Half-Assed Runner

Archive for the ‘5K’ Category

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 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

I signed up for the Cloquet Sawdust 5K to fulfill the Northern region requirement of the Explore Minnesota challenge.  There are only four options for Northern races and none of them worked well for me.  I ended up choosing this race as I had the day off (as well as the day prior) due to the 4th of July holiday.  It did mean that I had to scratch the Red, White, and Boom! half marathon off my list of races for this year.  It turns out that was a sort of blessing because that race got shortened to a five-mile race due to the high temperatures and humidity in Minneapolis.

Speed limit = 7 7/8 mph???

Cloquet is about a 3 hour drive from my house.  I really didn’t want to get up around 4 am, drive 3 hours, run for half an hour, then turn around and drive back 3 hours…on a holiday.  I also did not want to drop a lot of money on a hotel room.  It turns out that Cloquet has a KOA, so I decided to camp overnight.  This meant I could break up the 6 hour round trip and only drop $30 on lodging.

About a week ago, my wife decided that she and the Monkey would like to go with me to camp and run.  We left Tuesday after she finished work.  The KOA was nice and the pool was a great escape from the 95 degree weather.  It was actually about 10 degrees cooler up north.  Aside from a crazy loud train that rolled through the area a couple of times during the night, camping was a success.

Sawdust 5K Start

It was only about 10 minutes from the campground to the race.  We rolled in around 7:30 for the 8:00 start.  It was a pleasant 71 degrees at race time, but the humidity was 75% so it was going to be a sweaty mess.  Packet pickup was quick and easy and the volunteers pointed me to the timing desk to do the Explore Minnesota check in.  After getting the Monkey and myself pinned up and attaching our timing chips, I jogged back to drop off our race bags.  By the time I got back, the runners were lining up.

My son started with me and my wife started well towards the back of the pack.  There were about 300 runners.  I told the Monkey to take it easy due to the weather.  The Facebook page also mentioned that this race was hilly, so I told him not to burn out early.

An air horn sounded and we were off.  Shortly afterward we made a right turn and hit the first hill.  This course was the hilliest (non-trail) 5K I’ve run.  I should have expected as much when the t-shirts state “I survived the hills”.  There were three really big hills, but also a lot of smaller and longer ones throughout the course.

Hill Number One

The course wound through residential areas before hitting a long, straight section that was an out and back.  The water stop was at the start of this section.  This was a great idea because was available on the way back as well.  So you got two water stops on this run.  The cups of water were full and cold.  Another mark of a well-managed race.

Endomondo has stopped announcing updates (I later found out that a setting must have been changed during an upgrade) so I was not sure of my pace.  I was fine with this as I had decided rather quickly that the challenging course and humidity made a PR unrealistic.  I ended up pacing off of a couple of runners (one until the first water stop, the other for the rest of the race).  I never pushed the pace because I didn’t want to burn out on one of the hills.  I did overestimate my progress as I thought I was around the 2.5 mile mark when I saw the 2 mile marker on the side of the road.

The race was not a true out and back.  Only the middle portion was an out and back.  I was mentally tracking the larger hills and figured that on the way back I would have two steep downhills and one steep hill when running the course in reverse.  That was dashed when we took a different route after the out and back.

Towards the end of the race we made a left turn and I could see the park and finish line to my right. I saw runners flying down a steep downhill to the finish area.  Unfortunately, that meant that we had big climb ahead.  Right around the 2.8 mile mark we hit the biggest hill of the course.  I ran the first third of this beast, then walked for about 20 seconds, then ran the rest of it.  I didn’t take full advantage of the downhill right away as I needed to catch my breath.  I was tapped at that point and just put my legs on auto pilot and leaned forward to get gravity do its magic.

Death Hill

I hadn’t planned to sprint the last bit as I was a sweaty, tired mess at this point, but I did pick up the pace and finished with a full sprint over the last 50 yards or so.  I was surprised to see 27:04 on the clock as I crossed the finish line as I though I was running a couple of minutes slower than that.  I was even more surprised to hear my wife’s name announced.  We must have switched timing chips.

