TCM PHOTOS

If Katie McGregor weren't so damn fast, maybe this would have turned out.

Here are the leaders around mile 16.


Actually, I think this photo of Marla Runyan is one of the best I took - but it's still pretty bright.

I had to at least try and get a photo of Sara Wells. You can tell I was on the wrong side of the road.

This is an example of the shade/sun mix I was talking about. I actually kind of like this one because while Laurie is trucking up the hill, the guy behind her is walking and looking at his watch. He's probably "doing the math" and figuring any chance of sub-3 just went out the window.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW

Will you please let me know if my writing is half as bad as my photo taking? I took 2 rolls of photos at the TCM. Only about 4 of the photos are worth keeping. Problem #1 is lighting. I need to find some shady spots. The photos in the bright sun suck, the ones that are sunny with shade mixed in are even worse. Problem #2 is angle. I need to get out in front of the runners and shoot them coming right at me, not off to the side. If anyone else has tips, let me know.

Training update; Wednesday I ran an easy 5 on the treadmill. Thursday I was supposed to run mile repeats, but I basically didn’t feel like it, so it never happened. I ran the first one, but couldn’t see my marking on the path (note to self: don’t use gold paint on a black surface) so I stopped at 7 minutes. During the 2nd rep I just said “fuck it” and stopped running hard. I slowed down and just ran an easy 10 miles. This morning I ran an easy 5 miles.

Two weeks left. I can’t lose focus now. Hard workouts in the morning don’t seem to be working. I’m going to have to find a couple of nights next week where I can get away and do some harder running.

Since it is taper time, here’s an article on the topic by Pfitz.

I just came across this post on eliterunning.com. It turns out there are some really cool projects taking place in the running community. Be sure to check out the flotrack video. Here’s a blog from the flotrack guys.

Speaking of cool projects, my other projects are gradually building momentum. I’ve got questionnaires out to 4 studly 60+ age-groupers, 3 of which have agreed to answer the questions and be interview. Also, I just found out this morning that 3 other local guys (2 who have Olympic marathon trials qualifiers) have agreed to be interviewed. Last but not least, a member of Team USA Minnesota is also up to the task. So stay tuned.

Finally, a few months ago I talked about the Nude Mile. I posted a photo of one of my favorite t-shirts here. Bear was kind enough to send me a photo of this cool shirt too.



Quote of the day;

“To keep from decaying, to be a winner, the athlete must accept pain – not only accept it, but look for it, live with it, learn not to fear it.” – Dr. George Sheehan

OUTSIDE OBSERVER

Wow, I was starting to think that Bloggerland was fading away. There hasn’t been much action lately and not too many comments. I guess my posts were just boring as hell. That’s alright.

Just to make it clear that I don’t have this marathon thing mastered, here are the splits from all my marathons;

1:36/1:44 TCM 1996
1:32/1:45 Gma’s 1997
1:35/1:51 TCM 1997
1:30/1:33 Gma’s 2001
1:30/1:31 TCM 2001
1:28/1:35 Boston 2002
1:30/1:28 Whistlestop 2002
1:44/2:07 Boston 2004
1:29/1:40 Gma’s 2005

As usual, Evan had some good thoughts on the topic. Speaking of Evan, check out his photos of the Griak Invite and TCM.

I was trying to think about my blog as an outside observer this morning. I’m not one to shy away from questioning someone’s training when something jumps out at me. As an outside observer of myself I’d say, “How the hell is this guy going to break 3 hours let alone run 2:55 at Chicago? He runs nearly 9:00 pace for his easy days. He tries to run mile repeats at 6:10 pace, but only runs 6:15 pace. He struggles to run sub-7 pace for 3 miles. He just ran a half marathon and barely broke 1:30. I’m just going to read along and watch this train wreck unfold.”

I know it doesn’t look good on paper, er, monitor. However, for some reason I’m confident I’ll run well at Chicago. I may not run 2:55, but I think something is going to have to go drastically wrong for me not to run well. And by “well” I mean smart, like the stretch of marathons I ran in 2001 and 2002.

Maybe I’m confident because my training isn’t really different from any other marathon training I’ve done. I’ve always run slower on my easy days, compared to other 3-hour runners. I’ve never put too much stock in hitting exact splits for workouts. I’m more of an “in the ballpark” kind of guy. I’ve always considered marathon pace to be tough, in training, especially if I’m running solo. So maybe there’s hope after all. Heck, based on mileage, I’m better off than ever before.

There's only one way to find out.

There’s a “running” blog that a lot of runners probably don’t read – mainly because Will doesn’t write about running much. He went to UW-EC a few years after me. He’s a damn fine runner and an even better writer. Check out his account of his recent Lakefront performance.

Quote of the day;

“And all was well, I tell you. The crowds cheered. They laughed and sang at my 666 jersey, chanting my name (and the devil's)…I was king of my own modest goals.” – Will, during the Lakefront Marathon

MARATHON PACING

Today’s discussion focuses on the marathon and pacing. I love this time of year; cooler temps, fall colors, marathons taking place every weekend, etc. Call me a sadist, but two of my favorite “hobbies” this time of year include 1) browsing marathon results and 2) reading race reports.

Yes, I know other people do this stuff too. However, when I look at race results I’m usually comparing first half and second half splits to see how badly people blew up. And when I read race reports I especially like to find sentences like “I felt really good at mile 2 so I picked up the pace…” Then I scroll down to about mile 16 in the report and look for the gory details.

I haven’t officially kept track of results but the same things appear in every marathon, every year, no matter where you are in the pack – people slow down. Looking at the first 500 finishers of TCM and I’d guess about 7% ran even or negative splits. A positive 5-minute split seems normal.

Since I’m a math geek, I thought I’d break that down into pace. Say you want to run 7:00 pace and finish in 3:04. Assuming you go out on-pace (which is probably a bad assumption) you’d go through the half in 1:32. The 5-minute positive split would give you a 1:37 second half for a time of 3:09. That means your pace dropped from 7:00 to 7:24 pace during the second half. Assuming you held 7:00 pace all the way to mile 20 means you dropped from 7:00 pace to 7:54 pace for the last 10k.

Those seem like rather large increases when you look at it that way. But like I said, this 5-minute positive split is “normal”. I know I’ve done it. I’m just curious why it happens. Are people doing it on purpose? Falling apart? Not realistic in their goal pace? Not adjusting their goal to the conditions?

I don’t have the answers, but I have some ideas. I’m curious to hear other's opinions.

As for my training, I haven’t quite started my taper yet. In the past I think I’ve tended to over-taper for my races. I’d get to 3 weeks out and just cut my mileage in half all the sudden. This time around I’m going to see if I can manage something closer to a 70, 50, 30 drop in weekly mileage.

I jumped on the treadmill last night for an easy 5 miles. I had a dentist appointment this morning, so I’ll have to put off my run until tonight.

I was going to give an update on my other projects, but this is already getting to long. I close with a “funny” article on Marla Runyan at TCM. I particularly enjoyed the last sentence; “I can't complain.” Based on the article, I beg to differ.

Quote of the day;

“Show me a real runner and I will show you someone who has, at least on occasion, become too wrapped up in the sport.” – Mark Will-Weber, The Quotable Runner

I'D BE LYING

I’d be lying if I didn’t say I had doubts surrounding 2:55 at Chicago. Some things I look at give me positive feedback – like the guy I mentioned yesterday running a 1:01:30. Another guy I beat by a minute in the “10K” ran 1:02:40 (which calculates to a 2:55) at the 10 miler. Other things give me negative feedback – like watching super strong runners walking at TCM. Even workouts like this morning’s leave me wondering.

The workout was 11 miles with 2 x 3 miles at marathon pace with a 1 mile jog in-between. I knew where my start and end points were, but since it was pitch-black I couldn’t see my ½ marks – so I just ran. I tried to stay relaxed and pay attention to my stride rate and breathing. I think I did a pretty good job with that – except for the damn kid’s song that was playing over-and-over in my head. At least it was a catchy tune and not some Barney crap.

Anyway, the first rep took 21:03, while the second took 20:43. Given that my goal pace is 6:40, running 7:01 pace and 6:54 pace is a little disheartening.

Of course I try to rationalize the situation. It’s very early in the morning, it’s dark, it’s breezy, the course is rolling and winding, I’m not rested, I’m wearing my trainers, etc.

It’s workouts like these that make me question other bloggers who run 7:30 pace every day and then run their marathon at 8:00 pace.

The good news is that this morning my legs felt the best they’ve felt in a long time – pain-wise (not springy, fresh-wise). I’ve had this dull ache that’s been running up the back of my left leg. Today it wasn’t there. The heel is fine too. So basically, “the sock” rocks!!! I’ve also stopped running in my lightweight trainers and that’s probably helped a little.

You know you don’t find many special interest stories here – since you know I’m an "elitist". But the story Scott sent me is a special interest story of a fast local guy. The guy happened to finish right in front of Scott in the 10 miler. I’m not sure how he’s going to run 6:09s at Chicago when he “only” ran 6:19 on Sunday, but I wish him luck.

Speaking of “elites” Andrew just PR’d by 6 minutes and ran his first (of many) sub-3.

There are some TCM photos here, including a nice one of Sara Wells, (of course blogger won't let me upload it) and here. I’m sure more will follow, especially from that first site.

Quote of the day;

“If the Lord had meant for man to run, he’d have given him four legs or at least made him late for the bus.” – Red Smith, sportswriter

GREAT WEEKEND

What a great weekend; great weather, great family time, great 20 mile run, great race weekend with the 10 miler and marathon, etc. Then you top all that off with the tWINs winning their division on the last day of the season. Sweet! I could go on-an-on about the tWINs, but about 99% of the people reading couldn’t care less. So I’ll point those interested to two baseball blog’s; Pat Neshek’s and Batgirl’s . I am curious though. Why are the playoff games in the afternoon?

