My 'best of running ' 2008

Not in any particular order.

• My running partners. It's wonderful to have running partners that are great friends.
• I ran 4 races of marathon distance or longer. I enjoyed all those events, the good parts and the bad.
• The Afton Trail Run 50K. I ran this one by heart rate, and it took a long time, but I finished it. I had a great time and I'll run it again.
• The Fall 50 Relay in Door County. Five people and only 50 miles so we started in the morning and finished in the afternoon. All you can eat/drink pizza/beer after the race.
• The Fall 50 long sleeve cotton shirt. My favorite long sleeve shirt of the year. I wear it all the time while my Fargo and Twin Cities marathon shirts go unworn. My favorite short sleeve cotton shirt was from the Bear Water Run 10 mile race.
• The Afton 25/50K T-Shirt. Best short sleeve technical shirt of the year. Awesome design.
• I met my goal of running 2000 miles this year. Over 1000 more than last year.

I look forward to more good things in 2009.

--Mark

ouch

My running is quickly tapering down to nearly zero miles per week. I went to my Dr. last week to have a painful bump looked at that is on the bottom of my foot. Seems to be a plantar wart. I'll see her next week too and then a different Doctor during the third week in January. I think it 'started' about 4 weeks ago. Due to the stress on my feet from ramping up to 60+ miles per week? Maybe. Due to the drier weather and my foot skin 'cracking' a bit? Maybe... Better put some lotion on those dogs. The good thing is that it's not painful all the time..... only when I walk or run. :-) I need to mostly switch over to non-running activities. I can tolerate some time on the treadmill so I hope to keep running at least a few miles a week but this will give me a chance to crosstrain.

Non-running activites I'm switching over to are spinning and weight training and I may even try the eliptical machine.

I can see this painful little thing affecting my winter to spring/summer running. I think I'll skip the Securian Half Marathon, I may do a half marathon instead of the Eau Claire marathon on May 3. Not sure of anything until this pain goes away.

--Mark

Back to the treadmill

I've been running outside since last winter. This morning's near zero temperature with a windchill near -8F were cold enough for me to get back on the treadmill for an hour. There is definately an adjustment period when hitting the treadmill again after several months. The weather forecast shows some cold days ahead for the middle of next week. I may be on the treadmill then too.

Some of my running partners had planned to run long this morning. They braved the cold and ran 21. I waited for them at the club to finish. They were a little 'frosty' but were in pretty good shape with no frostbite.

--Mark

No Afton (for me) in 2009

I was planning to run Grandma's marathon on June 20th and then the Afton 25K on July 4th(?). My plans just changed and I'll be out of town during early July so Afton is out. Fortunately, I'll be able to catch a 10K at the Keweenaw Trail Running Festival on July 11th. I'll get some nice hill runs in while I'm up in copper country. I'll miss the Keweenaw hill race and the 25K of the triple series so I'll give the 10K my all.

--Mark

adding more miles again

I increased my weekly miles up over 45 this week. Next week I'll get close to 50 and I hope by January to be in the 60 to 70 range weekly. Looking back, I didn't quite average 40 miles per week leading up to the Twin Cities Marathon. If my body can handle it, I plan to have an average around 70 miles or so per week. With the extra miles in training, I hope I don't start fading at mile 16 in my next marathon, like I did in the TCM.

--Mark

Door County Fall 50 team race report

A few months ago my friend Kristen asked some of her running friends, including me, about running a relay race in Door County in October, the Fall 50. It sounded like a great idea. I had run the Ragnar Relay Great River last year from LaCrosse, WI to Minneapolis and it was a wonderful experience. Before too long Kristen had our team, the Saint Paul Running Co., entered in the race.

Kristen, our team captain, did a great job of searching for sponsors, we got some Coffee coupons from Caribou Coffee, some race rolls from the Great Harvest Bread Company, and some funds to buy team shirts and some of our other expenses from Nutritional Weight & Wellness, Inc.

Fast forward to the day before the race. We were all packed and ready to go in the morning. The team was Kristen, Karl, Dave, Ted, and I. Dave was extending his vacation so he drove separately as well as Ted who had to work the morning after the race. We were all staying in the same Hotel in Sturgeon Bay, the Best Western Maritime. After a long and rainy drive to Sturgeon Bay, I could not find the Hotel. I usually need to print out maps and directions ahead of time as I'm not good at figuring out how to get to places while I'm driving. We had written directions that were great, but lacking a bit of detail for the end of the drive. We still arrived in plenty of time, got our rooms, and then drove to the Hotel where we picked up our race packet.

I slept well Friday night and had a large breakfast Saturday morning. Our team's starting time was 9am. Teams started at 8, 9, or 10am depending on their projected pace. We were down as an 8:00 pace/mile team but thought we may do better than that. The solo runners started at 7am and we were watching for them on the drive up. We came across the leaders; the first three were running side by side. I recognized John Storkamp, the 2nd place solo runner from 2007 and the race director of the Afton Trail Run 25K/50K. The solo runners were about one hour into their day at that point. We would start ours in another hour. Now onto some pictures.

An hour to spare so we might as well start writing on our car.

Karl, Dave, Ted, Kristen and I at the start.


Off they go, Ted is our first runner.


Ted, Karl, and Dave ran their first legs. Now it was my turn and I'm running a 7.5 mile leg in Peninsula State Park. It's just beautiful, the weather is cool (40s?) with some wind. The temperature is perfect for me! Some leaves were still on the trees! It was on this leg that I was passed by a running for the first (and only) time. We chatted for a minute and he told me it took him 5 miles to catch me. I think he was running at about a 7:00 pace.



I'm very happy and moving right along. It couldn't be any better than this!


Below, I'm the runner that looks like a tiny spot of red, just around the bend in the road. Another beautiful Fall scene.


Ted ran again and was to finish at the half-way buffet. While waiting for Ted, I had two servings of chicken soup, a banana, and 4 little candy bars. Maybe more but that's all I can remember. We had a spreadsheet with projected times for all our runners. Everyone was running ahead of schedule and Kristen asked me how much longer before Ted would show up. I said 3 or 4 minutes and it wasn't 10 seconds before he rounded the corner and Kristen was on her way. I had to finish my soup in the car at the next aid station. Dave ran next and then it was my turn for a 6.1 mile leg. I felt pretty good for only having about 90 minutes between legs. Although I ran my first leg at around a 7:15 pace, this one was much slower, partly due to fatigue, and partly because I was running directly into the wind. I ran this leg in the upper 7:30's.

Here is my handoff to Kristen at the next aid station. I'm getting close!


She's got it!


Away she goes!


It turned out we were running more than 30 seconds faster per mile than planned! A side effect of this is that the farther we went, the fewer runners there were. Porta-potties were also getting 'fresher'. We drove to aid station 9. Solo runners were going by but only one 8am team had run through at that time. It wasn't long before team 322 came through. They went on to win it in 5:04. Wow! Kristen came in and Karl started out on his, and our team's, final leg.

Karl alone on the road.


Karl's looking very strong and running just over a 7:00 pace! Nice!


One more pic before we headed to the finish line!


Here's the team (except for Ted who took this pic) running to the finish behind Karl.


6:11:20 finish for 13/144 overall; 6/82 in the open mixed division!

There was a huge tent setup for the after-race party. There were mostly solo runners in the tent when we arrived because we were the third team to cross. I knew many 10am teams would finish ahead of us due to their faster pace. We found that out at the awards ceremony. I did a quick look around for John Storkamp and didn't see him. This didn't surprise me as he finished more than two hours earlier (6:04 for 1st place and new course record!). We ate some pizza, drank a beer, and headed to our hotel for showers and came back later for the party. When we got back the place was packed. The party was very good and there was plenty of food and drink for everyone. Later, a DJ was playing songs and little kids were dancing. Some big kids (like me) hit the dance floor about 7:30 and closed the party down about 8:15 or so.

This ended up being my favorite race of the year. I think the Afton 50K and the Twin Cities Marathon were tied as my second favorites. I always had said that the Ragnar Great River Relay was my favorite but the 'up all night' running really makes me tired for a few days. The Door County Fall 50 all-day-race was perfect!

photos by Ted R., Dave A, and me.

--Mark

Fall 50 this weekend and changing workout plan

My last scheduled race this year is a relay --- the Fall 50 in Door County Wisconsin. It can be run solo or with from 2 to 5 runners per team. I'm running it on a 5-person team and can't wait.

I have been an idiot and ran 25 and 38 miles in the two weeks following the Twin Cities marathon. It caught up to me last Friday on a 12 mile run when my heart rate went up too high and my speed dropped. Ooops. I took three days off running and did 9 this morning. It felt good but I could tell I still don't have my speed back. I don't feel like picking up yet on the final hill back to the gym. After the Fall 50 I plan to take two easy running weeks before I hit it a little harder.

Also, I'm adding more core and strength work into my weeks. I started this with an upper body workout yesterday. My general plan from mid-November through the winter will use this as a guideline but I'll add core work in where I can:

Mon - Lift (Upper body)
Tue - Run (hills/speed/tempo)
Wed - Lift (Legs) or Easy run or Kickboxing or Circuit
Thu - Easy run and/or Yoga and/or Circuit
Fri - Long run or Longer tempo run
Sat/Sun- Easy run or rest

--Mark

Twin Cities Marathon 2008

A wonderful marathon for me. Cool and rainy, I did not get too warm. There was a short time I was a little too cold but it didn't bother me. I stayed well fueled and hydrated, did not have any GI issues, and ran the whole race without needing to walk. I only had a slight left hamstring cramp around mile 25 and that was my only minor problem.

