Fargo Marathon: Pace Report

Another weekend and another pacing gig -- pacing assignment number three this year at the Fargo Marathon was a fun, quick trip to Fargo, filled with running-related activity.

Our first stop in Fargo was to the expo at the North Dakota State Fargodome. After picking up our packets, spending some time at the pacer booth, and looking around at the expo, we watched Deena Kastor speak. If you ever get a chance, I highly recommend checking out one of her talks. Then, we spent a little more time at the pacer booth before heading out to look for some dinner.

We grabbed dinner at an Italian place called Johnny Carino's. Carino's was packed, but we didn't have to wait too long for a table, and the food was great. We then headed over to the hotel, spent a little time in the hot tub, and crashed before waking up early to leave for the race.

Deena Kastor!

I had heard that parking at the Fargodome would be limited, but we were pleasantly surprised when we easily found a space. Inside the dome we joined the pace team by the start. Deena Kastor, American marathon and world masters marathon record holder also happened to be hanging out by the start. We got a chance to chat with her for a little bit, and she was extremely friendly. Besides answering our questions, she also asked us about our running. I still really can't believe I was answering questions from and Olympian bronze-medalist about how my running was going.

The race started inside the dome, so I was a little nervous about the GPS situation. I really appreciate having my pace on my wrist when pacing. I decided to test out my Garmin by starting it inside the dome and then jogging about a quarter of a mile outside the dome. Fortunately the GPS picked up a signal after about a minute outside the dome, so I figured it'd be good to go for pacing (it was).

The fearless pace team.

Back inside I introduced myself to about a dozen runners planning to run with the 3:35 pace group. It was a great group of runners, and about five of them stayed with me from the start until about half a mile from the finish. Then, all but one of them ran ahead (the last young man also ran ahead of me just before we entered the dome at the finish). There were several inspiring moments along the course, including when the young man shared that he was running the race for his mother who'd been diagnosed with cancer. Several other runners also shared how they' been affected by cancer.

Entering the Fargodome

Listening to people's stories, jokes, and trying to honor requests of, "tell a story," or, "what's the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you?" made the race go by quickly. The course was nice and flat and the weather was cool.

There were lots of bands along the course -- someone said there were supposed to be 52 bands and DJs, meaning there was something loud going on at least every half mile. I felt great the whole time besides having to pee for the last twenty miles or so. I've never appreciated the post-race bathrooms so much. I kept a pretty consistent pace, and finished the race at 3:34:29.

Laura had run the half marathon, so we grabbed some expo food, showered, and then got lunch in downtown Fargo at JL Beers. On our way home we checked out Buffalo River State Park, stretching out our legs with a nice three mile hike.

Next weekend I'll be pacing the the Run and Ride Half Marathon at Valley Fair, followed by the Med City Marathon the weekend after that. Between those two I'll be racing the TC One Mile and the Med City 5k.

Post-race cool down hike at Buffalo River State Park

Tonight at the TC One Mile, and I only have one goal: run under 5 minutes.

Happy Running!

Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon: Pace Report

Pre-race game face

My second pacing gig of 2015 is in the books. For the second time in a few years, I jogged around Lake Minnetonka carrying a pacer sign, attempting to run even splits en route to a 1:35 finishing time.

 The weather was pretty nice, though a little humid for a half marathon. Laura and I had been camping for the previous couple days and had really been enjoying the warm temperatures and the sun. Fortunately for the runners, the sky was overcast on Sunday morning, keeping temperatures cool enough to be pretty comfortable.

At Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon I had the privilege of having a co-pacer, Mike. It's always nice having someone to share the pacing duties. Only having to carry the sign half the time leads to a less sore neck, and there's also someone checking on the pace meaning I don't have to look at my watch quite as often.

I also really like pacing the 1:35 group. Checking my pace on a pace band is fine, but it adds one more thing to keep track of, and when I pace the 1:35 group I can easily add 7:15 for each mile, eliminating the need for a pace band.

Finishing on time

The Lake Minnetonka course is nice with a lot of sections being along water. It's got enough rolling hills to keep things interesting, but there are no really steep or long hills. The only downside to running next to so much water is that if it's windy, it can really hit you. Sunday wasn't too windy, but even a moderate amount of wind can be bothersome when trying to control a cardboard pacing sign.

Mike and I had a nice time chatting and running pretty consistently at our assigned pace. We came through the finish right on time at 1:34:50. Runners were very friendly after the race, and several thank me for pacing. One guy even stopped his car in the parking lot to thank me.

It'll be a busy May for pacing the next few weeks. This weekend I'll be pacing the Fargo Marathon for the first time. I'm looking forward to doing a new race and notching marathon number 13. Then it's on to the inaugural Valley Fair Half Marathon, followed by the Med City Marathon.

Happy Running!

Earth Day 1/2 Marathon: Pace Report

Another pacing gig is in the books! I won't say too much about this one. If you're interested in the race, the great event, and the course, check out my other Earth Day reports here: 2012 and 2014. Laura and I really enjoy this event, and last Friday afternoon we drove up to St. Cloud to pick up our race packets, grab some dinner, and watch "Sister Act" in our hotel the night before the race. Watching Whoopi Goldberg turn a struggling nun choir into a class act ready worthy of performing for the pope really got me pumped for pacing.


On race morning we munched on some granola bars and bananas before heading to St. Cloud State's field house to meet up with the pacers and get ready for the race. After a couple of years of not-so-great weather, this year was perfect. It was sunny, cool but not too cold, and only a slight breeze.

Ready to race

I had a nice group of runners in my 1:40 group at the start of the race, but for some reason we didn't seem to stay together much as runners dropped off the pace. We caught up to some other runners as we neared the finish, and as often happens people let out words or sounds of disappointment as they watched their goal slipping out of reach.