Finish Line

I waited for the rest of my family to finish.  It’s funny how long a few minutes can seem after you finish a race.  My name was announced as my wife crossed the finish about five minutes after I had.  It felt like a much longer wait.  I had seen the Monkey at the out and back and he was walking.  I asked my wife when she passed him and she said it was shortly after the turn around point.  I figured he would be crossing in about five minutes.  I got a little worried and called him.  He was cresting the monster hill and cursing it.  I saw him and jogged him in to the finish line.

Explore MN Northern Pin

There was a pool (actually more of a man-made beach) in the park and we were allowed to use it.  Me and the Monkey grabbed some water, cookies, and bananas then hit the pool.  It was really nice to take a quick dip in the pool.  We stuck around for about 20 minutes and enjoyed the pool.  The weather was actually pretty nice.  It was still crazy humid, but the temperature was in around 75 degrees and there was a nice breeze.  It was much hotter and humid back in the Twin Cities.

Pool

After subtracting for chip start, the official results showed I had somehow scored a PR by 4 seconds – unfortunately it was under my wife’s name due to the timing chip mixup.  This was on a hilly course, in high humidity, with a 20 second walk break and two water stops, and without pushing my pace.  I should run (at least shorter races) without knowing my pace more often.

This was a great race.  It was well-managed.  The shirts were tech tees with kid’s sizes and women’s cuts.  You also received a mesh cinch bag.  There was plenty of water on the course and the pool was a great after-race perk.  All this for $20 ($25 race day).  Now if they could just do something about those damned hills. 

Sawdust 5K Bag

Sawdust 5K Shirt Front

Sawdust 5K Shirt Back

Sawdust 5K Course

We left our exurban chateau for the nearly 4 hour drive to Fargo right before 1 pm.  I was a bit stressed out on the way as the website stated that you needed to pick up your 5K packet prior to 5 pm.  If Google was telling the truth, then we would be arriving at the Fargodome with only about 10 minutes to spare…and that was not accounting for street closures, parking, crowds, dinosaurs, and earthquakes.  As it turned out, we made it to Fargo around 4:15 so we were able to check in to our hotel room then head over to the Fargodome.

Getting to the Fargodome was painless as well. The only obstacles were the design of the city streets (lots of one-way streets) and not any closures.  Traffic was mild, especially considering that they were expecting up to 10,000 5K runners that night.  Parking was plentiful and the Fargodome was roomy enough so that I felt less crowded than I have at many smaller expos.

Packet Pickup

Once inside, I expected a long wait for our packets.  The 5K packet pickup was on the main level (basically the concourse around the stadium) and the rest of the races held their packet pickup down on the stadium floor along with the expo.  I would pick up the 5K packets while my wife went down to the floor to pick up her 10K packet and – if necessary – my half marathon packet.

Packet pickup was quick and easy.  I grabbed my son’s packet and mine.  He received his in a bag and I was told that since I was registered for two races, my bag would be included with my half marathon packet.  I was in and out in about 10 minutes.  I went downstairs and had my half marathon packet in about 10 minutes as well.

We had a ton of time to kill at that point (a little after 5 pm) so we walked around the expo.  There were a ton of vendors pitching everything from other races to expensive fruit juice.  I grabbed a couple of packs of GU Chomps and was going to buy a poster but decided not to (I’ll explain why in another post).  During the expo they announced a number of times that there were no water stops on the 5K course so they recommended bringing your own water.  This was a good suggestion as it was ninety-freaking-five degrees outside.  I had brought my handheld bottle for this purpose, but had left it in the hotel room so we bought some bottled water at the expo.

Expo

We walked around the finish line area (the races end inside the Fargodome).  The race bibs have a large area for you to write in your name so we stopped at a table and my son wrote his name (not without appending “the Great” to it – egoist!)  Finally we decided to kill the remaining 30 minutes by sitting in stands.

We left the stadium around 6:15 so that we would minimize standing around in the 95 degree heat.  This meant that we ended up in the back of the huge pack.  There were two 5K starting areas: one for walkers and one for runners.  This was a great design.  The walkers lined up a block away and would not start until all of the runners had crossed the starting line.  Still, we were so far back in the pack that there was a sign denoting “Estimated Finish Time: 50 Minutes.”

5K Medals

The weather was a huge concern.  It honestly did not feel that bad.  Even though it was 95 degrees, there was a strong wind and the humidity was very low (19%) so it felt much cooler.  I was running this race as my son’s pacer/waterboy so I wasn’t going to be running very fast.

