell outside.  It was 26 degrees when I left the house at 7 am.  I had an hour drive ahead of me.  I would have left earlier, but I didn’t want to stand around outside waiting for the race to start.  I had decided that the running pants I own would not cut it.  They are too warm and I think that they restrict my stride a bit.  It was too cold to wear shorts though.  So I broke out my “compression leggings” that I recently bought.  My wife calls them tights.  She’s right. They’re not compression leggings, I just call them that to try to preserve the little that’s left of my manhood.  I would wear my tights….err “compression leggings” with shorts on top and a long sleeved tech shirt. Once I get moving, staying warm is not a problem.  Standing around waiting for the start in 20 degree weather is another thing entirely.

I did put jeans on over the tights (fuck it, they are what they are) to stay warm on the drive.  It’s a good thing that I did.  I stopped for coffee and Wintogreen Lifesavers at a gas station.  It was packed with bearded men in hunting gear.  It must be the start of some shoot at wildlife season in Minnesota.  I was very happy not to be flaunting my tights in this crowd.

I sipped about half of my cup of coffee on the way in.  I wanted the caffeine, but I didn’t want to have to pee during the race. Although yesterday was a hellish drive, I figured I could count on traffic being much lighter early on a Saturday morning.  For the most part, I was right. There was a slight slowdown when the lanes merged to only two. I was making good time.  I would be reaching the Science Museum parking lot just before 8 am.  That would give me plenty of time to stay in my car with the heat on before jogging to the starting area. Unfortunately, about a billion other people had the same plan.  The exit was backed up for a mile.  Over the course of 25 minutes, I was able to move about 1.2 miles.  It was 8:20 and I was still driving.  I had no idea if the lot had any available spots or not.  I made a decision to make a left and park at the gigantic Sears store on the other side of the freeway.  I was happy to see I wasn’t the only runner to make this choice as I spotted others (many in costume) parking there and making a mad dash for the start line.  I got out, dropped my jeans, and put on my shorts over my tights.  I grabbed my phone, headphones, some lifesavers and a Gu, my car key, and my wallet.  Normally I just grab some cash and leave my wallet in my car.  I wasn’t going to do that in this area.  This meant I had to run with that sucker in my right pocket during the race.  It was annoying, but wasn’t horrible.

After my quick change, I started jogging the half mile to the starting line near the Cathedral of Saint Paul. While waiting for the light to change so I could cross the street, I haphazardly pinned on my bib and tried to get a weather check on my iPhone.  AT&T’s craptacular 3G network was pretty much useless, but I did it did manage to spit enough bits to my phone to tell me it was still in the mid-20s.  Wonderful.

As I approached the Cathedral, I saw the mass of running humanity assembled there and heard “30 seconds to the start of the race”.  With so many runners, the race was broken up into starting waves.  I tried to get in the middle of the 9 and 10 minute per mile groups, but even if I could have accomplished this, the waves had already started, so the flags marking the paces weren’t accurate anyways.  I fired up Runmeter and Spotify.  I took a some shots of the starting area.  I wish I could have taken some pictures during the run as it was an absolutely gorgeous route, but the couple I tried were too shaky, so I decided to pass on the photos.

I have to say that the wave starts were done extremely well.  Also, the walkers must have lined up in the waves behind me, because I saw very few walkers during the first few miles.  I stepped over the starting line 10.5 minutes after the race had started.  Since this was a chip-timed event, this had no bearing on my final time. I did spent a bit of time bobbing and weaving at the start, but the spacing between waves and the lack of walkers meant everyone was able to start running right away.  I left my headphones off and just took in the course and the race.

The course was beautiful.  The fall colors were in full effect.  Combine that with scenery ranging from mansions to the Mississippi, plus all of the crazy and amazing costumes, and there was never a dull moment on this run.  I didn’t put my headphones on until I hit the 4.5 mile mark (the longest I’ve ever run sans music).

I started out at a slower than normal pace.  This would be my longest race to date and I wanted to ease into it.  I found it very easy to keep a nice, steady pace due to the number of runners around me.  I’m glad I started in the wave that I did, as the pace was perfect.

My plan was to run the first 3 miles without stopping.  The first water stop would be at mile 3 and I would walk though it and then continue to Galloway this bad boy with a 4:1 run/walk ratio, adjusting the run part down as I tired.  Yeah, I know, this is a modified Galloway and not taking walk breaks “early and often” would result in me being more tired near the end.

