PISSER

So TCM is trying to become more like the NYRR. Instead of just having one weekend of events during the year, they’re creating new events (or buying someone else’s), so they have multiple events throughout the year. This weekend they have the Red, White and Boom half marathon. Scott is running it and he sent me this fine print from their website;

Also of special note: the course crosses over several sets of railroad tracks. Due to Homeland Security rules, we do not know the train schedule and it is highly likely that trains will be crossing the course. For your safety, PLEASE do not attempt to outrun a train!

That would be a pisser.

Back to soccer and the World Cup, I actually watched the U.S. vs. Ghana and was mildly entertained. I was more entertained by the first half the Germany vs. England match – although not entertained enough to watch the second half.

After watching the U.S. match I facebooked that it’d be really hard to be a passionate fan about U.S. distance running AND U.S. soccer. I think both groups think there sport doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.

I had the idea of adding referees to running races, then whenever someone passed me during a race, I’d hit the ground. When I got back up I’d throw my hands in the air in disgust and glare at the referee. And if a train came along during the race and cut me off, you can bet I’d give the referee the evil eye while muttering under my breath.

Somehow I didn’t mind Bill Laimbeer flopping when he was on “my” team, but since then, I can’t stand watching these NBA players flopping all the time. And soccer seems even worse.

Yesterday Rocco had a great idea for a YouTube video; Show a soccer player flopping and rolling around like his leg fell off. Then show a baseball player getting beaned in the leg and refusing to show any sign of pain as he walks to first. Then show another soccer flop. Then another baseball beaning. Repeat over and over for five minutes.

Now that would be entertaining.

Finally, congrats to Tony for his 26th place finish at the Western States 100-mile in 19:28. Today’s QOD is for him.

Quote of the Day;

“Try the meditation of the trail, just walk along looking at the trail at your feet and don’t look about and just fall into a trance as the ground zips by. Trails are like that: you’re floating along in a Shakespearean Arden paradise and expect to see nymphs and fluteboys, then suddenly you’re struggling in a hot broiling sun of hell in dust and nettles and poison oak… just like life.” Jack Keouac in The Dharma Bums

8 IS ENOUGH

After 8 days off and 8 added pounds – that’s enough. It’s time to start lacing up my running shoes again. I have 2 weeks to get into the swing of things again before starting Pfitz’s 12-week program for TCM. After using Daniels for Gma’s, I decided to switch to Pfitz for a couple of reasons; 1) the program from his 2nd Edition has more MP work than the 1st Edition, 2) there seems to be a wider variety of workouts than Daniels, and 3) Scott is using the same program and since we train together a couple of times a week, it’d be nice to be on the same page.

Last night I laid out Pfitz’s 55-70 and 70-85 plans on the same sheet of paper. There’s a lot of overlap with the main difference in the mileage being a day off per week with the 55-70 mpw program. Right now I’m leaning towards incorporating 1 day off from running per week. Hopefully that’ll help keep me fresh and motivated. Plus, I’d like to use that day off to mountain bike in case I go through with the Fat Tire 40 in September.

I was a little surprised that Pfitz only has two 20+ milers in his program. I guess he makes up for it with lots of 17-19 milers. And of course there are lots of mid-week 15 milers that I’ll need to get used to doing again.

Note to self: after taking time off after a marathon, don’t include barefoot strides on your first run back. I did that Monday and after today’s run, my left foot is bothering me. Hopefully it’s just a mild strain.

I had one more observation from Gma’s that I forgot to include last time. There’s a local guy that always wears a heart rate monitor when he runs and I always seem to beat him – including last year when it was hot. I thought his HRM would keep him from crashing in the heat, but apparently not. Anyway, this year he didn’t have his HRM on during the race and he beat me by 3 or 4 minutes. What does all that mean?

Quote of the Day;

“Poetry, music, forests, oceans, solitude – they were what developed enormous spiritual strength. I came to realize that spirit, as much or more than physical conditioning had to be stored up before a race.” – Herb Elliott

MORE RANDOM THOUGHTS

Okay, I have a few more random thoughts;

Anyone else think it’s kind of sad that to be in the Top 100 men at Grandma’s you only needed to run 2:59:12 or faster? To be in the Top 100 women, they needed to run 3:35 or faster.

My last 6 marathons, dating back to 2008, have been 3:12, 3:05, 3:12, 3:09, 3:10, 3:09. I really am just a 3:10 marathoner.

Not to go unnoticed, I did set a Masters PR by about one minute.

I didn’t qualify for Boston in my first 3 marathons. Since then, 12 of my 13 marathons have been under my BQ. The only one that wasn’t was Boston in 2004 when it was 90+ degrees at the start.

Yesterday I got a comment from Kevin suggesting that I scale back my racing and mileage a bit and give myself a longer taper. And I got an email from my friend Eric suggesting that I basically train through a marathon with no more than a 3 day taper.

I was actually thinking about racing more this summer – but I’d include more short races so that MP feels easy. Given my vacation 4 weeks out, I basically took a longer taper than normal this time around, so extending that even further doesn’t make sense to me.

Right now my plan is to take this entire week off and then spend the next 2 weeks running however I feel. That’ll leave 12 weeks for a yet to be determined plan that will lead up to my 3:10 at TCM.