I started the weekend by getting in my last 20 miler before Chicago. As much as I’d have loved to sleep in, I had to make up for running and watching a race last Saturday – on my wife’s birthday. So I was out the door by 5:30. I ran the first 10 miles paved paths. Once it was light enough I ventured onto the Lebanon Hills trails.

I’m really pleased with how this run went as I felt strong the whole way. I only ate a piece of banana bread and drank some water before heading out the door. I had one gel with me and took that 2:10 into the 2:42 run – more so to practice taking gels than anything else.

At the beginning of my marathon training, my long runs usually leave me tired – to the point where I just want to lie down for awhile once I get home. Of course, with 2 girls at home and having been gone for 2.5+ hours, that’s usually not an option. The good news is this run didn’t wipe me out. I felt great the rest of the day.

This run gave me 75 miles for the week and I closed out September with 295 miles. My previous high for September was 245 miles – 11 years ago.

Hmm, this is already getting long and I haven’t even started talking about the TCM weekend. Here’s my quick take.

It looked like great weather – at least at the start. It was 40 and calm when I woke up. It was probably 45 for the 8 AM start and around 66 at noon. The skies were clear, so the course seemed to warm up pretty good. Hopefully there was enough shade to keep the runners cool.

I watched the 10 mile race just before the 3 mile mark and watched the marathon around miles 16 and 21. I’m not sure if watching has scared me or fired me up for Chicago. Watching strong runners that I know walking up the hill at 21 was not fun. Seeing large positive splits in the results is not fun. I guess if nothing else, I’m reminded to respect the distance and run a smart race. Hopefully I can remember that 3 weeks from now.

Remember the "10K" that I ran last weekend? Well I was happy to see that the guy who finished about 20 seconds behind me ran 1:01:30 for the 10 miler. That calculates to a 2:52 marathon. I’m not sure I’m in that kind of shape, but it provides more feedback than I got for my $25 a week ago.

I’m stealing today’s quote of the day from letsrun.com;

“I still run as fast as I used to. I don’t see anything that makes me think I’m getting slow.” – Mbarak Hussein after winning his second straight TCM at age 41

IT'S HAPPENING TO ME

I woke up to perfect marathoning weather this morning; 45 degrees and calm. The forecast is for a cloudy 60 degrees. Unfortunately, at least weather-wise, I’m not running a marathon today. Looking ahead to Sunday’s forecast for TCM and I see a low of 50 and a high of 74. That sounds pretty good to me.

One of the reasons I chose to run Chicago over TCM is the weather factor. Last year it was warm and muggy at TCM, while two weeks later in Chicago it was perfect. Everyone I know struggled at TCM or PRd at Chicago. Hopefully pushing Chicago back another week will only help “guarantee” cool conditions.

I used to (still do?) think my wife was worrying about nothing when she’d have something on her mind and couldn’t sleep. But now it’s happening to me. Usually something will wake me up and I’ll go right back to sleep. However, I woke up at 4 AM this morning and started thinking about ideas for an article. I couldn’t get to sleep so at 4:30 I got up and started my day. That’s about 30 minutes earlier than normal, so I guess it's not a big deal. I just went for a 10 mile run instead of the 5-6 I had planned. I was going to double back tonight, but I figure by 8 PM I’ll be asleep on the couch.

If you haven’t seen it yet, Duncan’s great interview of Brian Sell yet, can be found here. Today’s quote of the day comes from the interview;

“Any time you try and knock a minute or two off your time, you've got to expect it to be the most pain you've ever been in. I'm expecting the worst and hoping for the best.” – Brian Sell

PENCIL AND PAPER

I have to admit, I have this “habit” of looking ahead to a new goal or project prior to completing what I’m working on. Yesterday I had a bunch of things floating around in my head.

First, I was sending emails, left and right, regarding my new blog. I asked a bunch of people what they thought of the idea. I also came up with a bunch of general questions that could be applied to any runner. Of course, I had to send those to some people and get their opinions and additions.

Second, somewhere along the line I became the race director of a 12k. Well, not really, but emails went back-on-forth regarding why we need a 12k in town, where we could set up a course and when we could hold the event.

Finally, I got an email last night asking if I would be interested in written a bi-monthly column for the Minnesota Distance Runners Association’s magazine. Apparently, during all the whoring, err, I mean marketing of my blog, it somehow got into the hands of the managing editor. I’m still not sure which blog she’s talking about. I only marketed my new blog, but it’s hard to imagine the one interview, of myself, would lead to a writing “career.” Of course I said I was interested. I love the sound of my own keyboard as much as the next guy.

You can see that there’s a lot going on lately. One thing you didn’t see mentioned; the Chicago Marathon. Maybe I’m better off being distracted. Then again, maybe I’d run better if I stayed focused on the task at-hand.

Anyway, it’s not like I’ve stopped training. Last night I jumped on the treadmill for an 8 mile progression run. This morning it was an easy 8 miles.

The prospect of writing a bi-monthly column did cause me to do something this morning that I haven’t done in 27 years of running. I carried a pencil and paper with me. While I’d like to think my mind is like a steel trap, I know some of my ideas while running slip my mind by the end of a run. Believe it or not, I actually used the pencil and paper too, as I wrote down 2 ideas for articles.

Quote of the day;

“Cross country is like poker. You have to be holding five good cards all the time.” – Rollie Geiger, North Carolina State coach

SLOWPOKES

I met my training group at Macalester College last night. Since most of them are running TCM (and with my recent heel pain) we just ran a moderate 55 minutes.

On my way to my group run last night I stopped at a local running store and bought the sock. I’ve used one with success for Achilles tendonitis before and it’s advertised for PF, so I thought I’d give it a shot. I loaned the one I had to my dad and I haven’t gotten it back yet.

Anyway, I wore it last night and my heel feels a little better today. It doesn’t ache every time I get up from my desk, like it did yesterday. The weird thing is my shin actually felt better this morning too, during an easy 6 mile run. Usually it takes awhile to loosen up, but it felt good from the start today.

Here’s an interesting “running with slowpokes” article that’s being discussed here.

I like Evan’s comment;

“I think that people would enjoy running more as a recreation if they built up to marathons slowly, and that more would become competitive runners if they slowly increased their race distances. If you're going from 0 to 26.2 in 6-12 months it's difficult for most people to also learn to race.”

This article was also posted on that message board. I haven’t read it yet, but my guess is that it’ll be interesting too – just based on who they spoke with.

I almost used Evan’s comment as the quote of the day. However, I came across two that I like better – both by the same guy.

“My training could be described as simple, non scientific and unmeasured. It basically consists of trying to run every day for as long as I can, considering my current physical condition. When I feel ok and have enough background, I run for 3 hours a day every day not taking note of the pace or the distance run.” – Ed Whitlock, the only runner over 70 to ever run sub-3

“It’s a bit of a bore, a bit of a chore. I don’t suffer from runners' highs. They don't exist for me. I train in order to be able to race well, I train to race. I don’t train for my health or for my enjoyment. If I didn’t race, I’m not sure whether I would train.” – Ed Whitlock, who ran 3:08 last weekend at the age of 75

NEW PROJECT

Quick training update. I ran 6 easy miles on Sunday. No surprise that my calves were a little sore. Monday I managed to get back into my morning running routine. When did it start staying dark so long? I ran 10 miles and half of them were in the dark.

This morning I got up for an easy run before tonight’s workout, however my heel was sore again. And not the bruised kind of sore. It feels more like how I imagine PF (as in Phucking Fasciitis) to feel. I'll keep a close I on this one.

Instead of going back to bed I went into work early to tinker with my new project. Of course I added all my links and then blogger crapped out so I had to re-do everything at lunchtime. I haven’t double-checked the links, so I apologize if they’re not working. What do you think? Hopefully the interviews will be a little better. I just wanted to mess around a little.

Quote of the day;

“As I've mentioned before, being a running columnist has its perks, and if you don't drool on the legends, they tend to be very cooperative and very nice.” – Diane Sherrer

"PR" BABY

Ever run a “PR” and been so pissed afterwards that you can barely stand it? Saturday I ran the Bolder Options 10k for the 2nd year in-a-row. It starts in downtown Minneapolis and is a double out-and-back course along the Mississippi River. Last year I finished 3rd overall in 39:30. I finished 3rd overall again this year. The “only” problem is that I ran 42:30.

“How can that be a PR?” you ask. Well, they fucked up the course by putting the turn-around in the wrong spot.

After passing a mile in a controlled 6:17, I thought it took awhile to get to the first turn around (which should have been around 1.55 miles) but didn’t really think anything of it. When I got to mile 2 I knew something was wrong because they had the 4 mile sign right next to the 2 mile sign. If you think about it, 2 miles would mean I have 1.1 miles till the finish area. Well add 1.1 to 4 and you get 5.1. Whatever, no big deal, I’ll just forget about taking splits from here on out.

At the 5k turn-around they have a clock and I snuck a peak; 20:5X. What? That can’t be right. I glance at my watch and sure enough, it’s turning to 21 minutes. Right then I started to get pissed and basically lost all focus for the 2nd half of the race. My main goal from there was to just maintain my position, which I did.

I have some basic expectations when I enter a race; 1) keep the runners safe and 2) have an accurate course.

You can cheapen the shirt, get rid of the coffee before the start and you don’t need enough pizzas at the finish to feed an army. And get rid of the announcer who was trying to be funny while giving play-by-play of the finishers. Obviously, if you don’t have an accurate course, having the best timing system in the world that measures to the zillionth of a second really doesn’t matter either.

