TC 1 Mile Race Report

Yesterday was a hot and windy one. I had signed up for the TC 1 Mile, and was hoping to break 5 minutes after failing to do so last year. I got to the race pretty early, so after picking up my packet, I walked to Brit's, a pub near the 3/4 mile mark where some Minnesota Running Wild friends were hanging out.

The TC 1 Mile consisted of several heats, culminating in the elite men and the elite women running the road mile championships. My heat was the open wave, just before the elite waves, so I spent some time at Brit's, where Laura eventually joined us.

After requesting that Laura order me some food so I could eat it when I got back from my mile, I did a little warmup and headed to the start. It was still windy and unfortunately it was a strong headwind. The heat wasn't too bad, but I decided I'd better prepare for the worst since I heard there would be no water stops during this one mile marathon.

So, I strapped on my fuel belt, loaded with two 16 oz water bottles. I also had a couple of gels in case I hit the wall around the 3/4 mile mark. After chatting with a Matt, a Running Wild member who's had to relocate to Arkansas, and Seth, and friend who I did Ragnar with, I lined up near the front of the pack.

After the gun went off I was passed by a good amount of runners, but I kept my pace and stayed relaxed. I went through the quarter mile mark at 72 seconds--a little bit too fast but not as bad as last year when I was at 70 seconds.

Somewhere after the quarter mile mark I went past the pack I was with and then I could really feel the wind. I could tell my pace had slowed substantially running into the headwind, and the mile mark confirmed it when I came through at 2:34. Yikes. I knew sub-5 was going to be very difficult at this point, so I took a gel and washed it down with one of my bottles.

From then on I would catch a pack, get a break from the wind, and then speed past the pack, only to get blasted by the wind and slow down until I could catch another pack. Fortunately most people had gone out too fast and I had several packs to catch up to.

At the 3/4 mile mark I was at 3:52ish. I thought I just might have enough to hit 68 seconds for the last quarter, so I took my last gel and downed my other bottle of water. I don't really remember much from there other than seeing the clock at 4:50 and realizing there was no way I was going to get to it in less than 10 seconds.

My final time was 5:03. Without the headwind and without having paced Laura in a marathon five days earlier, I think I may have been able to break five minutes. I also probably should have taken one more gel.

Oh well. Laura had ordered me a chicken tandoori wrap because she's the best wife in the world. We then watched the elite runners and enjoyed an evening of good food and beer. Tomorrow I'm going to see if I've got anything left in my legs when Laura and I run in the Eagan 5k Your Way.

Frank Shorter

During my busy week, I neglected to blog about an exciting running-related event: I met Frank Shorter!

Last Wednesday a Running Room opened up in Eagan, and Frank Shorter was on hand to give a few words. During a brief program inside the packed store, Mr. Shorter spoke about The Running Room and its Founder, John Stanton. He then said he would be running the mile "fun run" very slowly, and all he asked was that we say, "looking good Frank," when we passed him. John Stanton also gave a brief address, and then it was off for the 5k "fun run."

The Running Room regional manager emphasized that this was a "fun run" and not a race. Traffic would not be stopped and we needed to wait at the lights.

I was a little disappointed because I had been planning on trying to run a fast 5k. I decided I would use the "fun run" as a workout and go as fast as I could in between the lights. The race started and I made my way around Frank and the mayor, and the president of the Chamber of Commerce, calling, "looking good Frank," as I passed them.

A little past half-a-mile it happened--the first red light. The lead biker stopped and I stopped alongside her. Then, two other runners caught up to me. I decided I would stop my Garmin just to see what my "non-stoplight" time would be.

I ended up hitting three stoplights throughout the race, and came through when the clock read 18:20. I had 16:59 on my Garmin, but I don't know if I would have been slower because I wouldn't have had any breaks, or faster because I didn't have to stop and start, had I been running an actual 5k.

Either way it was fun getting to see Frank Shorter--I even got him to sign my bib number!

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.

Earth Day 5k Race Report

Last night I raced in the Earth Day 5k. I was pacing the 1/2 marathon the next day, so racing a 5k the night before seemed like a good idea. Laura got to come along on this trip. She also did the 5k, easily wrapping up the title for cutest runner.

before the race

I was excited for this race--I've been putting in real mileage for over a month and did some solid interval workouts. My last 5k was in February, and I set a PR at 17:01. It was really cold that day, so I was expecting to break 17 minutes last night.

