October 2019 Monthly Running Challenge
Replies
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MegaMooseEsq wrote: »PastorVincent wrote: »MegaMooseEsq wrote: »quilteryoyo wrote: »@MegaMooseEsq Sounds like a great, exhausting race! Loved the report. Except, you forgot to let us know what your finish time was. Sounds like it was probably better than expected!
Hah, minor details! I finished in 2:03:31, slower than my arbitrary two hour target, but ahead of the marathon winners (who started 40 minutes after I did), which was the only thing I’d really wanted to avoid.
1000 people behind you! You rocked it!
Also, man @7lenny7 is tall! No wonder he is so fast, he probably only need 1/2 the number of strides of a normal person to finish a race.
Well, there were almost 10,000 people ahead of me, but I'll take it. I really was worried about being caught by the elite marathoners, though, so I'm super glad that didn't happen. And yeah, I'm on the shorter side (5'2") but @7lenny7 is definitely a tall dude. When I'm feeling insecure about being slow, which happens less and less often, I remind myself that I've got to take a lot more steps to go the same distance as these tall types!
Obviously the "7"'s in @7lenny7 are because he is 7 foot, 7 inches tall.8 -
10-1 7k slow
10-2 7k easy
10-3 rest
10-4 rest
10-5 7k moderate
10-6 7k easy
10-7 rest
10-8 7k moderate
October Total: 35k
October Goal: 135k
January Total: 131k
February Total: 159.5k
March Total: 183k
April Total: 126k
May Total: 128k
June Total: 161.5k
July Total: 151k
August Total: 133k
September Total: 135k
2019 total: 1,308k / 811m
Monthly average: 145.3k
Next year when you pop in here claiming your December 2019 mileage, what accomplishments will you have made?
Run at least 4 5k races. Completed 8-31
Get under 30:00 and a PR for 5k.
Average at least 135k per month, which would put me over 1,000 miles for the year.
Run the Year Team: Five for Nineteen - Completed 9-28
45 degrees F, sunny, and calm this morning. A beautiful day to run.
@MegaMooseEsq Great job!!!
@kirstymn I didn't think there was any such thing as too much Chinese food...
2019 Races:
4-13 Shine the Light 5K - 31:12 chip time; First Place male 65 and older
6-30 Strides for Starfish 5K - 31:34 chip time; 31/77 overall; second male 65 and older (no official category)
7-27 Solon Home Days 5K - 31:11 chip time; 95/141 overall; 4/6 age group (male)
8-31 Race for Freedom 5k - 31:39 chip time; 32:00 Garmin time; Third Place male 60 and older
9-14 Gift of Life 5k - off the schedule; insufficient recovery time
10-13 Haunted Hustle 5k7 -
@MegaMooseEsq Way to go on the 10 miler, even with the pacer issues, you managed quite well!
Nice photos too! Love seeing them2 -
T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »@hamsterwheel6 @RunsOnEspresso @PastorVincent
I started a thread here to see if someone smart can help solve my issue with Android lock screen and Amazon Music: https://androidforums.com/threads/how-to-turn-off-swipe.1314741/
I'll be sure to check out the thread. I use google assistant, so maybe that can't control 3rd party apps? I don't know. Hmm.0 -
October Goal: 220km
01/10: 10.43
04/10: 12.14
05/10: 21.31
07/10: 10.16
08/10: 8.06
Total KM run: 62.10
@hamsterwheel6 @kgirlhart @rheddmobile @143tobe @katharmonic @Squish815 @MegaMouseEsq So many racers this weekend. Congratulations!! Fantastic job on your races. I love reading all the reports
Tonight I ran way too soon after eating way too much Chinese food...
@Avidkeo Awesome job on the park run!
@143tobe Have a great time in Manchester
Thank-You! I'm still grinning 1 -
10/1 6.5
10/2 4
10/3 3.1 and 1.5 walk
10/4 2.5 walk
10/5 Rest
10/6 6.2 Race
10/7 Rest
10/8 6.09
Today was easy run with few walk breaks - legs feeling tired after the race. It was an ok run - cool and windy which is a welcome change - except for the wind part, almost lost my hat a couple times lol.
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October goal: 100 miles
10/1: 5.75 miles
10/2: 6.27 miles
10/5: 1.01 miles warm up
3.14 miles Old Rip 5k
10/8: 6.27 miles
22.44/100 miles completed
I finally had a cool, fall morning run. I ran 6.27 miles and it was so nice. It was 48°F with no wind and the dew point was 43. I am going to have to locate my gloves though. I was perfect in shorts and a t-shirt. My arms were a little chilly, but not enough to need my sleeves, but my hands were cold. I thought they would warm up as I ran, but they did not and by the time I got home I had a hard time getting my keys to unlock the door. I have to remember that if it is under 50° I need to wear gloves. It should be nice again in the morning, but I don't think it is supposed to be quite as chilly as it was today. I do hope that it will still feel like fall though. I'm tired of the hot morning runs and I really enjoyed the crisp air this morning.
@MegaMooseEsq Great job on your 10 miler!
2019 races:
2/2/19: Catch the Groundhog Half Marathon - PR 2:15:17
5/18/19: Run for 57th AHC Half Marathon - Cancelled due to weather
10/5/19: Old Rip 5K - PR 27:27, 1st AG
2020 races:
5/16/20: Run for 57th AHC Half Marathon8 -
quilteryoyo wrote: »@Teresa502 Where are you racing on Nov 3? I don't think I'm ready for a 10 mile run, but still interested, since I live in E. TN. As for the rain, we got a total of about a half an inch. Every drop is appreciated and will help, but we need a lot more to alleviate the drought. They were calling for more tonight. Hope we get some. Dad's been feeding his cattle hay for a couple of weeks now....maybe longer. The little stream that runs through my property is almost dry, which NEVER happens. That was the main reason for the urgency in getting them moved.