I could only hold an 8 pace until mile 16. After that I didn't have the power to continue at that speed. I am extremely happy with my 3:42:12 time which is a 30 minute PR over my first marathon, Fargo in May of this year.

My friends that trained with me all had PR's today too. Jim and Karl qualified for Boston as well as Kim who ran an awesome 3:16 for her third BQ, and PR, this year! I'll be training with them this winter for their Boston as well as whatever I decide to do.

Thanks to all the TCM volunteers and spectators! I really, really enjoyed my race. Thanks to people I know or recognized out there cheering people on! Some of them were: Suzy, Scot, Greg, Steve, Kristen, Beth, Dave, Matt, Rod, and Tom.

--Mark

10 days to the TCM

I feel good going into this marathon. No injuries, but I'm two weeks into a cold which should be gone very soon. I'm running well. I have my fueling/hydration plan figured out. This Saturday a bunch of us will run the final 8 miles of the course. We've run the hills along the river and Summit many times but it will be nice to run that final stretch one more time before the TCM.

I'm not planning to carry a pace chart for the TCM as I did in Fargo. I'll just run it as well as I can; I have a target average pace of 8:00 to finish in 3:30. My training is done so it all comes down to what 'the day' brings for me on the 5th.

--Mark

Bear Water Run - 10 mile

I ran the 10 mile distance of the Bear Water Run last Saturday. I was sick with a cold. I missed my final 20 miler the day before. Since I had planned my 20 for the Friday before, I only signed up for the 10 miler. The 20 mile distance of the race is perfect for Twin Cities Marathon runners.

The day was cool with some light rain on and off. The race started and I was still unsure how I was going to run until about a half a mile in. At that point I felt like running faster and I finished will with a new PR. My cold is now a week old but almost gone. It's about time.

Now it's time to taper for the TCM.

--Mark

Easy on the stomach

I've been trying a few different things on long runs to try to reduce intestinal-upset issues that happen beyond 15 or 16 miles into the run. Last Friday I ran 20.7 miles and had a very successful run. Breakfast was peanut butter on a piece of wheat toast. During the run I started with a hand-held bottle of POWERade and then switched to water. Every hour I took an S! Cap and twice I took 3 Clif Cran Razz Shot Bloks. That combination worked for me that day and I'll try it again next Friday on my final 20-miler before the Twin Cities Marathon.

--Mark

First place to the wrong guy

I ran the Buckshot run in Eau Claire, WI yesterday with Jim and Kristen. The Buckshot run has 5 mile and 2 mile distances. I ran both and was happy with my times as the day before I ran a 20.7 mile long run. I was far from winning the 2 mile race so the rest of this won't be about me.

This year is the 26th Buckshot run but the first year they used chip timing. Now here is my problem with the finish. Larry Mboga and Paul Hetke had a very close finish. I didn't see it, and although it was very close, Mboga crossed the finish line first. During the awards ceremony, the race director said that although Mboga crossed first, the chip timing showed that Hetke was 0.1 seconds faster. Therefore, first place was awarded to Hetke.

I was always under the impression that the leaders used 'gun time' to prevent this situation from happening. Runners back from the leaders used chip time. First place went to the wrong guy, in my opinion. The guy who fought it out to the end and finished in front of the rest should be the winner.

Here is the news article on the race at the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram.

Update 8/31: Others view it as I do. Here is another article from the Leader-Telegram.

--Mark

Ragnar Relay, Great River (finished)

This was my second year of running the Great River Relay. I'll be reserving this weekend for the relay for years to come! It was another great experience. I won't say much here but I really love running up a 2-mile long, 450 foot high hill at midnight! You really have to experience it.

The 12-person team I was on, Live to Win, did not win but we were 20th overall out of 168. We finished in 27:18:12 for a 7:57 average pace over 205.8 miles! Yet another race I look forward to running next year.

--Mark

Ragnar Relay, Great River

This coming Friday and Saturday is the Great River Relay. I'm on a twelve person team and each of us will run 3 legs to cover the 205 mile race. We start in LaCrosse, WI at noon on Thursday and finish at Boom Island in Minneapolis 28 or 29 hours later. This year our team name is: Live to Win. This is the third year of the relay. The first year there were 30+ teams, 100 last year, and 180 this year. My posting from last year is here.

--Mark

Race bibs (again)

I posted too soon about my missing race bibs. I found them hidden in a stack of running magazines. Now they're back in my dresser drawer where they belong!

Race bibs. Keep or throw?

I keep mine. Scratch that. I kept mine. :-(

I had about 20. I kept them from every race. It's only been 3 years so it's been pretty easy to hang onto them. I have (had) them pinned together in order. This morning I took my TC Ultra Festival bib off my dresser and was going to pin it with the others. Hmmmm... I can't find the race bibs. Well, a few weeks ago I did some long overdue spring cleaning. I suspect my race bibs are snuggling together in a landfill somewhere. Or maybe they somehow made it into the recycling.

Well, I can't find them and my mind draws a blank when I think of where I could have put them. There is a small chance they will show up. A few years ago I lost my heart rate monitor for two months, until I looked in my 'kayaking box', and there it was. So now, my stack of race bibs is a stack of one. Until my next race.

--Mark

Hot Yoga

I never tried hot yoga before this morning. My friend Kristen offered to take me to a class and it seemed like the 3rd day after a l-o-n-g run would be the perfect time. It was the perfect time. I want to do hot yoga 3 days after every hard race. My muscles felt so good after class and throughout the day.

This week:

Sun: 3.5 miles
Mon: 6.2 miles
Tues: 3 miles plus hot yoga
Wed: 2 miles
Thu: 20.7 miles <<< shouldn't have done this but it's too late now.
Fri: hot yoga
Sat: day off
Sun: day off

I got the 10th lap in today...

Yesterday I ran 8 laps around Lake Calhoun. I was planning for ten but that was enough. Dave, Karl, and Kristen were there supporting me and I asked them to walk lap 9 with me. We walked most of the way and ran in the last mile. The 9th lap took 55:03. Then I dropped out of the race. Another lap to finish out the 10 wouldn't have done much for improving my physical condition.

Leap forward one day.

Today the Hennepin-Lake Classic 10K and 5K races were held at Lake Calhoun. I was not entered in the races but my friends Kristen and Karl were running the double header, the 10K at 8:15 and the 5K at 9:30. Karl and I had talked about running an easy lap around the lake between races but we hadn't really thought about the timing.

The 10K started and finished and Karl and I went off on a short walk and maybe a 0.4 mile run back to where the 5K would start. There was no time for a lap around the lake. Meanwhile, Kristen was wondering where I was with her car keys. Sorry Kristen, at least I didn't lose them!

I can't remember if I thought of this idea or Karl or Kristen did, but I was going to run a 5K on yesterday's race path the same time they were running the 5K. I would be able to 'run with them' from a distance. Today's race was on the road of course. So... Kristen got into her starting spot, Karl and I said a few words, and off the runners went. I had to hoof it down to the running path to get started on my 5K. I started my timer and took off. I couldn't see my friends but kept on the watch for them the entire lap. I thought they were ahead of me but I learned later they were behind me. I looped the lake and then crossed my starting point to get a 5K. 22:48. Very good for me and an average 7:21 pace. A nice speedy little run that made sure my feet and legs still worked after my 25+ miles yesterday. It was nice to get the 10th lap in even if was a day late and in the opposite direction.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to do an easy 6.

--Mark

Twin Cities Ultra Festival 50K

First, I want to thank Patrick for inviting me to run his race. It was a perfect opportunity for me to gather some data about myself running long distances. It was also a pleasure meeting other runners, race volunteers, and people out there supporting the race in general.

Although I had planned to run all 50K, that did not happen. After 8 laps my mind felt a little 'off'. I wasn't quite dizzy, but I wasn't 'on' anymore. This was a race where I was gathering heart rate and pace data, primarily for the marathon distance, so there was no need to tough it out any longer. 24.8 miles was enough.

The race started at 5am. WCCO was reporting 59 degrees in Minneapolis, I had 61 in Eagan. This was much better than the 70 I was expecting for an overnight low. First we ran a little out and back at the start. This was to compensate for the slightly under 3.1 mile laps to come. My plan was to run by heart rate and let the pace be what it is. I planned for heart rates of 154 for 13 miles, 157 for the next 7 and 160 for 6. I'll step through the laps one by one.

Lap 1. Ave HR: 148, pace: 7:57.
This was a very nice starter lap. I got to run most of it with Sonya D. My HR was a little low as some of it was just warming up.

Lap 2. Ave HR: 154, pace: 8:01.
Perfect. Nothing unusual here.

Lap 3. Ave HR: 155, pace: 8:23.
I felt a little 'off'. This lap included a 35 second break to refill my water bottle. HR was still exactly where I wanted it.

Lap 4. Ave HR: 154, pace: 8:24.
Another normal lap.

Lap 5. Ave HR: 155, pace: 8:42.
I took a 25 second water break. I'm starting to slow down. I decided to run 5 laps before letting my HR go up to 157. It was easier to keep track of this way.

Lap 6. Ave HR: 156, pace: 9:39.
This lap included a 2:30 bathroom break and a 30 second water break. My pace, without the bathroom break, would have been 8:52. I slowed down a bit more. Ugh. It is what it is. My legs are feeling fatigued but are not cramping.

