My Mom was a runner

My Mom was a runner who started running in her late 40’s. I never saw her run a race. I can’t turn back the clock but, if I could, I would have started running earlier in life and would have liked to run a race with her. She passed-away due to cancer in 1996 at age 64, almost 10 years before I started running.

As I said in my previous post, I am looking forward to running a few races with my wife Kathy. I don’t want to miss the opportunity we have to run together in the next few weeks. Kathy just completed a beginning running class and now is the perfect time for her to run a few races.

Back to my Mom - Her being a runner was part of my motivation for beginning to run around 5 years ago. I came across the newspaper clipping below that I had in my 'box of things'. She wouldn’t mind me posting it on the internet. Of course I miss my Mom.

--Mark

From the Ashland Daily Press, July 1981

15km runner goes for broke

Many competitors in Sunday’s 15K race agreed that the hot and humid conditions were far from ideal for running 9.3 miles. Some were unable to complete the event and others forced to walk a stretch in order to finish.

Their plight was understandable. But evidently some were not as ‘stubborn’ as Elizabeth Hanson, 49, the Grand View runner who placed first in the women’s 40-49 age group.

“I guess I’m kind of stubborn,” she related Tuesday. “I felt pain in my foot first, then with about two miles to go a snap, but like I said I’m stubborn and I kept on going. Sometimes I’d look over at the shade and the grass and feel like quitting …..I guess I just chanted to myself that it didn’t hurt, it didn’t hurt.”

Obviously it did.

Ms. Hanson is sporting a nice sized cast as proof – she ran the final two miles with a broken bone in her right foot!

“I went in to see Dr. Telford and discovered the foot was broken after he took an x-ray,” Hanson said. “I doubt I would have completed the race if I’d known it then.”

“I wore a new type of shoe that I’d only used twice before and I think I’ll look for another with more support before I start running again,” she continued, already planning a return to competition and rueing the end of her season.

“I’ll be in a cast for six weeks but I’ve already borrowed an exercise bike. I’ve got to do something. I won’t be able to run any more this summer.”

Hanson’s Baydays time was 78 minutes 50 seconds.

Here is a picture of her 1st-place-in-AG award. I keep it on my dresser and it's where I put all my extra race bib pins.



Mom in her old-school cast / crutches.

Next up - a few short races

My wife Kathy completed a beginning running class on Wednesday. Congrats Kathy! The class was put on through our local community education program. Kathy does not really enjoy running that much (yet) but she enjoyed the class and the people she met.

As a followup to the class, I will be running a few races with Kathy this Summer/Fall. First, a 2-mile race in Grand View, WI on August 1st. This is the town where I grew-up and that was the first race I ever ran - 5 years ago.

The following weekend we will be running the Urban Wildland 5K in Richfield, MN. Kathy is well aware that our paces don't matched but I promised her that we would run the races together. I'm looking forward to that.

My next posting will be from a newspaper article about my Mom from 30 years ago. It will tie in nicely with what I wrote above, and specifically about me running with Kathy.

--Mark

Back in good running shape

During the winter I ran less and did more cross-training on a cycle. My spring races were slower than I thought they should have been. I became aware of this after the Ron Daws 25K in early April and it was too late to adjust anything (that would affect my performance) for the Eau Claire marathon on May 2nd. Since April I have dropped on cycle class but I still do the other cycle class on light resistance just to get my legs moving at a good cadence, but not to wear out my muscles. The other thing I did is getting my weekly mileage up to approximately 40 miles per week on average. I picked that number because I have found in the past that I get injured when I go beyond 45 miles per week average for very long.

Right now I'm running quite well, am staying injury-free (knock on wood), and am enjoying running 5 to 6 days a week. My mini-goal is to get myself from where I am now to being in shape to do the Surf the Murph 50 mile race at the end of October. I realize it's not a good idea to get my weekly mileage up too high but I need to start getting in some really long (time more than miles) runs in on the weekends. I would like to shoot for a 12 hour Surf the Murph. If I can do that, I will likely register for the Bighorn 50M next year. I know.....apples and oranges. If I can't do the Surf the Murph successfully this fall, I would shoot for the Bighorn 50K.

Well, that's my current plan and of course it's subject to change.

--Mark

Run the Keweenaw 2010

Linked-photo credits: Juskuz Photography
Other pics by my kids.

Two years ago I arrived in Copper Harbor just after the Run the Keweenaw (RTK) race series had finished. Darn, I missed it. I talked to a Mother and Daughter that ran the series and they loved it. Last year I was able to run the first event of the weekend (10K trail run) and immediately after I had to go back home to Minnesota. This year it took some careful planning and I was able to run the three events in the series: On Saturday, July 10th there was a ~6K Mt. Baldy Summit run at 9am, a 12K Copper Harbor Trails Challenge at 5pm, and on Sunday there was a 25K Keweenaw Trails Run at 8am.

