SPECTATOR'S GUIDE

Here's my latest MDRA article...

Fall is right around the corner. As a runner, that means two things to me; cross-country season and fall marathons. We put in a lot of time and effort training for these types of races. And there’s no doubt that a lot is written about how to get the most out of ourselves on race day. But what about our friends and family members that will be out there cheering for us? We want them to get the most out of race day too, rather than being bored to tears watching a running race. Believe it or not, running can be spectator-friendly, especially if you follow these tips.

The first step to spectating actually should take place before race day. You need to determine how active you want to be during the race. Remember, other than track meets, we’re not talking about your typical sporting event where the action is confined within a stadium, making it easy to watch. Even the shortest of cross-country races can span an entire golf course in less than twenty minutes. Therefore, there has to be some level of activity, even for the spectators on race day.

I would say there are generally three different levels of activity for watching a race. First, are the stationary spectators. These are people that want to find one spot and sit there for the entire race. This group includes people that are lazy, have a difficult time getting around, or find it hard to move the keg of beer they brought to the event. Hey, I told you running could be spectator-friendly.

Second, are the people that want to see as much of the race as possible, but move around the least. Parents with younger kids would typically fall into this category. They want to cheer for their spouse or friends as much as possible, but are also responsible for getting 2 or 3 kids and a dog around the course too. This requires more time and energy, so they have to be smart about moving from place to place.

Third, are the people that want to see as much of the race as possible and don’t care how much blood, sweat or tears it takes to do so. If someone in the race gets a side stitch, dry heaves or pukes, they want to know about it. No, no, they want to see it happen. This is the group that thinks nothing of driving six hours to watch a 25-minute race. They want to be sure they get their monies worth.

After determining your level of activity, you need to decide how you want to get around the course. Obviously, if you’re going to sit in one spot for the race, this is not much of a concern. However, if you fall into the second or third group you need to think about your best course of action for getting around. For cross-country races this is typically by foot. Unless the race is on a golf course and you’re handy at hot-wiring golf carts. Because of the sheer length of the marathon, they offer more options. In addition to getting around on foot, bikes and cars are good options too. Even public transportation can be used, just ask Rosie Ruiz, the initial first place woman of the 1980 Boston Marathon who was later disqualified for taking a train. Since the use of a car requires extra time for battling traffic and finding parking places, I always opt to use my bike whenever possible.

Once you know how you’re going to get around, the number one rule for spectating becomes “know the course”. This is very important because you can’t watch what you can’t see. I only need to share one example to explain how important this rule is. During college I made a road trip with several teammates to Charlotte, NC to watch the men’s Olympic Marathon trials. We hauled our bikes halfway across the country in an effort to see as much of the race as possible. After biking along during for the first half of the race, some of us decided to cut through a neighborhood in order to get ahead of the runners. Instead of jumping two miles ahead of the runners, we accidentally ended up eight miles ahead of the runners. By the time we saw them again all the key moves had been made and the Olympic team had basically been decided. We kicked ourselves for not understanding where the course went.

If you plan on cheering for a specific person, it’s helpful to know the answer to a couple of questions before the race starts. First, what pace do they plan on running? This is especially helpful for longer races because there’s a big time gap between the first and last place runners. And there could be thousands of runners in between. Having an idea of their pace helps determine when they should be passing you. Of course, be sure to leave some wiggle room for the time needed to cross the start line, bad days, and other unforeseen events.

Second, what do they plan on wearing? Again, there could be thousands of runners on the course, so knowing the color of their shirt and shorts can help you pick them out of the crowd. When it comes to cross-country, keep in mind that many schools share the same colors. Therefore, parents should take this a step further and be able to pick out their runner’s exact uniform. Knowing that your son or daughter is wearing red and white might not be enough to pick them out of a big race.