Quote of the Day;

“Successful marathoners must lose their cool, and allow this irrational, animal consciousness to take over.” – Bill Rodgers

TIME TO SECOND-GUESS

Here are some more random thoughts about Grandma’s Marathon weekend;

It was nice to see that they finally switched from Ultima to Poweraid at the aid stations.

People like to complain about the cost of hotels, but you can still find cheap lodging. Our group of 4 stayed at the College of St. Scholastica in a 4 bedroom dorm room with a kitchenette. It cost $388 for the entire weekend – less than $100 each.

I was “surprised” to hear that Mary Akor ended up in the medical tent. Does she end up in the medical tent after every marathon or just after every Grandma’s?

Be sure to check out Wayne’s photo gallery from the half and full. It includes 205 photos of lots of people hugging, raising their arms in victory, dressing alike, etc. You can also find the customary photos of the race medal, the lift bridge, people in their space blanket, lying down or taking an ice bath in Lake Superior. You can also see yours truly (photo #138 and #141).

Now, it’s that time again – time to second-guess everything leading up to Grandma’s.

I was thinking that I wouldn’t have a problem with running all these 3:10s if that’s all I thought I was capable of. I mean, I’ve run marathons where everything feels great and I run a fast time. I know it’s possible. I just haven’t done it for awhile. So the questions become, how do I do it again? What changes do I need to make? What went wrong this time?

I think one easy answer has to do with going on vacation 4 weeks out and only running about 35 miles that week. I never felt good again after getting back home. I don’t think it was entirely from going on vacation, but probably had to do with trying to cram in two 2-week cycles with only two easy days in between before going on vacation. And each of those cycles ended with a rather long race; a half marathon and a 30K. That may be too close together for such long races. Maybe my weekly mileage was too high and I’d be better off with 70 MPW with one day off every week.

With 15 weeks until TCM, these are some things I’ll have to reflect upon as I recover from Grandma’s.

Quote of the Day;

“Let us live so that when we come to die, even the undertaker will be sorry.” – Mark Twain

GRANDMA'S MARATHON RACE REPORT

I’ve come to the realization that the marathon is not my best event. That’s not to say that I still don’t enjoy the challenge. I’m just saying that if I had to pick the event that I’m best at, it’d probably have to be the 20K or half marathon. Anything over 13.1 miles and I start to freak out and get intimidated by the sheer magnitude of the distance. Heck, even my best 25K times don’t correspond with my best half marathon times.

This year’s Grandma’s Marathon provided another case in point on this topic. Having run a 1:26:08 half marathon last month, it seemed like something in the low 3-hour range wouldn’t be that difficult. What’s the rule of thumb, double your half marathon and add 10-minutes? That’d put me at 3:02. 7-minute pace is 3:03:15, so that seemed like a reasonable, conservative goal. Perhaps on a great day I could sneak under 3 hours.

As I drove into town on Friday evening, the temp was 87 and sunny with a strong south wind, which would be a headwind. Needless to say, that was a little concerning the night before the race. Luckily, race day conditions proved to be nicer than that. Temps started out in the low 60s and never got much higher than 65. The dew point was in the mid-50s and there was significant cloud coverage. While the winds did die down some from Friday, we still had a steady 8+ mph head/crosswind to deal with. For those of you not familiar with the course, it’s basically a straight line for 25 miles. So when you have a headwind, you have it the whole way.

Nothing too exciting happened before gun went off. I settled in quickly with my first 3 splits all between 6:54 and 6:56. However, by mile 3 I already felt like I was working too hard too early in the race and I made a conscious effort to slow down. The next four miles were between 7:02 and 7:11. By now, after bucking the wind for 7 miles, I pretty much realized that it wasn’t a day to run fast. I tried to tuck in behind other runners as much as possible, but there were some stretches where that wasn’t possible due to the wind direction or not having anyone around at the time.

By mile 12 I figured if I couldn’t run fast I might as well be comfortable and I stopped for about 45 seconds to take a leak. This never used to be a problem, but during the last 3 years or so, I’ve ended up stopping a couple of times during each marathon. I gotta figure that out sometime, otherwise I’ll have to subtract 90 seconds from each goal in the future.

The halfway point comes and goes in 1:34:12. Maybe if I don’t crash and burn I can break 3:10. Around the aid station at mile 16 I heard people cheering for the 3:10 pace group. Given my experience with the pace group last year, where I wrote “I was quickly losing patience with the inconsistent pacing, getting annoyed with all the rah-rah banter and tired of the congestion at each water stop” I decided to try and hold them off as long as possible – after I stop for one more pee break.

After a couple of 7:17s and a downhill 7:06, I run the 20th mile in 7:26 – my slowest of the day. I hold off the 3:10 pack until mile 22. They catch me at the base of Lemon Drop hill and I jump in with them. Luckily, by now, they’re all rah-rah’d out and are only focused on finishing. A few guys pick up the pace and even more fall off the back. We’re passing quite a few people and it’s kind of hard to get a sense for who’s in the group and who’s not. I guess it doesn’t matter as long as I stick with the guy with the balloons.

Speaking of that, I get a kick out of the spectators that don’t know what the balloons mean. You can see a lot of the spectators looking at the balloons, trying to read the writing on them. And then, of course, you hear the “Nice balloons!” comments along the way. It’s kind of funny.