It's the Cade's Cove Loop Lope in the Smoky Mountains. In the past it has sold out pretty quickly but I'm not sure about this year. They also have a limited number of parking passes which is another incentive for registering early. Otherwise, you're on one of the shuttle buses. The race takes place before the park opens so there is no traffic to contend with and you always see wildlife of some sort. You should check it out!3 -
October Goal 100 miles
October 2 – 5.18 miles
October 4 – 10.7 miles
October 7 – 4.01 miles
October 8 – 4.51 miles
The temp was 10 degrees cooler this morning which made it a glorious day to run! I normally don’t run on Tuesdays but was awake so why not. I have bootcamp after work today so we’ll see how that goes.
Congratulations @MegaMooseEsq (aka Cap’n Marvel)!
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Congratulations @MegaMooseEsq on your 10 miler. You did great!
I ran 3.01 miles with the dogs this morning. It was blustery but warm (mid-50's F). It had rained overnight so the dogs were quite sloppy after the run, and I didn't realize the temperature when I got dressed... should definitely have worn a short sleeve shirt. The tights were okay but I likely would have been more comfortable in shorts. I might just have to set up a spreadsheet with what to wear for myself, based on conditions.
Most of you have been running a lot longer than me, but ... did you notice your posture changed when you started running regularly? Or am I just weird?
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Hey all.
Question, has anyone noticed the battery life on their garmin suddenly has decreased? I've had my vivoactive 3 for 14 months now and it's been awesome, usually going a week on a charge. Now, suddenly, it's lasting 2 days. I like wearing it as a smart watch now v
I've googled but get varying results but no actual solutions. Last night I charged it to 100%, 11 hrs later its down to 88.
Worth annoying Garmin over or just replace?0 -
Hey all.
Question, has anyone noticed the battery life on their garmin suddenly has decreased? I've had my vivoactive 3 for 14 months now and it's been awesome, usually going a week on a charge. Now, suddenly, it's lasting 2 days. I like wearing it as a smart watch now v
I've googled but get varying results but no actual solutions. Last night I charged it to 100%, 11 hrs later its down to 88.
Worth annoying Garmin over or just replace?
Yes! My Fenix 3 HR is old and I figured it was starting to fail. Also, my Aftershokz suddenly have less battery life.0 -
Long time away, but off to a good start. I have a half marathon planned for November 9th. The weather has finally been cooler. I achieved my goal last month of 25 miles; shortened goal due to being on vacation for 2 weeks.
My new goal for this month is 50 miles. I think that it is an attainable goal.
10/4......7.05 miles.....it was beautiful cool weather, approx 65 degrees. I had gotten a good report from my physician. I decided to mix it up while running with some high knees and higher kicks, and felt great after the first 2.5 miles, then started to tire around mile 6. It's going to take a while to regain fitness.
10/6.....6.01 miles....I took a nap in the afternoon and then had to watch the Frizette Stakes (I picked the winner for the race...liked the way she shook her head like she was getting the cobwebs out). So late start. It was nice and cool. I mixed up some sprints and fartleks. I didn't get leg tired this time. I felt absolutely great afterward. Then watched my team (the Colts) beat the Kansas City Chiefs. I had a good feeling before the game. I just had a great day.
10/7....2.03 miles.....ran on the White River Greenway, sans music. I just wanted to get a slow run in. I was sick when I awakened...vomited. Just ate soup and crackers and got more sleep. I felt better in the afternoon and didn't want to scrap my workout.
I think that it has been a good start for the first week of October. The weather is beautiful and the tree's are changing colors...the squirrels are gathering nuts.
Total miles.....15.1
Goal miles....5011 -
Realized I haven't posted a mileage update in quite a few days and we are leaving in the morning for another short trip so wanted to get it done. Dh will be busy catching up with all his buddies (Navy reunion) so Hobbes and I will be getting in some quality hiking and running at the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve overlooking the ocean. I am pretty excited!
Hobbes the Vizsla update... He will have surgery the Tuesday after we return. Some of the lumps they are confident are fatty tumors but not 100%. Two others are very questionable. I am hoping none are a MCT return!
Date........Miles.......Total
10/01......0.00........0.00
10/02......4.70........4.70
10/03......0.00........4.70 - + Strength Training
10/04......4.34........9.04
10/05......5.63......14.67
10/06......3.92......18.59
10/07......5.71......24.30
10/08......0.00......24.30 - + Strength Training
2019 Planned and Completed Races
02/03/19 - Surf City Half Marathon - Deferred to 2020
05/11/19 - Santa Barbara Wine Country HM - Complete
09/15/19 - Jack and Jill Downhill HM - Boise - HM #25 Complete
11/23/19 - USA Women's HM
02/02/20 - Surf City Half Marathon15 -
@zeesparrow - I know I am standing up straighter but I am not sure if that is from running or from my trainer wanting me to pull my shoulder blades together. Either way I think it helps with the ability to breath better when you are running.
@T1DCarnivoreRunner - One thing I found with my Trekz is I only charge them when they are low or dead and I only charge them until they are completely charged. I don't leave them plugged in overnight or anything more than an hour or so. Before I gave up on my Jaybird headphones (other issues) the support people told me to never charge them more than 20 minutes or until just when the light changed indicating a full charge. So far it has worked for my Trekz too.
Another question for the group - has anyone read The Cool Impossible by Eric Orton and have you tried his exercises for strengthening and helping your running form? If you have has it helped?
