THE HUMAN RACE

I think I just need to get back into the routine of running every morning. Sleeping in is great – that morning – but the next day it sucks. Not only did I have to work to drag my ass out of bed at 5 AM, but I was greeted by 20 mph winds and flurries – not a good combination – ouch. Today I was wise enough to run into the wind first, however that only lasted 2 miles because the wind was so bad. I decided to turn around and seek shelter on the more wooded part of the trail, even though it meant I’d have to run the last mile or so into the wind. That turned out to be a wise decision as even the bare trees were able to provide some shelter from the wind. I ended up with 7 miles. Tomorrow will be even easier with 5-6 easy miles planned prior to Sunday’s race.

I mentioned earlier in the week that this is my favorite race. It’s the Human Race (formerly St. Patrick’s), an 8k that starts and the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul and basically runs out-and-back along Summit Ave., which is the same stretch from about 21.5 to 24 miles of the Twin Cities Marathon. It’s a fairly quick course with some gradual hills along the way. I think the main reason I like this race is because there’s a lot of buzz surrounding it, locally. It’s usually the first race for the USATF Minnesota road series, as well as the Minnesota Distance Runners Assoc. So, it’s really the first time that we get to see the top local runners since October. Plus, usually, spring is in the air. However, they’re forecasting temps on Sunday between 20-35 degrees. GOAL: sub-30:00.