The first two miles blew by.  I was shocked when I saw the two mile marker.  Yay for sensory overload.  I had no idea what my pace was as I hadn’t donned my headphones yet.  I didn’t even bother to look at Runmeter because I was at a comfortable pace and this was a long race.

The 3 mile mark came up along with the first water stop.  I was feeling way too good to start run/walking and one look at the crowds at the water tables convinced me to skip this one.  I was doing fine in the hydration department.  I knew that the next water stop was in 2 miles and I would get my drink on at that point.  Probably the only issue I had with the course was with the Port-A-Potties at the water stops.

They were popular and the lines extended onto the course.  So not only did you have to bob and weave around runners entering and exiting the water tables, but you also had to deal with the sudden wall of runners extending 3/4 of the way across the road as they waited to use the bathrooms.  I would suggest turning the port-a-potties around so that the door faces away from the course to encourage lines that don’t extend on to the course.

I had decided at this point that I would keep running until I hit the 5 mile mark.  That would match my longest continuous run ever.  I was still feeling good and there was no shortage of things and people to look at.  Just before the 4.5 mile mark, I finally put in my ear buds and turned on my music.  Shortly afterwards Runmeter announced that my average pace was around 10:12/mile.  It would stay within a few seconds of that average for the entire race.  I wasn’t moving quickly, but I was sure steady.

Mile 5 rolled up and I was still feeling good.  I grabbed a water and kept chugging along.  The course was almost entirely downhill from start to finish.  Not steep, but a steady course down to the river basin.  It was a sunny day, but still cold enough that I could “see my breath” for the entire course.  I was so glad that I didn’t wear a windbreaker.  I was pretty much at a perfect body temperature.  I was sweating, but nowhere near the torrents of sweat I generate on a summer run.

After passing the 5 mile marker, I congratulated myself on breaking my PR for a continuous run.  I set my next goal at 7.5 miles without stopping.  I grabbed some water at the 6.5 mile water stop and still did not feel like walking.  I was still running at 10:12/mile.

At the 7.5 mile water stop, I did technically stop running to grab some blue stuff.  I have no idea what it was composed of, but it gave me a bit of a sugar boost.  It was pretty popular as the volunteers were struggling to fill cups to keep up with the thirsty runners.

I started to lose steam at this point.  Miles 7, 8, and 9 were all run around 10:30/mile.  I could feel my energy draining and my stride getting shorter.  I just wanted to keep running, because I felt like one walk break would lead to many more and I had a shot at going the entire 10 miles without stopping.  There was one baby hill where a number of the runners suddenly became walkers.  I powered through it and enjoyed the subsequent downhill.  Around mile 8 I felt a slight twinge in my left leg.  It wasn’t bad, just a slight pain near the side of my knee.  Thankfully it never got worse, but my running form did suffer as I started to favor my right leg.

At some point towards the end of the race there was an “energy” stop where they were handing our Tropical Hammer gels.  I grabbed one and pocketed it.  I had a GU wintergreen gel and I ate about half of it around mile 8.  Other than that, my race “fuel” consisted of a single Wintogreen lifesaver.  I guess that the pizza from the night before was more than enough energy to keep me running.

We hit mile 9 and I knew that I was going complete this race sans stops.  We passed through an inflatable rainbow colored tunnel and shortly after the 10 milers split off to the right while the half marathoners continued to the left.  At the 9.5 mile mark I could see the finish banner in the distance.  I picked up the pace and my last mile ended up being my fastest at 9:26/mile.  I crossed the timing mats and got my medal.  I hit the water and blue fluid stations and grabbed a banana.  The temperature had rocketed up to a torrid 39 degrees.  I was afraid of getting chills, but I stayed comfortable as long as I stayed in the sun.  A race volunteer handed me a brown paper bag from a huge box labeled “10 Mile Food”.  I took it and walked slowly towards the line for the buses to the half marathon finish area (and 3.1 miles closer to my car).

I was hobbling a bit at this point and if I stood still, then my legs started to hurt much like they did after my 12.5 mile run last week.  I massaged them and stretched them as much as I could.  After about a 20 minute wait I got on a bus to the half marathon finish line.  As I sat in a bench seat in a big yellow bus with a brown paper bag in my lap, I felt like I was 12 years old again.  I was a bit worried that my legs might “seize up” while sitting in the bus, but I was fine.  We got to see the remainder of the half marathon course from the comfort of the bus.  While the 10 mile was mostly flat and downhill, there was a pretty substantial hill around the 11 mile point of the half marathon.