Pace team, mostly unaware the photo had already been taken

During this race I also got to sample a new energy gel. I was handed a salted watermelon flavored gel, then asked my pace group if anyone wanted to trade. "Hell no!" replied a runner who was apparently more happy with whatever flavor he'd received. It wasn't quite as bad as I thought, but I'm definitely not going out to buy a box.

I finished the race in 1:39:55 -- a nice way to start off the pacing season. Coming up I'll be pacing the 1:35 group at the Lake Minnetonka 1/2 Marathon, the 3:35 group at the Fargo Marathon, and the 3:35 group for the Med City marathon. Pacing season is underway!

Happy Running!

Pace Report Spectacular

I'm going to get back at this blogging thing -- I really am. I'm now three pace reports behind, so I'll just write about all of them in one post. How exciting are they really, honestly? I could probably just copy and paste from one race to the other and change the names and times a little bit rather than writing something extremely similar anyway.

Of course, if all writers thought that way, there'd be no more romantic comedies. Honestly, how many of those films could you just change the main characters' names, a couple locations, and have another romantic comedy.

But I digress. On to the pace reporting:

Rochester Healthy Human Half Marathon

 Wow, I'm way behind on this one. It was so long ago I barely remember it. This was the first time I did this race, and it was a fun change from the Med City Half Marathon. Though Rochester's not overly scenic, having lived there for about a year, it is familiar.


I thought the race was pretty well organized. The expo was decent, the mile markers were pretty accurate, and the aid stations were plentiful and well-stocked. I also got the bonus of seeing an old friend and a co-worker from last school year.

If you live in Rochester and want to run a half marathon later in the summer, the Rochester Healthy Human Race would be a good one.

Mankato Half Marathon

I can't really say anything different about this race than I did last year, other than this year there was beer at the finish, which was a nice bonus. This is well organized race, they have a nice expo, and they offer distances from the 5k to the marathon over the course of the weekend.

If you're interested, you can see me in the video from the 2013 race. I finish the 1:30 pace group and then get interviewed about the 3:40 mark in this video.

The other big bonus about the race this year was that the hotel we were staying at opened its breakfast early, so I got to eat for free before the race. Then, a big double bonus was that the breakfast was still open when I got back to the hotel. I pigged out on eggs, potatoes, and a nice Belgian waffle.

Chocholic Frolic 10k

Again, there's not much new to say about this race that I didn't say last year. The course was a little different this year, and with a very tough hill at mile three, this is definitely not a PR course. I take that back -- it could be a PR this year because the course was about a quarter of a mile short.

There are, however, a couple of different "aid" stations with chocolate, so I'm guessing there's not a ton of people taking this race super-seriously.

Well, there it is -- three pace reports in one post. I hope it was as exciting for you to read as it was for me to write. Stay tuned for the report on my 32K birthday run.

Happy Running!

Gopher to Badger 1/2 Marathon: Pace Report

Gopher to Badger is one of my favorite half marathons. I especially enjoy the novelty of running from Minnesota into Wisconsin. I know there's people who try to run a marathon in every state, so if anyone's trying to run a half marathon in every state, this would be a good one.

My PR half marathon was set on this course back in 2012, but this year I'm back to pacing after racing the Minnesota Half Marathon the week before. Laura came with me this week again. She really enjoys using half marathons as part of her long runs, and part of why I pace these things is for the same reason. It's nice to get a decent length run in without having to worry about finding water or sports drinks.

I led the 1:35 group this time, and I had quite a few people chat with me before the race. It's always fun listening to people talk about their goals and answering whatever questions I can about the course or about how I plan to pace.

For most of the race I had about 15 people in my group. Some people ran ahead after a few miles, and unfortunately a lot of people dropped off the pace after about 8 miles. I still had a decent size group with a couple of miles to go, and after we crossed over the I-94 bridge from Minnesota to Wisconsin I let them know it was mostly downhill from there and they should pick up the pace.

From there I caught about three more runners. Two of them were able to speed up and finish with me, but one runner couldn't quite stay with me. I felt bad because he looked pretty frustrated that he got passed by the 1:35 group.

When I finished my watch had me at 1:34:59, and the official results had me at 1:35:01. I was pretty happy with my effort -- I wonder if there's a way I could make a living off pacing.

Happy Running!

Pace Report: Earth Day 1/2 Marathon

My Easter weekend started on Good Friday afternoon when I caught a ride up to St. Cloud with Pacer Trevor. It was nice to get off work a little early on Friday -- teaching 5th and 6th graders has been keeping me busy, and there's nothing like work to get in the way of my running.

The Earth Day 1/2 Marathon folks put on a nice expo, but it sure was loud. After spending a couple hours at the expo, I asked Trevor to drive me to the hotel so I could change and go for a little jog. I wanted to practice my pace of 7:38 / mile before the race. I also wanted to leave because a band had set up next to the pacer booth. It wasn't that the music was bad, but the blaring music from the band competing with the music on the other side of the field house at the kids' activity area was combining to give me a headache.

My three mile jog of 7:38 / mile went well. I then ate a mediocre pasta dish from Green Mill (the salad and bread were good), watched half of Forrest Gump, and had a night of halfway decent sleep, interrupted briefly when Laura arrived at the hotel room at 10 PM. We slept in to the late hour of 6 AM, so we had a little time to lounge around the hotel, watch a little TV, and do a little schoolwork.

The 1:40 pacer and his trophy wife

We arrived at the St. Cloud State campus at 7:30 to meet up with the pace team and get a team photo taken. Then, Pacer Captain Dave (newly minted by Pacer Sam), led us out to the start line to be 20 minutes early for the 8:30 AM start.

The fearless pace team

The start line was cold-as-heck. The wind was blowing through the wind tunnel of the starting area, so I was grateful for the large contingent of runners crowded around the start line.