Lap 7. Ave HR: 157, pace: 9:33.
My friend Dave showed up to support me. He wasn't ready when I came through the aid station to join me so he'll run with me on Lap 8. Slow now. My legs are tired.

Lap 8. Ave HR: 153, pace: 10:08.
I took a 30 second water break but you can see my pace is very slow. The interesting part is my HR is going down. My legs were so tired it was hard to move faster. This lap I went through almost a full 22 oz. bottle of water.

I'm now at the 24.8 mile mark at 3:42:23.

I'm essentially done. There is no benefit to keep going now.

Lap 9. Ave HR: doesn't matter, pace: doesn't matter.

I didn't feel like keeping running at this point. My friends Kristen and Karl were there and ready to run with me. I took a long break and decided we would all walk together. I felt good just walking but I ran in the last mile. I told the timekeepers that I would not be running another lap.

Dave rode away on his bike and I walked Kristen and Karl back to where they parked. I ran back to the aid station (about a mile) and packed up my stuff to go home.

In all, I ran 26.7 miles.

I learned that I'm not good in the heat for long distances. I can't keep the pace that I can in the cold. Not unusual, I suppose.

I really enjoyed this event and the people I met. Thanks again to Patrick and everyone else involved. A special thanks goes to Bill Parker who ran 7 laps in the opposite direction to cheer the runners on twice per lap!

update: Keith has posted an excellent race report on his blog.

--Mark

just fine now...

I took the weekend off and ran less than usual so far this week. My foot/knee/hamstring issues are all gone. Tapering for Saturday helped me heal.

I'm pretty sure the weather forecast can't get any worse for Saturday's race. Humid, low of 71, high of 94. I was hoping to average an 8:00 pace for the first 26 miles of the 50K. I'll be running by heart rate so all I can predict now about my pace is.... nothing. The weather conditons will trump my fitness level. Therefore, I won't worry about it. I'll just stay hydrated and have fun with friends.

--Mark

dealing with a little injury

I ran a tough hill workout on Tuesday. Not Julie B. tough, but tough for me. Running on Wednesday and Thursday were hard to get going. A touch of pain in my right knee and hamstring and achilles tendon area. Basically all over. It would go away after a mile or so of running. The problem is that later in the runs I would add a few hills and hit it hard. Then all day long I would think that my issue wasn't just a little soreness, there was some damage in there.

So... no hills this morning and I ran a nice 6 miles. About 4 miles into the run we merged into a large, spread-out, group of guys running a 15-miler as part of their U/M wrestling camp program. There was only so long that I could run my normal pace, which generally matched their pace, until I increased my speed. Running fast and flat didn't seem to aggravate anything and after I got back to the club I went back outside to walk a mile with a friend. At this moment I feel good. I'll be skipping running on Sat and Sun and do an easy 6 on Monday.

My weekly mileage (previous 3 weeks) is right around 40. I want to raise it up into the 60's but now I think that after my 50K it will take me to September to get there. Oh well. I think what will happen is that I will make it up to the low 50s and then hold until my taper for the Twin Cities Marathon.

--Mark

next up: 50K

I'll be running the 50K version of Patrick's 100K ultra on Aug. 2nd. I plan to run it, by heart rate, as a practice marathon prior to the Twin Cites marathon 10 weeks from now. I believe my max HR is 182 and my AT is 167/168. I plan to run the first 13 miles at a heart rate of 154, the next 7 at 157, and the next 6 at 160. I'll back off a bit for the final 5 miles. It's a loop course so I'll get lap splits every 5K. It will be interesting to me how my pace is per loop per HR. I'll know on the 2nd but I'm hoping to average an 8:00 pace. The major factors out of my control will be heat and humidity.

--Mark

shoe test

Several weeks ago I had an extensive shoe fitting done. I ended up with a new style of shoe as well as some supportive inserts and a heel lift. In the past I would get some foot pain after a hard/fast run that took a few to many days to go away. My new shoes should take care of that problem. I wore my old shoes at Afton with my heel lift and didn't have any problems there (except for my new black toenail). :-)

Until this morning I had done no speedwork in my new shoes. I warned my running partners last night that we would be running fast this morning. It ended up that we ran the first 3 miles in a fast 21:00. I never run that fast except in a short race. I'm very happy that my feet felt great during and after that run. No pain whatsoever. I think my new shoes will work out perfectly.

--Mark

So close, but so far...

On July 25th I'm going to Duluth for a wedding the following day. The day of the wedding falls on the same day as the Voyageur Trail Ultra 50 Mile Foot Race in Carlton, MN. Since Saturday at the Afton 50K, I've taken a liking to ultras. Hmmmm.

So I'm doing the math... 7am start. 21 miles from Duluth. 11 hours to finish. 12 hours to finish. I gotta finish in under 13. Wife. Kids. Family. Wedding in the afternoon. Reception later. I'm supposed to go the the wedding. I'm supposed to both go to, and be awake at, the reception. Ugh. The math just doesn't work. Bummer.

Maybe next year. :-)

I'm not sure how many weeks away the Twin Cites Marathon is, but I need to start focusing on that race.

--Mark

3 days post-Afton 50K

I'm feeling pretty good. My right hamstring has been sore but feels much better today than yesterday. I took Sunday off, ran 3.4 Monday, and ran 9.3 this morning. It felt good to run today.

I was telling my running partners this morning that the race ended up, for me, being more like a really l-o-n-g training run. In hindsight, I ran with an average heart rate a few beats lower that I planned but that is better than running a few beats too high.

If I was to try to fine tune anything, I would think about increasing my water consumption per hour. 22 oz seemed fine for the first 3+ hours but later I really needed more. Also, I'm not really sure why I didn't want to take in any more of the Hammer Sustained Energy mix after 4 or 4.5 hours. It's neutral in flavor so it's not bad or anything. The orange slices were good later on. Maybe I should have grabbed some gummy bears to suck on for the last 6 or 8 miles. If I'm going to do a 50 miler next fall, I'll need to sort out what to do for a very long run.

Overall, I'm very happy with how I did. I don't see much to improve or change. Just a little fine tuning is all.

Oh yeah.... It wouldn't hurt to get my weekly miles up a bit more. I averaged 42 per week leading up to the Fargo Marathon. I increased up to the low 50s before tapering for Afton. I plan to average in the mid to upper 60s before the TC Marathon. I hope to be up in the 70s weekly training for a 50 mile race. That may be light, but with a family, there is only so much time I can take for me.

--Mark

Afton 50K (cont.)

I posted earlier on my race day hydration/fueling plan and how that worked out. Now a little on the race.

The race organization was great. I arrived very early and walked around for 15 minutes until 5am. I got my race packet and awesome shirt. I just love the shirt. Can I wear it every day? I went back to the parking lot and chatted with a few folks. Some were old-timers at ultras, others were first-timers like me. Everyone was nice. I was nervous for the day but ready too.

I organized my drop bag with two bottles of a Hammer Sustained Energy mixture and a water bottle filled with ice and water. A nice woman showed me where to stow the bag. By race time I already went pee about 3 or 4 times. My running partner Jim showed up early and picked up his packet for the 25K. We talked about the race and other things and it was time for me to get to the starting line. I tried to place myself somewhere between 30% and 50% back from the start. That was likely where I would finish. Julie B. was right behind me and I said Hi. RD John said his pre-race stuff and off we went.

I felt OK but not really good as the race got going. My plan was to keep my heart rate just under 150 most of the time. My anerobic threshold is approx. 167 so I figured 150 would keep me aerobic and able to process the fuel I carried as well as helping prevent me from crashing and burning as I had done in the Fargo marathon.
Here is my heart rate chart for the race.

There were times I let my heart rate go a few beats over 150 but that was mostly going up hills. I had to walk all the hills to keep my heart rate down. My average heart rate for the first and second loops was 145 and 147, respectively. The overall average was 146 and watch recorded that I burned 4636 calories. Yikes. Did I run the race a bit conservatively? Maybe, but as a first timer at a 50K, I wanted to be as successful as I could be.

When I hit Aid station 3 I needed to fill my water bottle. I'm new at this but I took the top off before I got to the station. A nice woman there asked me if I wanted water and she filled my bottle in about 5 seconds. Awesome. I screwed the cover on and off I went. I couldn't believe how fast and helpful the aid station volunteers were. Just great!

By mile 8 or 9 I was feeling good. I was doing well and hydrating and fueling. Also I was taking an S-Cap every hour. I got to run with several people during the race. It was nice to talk to the guys on the course. There were other times I would look back behind me and in front of me while up in 'Africa' and not see a soul. I would wonder.... am I last?

Eventually, I passed what I thought was 26 or 27 miles. Now I have gone longer than ever before. My plan of racing by heart rate was paying off. My pace would suffer, though. I did the first loop in 2:34 and would do the second in 3:16. I think for this race it was better for me to hold my heart rate constant that to try to pick up the pace and have even splits. I wanted to finish without needing to walk. I mean, I wanted to finish by walking up hills and running everywhere else. I met that goal. Also, although I was trying not to set a hard time goal, I wanted to finish in under 6:00 and possibly in 5:30. I was so happy to cross the finish line at 5:50:33.

Now it is one day later and I can say that I'm looking forward to ultra races in the future.

edit: Now that the race results have been posted, I finished 54/129 overall and 12/29 in the male - 40's category.