These last two tips have more to do with your comfort level than they do with watching the actual event. I think it’s important to pack light, however, you also want to bring along a variety of clothing options because we know the weather around here can change quickly. And if you’re biking around the course, the chances are that you’ll work up a sweat, so it doesn’t hurt to have a spare shirt with you.

Finally, and this is good for all occasions, bring snacks. In your excitement to get out the door, there’s a good chance that you may have rushed through breakfast. You don’t want to be searching for the nearest McDonald’s when your girlfriend is expecting to see you along the course. So bring along something to drink as well as a few things that won’t melt in the heat or get smashed in your bag. That means leave the chocolate bars and bananas at home.

There you have it. Pass these tips along to your friends and family and hopefully they’ll be clamoring to watch your next race.

TYPICAL WEEK

I didn’t mean for my posts to become weekly occurrences, but that seems to be the case lately.

T-minus 12 days till Whistlestop and I’m not really sure what to expect. I’m guessing I’m in about 3:10 shape. However, with the addition of cross-training into the mix lately, I’m not really positive.

It’s a catch-22. I feel better when I run, but it always seems like the cross-training makes me slower.

Saturday’s run included a couple of miles around 3-hour marathon pace. Although they felt comfortable, I was thinking; “There’s no way I could hold this for 26.2.” At least based on today’s QOD, I should be able to run 4 hours.

My new typical week looks something like this;

Sunday – bike 90 minutes
Monday – roller-ski 50 minutes in the AM, run 5 miles in the PM
Tuesday – run 50 minutes with 5 hill repeats
Wednesday – roller-ski for 60 minutes
Thursday – run 63 minutes
Friday – run 65 minutes
Saturday – run 2 hours

Yesterday I dusted off my mountain bike and joined Rick for a 75 minute ride in Lebanon Hills. Every time I ride my bike, especially my mountain bike, I think; “That was fun, I need to do that more often.” Of course, now the season is almost over so we’ll have to wait and see what next year brings.

Quote of the Day;

“Cross train once or twice a week.” - Dave Kuehls, 4 Months to a 4 Hour Marathon

DRASTIC CHANGES

Tap… tap…

Is this thing on?

Long time no blog.

It’s been over a week and I’ve made drastic changes to my training. I figured when thoughts of my upcoming marathon didn’t get me excited, but thoughts of The Birkie did, then it was time to do something about it. So I went ahead and purchased a pair of these;

For those of you not familiar with snow, they’re called roller skis and they’re designed to mimic the feel of being on snow. I’ve been on them twice a week for the last three weeks. And I’ve even incorporated some bike rides into my training.

I’m not sure if it’s the cross-training, the hint of fall in the air, or the fact that I’ve removed all the pressure of trying to run fast at Whistlestop, but I’ve been feeling pretty good lately. I am looking forward to running the race and then being able to add in even more roller skiing.

I just re-read last year’s race report and what I wrote is still true;

"The Birkie makes me want to be a better athlete. The Birkie makes me want to work on my core strength. The Birkie makes me want to eat my fruits and vegatables. The Birkie is enough to make winter my new favorite season. The Birkie is an event I can see planning my entire season around. And maybe the best compliment of all; I can't see not doing this race in the future."

Quote of the Day;

COL 25K "REPORT"

Friday morning I did manage to register for the City of Lakes 25K. Based on how things heated up over the weekend and how crappy I felt on Saturday’s 8 miler, I really had no time goal. I don’t think my training partner, Scott, believed me when I said I was going to go out at 7:00 – 7:30 pace, since he was planning on something closer to 6:45s.

This is actually a pretty easy race report to write. The first mile came and went in 7:15, the next 9 miles were all probably +/- 3 seconds of 7-flat. From mile 10 on I ran 6:50 pace (except for one more 7-flat). Results have me finishing in 1:48:16 (6:58 pace). McMillan coverts that to a sub-3:10, which is kind of surprising. I don’t think my training has gone well lately, so to see a 3:10 “on paper” is somewhat encouraging.