<Image Credit>

The race itself was just like I remembered it from 2012. Though it was really windy at times, the rain held off and the air temperature was high enough that I was comfortable in shorts, a long-sleeve, and a running cap.

It was a big race, and for most of it I had a large group of people around me. About six miles in I got to chatting with a middle school social studies teacher from Edina Public Schools. We had a great chat about education and his coaching of middle school track and cross country, so the four-ish miles I spent with him really flew by.

The social studies teacher picked up the pace after 10 miles, so I spent the rest of the race shouting encouragement at my pacees and giving high-fives to kids along the course. With about half-a-mile left, I challenged one of the gals in my pace group to beat me to the finish since I was going to be a little slower than 1:40:00.

Unfortunately, she did not pass me, but she and several other members of my pace group offered kind words of gratitude, even though I finished at 1:40:11. It wasn't my best performance, but I did have a blast chatting with runners. St. Cloud State has really put together a fun event for runners, kids, and spectators.

Laura also ran the half marathon, and she had a blast as well. After the race, we packed up, had some Green Mill pizza (delicious), and went down to Rochester to celebrate Easter with her side of the family.

Happy Running!

2014 Polar Dash: Pace Report

Frozen eyelashes, beard-cicles, and numb extremities along with a great co-pacer made for a memorable Polar Dash fourteen mile race. I guess Team Ortho thought it'd be cute to do a 14 mile in honor of 2014 The past couple of years I'd volunteered at Polar Dash, first as a course marshal and then as a hot chocolate technician. This year I paced this beautiful race for the first time, running along the Mississippi with a group of 3-10 runners looking to make their New Year's dreams come true.

The day started out swimmingly when my old Honda Accord coughed to life after spending the night outside in sub-zero temperatures. I'd packed it full of all the necessary running paraphernalia: two hats, three pairs of gloves, hand warmers, Saucony Peregrines, and a penguin suit. In the spirit of fun, all the pacers and many of the volunteers sported fashionable yet comfortable penguin attire.

On my way out the door

The race started at Shriner's Hospital for Children. Team Ortho did a nice job with the starting area by having some propane heaters spread around the lower level of the parking ramp for runners to huddle around. Fortunately for me, as a member of the illustrious Team Ortho Polar Dash Pace Team, I was able to join the rest of the pace team inside Shriner's to keep warm before and after the race.

I hadn't seen several of my running buddies in awhile, so it was great to meet a few of them at the start of the race. I had the privilege of co-pacing with Nate Wohlfeil, a pretty talented runner out of Winona. It'd been awhile since I'd run with Nate, and it was cool pacing with him rather than trying to keep up with him in a half marathon or during a leg of Ragnar.

Our fearless pace team leader ended up rolling in slightly behind schedule, but he quickly got us our pacing signs and sent us on our way. Nate and I elbowed our way to the front of the 573 fourteen mile runners and 1142 runners of the 10k as the National Anthem played over the loudspeaker. I did my best to assure runners that I meant no disrespect to America as I squeezed my way through the packed bunch of bundled runners, doing my best not to poke anyone with out 1:35 pace sign (see some photos of the start line here).

The race itself was pretty memorable. I had a great time chatting with Nate and cheering for runners -- for awhile at least. We traded off the sign frequently since wrapping our fingers around the wooden dowel made our digits numb in a hurry.

The course involved several out-and-backs on Mississippi River Blvd. While the wind wasn't blowing too much, it was gusting just enough to make it pretty uncomfortable whenever we were running into it. Somewhere around mile eight the race became far less fun. I tried to stay chipper and encouraging, but my hands were painfully numb and my eyelashes were so frozen that every time I blinked I could feel the ice crystals shatter.

Nate did his best to stay chipper as well, but his eyelashes were just as frozen as mine. He had gloves that were warmer than mine, so he graciously carried the sign for the last couple miles. We did have three runners stay with us for the duration of the race, and one started chatting with us right before the half marathon timing mat.

"I've never run a half marathon before," he said.

"Well," I said, "you're going to now." Nate mentioned that we weren't quite there yet, so I made sure to caution the half marathon would-be finisher not to hurt himself in the next half mile.

Our half marathon split was 1:34:14, and since the course didn't appear to be terribly accurate and has a track record of being short, I'll count it as a win. The last nine-tenths-of-a-mile was cold, but seeing the finish line was sweet. If I pace this race next year, I really hope it's not 15 miles. A half marathon is more than far enough when the temperature is cold enough to form icicles on my beard and nearly freeze my eyes shut.

After the race I hung out with the other pacers in the Shriner's building. After listening to pacing stories, eating my post-race pretzels, banana, and salted nut roll, I bundled back up and made the half-mile trek back to my car.

While pacing Polar Dash was miserably cold, it was a great start to my running year. I notched 14 miles the first day of the year. Then, on the 2nd, I knocked out another more miles when I accompanied my buddy Don Sullivan for 15 miles of his 40 mile birthday run.

Today I'm enjoying my first rest day of the year, catching up on some reading, and doing a little school work.

Happy Running!

Turkey Trot Saint Paul; Pace Report

It was my worst pacing performance of the season. My poor Garmin 205 has decided its battery is only going to last somewhere between an hour and two hours, so I prepared for the worst this morning. After bundling up for the chilly Thanksgiving morning, I put my Garmin on one wrist and my $8 Target watch on the other.

The Turkey Trot Saint Paul was in downtown Saint Paul (I'm guessing that's where they got the name), so we got up bright and early to drive downtown and pick up our race numbers in Upper Landing park. The packets included sweet shirts, and a pair of Turkey Trot Fitsoks. It was still dark, and I didn't see the pace team leader right away, so Laura and I went back to the car for about ten more minutes to warm up.