--Mark

Afton 50K fueling/hydration experiment results

I ran my first 50K on Saturday. I'm new at longer distances and am trying to correct as many of my mistakes as possible from my earlier race. I say race because my only long distance race before Afton was the Fargo Marathon in May. My issues from Fargo that I wanted to focus on were: GI problems, dehydration, muscle cramps. I know that some, if not all, of these problems are inter-related.

I read much of the available info from Hammer Nutrition. As a guideline, I decided that 22 oz of water per hour was a good place to start. I didn't drink anywhere near that much at Fargo and I have also read it is not good to drink too much. I bought a hand-held water bottle and have practiced with it three times at Afton and other long runs since May. My plan for the race was to down one hand-held per hour.

Fueling. I determined that any breakfast before a race, especially when I have GU or Hammer Gels while running a race or training run, can upset my stomach. I'm not a fan of finding a porta-potti on short notice so I'm skipping breakfast on race-day and not using any kind of GU or gel during the race. I settled on Sustained Energy (SE) from Hammer. I have a belt that hold two 10 oz bottles. I also have an extra two bottles. I planned to take about 220 calories per hour of SE. Assuming about a 3 hours 25K loop time at Afton, I mixed 3 scoops of SE per bottle. The calories per hour would work out just right if I finished both bottles by the end of a lap. I had anther two bottles (on ice) in my drop bag to swap-out when I finished lap one.

For electrolytes my plan was to take one S-Cap every hour on the dot. I kept to that plan throughout the race. I don't know if this means anything or not but I did not ever see any salt accumulating on my skin or shirt. I think the one S-Cap per hour was just about right.

I felt just OK at the start of the race. About 4 miles in, I had a little pain in my foot. At that point I was wondering about a DNF. I wasn't wearing my new running shoes but wore my old ones with my heel lift in the right shoe. I was questioning that choice of shoes for the day and then told myself the pain was just temporary and things clicked back into place and I was pain free again. I was up in the sun of the Africa loop now. Still I only felt just OK. About mile 8 or 9 I started to feel good. I kept to my plan of 22 oz of water per hour and finishing one of the SE bottle about every 1.5 hours.

At around the 4 hour point in the race I was nearly finished with my 3rd SE bottle. I was becoming more dehydrated and a little hungry and I was dreading one more taste of SE. I was just fine with the SE up to that point. Somewhere around this time I was at my final pass by Aid station 4. I had refilled my bottle a little while earlier from the other side (Aid station 3) and drained it. My thirst had been increasing so I let myself consume more water. My stop at aid station 4 was my first time I had stopped for food. I had 3 orange slices and a big piece of watermelon. Yummy. My stomach wanted to switch over from SE to fruit. I let it.

Now I just needed to make it to the finish. I'm still feeling good. I took a bit more SE up the meatgrinder hill but it didn't taste good. But does SE ever taste good? :-) I stopped at Aid station 5 and filled my water again and ate three more orange slices. I was fishing for encouragement so I told Jeffrey that every step I take is a new PR. He told me I was doing very well and will have a good finishing time. I don't remember what my time was then but I was on track to finish under 6 hours.

I said I felt good since mile 8 or 9. I felt good up to mile 29. Then I got some minor cramping in my quads. I changed my pace a tiny bit and fought with my mind again to make the pain go away. It did just as my foot pain had disappeared 25 miles earlier. I was lucky to just have that minor cramping for only one or two minutes. I steadily worked my way through the last two miles. As I approached the finish, a few runners were passing me and more were stacking up behind me. I let my heart rate go up beyond that soft-limit of 150 I held for the nearly 6 hours and ran as fast as I could towards the finish. I am very pleased with my 5:50 finish.

No major GI, Cramping, or Dehydration problems. This experiment was a success.

A few hours after the race I went to my health club to use a foam roller on my hamstrings and shower. The foam roller was not the best idea at the time. Using it put me on the edge of hamstring cramps. When I tried to get up off the floor from my mat, both hamstrings would cramp and I had to sit down. After a minute or so I tried again, cramped up, and sat down. I just sat there for a few minuted wondering if I was doomed to sit there all day. Maybe I would have to crawl my way to the locker room. :-) I had an idea. I rocked myself up onto my feet in a squatting position and then stood up. Hurray! No cramps.

I can't wait for my next 50K.

--Mark

Saturday...

I hope to meet a few runners on Saturday at the Afton Trail Run(s). There will be at least a couple of dozen runners there that I know about because I read their blogs or I read about them in other people's blogs. There is a pretty good chance that I won't recognize anyone that I haven't already met. Thinking about it, I think after the run will be the time to socialize. I'll be too nervous/excited before the race.

I went on a 45 minute walk with my wife this morning. Tomorrow I'll run just 2 miles with a fellow Afton runner. I'm thinking about goal times for the 50K but if I can just get through it without cramping up it will be awesome.

--Mark

less than a week to the Afton 50K

I'm just on the edge of being ready for the Afton 50K on Saturday. I hope I'm more ready than not ready. I ran the 25K loop out there a few weeks ago with some friends. The lure of Afton was too much for one of the guys to resist so he signed up for the 25K. One of the other guys may sign up too. Looks like there will be a great turnout with 300+ registered for both races at this time.

I'm still staying with my plan to run the 50K. I don't care what my time is. I'll have a really successful race if the hills are the only places I walk.

The rest of the week I'm doing some heavy duty tapering.
--Mark

Motivation

I worked out alone this morning. My plan was to run 3 miles outside and then do some core work at the club. I changed my mind and decided to run a hill on the treadmill. Just one hill. I warmed up for one mile and then set the incline to 15% and the speed to 4.0 mph. I imagined I was running up the long gravel hill after the 10K mark in the Afton race. My practice one mile hill took 15 minutes at that slow speed and my HR was in the 144 to 150 range. I won't run the hills like that in the race.... I'll do more of a run/walk up the hills.

On to motivation. While running my hill I was thinking about my motivation for running. Part of my motivation is that my Mom used to run. She passed away in '96 but years earlier she started running when she was about 50. She ran small-town races and had several age group wins in 15K and 10 mile distance. I didn't run then and I'm not sure if I ever watched my Mom run a race. Those years I was in college or working out of state or down here.

About five years ago I started getting back into shape and lost ~35 pounds. I still was not a runner but worked out quite a bit at the club. A few years later, just before I turned 46, I decided to try running. It was so hard in the beginning and the first 10 minutes of each run was very uncomfortable. There was no doubt what my first race would be. I was going to run a 2-mile race in my hometown. Race day came and I ran a 14:34. At that point in time I had only run outside a total of 20 miles and maybe 50 total miles. I was 2nd in my age group and the guy (Scott) that beat me was someone I knew as a kid. He always wins his age group.

I was determined to beat Scott the next year. I trained as well as I could as a beginning runner and my only goal was to beat Scott. So it was race day again. Scott and his buddies were lined on at the left side of the start, I was on the right. Then off we went. About 1/3 of a mile into the race I passed Scott and he never caught me. I finished in 12:56 which ended up being 1:12 ahead of Scott. Yeah, baby!

I was sitting on a bench during the awards ceremony and there were 2 women sitting on a picnic table behind me. At about the time the 2-mile awards were starting, one woman said to the other "This is where Scott will get up". I was thinking to myself "Wrong, lady. This is where I will get up!" My 7th grade gym teacher called my name and was smiling widely as she handed me my medal. I was proud of myself and knew my Mom would have been proud of me too if she were there. I was very happy to have gotten a 1st place age group finish as she had done years earlier.

That motivation and personal success has continued and today I stretch my goals to longer and longer distances. What I enjoy about running now is being able to train with my friends. I look forward to running with them several times a week, talking about future goals, races, current events, and normal chit-chat. I can't wait to get together with them for a 12-miler on Friday.

--Mark

another nice Afton run

I did an early morning 25K Afton loop this morning with friends. My time was 2:45 which was a few minutes slower than last week but that was due to a few extra stops. So really I ran the loop at essentially the same pace as last Sunday. My heart rate averaged 136 vs Sunday's 144. I think the lower HR today was due mostly to running in lower temperature conditions. Today was my last practice loop at Afton before the race on July 5th. I feel really good right now and feel confident about the 50K.

I skipped breakfast before the run today. I wanted to see if that would help reduce intestinal problems. So far so good. My plan now is to have 2 10oz bottles with a 'Sustained Energy' mixture per loop in the race. I will also carry a 22 oz water bottle and refill as necessary. After the first loop I'll swap out the empty fuel bottles for two full ones (assuming there is a drop area I can do that.)

I trained for, and ran, the Fargo marathon with three friends. Two ran with me today. The third, Kim, ran Grandma's marathon this morning. She smoked it and got an 11 minute PR with a finish in 3:21. Awesome job Kim! When I recover from Afton, and Kim recovers from Grandma's, it will be full speed ahead training for the TC marathon.

Oh yeah. I broke 1000 miles for the year this morning. My previous yearly high was 920 (last year.) I should break 2000 by the end of the year.

woodtick watch: Today I used 3M Ultrathon insect repellent lotion on my legs. At our first stop about 60 minutes into the run I found one woodtick and one deertick crawling on my legs. I don't mind the woodticks but I HATE deer ticks. I had lyme disease about 10 years ago, and take my word for it, it's no fun to have. I assume that several more crawled on my during the run but they must have all dropped off after getting a taste of the repellent.

--Mark

A half-Afton test run

I went out Sunday afternoon to do a practice loop at Afton. This time I planned to keep my heart rate under 150 most of the time so it meant walking up most of the big hills. This strategy worked out very well and I felt good at the end of the 25K loop. Mine was probably 25.3K because I got off on the wrong trails a few times and had to backtrack.

