It's been a great week for racing for me!
RACE #1
On Thursday night, I ran the TC 1 Miler in downtown Minneapolis. Perfect weather for a fun downtown event. I ran this last year in 5:15. My mile PR (personal record) wasn't much better: 5:06 on a track. So when I clocked a 5:04 on Thursday on an uphill mile road race, I was pretty surprised and really happy! Especially coming off Boston with virtually no speed workouts since last September.
I ran as part of the MDRA team. Everyone did really well. 3 of our members went 5:00 or better, and everyone else did well, especially considering that for one guy, it was his first timed mile since the Reagan administration! USATF results are here: We took 6th out of 7, but who cares!!?? We had a blast! Running down Nicollet Mall with the cheering crowds was phenomenal, felt like finishing Boston (except, I can remember finishing this race!)
Our women's team (Unattached) did even better, placing 4th out of 6. Individually, Joseph, Misty Mike, and Anne all placed in their age groups, with Fancy Kirk just getting edged out by Mike.
The USATF-only wave was a great change from last year. It was awesome to be running with and against all the same people that we see at all the races year-round. I hope they keep this format. And finishing and watching the elites run the next two waves was perfect. I won't recap, I'm sure you can find good recaps on DtB or even the Strib's site.
Two more shoutouts, great finishes to our other MDRA bloggers, Colin and Nick. Great to see you guys out there! Next stop, Brian Kraft!
OK, RACE #2!
This morning I ran the New Prague Half Marathon for again, the 2nd straight year. I PR'ed there last year, and strengthened my PR again, with a 1:21:59. Since this was NOT a USATF race series event, not as many of the fast guys showed up, so I actually was able to place 10th overall, and 2nd in my age group! (awesome medal too!) Fancy placed 8th and 1st in his age group. He could have done better, but paced me for the first 10 miles. At that point we both brought the pace way down and finished strong. However, Kirk's top gear is a good 10-15 seconds/mile faster than mine. Just like last year I had a strong 2nd half, and that's what I feel best about after this race. A lot of MDRA folks were there and PR's were plentiful. Another great day for racing!
So there you have it, 2 PR's in 3 days. I think I should run a marathon on Monday :)
Oh, and to you non-runners out there, I apologize for my most boring post ever, but the runners in the field may find this slightly interesting!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
You Ate What??
What am I eating??? Read on for the answer...I returned to Amarillo, Texas, again this week for work. I've been there about 6 or 7 times in the past 3 years, but this time I made sure to get some new experiences since this may be my last scheduled visit for sometime. As far as I can tell, there are THREE (3) places to go in Amarillo:
1) Downtown. I'll toss that one in there even though there really isn't a ton there. It's run-down, quiet, and clearly not the focal-point of the city. There are about 2 blocks of restaurants that look like they're only busy a couple hours a day. But it's an intriguing place and shows how our car culture really takes the emphasis off downtowns and leaves them ghost towns, even in a city of several hundred thousand like Amarillo. There are a few attractive buildings like the City Hall and the Chamber of Commerce.
2) Palo Duro Canyon State Park. They call it the Grand Canyon of Texas. That sounds hokey, but actually, this is far and away one of the best state parks I've ever seen. It is a major canyon that is also rather accessible. It has gorgeous terrain and is heavily used by mountain bikers and trail runners. You know I got my run on!
3) Oh yeah, the BIG TEXAN. Home of the 72-oz steak. If people have heard of anything about Amarillo, this is usually it. This restaurant is pure tourist-trap Texan kitsch. And it is a must-see. I had been avoiding it for years, but I finally made a visit. And it was amazing. Their claim to fame is that if you eat a 72-oz steak, potato, roll, salad and shrimp cocktail in 1 hour, it's free. Many have tried, most have failed. I did not attempt this feat/feast since I had to work the next day, but I was tempted. Randomly, the Big Texan was featured in this MSN article the same week I was there!
While I was dining at the Big Texan, at the urging of some of my Texan colleagues, I tried some seafood. A local variety of oysters. Rocky Mountain I believe. (I wasn't fooled, I knew what they were). I tried one and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But I didn't eat a second one (although I suppose they should be consumed in pairs). I'll throw in some photos from my Big Texan experience.
The Big Texan himself looms over the Interstate
Can you eat the 72-oz steak and fixins?
The table where the "magic" happens. Many have tried, most have failed...OK, It's Official, Spring is Here
I know it's May 1, and spring has TECHNICALLY been with us since late March. And I realize that we've had a few random days of warmer weather. But for pete's sake (who's Pete, I always wondered), we had snow just this past weekend! And while buds came out on the trees a few weeks ago, a wave of cold weather prevented their opening in most locations around the Twin Cities.