I have a little issue with the way the book is written (as if you were there with him and he is walking you through everything) but I am planning to give the exercises a try and see if they help. He claims that if you do them correctly and consistently they will correct issues with your form and lead to less or no injuries.4 -
@Teresa502 I will put that on my list to check out for next year - when I'm ready for a 10 miler. Google maps says I'm a little over 2 hours away from Cades Cove. I really thought I was closer. Still, that's not too bad and would be a really fun run. When I was in college, a group of us went down and rented bikes and biked the loop. We stopped at one of the churches and had a picnic. You almost always see some sort of wildlife, no matter the time of day. I bet the deer are out in force, as are the turkey's early in the morning. Enjoy!
@shanaber Hope everything goes well for Hobbes! Have a fun trip!3 -
Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
10/01/19 :::: 4.8 :::: 4.8
10/02/19 :::: 3.0 :::: 7.8
10/03/19 :::: 0.0 :::: 7.8
10/04/19 :::: 3.1 :::: 10.8
10/05/19 :::: 10.1 :::: 21.0
10/06/19 :::: 1.0 :::: 22.0
10/07/19 :::: 2.7 :::: 24.7
10/08/19 :::: 3.4 :::: 28.1
I went to marathon/HM group tonight to do just a base run instead of the speedwork. Several friends have their big race this weekend here in town so I wanted to support them. Our coach has us do a "sharpener" on the Tuesday before a Sunday race - which is one speed interval of 3-5 minutes. I ran the warmup of 15 minutes and then just kept that easy pace while they did their sharpener, and then ran the cooldown 15 minutes with them.9 -
5 miles today on the Greenline, so beautiful! It’s so nice not to be tortured by weather.
Race report from last Saturday’s Left Bank Festival 5k:This is one of my favorite little races, only about a hundred people. It’s run in the lowlands of Arkansas across the Mississippi River from Memphis. The start is up under the old railroad bridge, which has since been converted to a walking bridge, while two other train bridges and a road also cross at the same point. In the springtime this whole area is under water - it’s rice land. In the autumn, it’s mostly fallow. The race is an out-and-back which starts in the pleasant shade of trees dripping with kudzu under the bridges, then heads out onto a farm road through perfectly flat and open rice fields. Last year it was run at 3 pm, the sun on those fields was merciless, and most of the runners were walkers, especially since no one was feeling motivated to run in 100 degree heat.
Apparently someone decided to move the time up in hopes of cooler temperatures - this year’s start was 10 am. A morning race attracts a very different crowd from a mid-afternoon race - almost all of the participants this year were at least attempting to run. Nevertheless, it’s not a very competitive field and the overall winner didn’t break 20 minutes. But! That’s good news for me, because I’m pretty slow! And for the second year in a row at this race I won female master, as well as being 4th female overall. Maybe next year I can sneak into the overall placings! My time was just under 30 minutes, 29:51, which is not that fast for me considering I ran just over 27 minutes a week before. But an improvement on last year’s time which I seem to recall being nearly 32 minutes (told you, nobody wanted to run in the heat last year).
The main reason my time was so slow was that I went into the race knowing ahead of time from running it last year that halfway in, the paved road turns into gravel. Not just any old gravel but evil, evil ankle-bending giant irregular white quartz gravel. That gravel like to killed me last year, and then again at the Big River Crossing half which is run on the same road, it left me in tears from knee pain and with a lingering hip injury from trying to stabilize my feet over the uneven ground. So this year the plan was to go out fast and just run like hell, then run the gravel very, very slowly with walk breaks as needed, then put anything we had left into the finish when we hit the paved road again. I figured (correctly) that even with walk breaks I could probably win masters, and that even if by some chance someone fast showed up, it was worth it to run slowly to avoid being injured.
My husband and I lined up right at the start line - overall winners are gun time, not chip time, so we figured we might as well take our best shot. Memphians are super shy about lining up at the front. Looking at the photos from the race, it was just us standing next to the lady who ended up winning the 10k, and the guy who ended up winning the 5k, and everyone else was well back. At the last moment a young boy wearing a track team shirt was clearly thinking about moving up, and my husband said, “Go ahead, you’re probably faster than I am!”
At the start we went out as hard as possible - for us, nearly sprinting - and even so were still passed by about two dozen younger people right off. But after about half a mile most of them had crapped out and we had passed them in return, including the kid who started in front of us. I had no idea what pace we were running - our advance agreement was “as fast as seems reasonable.” It turns out our first mile was 7:33, which shaved almost thirty seconds off my previous fastest single mile time. And I don’t mean fastest single mile as part of a longer run, I mean my previous fastest “how fast can I run a mile?” PR was 7:57.
Needless to say, I was feeling the burn. And I kept expecting to hit the gravel at any moment, only to be met with a surprise - Hey! They paved this stretch of road since last year!
Well, they paved the main road, anyway. Shortly after the first mile marker we hit the turn onto the secondary road and found it was still gravel. So we took a very fast walk break, for about a quarter mile, then jogged gently through the turnaround, then took another walk break. Our second mile, even with a bunch of walking, was 9:44, since our walks were at about a 12:30 pace. For me that is a really fast walk, but even walking that fast was so much easier on our legs than trying to run sloshing around in deep irregular gravel. Plus it gave us a cardio break.
Back on the pavement for mile three, both of us were still pretty toasted from our first mile sprint, and my husband’s asthma was acting up. Nevertheless we managed to keep it about 9:30 or so - I have no idea what our last split was since while coughing my husband accidentally paused the run at about this point. He finally sent me off without him and I managed a halfway respectable finishing kick. He arrived a few seconds later, unfortunately for him about thirty seconds behind the guy who won his AG. Which he was grumpy about since he won it last year.
The awards this year were 45 records, which appear to be playable, but I don’t have a record player and can’t check. My mom still has one, so I’m going to try it out later.
This year’s festival had a catfish contest and a great lineup of live music for such a tiny little festival. Catfish judging wasn’t until 3 pm so we walked across the bridge into Memphis - about a mile and a half, the river is wide here - and ate lunch at a pub located at what used to be the old railroad yards. Good lunch, brisket tacos. This part of Memphis used to be horrifyingly dangerous with open gang activity but is now gentrified, with tons of new townhouses. The pub was full of people from the neighborhood holding a birthday party and coming in and out.