After arriving at the half marathon finish, I pretty much just started my walk back to my car (about a mile away).  I did check for any merchandise (since I had my wallet with me) but didn’t see any.  There didn’t see to be much different in the way of food from the 10 mile finish.  I did see some runners with bottles of Muscle Milk (which I would have loved at that point) but didn’t see where they got them from.  I had no interest in getting a free beer and would rather be raped by badgers than listen to Tim Mahoney, so I started my trek back to my car.  The walk did me good as it stretched out my legs a bit.

I hate bicyclists.  I hate them because I’ve run into too many asshole cyclists.  My friend is a cyclist and assures me that for every asshole there are hundreds of decent cyclists.  I did get to witness my first asshole runners on the way back to my car.  A group of four women either decided that the big red hand means ‘go’ or that they were still on the vehicle restricted race course.  They walked out in front of a car.  The driver slammed on his brakes and the four troglodytes continued on at their slow shuffle.  If I were driving, I would have hit clipped them.  Oh well.  Four assholes out of 8,000 runners is still an acceptable ratio.

I got back to my car.  I suppose that I could balance some of the stress and time suck involved in my two treks to Saint Paul with the fact that I probably saved myself about $25 in parking costs over the last two days.  Next year I will definitely get a hotel room and stay in Saint Paul instead of fighting traffic.

The only problem I had was once I got back home.  I felt no pain up until that point.  I guess being stuck in a car for an hour messed up my legs (especially that left knee area).  It took me about 10 minutes of grimacing pain to hobble into my house.  After a hot shower, I was fine.  My legs felt “well used” but I no pain.

All in all, this was a great race.  The race volunteers were great.  The course was fucking awesome.  I will definitely run this race again next year…probably the half marathon.

Next up: a local “Turkey Trot” 5K with the family.  Then begins the long, cold Minnesota winter.  I will probably get really well aquainted with the treadmill (yuck).  Team Ortho has a Polar Dash on New Year’s Day.  I will most likely run that, but at the 5K distance as there’s no way I’m running a half marathon in that weather and after a night of debauchery.

Monster Dash 10 Mile Map

Today I traveled to Saint Bonifacius to pound out my long run on the Dakota Rail Trail.  My last long run was only 10 days ago and it was an 11 miler which did a number on my knees.  I was not looking forward to extending that suffering for another 1.5 miles.

I’ve been following a "modified" version of the Galloway run/walk/run program for my long runs.  I’ve been trying to run .5 miles, then walk…plus I’ve only been starting the run/walk/run bit after the first mile or two.  So, I’ve broken two of the rules of the Galloway method in that I have not been taking my walk breaks "early and often" and I’ve not been sticking to a specific run/walk ratio (I don’t time my walk breaks, so the early ones are very short and they get longer further into the run).  I decided to follow the plan more closely on this run.  Runmeter updated to version 6 recently and now you can create intervals (I’ll write a post on how to do this later), so I created a 3:1 run/walk ratio and hit the trail.

I headed southwest on the trail rather than my usual route of northeast.  I’m glad I did.  The change of scenery was nice and the path ends up running along the shore of Lake Waconia, so there are some very nice views.  The weather was nice (50 degrees and sunny with a steady NNW wind), but just chilly enough that I ran in running pants rather than shorts.

Taking the walk breaks early was difficult.  I generally run about 2 miles before even considering mixing in walk breaks.  Running for 3 minutes, then walking for 1 minute was tough.  The run time seemed too brief and the walk time too long.  The further I ran, the less this felt uncomfortable.

Runmeter surprised me in that it tracks your statistics for each interval.  That is awesome.  So I can look back on my run and see that I ran the first 3 minutes at a 10:13/mile pace, then walked for 1 minute at a 13:26/mile pace.  Each run and walk interval is individually tracked (separate from my splits(set to 1 mile).  Unfortunately, I didn’t strictly follow my intervals.  Early on I ran through one of the walk breaks because it came right when I was about 10 feet behind some Boy Scouts.  I didn’t want to run up behind them, stop, then breath heavy for a minute before running by them.  If I had known at the time that Runmeter was keeping such detailed stats, I might have opted for creeping them out.  Instead, my intervals looked like this:

Run – Average 9:47 /mile 
Walk – Average 8:29 /mile 
 

I will try to be more strict on my intervals on my next long run as I am a nerd and I love analyzing data.