I finished in 2:41 with an average HR of 144. Perfect.

All I know now is that I can have a very successful first loop but I know the second will be more difficult. My legs were somewhat tired near the end of the run yesterday. My plan is that if I can stay well down into the aerobic zone and consume Sustained Energy at a constant rate as well as keep hydrated, I have a chance of completing the 50K without a crash and burn.

I didn't see much wildlife but I did flush a turkey, heard some pheasants, and ran by a deer that just stood about 15 feet away. I also picked-up about 8 friendly woodticks. :-(

--Mark

New shoes

On Friday I had an appointment for a 'gait analysis'. My goal was to find a solution to my foot problems after fast/hard road races or fast treadmill workouts.

I was originally fit into Brooks Adrenaline stability shoes when I first took up running about 3 years ago. For the most part they have been very comfortable and have worked well for me. I am susceptible to hurting my foot, either right or left, near the front of the cuboid bone. The injury usually resolves itself in a few days to a few weeks.

To keep this short, here is what my 'gait analysis' person found: My left leg is 5mm longer than the right, my ankles are strong and my arches are weak. I should be wearing 'neutral' shoes, not 'stability' shoes.

I tried three different shoes and the ones that I had the best form in are Brooks Glycerin. So, I'm wearing the new Brooks shoes with 'green' Superfeet insoles and a 5mm lift under my right heel. This appointment took almost 40 minutes and she didn't cut corners and made sure I was in what she thought was the best setup for me.

I can expect to be a little sore for a few weeks and then I should feel great in the shoes in about 6 weeks. I'm interested to see how this goes.

edit: I had my Gait Analysis done by Wendi at Gear West. See http://www.gearwest.com/gait-analysis-pg-14.html for more information.

--Mark

heart rates and other things

In my previous posting I stated I thought my average marathon HR should be 160. Steve's comment made me do a little more investigating and I went back to a website (runningtools.com) calculator I found months ago. You can enter your AT or max HR and it gives you HR averages for different race distances. I entered in 167 for my AT and 182 for my max and it gave me marathon HRs of 155 and 154, respectively.

This morning my regular running partners and I went out for a 9.3 mile run. Another one of our friends joined us for the first three miles. He pulled us along a little faster than we really wanted to go but I didn't say anything because his shirt had the phrase: Shut up and run. :-) After 3 miles he left us and we just kept the pace going. We finished the 9.3 in 1:09:12 or a 7:26 average pace. A new loop record for us. I'm not very 'pace aware' so I was thinking that this run better be at 8:00 or better or I have no chance in my next marathon. I have lost some confidence in my ability since my Fargo experience. Well, we had great running weather this morning with temps in the mid-50s and cloudy skies. My average HR was 144 for the run so this was a great confidence booster today.

So now my plan for Afton is to try to run/walk with a HR in the mid/lower 150s. At this moment I think it will give me my best chance for success (finishing just as I run out of energy).

My plan for the rest of the week:
Thursday - run 6.2
Friday - run 12
Saturday - rest
Sunday - run a loop at Afton in the afternoon heat!

--Mark

A little heat and hill training

I have to prepare for Afton and had some time yesterday afternoon to go for a run from home. My goals were to keep my heart rate in the range of 150 to 160. There are several long hills on my planned route and I was going to walk up them if my HR got to 160.

It was 80 degrees and humid so the weather was perfect for my training. I mixed up a hand-held with HEED and took off. My first couple miles were under 7:00's and my HR did get up to 165 but there were a few runners on the path for me to pass. :-) After that I settled into a nice pace, keeping my HR under 160.

Why 160? I was reading that for a marathon your HR should average 5 beats under your half marathon average. I blew it in Fargo by having my HR in the low 170's for several miles. The only half marathon that I have ever 'raced' was one year ago. My average HR there was 163 and I know I'm in better shape now so I picked 160 as something I can average for hours. That's what I'll do in Afton in three weeks and that also my average HR from Afton last year (160).

So what happened is that if my HR reached 160 up a hill, I'd walk until it was back down to 152 and then I'd take off again. I ended up walking about 10 times. My average HR was 157 and my average pace was 8:17 for 7.7 miles in the heat.

I hope to finish the Afton 50K. If I do finish, I will be happy with anything under 6 hours.

--Mark

Nice Saturday run at Afton

I ran at Afton this morning with an acquaintance from my health club and a friend of his. We ran the loop which is the Afton 25K trail race. I highly recommend running in Afton a few times before running the July 25K or 50K... unless you like surprises (Hills). I trained out there a few times last year as well as running the 25K race so I knew what I was in for.

We ran fairly hard, for me, and about the 9.7 mile point I had to drop back and run easier. I took the last 5.8 miles really easy and probably finished 20 minutes after the others.

It was nice to be out in nature today. I didn't see any deer but heard turkeys and possibly pheasants, and saw numerous beautiful flowers.

I also practiced a different nutrition plan using Hammer Nutrition's Sustained Energy (SE) product. Three hours before our run was to start, I had 3 scoops of SE in 12 oz water. Then I drank about 30 oz water over the next three hours. During the run, I carried 2 - 10.5 oz water bottles on a belt and a 22 oz hand-held bottle. I used 2 scoops of SE in the 22 oz, and one scoop each in the small bottles. I drank the mixture at an even rate over the run but did have a few drinks of water at our water stops. At least today, I had NO intestinal problems and I felt like my energy level was even the entire run apart from the fact I was running with two guys that have a faster natural pace than mine. I'll be trying the SE again on Friday's 20+ mile long run.

--Mark

My Fargo marathon finish

I think I looked OK at the finish. Too bad it took me way more than an hour to recover enough to run like that. :-)

--Mark

Recovering nicely

I took Sunday off, walked yesterday and today. My hamstrings still hurt, but only a little. Sure, I ran hard in the marathon for about 2 1/2 hours, but as soon as some cramping hit me, I went into 'save my body' mode. For the last 6+ miles of the race, I walked until I wanted to jog and then jogged until I felt I needed to walk. I didn't push my legs hard during that final 10K. I'll run 6 miles easy with my running partners on Friday. We'll ease back into training as our bodies allow.

Next for me is the Afton 50K. I'll be training with the Hammer Nutrition products for Afton as they have Heed on the course. Last year at Afton was the first time I had ever heard of Heed. I didn't dare touch it then but I will this year.

edit: During the Fargo marathon I got huge blood blisters on both of my toes that are next to my big toes. The toenail was very loose on one. I wonder how long that will take to fall off? (answer: 4 days) That will be (was) a first for me.

--Mark

Fargo Marathon 2008

It was yesterday! Done. Finished.

There are two words that come to mind: Pride and Disappointment.

My goal was 3:27:00. I ran with my training partners Jim, Kim, and Karl up until near mile 19. My intestines started acting up and shortly after, my legs were cramping. Not bad cramps, but enough to slow me down to a walk. Come to think of it, I guess that makes them bad. :-)

The people along the course were great. I got extra water from tables that were set up along the way and I got some yummy orange slices when I needed them the most.

I had a really good time running the race and being with my friends before and after. Even my family came with me to this race. A first. They loved it too.

I put some notes in the table below and it's clear to me I became dehydrated fairly early in the race. I had trained all winter in St. Paul, MN and the only thing to worry about then is staying warm enough. Fargo was a little to warm for me. The race starting temp was around 53 degrees but with the sun shining brightly I was sweating buckets just a few miles into the race. The temps must have been in the upper 60's by the time I finished.

My anaerobic threshold (AT) is in the area of 167 or 168 beats per min. I hit that average during mile 11 and then ran above it for almost 9 miles or 70 minutes. So maybe my AT is more than 168. In any case, I was heading for trouble. I noted some areas in red in the table below where my pace was wrong or HR was too high before my crash.

Kim and Karl drank water and Powerade and came the closest of my training group to hitting our time goal. I'll be working on hydration planning this summer.

This race has been a great learning experience and I wouldn't trade my last 6 months of training with my friends for anything.

--Mark

Mile by Mile details...

Mile	Plan	Pace	Ave HR	Observations
1	8:13	8:15	141	Great 1st mile pace
2	8:13	8:10	148	Accidentally shut off my HRM after mile 2. UGH!
3	8:08	7:32	-
4	8:03	7:45	155	Turned on HRM at start of mile 4.
5	7:54	7:49	156
6	7:49	7:55	160
7	7:44	7:43	161
8	7:44	7:52	164
9	7:39	7:34	164
10	7:39	7:47	166	Anaerobic threshold is 167/168. About to enter the danger zone.
11	7:39	7:42	168
12	7:39	7:49	169
13	7:39	7:47	171
14	7:44	7:45	172
15	7:44	7:56	172
16	7:44	8:02	173
17	7:44	8:08	173
18	7:44	8:24	173	Ran a great race to plan through mile 18. Average pace of 7:53 vs goal pace of 7:54.
19	7:44	11:30	172	Needed an emergency bathroom stop just before mile 19. Thank goodness for the porta-potties. Jim offered to wait - I told him to go. That was the last I would see of my three running partners. I wasted 3 minutes so all my cushion time was now gone. I had to run 8:00's from here on out to qualify for Boston.
20	7:44	14:10	156	My quads started to cramp and then my calves. Knew that a BQ was out of the question. I walked the bridge from MN to ND. Ugh.
21	7:49	16:14	135	Dehydration had started early in the race although I didn't realize it until much later. It was about mile 15 or 16 that I notice my HR was too high.
22	8:08	15:36	129	All these miles (20-25+) were walk/jog. I saw walked by two women walking the half marathon. They were chatting on a cell phone for a few minutes. I almost asked them to borrow it so I could call my wife and tell her I was going to be late.
23	8:08	13:27	136	I was being passed by pace group after pace group.
24	8:08	15:10	132
25	8:22	12:30	135	I was beginning to recover some here
26.2	8:27	10:04	154	Of this 1.2 miles, I ran the last mile. I finished! 4:12:40.