I feel like I've been in spring the past couple weeks. After spending 4 days in Boston where spring was in full bloom, I spent a couple days in southern Minnesota which got their spring a week or two before us. And most of this week I was in Amarillo, where I did trail runs in 90+ degree weather. So I am READY for spring to finally come to Minneapolis.
And, I can report with confidence, that it has finally arrived. I ran in Hyland Hills this morning, and it was gorgeous. The leaves are just starting to emerge from the buds. The turkeys, deer, cranes and pheasants were making their appearances. The frogs were singing, the birds were chirping. It was a natural choir out there!
With the exception of Friday/Saturday (of COURSE it's the weekend), the long range output has highs in the 60s. That's full-on spring, thinking about summer!
Of course, now that I'm excited about spring, what am I now doing? Going up to northern Wisconsin where spring is probably still a week or two away. Smart move.
What are your signs of spring? I mentioned last year that my sign of spring was when the DQ by the falls opened up. But that happened months before. Here are my top signs.
1) Big guys in cotton tee's start lumbering around on the trails, trying to run off that winter gut. The trails get clogged for about 2 weeks until softball season starts, then they're gone.
2) All the accumulated dog sh!t from the winter starts to decay and smell up the neighborhoods.
3) That first hyper-pollinated day. I know pollen bothers most people, but I love the smell and it makes me happy (and only slightly itchy).
The problems with this winter is that it gave us brief glimpses of spring and gave us all those signs already. Then Old Man Winter said, "just kidding" and came back with cold and snow, on numerous occasions. So I have a new sign of spring: When I stop complaining about the weather for one whole week.
Then again, it will be in the 30s tomorrow. Dangit! Does that reset the clock?
I feel like I've been in spring the past couple weeks. After spending 4 days in Boston where spring was in full bloom, I spent a couple days in southern Minnesota which got their spring a week or two before us. And most of this week I was in Amarillo, where I did trail runs in 90+ degree weather. So I am READY for spring to finally come to Minneapolis.
And, I can report with confidence, that it has finally arrived. I ran in Hyland Hills this morning, and it was gorgeous. The leaves are just starting to emerge from the buds. The turkeys, deer, cranes and pheasants were making their appearances. The frogs were singing, the birds were chirping. It was a natural choir out there!
With the exception of Friday/Saturday (of COURSE it's the weekend), the long range output has highs in the 60s. That's full-on spring, thinking about summer!
Of course, now that I'm excited about spring, what am I now doing? Going up to northern Wisconsin where spring is probably still a week or two away. Smart move.
What are your signs of spring? I mentioned last year that my sign of spring was when the DQ by the falls opened up. But that happened months before. Here are my top signs.
1) Big guys in cotton tee's start lumbering around on the trails, trying to run off that winter gut. The trails get clogged for about 2 weeks until softball season starts, then they're gone.
2) All the accumulated dog sh!t from the winter starts to decay and smell up the neighborhoods.
3) That first hyper-pollinated day. I know pollen bothers most people, but I love the smell and it makes me happy (and only slightly itchy).
The problems with this winter is that it gave us brief glimpses of spring and gave us all those signs already. Then Old Man Winter said, "just kidding" and came back with cold and snow, on numerous occasions. So I have a new sign of spring: When I stop complaining about the weather for one whole week.
Then again, it will be in the 30s tomorrow. Dangit! Does that reset the clock?
Monday, April 21, 2008
Boston Report!
I'm blogging here within hours of my finish at Boston, so I'll give some initial impressions.
First of all, my finishing time was 2:59:17. That is actually 14 seconds slower than last year at Boston, when the gales were blowing. That's a little disappointing, but I'm still very happy I went under 3 hours. And I had a great time, and being out here in Boston for the Women's Oly Trials and with my friends has been an incredible experience! So I have to say that this has been quite the rewarding experience.
I ended up getting 1 of my 3 goals. I may not have bested my PR (although it was close) nor did I go under 2:55, but I did go under 3 hours, so that makes for a successful race by that measure.
Here's my race recap:
The day was pretty near perfect. Low to mid 50s, light wind. The sun did come out right at the start and I think that did become a factor. But I gotta be honest, these were the closest to ideal running conditions for a marathon that I have EVER experienced. I have zero excuses. Not that I'm upset with how I did, I'm actually quite happy. But I didn't hit all my goals, so I'm thinking about what went "wrong."
My plan to run 2:55 meant I needed to average 6:40 miles. I hit that plus or minus (depending on the hills) for the first 22 miles. I was very close to my goal at the half, coming in at 1:27:35. That's about perfect. And I felt great far longer than I did last year. Last year, I slowed down markedly on the Newton Hills miles 16-20, but this year, I felt pretty good through them. The wheels started to wobble (not come off. Kirk has assured me that my performance was NOT the wheels coming off) around mile 22-23 on all those downhills. Frankly, my legs hurt. Bad. I was in serious pain. Manageable, I suppose, but still pretty consistent.