Grandma’s is one of those courses that gets better the further you go, at least when it comes to spectators. Early in the race there are pockets of spectators here and there, with a few sections that are fairly crowded and loud. However, around mile 19 you start to make your way into town and the crowds get thicker and thicker and they keep building all the way to the finish. I love the beer drinkers around mile 21, the group at Lemon Drop just after 22, all the folks near Fitger’s, and, of course, everyone along Superior Street, especially at the corner of Lake – that has to be the loudest section of all. Just passed this section is the 25 mile marker. I glance at the clock and see 3:00:41. Given that there “should” be about 9 minutes of running left, it seems like sub-3:10 will be reached. No major catastrophes during the last 1.2 and I cross the line in 3:09:42.

I knew I ran 3:09 last year too, but didn’t realize it was 3:09:43. With that rate of improvement, I figure I’ll break 3 hours in 583 years. Here are my splits from the last 2 years;

Split – 2009 - 2010
6.2 miles – 45:34 – 43:33
13.1 miles – 49:45 – 50:39
20 miles – 49:32 – 50:22
26.2 miles – 45:02 – 45:07

I originally thought the consistency from 6.2 to13.1 and 13.1 to 20 was a little eerie. But I think it gets back to being intimidated by the sheer magnitude of the distance. There’s something about the races over 13.1 miles that make me scared to put my neck on the line. Maybe there’s some burning desire to avoid blowing up and walking it in. I don’t know for sure, but I should try to figure it out – or at least change my expectations and be content with being a 3:10 marathoner.

Looking at the results from 2009 and 2010, it appears people are less affected by the wind than the heat. Last year I placed 152nd out of 5998. This year I was 238th out of 5597. I guess I’ll pray for heat in the future.

Finally, I’m not sure I’ve seen this before, but this year, not only do the results show your time at each check point, but they also show your place (overall, age group and sex). It’s cool to see that I was in 309th place at the half, 288th at 20 miles and 238th at the finish. Pretty cool.

If you’re a stats geek, here are my mile splits;

6:54
6:56
6:55
7:02
7:05
7:11
7:07
7:17
7:24
7:08
7:16
7:55 – pee
7:18
7:08
7:10
7:44 – pee
7:17
7:17
7:06
7:26
7:16 – Lemon Drop
7:10
7:17
7:08
7:24
1:36

Thanks for reading. I should have more thoughts tomorrow – hopefully with a few photos.

THE PROBLEM

Awhile ago I wrote an article about the marathon. In reference to the taper and all the pent-up energy surrounding it, I wrote “I may find myself doing energy-sapping projects that could easily wait until after the marathon, like cutting the grass, raking the leaves, or painting the entire house.” Well I didn’t paint the “entire” house yesterday, but I did tape and prime 2 rooms – before cutting the grass.

The problem is that there’s really no better time to do these types of home-improvement projects than the week or two leading up to the marathon. With training cutback, I have an abundance of time and energy on my hands.

Lately I’ve been wondering what it’d feel like if I went into a marathon feeling great with loads of confidence on my side. I can’t remember the last time that’s happened. Maybe I’d be worse off, since it’d be so out of the norm. It’s too late to change much now, so I’ll just lace them up on Saturday along with everyone else.

Of course, all the “I hope you guys get good weather” comments have already started. Nobody ever says “I hope it’s hot for you guys.” Although that’s usually what I’m thinking when I’m not signed up for a marathon. Heck if I want anyone else racing in ideal conditions when I’m not signed up.

One new development, I’m now the program director for the local youth (grades 3-6) x-c program. So if you’re local, be sure to get your kids signed up for the program.

Finally, count me in the group that just doesn’t get soccer. I heard at one point there were 9 goals in 7 games. That’s 9 goals in 10.5 hours of action. With my luck, I’d get up to take a leak and someone would score. Then I'd have to wait another game and a half to see the next goal.

There was a discussion on the radio the other day where one guy believed that some people are soccer “fans” just because it’s the cool thing to do. They really don’t like soccer, but they feel that they must like it because the rest of the world does. I bet that theory is right on the money.

Quote of the Day;

“I always start these events with lofty goals, like I’m going to do something special. And after a point of body deterioration, the goals get evaluated down to basically where I am now – where the best I can hope for is to avoid throwing up on my shoes.” – Ephraim Romesburg, ultra runner

I WISH

You’d think with a marathon 8 days away that I’d have lots to blog about. I don’t.

None of my runs lately have been feeling particularly peppy. I’m not sure if that’s due to overtraining before going on vacation, vacation itself, just normal lethargy due to tapering, or something entirely different. It probably doesn’t help that I haven’t really been in a routine lately. I’ve been staying up later than normal due to kid’s soccer or watching the Twins and NBA finals.

I haven’t watched the NBA in years, but the Celtics/Lakers matchup intrigues me. It reminds me of the Bird/Magic matchup from my youth. One thing I’ll say is that this may be the worst officiated series I’ve ever seen. The refs are blowing their whistles left and right.

I wish I had more, but I don’t.

Quote of the Day;

“Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction.” – William James

ALASKAN PHOTOS

As "promised" here are some photos I took while in Alaska. The cruise left from Seattle, spent a day in the Tracy Arm Fjord before hitting the ports of Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan. We were supposed to hit Victoria, BC, but it was too windy and they couldn't pull into port.