After both the Canadian and US anthem were sung and “Eye of the Tiger” blasted over the speakers, we were off.  I had told my son to run his race and I would follow behind him.  I also told him to start out slow and when he needed a walk break to get all the way over to the right before walking.  He surprised me by actually starting out slow as he usually bolts out at top speed.

The course itself was run completely on residential streets.  There were a ton of people cheering on the runners.  A number of residents had turned on their sprinklers so that runners could run through them to cool down.  My son hit as many of those as he could.  Near the end of the course there was a large misting station as well as an open fire hydrant.

Fargodome

I was not carrying my phone with me as I would not be listening to music and did not want to tie up both hands with a phone and a bottle of water.  This meant no pictures, which was fine.  It also meant no distance/pace information.  This would have been nice as my son kept asking “how much further?”.

The course was completely flat and had a fair number of turns.  I missed the first mile marker and my son told me when we passed the halfway mark.  It seemed to come up pretty fast.  It buoyed his spirits.  I told him “only about 15 minutes left”.  So it came as a bit of a shock when – about 10 minutes later – we saw the 2 mile marker.  “Umm, only about 11 minutes left” I said to my slightly deflated son.  Later we figured out that the “halfway point” he saw was the word “half” written in big letters on the street.  The next day I would decipher this as being part of the half marathon course and not the midpoint of the 5K.

Needless to say, the course was packed.  We were constantly picking holes to pass people.  Sometimes my son would pass someone on the right and I would pass on the left, then I would have to find him again.  It’s easy to lose sight of a smaller human in the mass of runners but we ended up staying together the whole race.

The walkers did make an appearance.  I’m talking about the folks walking the whole route.  The ones who were supposed to line up in a different area.  The ones who would have to have willfully ignored the dozens of announcements over the PA system for the entire half hour before the race.  The ones who somehow decided to not only line up with the runners but to also line up near the front of the pack.  The ones who also figured that walking four-abreast was a fine plan.  I am happy to report that at least two of those walkers received elbow blows.

Other than the jackass walkers, the crowd was nice.  Few runners – especially as far back in the pack as we were – were running very fast.  Most were smiling and taking in the scene.  We spotted a running Elvis as well as a Stormtrooper in full gear (he had to be boiling) and were high-fiving as many kids as possible along the route.  My son loved running through the sprinklers.

After hitting the 2 mile mark, I told my son that if he can hang tight he could complete this run with no walk breaks.  This became our new goal.  He would ask “how much further” and I would guesstimate times based on a 10 minute per mile pace.

Soon enough we could see the Fargodome on our right and the crowds were getting much thicker.  “We just have to run to that building and we’re done.”  He was saving his kick for the end.  Unfortunately he never got to use it.  The race ended near where it began, not in the Fargodome.  This was a bit of a surprise.

Me and the Monkey.

I was proud of my son as he completed the 5K with no walk breaks.  The vast majority of the 5K’ers must have walked as the average finishing time was around 45 minutes.  This meant that my PW 5K time was still in the top 25% and – more importantly – let my son brag that he ran faster than 6,000 other runners.

We collected our medals, grabbed some water, met up with my wife and were on our way back to the hotel in about 15 minutes.  I was impressed with how well this race was organized, especially with the brutal weather conditions.

5K Medal

5K shirt and medal

Today I ran the Minneapolis Recycle Run 5k around Lake Harriet.  This is the third time I’ve run this same course (Reindeer Run and 100% Irish).  It’s a pretty course and is relatively flat, but it gets crowded.  That, coupled with the fact that I ran a hilly 6 mile race yesterday, set my expectations to: slow and easy.

Lake Calhoun...we ran Lake Harriet :-)

I was only doing this run to check off my first race on the Explore Minnesota Challenge series.  I signed up for this series back in December.  You have to complete 8 races (from a list of about 25) in 2012.  You have to complete at least one race in four areas of Minnesota (Northern, Southern, Central, and Metro).  This race counted as a Metro race.  For each area you complete a race in, you get a pin.  Complete all 8 races with at least 1 in each area and you get a medal.  You also get some other swag (hat, magazines, MDRA membership) when you sign up.