I wasn’t drinking nearly as much water as my last long run (due to the -25 degree temperature difference) so I went out just over 3 miles before turning around.  I felt good after returning to my car at the 6 mile point and refilling my water bottle.  I then headed northwest for just under 3 miles.  I ran off the trail onto the Gale Woods park trail.  It intersects with the Dakota Rail Trail and meanders uphill for a 1/4 mile or so.  At the end of that short paved section there is a water fountain.  Unfortunately it is closed for the season.  At least I found a potential water refilling point for next summer.

Right around the 7 mile mark my left calf started to twinge a bit.  Nothing too horrible, but enough to be a nuisance.  The pain was at its worst coming out of the walk breaks.  It cleared to a manageable level after a few seconds of running.  Much, much easier to deal with than my knee pains on my last long run.

After the 9 mile mark, I started fading.  My pace was much slower and I started feeling my calf hurt a little more.  By 10.5 I was seriously dragging ass.  Even with the 3:1 ratio I was running out of juice.  I made it back to my car after the second loop and refilled my water.  I had logged about 11.75 miles at that point.  It took a LOT of effort to get jogging again after that stop.  I got about halfway up the bridge and started walking.  I ran down the other side, then suffered through another .5 miles or so.  I hit 12.5 miles.  At that point I decided to try to log another .6 miles so I could say that I knew what it was like to run a half marathon.  I couldn’t do it.  I was simply out of energy and could not maintain running for 1 minute, let alone 3.  I called it a day.

My legs were tired, but not sore (with the exception of my left calf being tight).  I started driving home and then the pain hit me.  A dull ache set in on both legs from top to bottom.  I tried to massage my legs, stretch my legs, withhold my screams, and drive at the same time.  Twenty minutes later, I was much better.  I took a bath once I got home and was completely fine.

My last race this year is a 10 mile run at the end of October.  I may try to get in a 14 mile run between that race and the first snowfall.  I have no idea how I’m going to train during the winter as I hate cold temps and snow.  I’ll probably be relegated to treadmill training. 

It’s been quite awhile since I last ran a road 5K race.  My last one was at the end of August.  Since that time I’ve run a 5 miler and multiple trail runs.  I was looking forward to this race as it is my last scheduled road 5K of the year and I wanted to see if I could lower my PR of 28:34.  My goal was to beat my PR with an eye towards breaking the 28 minute mark.

I’ve been doing quite a number of long training runs lately.  I did try to get in some “speed work” (in quotes because nothing I do is very speedy) on Thursday, but my pace and stamina were both crap.  I managed one mile at 8:50 on a flat, paved surface.  The rest of the run was riddled with stops.  I don’t know if the long runs were still affecting me, but I could not maintain a pace and was running out of energy.  This did not bode well for my chances at the 5K.

I registered for this race quite a while ago because it was close to home and it was a low-key, inaugural 5K run.  I had put this race on my calendar as starting at 10 am.  Hutchinson is about a 30 minute drive from my house.  As usual, I got a late start and ended up at the campus at 9:45.  There was still a short line at the registration table, so I wasn’t too worried about missing the run.  I picked up my packet and shirt.  I went back to my car to drop off the bag and affix my timing chip and bib.  Then I followed a group of runners inside the college to stay warm.  It was 42 degrees and windy.  Fall has definitely arrived.

I got my iPhone ready.  Tunes were loaded up and Runmeter started.  Although the race was to start in a few minutes, none of the runners seemed to be in a hurry to exit the warm confines of the building to get to the starting area.  At 9:58, I started to panic.  There was a 1K run as well.  I assumed that was a kid’s run, but what if these runners were here for the 1K and the 5K was just about to start?  I still did not know where the race would begin and it looked like my plan of just following some runners to the starting line may not have been the best option.  I walked back outside and asked one of the volunteers where the race was starting.  She pointed to the other side of the building.  I thanked her and jogged over to the starting area.  By this time it was just a few seconds before 10 am.