Here we are leaving Seatle. The brown deck below would eventually become my running track.

The next 4 photos were taking in the Tracy Arm Fjord. If you didn't know, Alaska is mountainous with lots of trees and waterfalls. At the end of the Fjord is an glacier, hence all the icebergs.

Here's a photo from my favorite part of the trip. In Skagway we took at train ride up the White Pass & Yukon Trail.

Now we're in Juneau where we took a bike excursion of the Mendenhall Glacier.

Me and my brother Deron.

Me in front of the Mendenhall Glacier. No, I'm not sponsored by Dr. Pepper. But it is a comfy shirt.
Here's the famous, or is it infamous, Creek Street in Ketchikan. During prohibition, they used to carry booze in boats and sneak it into the bars through the floor.

Here's the the Marina in Ketchikan. After running along a boring road for an hour, I finally found a trail that lead to the top of the mountain on the right side of photo. Unfortunately, it was too late in the run and I had to get back to the ship, so I only ran about 10 minutes on those trails.

Quote of the day;

"I'm Mayor of Bonkville today." - Tony Kocanda, who's training for Western States 100, after this morning's run

I'M ALIVE

Yes, I’m still alive. I survived an 8 day Alaskan cruise. Alaska was cool – great scenery. I should have some photo posted soon. The cruise itself was just okay. If you don’t gamble or sit at the bars all day long, there’s not a lot to do. I will say that 8 days without email, blogs or facebook was awesome.

I didn’t run on either of my travel days, but managed to run the 6 days in-between. My first 3 runs were on a treadmill, but then I switch to laps around the sun deck. And I ran one day while we were in port. All the runs were easy, so now I feel really rested. But I also feel flat. My first tempo run since the 30K was tough. I wasn’t moving very fast and I wasn’t into the run mentally at all. I’m guessing I just need to get back into my normal routine and I’ll start feeling back to normal very soon.

At the beginning of the month I mentioned that my all-time high mileage for May is 301 miles. I was well on my way to breaking that before going on vacation. Instead, I ended up with 297 miles. One more little 5 mile run is all I needed… oh well.

It’s sad, but that’s all I have today. If you’re local and want to take a survey about our trail system, head over to the MDRA blog and fill out their short survey.

Quote of the Day;

“Quit? Retire? Hell, no. Next year I’m really gonna train.” – Marty Liquori

NORTHERN LAKES 30K RACE REPORT

Well, that didn't go as planned. The goal was to make 6:50 pace feel as easy as possible. After running 6:35 pace for 13.1 miles on a very windy day two weeks ago, I didn't think that'd be very difficult. Maybe that was my mistake. I ended up running 6:58 pace and the last 10K was anything but easy.

I thought things were going well through about mile 12, but looking back, I was working too hard. Luckily, the guy in front of me was hurting worse than me and I was able to spend miles 12-15 trying to catch him. The original plan was to pick it up at mile 15, but that went out the window and I was just trying to hang on.

I guess the good news is that I finished 6th overall (out of 112 people) and won my age-group (out of 21). Results can be found HERE.

Afterwards Jared ask the simple yet compelling question; "So what do you take away from this?" Ideally, I'd like to have cruised through 30K and gained more momentum before Grandma's. I have to keep in mind that I just completed two 2-week blocks of big mileage with only a 2-day mini-break in between. I think struggling for 30K will also make me a little more converative at Grandma's, at least for the first half of the race. And I learned that the Brooks Green Silence aren't enough of a shoe for me for 26.2. I think I'll switch to the Launch and play it safe.

One of my strengths when it comes to running is my sense of pacing and my ability to run a consistent pace. With that said, it's very frustrating when I start seeing splits that are all over the place. I don't ask much from a race, but accurate mile markers are near the top of the list. Especially for a race the bills itself as a final tune-up for Grandma's. This was the one time where I wish I had a Garmin. For comic relief, here are my splits;

7:05
6:24
7:00
6:19
7:08
6:38
7:10
7:00
13:49
13:50
7:07
7:01
7:11
7:11
4:52 (last .65)

I passed 10 miles at exactly 3-hour marathon pace, but all I could think was "who knows if that's even accurate." And even though the miles seemed more consistent for the last 8 miles or so, I kept expecting to see a 6:20 thrown in.

Normally I don't provide a quote of the day with my race reports, but I heard these lyrics during yesterday's dance recital and they seemed very appropriate;

"That's life, that's what all the people say.
You're riding high in April,
Shot down in May
But I know I'm gonna change that tune,
When I'm back on top, back on top in June." - Frank Sinatra

ROLL WITH IT

I guess this falls under the category of 'No news, is good news.' Or is it 'No news, is no news."

This is one of my busy times at work and it's worse this year because one co-worker was just on vacation for a week, one is getting married and will be gone for 2 weeks, and I leave a week from today for an 8-day Alaskan cruise. All this means is that there's not much time left to blog.

Just a quick update, while I "only" ran 66 miles last week, you may remember that Sunday and Monday were recovery days from the half marathon I ran. I'm back up to 80 miles over the last 7 days. Saturday I'm running a 30K race, which I'm planning on running at MP. Since everything is pointing towards the low-3s, it's only logical to make sub-3 my goal. Seriously, does anyone go into a marathon with a goal of like 3:01 or 3:02? Might as well go after sub-3. So Saturday's goal will be roughly 6:50 pace.