Anyhoo…I got a late start (quelle surprise) and parked .7 miles away at about 8:40.  I got my “warm up run” in by jogging from my car to the registration area.  I lucked out again as no one was in the line for my particular chunk of the alphabet.  I nabbed my bib and timing chip along with the green cotton race shirt and aluminum water bottle.  I wore shorts with big pockets so I was able to stuff the folded shirt into one of the pockets.  I would have to carry the water bottle.

Vendor Area

I then went to the Explore Minnesota Challenge table and checked in (you have to do this before each race to get credit).  They checked my name and gave me my Metro pin.  At that point I had just enough time to pin on my bib and timing chip before I had to head to the starting area.

Explore Minnesota Metro Pin

The last two races here have been pretty crowded.  This one ended up having around 500 runners.  That’s about a 1/3 the size of the other two races I’ve run there.  I chose a spot I figured would be in the middle of the pack, but it ended up being in the back 10%.  Soon after getting my music queued and Endomondo app ready, an air horn sounded and we were off.

Start Line

I spent the first 1/2 mile doing the normal zig-zagging bit to get around walkers (few and far between) and slower runners (it’s hard to believe that there are runners slower than me).  This didn’t bother me as much as usual as I was running this one just for fun and only wanted to complete it without walking and under 30 minutes.  When I looked at my pace around .3 miles in, I was at 10:30/mile.  No chance of a PR today.

The weather was chilly: 42 degrees and overcast with a slight wind.  Once I got warmed up, it felt great.  The course circles Lake Harriet, so there were plenty of lake views along with expensive houses and gardens to look at.

I’m still getting used to Endomondo.  One thing that I don’t like is that you only get voice updates every mile (or kilometer if you choose) and you cannot change it.  I’m used to my .5 mile updates from Runmeter.  I was very surprised to hear that I was at a 9:02 pace at the one mile mark, especially with the slow start.  I am very impressed with Endomondo (or the RAZR MAXX) GPS.  I got my mile updates within a few feet of the mile marker signs each time (as I did on the 6 mile race yesterday).

At the one mile mark I started my music.  I was feeling surprisingly good.  I was concerned that my legs would be dead today, but I felt pretty good.  The pack was not crowded at this point and I started pacing off of other runners (passing a few of them along the way).  The course has two minor hills, so my hill climbing muscles got a well deserved day off.

There was no water stop on this race.  I felt fine, but probably should have filled the aluminum bottle with water since I was stuck carrying it. 

At the 2 mile mark I was surprised again to hear that my total time was 17 something.  My pace for the second mile (I wish Endomondo would give average for the entire run rather than just split times) was under 9 minutes.  This put me in a position to get a PR.  I was surprised and pretty doubtful that this would happen, but I vowed to keep my current pace.

As I’ve said, I’ve run this course 3 times now.  I’ve never walked a step on it.  Today, I never felt the desire to walk at all.  I also did not feel like I was pushing myself very hard.

Much sooner than I expected, I could see the band shell across the lake.  It looked very close.  I checked Endomondo and it said I was running an 8 minute pace and I was 2.7 miles in.  I knew it was too early to start sprinting, but I made sure to keep my current pace and started to find runners to pace and/or pass.

I hit the 3 mile marker and heard 26 something in my ear.  I could PR this bitch.  The final portion is a slight hill followed by a downhill to the finish.  I chugged up the hill and once I could see the finish line I picked up my pace.  I saw TC Bear (Minnesota Twins mascot) about 50 yards from the finish line.  By that point I was sprinting.  TC gave me a “paw’s up” and I nodded knowingly back at him.  You damn right, TC.  I’m  about to crush this PR.  I crossed the finish line with 27 something on the clock.  I showed my time as 27:18.  The chip time was actually a few seconds faster than that.  I had PR’d.  Hell, I had PR’d and run negative splits.  I almost felt like a real runner. 

Finish Line

A volunteer snipped off my timing chip and I snapped a few pics of the finish area.  I left shortly afterward as I had to get showered and on my way.

Recycle Run Shirt

All in all, a nice run around a pretty area.  The weather was a bit gloomy, but probably aided my time as much as the flat course.  As soon as I saw my time I started to think that I could have shaved at least 30 seconds off that first mile.  Looks like my new 5K goal is to break 27 minutes. 

Next week is the first of three consecutive weekends of half marathons.