After stuffing ourselves with lunch we walked back and stuffed ourself with catfish, and catfish related food such as fried okra and fried alligator and remoulade sauce. During this time traditional blues music filled the air, along with some impressive guitar licks - I realized later that the musician was Kenny Brown, known for being a protege of RL Burnside. Among other things Kenny provided the guitar music supposedly played by Samuel L Jackson in Black Snake Moan.
After the catfish contest, the mayor of West Memphis showed up to declare it Willie Mitchell day in West Memphis, and my husband and I kicked back on the railroad bridge above the stage to watch Mitchell’s old house band, the Hi Rhythm section, perform with an assortment of musicians. Last to play was Don Bryant, a real treat since he rarely performs these days outside of church. Among other things Bryant wrote the song, most famous for Tina Turner’s version, “I can’t stand the rain.” We went down and stood next to the stage with some other ladies, and danced to the music. There were children building a fortress out of the giant gravel, and a beautiful labradoodle greeting everyone, and a baby who saw me dancing and wanted to dance with me. We had a great time!
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5.14 miles tonight of intervals. Very nice to see some cooling.
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This is stupidly long. There's a TL:DR at the end if you want to skip it. I promise to be more concise for my next report.
Race Report
Medtronic TC 10 Mile
Sunday, October 6th, 2019
Weather:Near perfect - 48F, clear skies, quite gusty at race start but didn't notice much wind after that
Race Description
This is the 4th largest 10 mile race in the country with over 11,000 participants. It's also the National 10 Mile Championship. It's held on "Marathon Weekend" along with a 5K and 10K on Saturday (canceled due to lightning this year) and the much loved TC Marathon (6700 runners) which starts an hour after the 10 Mile race. The two races share start and finish lines, and share the last 7 miles of the course. They both start in Minneapolis, next to US Bank Stadium where the Minnesota Vikings play and end on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol. The Marathon course is a beautiful route through downtown Minneapolis, then winds along four lakes, a parkway along a creek, then up along the Mississippi River on the Minneapolis side, across a bridge, down the Mississippi River on the St. Paul side, along Summit Avenue which is full of gorgeous historical homes and mansions, including our Governor's mansion, past the St. Paul Cathedral and finally ending at the state capitol. If you want to run a well-organized, beautiful marathon, this is it.
The 10 mile course is billed as "The Shortcut to the Capitol". It skips the four lakes and parkway along the creek and instead runs downtown, along the Mississippi on the Minneapolis side then meets the marathon course at the bridge crossing.
Training
I did very little training specifically for this race as all my training has been focused on getting longer in my distances in preparation for my 12 hour race this weekend. I didn't even know I was running this race until 2 weeks prior when a friend, who had a stress fracture in his foot asked me if I was interested and transferred the bib on the last day possible. I struggled with the decision on whether to run the race as a training run or race it. I have a 12 hour trail race scheduled this Sunday with a stretch goal of 50 miles so racing hard for the 10 mile race might not be the best idea. I also had 26 miles planned for the weekend, including an 18 mile run. In the end I decided to race hard and cut back a little bit on the total miles. Instead of the 18 mile run I'd race the 10 mile, recover for a couple of hours as I walked the course backwards, then run back to my truck at the start, which ended up being a 7.5 mile run.
I did have two short training runs where I experimented with different paces to see what I thought I could hold. The paces ranged from 8:00 to 8:45. 8:30 seemed to be the sweet spot. I then remembered I had the Daniel's Tables spreadsheet at work so I plugged in my numbers fro my recent 5K and it predicted a pace of 8:20 with an HR of 158. I decided to target the 158 HR and let the pace fall where it might. The night before the race I had a 4 mile run with Kody and it felt awesome so I was pretty stoked.
Race Prep
After my evening run I prepped for my race, putting everything in a pile on our table, then stayed up much later than I should have. I had my alarm set for 4:15AM and I think I went to bed at 11PM. I must have been excited for the race because I felt like I was up half the night. I had no trouble getting up for my alarms (I set two). For breakfast I had just a single slice of toast with peanut butter and strong cup of coffee. As I waited for the coffee to do it's magic, I finished prepping my gear and my drop bag. One wrinkle in this was planning for a return back to my truck and the two hours between runs where I might get cold. I packed a dry running shirt, a long sleeved shirt, and light sweat pants in a string bag along with a few other items. I'd just have to carry this gear on my return run.
5:30 rolled around and I had to get going. I didn't have to pick up the packet because @MegaMooseEsq was kind enough to pick it up for me. Using a parking app on my phone, I had already reserved a spot in a ramp just two blocks from race start and two block from where @MegaMooseEsq and her husband were parking.
Because of road construction I missed my exit and had to follow a circuitous path back around. I was worried Google was going to try take me through some roads closed for the races but there was no issue. Parking was super easy and I arrived just 5 minutes after I planned. I did my final prep in my truck (put on GPS, HR strap, buff, gloves, arm sleeves, wind breaker, sent a message to @MegaMooseEsq and headed out.
I met @MegaMooseEsq and her husband, got my race packet, chatted a bit and headed back to pin my bib to my shorts and put the my shirt and buff in my truck. I wish I could have spent more time talking to @MegaMooseEsq and her husband but I was angsty to get to the start. We walked together until we got to my ramp, took a quick photo and parted ways. I was hoping to catch her again at the finish.
All my angst about parking hassles, logistics, and getting to the start line was much ado about nothing. As large as the race was, it could not have been easier.