I also pulled the trigger and signed up for TCM. I figured I might as well do it, since I'm running fairly well right now. Of course, that could all change by August, but I'll roll with it right now.

I'm so busy, I'll have to pull a QOD off the top of my head.

Quote of the day;

"Make friends with pain, and you'll never be alone." - Ken Chlouber, Colorado miner and creator of the Leadville Trail 100

HELP WANTED

So, we’re just under 6 weeks out from Grandma’s. Goal #1 for Saturday’s race was to keep the momentum going. Check. Goal #2 is to make sure I’m recovered before ramping up again. Normally, I’d worry about getting in my mileage during the week that ends on Saturday. However, I like to think that I’ve finally learned that my body doesn’t know the difference between the 7 days ending Saturday or the 7 days ending Monday. With that said, yesterday was a complete day off and this morning I just ran an easy 5 miles with some strides.

I’ve mentioned that some of these training plans don’t have very many MP workouts in them. Then again, it doesn’t help when you replace 15 miles at MP with a half marathon race. Overall, I’m not sure which one is better when it comes to marathon training. I do know that my next race is a 30K and that will be run a lot closer to goal marathon pace.

If you haven’t seen it yet, you can check out my latest interview. As I mentioned in the intro, these are the kinds of stories I love to hear about. Brian saw modest marathon progression as he dropped from 3:48 to 3:21 during the course of his first 4 marathons. Then he got serious, ramped up his mileage and proceed to drop over 20 minutes from each of his next 2 marathons. His marathon PR now sits at 2:36.

His interview happened to coincide with a comment I saw on Facebook from a guy I used to run with in high school;

Many of us get caught up thinking that the best runners are the ones who put in lots of weekly miles, the weekend long run, and well timed speed work. The best runners can run fast whether or not they are running long or very short. Pure speed that can be displayed in a 40 meter dash is a better determinant of endurance running potential than how long or often an athlete runs. With this being said, improving your running mechanics, flexibility, and power through drills, explosive strides, and running specific strength exercises in order to enhance your speed, should be your up most priority.

My problem with comments like these is that they’re usually written by people that have never given “lots of weekly miles” a fair try. Granted, I have never made improving my running mechanics, flexibility, and power a top priority either. But I’m pretty sure if you ask all the top runners and coaches in the world, they’ll all vote for mileage first and other ancillary training second.

Brian’s interview and the comment above got me thinking about a new article. Rather than just say, “I’m pretty sure mileage trumps other ancillary training” I thought it’d be worthwhile to write a piece that features runners who’ve increased their volume and seen vast improvements in their running. I already have a list of 6 people, but I want to hear about others. So I need your help. Leave a comment or send me an email if you, or anyone you know, have improved through higher mileage.

And to be fair, if you, or someone you know, have improved through focusing on ancillary training, cutting down to 3 days per week of running, etc., I’d love to hear from you too.

Keep in mind these should be rather significant breakthroughs. If you bumped your mileage by 10 miles per week or added a day of cross-training per week to your plan, that probably won’t cut it. I’m looking for the guy who couldn’t break 12-minutes for 2 miles in high school, but was running 2:28 a few years after college.

Quote of the Day;

“It turns out that the six or seven months of 80 to 100+ mile weeks and running every day really pays off.” - Brian Peterson

NEW PRAGUE HALF MARATHON RACE REPORT

For those of you not familiar with the New Prague Half Marathon, it basically starts in a small town before heading out into the country for a rolling square-shaped course that is often the windiest spring race around. The main question each year is usually, will you have a first half headwind or a second half headwind. On Saturday, Mother Nature had second half headwind penciled in. Personally, I’d prefer to have it the other way around because there are more people around at the start to help block the wind. Plus, a second half headwind makes it more difficult to gauge how hard you should be pushing the pace early on.

My one main goal for this race was to keep the momentum that I’ve been building this spring going. Typically, I like to use the McMillan Calculator after each race in hopes of seeing better performances. And so far this year, each of my 3 races has been better than the last. I also like to use the calculator to give me a ball park idea of what kind of time to expect for upcoming races. My recent 8K and 10K performances predicted a 1:28:23 and 1:26:49 half marathon, respectively. Pace-wise, that’s anywhere between 6:38 and 6:45. Given the conditions and my goal, I thought it’d be wise to go out easy and try to reel people in. When I saw 6:27 for the first mile I was a little concerned. However, I felt in control and decided to take the rest of my splits, but not look at them.

This was really a pretty uneventful race. Just before the 3 mile mark, the only person to pass me all day came by. There happened to be a race clock at mile three where I saw 19:54. That’s 6:38 pace, so I felt better about that quick first mile.

I must have passed 4 guys between miles 4 and 6. One guy was breathing like it was a 5K and another one looked to be a teenager and he was going backwards quickly. Keep in mind we still had a tailwind at this point. I felt sorry for these guys once they turned into the wind. Mile 6 had another race clock and I passed in 39:20 or 6:33 pace. That means the last 3 miles were sub-6:30. I know I’m having a pretty good race, but I also know we’re about to turn into the wind. I have no idea how hard it will be, but I know there’s not going to be any relief for a long time.