Recycle Run Bottle

I had waffled about whether or not I wanted to run this race.  I think Lake Harriet is beautiful, but the parking and crowds turn me off.  In the end I decided to do the race because it’s been over 2 months since I ran a race.  A day after I signed up, the race filled so I was pretty lucky to get in.

I exited the house 20 minutes behind schedule and had to stop to get gas on the way in.  It’s about an hour from my house to Lake Harriet.  I ended up parking .7 miles from the start.  I may have been able to find something closer, but this was close enough and I knew that if I fed the meter enough tasty quarters, I would not get ticketed/towed.  I left my car at 8:30.  I still had to pick up my packet and stow the race swag (pretty nice green 1/4 zip jacket) before my race began at 9:10.

It was a gorgeous day for early March in Minnesota.  It was 44 degrees (about 20 degrees above normal for this time of year) and sunny.  There was a steady wind that made it feel a bit colder.  I went with running pants and a long-sleeved tech shirt.  I did get a bit chilly at points before the run, but nothing unbearable.  Some runners decided to act like it was June and wear t-shirts and shorts.

I jogged a bit of the .7 miles to the race area (near the band shell).  Packet pickup was quick and easy.  The “packet” consisted of your bib and jacket.  I probably had just enough time to jog back to my car and stow the jacket and get back before the start of the race, but I just didn’t feel like it.  I also knew that wearing the jacket would be a bad idea as I would get very hot.  So I decided to try the bag check.  You simply grabbed a clear bag, dropped your gear in the bag, then tore off a number from your bib and pinned it to the bag.  You then stowed you bag in the area that matched the last number of your bib.  When the race was over you retrieved your bag and showed the tag to a volunteer who made sure it matched your bib number.  Pretty smooth and it saved me 1.5 miles of jogging to my car and back again.

I walked around a bit then sat near the band shell.  Even though the race was sold out it did not seem nearly as crowded as the Reindeer Run I did here in November.  Tons of runners wearing green (I don’t have any green running gear so I went potato gray) and plenty of costumes.  There were a few vendors and the after race snack area looked well stocked.  There were also a handful of what looked to be portable gas fire pits for runners who needed to keep warm.

The 10 mile race began at 9am and the 5K runners were told to line up near the boat launch.  The line had markers for each minute/mile pace.  I had planned to get closer to the front than normal due to the congestion during the Reindeer Run, but instead settled in with my fellow 9 minute milers.

The race started on time and we…walked to the starting line.  This was not unexpected due to the crowd (and the relatively small path/road at the start).  Since this was not a chip timed event, I started Runmeter when I hit the start line, then noticed the actual start line 35 seconds later.  I noted to shave 35 seconds from my final time.

The race was slow and congested.  There seemed to be more room than the Reindeer Run (and no dogs), but passing was still a pain in the ass.  I still can’t believe the number of people who line up near the front and then walk…usually three or more abreast.  These tend to be fat ham beast women who then get pissed when you have to squeeze past them.  I’m to the point where I’m going to start elbowing them in the kidney as I pass by.  I know that I’m not Usain Bolt and this is an untimed fun run, but I did pay to run and there’s no advantage to the walkers to start near the front.  Meh.  End of rant.

The race was congested the whole way, but there seemed to be enough room to comfortably pass after the first mile.  I was able to hit my stride about then as well, so my frustration level dropped significantly.  My legs felt heavy and – after Runmeter announced a 10:30+ first mile – I knew I was not going to PR, so I just settled in and tried to keep a steady pace.  There were a couple of small hills on the route, but for the most part the course was flat.  The 5K did not have any water stations.  The wind only became a (minor) factor on the last mile of the race.  It was blowing from my left, so it didn’t slow me down much.

The 3 mile point was marked with a large banner (I don’t remember seeing the 1 or 2 mile markers) and it appeared sooner than I expected.  Runmeter was measuring short again (even though I definitely did not run the tangents).  I picked up the pace a bit and then again when I saw the finish mats (the mats were for the 10 milers) although I did not hit a sprint pace.  I finished in 28:50 (once I subtracted the 35 seconds from the time).  A little better than I expected, but not a blazing time.

I walked back to the bag check and got my jacket.  I grabbed a bottle of water, green cookie, and scone.  I walked back to my car and enjoyed a bit more of the unseasonably warm weather.  I saw some of the 10 milers on my way back.