Afterwards I found 3 people with GPS units measuring 6.9, 6.94 and 7.07. I’d like to think I was running 6:00 – 6:10, but my guess is I was closer to 6:15 – 6:20. At least the results acknowledge the long course, calling it 6.7 miles.

One of the most frustrating parts is that I was hoping to use this race as a gauge for pacing at Chicago. Another guy was going to use it to determine his Twin Cities 10 mile goal.

I’ll stop bitching and end with something I thought was annoying but harmless. The guy standing at the 1 mile mark read our splits every time we passed him. The problem is, other than the first pass, the other times are basically meaningless. What does 14:27 mean when I’m at (what should be) mile 2.1?

Quote of the day;

“Eventually, sacrificing yourself and suffering are what is going to make the difference between he who becomes a genuine champion and he who will never be one.” - Lance Armstrong

YOUR INPUT NEEDED

I’m excited. Duncan had a post regarding questions he should ask Brian Sell during an interview. These interviews end up on this awesome site.

That’s not what got me excited, but it got me thinking – along with Eric’s email today that I should write a book. I’m not up to that task, but I mentioned that I’d like to be involved with covering the sport on a regional level.

Then I thought; “Why couldn't I do something like eliterunning.com, but on a Twin Cities basis?” Heck, even if I just start out by interviewing people in the area, there has to be some interest, right?

I started listing runners who I have email address for and I came up with like 60 names. Of course they’re not all super studs, but I think there’s a lot of talent, along with some “special interest” stories. There’s a couple of coaches, some triathletes (including an IM Hawaii qualifier), a few couples, some Olympic Marathon Trials qualifiers, a guy doing 50 states, a guy who did a relay in Alaska, a Pike’s Peak Doubler, a 400/800 guy, etc.

I’m very curious what you guys think, especially my local readers. Is this something that you think would be interesting? Any thoughts, concerns, feedback? All comments are more than welcomed.

1 MONTH

I’ve just got a whole bunch of odds and ends on my mind today. No real, single coherent thought (do I ever?).

First, is an easy one; 1 month to go until Chicago.

Last night I ran an 8 mile progression run on the treadmill. I started around 9:40 pace and worked down to 6:40 pace. The entire run took 62 minutes. I had a different workout (2 x 3 miles) on the schedule, but I figured with a 10k on Saturday, I’d back-off a little. At this point I’d rather run a workout on Tuesday and a solid race on Saturday, rather than try to squeeze in 2 workouts and a race.

One thing I’ve noticed with all this treadmill running, I don’t have the same “deep thoughts” that I have while running outdoors. That’s probably because I’m too busy watching TV instead of being engrossed in my own thoughts. It probably makes for poor blog entries too, but what are you gonna do?

I did have a thought this morning regarding all the harping I do about increasing your mileage and challenging yourself. I think one of the reasons I keep mentioning that topic is because I wish someone would have beat that into my head 15 years ago when I was in my prime. Heck, 25 years ago would have been better. While my college coach was great, it was really up to you to run as much or as little as you wanted. There really wasn’t any “more is better” movement, no letsrun.com and no blogsphere at the time.

Speaking of "more is better" check out Jason Lehmkuhle's recent journal entry where he talks about his build up for TCM. It turns out his "down" weeks have been 120 mpw.

I have a question/observation if you watched CSI last night. How come the “crack staff” at CSI didn’t realize that the dead guy and the guy they were interrogating had the same (his and his) rings on their finger?

For you armchair chiropractors out there, check out Sacrowedgy.com. I haven't checked it out too much, but Jim says it’s a good site. Although I’m kind of leery of anything with “wedgy” in it’s name.

How about this “top notch” information from sportsline.com regarding fantasy football;

Kevan Barlow may start Week 3 at Buffalo after Derrick Blaylock was held to seven yards on six carries last week. Barlow, though, didn't fare much better with 42 yards on 14 rushes.

No, 42 yards on 14 carries isn’t going to make the Pro Bowl, but I’d say he DID “fare much better” than the guy who ran 7 yards on 6 carries. That’s 3 yards/rush versus 1.2 yards/rush. Thanks for your in-depth analysis sportsline.com!

Quote of the day;

“What makes me happy about it is that, in a sport that doesn't have many opportunities to showcase itself, that we have built a meet here where we're able to do that.” - Steve Plasencia, talking about the Griak Invitational

WHAT AM I MISSING?

Somewhere along the way I’ve gotten out of my routine of running in the morning. I don’t know if it’s because it’s getting darker and darker in the morning or because I’ve been placing more emphasis on my Tuesday and Thursday workouts. It’s probably a combination. Since my Tuesday workout is in the evening, I’ve been telling myself that I might as well sleep in on Monday and run that evening – and watch MNF. Whatever the reasoning, I’m still getting in my miles and my workouts, so I shouldn’t overanalyze it.

I don't watch my weight too closely (don’t want to overanalyze that either), but I like to keep it down as a key race approaches (duh). I'd say 143-145 is “normal.” Lately I've been in the 140-142 range. Maybe that'll bode well for Chicago.

Last night I ran an easy 6 miles on the treadmill while (of course) watching the Twins. How can you not love this team? Down 2-1 at Boston and they rattle of 4 in the 8th and 3 in the 9th. These guys were 11-12 games back at the All-Star break. Right now they are tied with Detroit in the loss column. Let’s see; Morneau wins the MVP, Mauer wins the batting title, Santana wins the Cy Young award and Gardenhire wins Manager of the year. Oh yeah, we’ll take the Championship too.

Since it’s that of year, here’s a photo to spice up my blog.



I have to watch what I say because my friend Eric’s daughter is on the team now. The U of M is hosting the Griak Invitational this Saturday. It’s always fun to watch all the college studs (men and women) mix it up during cross country. Let’s see, I have a 10k at 8:30, the men race at 11:20 and the women at 12:10. What am I missing? Oh yeah, it’s my wife’s birthday too. Think she’ll mind watching the girls till about 2?

Finally, "thanks" to my co-worker who came to work 2 days this week with a horrendous cough. I can hear you a mile away. I "really" appreciate that.

Quote of the day;

“The footing was really atrocious. I loved it. I really like cross-country; you’re one with the mud.” – Lynn Jennings

RIVETING POST

Just an easy 6 miles Monday night while watching the Steelers and Jaguars duke it out. Last night I met my training group from Macalester College. The workout was 2 x 3 miles at MP minus 15 seconds with a one mile jog in-between. On the way over I was wondering if we’d be on the track or not. Since I’ve been doing most of my longer repeats on the track lately, I was actually hoping for a break.

Our coach was on the same page and we ended up running the Get in Gear 10k loop. Jenna and I ended up running together, but instead of doing 2 x 3 miles we basically just ran 1 x 6 miles around marathon pace – at least my marathon pace, I think Jenna was jogging. Throw in a warm-up and cool-down and we had close to 11 miles for the night.

During our cool-down I was telling her about my recent “6 degrees of separation” experience and how I "met" Tracy through my blog. During Saturday’s group run, Naz mentioned running with a gal during a 25K race. The gal turned out to be Tracy. During that same group run we saw Jenna running with a group of people. It turns out Tracy was in that group. So right now we’re at 4 degrees of separation, but I’m sure it’ll grow.

Anyway, the story was so “riveting” that she said she had to check out my blog so I sent her the link. I'd better take back all the bad things I've said about her on here. I warned her that she might be bored to tears. For my wide Philadelphia readership, Jenna is planning on running the Philly marathon. If you have a place to stay for her, let me know. Just kidding. That’s a little inside joke because Jenna just set up her non-running brother who lives in Chicago with a house guest, whom she “met” through letsrun.com, for marathon weekend.

As the President of her fan club, I should be all over this announcement. Thanks to Evan for sending the link.

Since we all like to talk about the weather, I'll close with this little nugget. It was 39 degrees this morning. It seems like our mornings went from 60-65 to 40-45 without any transition. I think this cold snap all but guarantees that it will be warm and muggy for TCM in 11 days.

Quote of the day;

“Some do well in other races, some run fast times, but they cannot do well in the ultimate, the Olympics…The question is not why I run this way, but why so many others can not.” – Lasse Viren on peaking

LET'S BE HONEST

Since I mentioned the Twins thumping of the Indians in my last post, it’s only fair to say that Friday night I ran an easy 5 miles while watching the Indians beat the Twins in 10 innings. What a goofy sport though. They put a guy on the mound with an ERA of like 36 while we put the Cy Young award winner on the mound – and they beat us. Go figure.

Saturday morning I joined the “old guys” – I haven’t come up with a better name for them yet – for a long run. We met at Fort Snelling and ended up running the Lake Street Bridge loop, back to the ranger station and around Pike Island. Since most of the guys are running TCM, we actually kept the pace controlled and stayed together for the most part. Usually we start out together on these runs, but then it’s every man for himself.

These guys make me want to run with a pencil and paper just so I can jot down all their stories regarding training, racing and life in-general. Granted, by this time next year, I’ll probably be sick of hearing “Back in the old days…” but for right now, it’s a lot of fun.

We ran for 2:32 and I called it 20. Not sure if we were going close to 7:30 pace, I say probably not. But let’s be honest, 20 looks better in the logbook than 19. It sounds better when I talk to people about my training (which is almost never). And it makes for a better blog entry. So 20 miles it is.

Seriously, whether I call it 19 or 20 doesn’t matter. I’m more “excited” that I got in back-to-back 80+ mile weeks (82 and 81) – that hasn’t happened since early March. I’m going to cutback this week, race a 10k Saturday, bump back up for 1.5 - 2 more weeks and then taper for 2 - 2.5 weeks.

