Fall Weekend Fun

This past weekend's weather was fall-a-rific. I know I've mentioned this before, but I love running in the fall, and my two runs this weekend were some of the best. Saturday morning, I got a nice eight mile run through the beautiful city of Norfolk, Neb. on a new paved trail. It runs along a canal and through public land with high grass, stands of oak trees, and the sweet smells of the poultry processing plant. There's something tranquil about running next to water, trees bursting with fall colors on a cloudless day, and the savory aroma of "Chicken In a Biskit" in the air.

I was down in Nebraska to visit my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. Laura hasn't met the new nephew yet, so we got lots of quality baby Bentley time.

Enjoying the fall weather with a walk

 I also got to do a little fishing with my dad. We often make a $3 bet—a dollar each for the first fish, the most fish, and the biggest fish. I'm pretty sure I'm leading the all-time series, but this weekend he beat me on most and biggest fish, and I beat him on first fish by a minute. The final score was 10 bass to 8. Dad won the largest fish with by half-an-inch (although my dad measured his fish with reeds, then I measured the reeds with a tape measure, so I'm not sure his 16" fish was legitimate).

One of our 18 fish

After making the six hour drive back to Eagan on Sunday, I put in 18 miles—the longest I'll run until the St. Louis Marathon on October 27th. My run went through the beautiful trails of Lebanon Hills Regional Park. The miles flew by with vibrant fall colors, a barred owl sighting, and lots of people walking their dogs.

I had to take it a little easier than I was planning last week—I'm still feeling the 10 mile race in my legs, so I cut back the mileage and intensity a little from what I had planned. I still have no idea what to expect for the marathon.

Happy Running!

Twin Cities Marathon Weekend!

Hold on, because it's a long one. I decided to even roll out some headings for readers who may prefer to skim and scan rather than try to read through blocks of texts.

Expo Time

Laura and I love expos. We're kind of strange. When we went to visit our friend Brittany in Chicago, we ended up spending an hour walking through the expo at the Chicago Marathon, despite the fact none of the four of us were actually running the race. In Boston we went to the expo twice (and pretty much ate two free lunches there in Gu, Cliff, and Gatorade samples), and saw a couple of different panels with some well-known running people. I'm pretty sure we'd go to the Twin Cities Marathon Weekend Expo even if we weren't running any of the races.

This year there were two different seminars I was interested in: the Tollefson family and a doctor from the Mayo Clinic talking about what it would take to break two hours in the marathon. I only caught bits and pieces of the two hour dude, but I did get to listen to the Tollefson family panel. Carrie Tollefson is a Minnesotan who went to the 2004 Athens Olympics in the 1500m, and this weekend she was running her first marathon. Her husband, parents, and two sisters were also on the panel. Laura and I love to watch C Tolle Run—her husband Charlie is hilarious.

Laura and I with local celebrity and Olympian Carrie Tollefson

It was awesome hearing them talk about what is was like to be in the Tollefson family. Her husband, Charlie, has done several Iron Man Triathlons, and Carrie's sisters and parents are all very successful people—in life and athletics. Carrie just had a baby and only had 12 weeks of good training before the race. She still ended up running just over a three hour marathon. Laura and I both got to ask her questions, which was also pretty sweet. Now, Carrie has been kind enough to answer questions for me on my blog and in person. At the end, she showed a video of the 2004 Olympic Trials—it was pretty sweet to hear her comment on her race while watching it.

Party Time

After the expo, we rushed home to get ready for our 3rd Annual TC Marathon Party. I would say it was a smashing success. We've had different people there every year, and it's always fun to chat about running, eat pasta, and get pumped for racing.

Laura and Carol with "Prefontaine" in the background

We drug our TV upstairs to put on some running-themed movies, made some pasta, and drank some fall-style beer. We topped it off with some Cliff bars for dessert, then people cleared out early to get some good sleep before the race.