Sunday was also the day of Ironman Wisconsin. It feels like more than 6 years since I did that event. I still find it amazing to think about at times. I mean that race started an hour before mine. After my race I went and drank some coffee, drove home, showered, ate, and watch the entire Vikings football game. When that finished the leaders still had about an hour of running left. Of course, age groupers had up to 9 more hours to finish. Congrats to all the new Ironmen and to those that can’t get enough.

Today’s QOD is a sharp contrast to my last QOD. Can you tell who’s the 40-something veteran and who’s the 20-something up-and-comer?

Quote of the Day;

“I can’t imagine not competing right now. I just love the thrill of competition and the feeling of success. I just believe that I have faster times in me, and I can’t wait to see what they actually are.” - Laura Januszewski (formerly Hermanson)

NOT SURE

I closed out last week with a 22 miler, giving me 80 miles for the week. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to carry that momentum forward into this week. I started off by doing a little cross training on Sunday and followed that up by skipping the Victory 10K that I was thinking about running.

It used to be that Labor Day weekend was one of my favorite running weekends. My college alumni meet is always on that Saturday and Victory is always on Labor Day. The long weekend always gave me the opportunity to race and get in a long run for an upcoming marathon. Or I could even race twice with a recovery day in between if I wanted to.

This year I’ll have to be content with just running a long run over the weekend. Maybe this weekend I’ll convince myself to run the City of Lakes 25K. While it could provide a good indication of my fitness level, I’m not sure I want to know the answer.

Quote of the Day;

"Sometimes the training gets a little bit old." - Colleen DeReuck

PREDICTION

Less than 24 hours after posting about how trying to run fast takes too much work, I joined Scott at Hyland for 6 x 1K repeats. This workout and the terrain reminded us of our time in college together. Maybe that helped cut down on the “sucking the enjoyment out of running” aspect. That, combined with the fact that my legs felt pretty good today, definitely helped. So after a 15-mile week, I’m on pace for about 75-80 miles this week.

While in Disney World I made the prediction that within 25 years we’ll all be riding around in battery powered scooters. Seriously, they were all over the place. I think people rented them and just drove around the park because they were too lazy to walk. And half of the kids getting a ride in a stroller looked like they were over 10 years old. So I’m pretty sure we’re eventually going to get to the point where no one wants to walk.

Quote of the Day;

“If you talk to an elite or near-elite American distance runner today, they’ll tell you that the primary aim of their training is to avoid injury. If you had talked to a similar athlete 25 years ago, he’d have told you the idea of training was to run fast.” – Tom Derderian

FIT VS. FAST

The other day I was trying to figure out if I liked being fit more than being fast. You have to be fit to be fast, but you don’t have to be fast to be fit. It seems like trying to be fast takes too much work and it ends up sucking the enjoyment out of running. I’m not sure it’s worth it any more. Or maybe I just haven’t figured out how to periodize my training so that I’m not struggling through August every year.

My friend Eric has asked if I thought x-c skiing during the winter helped my running this year. Although I came into the season slower than normal, I thought I would make up ground as the season progressed. That never seemed to happen. And I thought not running as much in the winter would leave me eager to run more throughout the summer. That did happen, at least for awhile. But once August rolled around, running was still a struggle.

I’ve always had this fantasy of being more than “just a runner.” I dream of being more like Jan Guenther and being able to excel at everything from tris, skiing, mt. biking, snow shoeing, kayaking, etc. It’s not even really about excelling at them. It’s just about getting out and doing them without worrying about losing running fitness. Even within running I find myself thinking about trying different things like trail races, ultras, relays, etc.

It’s too early to tell where all these thoughts will lead me right now, but I’m sure I’ll have more to share in the near future.

Quote of the Day;

“The key is that I control my life; my life doesn’t control me.” – Gabrielle Reece

I'M BACK

After a week long vacation, I'm back. Anyone want to guess where we went?