Pre-Race
The start area had a festival type atmosphere. There was electricity in the pre-dawn light. There were race volunteers all over the place who's sole purpose was just to be available for the racer's and their questions. As huge as the start area was, it was very easy to find my way around and get to where I needed to be. I found my corral, then found the drop bag area. UPS is one of the sponsors of the race so of course they had several brown trucks for the drop bags and there were no lines.
Sometimes I feel there is no limit to stupidity. I had my spare gear in a string bag but for "security" reasons, you had to put all of your gear in a clear plastic bag that they provide. So I put my string bag inside the clear plastic bag and they took it. Let me get this straight...My gear in a string bag is not acceptable because I could be hiding something nefarious, but as soon as I put that bag inside of your clear bag, now we all have a nice warm fuzzy feeling that I'm not a bad guy. Ooooooh-kaaaaaaay........ Sad to say this is not the first time I've come across that.
I still had 25 minutes to race start so I spent the next 10 minutes walking around, doing short jogs, and soaking it all in. Runners everywhere going through their pre-race warmup, stretching, or jogging up and down the sidewalks. At 6:45 the MC started urging folks to get to their corrals so I made my way. Since they placed me in the first of four large corrals I had planned on lining up at the back , but the corral was less than half full when I got there so I slowly moved up into the empty space.
I found the 8:30/mi pacer (1:25:00), decided that fit with my goal and lined up near her. I'm glad I did. She dispensed two bits of wisdom that helped me on the race. First, she told us that she starts her watch with the gun not when she crosses the start. The reasoning is that runners near the front may drop back and decide to stay with the pace group, and runners behind us may catch up with us and want to stick with us. Using the gun start gives everyone the same starting reference point. It makes sense but I had never heard that before. Since we crossed 2 minutes after the gun, I knew her finish would actually be a 1:23 finish for me if I stuck with her.
The second bit of wisdom was how to handle the two or three very sharp turns on the course. Since every one wants to take the best tangent the inside lanes get very congested and you get knocked out of your rhythm. She suggested taking an outer route to keep the pace and rhythm going. I did that, and it worked well.
I had thrown my gloves in the drop bag and when the wind picked up, I was wishing I had them with me. Just before the gun, I stashed my buff and Patagonia windbreaker.
Race
The race started at 7:00 AM sharp. My friend told me to expect it to take several minutes to be cross the start line but because I was in the first corral, it only took 2 minutes to cross. Sunrise wasn't for another 20 minutes so we were treated to the beautiful glow of a pre-dawn sky as we wound our way through the urban downtown towards the river. While I was using the pacer for reference, I wasn't intentionally trying to stay with her, except for the first mile or so. I thought she would keep me from going out too fast, but it actually seemed like I was being pulled to go faster than I otherwise might. My Garmin tried to tell me my HR was spiking up as high as 222 in that first mile but I've learned not to believe Garmin's HR reading in the first mile unless I've had a proper warm up first. My HR does spike, by my best estimation based on 5K data my max HR might be 185 to 189.
At 0.7 miles we left the urban portion and started dropping into the river valley and along the Minneapolis side of the Mississippi River. Now we were running through the extensive, beautiful Minneapolis park system. Running along the river made me realize how long it's been since I've run in the metro area and reminded me what a beautiful city we have for running. I made a note to get some long runs in here in the not too distant future. My HR finally settled down after a mile and when I looked I was running right on target at 154.
This first part of the course was not on the marathon course so there wasn't a huge crowd of spectators but more than I expected. The dawn glow increased in intensity and in a very happy running zone. I felt great, the weather was great, my body was moving great, and I just knew it was going to be a good day. We ran about 1.5 miles along the river then it was time to make the first big climb out of the river valley, ending in that very tight turn the pacer warned us about and up to the bridge to get us into St. Paul. I followed the pacer's advice, stayed about halfway out and avoid the elbows and shoulders bumping in the sharp tangent. I run up hills with a goal of maintaining effort, not pace and the pacer must been going for even pace because she and her entourage put some distance between us going up that twisty hill. During that climb my HR did go up to 166 but was not a problem. At the top of the hill I took it easy long enough to let my HR drop back down and eventually caught up to the pacer. As we crossed over the river on the Franklin Avenue Bridge, and made another turn, the sun poked up over the trees and right into my eyes. I was regretting not bringing sunglasses and squinted against the glare, but the course was so full of trees and shade that the sun wasn't too much of a problem.
We were now on the part of the course shared with the TC Marathon and the number of spectators increased greatly. Mile 3 put us on the St. Paul side and we again ran along the beautiful, tree-lined river parkway, this time from up high where we could only see the river in glimpses. I must have zoned out because suddenly I found myself caught up in water stop congestion and nearly tripped over someone walking who stepped out right in front of me. I adjusted course to avoid the masses and got back in the zone.
The crowd, the excitement, the encouragement of the volunteers, the fellow runners, the cool crisp morning air, the autumn colors, the wonderful feeling of moving along the road under my own power, working hard and effortless at the same time...I took time to relish this gift we, to thank God and to appreciate the moment.
At 4.5 miles we approached another water stop and this time I moved away from it to avoid the crowds. I wasn't planning on stopping for anything. My HR had been drifting up from averaging upper 150's to averaging lower 160's. I tried to ease up but it wasn't working. Something just wasn't reconciling and though the number was slightly higher than I wanted but the effort was right on target so I gave up on 158 and just went with perceived effort.
At 5 miles we left the parkway along the river and turned east onto Summit Avenue. Summit Avenue is one of the best known roads in St. Paul. Lined with gorgeous historic homes and mansions, just about any of the founders of Minnesota and the Twin Cities seemed to have lived here and built a mansion worthy of their name. You can tour many of the mansions and if you're ever in town, it's a gorgeous run.