Just after mile 6 we turn west and are immediately greeted with head/cross wind. This lasts just passed mile 8, when we turn north into the teeth of the wind for 3 more miles. I look forward to each clump of trees because they provide a little shelter. If there’s one thing about the Jack Daniels threshold workouts I’ve been doing, it’s that they definitely have a grind-it-out aspect to them. After you’ve done something like 4 x 10 minutes with a 2 minute jog in between, it’s easier to put your head down and just run.

It also helped having Omar in front of me. Omar is one of those people I come across from time to time that I only know from looking at the results. He’s one of those guys that seems to run a lot of the same races that I do and we’re usually near one another. He went out hard in this race, but I finally caught up at mile 9. Since we were going into the wind and I didn’t want him to draft off of me, I went by pretty hard. Given his fast early pace, I thought I dropped him. So I was a little surprised when he caught me around mile 11. We ran together until mile 12. When he went for water, I took off. Again, I thought I dropped him. Instead, I think I just made him mad. He caught me and put 20 seconds on me during the last mile.

By this point I had no idea what my time was going to be. I thought perhaps I’d give back 10 seconds per mile over the second half and finish in the 1:27s. So I was a little surprised to see 1:26:08 as I crossed the line.

The momentum continues…

As for splits, sometimes I find it easier to look at 2-mile segments. It takes some of the terrain out of play, for example, if one mile has a large up or downhill section. It also helps if mile markers are in the wrong place. My 2-mile splits were;

13:13
13:13
12:54
13:11
13:16
6:44 (missed mile 12)
12:55
:32 for last .1

According to the results, I placed 18th out of 610 runners. If you take a closer look, you’ll see that 12 of the top 25 runners were 40+ years old. Nice job by the old farts.

If you believe the calculators out there, my last 4 races convert to the following marathon times; 3:10, 3:06, 3:03, and 3:01. It looks like Grandma's could be another marathon where I'm very close to 3 hours.

SICK SATISFACTION

Normally, I “like” to beat myself up over not doing the little things that’d help make me a better runner. You know, stuff like strength training, stretching, foam rolling, diet, etc. When it comes to diet, I try to eat healthy, but I also have a sweet tooth. And a salty tooth. So it’s easy to get carried away in the snack department. It seems I worry about that more when I’m running 40-60 mpw. However, at 80 mpw, I’m a lot less concerned. In fact, I’ve basically been shoveling anything and everything into my mouth without thinking about it. My friends that think I have an eating disorder would be surprised.

This week at work I have gotten a sick satisfaction out of eating 2 pieces of cake on Wednesday for Cinco de Mayo and 2 more pieces of cake yesterday, along with a couple of cookies and a chocolate rice crispy bar, for a wedding shower. I like to think that it’s my way of showing my co-workers that they could eat whatever they want too – they just need to run 10 miles a day.

The thing about running 23 miles last Saturday is that, if I want to keep my weekly mileage the same without running 23 this Saturday, I actually have to run more during the week. That means that at one point during this week, I was at 91 miles for a 7 day period. That has to be one of my top 10 (maybe top 5) “weeks” ever. I guess it’s no wonder that I’ve been a little tired lately.

I can still remember Double leaving a comment a year or two ago where he used the mountain climbing analogy of being “above the tree line” to describe my fitness level. You know, you put in the hard work and you get to a level that you rarely see. I’m not sure I’m there yet, but I’m trying to get there.

Anyway, right now my “master plan” is to run a half marathon tomorrow, followed by my first day off in 2 weeks. Then I’ll focus on another 2 week block of training that will culminate with a 30K. Then I’m going on vacation for a week, so I should have plenty of time to recover from that training block. The trip is 4 weeks before Grandma’s, which is a little too early to start tapering, so I’ll ramp back up for a week and then do a 2 week taper.

Quote of the Day;

"If the furnace is hot enough, anything will burn." – John L. Parker, Jr.

IS IT THE SHOES?

This morning, I decided to lace up my new shoes for my first hard effort in them. I ran on the treadmill with them once, just to try them out. Today’s run would be a more accurate representation of how I plan on using them. After a 2 mile warm-up in my trainers, I switched to the Brooks Green Silence for 2 x 20 minutes at threshold with a 10 minute jog in between and a 2 mile cool-down.

Lately I’ve been running similar type workouts on the crushed limestone of the LRT in Hopkins and Minnetonka. However, since I need to prepare my legs for 26.2 miles of pounding on blacktop, cement and bricks, I decided to head east and stick to the paved bike path. Overall, it was a good run and the shoes felt great. I’m not ready to run a marathon in them yet, but hopefully after this weekend’s half marathon and then a 30K two weeks later, I will be.

Finally, I happy to share with you a new blog. The chances are pretty good that you’ll recognize Chris Lundstrom’s byline. In addition to writing for a couple of local publications, Chris’s words can often be found in Running Times. He’s one of my favorite writers on the sport, so I highly recommend that you add his blog to your favorites.