Last year was the 10th running of the series and this year was the first year with a new race organizer. I didn't know what was in store for the series as my only experience was the 10K in 2009. That was a tough run.

9am Saturday - Mt. Baldy Summit Run

Saturday morning I got ready and headed out of Copper Harbor and down to Eagle Harbor. The Mt. Baldy Summit run traditionally started at the beach but with road construction, it started on a road that led directly to the trail. I had picked-up my race packet Friday night but I walked over to the registration desk to write emergency contact info and were I was staying on the back of my bib. My wife was in Minnesota, my kids were in a campground....it would not have been good if something happened to me and there was not easy way to find my family.

I talked to a couple of other guys that were there early too and a little later I saw a Mom/Dad/Daughter. The daughter had just posed for a picture by the Ambulance and I decided to see what that was about. The daughter had seen something about the race in the paper and thought it would be fun. I asked her if she knew much about it....like the 750 feet of hill climb. She thought I was joking and said she hates hills. I thought this was fantastic that she showed up to a race like this, knowing nothing about it. I'll call her Wisconsin as that's what was on her shirt.

Moving on, I warmed up by running the trail up to the point of the loose sand hill (I hate loose sand) and did some warming up on the pavement too. The race started and off we went. Well, I was running hard and I was passing some, others were passing me. Around a mile in, I was running behind a girl for awhile then passed her. She only let me run for maybe a hundred yards before passing me. Oh well, I'll just follow her. She probably wanted to get away from me because I constantly had the need to clear my throat. Yuck. The noise I was making was annoying me so it probably bothered others too. This was a hard run. We run up to the top of one mountain which then we look over to the next mountain where the finish line is. So, down the other side we go and up the taller mountain. I'll call them mountains because they're a lot taller than the hills I'm used to running. I got to the top in 30:36 on a distance of somewhere around 3.5 miles. My Garmin read 3.27 but I think it was longer than that. Here is my Garmin data for the Summit run. A short while later Wisconsin crossed the finish. She didn't carry any water so I gave her the last third of my bottle. I didn't need any more. The view from the top of Mt. Baldy is spectacular. I don't have pictures and won't describe the view, you'll just have to go on that run yourself. Update: Here is a professional photo of me approaching the finish:



After most of the runners finished, Wisconsin and I walked down the mountain. This took forever and we finally ran the last mile to the start. At the awards ceremony, it turns out that both Wisconsin and I got 3rd place in our age groups and scored a nice little jug of maple syrup. Sweet!

5pm Saturday - 12K Copper Harbor Trails Challenge

I survived the first run just fine and was looking forward to the 12K. I heard some rumors that the actual distance was 11K. Either way, it was going to be a hard run if it was anything like last year. Last year was a point to point and this year it started and finished at the same location in Copper Harbor. The route was entirely runnable (by me) this year. Janice, who I met at the race last year, is #50 in the pic below, which was taken not long after the start.



A mile or so into the run I settled into a nice pace and had a woman in front of me and a guy directly behind. The woman didn't seem to mind me following close enough to just be safe. There were a lot of switchbacks on this run and most of it was single-track. Very nice for running. I think I was pushing the woman a bit and she was pulling me along too. She never looked back, just kept charging ahead. note: I felt much better than I look in the professional pic below. :-)



Us three runners had a really nice run and maybe a half mile or so from the finish the guy behind me passed us both and moved on ahead. I kept right behind the woman, she was running at the perfect pace for me and it was a hard race pace. I crossed the finish line directly behind her and when she turned around I said 'Oh, I was right behind you up the mountain this morning!' She said she thought it was me behind her and I said that she probably wasn't sure because I wasn't hacking up and clearing my throat this afternoon. :-) It wasn't until the race was over that I realized I was pacing behind that same woman (actually 16 year old girl) in both races. At this point in time she beat me twice. :-) By 3.4 seconds in the Summit Run and by 0.4 seconds in the 12K. Not that I'm racing her, but I was getting interested that we run at the same pace. From now, I'll call her JA as those are her initials. We've talked a bit but didn't exchange names. My kids were at the finish and one took two pics:



This time, I was 2nd place in my age and the awards were slices of a tree with the RTK logo burned in. Oh, my time was 54:17 and I believe the distance was ~6.8 miles.



For the 12K, my Garmin data is here. The map looks nice if you click on the 'Terrain' button.