Soon after we turned east my running became a bit more labored and my HR crept further up to the upper 160's. Not by a lot, but enough that I felt I was starting to run lower on energy. The feeling you get when you realize you've gone out too fast. Except for the first mile of the race, though, I didn't feel I was going too fast so this feeling was frustrating. Though I normally havent' taken any nutrition for half marathons or less, I did bring one gel with me and decided to suck it down. I've been experimenting with a different type of gel. This one was from Science In Sports (SiS) and these are isotonic, which means that they are the right concentration of carbs to be absorbed right into your bloodstream. No additional water is necessary. Consequently, they are not nearly as sickly sweet as a gel like GU and are much easier to get out of the packet. The only downside is that they are about twice the size. Well worth the trade off, I think. The mocha flavored gel went down easy. I don't know that it ever helped, but it certainly didn't hurt.
At mile 6, right after I took the gel, was another water stop and just to wash down the flavor I did grab a glass of water and drank half of it. Unless most of the crowd, I skipped the first half dozen tables and grabbed from one of the last tables where there was much less of a crowd. The 1:25 pacer was slowly getting away from me. From time to time I could see her in the distance. I wasn't too concerned since she said she was going for 1:25 gun time and I was going chip time. A 1:25 gun time would be a 1:23 chip time.
The Summit Avenue crowd kept growing as we continued east and the energy grew along with it. Families, kids, neighbors, all were having a great time. Many home along the course clearly were making a party of it and there were tables of donuts, pastries, bagels, coffee and of course, bloody mary's and mimosas.
This extra effort I seem to be expending continued until mile 7. It was only after the race was over and I was looking at my Strava data that I figured out why. From Mile 5 to 7 there was a steady but mild incline. Not enough to see on the road, but enough to feel. I hadn't seen the pacer in a while and didn't much care at that point.
From mile 7 to 9 the road overall was flat but with occasional swells. I felt an uptick in my energy and a corresponding uptick in my pace. The run felt easier as if I got a second wind. Was it the gel or was it the fact that I was no longer running uphill? Don't know, don't care. I was back in my zone, the crowd continued to increase, it was fan-TAS-tic day and I was back to feeling great. There were water stops at 7, 8 and 9 and I ignored them all.
At Mile 8 there was the Twin Cities Running Company "cheer station". TCRC is my favorite local running store because, most importantly, they're a great store, but they also are HUGE supporters of the local trail running community. The general manager is known as the Godfather of Trail Running and recently had a nice write-up in Trail Runner magazine. As I passed their cheer station I saw a bunch of friends from the trail running community and that gave me a huge boost. In fact I noticed my HR spike 10 points going past them.
At Mile 9 Summit Avenue takes a turn and heads towards the St. Paul Cathedral at Mile 9.7, sitting high on Cathedral Hill, overlooking downtown St. Paul. It's a beautiful, stately cathedral and is the third largest church in the United States. The Cathedral marks the final sprint to the finish. Since it is up on a hill, the last 0.3 miles is all downhill. I practice downhills and I love down hills. I went into final sprint mode. There was a timing mat at the Cathedral and the race results shows my pace for the last 0.3 miles as 6:34/mile! I was flying down that hill. Ahead I saw two large fire department ladder trucks, one on each side of the road, with a huge US flag hung over the road between them. I assumed that was the finish and ran hard. As I got closer I saw I was mistaken, the finish was actually another tenth of a mile paste that. Not a huge deal but at the time it was and I may have let out a bit of an F'inheimer. I was able to keep up my strong finish, however, passing well over a dozen other runners to the finish.
Other than having a target HR and my last minute decision to keep track of the 1:25 pacer, I wasn't going to track anything else. I set my GPS to HR reading and never looked at any other data on my watch the entire race. I didn't look at distance and I didn't look at pace. There were cues, of course, such as mile markers from time to time, but once the 1:25 pacer was out of site I didn't know where I stood, other than I hadn't see the 1:30 pacer yet.
As I approached the finish I saw the clock and knew I hit my goal time. My official time was 1:24:24, better than my goal by over half a minute. I was stoked! It's my first 10 Mile race so it's automatically a PR. I placed 2203 out of 11048 overall (top 20%), 1331 out of 3883 males, and 99 out of 357 M50-54. I damn near hit even splits too, with a 42:09 first half and a 42:15 second half. I made up some serious time on that final sprint because that pacer finished just 3 seconds ahead of me! I didn't realize that until I was watching video of the finish and noticed that I almost ran into her.
I later solved the mystery of the my HR creeping up. It turns out I was using the wrong target. I went back to my Daniel's Tables spreadsheet and discovered that I had been playing around with the numbers and was using the wrong Max HR value for me. When I correct that, it told me I should have been targeting an HR of 166, which was right in line with my HR for the race.
Post Race
After getting out of the way and catching my breath I just stood there and soaked it all in. My previous race, the trail HM, did not go well and I let myself get a bad attitude. This race turned it completely around. Nothing really went wrong and I finished strong and love the result. I probably could have pushed it harder and shaved some more time off, but I still had to get back to my truck and I have a 12 hour race this weekend so my level of effort was probably right on.
I went though the food and water line and I was starving. Two bottles of Gatorade, a bottle of water, some chocolate covered nuts, potato chips, a banana, cups of diced fruit, and I started feeling normal again. I checked my race app to see how @MegaMooseEsq was doing and decided I had time to get my drop bag. I was starting to get cold in my sweat soaked clothes. I took off my sweaty shirt and put on a new running shirt, then a long sleeve shirt and then my wind breaker.
I check the race app again and decide I need to get back to the finish so I can see @MegaMooseEsq finish the race but as soon as I neared the finish line, nature called in a big way and I had to bolt to the porta-potty. Amazingly it wasn't nasty, which is good because I spent some time in it. Unfortunately I spent too much time and not only missed her finish the race but missed my next door neighbor as well.