Anxious for the Fargo Marathon

The training is done.
The tapering is almost done.
I'm not hurt and feel strong.
I can't control the weather.
Now I wait for the start 8am Saturday.

I'm planning for a 3:27 finish.
A 3:24 is not out of the question nor is a 3:45.
--Mark

post-race edit: 4:12:40 wasn't out of the question either. HA HA

TC-1 mile

I liked running this last year and liked it this year too. I had decided not to race it so I had a goal to finish at 7:00. I ran a 6:56 so I met my goal. That's about it. I ran a 5:49 last year and hope to race it next year and I'll shoot for sub 5:40. I think I'll run it as a team race in 2009.

I liked watching each of the age groups run. There are some fast older folks around. Man can they move. It was exciting to watch the elites run. The winner ran a 4:09. Awesome!

--Mark

15 days to Fargo

Running a 20.7 mile long run one day and a 10K race the next can wear a guy out. Glad that's over. Whew.

Now I'm moving into a taper. I feel strong again now that's been almost a week after my 10K. Today we ran 6.2 nice and easy. Here is my plan for the next week, based on Higdon's Advanced II training:

Sat - 4 miles at marathon pace
Sun - 4 easy miles
Mon - 4 miles, mostly at tempo
Tue - 4 miles
Wed - 4 miles at marathon pace
Thu - I'm doing Yoga plus the Twin Cities 1-mile race
Fri - 4 miles
Sat - 8 miles - I'm glad it's not 4 miles! This week was looking like a broken record! :-)

I'm going to have to run each of these 4-mile days on a different route to make it interesting.
--Mark

A good 24 hours

My main concern over the previous day was my foot. It's been my experience that when the cuboid bone in my foot lines up properly, there is no pain. Wearing a small moleskin patch under the hurt area has pushed things back into place and I've been pain-free since yesterday afternoon. I ran 9 miles this morning without pain.

My big issue now is how can I find the root cause of the problem so this doesn't happen again. The trigger seems to be intense races and also fast speed intervals. I think in the first few weeks after the Fargo marathon I'll go for a good shoe fitting. I've only ever worn one model of shoe so there may be something else that is better for me.

I made marks on my foot where the pain was and where I put the moleskin patch. I'll take pictures of those for my records..... not to post here.

Update: My foot still feels good. I found a picture of the foot bones on the internet and put a circle on the picture where the problem is. Now I don't have to take a photo but will have something to show my doc if I ever need to go in.

My issue is at the front of the cuboid bone, not the back as the diagram from the other day shows.



--Mark

20 mile run plus Get In Gear 10K 2008

Friday, Jim, Kim, and I ran 20.7 miles as our last long run before Fargo in three weeks. That morning at 4:30 it was 52 degrees at my house. Jim said he had 49 in Minneapolis. I dressed in my planned marathon clothes of a sleeveless shirt and race-ready long distance shorts. I put glide on what I thought were my 'problem areas'. After the run I found that I had forgot the seam/tag area at the back of my shorts. Maybe I'll remember next time. Kim and Jim ran in long sleeves which was a better choice. After our start the wind was strong and it was obvious the temperature was dropping like a rock. We had intermittent mist and rain but stayed just warm enough to keep us out of trouble.

We have out GU/electrolytes figured out. Before the run I took a GU but I think that one is optional. During the run we took GU at the 1 hour mark and then every 50 minutes after that. At the 2 hr 15 min mark we took one S! Cap. The S! Cap is the key to preventing cramping and possible stomach problems late in the race due to low electrolytes. Jim had trouble two weeks ago on our 20-miler (skipping the S! Cap then) but sailed right through this one. We finished the run at 3:00 on the dot including the 9 minutes of stops for GU/bathroom breaks. Our overall pace was 8:43 and our running pace with the 9 minutes of stops removed was 8:17. Perfect since our goal for Fargo is about a 7:55 pace.

That was Friday. Now Saturday we have the Get In Gear 10K race. Cold, wind, and snow. That was the Get In Gear this year. Kim, Jim, and I along with KB and Dave were running the 10K. My early goal was just to run it at about an 8:30 pace. Then I changed my mind and wanted to run it at whatever speed my body wanted to go. Dave and I lost Jim, Kim, and KB before we lined-up for the start. Dave and I must have been around the 9:30 pace people. The race started and I ran with the crowd for the first half mile. I was feeling very claustrophobic and just wanted to get around people. Dave and I parted ways and then I started to move forward through the runners. At the first mile marker I pushed my lap timer on my watch at 8:15. Not bad.

I decided to run at a reasonable/easy pace for me but I still moving forward through the crowds. Near the half-way point I decided that I was going to run a negative-split race and kicked up my speed. Mile 4, 5, and 6 paces were 7:10, 7:04, and 7:10. Crossing the Ford Bridge was a B@#$h. The wind was very strong from the west. Still, it didn't affect my time very much. I finished feeling good at 46:12 officially (46:15 on my watch). 7:27 average pace. You can see from my heart rate chart below my easy first half / hard second half race.



I believe my anaerobic threshold is 167/168 so I wasn't pushing it too hard. So, not too bad for the day after a twenty mile run.

Kim who also ran the 20.7 on Friday got the 3rd place award in her age group. Way to go Kim! Awesome!

I've had some cuboid bone problems in my foot since a few days after the Trail Mix. I didn't notice it during the race but I know I'm not 100% yet because it was much worse Sunday afternoon. I purchased some moleskin and made a patch to help the foot problem. The image below is from a website I found while searching for info on my problem.



This week is still a fairly full week of running through my planned 12-miler on Friday. Then it's two weeks of tapering.

--Mark

26 days to Fargo

I'll start counting the days instead of weeks now. This Friday will be my last long 20 mile run. Saturday I'm running the Get-in-Gear 10K with 4000+ other runners. I'll run it fairly easy as as recovery run. After that, I'll start tapering but I still will have a 5K on May 3rd and a 1-mile race on May 8th.

This morning I signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon.

I ran 9 this morning and can feel a little something going on in my right foot. It should go away soon as this has happened before.

edit: This afternoon I decided to NOT run the 5K in my plans. There is too high of chance I could cause some damage to my feet in that intense of a race on blacktop.

--Mark

Trail Mix 50K team race 2008

Q: How do you take a pair of road shoes and turn them into trail shoes?



A: Wear them at a Trail Mix race.

Those shoes have almost 400 miles on them... all treadmill or road until Saturday. Now I'll just use them on trails until they're worn out. They worked out very well in the hills and mud. On the topic of mud... I saw one guy in a mud pit with his shoe sucked off his foot. He didn't look happy.

I like comparing my races results to help gauge how I'm performing. This year, as well as last year, I ran the Trail Mix team race. In the team race, 4-person teams run one loop (12.5K) of the course each and their times are added together for a team time. My team, Live to Win, ended up coming in 3rd in the uneven-mixed division. I think we were 8th in the division last year.

I met Marise W. before the race. She a member of the Upper Midwest Trail Runners group. We chatted a bit and discovered we both want to run the Superior 50 Trail Race in our 50th birthday celebration month in 2009. That's something to look forward to!

My marathon training, that I've several months into, has made me much faster than last year. My overall place at the Trail Mix last year was 99/433 (top 23% and 7:59 pace). This year I was 35/394 or in the top 9% at a 7:20* pace. My time was 52:53 officially, but 52:45 on my watch. The added time was due to a two-runner backup in front of me at the finish. It took a while for the time/number keeper to record my time.

It was a very enjoyable race to run this year and I hope to do the team run again next year!

--Mark

*note: Update 4/22: The Trail Mix website now lists the team race distance as 7.2 miles.

5 weeks to Fargo

I had a great week last week. 53.9 miles total, I felt great during and after my second-to-the-last 20-miler, and I feel great now. No injuries.

Saturday I stopped into Run-n-Fun and bought my 'Marathon shoes'. They're Brooks Adrenaline GTS-8's. I've only ran in Brooks Adrenaline shoes except for my one day with ASICS. This morning I ran 9 in the new shoes and they felt great. I plan to put about 80 to 100 miles on them before Marathon day. I have three other pairs I rotate but they all have ~300 miles on them.

I'll be dipping my toes into the ultra-marathon waters this year. I'm signed up for the Afton 50K and also joined the Upper Midwest Trail Runners group. I didn't really want to sign-up for the Fab 5 Fifties series this year as I'm only running one race on the list. Well, I'm signed-up and I'm not dropping out. Next year I plan to run three 50K and two 50 mile races. Yikes!

Oh yeah, my next race is the Trail Mix 50K 4-person team race on Saturday. I only run 12.5K. My 4-person team all run at the same time and our finishing times are added together for the team time. It was great fun last year on the dry and fast course. I'm looking forward to some mud this year!