My last 5K coming in was slow, about a 7:30 pace, although I did pick it up the last mile. I DID stop once for about 3 seconds, and I walked at 3 water stops for the length of time it took to drink a glass of water (~5 seconds), and I wish that weren't the case, but it is, and I know that had minimal impact on my finishing time so I've made my peace with that.
Here are my possible reasons why my race went bad:
1) I got dehydrated. I stopped sweating at mile 21. 2 miles later I was hurtin' bad. After the race I rehydrated, I could walk well and felt reasonably fine (but I'm still sore, let me tell you!). A sure sign that my legs had a tiny bit more in them than I pushed them to. The sun dehydrated me more than I had anticipated, and I failed in properly hydrating. Rookie mistake.
2) Those hills were tough. The pounding down, the long climbs up, and that long downhill after Newton all hurt. My training may have improved in terms of mileage this year, but I probably neglected the hill workouts more than I should have.
3) I kissed too many Wellesley girls at mile 13. Just kidding! :) Those women rock though. They have the most phenomenal vocal cords.
4) Bad (but improving) running form, inadequate upper body and core training left my upper body exhausted for the last couple of miles. I'll need to fix those things before my next marathon.
5) This is probably the hardest one for me to admit, but perhaps (and probably), I just wasn't mentally tough enough today. I should have powered through those last few miles. Stopping even for a few seconds with so little left to go really does bother me. And I should have pushed harder at the end. It's a race, it's SUPPOSED to hurt. I know I've gutted out a lot of races, including marathons (see last year's Boston), so I know I have it in me. I just may not have today. Compounding that may have been the dehydration which weakened my resolve. But this is also something I need to clearly work on.
I huge HUGE congrats to my training and marathon travel partners, MDRA's Kirk, Anne and Mike. You guys showed tenacity, and ran excellent races! And moreover, you made this weekend so much fun. Great job to local blogging legend Chad. I'm looking forward to your race report (if you haven't already done it!) And a huge thanks goes to those who were there cheering me on, my best friend from college's parents who drove all the way from Bellingham to the halfway point to cheer me on. I'm so glad they got to see me looking strong. And a huge thanks and shout-out to the lovely Emily, who besides putting up with Misty Mike (jk Mike, I love ya like a brother), came out and cheered us on and presumably cheered me on (I was too tired to notice) and hopefully won't tell me how bad I looked at mile 23! :)
And thanks to everyone else who tracked me online and sent warm messages of encouragement. Thanks for making me feel like a star today! The marathon is such a selfish (and perhaps pointless) endeavor, but it gives me a lot of joy, and the fact all my friends and family are so supportive means so much to me! (I must be on the proverbial runner's high right now, I'm feeling downright sappy!)
First of all, my finishing time was 2:59:17. That is actually 14 seconds slower than last year at Boston, when the gales were blowing. That's a little disappointing, but I'm still very happy I went under 3 hours. And I had a great time, and being out here in Boston for the Women's Oly Trials and with my friends has been an incredible experience! So I have to say that this has been quite the rewarding experience.
I ended up getting 1 of my 3 goals. I may not have bested my PR (although it was close) nor did I go under 2:55, but I did go under 3 hours, so that makes for a successful race by that measure.
Here's my race recap:
The day was pretty near perfect. Low to mid 50s, light wind. The sun did come out right at the start and I think that did become a factor. But I gotta be honest, these were the closest to ideal running conditions for a marathon that I have EVER experienced. I have zero excuses. Not that I'm upset with how I did, I'm actually quite happy. But I didn't hit all my goals, so I'm thinking about what went "wrong."
My plan to run 2:55 meant I needed to average 6:40 miles. I hit that plus or minus (depending on the hills) for the first 22 miles. I was very close to my goal at the half, coming in at 1:27:35. That's about perfect. And I felt great far longer than I did last year. Last year, I slowed down markedly on the Newton Hills miles 16-20, but this year, I felt pretty good through them. The wheels started to wobble (not come off. Kirk has assured me that my performance was NOT the wheels coming off) around mile 22-23 on all those downhills. Frankly, my legs hurt. Bad. I was in serious pain. Manageable, I suppose, but still pretty consistent.
My last 5K coming in was slow, about a 7:30 pace, although I did pick it up the last mile. I DID stop once for about 3 seconds, and I walked at 3 water stops for the length of time it took to drink a glass of water (~5 seconds), and I wish that weren't the case, but it is, and I know that had minimal impact on my finishing time so I've made my peace with that.
Here are my possible reasons why my race went bad:
1) I got dehydrated. I stopped sweating at mile 21. 2 miles later I was hurtin' bad. After the race I rehydrated, I could walk well and felt reasonably fine (but I'm still sore, let me tell you!). A sure sign that my legs had a tiny bit more in them than I pushed them to. The sun dehydrated me more than I had anticipated, and I failed in properly hydrating. Rookie mistake.