From there I went to the beer garden to get my free can of IPA, finally met my neighbor and then walked the course backwards for 2 miles stopping to cheer on runners from time to time. I missed the top marathon runners come through but did see some pretty fast runners and the back of the pack of the 10 milers. Most were struggling some in clear pain. It was these runners who impressed me the most. I cheered loudest for them.
My plan was to walk back to the TCRC cheer zone, visit with friends and then run the last 8 miles back to my truck. I loved the festive atmosphere of the crowd. The parties had grown in size and intensity and kegs of beer next to the curb were not uncommon. Runners seem to be welcome to enjoy the beer and I know some who run the marathon every year and always stop for the beer.
After chatting with friends it was time to run again. I was feeling good but carrying a big pack with my extra clothes was a pain in the *kitten*. There was just no comfortable way to run with it but I managed. My first 5 miles were mostly along the marathon route. First going the opposite way, then going with them. When going with them, they were in the road, I was on the path beside the road. They were on mile 18 and many of them were having a hard time. Finally I broke away in another direction. One mile from my truck I saw a Jimmy John's sub shop and had a major craving so I bought a sub put it in my bag and continued to my truck where I grabbed a beer and had a little picnic in the parking ramp while sitting in the bed of my truck.
As I'm pretty sure I made clear, this race was awesome. I had no interest in this race, other than someday running the marathon, until this opportunity came up. It's now my intent to run this race every year, or at least apply for the lottery. The only time I wouldn't is if I was planning on the marathon.
All told, I ran 17.5 miles on the day. Currently at 26 out of my 150 mile goal for October.
TL:DR
I didn't train specifically for this race, but the opportunity came up last minute and I jumped on it. I was apprehensive about the large crowd, parking, etc, but it turned out to be a non issue. The race was awesome, the weather was awesome, and I finished at 1:24:24, over a half minute faster than my goal of 1:25:00 and ahead of 80% of the field. I'll definitely be signing up for this race again.And now the photos:
@MegaMooseEsq and I. I think she may have posted this already, I haven't read her report yet.
The start of the race, both behind me and in front of me
Perhaps my favorite race photo of me
Finish line shot and medal. That's the Cathedral on the hill in one photo and the state capitol in the other.
Someone was actually wearing Kangaroo Jumpers! I didn't ask them how it went, figuring she'd already had enough of people asking her about them.
More photos of the state capitol, the Cathedral, and the marathon course
My picnic in the parking ramp
20 -
PastorVincent wrote: »MegaMooseEsq wrote: »PastorVincent wrote: »MegaMooseEsq wrote: »quilteryoyo wrote: »@MegaMooseEsq Sounds like a great, exhausting race! Loved the report. Except, you forgot to let us know what your finish time was. Sounds like it was probably better than expected!
Hah, minor details! I finished in 2:03:31, slower than my arbitrary two hour target, but ahead of the marathon winners (who started 40 minutes after I did), which was the only thing I’d really wanted to avoid.
1000 people behind you! You rocked it!
Also, man @7lenny7 is tall! No wonder he is so fast, he probably only need 1/2 the number of strides of a normal person to finish a race.
Well, there were almost 10,000 people ahead of me, but I'll take it. I really was worried about being caught by the elite marathoners, though, so I'm super glad that didn't happen. And yeah, I'm on the shorter side (5'2") but @7lenny7 is definitely a tall dude. When I'm feeling insecure about being slow, which happens less and less often, I remind myself that I've got to take a lot more steps to go the same distance as these tall types!
Obviously the "7"'s in @7lenny7 are because he is 7 foot, 7 inches tall.
@PastorVincent ha, not quite. I'm just 6' 5". I'm not the tallest in the family though, my youngest son is 6' 7".
@MegaMooseEsq great race report! I loved being able to read a report from someone else about the same race I ran. I intentionally waited until after I posted mine before I read yours. We should have much more time to talk the next time we meet.
6 -
Some race changes.
I'm skipping the trail half marathon this Saturday. Too much to run before my 12 hour race Sunday, and too expensive to switch to the 5K
I'm no longer going to pace a friend for 17 miles of her 100 mile race on October 20th. I need to drop that to keep peace in the house, though I still plan on a long run that day, so I'm not sure what's to gain for her if I skip pacing.
Discussion of the Glacier Hills 50K start the argument but in the process I managed to go from a 25% chance to a 50% chance!
I added the Icebox 480, an 8 hour trail race. My wife is flying to Sanibel Island with a friend for 5 days, so I think I'll be able to sneak away for that. I signed up for it last year but foot surgery prevent me from going.
January 25th I'm debating between a 50K in Kansas, where I'll be able to visit my daughter, or a HM in St. Paul...I wish I could do them both.
2019 Races
02/23/2019 - Psycho Wyco 20M w/ Kody - Kansas City, KS - 5:39:36 (41/65 OA, Kody 4/9 Canine)
04/27/2019 - Tillamook Burn 50M - Tillamook Forest, OR DNF at 31.6 Miles
05/18/2019 - Superior Spring 50K - Lutsen, MN - 7:52:09 (171/204 OA, 15/18 M50-59)
07/13/2019 - Eugene Curnow Trail Marathon - Carlton, MN - 7:00:49 (236/308 OA, 29/37 M50-59)
09/14/2019 - Outrun Homelessness 5K - Savage, MN - 23:57 (7/72 OA, 6/24 M, 1/4 M50-59)
09/21/2019 - Surly Trail Loppet HM - Minneapolis, MN - 2:31:19 (318/514 OA, 229/313 M, 28/40 M50-59)
10/06/2019 - TC 10 Mile - Minneapolis to St. Paul, MN - 1:24:24 (2203/11044 OA, 1333/3883 M, 98/357 M50-54)
10/13/2019 - Loopet Loppet 12 HR Trail Race - Minneapolis, MN
10/26/2019 - Glacier Hills 50K - Sioux Falls, SD
11/02/2019 - Icebox 480 8HR Trail Race - River Falls, WI
11/16/2019 - Luce Line 64M Run (Solo Endeavor)
12/07/2019 - Alternate Chili Trail Run 10M w/ Kody - Kansas City, KS
2020 Races
St Croix Winter Ultra (Volunteer)
01/25/2020 - Securian Half Marathon - St. Paul, MN
01/25/2020 - Rock On Lake Perry 50K - Meriden, KS
02/22/2020 - Pyscho Wyco 50K - Kansas City, MO
Registered
Tentative13 -
Congrats @rheddmobile @7lenny7 and @MegaMooseEsq !