My neck is still sore from counter-balancing that giant sign for over six miles

After telling Laura goodbye, I jogged down to the pace team area, met my co-pacer Dave, and after saying hi to Sam, the pace team leader, I volunteered Dave and I to run from the finish to mile marker six to see how far it was from the end.

For those not familiar with the 10k, it's about 6.2 miles long, so, if my math is correct, the mile six marker should be about 0.2 miles from the finish. Dave and I ran to where people where setting up, and I stopped to talk to a volunteer. "Where's the finish going to be?" I asked.

"I think it's around here," he said, gesturing to some power cords. I hit the "lap" button on my Garmin, and Dave and I ran to find the six mile mark. We measured it at over 0.25, and after running back to Sam, he asked me to move the marker.

"No problem," I said, so I ran back to the six mile marker. This time the finish mat was set up, so I measured again on the Garmin, and it came up at over 0.3 miles. There was also a 5k, and the three mile marker was off by almost a tenth-of-a-mile (an eternity in a 5k), but unfortunately that mile marker was zip-tied to a tree.

The six-mile marker was not zip-tied to a tree; it was just staked in the ground. I pulled it up, but as soon as I did I began to wonder if I'd be able to get it staked back down. It's been cold, and the ground is frozen hard. I walked it toward the finish, but still had to place it farther from the finish than it needed to be. I felt like I needed to keep it from being ridiculously close to the three-mile marker, as it might be a little jarring for a 10k runner to think they went a tenth-of-a-mile in 12 seconds.

Anyhow, I pushed it as far into the ground as I could, leaning it somewhat against a tree. I'd done my good deed for the day, so I jogged back to the start to do my other good deed--making the dreams come true for 10k runners wanting to break 47 minutes.

Unfortunately, I failed at that good deed. At mile three I stopped my Garmin instead of hitting "lap," and didn't notice until mile four. I had a good time chatting with Dave and with a lady who is running Boston in April, and though my pace was consistent, I didn't account for the long course, and finished in 47:30. I did have several runners thank me, and also got to see a guy named Peter. We work out at the same two YMCAs, and this year he ran every marathon in Minnesota. I also did of lot of thanking of volunteers -- highly appropriate for Thanksgiving.

The post-race food was also pretty awesome--banana, candy, chocolate milk, and chips, but I didn't want to fill up because Laura, our good friend Brittany, and I, had a big Thanksgiving feast to eat later.

I'd definitely do this race again. Though the course is the same as several other races, the gear was nice and there was lots of room for people who wanted to race the 10k. Plus I got a sweet turkey hat (which I left at pacer area... whoops), and the Fitsoks were pretty awesome too. Also, they didn't have my shirt size, but simply had my write down my name and address and offered to mail me one. Podium Sports, the company that puts on the event, is quality in my book.

Thanks to all my readers. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to count all the many blessings in your life. I feel pretty blessed to have such wonderful friends, family, and everything else.

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!

Pace Reports: Minnesota 1/2 Marathon and Gopher to Badger 1/2 Marathon

Though I haven't paced quite as many races this year due to grad school and other commitments, I did get the privilege to pace these two excellent races. It was my third year-in-a-row of pacing the Minnesota 1/2 Marathon, and my first year pacing Gopher to Badger after racing it twice.

The Minnesota 1/2 Marathon has always been a unique event, and a fun one to pace. The race also includes some rollerblading events, including a duathlon. This year the weather was cool, and there was a slight breeze keeping things fairly pleasant. As the race went on, it was a little on the warm side, but mainly because there isn't much shade and it was very sunny. Last year it was overcast, which made things a little more comfortable.

I was pacing the 1:35 group, and I started out with a nice group of 8-10 people. The group wasn't real chatty, but they did laugh at my lame pacing jokes every once-in-a-while. My favorite is, "if you think I did a good job, let the race officials know. My name is Nate. If I did a bad job, my name is Dan."

One tough thing about Minnesota 1/2 is that the mile markers always seem to be a little inconsistent. I did my best run a steady pace, but it's tough when the miles don't seem to be accurately marked. It went OK though, and my group stayed with me until around mile 8 when some fell back and others went ahead. At that point I had two runners with me.

Around mile 10, one of the 1:30 pacers dropped back to run with me. He'd dropped his key, so after he found it he came back and finished with me. Around mile 12, the last two guys with us picked it up for a strong finish. We did a pretty nice job coming in at 1:34:59.

Laura also did the race as a training run, and she had fun as well. Here's a picture of us getting pumped for the race:

The very next week was the Gopher to Badger 1/2 Marathon. Unfortunately my favorite pacing singlet was taken, so I had to wear a small, which was a little on the tight side. Despite the wardrobe difficulties, I still had fun.

I paced the 1:35 group again, but this time I co-paced it with a guy named Curt. He's been doing quite a few marathons, and the 7:15 pace was pretty comfortable for both of us. We chatted quite a bit, and we also had a decent-sized group the whole time.

This year they changed the start line location and the first several miles of the course. It was pretty nice as they cut out one of the beginning hills — I'll definitely consider racing this one again next year. The course is also one of my favorite as it finishes by crossing the I-94 pedestrian bridge from Minnesota to Wisconsin, and heads downhill to the finish at Lakefront Park next to Lake St. Croix.

Two of the members of our pace group were shooting for a PR, and they both made it as they finished right in front of our 1:34:50 finishing time.

Laura also did this one, finishing faster than her previous week. It's nice for her to use these 1/2 marathons as training runs as she gets ready for the Twin Cities Marathon in October. Here's some pictures from the race:

Laura and I getting pumped for the race.

"Spot on" Minnesota pacers.

Laura cruising into the finish.

This weekend I finished my second Ragnar Great River Relay. Stay tuned for the epic race report on 200 miles of relay fun.

Happy Running!