Race Morning

The shuttle buses from the Sears parking lot to the Metrodome just keep getting worse. This year we got there earlier than 2011, and that year I barely made it to the start on time. This year I cut it even closer and didn't get as close to the front as I wanted to. They decided to load one school bus at a time while twenty other buses sat there and waited. After we'd been in line for half-an-hour, a couple volunteers said the 10 mile runners could come to the front, so of course everyone in the back assumed they were the only 10 milers in line, and they peeled out of line to the front. Beautiful.

On the bus

I did, however, make it to the start before the gun when off, and though I was much farther back then I wanted to be, the race was chip-timed, so I was only slowed because of spending the first half-mile weaving in and out of runners to get in a good position. 

The TC 10 Mile

I thought about throwing down a longer race report later, but this one's long enough. My race went well. I went out with a 5:53 mile, and considering the number of people I had to pass, that was pretty good. MTEC Results said I passed 704 runners in the first five miles.

The course was also a little prettier than I remember—maybe the sun wasn't in my eyes as much this time. The route ran along the Mississippi River for several miles—longer than I remember from 2011.

The miles really zipped by, and though my legs were pretty tired from a hard week's training, I felt OK. I came through the halfway point at 29:08, still feeling like I had some gas left in the tank.

At mile 6, my legs started to feel heavy, and I ended up running a couple of miles right at six minutes flat. I was hoping to keep all my miles at 5:XX, but 6:00 isn't too bad. The last section of the race is a gradual uphill, and while it's not overly strenuous, it is hard to pick up the pace before things flatten out with about a mile left.

I saw a buddy I know from Minnesota Running Wild around mile 7, and I had enough energy to give him a thumbs up and a "WoooHooo!" After he yelled, "Turn on those wheels!" At that point, I started to catch up to the second and third place women, and passed another couple runners as well. With a couple miles left a guy built like a fullback barreled by me, but I think he was the only one who passed me in the last couple miles.

With a little less than a mile to go, a dude in a Run n Fun singlet pulled up next to me and made like he was going to pass me. I'm glad he did, because it really got my inner competitive beast rattling my rib cage. I picked it up and kept him from passing me, and for the last half a mile he'd pull even, the unreasonably competitive creature would pound the walls of my chest cavity, and then I'd pull ahead. I ended up beating him to the line by a second, though I was wheezing like a two-pack-a-day old lady whose riding cart broke down in the Wal Mart parking lot 10 feet from her car, causing her to have to carry her six cartons and Virginia Slims and case of Slim Fasts the rest of the way to her Caddy.

Anyhow, it was probably silly to sprint to the end. Though I only beat Timmy to the line by a second, his chip time was 28 seconds slower and he's seven years younger than me. I was going to tell him "good job" and thank him for pushing me to a fast finish (my last mile split was 5:26), but he put his hands on his hips and wouldn't look at me. Here's the finish video. I wasn't going to chase him down because at that point I saw my friend Linda. She was passing out mylar blankets, and she was much friendlier than Timmy (I don't know if he goes by Timmy—could be Tim or even Timothy).

Then, one of my old co-teachers from Quest Academy, DJ (a fellow Children's Country Day spouse), and his two kids were passing out bananas! It was like half the people I knew were giving me stuff.

DJ got a nice shot of me after my finish.

After a quick massage, some food, vegetable broth, and a chocolate milk to go, I saw our friends Brittany, Jared, Zach, and Brit and Jared's little twins. I talked to them for a while before heading to to the car to grab some stuff and change. Then, I jogged up Summit to watch the marathon. Oh, and I finished my 10 mile in 58:25--six seconds slower for then my 2011 PR.

The Marathon

I jogged up Summit, hoping to meet up with the Running Wild buddy to cheer with him for a couple hours like I did two years ago. Unfortunately, after jogging for three miles and walking another half mile, I saw him and his daughter passing me on Nice Ride bikes, and they were going the other direction. "Where you going?" I asked.

I didn't hear what he said—something about a hill. "How far is that?" I said.

"About three miles," he said.