Sunday I was planning a 10-12 mile run but woke up with heel pain. That’s the 2nd time that’s happened in the last month. If it’s plantar fasciitis I want to be extra cautious. So instead of running for 90 minutes, I biked for 90 minutes on the trainer while bouncing between the Vikings and Twins. The good news (other than both teams winning) is that the pain has gone away the next day on both occasions.

Speaking of injuries, I think I have some type of taper-induced injury mechanism in my body. Maybe it’s a fear of success thing. Looking back over my last few key races and it seems like something always flares up as the race draws near. Let’s hope that’s not the case this fall.

Quote of the day;

“Running is my meditation, mind flush, cosmic telephone, mood elevator and spiritual communion.” – Lorraine Moller

NICE WORKOUT

I had a nice workout on the treadmill last night; 2 mile warm-up, 2 x 3 miles at MP minus 15 seconds, 1 mile rest in-between, 2 mile cool-down. The repeats were run in 19:27 and 19:21 or 6:29 and 6:27 pace. All told, I ran 11 miles in 1:21 and had 16 miles for the day.

To be honest, during the first pick-up I didn’t think I’d be able to complete the workout. My lungs felt fine, but I made the mistake of dropping the pace of the treadmill from like 8:00 to 6:30 all at once. It felt like my legs were going to fly off the back of the ‘mill. It took me a half mile for my legs to catch up and finally start feeling comfortable. During the second pick-up I eased into the pace and it felt a lot easier.

Watching the Twins beat the Indians 9-4 helped make the workout go by quicker. Actually, the 7-8 pitching changes by the Indians slowed things down. I know, I know, it’s hard to believe I haven’t talked about the Twins lately. It seems like just last week they were 10 games out of first. Now they’re one game behind Detroit and two games ahead of Chicago for the wild card spot. I like what the Twin’s pitching coach said on the radio today; “We’re not looking behind us (at Chicago). We’re focused on Detroit and winning the division. Let the Tigers and Sox battle for the wild card spot.”

Since you’re all probably wondering about Joe Mauer too, I’ll give you an update. He’s cooled off a bit and is battling with Derek Jetter – down to the thousandth of a point – for the American League batting title. Right now they're both hitting around .345.

Alright, I know there are probably more runners that stop by than triathletes and you know I like to read what the elites are up to, so I thought I’d post Simon Whitfield’s blog, which I came across today.

I hate to “steal” quotes of the day but Mario posted a quote that’s too good to pass up. Going out too fast in my recent half marathon really has me focused on going easy at the start of Chicago.

“I was (watching) at the 5K with Tom. I looked down at my watch - fourteen twenty-five. Way too fast. The goal was fifteen minutes. Right then it was over. I go to the next Starbucks and get a coffee.” - Coach Dieter Hogen on Evans Rutto going out too hard two years ago at the Chicago Marathon.

THAT FEELING

Not much to report, training-wise, today. However, I did have a thought which I’ll get to in a minute.

I forgot to mention that it was 48 degrees yesterday morning when I ran. I ran another easy 5 miles last night on the treadmill. This morning it was back up to 58 degrees with a gorgeous sunrise as I rounded the west side of Lake Normandale. Too bad the sun rises so quickly. By the time I rounded the 2 mile lake again, the sun was already over the horizon. The run this morning was another easy 5 mile run – a precursor to tonight’s 2 x 3 mile @ MP minus 15 seconds. That will have to be run on the treadmill as Amy will be gone.

Okay, so my thought this morning had to do with my goals for October 22nd. Obviously, I’d like to PR. But this morning I said to myself that I really want “that feeling” that surrounds running a good race. I want Chicago to be like the day I set my marathon PR. During that race confidence abounded, sub-3 pace seemed effortless, things outside my control didn’t bother me, race mishaps didn’t phase me, etc.

Those are the things I want to experience again on October 22nd – maybe even more than a PR.

Nah. I’ll take the PR, but “that feeling” wouldn’t be bad along the way.

Quote of the day:

“Marathon running is a terrible experience – monotonous, heavy, and exhausting.” – Veikko Karvonen, 1954 European and Boston Marathon champ

COOL PHOTO

Did I mention that the Monona Terrace is the perfect set up for the transition area? Did I mention that there were lots of spectators? No wonder I didn't take any photos.

MP MINUS 30

First, I have a couple of final thoughts on the Ironman before moving on. I don’t know about the rest of the country, but 55 and rain is not normal during the summer. So I think not being acclimated to those conditions made for an even tougher day. I’ve never seen so many people wearing trash bags and mylar blankets while running. Halfway through her run, I nearly missed Sara. She went by on her way to the turn-around wearing one thing and came back 10 minutes later wearing a trash bag.

Also, while watching the race inspired me to add some crunches to my routine lately, it also reminded me that there’s more to competing than having the “ideal” body type. It’s more about what’s between the ears and believing in yourself.

Last night I met my training group at the Macalester track for the following workout; 2 mile warm-up, 5-6 x 1 “mile” at marathon pace minus 30 seconds with a 2:00 rest, 2 mile cool-down.

Given that my goal MP is 6:40, I was shooting for 6:08 for the 1600 meter repeats (the extra 2 seconds were to make up for the extra 9 meters needed to get to a mile). I ended up running the first 4 reps on the track between 6:12 and 6:17. We got kicked off the track after that because of a soccer game and we ended up running one more on the roads.

While I never quite got down to 6:08, the 6:15 pace that I averaged felt extremely relaxed and controlled.

This morning I ran a very easy 5 mile recovery run. Lately I’ve been running these around 44-45 minutes. Today it took 47 minutes as I was running 9:30 pace. It's amazing how easy 6:15 pace can feel, yet how hard 9:30 pace can feel. I’ll double back tonight to help keep my mileage on-pace for 80 miles this week.

Finally, it looks like some of these elite blogs have been updated lately.

Today’s quote of the day is something I need to keep in mind on October 22nd:

“Moral of the story is that no one should ever chase a time. If you get into the race and compete well, the times always follow!” - Matt Tegenkamp

IRONMAN WISCONSIN

There’s no other way to start this post than to congratulate the Ironman Wisconsin finishers;

P2 teammates;
Sue 12:00 – getting revenge after last year’s miserable experience
Michelle 12:58 – IM rookie
Chuck 13:12 – 4th IM Moo
Rob 13:12 - IM rookie
Gillian 13:49 – IM rookie
Jack 16:33 – Celebrated his 65th birthday by becoming an Ironman

Bloggers that I recognized;
Alan 12:35
Sara 15:32

Other people I know;
Lindsey 11:54 – former UW-EC x-c runner
Simon 12:09 – former training partner
Jen 12:13 – neighbor in her 2nd IM
Wade 12:41 – ART doc, IM rookie

It was amazing to see all the athletes battle the elements and the distance. I picture ultra marathons being a lot like the Ironman. Athletes retreat to their “happy place” and just keep moving forward until they cross the finish line.

Unfortunately, watching the race wasn't as "fun" as I thought it'd be. It turns out that standing around in 50 degree temps, rain and wind for hour after hour can get old – I’m sure the athletes didn’t appreciate it either. I thought 55 and rain would be better than 90 and sun, but now I'm not so sure.

While the Monona Terrace is a perfect place for staging the transition area, there were so many spectators that I could barely see the lake. Seeing the athletes come off the helix and into T1 wasn’t easy either. After that, I had thoughts of riding the bus to Verona to watch the bike portion. However, the line was 3 blocks long without a bus in-sight. About that time Jenna called and we decided to go for a run instead. We were able to run 10 miles, clean up and relax for awhile before heading back to the race as the leaders started their run.

I was a little worried that watching the race would make me want to do another Ironman. It didn’t. The idea of doing another IM is very romantic, but on the way home I was thinking about all the behind-the-scenes training that would need to take place. There's no way I could justify going out for 5-6 hour bike rides on the weekends. The only way I could make it happen would be to use a vacation day every once in awhile to get in my long stuff. However, the thought of doing a HALF Ironman next year has crossed my mind. Each of those distances seems doable on "minimal" training; meaning I could bike and swim 1-2 times a week and be able to finish a half.

As for my training, I ran an easy 7 miles on Saturday. That gave me 82 for the week. Sunday and Monday were both 10-mile days. I had plans to stop in Eau Claire yesterday for another long run along some of the routes we used to run in college. I ended up talking myself out of that because 1) it was still raining and I’d had enough of that weather and more importantly 2) I just went long a week ago and I think I need more “speed” than endurance. Running long yesterday would mean I would not be able to do mile repeats tonight.

I'm leery about writing this, but I've been having thoughts that things are coming together at the right time here. I've been feeling pretty good lately. My knee seems fine now and while my left leg bothers me a little at the start of my runs, it loosens up quickly. I've gotten in some decent long runs, mile repeats and MP runs. I may actually run fairly well in Chicago...just under 6 weeks.

Today’s quote of the day comes from an email coach Matt sent to the P2 triathletes prior to the race;

“Ironman is a name that is earned and stamped onto your heart. It is not earned in one day...it is earned over months of time...over months that you have successfully traveled. You now overshadow the person, the spirit, the athlete, and the teammate who you were when this journey started.” - Coach Matt

54 LAPS

Vacation day today (and Monday). Since I'm not very good at blogging from home and since I'll be in Madison for the Ironman this weekend, you probably won't hear from me till Tuesday.

I took advantage of my day off from work to get in a dress rehearsal for Chicago. It included 4 x 5k at "MP" with a 400 meter jog in between, plus a 2 mile warm-up and cool-down for a total of 17 miles.

This workout was run on the dirt track near my house. I tried to simulate race day as much as possible; same shoes, socks, shorts and (maybe) singlet. I also set up a table with Dixie cups of Gatorade that I drank every 2 miles.