When I got to the starting area, the kid’s race was beginning.  Either events were running late or I had put the wrong starting time on my calendar.  Of course it was the latter.  The 5K would start at 10:30 am.  I was going to go back inside (did I mention that I was dressed in shorts and a tech shirt?) but thought it might be better to “acclimate” to the weather by waiting outside.  This was my first cold weather run and I thought that freezing my ass off would make me run better because I my body would welcome the warmth generated by my exertion.  Well…it turns out that you’re better off keeping your muscles warm.  So much for pulling running tips out of my ass.

More and more runners started to trickle towards the starting area as 10:30 approached.  There were a ton of women runners and the few male runners were all pretty young.  For a hot second, I thought I might be the only one in my age group.  That did not turn out to be the case.

The race director mentioned that about 130 runners had registered.  The race would be a loop and was chip timed.  We would not be running over the mats to start the race, so it would be a gun start.  We were directed to line up to the left of the finishing chute for the start of the race.  I had no idea which direction we would be running.  A guy asked me that very question and I told him I just planned to follow the pack once the gun sounded.  It actually worked out well as the runners were very spread out and only a few runners deep when the gun fired. [Actually, the race director said “go” and the gun fired shortly afterwards].  We ended up running across a field before hitting a residential street.  As confusing as this seemed, it actually worked out very well as the spacing allowed runners to quickly hit their pace and minimized the weaving and passing that usually takes up most of the first half mile.

I have to say that I do not like exercising in cold weather.  Some people swear by it and it’s supposed to help you run faster, but my lungs just don’t like cold air.  It always reminds me of smoking a menthol cigarette.

I quickly found a pace and settled into a groove.  I didn’t have to do much passing and was happy with the pace of the surrounding runners.  I was having a bit of trouble with my breathing.  I chalked that up to the cold air.  I had no idea what my pace was, but I quickly decided to just run a comfortable race and not worry about my time.  Runmeter announced that I was at about a 9 minute pace at the half mile mark and then at 8:50 once I hit the mile mark.  I was happy with that pace.  I knew that I needed to run less than 9:11/mile to PR and that seemed doable at that point.  I mentally noted that I had 21 seconds “in the bank”.  Then the wind hit me.

We turned a corner and headed right into a fairly strong (and cold) wind.  The course was probably the flattest course I’ve run, but that wind acted like a small hill.  We would make quite a few turns along the course, so it wasn’t a constant problem thankfully.

We ran primarilly though residential streets.  After the 1 mile mark we were all running single-file and there was a nice spacing between runners.  There were no mile markers on the course, so I had to trust Runmeter’s GPS.

The water stop seemed to come pretty early in the run.  It was well before the halfway mark (according to Runmeter).  I passed on the water.  I was planning on walking through the water stop, but it just seemed too early to do that.

We turned into the wind once again, but I was so surprised to see cows that it took my mind off of that angry gale.  The cows were amused by the runners and were trotting along the fence line watching us.  I’ve stated that I run like a cow.  That’s untrue.  Cows are faster than me.  I vowed to eat a giant hamburger when the race was over.

I finally took a quick walk break 1.62 miles in.  My pace had slipped to 9:01.  I was mad at myself for stopping.  My legs were fine and I was breathing normally (although the cold air was still piercing my lungs).  I consoled myself by noting that I had planned to walk the water stop, so this was actually a planned stop.  I could not use this excuse when I stopped again .7 miles later.

My pace had slipped to 9:14/mile and I was disgusted with myself.  I’m at a point where I should not be stopping during 5Ks.  There were no hills on this course, it’s a paved course (with the exception of the first and last 100 yards), and I wasn’t running at a blazing pace.  My stops were very short (probably 10 – 20 seconds) and I wasn’t losing ground to the runners ahead of me [whatever I lost during the walk, I pretty quickly regained when I started running again], but I was still disgusted for stopping.  I stopped for a third time at the 2.61 mile mark.  My pace had slipped to 9:19/mile and I wrote off a PR as I didn’t have much hope of making up 20 – 30 seconds over the last half mile to break my PR.

I was further disgusted at my last stop because shortly afterwards I could see the finish area off to my left.  It was still too far away to start sprinting, but it was close enough that my last stop was completely unnecessary.