2) Those hills were tough. The pounding down, the long climbs up, and that long downhill after Newton all hurt. My training may have improved in terms of mileage this year, but I probably neglected the hill workouts more than I should have.
3) I kissed too many Wellesley girls at mile 13. Just kidding! :) Those women rock though. They have the most phenomenal vocal cords.
4) Bad (but improving) running form, inadequate upper body and core training left my upper body exhausted for the last couple of miles. I'll need to fix those things before my next marathon.
5) This is probably the hardest one for me to admit, but perhaps (and probably), I just wasn't mentally tough enough today. I should have powered through those last few miles. Stopping even for a few seconds with so little left to go really does bother me. And I should have pushed harder at the end. It's a race, it's SUPPOSED to hurt. I know I've gutted out a lot of races, including marathons (see last year's Boston), so I know I have it in me. I just may not have today. Compounding that may have been the dehydration which weakened my resolve. But this is also something I need to clearly work on.
I huge HUGE congrats to my training and marathon travel partners, MDRA's Kirk, Anne and Mike. You guys showed tenacity, and ran excellent races! And moreover, you made this weekend so much fun. Great job to local blogging legend Chad. I'm looking forward to your race report (if you haven't already done it!) And a huge thanks goes to those who were there cheering me on, my best friend from college's parents who drove all the way from Bellingham to the halfway point to cheer me on. I'm so glad they got to see me looking strong. And a huge thanks and shout-out to the lovely Emily, who besides putting up with Misty Mike (jk Mike, I love ya like a brother), came out and cheered us on and presumably cheered me on (I was too tired to notice) and hopefully won't tell me how bad I looked at mile 23! :)
And thanks to everyone else who tracked me online and sent warm messages of encouragement. Thanks for making me feel like a star today! The marathon is such a selfish (and perhaps pointless) endeavor, but it gives me a lot of joy, and the fact all my friends and family are so supportive means so much to me! (I must be on the proverbial runner's high right now, I'm feeling downright sappy!)
Friday, April 18, 2008
Boston on my mind
last couple thoughts before Boston...
Check out this great article from MinnPost about Michelle Lilienthal, possibly Minnesota's best hope for an Olympic qualifier at the women's trials. I'll be cheering for her and all the other Minnesota women on Sunday.
Great video on the MDRA blog to psyche me up for Beantown!
And lastly, weather's looking great. Could it be better than this??
Check out this great article from MinnPost about Michelle Lilienthal, possibly Minnesota's best hope for an Olympic qualifier at the women's trials. I'll be cheering for her and all the other Minnesota women on Sunday.
Great video on the MDRA blog to psyche me up for Beantown!
And lastly, weather's looking great. Could it be better than this??
Boston-bound
No...sleep...'til Boston?
I'm getting pretty excited about the race. Training partners Fancy Kirk and Misty Mike are already in route. I'll be joining them out there tomorrow. My blog will most likely be silent for a few days. But since half my readership will be in Boston with me...if a blogger stops blogging and nobody is on the Internets...finish this proverb.
This will be my 2nd year running Boston. I ran it last year (and blogged about it). Hopefully the weather is better than last year. It should be, but even if it isn't, running this with my friends will be a great experience. And watching the Women's Marathon Oly Trials will be such a treat (watch it here), especially after watching the Men's Trials back in November.
My goal is the same as last year's goal, to run a sub 2:55. I know I've trained well enough for that, but I just need the guts to go out there and run it!
Good luck to all Boston runners. Shout outs to those Boston-bound runners in blogland: Mike, Kirk, Anne, Chad, and Chris! Run well, blog well.
I'm getting pretty excited about the race. Training partners Fancy Kirk and Misty Mike are already in route. I'll be joining them out there tomorrow. My blog will most likely be silent for a few days. But since half my readership will be in Boston with me...if a blogger stops blogging and nobody is on the Internets...finish this proverb.
This will be my 2nd year running Boston. I ran it last year (and blogged about it). Hopefully the weather is better than last year. It should be, but even if it isn't, running this with my friends will be a great experience. And watching the Women's Marathon Oly Trials will be such a treat (watch it here), especially after watching the Men's Trials back in November.
My goal is the same as last year's goal, to run a sub 2:55. I know I've trained well enough for that, but I just need the guts to go out there and run it!
Good luck to all Boston runners. Shout outs to those Boston-bound runners in blogland: Mike, Kirk, Anne, Chad, and Chris! Run well, blog well.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
I've been looking for a new car
This is my new ride:
Looks like Pope Benny could have put on his big hat, he's still got a lot of headroom...
Looks like Pope Benny could have put on his big hat, he's still got a lot of headroom...
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