After a warmup I got to the start line where I got to chat with the eventually winner and fellow pacer, Gerad. I didn't think I could hang with him so I planned to hang back and hope that I could keep him within sight until the finish.

The race started and Gerad and another runner took off ahead of me.The race started up a pretty steep hill, putting the hurt on before the race really got started. After about half-a-mile I was running by myself--in no-man's land too far behind the leaders and too far ahead of everyone else.

I tried to run by feel and only checked my watch at mile markers. I went through the first mile around 5:20, but when I went through the second I was at 11:38. I thought there was no way I slowed down that much, and when I checked the distance on my Garmin it said something like 2.15. I was hoping the marker was just off and the race wasn't really going to be that long, but it was.

finish line

The race did have a ton of turns, but I was running all by myself so I'm pretty sure I cut the tangents. After the race Gerad had 3.27 on his Garmin and I had 3.26, so I'm going to go ahead and assume the course was long. Gerad also said he thought they had us running on the wrong side of the cones a couple of places. Either way, I wasn't happy with my time of 17:38, but oh well. I felt like I had too much gas in the tank at the end and that I should have been more aggressive with my pacing, especially between miles one and two. Gerad won it and the second place runner wasn't registered, so I got second by default. While Gerad, Dan (another pacer), and I were standing around at the finish, some guy came about five feet from us and threw up about a gallon of something really gross. I've got an iron stomach but after watching that dude spew all over the field turf I wasn't too hungry for dinner (until about five minutes later).

award ceremony

I do enjoy 5ks. They hurt, but they're over fast. I'm looking forward to do another one and hoping to break 17:00. I'll probably try to sneak in a little more speed work for the next one. I'd like to shoot for a fast time at the Eagan 5k Your Way, but I'll have to see how it goes since I'll be pacing Laura at the Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon the week before.

Stay tuned to a pace report for the half marathon.

Belated Race Report: MDRA 7 Mile

It's been over a week since I ran this race, but for some reason I've had a hard time getting inspired to write a race report. Perhaps it's because I did this same race last year and while I was happy with my results (I ran much better than I did in last year's race) I didn't have a breakthrough or unexpected performance.

Still, I did have a few things to say about the race, so in keeping with tradition of writing a race report for all my races, here it goes:

Laura was off visiting a friend in Louisiana on the Saturday morning of the race, so I was on my own driving to Hopkins and signing up for the race. It's actually a pretty neat little race--low key and free for MDRA members, but there's usually some good competition as well. This year was no exception.

While I was waiting in line for the bathroom, another runner asked me, "Did you see Katie McGregor?" I had not, but I thought it was pretty cool that she was running there. She'd also brought along a couple of her training partners. I didn't see them until they'd lined up at the start--it was pretty cool to be running in a race with such talented athletes.

The race got underway and one guy went out really fast--I could tell right away that if he was going to keep anywhere near that pace there would be no way I could keep up with him. They guy in second was also moving pretty well, though it looked like I might be able to catch up to him eventually.

About two miles in the guy in second turned around and slowed down. I was a little worried--I was afraid we'd made a wrong turn as I could no longer see the guy in first place. It turned out the second place guy just wanted someone to run with, so he stopped and waited for me.

He was in high school and asked me what school I went to. After I told him I was a little bit old for high school, he proceeded to tell me all about his training and race times. He's much faster than I ever was in high school and I wasn't able to keep up chatting with him at the pace we were going, so he did most of the talking. He was just running it as a workout since he had a meet on Monday.

At about four miles Katie McGregor and a couple other runners caught up to the high schooler and I. It actually worked out perfectly because McGregor passed me and that gave the kid someone to talk to who could actually talk. I was able to stay with one of Katie's training partners for the next mile and then tried to pick up the pace at the end.

I was pretty happy with my finish--I was able to run the last mile in 5:30 and finish in 41:16 (5:54 / mile)--fourth place behind the super-fast dude, the high school guy, and Katie McGregor. Last year my goal was to finish in the top five and I missed it by finishing sixth, so I was pretty happy my placement and time this year. I also ran a lot smarter and didn't go out too fast like I did last year.

I also got to run a few cool down miles with Katie McGregor and Michelle Frey--two awesome runners who have both run in the Olympic Trials. It was cool chatting with them and listening to some elite runners and getting some encouragement. How many sports can a regular person compete in and then spend some time with some top-tier athletes?