--Mark

not again

Nearly every long run I've done this winter and 'spring' has had not-so-good weather conditions. I'm planning to run 20+ miles Friday morning, starting at 5:15. Here is the latest forecast for Thursday night:

Thursday Night - Breezy...snow. Snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches. Lows 30 to 35. Northeast winds 15 to 25 mph.

Not much better on Friday:

Friday - Snow. Snow accumulation of 5 to 6 inches. Highs around 40. Northeast winds 15 to 20 mph.

Ugh.
--Mark

update 4/11: It wasn't too bad out this morning. Some of the paths were clear, others had an inch or slow of slush. Of course my shoes are completely soaked but I got in a good 20.4 mile run.

Ron Daws 25K 2008 report

This is a very low-key road race with a fee of $4 and a cap of 170 runners. My first time running it was this morning. The weather was excellent. 40 degrees at the start, light breeze, and mostly sunny. I understand last year it was 20 degrees and windy... Brrrr.

I met a few friends there. Jim and I had a plan to finish in just under 2 hours. Hopefully with a 7:43 average pace. We started out just a little fast, mile two was way too fast, and we thought we would finish a little ahead as we were averaging 7:30s for the first several miles. My average pace was 7:32 and although I am a bit tired now (7 hours later) I think it is an indicator that I should do well in the Fargo Marathon in 6 weeks.

Here are my mile splits. Like most races measured in Kilometers, the last one is screwy. My 6:17 pace is correct for the final 0.53 miles. I kicked it into high gear for the finish!

1 7:46
2 6:59
3 7:36
4 7:44
5 7:19
6 7:41
7 7:28
8 8:01
9 7:57
10 7:03
11 7:17
12 7:43
13 7:43
14 8:01
15 7:22
15.53 3:20 (0.53 miles at 6:17 pace)

time: 1:57:05 (according to my watch)

Overall a great race today. I really enjoyed running it.

--Mark

Hills in July and hills this morning

I dropped off my registration for the Afton 50K in the mail this morning. It's a bit scary since last year the Afton 25K wore me out. I can always drop back to the 25K before race day but I'll be training for the 50K.

This morning a friend and I talked each other into doing some hills. I had planned to do some speed work today. We ran down to the West River Parkway over the Ford Bridge and ran the Locks and Dam #1 hill six times. That workout showed me that I have some work to do. I definitely have room for improvement. Next week will run the same hill eight times. Now that the snow is pretty much gone in the area (until tonight - ugh) I can do more of my running outside.

--Mark

Seven weeks to Fargo

Training is going well. I did a 20+ mile long run with friends on Friday. This was our first long run on a dry surface. I started to get tired with about a mile to go. We ran for 3:15 and 20.6 miles. I looked at my heart rate monitor chart afterwards and found we had stopped for a total of 16.5 minutes. The stops were for traffic lights, water/GU breaks, and bathroom breaks. We'll do another long run in 2 weeks.

This weeks plan:

Mon: run outside - speed 9? miles
Tue: run outside - easy 9 or 12 miles
Wed: run outside - tempo 9? miles
Thu: yoga
Fri: run outside - 6 miles easy
Sat: Ron Daws 25K race
Sun: maybe a few easy miles

--Mark

Went bowling

I bowled two games with my family today. I've only bowled about two games in the past twenty years. Of course I thought there was no way I was going to bowl under 100 in either game. HA HA. HA HA. I got a 77 and a 81. It was very fun but you won't see me trying to sign up on a bowling league anytime soon.

--Mark

I LOVE long runs

I went on a 19 miler early yesterday (Friday) morning with friends. I just love running the long runs. They are like mini-expeditions to me. It was so beautiful outside yesterday with the snow falling, a nice coating of snow on the trees, and the peacefulness of the morning.

We ran for 3 hours and my only mishap was my slip, spin, and roll on a patch of snow-covered ice. The only lasting effect from that was a little bruise on my kneecap. It was a little painful during my short 4-mile recovery run this morning but it did not affect my running. It just hurt - kind of like it would hurt if someone whacked the side of my kneecap with a stick.

Now there are only 8 weeks until the Fargo Marathon. Next week I have a 20 mile long run planned. I can't wait. I think I will skip a planned Monday tempo run and hopefully run outside then and Tuesday. I'll do Kickboxing on Wednesday and this time I think my wife will join me in class.

--Mark

St. Patrick's Day Human Race 8K

I ran this on Sunday afternoon in St. Paul. The weather was cold and dry. Maybe 35 degrees but with sun. My goal was to get below the 7:00 number barrier. I ran a 10K last spring at a 7:03 pace so I thought I should be able to meet my goal. I did. My time was 33:28 for a 6:44 average pace.

The 8K race was 4.97 miles so for my last split I also have the pace listed:

Splits
Mile 1 - 6:48
Mile 2 - 6:33
Mile 3 - 6:52
Mile 4 - 6:53
Last .97 6:22 (pace was 6:34 for that segment)

My goal was 6:59's so my workouts have improved my performance considerably. I think my tempo runs helped a ton! I left some on the table but I was able to run the race just at threshold. I didn't want to run out of gas early.

I'm looking forward to running this one again next year.

--Mark

Jim, can you climb trees?

This morning my friend Jim and I went on an early morning Mississippi River loop run starting from the Highland Park LTF. We crossed the Ford Bridge and then ran north along the west river parkway. At about 5:20am we were about a mile north of the Ford Bridge. Off in the distance a police siren sounded. Almost immediately a pack of coyotes started 'yipping'. They were between us and the river, and although we couldn't see them, I think they were only 30 to 50 yards from us. That's when I asked, "Jim, can you climb trees"?

It was nice to have some wildlife nearby.

--Mark

10 weeks to the Fargo Marathon

Yikes! It's coming up fast.

I ran 18 miles early morning last Friday. That went well except for the spot of frostbite on my chin. The temperature that morning was around -5F. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to running in warmer conditions.

This week:

Mon - 6 x 800m intervals
Tue - some easy miles
Wed - 40 minute Tempo
Thu - Yoga
Fri - 9 easy miles
Sat - rest
Sun - 8K race

My 8K race goal is 34:42 which is a 6:59 average pace. I really want to average better than a 7:00 pace. One-second better is enough. :-) I have a chance if the pavement is dry. No-way if there is snow.

--Mark

Awesome run this morning

I started out early this morning on a 16 mile run with two friends. We were going to run it Sat but moved it up a day. The plan was to run over to lake Harriet, run around the lake, and then back to the club. We got to the lake and my friends said they thought it was much farther around the lake that what I said. They changed the plan and we ran up and along the east side of Calhoun and then got on the Greenway. We ran east to the river parkway and then south and back to the club. We ran until we we crossed the Ford Bridge and then walked up the hill. The total running time was 2:47 and the mileage was 17.5. We got an extra-good workout because of the lack of traction in the snow. At one point in the run I commented on how stupid we were to embark on a 16 mile run with no water. Not too smart. We did stop at Dunn Brothers at the Lake St. Bridge for water at mile 15. I weighed myself at the club and found I lost about 5 lbs. Next time I need to carry water.
--Mark

11 1/2 weeks to Fargo

I ran 2x 20 minutes at tempo pace today. Since it wasn't horrible, I think my anaerobic threshold is getting pushed up a bit. I'm looking forward to running some of my spring races. I think I'll do well in the 8K Human Race in three weeks. I also recently signed up for the Trail Mix 4-person team race and the Ron Daws 25K.

Some of my upcoming workouts are:

Thursday - Yoga
Friday - 6 mile run
Saturday - 16 mile run
Monday - 40 minutes at tempo (7:18 pace)
Wednesday - Kickboxing
Thursday - Yoga
Saturday - 17 mile run

I've been healthy and hope to stay that way.
--Mark

Nice run yesterday and recovery today

I ran a 12 mile Mississippi river loop yesterday morning with friends. We averaged a strong 8:15 pace. This morning I wanted to do the same run by myself. My right hamstring was so tight that I just let my body do what it wanted to do. No forcing distance or pace. I cut it down to a 6.2 mile loop in 1:06 (10:38 pace). Much slower than I was planning but I didn't push anything and I feel really good right now.
--Mark

Broke through the Tempo 'Wall'

For the third Wednesday in a row I did a hard tempo run. I start with a 2 mile warmup at 8:34 pace and then I run 35 minutes at my Tempo pace of 7:19. I finish with around a 2 mile cooldown at 8:34. The first two times I did this workout I'd get about 22 minutes into the Tempo portion and just want it to end. I was hitting a mini-Wall. Today there was no 'Wall'. It was just a nice hard run. Maybe I was just having a great day. Maybe my anaerobic threshold got pushed up just enough to make the workout easier. Next week I'm doing Tempo for 40 minutes. I can't wait. :-)
--Mark

Yoga tomorrow

It's nice to look forward to something other than running. I did a 35 minute stretch on the treadmill this morning at tempo pace. I'm really, really, ready for Yoga tomorrow.

14 weeks to Fargo

I ran 42.8 miles this week. I'm trying to be a little more flexible with my workout schedules. My main goals are to do a nice long run weekly, do some longer tempo runs, some hill work, and core/strength and also now Yoga, too. I'm not going to get upset with myself if a planned workout that I wrote down doesn't get done exactly as planned.

I do have a 14 mile long run (outside) planned for Friday the 15th with friends. I hope it doesn't get canceled due to weather. If had been for today there is no way we would run it. It's -13F. Brrrr.