As I made the final turn onto the grass, I resisted the urge to sprint the rest of the way.  I didn’t want to pass anyone this close to the finish as I was not going to PR and didn’t want to look like a goofball just picking off runners at the end of the run.  I did pick up my pace a bit and closed on the runner ahead of me.  I slowed up a bit so I would not pass her over the last 20 yards or so.  Then I saw the clock.  It read 27 something.  Holy crap.  I was not only sure to PR, but I had a chance at breaking 28 minutes.  I started sprinting.  I passed the woman ahead of me and saw the clock show 27:57…27:58…27:59…  I hit the mats and hit the stop button on Runmeter.  It didn’t stop.  It did it again and it stopped at 28:06.  Nuts.  I still had some hope though.  I had started Runmeter a bit before the gun fired and a couple of seconds had been lost trying to stop Runmeter.  There was still a slim chance that I broke 28 minutes with my official time.

I grabbed a banana and a glass of water.  I snapped a couple of photos of the finish area, dropped off my timing chip, then left.  I had actually planned to stick around for the drawings, but I was now sweaty and that made the cold wind feel even colder.

By the time I got home and took a shower, the official results were already posted (I love chip timed events).  I had finished with a time of 28:02 (9:03/mile).  THREE FREAKING SECONDS!!!  I could have easily made that time up over the final stretch or by skipping one of my stupid walk breaks.  Oh well.  I shaved 32 seconds off my PR.

This will be the last 5K I run this year. [I may do a local Thanksgiving Day 5K].  I am still slow and a noob, so my PRs should continue to fall.  I’ve shaved (nearly) five minutes off of my 5K time over the course of 3.5 months.  I know that I can run faster in the future.  I have to work on my stamina.  I think my training for longer runs will help with that.  I also need to do some regular speed work.  Although I’m never going to scare the front runners, I should be proud of my personal achievements.  This run also pushed me over 300 miles run this year (April – October, outdoors only).  That probably equals or exceeds the number of miles I’ve run in my entire life before this year.

I’m planning on running mostly half marathons next year, so I’ll probably only run a handful of 5Ks.  I am going to set my 5K goal for next year to run faster than 26 minutes.  That means an average pace of 8:22/mile.  If I can average 9:03/mile with three walk breaks (grrrr!!!!) then I think that I have a good shot at reaching this goal.

Next up is the Monster Dash 10 mile run at the end of the month.  This will be my first 10 mile race as well as my longest race yet.  My only goal is to finish.

I had signed up for this race months ago.  It was held at Lake Maria State Park and was another trail race.  Lake Maria State Park is about 20 minutes north of my house and is a very quiet and pretty park.  It gets exceptionally pretty in the fall when the leaves change color.  This race falls on the same day as the Twin Cities Marathon and my wife runs/volunteers at that event every year.  This year though, she decided to forego the TC Marathon and so she and the Monkey joined me for this run.

On the way to the park, we saw a huge bird flying over us.  My wife told me it was a Snow Goose.  When I looked it up later, I found that is it was actually a Trumpeter Swan:

The Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator, is the largest native North American bird, if measured in terms of weight and length, and is (on average) the largest living waterfowl species on earth.

Trumpeter Swan

The day of the race was beautiful and clear, but very cold.  It was 44 degrees at 9 am.  Of course, I was running in shorts, so I was freezing.  Since the event was being held in a state park, there was an entry fee ($5).  I had driven up a couple of days earlier and scored a yearly pass ($25 for entrance to all Minnesota State Parks for 12 months).  Timberdash was offering the yearly passes for $20 on the day of the event.  I’m glad that I nabbed a pass prior to the day of the run as I did not want to wait in traffic to purchase a pass.  We were warned that parking would be limited, and even though we arrived about an hour before the 5K, the parking lots near the race area were already full.  The race volunteers guided us to parking on the side of the road and we actually ended up pretty close to the starting area.

This was a very well run event.  There were a few vendor kiosks set up, but also free coffee and some other small snacks.  There was also a campfire which turned out to be a great decision due to the cold temperature.  Check in was fast and friendly.  The only problem that we encountered was that they were out of safety pins.  Having run so many races this year, I had more than enough in my car for our bibs.

The Monkey was running the Kids’ 1K Fun Run.  They broke the kids up into age groups and the youngest children did laps in a small field.  There were kids as young as 3 years old running and they were a blast to watch.  The older kids ran a 1K portion of the same course that the 5K runners would follow.  My son was in that group.  He came in 3rd place in the race, only a few feet behind the 2nd place finisher.