"That's too far," I said. And it was. I stopped right there and watched the race for about an hour. Here's some shots of what I saw:

Lead pack of men, Sergio Reyes (finished 4th), Josphat Boit (finished 2nd), not sure who's in third

Male winner, in fourth place at this point, Nick Arciniaga

Female winner, Annie Bersagel

Carrie Tollefson

After watching for awhile, I walked down to a park I'd passed early to get a picture of the beautiful fall day. Though it had started raining a little, the view was still great.

The whole time I was getting text updates on Laura, so I decided I would jog back towards mile 24 when I got the text that she was there. In the meantime, I watched under a tree and struck up a conversation with another spectator who offered me a beer. Awesome!

So here comes Laura, all smiling and stuff, looking like she's out for a jog in the park. At his point, she's already ran 24.5 miles! "I'm feeling great!" she said. And she was. She was moving at a nice pace, despite having hurt her back on Friday, going to the chiropractor twice, and icing and heating it for 24 hours. We ran for about a mile together before I peeled off and tried to get a couple shots of her. The crowds where thick, however, and my hands were cold, so this is the best one I managed:

She flew into the finish, and while it wasn't her fastest time, it also wasn't her slowest and her back was fine. We met up for a finish photo and the Capitol, then headed for Applebees for some much deserved post race chain restaurant food.

It was a great weekend—nice running weather, good friends, and the Huskers won decisively. I had a tonload of people I know finish the marathon and 10 mile, including one of my Running Room 10 Mile Clinic members, who ran a personal best time and shaved almost a minute per mile off her time from last year.

The only downside to the weekend is I think I might be coming down with a UTI. Talk about photo finishes—I barely made it to several different bathrooms—two different port-a-potties while I was watching the marathon, a Starbucks near the marathon course, and Applebees after the race. I guess I'll be gulping down cranberry juice and gallons of water the next couple days. Stupid kidneys filled with stones.

Happy Running!

TC 10 Mile: Goal Time

I pretty much mentioned this already, but I might as well reiterate it, if not to solidify the goals in my mind.

My running has been going pretty well the last month. I've been staying consistent with my weekly mileage hovering in the mid-70s. I've got a couple of nice runs in with some of my faster running buddies, including a 17 miler with the last four miles all under 6:40 / mile, and this week I got a nice 14 mile trail run in with the last mile at 5:56.

I've also been enjoying the nice early-fall weather, getting in some nice runs along the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. Thursday night I put in a tough threshold interval run in with 3 X 10 minutes at about half marathon pace. I tried to really push it in the last interval, and being able to drop that last 10 minutes to a 5:49 pace gave me a little bit of confidence going into tomorrow's TC 10 Mile.

Although my training is going well--no injuries, knee's doing fine, paces are getting faster--everything I said in my last post still holds true. I'm in the midst of my highest mileage in over a year, my base training was not as high as it's been in the past, and I'm not tapering at at for this race.

Still, I'm going for it, not matter how unlikely it is that I'll set a PR. My plan is to start out at about 5:50 pace, try to pick it up after a couple miles, and see if I can hold on. If I can break 58 minutes, fantastic. If I just break--oh well.

So that's it--no B goal, just a plan to get as close to 58 minutes as possible. It should be interesting...

Happy Running!

Here We Go...

I love running in the fall. I think I've mentioned it before, but it truly is awesome to run in cooler, drier, beautifuller weather. Summer's nice in its own warm way, and winter can be alright. Spring's got its charms with warmer temperatures and melting snow, but fall's is where it's at.

I've been trying to hit the training pretty hard. I don't have quite the base I had the last couple falls, but I've definitely done a better job keeping my mileage up since school started this year. I've been averaging over 70 miles a week the past five weeks, and I'm starting to think shooting for a PR at the Rock 'n Roll St. Louis Marathon might not be totally out of the question.

But before I get too ambitious, I've got to think about the TC 10 Mile happening on Saturday. After I see how that goes, I will really know what to think about for a marathon time. When I ran the 10 mile in 2011, I hit 58:19. Based on my 10k a couple weeks ago, hitting a PR this coming weekend in not super likely for the following reasons:

1. Not near the base I've had in the past. Almost zero training in the winter, a slow start to the summer working to recover from my knee injury, and then an inconsistent summer due to traveling.