Here's a hint.

We had a great time; no emails, no blogs, no facebook, etc. Totally unplugged. More photos to follow.

I don't have much to mention, running-wise. Let's just say it was my lowest mileage ever for a non-injured, non-marathon recovery week. But I think I needed it. Running was getting to be a drag. I finally had a decent run the Friday before leaving. Then I struggled through three 5-mile runs in the heat and humidity of Florida. Yesterday I was back in Minnesota and enjoyed a 2-hour run in October-like weather.

It's too early to tell what all this means for Whistlestop, but I'm pretty sure that anything fast is out the window.

Quote of the day;

"I didn't want to put limitations and expectations (coming into the race). I felt like 12:58 was maybe not far-fetched, but it was definitely a little bit of a pipe dream." - Dathan Ritzenhein after dropping his 5K PR from 13:16.06 to 12:56.27 and in the process bettering Bob Kennedy's 13-year-old American Record.

FAKE IT

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that you can’t fake the motivation needed to run well. And right now it feels like I’m trying to fake it. I thought turning 40 would magically get me all fired up, but it hasn’t happened. I’m still putting in 50-70 mpw, so I’m pretty fit. However, any semblance of following a plan went out the window two weeks ago.

MattyG has written about being “overcooked” leading up to a couple of races. That’s how I was feeling in early August, so I’ve basically backed off my mileage a little and added in more easy days. I did manage a 20-miler on Sunday. I had 22 planned, but prior to the run I realized I didn’t have any gels in the house. I tried to make it by carrying 20 oz. of Gatorade with me, but it just didn’t cut it – just before mile 19, I was done. I’m sure the 65 degree dew point didn’t help either.

Right now I’m hoping to survive this week before going on vacation next week. After that I’ll try to make one final 6-week push towards Whistlestop.

Anyone watch the men’s 10K last night at the World Champs? How does Bekele (and all the other runners) kick his foot up so high behind him? Seriously, his heel hits him in the ass with each stride.

Finally, be sure to check out my latest interview.

Quote of the Day;

“You’re unique… just like everyone else.” – greeting card I got for my birthday

MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S 3-MILE

How’s that saying go – a goal unwritten is just a wish - something like that? Well whether it was a goal or just a wish, I accomplished something last night that I thought was achievable this year. Yes, I met Olympian Carrie Tollefson. Okay, maybe it’s silly to have a goal, er, wish, that you can’t really control. However, I have a few connections throughout the running community and she’s visible enough that it seemed like a likely goal, er, wish. Whatever! Anyway, she was at last night’s Midsummer Night’s 3-mile, along with her husband. Although I’ve interviewed him, I had never met him in person. And the Lehm-kuhles were there too. Unfortunately, Katie wasn’t there. Apparently, running the World Championship 10,000m is more important.

I hyped this race pretty good after last year’s 1st annual event – more so because of the post-race gathering, than the race itself. If it’s possible, this year even topped last year with its hot dogs, Vitamin Water, popsicles, Great Harvest bread nuggets, and 2 beer tickets. Combine that with a microfiber shirt and I had no problem paying the $30 entry fee. More races should take note!

My only gripe – and it’s a big one – is that this year they replaced Surly and Flat Earth with Michelob Ultra. Not to be a beer snob, but give me 1 Surly over 2 (or 6) Michelob Ultras.

Anyway, this was my second race as a Master and it’s the second time my chip has screwed up. Both times my results were corrected, but last night it kept me from winning the men’s Master title and some great swag. I spoke with the race staff afterwards and they assured me they’ll get everything straightened out, so I’m not worried.

Going into the race I figured I’d break 19-minutes and thought 18:30 might be possible. I ended up running 18:19 (6:01, 6:07, 6:11) and finished 9th overall. For comparison, last year I was 3rd overall in 17:50. Complete results can be found HERE.

