SPRINGING, IT IS

I re-read Daws’ section on the hill phase and I am indeed springing. Bounding involves exaggerated knee lift AND stride length. I haven’t done any of that type of hill workout yet and I don’t know if I will. I need to go back and re-read Mike’s blog regarding his hill phase.

Speaking of Daws, Evan posted this bio on Daws the other day. Evan will also be running the Ron Daws Memorial 25K tomorrow morning. I’d call it a “race” but it’s unlike most (any) races around here. It cost a whopping $3.50 to run and it is limited to 160 runners. Hmm, sounds a lot like a 1970s race. Directly from their registration info;

This race commemorates 1968 Olympic marathoner Ron Daws. Daws, a '60's/'70's Minnesota running icon, trained over this same course. The race was renamed as a memorial to Daws the year after his death, in 1992.

The course runs over hilly terrain to the south and west of Hopkins. The race, begun in 1979, and now in its fourth decade, has proved to be a stiff challenge at a middle distance for those training for Boston or other spring marathons or who are otherwise looking for a testing workout.

Come prepared to run!!

The course is now measured in kilometers.

Faxed copies of the entry form will not be accepted. This was created to be a low key event-please keep it that way!

Today’s run was the same as last Friday’s; 1 mile with Bailey and 8 miles with Scott around Lake Calhoun. Just seeing an increase in walkers and runners is enough to know that warmer temps have arrived. It was 45-50 at 6 AM. Definitely warm enough for shorts, yet most runners (including us) wore pants. It’s like we know it’s warm enough, but we just don’t trust the weather yet.

This run means I finished March with 365 miles, a new all-time high – one more mile than January. I ran every day and had 7 doubles, all in the first 2 weeks of the month. None of my weeks were super high (92 miles), but none were super low (74 miles) either. I’m happy to report that I’ve gotten back into the routine of lifting and doing some ab work too, including 4 of the last 8 days.

Hills will continue for the first 2 weeks of April – sandwiching a 20k race on April 8th. I’m thinking about doing a 25k trail run for “fun” on the 22nd and then racing Minnesota’s largest 10k on the 29th.

Keeping with the Daws theme, here is today’s quote of the day. Actually, I’ve separated this paragraph into three separate quotes - each one awesome enough to be its own QOD, yet even better when you put them all together. If you haven't read any of Daws' writing, this gives you a good taste. I almost find myself mesmerized as I re-read paragraphs over and over.

“When you reach the 20-mile mark of a marathon feeling utterly spent, but finish somehow, you suspect you can conquer other seemingly unbearable events in life. After you discover you can set tough goals and prevail, you realize you can accomplish almost anything you put your mind to.”

“You don't have to look to the marvels of the Benoits, the Coes, the world-class to find your heroes; look inward to your own struggle and discover yourself. What you find may startle you, it may expose you to a whole gamut of emotions, but it will never bore you.”

“And, as Theodore Roosevelt promised, your place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” - Ron Daws, from Running Your Best, Epilogue