I wasn't as concerned about hitting my goal MP of 6:40 as I was about starting out like I want to in Chicago, running controlled and staying relaxed. I did that for the first 2. On the 3rd I focused on goal MP and came pretty close. For the last one I didn't worry about time at all. I just tried to stay relaxed as possible.

Here are my splits, pace and HR;

21:39, 6:58, HR 170-172
21:21, 6:52, HR 170-172
20:50, 6:42, HR 176-178
21:59, 7:05, HR 172-174

Although the weather was pretty nice; 65 degrees, sunny with a dew point around 60, I "know" it'll be nicer on October 22nd. That combined with the fact this workout came at the end of an 85 mile week - my highest since April - I consider it to be a solid workout.

So, throw in a taper, nicer weather, better footing and 40,000 other runners and I should be in for a great race.

At the end of this workout there were some junior high kids in the middle of the track for gym class. One girl asked me how many laps I had run. Not knowing the answer I said "100." Afterwards I thought about it some more and figured out I ran 54 laps on the track (my warm-up and cool-down were done on the roads). Good thing I didn't think about that before the workout.

Today's quote of the day is one of my favorites when it comes to athletics;

"It doesn't get easier. You just go faster." - Greg LeMond

STRESSED OUT

Is it just me or have all the blogger blogs been down every time I want to catch up on my reading this week?

Training update; Tuesday night I met my training group at Macalester College. As much as I’d have liked to run 6 x 1 mile at 30 seconds faster than marathon pace, I didn’t think that’d be a good idea the day after a 22 mile run. Instead I opted for a 10 mile run. I ran the first 3 miles with the triathletes. A bunch of them are doing IM Wisconsin, so they were all jacked up. The next 2 miles were solo and then I turned around when I bumped into Jenna as she was heading back. It felt like we were cruising pretty well during that last 5 miles, probably 7:15 pace or better. Since that was a little quick, I made sure to make Wednesday’s 6 mile run super-duper, ass-dragging easy.

Normally I’m pretty laid back. The one day of the year when I get super stressed out is the day of my fantasy football draft – which was last night. This year was even worse than normal. I don’t get worried about my picks, it’s just that I’m the commissioner and I get worked up over stuff like;

People showing up 2 minutes before the draft – when we have 4 people drafting online.

Saying goodnight to the girls in the middle of the draft while telemarketers are calling, pizza is being delivered, the dog is freaking out, etc.

Website and computer problems – over and over.

In the end the draft took nearly 4 hours, an hour longer than normal.

The “good” news is that I was so stressed that I couldn’t sleep this morning. I was wide awake at 5 AM, so I just got up and ran an easy 5 miles. I’ll double back tonight on the treadmill so I can flip back-and-forth between the Twins and the football game.

2 more things about last weekend’s race; 1) Compared to history it was a decent performance. However, it was 5 seconds/mile SLOWER than I was running in March. The idea is to get faster as the year progresses. 2) Looking at those times from the last 14 years, I can’t help but think; “Is this what it’s about? Busting my ass to stay in 6:00 pace shape?” Maybe it’s time to get serious or move on to something else.

Finally, best of luck to all the IM Wisconsin athletes. Between training partners and bloggers I know about 14 people competing. Looking at the forecast (62 degrees for the high and 40% chance of rain) makes me wish I were competing.

Quote of the day;

“The older I get the more the good times escape me.” – Ben Jipcho

LINKS, RESULTS AND NAME-DROPPING

Wow, I just re-read that last race report. Is it just me, or was that kind of lame? That’s what happens when I blog from home rather than work – I just start typing and then hit “publish post” rather than working in Word and copying it over to my blog. Anyway, you get the gist of how things went.

Official results can be found here. As Scott said, “In a race that size (608 runners) you could easily be top 10 with 6 minute pace.” However, since it serves as the UWEC cross country alumni race, 6:00 pace is only good for 43rd place. The goods news is that I finished 2nd in my age-group – up from 3rd last year.

Others of note; the overall winner, is the 2:23 marathoner I’ve mentioned before. 2nd overall is the UWEC 1500 record holder. 3rd overall has incredible range; sub-15 5k to 7:12 100k. Apparently the guy in 4th is the son of the 1968 10,000 meter Olympic champion. And of course I have to mention 67 year old Dan Conway who ran 32:14.

A little research shows I’ve run this race 11 times in the last 14 years. My best is 28:14 and worst is 34:07 (even worse than I originally thought). Here are all of those results;

1993 29:41
1994 28:26
1995 28:14
1996 30:54
1997 31:17
1999 34:07
2001 31:35
2002 29:15
2004 29:42
2005 30:02
2006 29:50

The first 3 results are from my sophomore – senior years. The bold 29:15 is my post 30+ years-old PR. Again, that was run 6 weeks before my marathon PR. Right now we’re 7 weeks from Chicago.

Saturday’s mileage gave me a nice cutback week of 28 miles. Sunday I ran a very easy 10 mile trail run.

Monday I met Scott for a long run while watching the Victory 10k and 5k. These are some of the fastest races in the cities, but since it’s the same weekend as my alumni race, I’ve only run the 10k once.

I kind of like this long-run-while-watching-a-race thing. We were able to take advantage of the closed roads and the mile markers. I thought we were moving pretty well so I checked a few splits along the way. We had a couple of 2-mile stretches at 7:18 and 7:24 pace. After dropping Scott off after nearly 2 hours of running, I hooked up with David (34:51), Jenna (35:10) and Evan (37:20) during their cool-down and we ran the course again. I ended up with 22 miles in 2:50.

During the last mile we were able to watch the 5k finishers, which included some gal in second place (16:04) behind some guy who must have been jogging his 15:36. Oh yeah, their teammate won the 10k in 29:50.

Here are the men’s 10k results, women’s 10k results and the 5k results.

Okay, I think that’s enough links, results and name-dropping for today.

Quote of the day;

“The devotion of the true amateur athlete is the same devotion that makes an artist starve in his garret rather than commercialize his work.” - Avery Brundage, IOC president from 1952-1972

BUCKSHOT RACE REPORT

Just a quick post on my recent running, including yesterday's 5 mile race. Friday I ran an easy 5 miles and my hamstring was still a little tender. Afterwards I iced it, took some ibuprofen and massaged it. Unbelieveably, I felt fine on Saturday morning - even during my warm-up there wasn't any pain.

Based on 'logic' and 'history' I figured I should run between 29 and 31 minutes.

Logically speaking, my last track workout consisted of 2 x 1 mile in 5:48 with roughly 2 minutes rest. That's 29-flat pace and it seems unreasonable that I'd be able to string together 3 more mile without any rest. Last weekend's first mile felt easy in 6:16 and I figure I could hold that for 5 miles which would put me at 31:20.

I'll have to resort to my log books when I have more time, but historically speaking, I've run this race probably 10 times with a best of around 28:20 and a worst around 32. Last year I ran 30:02, two years ago it was 29:42, I think in 2002 I ran 29:15 (a month before my marathon PR).

Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah... You're asking "What happened? How'd it go? Get on with it already."

Well what if I told you I opened up with a 5:35 mile? You'd probably say something like "Did you learn your lesson from last week?"

Yes, I learned my lesson. That's why I held back during that first mile. Granted, about half of that mile is a nice downhill. It's not so steep that you beat the crap out of your legs and struggle to maintain form.

The next 3 miles are a little rolling and I'm able to click off 5:58, 6:00 and 5:53.

Unfortunately, the race is 5 miles not 4. Just after the 4 mile mark there's a steep climb that probably last 60-90 seconds before leveling out a little, but continuing up for another 30+ seconds.

Maybe it was a mistake, maybe not, but at the top of the hill you make a sharp turn and I looked over my shoulder. There was one guy about 5 seconds back and - this is sad - I said to myself "He's not in my age-group." Of course he caught me with about 200 meters to go and I didn't respond.

Anyway, that last mile was a bitch in 6:24, but I was able to sneak in under 30 with a 29:50.

At first I was kind of luke warm over this performance. However, now that I've had a little more time to think about it, it's not that bad. McMillan converts it to a 2:55. Hell, I was prepared to step off the course at the first twinge in my hamstring.

More on the race once I get back to work and have more time to blog.

I don't have a running quote of the day, but lyrics from a song by the Gear Daddies (the best band you've never heard of), who we saw in concert last night at the Great Minnesota Get-Together (aka the state fair);

"My only real salvation...a few good friends and beer." - Martin Zellar

WTF?

It’s a simple question; What the fuck? As in WTF is going on with my body? Is it my body rebelling from last winter’s high mileage? Old age? Old shoes? Wrong shoes? WTF is it?

Last night I was running 8 miles on the treadmill with 4 at MP. When I was 3.5 miles into the MP portion my right hamstring “acted up.”

I’ve never had hamstring problems.

When you’re the slowest sprinter in your high school class, you don’t pull hamstrings.

Hell, I’m so inexperienced with hamstring problems I don’t even know if it was a pull, a cramp or just tight.

Take 3 days off in order to get healthy and this shit happens. WTF?

I stopped running immediately to stretch, massage and foam roll my leg. After that I was able to cool-down for a mile.

What’s really frustrating is that these aches and pains (other than the knee) are all new. I’m used to the Achilles pain, sore arches, tight ITB, etc., but I’m not used to the shin/calf and hamstring pain. WTF?

With all these aches and pains I’m still confident that I can run well at Chicago. The other day I wrote a response to Mike’s comment saying “I'd at least like to get to Chicago in one piece - even if it only means being in 2:58 shape.” That’s my PR, so I guess I’m still of the mindset that I can at least PR there.

Not that it really matters, but I finished August with 265 miles on 25 days of running and 27 runs.

Not sure if I should post these photos (at least the one of me) from last weekend or not, but since photos help spice up a blog, here they are. The rest of the runners can be found here.