Quote of the Day;

“Every marathon I ran, I knew I had a faster one in me. Even though I’d be spent, even though I’d be cramped up, I knew with a little more training, a little more preparation, a little more experience, I could run faster.” – Dick Beardsley

SURPLUS

Leave it to my friend Eric to figure out what ails me. You’ve heard of ADD, well I have ASD;


The questions I asked the other day are meant to be rhetorical. I’m not so much looking for answers, as I’m just trying to share the wide variety of things that pop into my head during a run. I’m guessing I’m not the only one that has similar thoughts floating around in their grey matter.

I do need to sit down with my training plan and adapt it a little. I’m thinking 2 easy days after every hard workout ought to do the trick.

So yesterday was an easy 5 miles. This morning was more of the same. I may try to get in another run tonight to help keep my weekly mileage up. Tomorrow night is the Mid-Summer Night’s 3 mile. I blogged about it last month. Come out for a fun run and some beer.

Quote of the Day;

“I viewed every marathon as a test of my manhood. It wasn’t enough for me to win the race. I wanted to bury the other guys.” – Alberto Salazar

PIPE DREAM

Turning 40, running a “bad” 10K, having a 20 miler start out very sluggish, and just a general overall malaise lately have me asking – okay, re-asking - a lot of questions about my running lately.

Seriously, one minute I’m thinking I need to train harder, the next minute I’m thinking I need to cut back. One minute I’m thinking 85 mpw of easy running is what I need and the next I’m thinking 55 mpw with a couple of hard workouts would be better.

Maybe I should consider taking one day off per week, like I did with Pfitz for Gma’s. Maybe that’d be enough for a physical and mental break.

Or how about cross training on that day off? Maybe add in some biking – or better yet – some roller skiing. Is it time to set my sites on The Birkie? At least I’m still seeing improvement in that sport. Maybe if I started my training earlier, I could take a crack at sub-3 there.

Of course, spending the weekend in Madison had me thinking about Ironman Wisconsin.

It’s like just when I thought I was figuring this running thing out, the rules have changed. As much as I’d like to deny it, all those things you hear older runners talk about as they age appear to be true. I can’t just transition from one program to another without feeling some adverse affects. Running weeks on end – doing 2-3 hard days per week - without a day off are most likely in the past. I’d need to adjust and find what works for me – now!

Earlier I was thinking that with a little hard work, I’d have a shot at a PR (2:57)in the fall. Now I’m not so sure. To be honest, I’d be happy with one more sub-3 – and I’m not even sure that’s a possibility based on the times I’ve been running lately. Yes, I know all about recovering from Grandma’s, being in the middle of marathon training, the dog days of summer, etc., etc. So there’s no need to comment on that. Even with all that mixed in, my training paces leave me wondering if 6:52 for 26.2 miles is a pipe dream.

In any case, I have 9 weeks till race day.

I finished last week with 58 miles on 5 days. I couldn’t bring myself to get up before the family and run in the rain while in Madison. Hence the 2 days off. Yesterday I ran 8 miles with 8 x 8 second hill sprints. This morning I ran 10 miles, including 2 x 1.5 miles at 6:40 pace – or what I’m calling half marathon pace – with 2:00 easy in between.

Quote of the Day;

“Some people dream of success while others wake up and achieve it.” - unknown

SHEER DISBELIEF

Unbelievable!!!

That's how I felt at the end of this morning's 20 miler. No, not because of some endorphin rush after running for 2:45. But because of how shitty I felt for the first 3 miles of this run. If you had stopped me one mile into the run and asked if I thought I'd be able to repeat that 19 more times, my answer would have been a big N-O!

There I was with the day off of work, running the best trails (Lebanon Hills) in the metro area and all I could think about was how crappy I felt. I wasn't able to just let my mind wander and enjoy my time on the trails. Then about 3 miles into my run I stopped to squat in the woods and when I started running again, I felt fine. The flats no longer felt like hills and the hills no longer felt like mountains.