--Mark

a good few days

I ran 12 on Friday, 6.8 yesterday, and 3.5 today. The past two days I've added a little speed back in. I eased into running faster starting from marathon pace and working up to a 6:50-something pace. Not for too long, and not going directly from a moderate speed to a fast speed, has helped my feet feel good. Lately, that has been my issue... finding the edge between increasing stresses on my body to increase performance and being injury free.

I'm planning on running 6 miles tomorrow but the quantity of beverages I consume during "The Big Game" may change tomorrow into a rest day. I'll decide when I get up in the morning.

--Mark

a few days after the half....

I just want to record how I'm feeling after the race. My shins were sore Sunday and Monday and are feeling much better this morning. I took a day off from working out on Sunday. Monday, and this morning, I ran 3 miles at 6.2 mph (9:40 pace) on a treadmill. I'll continue running various distances at 9:00 or slower pace until at least one day after I don't notice any shin soreness. That will probably only be a few days from now.

My feet feel pretty good. I can tell that I had a problem with my right foot but there is no pain now. I'll still take it easy, meaning no fast intervals, for a few more weeks.

--Mark

Securian Frozen Half Marathon

I'll get right to it. I had two main goals for the race: 1) Practice running it like the first half of a marathon and 2) Get another TCM Wave 1 qualifier in.

I made a little card and kept it in my pocket where I had written the pace I wanted to run each mile. The race started and my goal for the first mile was 8:13. I ran 7:44. Ooops. With my heart rate monitor I got the lap time at every mile marker. Some of the markers were not exactly in the right place. I could tell because the pace was quite a bit off sometimes. I deleted the questionable mile markers off my heart rate monitor later when I looked at the data. The graph of my heart rate is here:



Here is the table of my planned paces and how I did.

Mile - planned pace > actual pace
1 - 8:13 > 7:44
2 - 8:13 > 7:57
3 - 8:08 > 7:59
4 - 8:04 > 7:53
5 - 7:54 > 7:53
6 - 7:49 > 7:52
7 - 7:45 > 7:52
8 - 7:45 > 7:37
9 - 7:40 > 7:38
10 - 7:40 > 7:37
11 - 7:40 > 7:43
12 - 7:40 > 7:43
13 - 7:40 > 7:15 (pace includes last 0.1 mile)
.1 - 0:47

It took a few miles to get settled into my plan. From the 5th through 12th miles I was really right on target. You can see that the 13th mile was way off plan. I knew by then (mile 12) my experiment was successful. Up ahead of me in the race was a large group that I was itching to pass. I hit my lap button and put it into high gear. There was little chance of me crashing and burning at that point. I passed a very large group and kept on going fast and continued my fast pace up the last hill. The final 100 meters I picked it up into a sprint and sniped a few more during that stretch. I was sure my gas tank wasn't even half empty at the end of this race. I'm feeling fairly confident about meeting my 3:27 goal at Fargo in May. I have 16 weeks to go.

My final time was 1:41:26 (according to the online results) so I made my Twin Cities Marathon Wave-1 qualifier! Woo-hoo!

Other notes:

The weather was perfect at around 20 degrees, overcast, and very light snow falling.

I met Julie B. and chatted with her before and after the race. I was happy to finally meet her.

My friend Dave was on the course cheering me on around mile 5. I learned that if you hear your name being shouted, someone may be shouting it at YOU. :-) I finally whipped my head around and gave him a wave. On my way back I ran over near him and he gave me a GU. That was nice! Thanks Dave!

Around mile 7 I heard someone yell "Mark". Since a few miles earlier I ignored my friend Dave, this time I decided to wave at the person and smile. Of course I didn't know her. I then asked the guy about 10 feet in front of me if his name was Mark. It was. He said we must be the Marks (Marx) brothers. :-)

Oh yeah. I forgot where I parked. What building did I park under? I didn't know. What parking ramp level? I didn't know. I wandered two ramps and various levels on both ramps with no luck. I finally decided to go out on the street, find where I drove in, and walk the same path I drove to park. That worked!

I hope to run this again next year.
--Mark

Mid-week update

My foot has still been bothering me. Sure, I ramped up my mileage at a reasonable rate over the last few months. I didn't do that with speed training. Ugh! Live and learn.

Monday I walked two miles on the treadmill. Later Monday afternoon and instructor friend of mine sent me an email. She was going to be a sub in Cycle 60 that night and also the 30-minute core class that followed. I went and did those awesome workouts. It was strange working out late at night since I almost always workout at 5:30 or 6 in the morning. Tuesday and today (Thursday) I ran 3 miles. Wednesday I did a Kickboxing class.

So my mileage this week is 6 so far. I think I'll run 3 tomorrow and then do the Winter Carnival half marathon on Saturday. If all continues to go well, I'll add a bit more mileage again next week.

Tonight I'm going to watch Spirit of the Marathon with my wife and some friends.

--Mark

17 weeks to Fargo

Last week I ran 41.5 miles. The highlight was on Saturday when I ran a practice simulation of the first part of the Fargo marathon on a treadmill. Two of us ran according to the same plan. He ran 15 miles and I ran 14. Each mile we would adjust our treadmill speed according to a chart I posted earlier. The run went great but what worried me is that my heart rate was higher than I would have liked during the later miles. I decided that on Saturday, when I run a half marathon race, I will attempt to run the same paces as I did on the treadmill. If that goes according to plan, I will be able to compare the two heart rate charts: indoors at 65+ degrees with proper hydration vs. outdoors at 10-15 degrees and under-hydration. I'm predicting that my heart rate will be lower in the race. My second goal would be to finish the half in just under 1:45 which will give me another wave 1 qualifier for the TC marathon in October.

Yesterday afternoon I had a sharp pain hit me in my right foot. In the top-mid-right area. There is some intermittent clicking there when I walk. It could be a side effect of running 14 miles on Saturday at a 7:59 average pace. I expect the 3x 3-minutes of 6:31's on Wed didn't help either. The pain comes and goes now (Monday morning) and I just walked for 2 miles at various inclines this morning to see if I could get things to click back into place. This same thing happens a few times a year and it always resolves itself in a few days.

Update: I did some searching on the internet during lunchtime today and I almost certain to have something called Cuboid syndrome. The is a cuboid bone in my foot that is slightly out of place and when it pops back all the pain will be gone. That's been my past experience and I think it will be better soon this time too.

I'm winging it this week for workouts. It all depends on when my foot gets back to normal. The only workout I'm doing for sure is the half on Saturday.

--Mark

Good news about my foot

I picked up a Strassburg Sock at Run N Fun yesterday to wear at night to help my plantar fasciitis problem. I wore it last night and there was no sign of it this morning. My running workout today was pain free too. I think I'll wear the sock for three weeks and also at the slightest sign of a problem in the future.

My hard interval workout was a good idea but I had to modify it greatly. Instead of 5x (4 min at 9.2mph then 3 min at 6.2mph) I changed it to 3x (3 min at 9.2 mph then 4 min of walk- or run at 6.2mph). My heart rate was at 169 and my AT is ~165. I think I was dealing with more of a mind issue than a physical one but at 3 minutes I just wanted to get out. I was able to do three cycles with good form and then decided that next week I'll do the same thing 4x. My total miles today was 5.0.

--Mark

Backing off the miles

The past few days I noticed that the back-bottom of my right foot hurts a little in the mornings. I felt it today when I ran a few miles. I'm pretty sure that I have plantar fasciitis. I have been following a running plan where my weekly miles are a percentage of what I expect my peak week will be. I'm working towards a peak of 60 but I'm changing it starting now to 48 miles. This week and next week I was planning to run 80% of peak. Instead of 48 miles, I'm dropping it down to 38 miles.

I'm revising the rest of the week to hit 38 miles. Instead of running 3 before weights, I'll walk. I'm cutting the number of cycles of Wednesday's workout from 6 to 5 and will walk to cool down. Friday I'll run less too. New remainder of week plan:

Everyday
Stretch calves/feet

Wednesday
6.6 miles
2 mile warmup +
5 x (4 min at 6:31 pace + 3 min at 9:41 pace)
6:31 = 9.2mph; 9:41 = 6.2mph

Thursday
strength training

Friday
6.4 miles

Saturday
12

Sunday
core or rest

18 Weeks to Fargo

I just finished a good week of workouts - 47.7 total miles. Saturday I ran 12 outside with a friend. It was a very early run and there was about an inch of fresh snow on the ground. We averaged an 8:06 pace on this excellent run. The Tues/Thurs strength training was hard on me and I was very tired at the end of the week. Starting this week Sundays may be a day off or just a short easy run and/or a core workout. No squats or lunges on Sunday. My legs need a break.

I'm going to try the core workout from the Feb 2008 Runner's World to see how that goes. I did the base workouts today. The Swiss Hip Extension workout is challenging and I'm looking forward to seeing how I improve over the weeks.

Plan for week starting Monday, January 14

Monday
10 miles

Tuesday
3 mile easy run +
strength training

Wednesday
9.5 miles
2 mile warmup +
6 x (4 min at 6:31 pace + 3 min at 9:41 pace) +
2 mile easy run
6:31 = 9.2mph; 9:41 = 6.2mph

I edited on 1/14 because I learned the 'quality portion' on Wednesday was to be 8% of my total week. I had added the recovery portion into the calculation previously. It just means 6x vs 4x previously. Ugh.

Thursday
3 mile easy run +
strength training

Friday
7.5 miles

Saturday
12

Sunday
3 miles plus core or rest

Planned total: 48 miles