I've got a cold or allergies or something, ugh. No fever and felt great WHILE running though. I'm drinking lots of good tea and trying to get stuff done so I can go try to sleep it off.
October goal 100 miles
Upcoming races:
Oct. 19 - CityTrail trail 5k (#1 of 6 in the series)
Oct. 26 - Botanical Autumn 5k
Oct. 27 - Lublin Half Marathon7 -
Great race report @7lenny7! Glad you enjoyed that race and distance. You did awesome!
Also a great race report from @rheddmobile. That was a fantastic race, and winning the female master award is just super impressive!!! Cool award being a 45 record!
Got in 7.4 miles today. Another beautiful morning, and less windy than Monday. Speed work called for 1.25mi WU, 5x 5:00 @ 7:56/mi with 3:00 recoveries, 1.25mi CD. The speed intervals ended up being between 7:32 and 6:58 with the last one as the fastest one. So the awkwardness on Monday felt like Jerry Lewis running, and today was more like Carl Lewis 😉
9 -
Congrats on your race and first place female master award @rheddmobile! That's fantastic! Nice report and I have the same shirt you are wearing! I should wear it for luck!
@7lenny7 great race report and congratulations on making your goal time! Sounds like a great race. Much like @MobyCarp's reports, yours are so insightful about race decisions and thought processes. I feel like my thoughts are always "when is this going to be over, don't quit, crap my pace dropped, [brain trying to calculate how many minutes left], don't quit..." 10 -
I may be way off here, but as a wife, one major gain would be knowing you weren't running with another woman that day. Even if I didn't run myself, even if there's no question that it's really a friend and nothing more, and even if I didn't know about the connection that happens between any 2 humans who are out there running together. I'd probably even know in my head that it's not that big a deal and there are many other males pacing females and it's totally fine, there are plenty of other people out on the trail as well, I'm being irrational, etc... but I still wouldn't like it.I'm no longer going to pace a friend for 17 miles of her 100 mile race on October 20th. I need to drop that to keep peace in the house, though I still plan on a long run that day, so I'm not sure what's to gain for her if I skip pacing.
But whatever the reason, I think it's a good thing to make the compromise and not do the pacing that one day if it's a big deal to your spouse.
4 -
October Goal 100 miles
October 2 – 5.18 miles
October 4 – 10.7 miles
October 7 – 4.01 miles
October 8 – 4.51 miles
October 9 – 5 miles
Another cool 55F run at 5 this morning. Now this is Fall weather!
@rheddmobile – Congratulations on your female master award! I enjoyed reading your race report but you are not slow at all! I couldn’t run a mile at 7:33 if Satan himself was chasing me!
Great race report @7lenny7! Glad you had such a good race and took the time to recognize the beauty in the day and in your ability. That cathedral is beautiful! @katharmonic – I also thought of @MobyCarp and his race reports when I was reading.
1 -
polskagirl01 wrote: »
I may be way off here, but as a wife, one major gain would be knowing you weren't running with another woman that day. Even if I didn't run myself, even if there's no question that it's really a friend and nothing more, and even if I didn't know about the connection that happens between any 2 humans who are out there running together. I'd probably even know in my head that it's not that big a deal and there are many other males pacing females and it's totally fine, there are plenty of other people out on the trail as well, I'm being irrational, etc... but I still wouldn't like it.I'm no longer going to pace a friend for 17 miles of her 100 mile race on October 20th. I need to drop that to keep peace in the house, though I still plan on a long run that day, so I'm not sure what's to gain for her if I skip pacing.
But whatever the reason, I think it's a good thing to make the compromise and not do the pacing that one day if it's a big deal to your spouse.
That's not the issue here, it's all about it being a "race" because she see races as something that take up so much time to train for and she has things in the yard that she wants me to get done before winter and she's worried I won't get it done. I've gone running with other female runners before with no issue. She has her guy friends that she hangs out with. It's just not something she or I worry about. Ever since we've known each other back in high school she's always had good guy friends and I've always had good gal friends. I don't think I even told her that this friend is female in this instance.
The good news is I think she's going to drop her objection to the South Dakota 50K the following week. It's at a state park near Sioux Falls and I have a cabin already reserved.
12 -
katharmonic wrote: »Congrats on your race and first place female master award @rheddmobile! That's fantastic! Nice report and I have the same shirt you are wearing! I should wear it for luck!
@7lenny7 great race report and congratulations on making your goal time! Sounds like a great race. Much like @MobyCarp's reports, yours are so insightful about race decisions and thought processes. I feel like my thoughts are always "when is this going to be over, don't quit, crap my pace dropped, [brain trying to calculate how many minutes left], don't quit..."
The @MobyCarp reference made me smile. I always learned something from his race reports. One of the reasons mine are so long is because of him. If I learn something, or experience something new in a race, I like to write about it and hopefully someone might pick up something that might help them in the future.
10 -
Morning, all!
My goal was to run 1 outdoor run and 1 indoor run each week since I have so little time to do much more.
Last week I was on track - 1 indoor and 1 out door
This week so far so good - 1 outdoor yesterday and I am on track to do another outdoor on Thursday or Friday and then an indoor on Saturday.
This is great!10
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