I was finally able to relax and enjoy the run while thinking about things like; "Hmm, this trails seems pretty isolated. If something happened to me, it could be weeks before I'm found. It might be time to find that RoadID I bought a few years ago."

Today's long run called for the last 30 minutes to be at a moderate pace. Of course, early in the run I had no idea if I'd make it the full distance let alone add in a little workout at the end. By the time I got 2 hours into the run I was sopping wet from a steady rain. I decided to venture home and run the last 5 miles on the treadmill. After a quick change into dry clothes and a mile on the treadmill, I picked up the pace and ran the last 4 miles at 6:58 pace.

All in all this long run was quite the adventure. I was glad to get it in because we're heading to Madison today, so there's no other opportunity for a long run this weekend.

Quote of the day;

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out." - Robert Collier

SOMETHING TO DO WITH THAT

It looks like "aging up" helped at Sunday's race. I ended up 3rd in the 40-44 age group, whereas I would have been like 7th in the 35-39 age group.

I haven't even thought about "training" the last 2 days. Yesterday I slogged through a very easy 5 miles and this morning I made it another easy 8. My legs are still tried - running a 6 mile cooldown after Sunday's race probably has something to do with that.

You've seen his blog, now check out Matt Gabrielson's interview with Runner's World.

Quote of the day;

"What I've learned is it's not about having a great workout, it's about continuing to be consistent and getting yourself set to be ready to go on that one day. I need to trust my training that I've done and not overdo it toward the end because there's a line you can cross. There's no magic workout that's going to happen in the last two or three weeks." - Matt Gabrielson

SLOW(ER)

I believe the U of M’s coach, Steve Plascencia, was 39-years-old when he placed 4th at the 1996 Olympic marathon trials. The following year he continued to tear up the roads as a Masters. There was an interview in one of the running magazines with him during which he said something like there’s not some magical switch that goes off when you turn 40 – slowing down is inevitable, but it happens at different rates and at different times for everyone.

That gave me hope. However, after Sunday’s race, I’d swear that there is a magical switch in my body and it’s been turned off. Paces that I could easily run for a half marathon in the middle of winter off of base training just a couple of years ago are now a struggle to maintain for 10K.

Sunday I ran the Hennepin Lake Classic 10K and had to sprint* to break 40 minutes. My splits ended up being 6:20, 6:24, 6:27, 6:27, 6:36, 6:26, 1:17 and my 5K splits were 19:52/20:05 for a 39:57.

*I thought I was sprinting until I watched the leaders of the 5K race.

After running 39:15 at Get in Gear in April, this is more than a little frustrating. And it leads to a whole bunch of questions;

Is my new training program working or not?
Is this program too much for me? Am I overtraining? Do I need to do fewer workouts?
Do I just not respond well to VO2 workouts? Did Friday’s hill workout leave me tired?
Am I on the right path for a marathon?
If I truly run well just off of a lot of base miles, should I just go back to that type of training?
Is all of this just a matter of getting older?

I know Hudson has a section for Masters in his book. At 39-years-old and 11 months, I didn’t think I needed to read it. Now I do.

And I think I’ll have to start paying attention to Joe Rubio’s Masters Plan;

1) Take your recovery days easier - take them seriously.

2) Do less hard sessions each week than when you were younger. Do less within each hard session.

3) You can be "on" occasionally, so best pick the times you want to hammer wisely.

4) It takes longer to get in shape as a masters athlete. And it takes much less time to fall out of fitness than 20 years ago [or 30 ... or 40].

5) Injuries take an eternity to get over, and there seem to be many more of them along the way. If you can stay healthy, you are way ahead of the game.

6)Family first, career second, running third, beer a close fourth.

7)Masters racing is all about fun and friendships.

The good news is that I feel fine and I’m not hurt or sore – just slow(er).