Med City Marathon: Pace Report

This one was much better than last year in terms of weather. Last year, the temperature was pushing 80, it was sunny, and humid. This year, it was cool cloudy, and breezy. It did rain at the end and there was a headwind for a good portion of the race, but for the most part it was a nice day to run a marathon.

Laura was running the half, so we both got up early to get to downtown Rochester to take a shuttle to the start. After we searched Laura's parents' house for safety pins for a bit, we decided there would be pins and the start, and we headed to the shuttle.

After taking the shuttle to Byron High School, I met up with some of the pacers inside the school. It was a little chilly outside, so it was nice to wait indoors for a while and use an indoor bathroom. At the start of the race I wished some other pacers good luck and lined up with a decent-sized group hoping to run 3:35 (or a 1:47ish half). I would say I started out with around 15 people, but when the half marathoners split off at mile 12 my group was cut in half.

The first part of the race was hilly and into a headwind, but the temperature kept it pleasant. When my legs started feeling a little sore at mile 8, I got a little nervous since I hadn't run more than 14 miles since November and now I was supposed to pace this marathon for all 26.2 miles.

It was nice once the race reached the city limits. The course looped around Rochester and we got a tailwind every now and then. There also wasn't much for hills, making things a little easier. Around mile 17 my group went down to three runners — a 58-year-old gentleman who wanted to qualify for Boston along with two women also wanting to qualify for Boston. It was also at the point when it started to rain and would continue to rain for the duration of the marathon.

Though my legs were sore and it was a little tough, I did manage to finish at 3:35 with my group still intact — everyone who was with me at 17 made there time, and one guy caught up with my group and ran with us for a couple miles before finishing strong ahead of us.

Laura, my mother-in-law, and my niece watched me finish from the skyway, out of the rain. My mother-in-law and niece had watched Laura finish, before it started raining, and they all watched the rest of the race in indoor comfort.

My final time was 3:34:42. I was pretty happy that I made it, and still in one piece at that. Laura also finished the half with no problem — she used it as a training run as she is getting ready to run The Twin Cities Marathon in October.

Happy Running!

Pace Reports

Since I've been doing so great at blogging and didn't want to overload this blog with posts, I've decided to combine my last two pacing gigs into one report. A few weeks ago, I paced the Goldy's 10 mile, and on Sunday I paced the the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon.

Originally I was slotted to pace the 7:00 minute / mile group at Goldy's, but since I'd only run 10 miles in training once, I begged out of the 7:00 group to pace the 7:30 group. Fortunately, there were three pacers in my group, so that took the pressure off. It was a chilly day, so I opted to wear running pants and a long-sleeve tech shirt underneath my pacing singlet, along with a hat and gloves. It was a good choice as I was comfortable temperature-wise for the duration of the race.

The race itself went pretty smooth. One of the pacers in my group was having some problems with asthma, but he managed to finish with us, running most of the race about 10 yards in front of the other pacer and me. The course wasn't super-easy — it had a good amount of hills, including a decent one right at a turnaround, and another decent climb coming into the last couple miles.

My knee didn't give me any problems, and I was able to hang on to the 7:30 pace throughout the race, finishing in 1:15:01. Not bad for shaking the rust out.

The race gave me enough confidence to say "yes" to pacing the 1:35 group at the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon, a little more challenging 7:15 pace. I would also be without any co-pacers, so I'd be on my own to hit the pace.

The start of the race was pretty chilly — I was wearing shorts and arm-warmers with my singlet, along with gloves and a headband. Unfortunately, the race start was delayed when the lead police car wasn't ready at the start. Once we got going, however, I warmed up quickly and probably could have shed the gloves and the headband. Since I didn't have anyone to throw them to, I decided to keep them on rather than throwing them, as they were a little better than "throw-away" quality.

The whole way I had a handful of runners running with me. I felt like I kept a pretty even pace for most of the race, and went past each mile marker within a few seconds of 7:15. The course was decent — through the fancy neighborhoods of lakefront houses and along Lake Minnetonka, with several rolling hills, but nothing too extreme.

The last mile I think I accidentally picked it up a little too much. After being within a few seconds most of the race, I ran the last mile about 15 seconds fast, and ended up finishing in 1:34:41. After the race I had about half-a-dozen runners thank me for my pacing, which always feels good.

Pacing those two races was a pretty good confidence booster. I feel like my knee is better, and I'm hoping I can continue to up my mileage. I'm not really planning any big races, but I think that if I can stay on track this summer I might be able to run a decent race at the TC 10 mile in October. Besides the 10 mile and racing the TC 1 mile this Thursday, it looks like I might also be running the Ragnar relay--should be a nice summer of running.

Happy Running!

Pace Report: The Woodbury Country Mile

This is a little late and there are no pictures, but I've been busy and apparently I'm not photogenic enough to have multiple shots of my pace group on the Woodbury Chamber of Commerce page.

Anyway, I paced this race last Saturday with the Minnesota Pacers in what I believe will be my last pacing gig of the season. In fact, I think I'm done with races until October when I go after a new PR at the Whistlestop Marathon in Wisconsin. This race was pretty low-key, there was a nice speech by the mayor of Woodbury and then we were off.

It was cloudy and 70s and also very muggy. I had a co-pacer (or maybe he had a co-pacer, I'm not sure who was in charge) for the first time. Mike was very nice and it was nice taking turns with the signs and being able to chat with someone for the whole race. Usually people in pace groups in paces between 7 and 8 minutes per mile aren't real chatty.

Mike and I had a nice race. We had a small group off and on and our last guy left us around 10 or 11 miles because he was feeling good. We did catch a girl a little later but she couldn't quite stay with us. There was one exciting moment when a guy ahead of us missed a turn and I ran ahead to catch him and get him back on the course. Turns out he saw the runners and cut through a side street to rejoin the race, and I had chased after him for nothing. Oh well.