All in all, a pretty nice race.  It was crowded, but not overly so.  I was happy with my time and glad to see that my 5K pace hasn’t slipped a ton over the winter.  This is only my 3rd 5K that I’ve completed without taking a walk break (2 of them on this same course).  It’s funny how quickly we acclimate to conditions.  Last year at this time I would have shit my pants at the prospect of running 3 miles.  Now I think of that previously frightening distance as my short, easy run.

Next weekend I will be running a 7K on Saint Patrick’s Day.  I hope to have a similar minute/mile pace (9:18) as this race and I am guaranteed a PR due to the odd distance.

Since winter has rolled into Minnesota I’ve been running less and less.  My last outdoor run (other than a 5K race on Thanksgiving) was on 15 November.  I woke up this morning and wanted absolutely nothing to do with running.

Lake Harriet Band Shell

I packed some cold weather gear and hit the road at 8 am.  The race was around Lake Harriet and I figured that finding parking would be a special slice of hell.  I ended up parking near Lake Calhoun and walking the half mile or so to the band shell.  There were a lot more people at this race than I had anticipated.  I picked up my bib (no race bag or t shirt, they must be handing them out at the finish) and went for a quick jog (it was about 15 minutes before the 9:30 am race start).  It was 30 degrees, but there was no wind so it didn’t feel that cold.  I was dressed in a tech shirt and a running jacket with running pants.  I had brought a hat but did not need it.  My hands were a bit cold, but I had forgotten to bring gloves.

Lake Calhoun

As I returned from my jog, the race director asked that the runners line up.  I didn’t jump in right away as the RD was leading the runners through some exercises (like marching in place) to “warm them up”.  By the time I wandered to the starting line, I was shocked to see how many runners were lined up.  I ended up at the very back of the pack.

Reindeer Run 5K

The race started…but I didn’t.  I took over 4 minutes to reach the starting line.  It took even longer before I could even approximate something that resembled running.  The route followed the street around Lake Harriet.  A lot of runners were running on the path closer to the lake instead.  So basically you could run on the road, the path, or the grassy area between the two.  The road was completely clogged with runners.  I used the path and the grassy area to pass runners/walkers.

Starting Line Looking Back

There were a lot of runners dressed up in Christmas costumes.  I saw plenty of Santas, elves, and reindeer.  There was a group of Marines running in formation complete with flags and cadence.  There were also a number of runners with dogs.  They were supposed to have waited with the walkers for a 10 minute later start, but many (along with walkers) started with the rest of us.  The dogs were very well behaved, but did pose a unique problem: they tended to run to the side of their owners and their leashes would extend to the side making a runner/dog barrier.

Back Of Pack Looking Forward

At the one mile mark, Runmeter announced that I was running just under a 10.5 minute mile.  So much for any plan to PR (this was NOT the race to PR).  This was by far my slowest first mile ever.  Since a PR was out of the question, I just decided to enjoy the run.  And it was enjoyable.  The course was very flat.  There were maybe two tiny hills.  The lake area is beautiful and I had no issues with the cold.  I even ended up breaking a sweat.  I did have to do a lot of dodging through the whole race so I had to keep my head on a swivel.  I never really hit a comfortable pace either.  I would hit my pace, but then encounter another wall of runners.  This went on for the entire run.  Even with all of the dodging, I felt really good running.  I had been laying tile (not a euphemism unfortunately) the night before and my hamstrings were really tight and my knees hurt a bit, but I felt really good during the run.

Many of the runners were sporting the long-sleeved cotton race t shirts.  This made me believe that they had either run out or I had missed out on the area where they were handed out prior to the race.  Nuts.

I tried to sprint at the end of the run, but this was cut short as it was just too crowed.  I crossed the finish line with the clock showing 34 minutes.  I stopped Runmeter and my actual time (the race was not chip timed) was barely south of 30 minutes.  This was the my slowest (road) 5K time since July.  The good news was that I ran the complete distance with no stops.  I never even considered stopping as the combination of the slow pace and lack of hills meant I was never winded.  This is only the second time I’ve completed a 5K without at least one walk break.  I also managed to achieve negative splits for the first time ever.  Small victories. 