Quote of the Day;

“You have to hate to lose, more than you love to win.” - unknown

ROUSING START

Ahhhhh! 40-years-old! A co-worker described it as a “monumental” birthday. I would have to agree. There’s something about it that makes you want to stop and think about your life a little more and reevaluate where you’re at. I’m sure for some, that reevaluation leads to the purchase of a sports car or a Harley. Runners would be content with a kick-ass summer of road racing

Leading up to the “event” I had thoughts of really getting serious about all the ancillary things that I think will help my running. You know, a better diet, more time working on strength training and flexibility and less time playing video games, less alcohol, etc.

Then my birthday arrived, so of course we had to celebrate. That meant cinnamon rolls and bacon for breakfast. Somehow we’ve gotten into the habit of cinnamon or caramel rolls on the weekend. However, bacon is a treat. It’s one of those things that makes you think, dang this stuff is good – I could eat it every day! There goes my diet. Then I opened gifts, including the new Wii Sports Resort. There goes my “free” time for strength training and stretching. 2 thumbs up on Resort, by the way. Then just after I cleaned my house of alcohol, we had a little party and I was left with a fridge full of wine and beer.

So my 5th decade is off to a rousing start.

Quote of the Day;

“I will say, I was really bummed to turn 40. It’s one of those monumental birthdates in life that you just downright feel old. Just ask your kids…..40 is ancient.” – a co-worker of mine

SO LONG...

Hmm, where did the week go?

I decided to make this a cutback week for a few reasons;

1) I started the week with a day off.
2) After recovering from Grandma’s I’ve had weeks of 65, 63 and 75. Not killer mileage, but that 75 was my most since last August.
3) I’m racing on Sunday.
4) After this week, we are 3 weeks out from our week-long vacation. So I can cutback now, train hard for 3 weeks and then cutback while we’re on vacation.

Here’s what I’ve done since my last post;

Tuesday – 8 moderate miles with Scott in Hyland
Wednesday – 8 easy miles with 8 x 8 second hill sprints
Thursday – 10 easy miles with Rick from home
Friday – 12 miles with Scott including 5 x 3-minutes uphill at 5K pace

That puts me at 52 for the week, so I should finish with 57-60 miles. It also means I closed out July with 281 miles on 28 days of running.

And with today’s run in the books, I also closed out the 34-39 age-group.

So long…

Quote of the Day;

“You are never given a dream without also being given the power to make it true.” – Richard Bach

RECAP

Not a whole lot to say today, so I’ll start with a recap of my training. Saturday I joined Kim for a run at Lake Nokomis, which would allow us to watch the Boston Scientific race. We pondered why they have a separate women’s elite race for about 12 gals. I’m guessing the women would be fine with having one wave.

Anyway, this ended up being a fartlek type workout. We ran pretty hard early, slowed down to cheer, ran hard, cheered some more, found Jenna and ran a cool-down with her for awhile. Then I added a couple of miles in the low 7s to end with 16 miles for the day and 75 miles for the week.

I knew it was going to be a difficult task to get a run in yesterday. It was Katie’s 6th birthday and we had lots planned. After waking up in the tent in our backyard and opening presents, we headed to Waseca for a family picnic. Then it was back home around 5 PM for a quick snack before heading to Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of Hysteria, I mean, Mall of America. If you bring proof of your birthday, you get unlimited rides for free after 5. We ended up staying till nearly 8. By that time I knew I’d be putting a zero in the log book. But after 11 solid days of training, I’m okay with that.

Given yesterday’s rest day, I decided to get in my hardest workout of the week this morning; 14 miles with 8 at MP. This was my first such workout in awhile, so I thought I’d go with more of a progression-type MP section, rather than going out hard and bombing. So, after a 3 mile warm-up, I eased into it with miles of 7:13 and 7:12. From there I was able to dip below 7-minute pace, including 6:48 and 6:45 for my last 2 miles. Overall, I think I averaged 6:58 pace for the 8 miles. Not really my goal MP, but I always seem to train slower than I race, so I think I’m okay.