Another nice thing about the race is that they watched/entertained the kids while the 5K was run.  While my wife and I were running, my son was drinking hot coco and sitting around the campfire.  He won a Minnesota Golden Gophers ball cap in the kids’ raffle.  There were also bananas and other snacks (including early season Halloween candy) available as well.  This made waiting for mom and dad to finish running very easy, even for my son.

I had jogged around the course a couple of days prior when I bought the park pass.  I ended up seeing most, but not all of the course…and not in order.  That’s due to my poor directional skills.  I did warn my wife that there was a huge hill at the end of the race.

The race director asked that “serious runners” line up first.  I don’t consider myself a serious runner, so I waited.  It sounded to me that they were going to have a wave start.  That’s a good idea, but could have been a problem since the trails were not very wide (about 6 to 8 feet) and the first 3/4 mile was also the final 3/4 mile of the race.  I guess that as long as the slowest runners/walkers were through that 3/4 portion before the “elites” reached it on the way back.

It turned out that I misunderstood the intention.  It would be a gun start for all racers (no chip timing) and the RD was just trying to position walkers in the back.  By the time I figured this out, we were only able to secure a spot near the very back of the pack.  The horn sounded and I was still futzing with my iPhone (I used Kinetic to track this run instead of my trusty Runmeter because Kinetic seems to handle GPS better in wooded areas).  By the time I actually started moving, I was one of a handful of folks in the very back of the pack.

I started passing people left and right.  This was very tricky due to: my proximity to the back of the pack, the number of slower runners/walkers, and the steep downhill portions of the initial run.  I was flying past runners (including my wife) by using the sides of the trail.

Eventually I hit a pocket of runners keeping a comfortable pace.  I would stay with them for most of the race.  The water stop came very quickly but was positioned so that runners would cross it twice (.75 miles in and .75 miles from the finish).

The terrain was gorgeous.  While the full on explosion of fall leaves was still a week or so away, the park was beautiful.  There were heavily wooded areas, lake views, open fields, plenty of hills, gravel, and – my nemesis – sand.  Even though I was keeping an incredibly slow pace (around 11 minutes/mile) I found the run challenging.  I ran the first 1.5 miles before taking my first walk break.  I have learned from my previous trail runs that there’s no shame in taking walk breaks.  My breaks were very short (10 – 20 seconds), but were more plentiful than I would have liked.  Still, I managed to stay with the same group of runners through most of the course.

I hit the water stop for the second time and grabbed some water.  I knew what lay ahead.  The last leg consisted of a big hill, followed by a small downhill and a small streth of flat terrain, and then finished with a monster hill.  I was during this portion of the run that I started picking off more and more runners.  When the monster hill finally appeared I was surprised to see EVERYONE ahead of me walking it.  It didn’t matter if they were at the top or bottom of the hill, they were all walking.  I planned to run as much as I could and then join them.  Another guy had been pacing off of me for the last .5 miles or so and we were the only ones running the hill.  He started walking about halfway up the hill and I was going to follow suit, but I noticed that the photographer was positioned about 3/4 up the hill.  There was no way I was going get photographed walking and panting, so I sucked it up and ran past the photog.  I started walking right after that.    I walked most of the rest of the way up the hill and regained running for the (incredibly short) remainder of the race.  I must have passed about 20 runners on that last hill and was going to pick off a couple more before the finish line, but their kids ran out from the spectators and joined them and I really didn’t feel like flying by them at that point.

I crossed the finish line and stopped Kinetic.  It recorded the distance as just short of 3 miles.  So much for the GPS accuracy.  One of the things that I don’t like about Kinetic is that you cannot change the distance.  Oh well, even with the correct distance, I managed to average 11:09/mile, by far my slowest race so far.

I found the monkey with his new hat sitting by the campfire playing video games.  We waited for my wife to cross the finish line.  She punched me because I guess that “monster hill” didn’t adequately prepare her for the final hill.

I really enjoyed the Timberdash.  The event was extremely well run.  The race shirts were awesome as were the finisher medals (first time I’ve received a finisher medal for a 5K).  I would love to run this race again next year if it’s not on the same date as the Twin Cities Marathon.

I am thankful that this is my last trail run of the year.  I only have two races left: a local 5K and the Monster Dash 10 Mile run (will be my longest race yet).