Our final time was pretty close--1:34:29. Once we were by ourselves I think we inadvertently sped up a little, but at least we were just a little over 30 seconds too fast. A couple people thanked us for pacing and asked us about our training while we feasted on cookies, milk, and bagels. Overall it was a nice race and I had a good time doing one last event before I race a marathon.

Life's been pretty busy lately--meetings for school started this week and the kids come on Tuesday. I'm excited to start the new school year. I just hope I can keep the running going at a pretty good clip with the extra time and stress teaching brings.

I've been training pretty hard this summer. Today's my first day off in almost two months. My body's tired and my foot's been a little sore so I thought today would be a good day to take a break. I was planning for the first week of school to be a cutback week anyway. I've been averaging 80 miles a week the past two months so we'll see what I can manage once school starts.

Minnesota 1/2 Marathon: Pace Report

I figured I'd better get a pace report up here because on Saturday I'm racing a 1/2 marathon, and I wouldn't want a race report and a pace report too close together.

Last Saturday I had the privilege of pacing the 1:30 group at the Minnesota 1/2 Marathon. For most of pace groups this year my groups have been small. Also, I've dropped just about all of them before the end of the race. So, at a 6:52 / mile I planned on having a small group. I also figured that most people who could run that pace wouldn't really need a pacer.

I was wrong. I had a pretty decent group at the beginning of the race and most of them stayed with me until the end of the race. A couple of them introduced themselves to me and a few of them even chatted a little bit while we were running. Most of the 1:35 groups I've paced are pretty quiet. Most people who are racing a 1/2 marathon don't have a ton to say, but this group actually talked a little bit.

I paced this course last year so if you're at all interested in the course layout because you're thinking of running the race, you can read last year's report. Suffice to say it's actually a fairly hilly course with a lot of gradual ups and downs and not a lot of flats. This makes keeping an even pace more difficult, though I always tell my group that I pace more by effort — a little faster going downhill and a little slower going up.

The course was marked pretty decently until mile 13 — just as I was telling my group we had a little less than a quarter mile left, I looked up and saw the mile 13 marker. "Oh," I said. "I guess quite a bit less than a quarter mile." Unfortunately that last "tenth" was actually 0.23 miles. I noticed it was going to be more than a tenth, but by the time I did I would have had to sprint to break 1:30, so I had to settle for 1:30:12. Not too bad.

Laura came along and was watching two kids whose parents were both running the race. The night before she was packing up some things for them to do — markers and poster board (to make signs), books, cowbells, chalk, snacks and all sorts of stuff. I told her, "man, if I was watching someone's kids, I'd just show up. I might have some rusty nails for them to play with and tell them, 'now kids, don't cut each other.'"

So of course she did a nice job and got to cheer on the race. She even waited for me to run five miles afterwards to finish my workout.

It was a fun race with nice weather and a perfect way to cap off a 100 mile week. This week I'm cutting back the mileage a little and racing the Gopher to Badger 1/2 Marathon — the same race I set my PR at last year.

Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon Pace Report

My wife is tough. I had the privilege of pacing her for her third marathon, and while she didn't quite reach her ambitious goal, she still managed to set a PR. She was so tough that after the race she barfed a couple of times for good measure. While I was getting her a sweatshirt, I came back to find her sitting on the grass. "I just threw up in front of lots of kids and people," she said. Way to go, hun.
 

It was an almost perfect day for a marathon. The race started out in the low 40s with a slight breeze and sunny skies. Several friends from Minnesota Running Wild were also running the race. Laura and I spotted Don on the way to the bus that took us to the start line so we chatted with him on the way there.

After a couple of warm up miles with Don (he was doing crazy mileage in preparation for a 24 hour race and I though it'd be fun to do some extra miles with him) I looked for Laura at the start line. I got a little nervous when I couldn't find her right away, but I managed to catch up to her right before we started.

The Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon is exceptionally well-run. The race started out in a high school parking lot and traveled to the Lake Wobegon Trail — a flat, scenic, asphalt trail through central Minnesota. Laura and I set off at her goal pace, and we chatted as the initial crowd thinned out. At mile 1, Laura was able to toss her long sleeve to our buddy, Adam. I played pack mule for Laura, carrying a bottle of water and a bottle of Gatorade so she wouldn't have to slow down at aid stations.

Around mile 17 Laura started getting tired and we slowed up a little bit. She was, however, a trooper and ran all the way to the finish. I had a lot of fun running with her and telling her a different story at every mile marker. We finished in a 3 minute PR for Laura and held hands while we crossed the line. It was so romantical I think I saw a volunteer throw up a little bit.

Running hand-in-hand

The happy finishers

I also had a good time hanging out with Minnesota Running Wild friends after the race. We enjoyed beer and pizza in the grass near the finish. Leah had just run a BQ of 3:27, with Don's pacing help, and Gerad had come in second with a 2:36. I'll get to see some of them again on Thursday night when I race the TC 1 Mile in downtown Minneapolis. Then, I've got a little 5k on Saturday. It should be an exciting week of racing!

Brainerd Jaycees Run for the Lakes Pace Report

This year's Brainerd Jaycees Run for the Lakes looked as if it was going to be similar to last year — rainy. It also looked like it might be colder. The forecast was calling for cool temperatures — perfect, and showers with possible snow — not so perfect.


(check out a comparison to last year's race morning photo)

Laura and I somehow got out of the twin cities — through the rush hour traffic and construction, and made it to the expo with five minutes to spare. All the vendors had torn down and the place was pretty much empty besides packet pickup and the Minnesota Pacers table. We picked up our packet, headed to the cabin (at beautiful Grand View Lodge), chatted with the pace team, and rested up for the next day's running.