Quote of the Day;

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein

PURE ENTERTAINMENT VALUE

Not sure what to write about the Torchlight 5K. It's been 7 years since I’ve run this race and the course has changed a little. It’s an interesting event because probably two-thirds of the first mile are along the Torchlight Parade route, so people are lining the sidewalks to watch – even if they only expected to see a parade. Being in downtown Minneapolis was cool, but it made it difficult to get in any sort of up-tempo warm-up and even strides were difficult.

I’m not sure whether this race was certified or not – but I do know that they’re mile markers were way off. With all the high schoolers in the race and the spectators on the sideline, this race went out pretty hard – and so did I. Still I have a hard time believing I ran a 5:38 first mile. In any case, I definitely slowed down the second mile, yet my split was 5:30! Now I’m just tracking my splits for pure entertainment value. Not surprisingly, “mile” 3 takes forever; 7-flat. I “sprint” home and finish in 18:56. That’s 2 seconds faster than my last 5K, but again, I have no idea whether or not it was accurate. Still it was a good effort. I ran a couple miles afterwards with Kirt and called it 9 miles for the evening and 14 for the day.

One of the nice things about my other blog is that some of the local photographers have been kind enough to give me photos. The bad thing is that now that I know them, they like to capture my image more than before. For example, Wayne took some great photos from Torchlight, but included one nasty photo of me – it’s the 67th photo. After looking at that, scroll back one and look at the size of the headphones on that kid that beat me. Plus, he has long pants and a sweat shirt tied around his waist. Another reason not to like 5Ks.

Good times afterwards as we hung out on Harriet Island for a couple of beers while listening to Kubla Khan. I didn’t get to bed till 11, but luckily I was able to sleep in and run a very easy 6 miles during lunch.

This morning I ran 11 miles including the last 10 minutes at a moderate pace.

Off topic, could you at least give me a courtesy wash of your hands after going to the bathroom – especially if you come out of the stall? I don’t know if you went #1 or #2 in there, but flushing and then making a bee line back to your cube just doesn’t seem right.

Quote of the Day;

“Goals are fuel in the furnace of achievement.” – Brian Tracy

NEW ONE

This may be a new one. Yesterday I woke up at 4:45 for my run. I fed the dog and took her for a walk. After we got back the skies opened up and it started to pour. I drove across town for my run and was ready to go by 5:30. The only problem was that I couldn’t make myself go. All I thought about was how tired I was during my last workout and how I didn’t want to spend the next 90 minutes in the rain. So I went back to my car and fell asleep for a good 75 minutes.

I can’t remember ever doing that before, but it felt so good!

I was able to get in a very easy 5 mile run over lunch and then another five last night while watching the Tour. Seeing Jens Voight wipe out going down a hill mountain around 50 mpw makes me glad I’m a runner. Ouch!

I ran another very easy 5 miles this morning and I’ll toe the line at tonight’s Torchlight 5K. I don’t really have any goals for this race other than to get in a hard workout in the middle of the week. It'll be interesting to see how I compare to my time (18:58) at Brian Kraft.

A little more on Brad Hudson’s book. I’ve mentioned how he talks about adapting your training based on how you’re responding. Of course, that’s easier said than done. One of the things I like is that he gives some examples of what to look for – like being able to handle distance, but struggling with hitting your speed workouts. And he also gives examples of how to correct these imbalances. I think that’s what’s missing for a lot of the books on the market. They lay out a plan and then figure you’ll just follow along as closely as possible.

Only being on my fourth week of his plan, it’s a little too early to make adjustments based on the workouts I’m struggling with. However, as someone who generally has a hard time running the fast stuff, I’ll definitely be keeping that chapter close by.

Quote of the Day;

“You are never a loser, until you quit trying.” - Mike Ditka