A Decade of Racing: 2016 and 2017

After our first kiddo, I slowed down the amount of racing I did. I also have fewer pictures since Laura and I don't go to races together as often, Still, I had two pretty good years in 2016 and 2017.

2016
In 2016, I ran eleven races, including six that I paced.

In April, I ran the Mudball 4 Mile, the first race the little one spectated. I finished second, so the onesie my mom got Calvin that said, "my daddy can run faster than you," didn't work completely.

For the past few years we've been doing Juliette's Race to benefit the Down Syndrome Foundation. Laura and I ran the 5K in 2016.

In October, I ran the PNC Bank Milwaukee Marathon. It was a mess. Suffice to say I would have run a PR of under 2:50, but the course was mis-marked and measured long. You can read about the kerfuffle here: Milwaukee Marathon Race Report. There's three parts, but the first part will give you the gist.

I had a couple other racing highlights in 2016. I set a new PR in the half marathon, running 1:16:09 at the City of Lakes Half Marathon. I also ran the inaugural Zumbrota Covered Bridge Half Marathon in 1:35:00 as the 1:35 pacer.

2017
In 2017, I ran ten races including two that I paced.

When my parents came to visit, my mom found out about a free local weekly 5K called parkrun. As of this date, Laura and I have each done twenty parkruns. If you're interested in parkrun, you can check out information on the parkrun website.

I ran as a pacer in the City of Lakes Half Marathon. It was cool to have the Burnsville Cross Country Team volunteering. I volunteer with the distance runners in track and cross country and am a coach for the summer program, so it was fun seeing them giving back to the running community.

I gave the Milwaukee Marathon another shot. It most likely would have been another PR, but the course was short. You can read about it here: Milwaukee Marathon Race Report.

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Another racing highlight of 2017 was running Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minn. I got to ride out to Duluth with a friend and her kiddos and stay at her sister's house with a lovely bunch of runners and their families. The race went pretty well considering I dealt with a gastrointestinal issue that curtailed my training. It was also the first and, so far, only marathon where I got sick to my stomach at the end.