I was absolutely elated on Saturday morning when I looked out the window and saw a total lack of rain. It looked much better than last year's view. The report on The Weather Channel was also encouraging, showing temperatures in the low 40s. It was cloudy and I was somewhat worried that it would rain, so I waited to see what the radar would say. Another pacer showed me his smartphone and my joy was complete — the rain would stay to the south of us.

As for the race itself, everything was pretty uneventful. Once again, the timing company did not put a mat on the start line, so the race was gun timed, though we had chips to record our finishing times. This worked fine for me as I was about 5 seconds from the start, but I felt bad for those farther back.

I started out with a small group and it stayed pretty small through mile 10 or so. From that point on, I had one guy stay with me for the rest of the race until he pulled away with a mile left. He was very friendly and ran a smart race the whole way. It always feels good as a pacer to actually pace someone to their goal. My splits were very even — all between 7:38 - 7:56 (goal pace of 7:49) so I was pretty happy with my effort.

I missed my goal of 3:24:59 and came in at 3:24:48 — I must've got a little antsy that last 0.2 and picked it up too much (Garmin says I was at 7:25 pace for the last .2) My legs weren't really very sore the next day. The 7:49 pace was fast enough to keep my stride normal but slow enough that I could recover quickly.

Laura had a good run too. She put in an easy 2, raced a 1/2 marathon, then did another easy 3 in time to see me at the finish. We then celebrated our running with beer and pizza at the "Ye Olde Pickle" bar. If my schedule works next year I'd love to do this race again.

Earth Day 1/2 Marathon Pace report

As I awoke last Saturday to a cool, overcast morning, I knew it would be a day of making more dreams come true as I led the 1:35 pace group toward their goal in the Earth Day 1/2 Marathon. Temperatures were low, so I opted to go with the awesomest-looking outfit that would be comfortable--my red pacer singlet, courtesy of Zorbaz, and some black Twin Cities Marathon arm warmers.

After struggling with the single-cup coffee maker and having to show my numbskulled-ness to the guy at the front desk who explained to me how it worked, I ate a banana and drank some coffee before meeting another pacer to run to the start of the race. We got a nice warmup jog from the hotel and headed into the fieldhouse where the prerace festivities were taking place.

There was some lady leading people in a "warmup" of Zumba — some sort of crazy, dance-like thing that I didn't know was good for warming up for a half marathon. We then got a pep talk from the MN Pacers leader about how we'd better hit our pace or be no more than 30 seconds faster or we'd be in big trouble.

We lined up at the start, chatted with some runners, and were off. It was a pretty big race, but fortunately runners had lined themselves up well and I was able to settle into 7:15 pace pretty easily without having to dodge people.

My pace group was very nice — one guy in particular expressed appreciation multiple times during and after the race. The course was fine — not overly scenic but some nice stretches along the Mississippi and no killer hills. It drizzled a bit but nothing miserable.

At mile 7 I accidentally hit stop instead of lap on my watch. Luckily I caught it pretty quickly. I asked another runner what she had for time on her watch and I adjusted accordingly.

At about mile 10 I saw Laura — she was doing her long run and ran by to say "hi." I invited her to join our pace group for awhile, but she politely declined.

I kept a nice, even pace throughout the race and came through mile 12 a few seconds ahead of schedule. Then, at mile 13, I repeated a mistake I'd made before— trusting the mile 13 marker. According to my Garmin I was at 1:33:something. At that pace I would be at least 30 seconds fast, so I let up a little bit. Turns out the last 0.1 was more like 0.17. My final time ended up being 1:35:01. Close.

Saturday I pace the Brainerd Run For the Lakes Marathon — the 3:25 group. I hope to hit 3:24:59.

Graniteman 1/2 Marathon Pace Report

Whoops, it's been over a month since I've posted. After Ragnar things got crazy — school started and I went from having no work to having lots of work. My running has been mostly uneventful and my mileage has gone way down. It's been hard to get in runs with school starting along with doing some volunteering. I think once I get into more of a routine I'll get a little better at the miles and the blog posts.

Two weeks ago Laura, Jared and I headed up to Sauk Rapids for the Graniteman 1/2 Marathon. Jared and I paced and Laura ran with one of her friends who happened to be pacing the two hour group.

The night before we went to a bar and grill for dinner and got an atypical pre-run meal. Laura had some chicken tenders, Jared had a burger, and I had a fish sandwich. Jared and I also split an order of chicken wings. We then headed to the hotel the Minnesota Pacers had arranged for us — it was a pretty nice hotel and we had a suite. I felt like a real celebrity getting put up in a hotel the night before the race.

The morning of the race Jared and I put in a few miles beforehand. Jared's training for the Twin Cities Marathon and I just wanted a few more miles. The race started and I had a pretty good group start out with me — maybe 10 or so. They stayed with me through 4 or 5 miles and then most of them fell back. One guy with me was pretty chatty but besides that it was definitely the quietest group of runners I've run with. I've noticed the 1:35 group is the quietest group of all the paces I've done, and this race really only one guy talked with me.

I paced pretty well — no miles were more than 10 seconds off and I finished at 1:34:55. The race was well-run other than the Heed at the water stops. That stuff is extra gross and I accidentally grabbed some at one of the water stops. I'm pretty sure I threw up in my mouth a little bit. Give me any flavor of Gatorade or Powerade — anything besides Heed.

Last weekend Laura and I ran in the MN Running Wild track meet. It was a pretty good time with an 800m, relays of 4 X 400m, 4 X 100m, and 4 X 200m, and ended in the beer mile. I'll recap the races in another post.

Minnesota Half Marathon Pace Report and Wedding Weekend Fun!

I had a crazy weekend with a lot going on, including a good amount of running. I also, unfortunately, broke my streak of consecutive days of 10 mile or more runs. I'm not too upset about it and although I was feeling pretty strong with all the 10 milers I think taking a break this past Friday did me some good.