Evan finishing up a workout, Jim winning another AG award and me (in front - at least it is far away).




















Quote of the day;

“Suffering is the sole origin of consciousness.” - Dostoyevsky

CHEWED OUT

I’m back on (or is it off) the wagon. I ran 6 miles last night while watching the Twins lose another game to the Royals. It turns out the Royals pitchers have an ERA of about 6 – except when they pitch in the Dome and it’s like 1.5. With their next two series against the Yankees and Tigers, losing a series to the lowly Royals is not the best way to stay in the wild card hunt.

If you’re interested in a baseball blog, check out Pat Neshek’s. He’s a new middle reliever for the Twins that just got called up in the middle of the season. It’s pretty interesting to read his thoughts about the whole process, along with his thoughts of playing for his hometown team.

But this is a running blog not a baseball blog…

After getting my ass chewed out by Mike yesterday, I’ve come up with a new plan (or two). Actually, sorry Mike but I can’t give you credit. I’ve had these plans penciled in for a week now, but I do appreciate the gentle reminder.

I keep mentioning “plans” because I have 2 options for the last 7 weeks of training. Option A is 4 weeks of “high” mileage (at least 80) followed by a 3 week taper. Option B consists of 2 weeks of “high” mileage, cutback week, 2 weeks of “high” mileage followed by a 2 week taper. Right now I’m leaning towards “B” because 1) the cutback week will keep me from getting too trashed and 2) there’s a 10k I might run at the end of the cutback week.

12 days till Ironman Wisconsin. I’m looking forward to watching it and cheering and drinking beer while watching and cheering. If you need a little inspiration, check out Mike’s IM Canada report. Not sure if the triathletes out there read Triathlete magazine’s Mitch Thrower’s blog or not, but it’s usually entertaining around Ironman time.

Quote of the day;

“Where am I?” – Ron Clarke upon regaining consciousness on the stadium infield at Mexico City

FINAL PUSH

I haven’t run in 3 days; Sunday was completely off, Monday I biked for 75 minutes and yesterday I biked for 60 minutes. I don’t have any great excuses for the time off except that this is a cutback week before I make a final push towards Chicago. I want to give my legs a few days to (hopefully) heal some aches and pains.

I tried something new while biking on the training Monday night; playing x-box at the same time. It worked out pretty well as I was only playing golf. It sure made the time go by fast. I was 45 minutes into the ride before I even noticed.

Last night I went to the Twins game with Scott, Bear and Tom. Scott got the tickets through his wife’s office. It turns out the Metrodome isn’t that bad – when you’re sitting 3 rows behind the 3rd base coach!!! Too bad we didn’t have any offense to cheer for during the 2-0 loss. Thanks Scott.

Before the game we met up for beer and brats. Bear was wondering why I didn’t just race the half marathon after going out too hard. That’s a very good question. I think I had my mind made up that it was going to be a marathon-paced workout. Once in the mindset, it’s hard to shift to a different (more painful) strategy.

I forgot to add my splits from the race. If anyone wants to view them, here they are;

6:16, 6:40, 6:39, 6:47, 6:43, 7:10, 14:02 (two miles), 7:09, 7:03, 6:54, 7:00, 7:20 (last 1.1)

Quote of the day;

“I’m not a machine that can be wound up every day.” – Herb Elliott, after being asked to run a sub-4 the night after his WR 1500

ROCHESTER HALF RACE REPORT

The good news is that the 6:16 first mile felt really easy. The bad news is I was trying to hold 6:30-6:40 pace. You can guess where things went from there. Downhill.

You can save yourself some time and stop reading now if you’re looking for a report that refers to a PR or even a solid MP workout. If you want to know what random thoughts went through my head during this race, continue reading.

During the first mile: Okay the lead women are in front of me. There’s Evan, who wants to run 6:20 pace, just up ahead. There’s Tim, who ran a 40-minute 10k last week. Jim, who’ll probably run 1:28ish, is right next me. That’s good, nice and controlled. This should be around 6:30 pace. Here’s comes the first mile. They have a digital clock at the marker. That’s cool. What’s that? 6:0X? Slow down, slow down (like slowing in the last 25 meters is going to make a difference)! 6:16!! Shit!!!

Mile 2 in 6:40. Alright, that’s much better.

Mile 3 in 6:39. Okay, I can do this.

Mile 4 in 6:4-something. Is that a 1 or a 7. Damn, it’s a 7. That felt too hard to be a 6:47 mile.

Heading down a gradual hill. Now I’m moving. Hey, maybe mile 4 was a gradual uphill and that’s why it was slow. Mile 5 in 6:43. What? Again, that’s way too hard to be MP.

Alright, back off the pace, go by effort and stop looking at your splits.

Dang here comes the leader. I guess this is an out-and-back course. Hmm, maybe I’ll be at 6 by the time he gets to 8. I wish I were fast.

Damn, she’s (gal along the side of the road) really cute. I really like gals in baseball caps for some reason.

Oh “yay” here’s a gravel road. Here comes the gal that only beat me by a minute at the 20k in April. At least she’s still running well.

Here’s the turn-around point – finally!

I wonder if Marisa is running. If I knew what she looked like I’d look for her.

Where’s mile 7? Where’s mile 7? Where’s mile 7? There’s 8.

There’s that cute girl again.

If I hold this pace till 10 maybe I can “kick” it in.

Okay, I think I have my entire blog entry written now.

Here comes a water stop. I’ll take Gatorade this time. At least I can practice that.

Here comes a windy stretch. Jump behind this guy and draft. At least I can practice that.

Mile 10, okay pick it up a little.

That didn’t last long.

Okay, just maintain your position.

Damn, here comes someone. It’s probably the guy I just pulled away from. Nope, it’s Naz (the guy who convinced me to run this race). “Thanks” Naz.

This (other) guy in front of me keeps picking it up and then slowing down. I should just blow by him.

Hey there’s that cute girl, again.

I go by him. That will impress her.

He’s still there.

Push the downhill.

He’s still there.

I hear “go daddy – yay” cheers and they’re not for me. That’s not fair.

He passes me.

Screw it.

1:29:43.

Wow, I can’t believe I broke 1:30.

Post race analysis:

For someone that prides themselves on pacing, that first mile was a huge disappointment. But still, given that I should be able to run 6:16 pace for 10 miles, I should have been able to hold 6:40 pace after backing off.

It’s better to have this happen now than in October.

In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a BFD. I got in a long run at a solid effort – whether or not the pace was what I wanted. But I’d prefer to have a confidence boosting result at this point in training.

I always seem say something like “I’m never going do another race when the dew point is over 60 degrees.” Yet I always seem to forget that statement.

Finally, just to spice things up, I’ll end with my real excuse. Simply put, sex the night before a race is bad. The good news is that now I won’t have to worry about trying to “get some” the night before Chicago with my kids and mother-in-law in the room.

So what happens now? “Bad race” means “train harder” right? Well, sort of. My first order of business is to make this a cutback week, partially to 1) help me recover from the half, 2) help heal my aching legs and 3) provide a mini-taper leading into this Saturday’s alumni race.

After that I’m going to get back into higher mileage weeks because 1) that’s what worked for me leading up to that 20k in April and 2) Chicago is just another stepping stone along the road to being a better runner – a road which will need more than 65 mpw to pave.

Evan ended up with a nice MP workout, finishing in 1:25. Jim held on to win is age-group in 1:28:52. His arch-rival Norm was between the 2 of us, which means I would have placed 3rd in the 60-64 age group. Now if I just don't slow down in the next 23 years, I'll be set.

Quote of the day;

“Talk to me not of time and place; I owe I'm happy in the chase." - Shakespeare

TOO CHICKEN

I finally found some photos from last weekend’s women’s race. Including this super cute picture...

Damn you blogger!!! I can't upload the photo, so make sure to check out this one.

…have I mentioned that I’m the unofficial president of the unofficial Katie McGregor fan club? I saw her a couple of times after the race but was too chicken to go up and talk to her. You know, it might freak her out if I tell her I’m the president. Anyway, I’m sure she’s an avid reader of my blog – so she knows how I feel. Closed circuit to Katie; great job last weekend – you look to be in top form again.

I just ran 5 very easy miles this morning, probably around 9:00 pace. During my run I saw a lot of runners and walkers out and about. I got to thinking how weird it would have been to be a runner in the 50s or 60s. Since running wasn’t that popular back then, you probably wouldn’t see anyone else on the roads. That would be really weird.

The goals for tomorrow’s half marathon are to run it around marathon pace and, more importantly, make it feel as comfortable as possible. Sean (from yesterday’s list) says to make it feel like you’re sitting at home in your easy chair.

I thought about racing it but something I read recently is sticking in my head. It had to deal with how our body adapts to the specific stress we put on it. The stress I aim to put on it come October 22nd is 6:40 pace, not 6:20 pace. Therefore, tomorrow’s race will be a step towards adapting to that type of stress.

There are some things about this race that are eerily strange;

Prior to this year, I’ve never raced in Rochester, MN. My last race was in Rochester.

That race was 2 months before Grandma’s. This race is 2 months before Chicago.

That race was a 20k. This race is a half marathon.

Looking back, my legs were sort of bothering me prior to that race. Lately, my legs have been bothering me.

Within a week-and-a-half of that race I was injured…This time I'm smarter than that

I don’t have a lot of health problems (other than running related). If I did, I’d definitely print out one of these medical I.D. cards. Thanks to Jim for sending the link.

Finally, (I’m “stealing” this from Yvonne) if you thought treadmills were boring, go here and watch the “Here It Goes Again” video.