Reindeer Run 5K

I decided to get back to my car as soon as possible to miss out on traffic and before the cold air hit my sweaty body.  I wandered though the tent area and nabbed some hot chocolate.  I didn’t see any other post race offerings although I did see some runners with bottles of water so I assume it was offered.  I saw a small group of runners around a table piled high with race shirts.  After handing me my shirt, the volunteer made a mark on my race bib.  This turned out to be a great system as it meant that you could nab the shirt after the race rather than getting it before the race and then having to find a place to stow it.  There was another area with plastic bags with the usual array of advertisements, samples, and coupons inside.

I jogged back to my car and headed home.  All in all, this was a very enjoyable race.  I actually liked running in the frigid weather.  There were runners commenting that there was a foot of snow at last year’s run.  There was minimal snow on the ground this year and none on the race course.  Of course, the weather gods dropped 3 inches of snow on the area that night just to make us aware that winter had indeed come to Minnesota.

Race Shirt Front

Race Shirt Back

Reindeer Run 5K Course

Today I ran a local Thanksgiving 5K with my family. This was my first race in nearly a month and most of my training runs since that last race have been on the treadmill.  I was running with the my wife and son.  I just wanted to finish the race and possibly take a whack at breaking the 28 minute barrier.

Since the race was so close we arrived shortly before the start and nabbed our event shirts.  It was 39 degrees with a steady wind with some pretty nasty gusts.  I wore a long sleeved tech shirt and running pants.  Although it was warmer than the start of my last race (27 degrees) and I was wearing warmer clothes, I still was freezing my butt off.  I didn’t bother with my normal pre-race warm up jog and stayed in the school building as long as I could.

We lined up for the race and had no idea which way we would start running nor where the course went.  The race director announced that the route would be the same as last year, which told me absolutely nothing.  We were lined up at what we assumed was the back of the pack, but soon realized that we were starting the run in the opposite position so we were actually near the start of the pack.

A horn sounded and we were off.  I watched my son shoot out in front of me and he ended up about 100 yards ahead once the runners started to find their pace and settle into a (mostly) single file line.  This was the first race we let him run at his own pace and not be stuck running with my wife and he was determined to run it fast.  The combination of the cold and the lack of a warm up run made it difficult for me to hit a comfortable pace.  I knew almost instantly that I would not get a PR as I wasn’t feeling strong and for some reason my knees were aching the entire run.

We wound through some residential streets and then down the highway across from the lake.  I kept expecting to see my son either fall back in the pack or start walking, but he maintained his pace.  Although I closed on him a bit, he remained a good distance ahead of me.

At the one mile mark I was running at an 8:51 pace.  This briefly sparked me to consider making a run at my PR.  I still did not feel like I was hitting my pace.  A little over a mile in we made a right turn and the first (and steepest) hill began.  I was definitely not loving this hill.  I broke down and a third of a mile later I took my first walk break so I could crest the hill.

My son was still ahead of me.  He too took a walk break and I did not pass him until the 1.5 mile mark.  He had beaten me for half of the race.  I was simultaneously proud of him and disappointed with myself.  It won’t be long before little Oedipus is beating his old man in races.  He’s ten. 

Another half mile and another walk break.  At that point I was running about a 9:40 pace.  Goodbye PR.  At this point I just wanted to finish the race under 30 minutes and get ready to fuck up some turkey dinner.  One minute and 38 seconds later I took walk break number 3.  WTF?  I finished mile 2 with a 10:07 pace.

I ran the last mile at a better pace (9:30ish) but ended up taking yet another walk break.  Today I just didn’t have it in me.  I still managed to finish in 28:21 which is my second fastest 5K time.  Considering I ended up with four walk breaks totaling 1:48…I could have easily broken the 28 minute mark and set a new PR.  I really need to start doing hill repeats and increasing my stamina.

I finished and waited for my son.  My wife crossed the finish first.  She told me that she passed him only within that last .25 mile.  Soon after we saw him chugging away.  He crossed the finish line right at 32 minutes.  He told me how mad he was that he had to walk so much on the last half of the race.  I told him I had to do the same thing and that his time was better than my first 5K time.  That cheered him up.

All in all, it was great to get out and burn some calories before gorging myself at the dinner table.  I had a good time running with my family even if I felt less than happy with my performance.

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).