Quote of the Day;

"The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” – Albert Camus

POISED TO STRIKE

As much as I’d like to start off by talking about myself, it just wouldn’t seem right after Chris Solinsky ran 26:59.60 for 10,000m – oh yeah, in his debut at that distance. You can watch the race below. What amazed me is how smooth and relaxed Solinsky looked. Not to ruin the ending for you, but with 900m to go he effortlessly – if you can call 1:56 for the last 800m “effortless” – pulls away from a couple of Kenyans and Galen Rupp.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Having grown up in Wisconsin, but now residing in Minnesota, it can often be tough to decide who to cheer for when the 2 teams square off. I guess when it comes to running, I’m happy to cheer for both the Gophers and Badgers. I say this because in this race, former Badgers ran 26:59.60 (Solinsky), 27:23.63 (Bairu), and 27:31.56 (Nelson). And that doesn’t even include Matt Tegenkamp who’s the second fastest American ever for 5,000m in 12:58.56.

Okay, enough about those studs. I did manage to get in another run Friday night, giving me 293 for the month. The next morning I woke up with the intent of running 2:30 to 2:40. Instead, I ended up just over 3 hours. What surprised/impressed me the most is that I only had 2 pancakes (no syrup) and some water before the run. Then, during the run, I didn’t consume any calories. Maybe that’ll help teach my body to burn fat.

Those 23 miles on Saturday gave me 80 miles for the week. I had one 80-mile week last fall, but really this is my biggest sustained effort, at least mileage-wise, in nearly 2 years.

Finally, is it just me or are the red winged black birds poised to strike? And let’s not forget the geese. They should be attacking pretty soon too.

Quote of the Day;

"I haven’t seen you this fired up in a long time.” – training partner, Kim, after Saturday’s long run

AWESOME APRIL

What an Awesome April!? Besides having terrific weather and the Twins starting hot, I feel like a runner again. Right now I’m sitting at 287 miles for the month and I may try to squeeze in 5 or 6 more tonight. It’s a little surprising, but that’s my highest April ever – my previous high was 279, set back in 2005. My best May ever is 301 miles and I hope to break that this spring too.

Going hand-in-hand with a lot of miles (hopefully) is feeling a lot fitter. That seems to be the case for me right now, as I’m gaining confidence with each passing week. And that can only mean one thing – time for some new marathon shoes. Who better to ask for advice than Kurt of TCRC fame? After years of going with more of a lightweight trainer instead of a heavier racer for my marathons, I’ve decided to go lightweight again. I’m hoping my recent attempts to help build my foot strength through barefoot strides and the use of my Nike Frees, will allow me to handle a lighter shoe for 26.2.

This year’s shoe of choice is the Brooks Green Silence. Mostly likely, it’s the most unique shoe I’ve ever owned – and that’s saying a lot! Not only are they bright yellow and red, but the colors are exact opposite for each shoe. It’s hard to explain, so just look at the photo.
After reading some reviews online last night, I’m pretty excited about them. They’re less beefy/squishy than the Brooks Launch, but more sturdy than their T6. Best of all, if my calves seize up at mile 18 of Grandma’s Marathon, I can just blame Kurt. You see, it helps to have your alibis figured out well before the gun goes off. It’s just one less thing to worry about on race day.

Speaking of races, I did get into the Fat Tire 40. That’s September 18th, which is 2 weeks before TCM. I gotta figure out what that means for my summer and fall training. Do I want to so some other events that are on my “bucket list” like Paavo and a 50K? Or do I try to train for a fall marathon while including one day of mountain biking per week?

On to May...

Quote of the Day;

"No one knows the fear in a front runner’s mind more than me. When you set off at a cracking pace for four or five laps and find that your main rivals are still breathing down your neck, that’s when you start to panic.” – Ron Clarke

SPITTING DISTANCE

Given how popular the 10K was in the late ‘70s and throughout the ‘80s, it’s kind of weird that I don’t race this distance very often. Typically, I only run 2-3 10K per year and they’re usually bigger races, like Get in Gear, Hennepin Lakes, and Victory. As I pondered this the other day, I came to the conclusion that it’s because 10K is too long to race in a low-key event. Racing a low-key 5K or even 5 miler is doable. However, maintaining focus for 10K when you’re all alone can be tough.

With my relatively low number of 10Ks, I had to go all the way back to the 2007 Get in Gear (37:47) to find a sub-39. And my best time while in the 30-39 age group is only a tad better, 37:32, set when I was 35 years old.

What does all that mean? I don’t know; I just like to look at numbers. But maybe it does mean that I’m not really in that bad of shape. I’m just a mere 10-12 seconds per mile behind what I was running in 2007, prior to setting my marathon PR. Sure that adds up to about 5 minutes over the course of a marathon. But if I finish within 5 minutes of my PR, I’d be pretty happy. Of course, it’d also be a little frustrating because that means I’d be within spitting distance of sub-3.

Anyway, there are 8 weeks to go. I’m feeling pretty good after my cutback week. My right knee has been feeling a little weird, so I’m monitoring that. Usually I just stop and stretch my quad and then the knee feels better.

Finally, if you haven’t been reading the MDRA blog, I suggest checking it out. As much as it pains me to say this, Rocco has done a great job with updating the blog recently and adding a bunch of fun new posts. And I’m not just saying this because he included me as part of blognation.