Quote of the day;

“I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, straining upon the start.” – Shakespeare, Henry V

THINK LIKE A MARATHONER

During last night’s easy recovery run I felt okay. I planned on running 5 miles but about 3.5 miles into the run I felt some pain in my knee. Therefore I cut my run a mile short. No biggie...4 mile recovery run vs. 5 mile recovery run.

Afterwards I repeated the stretching/foam roller/icing routine that I also performed prior to the run. I threw in some ibuprofen for a bed-time snack and was good-to-go.

This morning I met up with Scott for a run around Lake Calhoun. A week or so ago, Scott sprained his ankle. He’s doing a lot better but declared we had to “start out slow” today. That sentiment lasted for about 1 block. Soon we were picking up the pace. By the time we hit Calhoun, I’d say we were running MP. One way to tell that we were moving pretty good is that the conversation between us all but ceased. Usually we’re chatting away, but today we were both fairly focused on our running. No complaints though. Thursdays are supposed to be my tempo/MP days.

A mile with the dog and 8 with Scott gave me 9 miles for the day. Best of all they were pain-free, so hopefully the stretching/foam roller/icing routine is paying off.

One of the running forums that I visit is made up of a lot of Wisconsinites. One gal lives in the town I went to college and she knows my college coach. She was kind enough to post Sean’s “10 Ways to Think Like a Marathoner:”

1) The marathon is a 30 mile race.
2) The marathon behaves like a pendulum.
3) The BRAIN is the most important muscle for the marathon.
4) Have a race plan and a mantra.
5) You can NEVER be too patient in training and racing.
6) Marathon training must be sustainable.
7) Only run hard with a plan and a purpose.
8) The marathon can smell an injury 26 miles away.
9) 90% of injuries occur in 10% of running time.
10) The marathon is a 30 mile race.

There’s some confusion regarding #2. She thinks it has to do with explaining the “wall.” You have some ups and downs during the race but at some point it is going to stop. You need to try and make that come as late in the race as possible. One way would be to do caveman-like over-distance runs.

As for the mantra, Sean likes to keep it simple - Homer Simpson-like simple. For example, late in the race, “left, right, left, right…” would be a perfect mantra.

Finally, this is not a map of the half marathon I’m doing this weekend. I’m posting it because I wonder if anyone can figure it out. Look at how close (and far) some of the mile markers are. There’s no way they can be correct.

Quote of the day;

“To describe the agony of a marathon to someone who’s never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind.” – Jerome Drayton

ANOTHER TOP-10 LIST

After taking Monday off I managed to double up yesterday. I ran an easy 5 miles in the morning. I started with a 9:05 mile and gradually picked up the pace without thinking about it. I was a little surprised to see 7:47 for the last mile. If I had to guess I would’ve said 8:00-8:15. Maybe I’m in better shape than I think.

In the evening I met my training group at Macalester College. Coach Matt advertised the workout as a hill session, but I thought of it as more of a tempo run. We ran “mile” loops around a park on St. Clair for 35 minutes. The loop consists of a gradual hill and a steep hill and we switched directions after each loop. I continue to get “killed” on the hills, especially the steep one. Either I’m not a strong hill runner or I’m not working as hard as everyone else. In either case, I think I’ll be adding more hills to my winter base training. Anyway, with warm-up and cool-down I got in another 10 miles for the day.

My knee was sore again when I got home so I took time to ice it and foam roll my quads and calves. One minute I’m thinking about increasing my mileage, the next I’m just hoping to make it to the starting line in one piece – even if it means biking every other day. Maybe I just need a break from any type of hard workout, like hills and track.

I don’t really have anything else exciting to write about so I’ll include another top-10 list from non-blogging Eric. You may remember his lists on why rollerblading is better than running and why running is better than rollerblading. Today’s list; why being out of shape is better than being in shape:

1) Every workout is a hard workout.
2) You have energy for things other than running.
3) You get to enjoy food more because you don't have to eat all the time.
4) You get to use a notch in your belt other than the innermost.
5) Shoes last longer.
6) Your weekends aren't taken up with races.
7) It takes longer to catch up with joggers of the opposite gender.
8) Your running has a huge upside potential.
9) You can get nostalgic about how fast you used to be.
10) You can run, stretch, and shower in the time it used to take you to run.

Quote of the day;

“If a hill has its own name, then it’s probably a pretty tough hill.” – Marty Stern

4 CHOICES

And so it starts. My oldest daughter has gone over to the dark side. Yes, she had he first soccer practice last night. I’m still holding out hope that she’ll come back. Only time will tell. But it looks like my next 8 weeks will be filled with “action packed” games that end tied at 0-0.

This is just a reminder that; I. Must. Run. In. The. Mornings. Yesterday I figured I’d run in the evening – after practice. Even though we got home around 7:15, by the time the girls got to bed I didn’t feel like exercising at all. So I took the day off – no biking or anything. A big goose egg in the log book. I did this with the condition that I’d double-up today.

That brings me to today’s survey. You just completed a nice weekend of running; 20 miles Saturday and 15 miles on Sunday. Now you have the following 4 choices, which do you pick (and why)?

1) High Mileage Hank: Easy run Monday, easy run Tuesday morning AND a hard workout Tuesday night.

2) Everyday Eddie: Easy run Monday, hard workout Tuesday.

3) Soccer Dad Chad: Day off Monday, easy run Tuesday morning AND a hard workout Tuesday night (same mileage as Everyday Eddie).

4) Recovery Reggie: Day off Monday, sleep in Tuesday, hard workout Tuesday.

At the beginning of the week I wanted to be Hank. This morning I nearly turned into Reggie. Luckily I managed to remain Chad.

Today is the 22nd. Since Chicago is October 22nd, that means I have 2 months left. With this milestone I’m going to try and focus on eating better – mainly just by cutting out the garbage. I took a step in the right direction this morning. Our neighbors gave us some salt water taffy for watching their cats while they were gone. As some other bloggers would say “I heart salt water taffy.” It turns out I’m the only one in our family that hearts said treat. Since I can’t imagine that a pound of taffy around my waist will be much help in 2 months, I brought it to work where it will no doubt be gone by 5 PM. Nothing like fattening up your co-workers.

Quote of the day;

“One time I asked Clarence DeMar why the Orientals and Finns were such good runners and he said, ‘They don’t eat as much as we do.’” – Johnny A. Kelly

I'M A TOTAL WUSS

At the tail-end of Saturday’s 20 miler, I bumped into a couple of the guys from the Saturday morning group I’ve been running with recently. A conversation I had with Naz lead to today’s post. As a refresher, Naz is the ONLY guy (or gal) who’s run ever Grandma’s and TCM. He’s also the guy who from 1974 to 1999 ran at least one sub 2:50 – each year. So far this has all been hearsay. I hadn’t spoken with him one-on-one, yet.

During his cool-down we get to talking about his ultra days. He said he did them for awhile but since everyone that he saw running them got slower, he stopped doing them. I’m thinking he did them for 2-3 years, maybe 5-6 races. It turns out he ran 50 of them! In the 1980s he ran 80 races that were either a marathon or longer. Umm, that’s 8 per year for 10 years! Heck if they were all evenly spaced, he’d be doing one every 6.5 weeks. And it’s not like this guy was “jogging.” We ran 3:08-3:15 for 50k. That’s 6:05-6:20 pace. Keep in mind during this period he was keeping his Grandma’s/TCM and sub-2:50 streaks alive.

So anyway, later in the conversation he asks me what I’m training for and I tell him Chicago. He asks me if I’m running this race, that race and the other race. I say something like “No, I have a 5 miler I’m doing the week after” or “No, it doesn’t fit into my training plan.” Later it hits me. He must think I’m a total wuss; “This guy can’t run a half marathon the weekend before a 5 miler? How the hell did he ever get into our training group?”

This whole conversation got me thinking about if we’re all just way too soft nowadays. And it’s not just me. Prior to the men’s race I bumped into my college buddy who dropped out of Grandma’s (after running 2:23 last year). He said he’s only got one more shot at trying to qualify for the Olympic marathon trials. Now I’ve run for 2:23, but I still had 5 miles to go when I did it…anyway I’m thinking “One more shot? The trials are like 14 months away. You could squeeze in 2 or 3 more marathons – if it meant a chance at the Oly Trials.” Hell, Naz would rattle off 9 or 10 marathons (or ultras) during that timeframe.

Seriously, I think we get too caught up in following things “by the book.” We’re too concerned with following “the plan,” not racing because we’re not ready or we don’t think we can recover, sticking to our heart rate zones, taking splits for every mile, making sure we have the right songs playing in our iPod, etc. So I say screw it. This Saturday I will do that half marathon that’s only 1 week before my alumni race. I may even get crazy and race it, as opposed to doing it at marathon pace, since I highly doubt that Naz and the gang ever ran a race at MP.

Oh yeah, yesterday I ran another 15 miles, 8 or 9 of which were with Evan.

Quote of the day;

“Run hard, be strong, think big!” – Percy Cerutty

2-FOR-2

It turns out I’m two-for-two when it comes to the last two races I wanted to run; twice I’ve waited till the day-of to register and twice I’ve found out there wasn’t any race-day registration. What’s up with that? Is this the new trend in road racing?

So instead of running a 10k on Saturday I decided to get in 20 miles while watching all 3 races. That run gave me 64 miles for the week on 6 runs – plus an hour of biking.

In the women’s race, Katie McGregor was 10 seconds off the Minnesota State record that she set last year, winning in 32:27. Marla Runyan was nearly a minute back in 33:18. The rest of the top-5 was Kristen Nicolini, Jenny Crain and Jenelle Deatherage. In the men’s race, Mathew Chesang won in 28:57, five seconds faster than Jason Lehmkuhle who ran the fastest time ever in Minnesota by a Minnesotan. Complete results can be found here.