2. Peak week. In theory, this should be my highest mileage week before the St. Louis Marathon. It won't be as I'm substituting the 10 mile race for a long run, but I'm not really going to reduce my mileage during the week at all.

3. Tired legs. I've been hitting it hard the past five weeks. My legs are sore all the time. Any marathon runner who puts in decent mileage knows this feeling, and it's not conducive to running a fast race.

4. That 10k I mentioned before. My time seems to indicate that I'm not going to be able to run a PR time. In fact, the McMillan calculator says I'll only be able to run a 59:53. I hope I can do better than that, but 59:53 is over 90 seconds slower than my PR. Plus, my PR 10 mile pace is only 4 seconds/mile slower than my 10k pace a month ago.

So there's all the reasons why running a PR is unlikely. Despite all that, I'm going to try to anyway. There's a good chance I could blow up and not even break an hour, but if I'm not going to PR, I might as well not PR in a serious way.

St. Louis is three weeks from Sunday. How bad I blow up (or, if some miracle occurs and I don't blow up) will give me some indication of a goal time to set for that race. In the meantime, I'll keep churning out the miles.

Happy Running!

Get Ready to Rock! Pace Report

Another belated report, but better late than never.

On Saturday the 14th, I woke up early, and got ready to rock. Ready to rock twenty miles around the beautiful city of White Bear Lake. It was a busy morning, and though Laura was also running the twenty mile race, she was driving separately. I was pacing the 2:40 group of the Get Ready to Rock! 20 mile, and afterward had to get home, get cleaned up, and take my MTLE test for my K-12 Reading License.

It was an extremely pleasant morning for running. We've had unseasonably warm weather for fall, so a temperature in the low 50s felt a little chilly. After meeting the pace director, getting my bib number and pacing singlet, I waited in my car to stay warm.

Laura came a little later for a quick photo before we got the race rolling. She's planning on running the Twin Cities Marathon, and was going to use the 20 mile to see if she was ready. Laura's been very busy. As of September 1st, she and two colleagues became the co-owners of Children's Country Day School, so she's been keeping herself more than occupied with that. As if that weren't enough, she's working on a master's degree in early childhood administration. Short story long, her training for Twin Cities Marathon hasn't gone exactly according to plan.

I, however, was using the 20 mile as an easy long run as part of my training for the Rock 'n Roll St. Louis Marathon, and to make the dreams come true of some would-be 20 mile finishers.

Get Ready to Rock! was an interesting race. After one of the early miles registered on our Garmins as 0.9 miles, the markers were pretty accurate from the point on. But, because of that 10th of a mile inaccuracy, the other pacer and I were ahead of schedule for most of the race. After running several miles in the 8:10s (our pace was supposed to be 8 flat), we ran in the last few miles just under 8 minute pace, just in case the course gave the tenth-of-a-mile back at the end, as is often the case.

In the middle miles somewhere, one of my coworkers jumped on the course and ran with us for a few miles. It was cool having another person running an easy pace to swap running stories with. I don't know how the pacees feel about their pacers yammering the whole time, but it makes it go by quicker for me.

Coming into the last half mile, Sam, the pace director, was spectating. "Nice job guys, but slow down," he said. "You're going to come in fast." And we did. My official time was 2:39:19. Not exactly spot-on. Not a big deal though — most people are running the 20 mile as a gear-up for a fall marathon, so they're not super-concerned with the pace, other than that it's consistent, which we were (other than our slow down for a couple miles).

It was a nice day for a run. The course was shaded, went around Bald Eagle Lake a couple times, and the weather was clear, cool, and just a little breezy. Sam let us drop our pace signs after a mile, then pick them up again at mile 19, which was awesome. The race was very "no frills," but enjoyable nonetheless. Laura also had a good time, and feels ready to complete the Twin Cities Marathon in a couple weeks.

Oh, and I even passed my MTLE test afterwards.

Happy Running!

Victory Labor Day: Race Report

 This race report is a little belated, but better late than never.