Quote of the Day;

"Successful marathoners must lose their cool, and allow this irrational, animal consciousness to take over.” – Bill Rodgers

GET IN GEAR RACE REPORT

Last month, when I was doing a little research for an article on running in the '70s, I discovered that the Getting into Gear 10K was Minnesota's first "megarace". Bruce Brothers wrote, "at a time when 600 runners was a massive field, nearly 4,000 turned out" for the first annual event, which has since been renamed to the Get in Gear 10K. Now in it's 33rd year, it's still considered an "annual rite of spring" for many runners.

With a month or so of solid training under my belt and a nice little cutback week leading up to the race, I thought I had a great chance of improving upon last year's time of 39:15, which is 6:18 pace.

I mentioned that I've been reading Born to Run recently. At one point the authors talks with an ultra marathoning gal and she mentions the joys of really getting in-tune with her body. I think that's one thing that's been missing from my running and racing. After all these years it's just so easy to go through the motions. You pay your $30, run a warm-up, start your watch when the gun goes off, take your splits along the way, stop your watch when you cross the line, cool-down, write a race report, and never think of the race again. The whole process can be done over and over without any goals - even though I always seem to be worried about my time. And the whole process can be done without really tuning into myself and what I am doing. I'm talking about simple things like monitoring my breathing, footstrike and arm carriage, asking myself if I can go faster, challenging myself to actually work to catch someone. You know, little things that can add up over the course of a race and potentially turn a good race into a great race.

So, I've been trying to do a better job during my workouts of visualizing myself at different points of this race and thinking about what I want to think about on race day. I don't know why I don't do this more often because I definitely think it helps. When you're at a certain point in a race, like going up a hill or heading across the Ford Bridge towards the finish, it definitely helps when you already have a few key things in mind to think about - rather than leaving the mind to wander aimlessly.

With all that said, I'm happy to report that my race unfolded as well as I had planned. The first 2 miles were all about being patient and not going out too fast. I ended up running those miles in 6:14 and 6:16.

The third mile crosses the river into St. Paul. I know I'm not a strong uphill runner because I tend to maintain the same effort, while others around seem to want to maintain the same pace. One thing about skiing is that you can't maintain the same effort. Because of the hills there's a constant change in one's breathing patterns. So I decided I would try to push the hills more than usual, knowing that I could recover at the top, like in skiing. Even with the increased effort, that mile passed in 6:25. That would turn out to be my slowest of the day.

I was tempted to sneak a peek at the halfway clock, but I knew if I saw any numbers at all, they'd totally mess with my head. I'd immediately double the time and then compare it to last year's time. Then I'd worry about whether or not I could actually run even or negative splits. So it was best to not even glance towards the clock.

Just after the halfway point, the road turns left and heads up to St. Thomas. If you've run TCM, you probably know this hill very well, which is just after the 21 mile mark. Again, I push the effort knowing that there's a nice downhill afterwards. At this point, I'm feeling really good about how the race is playing out. That's a 6:18 mile.

I'm not much of a kicker and I usually wilt in the final mile whenever someone goes by me. So my plan is to pick up the pace at mile 4. There are a couple of guys near me and that helps me stay focused. I'm trying to think about staying relaxed and calm as possible, as well as having a light, quick turnover. It must work as I run a 6:14. I can't help but look at my elapsed time. I see 31:27 and think two things; 1) that's about 31:17 for 8K or 14 seconds faster than my Human Race time - and I still have 2K to go and 2) those last 2K are going to take about 7:30, so I will be very close to 39-flat.

My breathing is really picking up now. I'm still trying to tune-in, but obviously that's more difficult the later in the race you are. Probably the worst part about this course is having to cross over the Ford Bridge. Luckily, it's not too windy this year and that stretch goes by fairly quickly. As I approach the finish line I can see the clock at 38:45 and I still have 100+ meters to go.

As I stop my watch I see 39:01. It's one of those results that kind of bums you out for just missing getting into the next minute. However, I'm happy with how the race played out. Not only beating last year's time (along with setting a post-40 PR), but also how I was able to internally tune-in more than usual. It almost makes me want to do more shorter races.

Almost.

TAKING LIBERTIES

Not much to report during my cutback week. I’ve been reading Born to Run. It’s not a “can’t put down” book for me, but it’s entertaining. I still think the author has taken some liberties with some of his writing. I’m not going to jump on the minimalist movement, but I have been trying to strengthen my feet. I’ve been doing strides once a week in some Nike Frees and also trying to do some of them barefoot – slowing increasing the number. I’ve also been wearing the Frees at work a few days a week, as well as walking around home barefoot on the weekends.

Yesterday I completed one of Daniels’ threshold workouts; 2 mile warmup, 4 x 6 minutes at threshold pace with 1 minute rest, then I took 5 minutes rest before doing another set of three reps.

I have a question regarding Facebook. I get the idea of keeping in touch with friends, but I don’t get the idea of joining all these groups. For example, there’s a group for Twin Cities Runners, Minnesota Runners, Minnesota Running, and Running Minnesota. What’s the point? Do all of these groups accomplish a different task? Personally, they don’t seem to provide much value – and I’m including my Running Minnesota group in that statement. I guess I just don’t understand how these groups are supposed to work.

Quote of the Day;

"Running is like building a house. The first ninety percent of the race takes ninety percent of your resources. The remaining ten percent of the race takes another ninety percent of your resources.” – John Jerome