Later that evening I’m checking my emails and there’s one from some Tracy I’ve never heard of with the subject “Was that you?” I almost deleted it without reading it. Luckily I took a closer look. It turns out Tracy lives in the area and she found my blog awhile ago, through Alison’s blog. Anyway, during her race, she recognized me from my profile picture (umm Tracy, you’re supposed to be focused and in the zone – not looking at all the “studs” running around). A huge congrats goes out to Tracy for PRing and breaking 40 for the first time. In the process she ran with some of the top local women and gained confidence for future races.

On another race note, congrats to coach Matt for his performances at Pike’s Peak marathon over the weekend. Matt was 51st overall in the ascent on Saturday in 3:01:44 and 31st overall in the marathon on Sunday in 4:57:53. That placed him 5th overall among “Doublers.” If you look at the doubler results you’ll see a guy from Spain in first and then 12 of the next 13 guys are from Colorado. The only flatlander in the mix is Matt. Also, congrats to teammates Erik and Moira. Erik ran the ascent in 3:47:44, shaving 20 minutes off of last year’s time, while Moira completed her first ascent in 4:04:27.

Quote of the day;

“If the coach cannot do it, he cannot ‘teach’ it – only talk about it.” – Percy Cerutty

POSSIBLE 10K

Man, was I tired yesterday. Katie waking me up at 1 AM and me not being able to fall back to sleep till 2 AM sure didn’t help. When I got up at 5 AM and couldn’t keep my eyes open I knew running in the morning was not going to happen. I laid down on the couch and slept another hour.

All this means is that I had to jump on the treadmill last night. I ran 8 miles with 4 of them at marathon pace. I’m thinking about running a 10K tomorrow, so I didn’t want to run too hard. This morning I ran a very easy 5 miles.

There are actually two 10Ks tomorrow – one for women and one for men. Somehow they get away with offering a lot more prize money to the women. If those numbers were reversed, I’m sure the women would be outraged. In any case, they get some decent women at this event. Last year Katie McGregor won in a Minnesota state record 32:17. Other runners included Colleen DeReuck, Sylvia Mosqueda, Nicole Aish, and other Team USA Minnesota members like Jenelle Deatherage, Carrie Tollefson, Sara Wells and Dana Coons, who’s no longer with the team. So whether I run the men’s 10K or not, I’ll be there to watch the women’s race.

The other day a friend sent me a “Getting to know your friends” email. It contained about 40 questions, 37 of which I don’t think any of my friends would really care about. Seriously, what kind of soap and shampoo do I use, what’s my favorite advertisement, have I cried in the last 24 hours, do I believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy or angels, etc.

Nothing too exciting, but one question did jump out at me; have you ever put a body on fire just for amusement?

Hmm, I suppose people would want to know that. Maybe that’s how they catch serial killers. They send out random surveys and slip in one question like “Have you ever killed anyone for sheer joy?” Then when they say “Yeah, back in the 1994…” their friends turn them in.

In honor of tomorrow’s all-women’s race here’s today’s quote of the day;

“They meant, of course, the first American man, so they should say so.” – Doris Brown Heritage, on hearing Craig Virgin described as “the first American” to win a World Cross Country title. She had won five.

SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM

Wow! I felt REALLY good last night. It's one of those things where you force yourself to take a day off (on Monday) and you beat yourself up for not “getting in your miles” and then the next day you have an awesome workout. Kind of makes me forget about that easy 5 miles that I didn’t run.

Last night I met my training group at Macalester College. After a 2 mile warm-up, we ran a 20 minute tempo on rolling hills followed by 2 more easy miles back to the track. Then we did 2 x 1 “mile” where I ended up running my 2 best times of the year, both 5:48. We ended with a 2 mile cool-down.

The most impressive thing to me about this workout is that I only had 1:47 rest in-between the miles. The last few times we’ve done this workout we were supposed to have a 2:00 rest, but we were really taking a 3:00-3:30 rest. So basically cutting the rest in half was a huge shock to the system.

The other good news is my knee felt fine during the run and it feels good today.

While it does feel great to bounce right back after a day off and have a great workout, I still believe it’s more important to run tired. You can’t be cutting back before every hard workout and expect to maximize your training. But as Chicago gets closer and closer I find myself focused on getting in some solid workouts followed by nice easy recovery days.

Alright I have to mention this before I forget. I admit I don’t know anything about ChiRunning, but I’m skeptical. A week-and-a-half ago there was an article about a local runner who is the only “certified ChiRunning instructor in Minnesota.” This guy is 47 now, but back “in the day” he was 2:24 marathoner.

“He achieved success using traditional approaches to running, like logging 100-mile weeks. But he also knew the pain of injuries: stress fractures, torn cartilage in the knee, plantar fasciitis.”

So am I supposed to assume now that he’s a ChiRunner he’ll be able to log 100-mile weeks PAIN FREE? Or does it mean that in order to be pain free he has to run FEWER MILES? Or is this just a way for him to cash in by holding ChiRunning clinics?

There was a part of the article that tried to describe ChiRunning saying something like “your foot lands underneath you and you’re landing on your mid-foot.” Sure that sounds great, but right next to it was a picture of the only “certified ChiRunning instructor in Minnesota” and he was CLEARLY over-striding and landing on his heel.

One last thing I have to get off my chest and hopefully spread the word. If you receive any of those chain emails with stuff like cookie recipes, don’t dial this area code, boycott gas stations on this date, etc. Go to a site like Hoax Busters or Snopes and find out if it’s “real” or not before forwarding it to your entire list of contacts (or at least me).

Quote of the day;

“If you have not figured it out by now, I include a LOT of stairs training, so you are not too tired to step-up on the podium after the race.” – coach Matt

NEW ONE

Here's a new one. Yesterday I was just about to pull into the parking garage and head out for my run when I noticed that I didn’t grab my shirt and slacks. I hang them near the doorway and grab them on my way to the car. I had to drive back and get them and wasn't able to get in my run. After two consecutive strong 15 milers, I wasn’t too heartbroken.

Instead of getting my run in last night, I decided to hop on my bike (and trainer) for an hour. I figured with my knee acting up, I’d be better off with a little cross training.

My knee hasn’t been too bad, but I do feel it when I run. The problem is I only feel it when I run. By the time I get home from work, I’ve forgotten about it and therefore, forgotten about icing it. I did remember to ice it 4 times over the weekend, so hopefully that, combined with the biking will be enough to help it recover.

I have a couple of other things that I want to talk about, but I spent the lunch hour setting up my fantasy football league, so those other topics will have to wait.

Quote of the day;

“The wreath or death!” – A common oath of ancient Olympians

WHO'S WHO?

I suppose I should throw in a little training update. I’ve been a regular social butterfly lately. Thursday I met with Scott for a strong 8 miles. Friday I ran a very easy 11 by myself. Saturday I ran 15 with the Saturday morning Masters group. That gave me 62 miles for the week on 6 runs. Sunday I ran 15 with Jenna.

I’ve mentioned before that Minnesota has a Running Data Center that does a phenomenal job at keeping track of all the road running records since 1986. Each year the put together a yearbook that highlights things like the top runners in each age-group during the year, the best times during the year, all-time records, etc. Last year was the 20 edition, so it contained more historical information that normal. If you’re a fan of the sport like I am, it’s a great source of information to see who came before you.

Unfortunately, many of the races pre-1986 were not certified, therefore they don’t count. As a result, there are no records for guys like Buddy Edelen and Ron Daws and only a few records for Garry Bjorklund, Dick Beardsley, etc.

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because this Saturday morning Masters group that I just started running with is made up of guys that were absolute studs – and still are. After a little digging through the yearbook and running with the group, here’s what I found;

Bruce was named the Best Runner in Minnesota over the past 20 years for BOTH the 40-44 and 45-49 age groups. Between the ages of 41 and 44 he ran 4 marathons between 2:22 and 2:26 (wava 90%+). At 44 he ran 31:24 for 10k (wava 93.3%). He’s now 62 and complains because he “only” runs 40 mpw.

Doug was named the Best Runner in Minnesota over the past 20 years for the 35-39 age group.

John is the only person to run all 30 Grandma’s marathons AND all 25 Twin Cities marathons. I thought that was impressive until I heard he also ran sub-2:50 for 25 or 26 CONSECUTIVE years.

I get the sense these guys have been running together for like 25-30 years. Tim said he used to come in last at every Saturday morning run – and he was a 2:25 marathoner.

Hell, Jenna, who just qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials is practically the worst person I ran with over the weekend – and that’s no disrespect to her. Of course, all those guys are blogging about Zeke being the worst person they ran with over the weekend.

I just hope some of their talent rubs off on me.

Speaking of Masters runners, I just came across this on letsrun.com. It was written by a very fast 45 year old in California...

Perhaps we should review a few rules of masters competition:

1) None of us is as good as we used to be. Masters is a competition of who gets slower slowest, an understanding that should keep all of us humble.

2) The competition ends when the race is over, and the camaradery begins (again!).

3) We root for one another - always! - because we recognize that without our peers we have no sport.

4) Having been through open competition, we recognize that "winning" is a momentary, fleeting accomplishment - that it won't bring any lasting happiness the way family, career, and friends will - but that staying healthy and competing with like-minded people in the sport that we love will make our days much better.

5) Winners shouldn't gloat - ever. We're always one step away from a hamstring pull, plantar fascitis, or some wicked sprain/strain that we never even knew existed until we turned 40. We spend 4 out of every 5 years getting older and slower while new "young" blood spills into our age division. And, most importantly, it's disrespectful of the effort every one of us old fogies has to make just to be here.

6) Finally, our fellow masters athletes are some of the best people I know. Why would any of us want to do anything other than make our peers feel as great about themselves as we want to feel about ourselves.