The weather was perfect for a race. Cool, overcast, not too humid, and a nice breeze. Laura and I headed to the race to run the 10k, while my parents, visiting from Nebraska, planned to join us later for the 5k.

Laura and I before the race

The 10k was first, and after a warm up, we made our way to the starting line. This race isn't chip-timed, so I headed to the front. The Labor Day Victory 10k is a fast course and attracts fast runners, so I knew I wouldn't be competing for an award. I did, however, hope to set a PR and wanted to tuck in with a group running near my pace. Instead, I found myself in no-man's land after the first half mile or so. I left a group that was moving too slow, but couldn't catch a group in front of me. There wasn't a major wind or anything, but it's always easier to run in a pack.

After a couple of miles, I did manage to catch three runners in front of me--a guy in his 50s and two women. I was hoping to stay with them as long as possible since they were going about the pace I wanted to be running. The race is an out-and-back, and sometime after the turn I thought I could pick up the pace a little bit. I moved ahead of the little group and hoped to catch a couple more runners in front of me. Unfortunately, I couldn't hold the faster pace, and the group of three caught up to me. When they picked up the pace a little, I couldn't respond.

While trying to catch up to the three runners who'd left me behind, I ran by Laura, who was going the other direction. She was also doing the doubleheader, and was looking strong. She ended up setting a 10k PR in the process of running 13 miles for the day.

After I tried to catch up to the faster group, it became obvious that I wasn't going to reel them in. The girls ended up being the top two females, and the guy went on to set a Minnesota age group record.  I, however, did end up setting a PR, though it was not as good of an age graded time as my mile, 5k, 10 mile, or 1/2 marathon PR. I'll take it though--especially after a winter and spring of inconsistent training and two weeks after a tough Ragnar.

All of us before the 5k

After a little recovery time, drinking some Gatorade, and seeing my parents, it was time for the 5k. The 5k can be summed up with one word: ouch. I ran an 18:14--a slower pace than my 10k. Not too impressive, and other than my legs being very sore, I don't remember too much about the race itself. The combined result of my races, however, were good enough to put me at 7th overall in the doubleheader category.

After I finished the 5k, I jogged back and had the pleasure of seeing my parents running, then finishing the race with my dad. It's been pretty awesome getting to encourage and help my mom run her first two 5k races, and helping get my dad back into running. It was pretty special when the announcer called both our names as we neared the finish line.

Dad and I finishing the race.

Laura and my mom both ran well, and they were there to meet us at the finish. We had a great weekend visiting with my parents, and finishing up the Labor Day Holiday with a race was pretty great.

Tomorrow morning I get to pace the Get Ready to Rock 20 Mile in White Bear Lake. Can't wait!

Happy Running!

PR Time?

Tomorrow I'm going to take a shot at my 10k PR. Laura and I are running the MDRA Victory Labor Day 10k in Minneapolis--I race I ran for the first time in 2009 in preparation for my first marathon. At the very least I should run a course PR, as I ran around 40 minutes there in 2009. Honestly, if I don't set a new 10k PR I'm going to be pretty disappointed--my current 10k PR is 36:44, set at the Big Woods Trail Run in 2011. Since then I've set PRs at the 7 mile, 10 mile, and half marathon with faster overall paces.

I do have some things going against me. It's only been two weeks since difficult race at Ragnar, so I really haven't got to put in an race-paced workouts since then, other than running mile repeats at the Como Relays this past Wednesday. I also had a little setback on Thursday and Friday, coming down with a stomach bug and spending a good portion of Thursday night and Friday with a terrible stomach ache and a fever (after loosing my Thursday lunch).

I'm feeling decent though now, and am hoping that I can get past those two obstacles to at least set a 10k PR on a fast course on a day when the weather sounds like it's going to be close to ideal. I'm also signed up to run the 5k--the double header--where they take your combined times from both races. I'm not expecting anything too impressive from my 5k time other than hoping to survive it.

It should also be a fun race because I have some of my favorite people running with me. Laura is also signed up to do the double header, and my parents, who are visiting from Nebraska, are also running the 5k.

So, even if I fail to set a PR, it should be a fun time running with my family.

Happy Running!