Like I said, my weekend was crazy. On Thursday night we had a wedding rehearsal in the Twin Cities then drove an hour to Rochester for another wedding--my sister-in-law's--on Friday. We got there about 11:00 PM Thursday and I was planning on getting my 10 mile run in before 9 AM on Friday. Unfortunately I woke up at 6:45 AM feeling exhausted. I'd gotten up on Thursday morning at 4:10 AM to do a track workout with some MN Running Wild friends so I'd gotten about 5 hours of sleep Wednesday night and then had 6 or fewer hours of sleep Thursday night. It was Friday morning and I knew I had two more late nights coming, a race to pace on Saturday, and I felt tired and sick to my stomach. I decided to sleep another couple hours before wedding day brunch and thus ended my 10 mile streak.

We finished up the wedding on Friday night and headed back to the Twin Cities. Laura was in her friend's wedding and had to leave at 7 AM Saturday morning for all those festivities and I was pacing the Minnesota Half Marathon at 8 AM and had to leave at 6:30 AM for that so it was another short night of sleep. After warming up and chatting with the other pacers we waited for the inline skaters to get going and we were off.

It was another warm one but not as warm as Red Wing. The sky was overcast and I actually felt pretty good the whole race. There were more hills then Red Wing but nothing too terrible. I had a pretty decent-sized group the first 6 or 7 miles and then I had quite a few people take off ahead of me. It was a nice change to see people going for it rather than dropping runners as has been the case the last few events I've paced. It's nice to know I'm helping people start out conservatively so that can hit a good time.

I was pacing the 1:35 group--7:15 per mile. My mile splits were great with my fastest mile being 7:07 and my slowest mile at 7:23 (the last mile). Besides those two miles every other split was between 7:11 and 7:18. My group had broken apart completely at mile 10 or so with a couple taking off and a couple falling back. Around mile 12 I caught up to one of the runners who had started with me. He stayed with me a little bit and then sped off. At mile 12 I was 5 seconds fast according to my pace band, though according to my Garmin the last 1.1 miles were actually 1.15 miles so I was probably right on or a little slow at that point.

At 12 one of the course marshals told me I was close to the third place female and I could see her just ahead. I caught her with about 3/4 of a mile to go and slowed up for her a little bit. I told her we had 3/4 of a mile left and since I had no more pace group I would run her in. With about a quarter mile left I knew I was a little behind my pace and I was encouraging her to take off. She did and I let her go--I didn't think it'd be cool to stay while she was in third place. She finished several seconds ahead me.

As I finished the announcer said, "And here's a member of the MN Pacers finishing almost exactly on pace!" That was pretty cool to hear and my official time was 1:35:07. Not bad. I chatted with a MN Running Wild friend, Scott, who went and showed everyone up running the fastest pace group at 1:29:59. Color me impressed. I did a little cool down and finished with 15 miles for the day.

After a short nap it was time to go to the next wedding. We had a great time and I ate a ton of food. Fortunately we got to sleep in on Sunday morning which was good as I did a double running 7 miles around noon and then a 10 mile tempo run in the evening.

I'm racing the Gopher to Badger 1/2 Marathon on Saturday and then running in the Ragnar Relay in less then two weeks so I'm planning on cooling it a little bit--not tapering, just cutting back the mileage a hair. I'm hoping for a good time at Gopher to Badger as I haven't raced a 1/2 Marathon in over 18 months. If you read this long thanks for indulging in my long-windedness.

River City Ramble Pace Report

It. was. hot. Seriously hot. Although 77 degrees doesn't sound that bad at the start of a race, it was also 84% humidity according to a runner who checked the weather station on his dock minutes before the race started (apparently people have weather stations on their docks in Red Wing). This same runner ran with me for part of the Minneapolis Marathon. He was planning on running with me the first half of the Red Wing 1/2 Marathon and then taking off. Unfortunately that wasn't in the cards for him.

The running conditions at the River City Ramble 1/2 Marathon were far from ideal. The humidity was high, it was very sunny, and there wasn't a breeze to speak of. When there were breaks from the hot sun in the trees it was often even more humid--it was so humid I had to take my sunglasses off because they were fogging up.

I started with a pretty good-sized pace group with around 15 runners looking to run a 1:35. I usually plan on losing a fair amount of runners 8-10 miles into a half marathon but this one was so hot and humid that I lost the initial group at the mile 4 water stop. Only one runner was with me at that point--the one planning on taking off halfway through.

It was nice having him to run with as I'm amazed at his ability at 60+ years old to run the kind of times he runs. Around mile 8 he started hurting and I dropped him around mile 10. After that I picked up a couple stragglers beat down by the heat and humidity but they too eventually fell back. I felt bad for everyone going for a good time or a PR as it just wasn't the day for it. I finally motivated one gentleman as I passed him with about 1/2 a mile to go. He caught back up and ran past me to the finish line.

I came in officially at 1:35:04 though I thought I was closer to 1:35:00 according to my watch--still a pretty solid pacing time.

I was a little sick to my stomach after finishing and forgot to grab the camera to catch Laura's big 2 minute PR in the 1/2 marathon. I was a little worried she wouldn't set a PR with the poor running conditions but she came through with good pacing and a tough effort to finish over a minute ahead of her pacer. I'm so proud of her--I can't imagine many people set a PR on a day like that.

Laura and I after the race:


Pacer Adam from Maple Awesome, Minnesota right before we enjoyed his traditional post-race beverage--PBR:

An update on the 10 mile streak:
I've made it nine days in a row while covering 101 miles. I'm not sure how much longer I want to do this--10 days of 10 mile+ runs sounds pretty good but I don't really have a good reason to stop the streak. I actually feel pretty decent and it's not like I'm short on time. What do you think?