8am Sunday - 25K Keweenaw Trails Run

I figured this run was going to be a beast and I'm not a youngster anymore so I wanted to start the race and 'take inventory' for 6 miles. I figured that I'd run the first 6 slower than I would race it, maybe 30 seconds slower per mile. I got to the start early and chatted with a few new friends. I wished AJ good luck and she lined-up closer to the start. I wanted to start back just a bit so I could take it easy. I also knew I wouldn't be on AJ's rear-end like I was the previous two races.

The race started and I felt a bit sluggish at first. About 2 miles in I had settled in right behind a guy and I was feeling pretty good. After another mile I started to get a pain in my left foot as we were climbing. This route too was very runnable as was the 12K. My foot pain went away after about a half mile but not before I was determining where I was going to drop from the race. Thankfully I was able to keep going and started to move along nicely. My pace did seem like I was going about 30 seconds slower that I could go on these trails. I decided to keep to my plan and stay slower until mile 6.

Dog on the trail....I was getting really annoyed at this dog running the trail run too. It's owner was up ahead, calling it to keep moving along and to go faster. I don't think I was the only one annoyed due to the dog on the trail. I couldn't wait to get away from that dog/owner. Also, I set a new goal for myself: Don't get beat by the little house dog. Tiny, but tough, trail running dog in pic below!



At mile 5.5 I took an S!Cap for salt, three shot blocks, and a healthy drink of water from my hand-held bottle. Just half a mile and I could take off. Yes. I felt good, stuck to my plan, and now was ready to run. Now I was running by myself and was moving right along at a natural race pace - not too slow and not too fast. I met up with a gal from Minnesota and ran with her though the lap 1 finish and up the road a bit before I left her. Now I had entered the park trails and could cruise. They were just biking/running/walking paths and were super easy to run. I made up some time here. That easy running could only last for so long and I knew there was more single-track ahead.

The picture below shows me on one of the numerous footbridges we encountered during the race.



I would repeat my S!Cap/3-shot-bloks combo at miles 8.5 and 11.5, spacing them out just right for my needs.

For those runners that didn't finish in the top few, you know what happened next. Yes, the THUNDERSTORM. I had about 3.5 miles to the finish and the skies opened up. Torrential rainfall. Oh well, doesn't help to stop so I might as well keep running. It was funny and scary at the same time as my glasses fogged up but I could still read the 'Danger, Cliff' sign, it was pouring rain, and I had to run on one of the wooden bridges. As bad as that sounds, I didn't slip and fall or plunge off the cliff. As a matter of fact, I was wearing road running shoes and I think with the significant amount of surface area contacting the bridges and rock, I had good traction. So, I moved quickly though the last 5k and crossed the finish completely soaked, dirty, and happy.

Just great running trails. This was after the rain slowed down.



My time was 2:08. Here is my Garmin data for the 25K.

Still in the finishing area was AJ, who I never saw except at the start. I asked her how she did and she said 2:05. It made me think about the '3 minutes' I 'added' in my first 6 miles. Here is the spooky part: I looked up AJ and my 2nd lap times and hers was 1:00:55.6 and mine was 1:00:56.2. AJ was 0.6 seconds faster than I was in the second lap. Spooky. You can't plan that. Anyways, this weekend is the ONLY time that AJ's and my paces will match. She is 16 and has speed in her future, I'm 50 and am slowing down. Still it's interesting to me because I never run with anyone with nearly identical racing paces.

It turned out that in this 3rd race I ended up first in my age group and got a nice locally-made ceramic mug. The sponsors also threw out gifts to the crowd after the awards and I scored some Vasque socks and Hammer Gels. Here are those awards:



Would I run this again? Yes, every year if I could. It's a mostly-runable course but I did have to walk up parts of the two summit hills/mountains and only walked up one hill in the 25K. I don't care if the course is the same or if it changes every year. It's a beautiful area with great running trails. See you in 2011.

--Mark

p.s. I don't know if the dog ever finished but I know for sure it didn't beat me. :-)

[note 7/19: I purchased the digital copies of all the photos that include me so I can post them here but I will leave the original ones linked for now.]

Afton Trail Run 25K 2010

Today was my second time running the 25K and I had a very good day of running. I'm running some races next weekend so I wanted to run a little under my capability. So I set two race goals for Afton. The first was to run with a moderate+ effort or something less than a hard effort and finish around a 2:45. My second goal was to not get lapped by a 50K racer which could happen but wouldn't be likely.

I'm typing this on a touch-screen phone so this report might be pretty short. I arrived at Afton around 6am so I could watch the 50K runners start and then chat with 25k runners that arrived early. I was planning to carry a water bottle as it was going to be a hot one. Strangely, with the cloud cover and breeze, it seemed cool so I put my water bottle back in the car. Of course, right before the race start time of 7:30, the sun came out and it started getting warm.

We were given instructions that were some course changes and instructions on how to not get lost. I must have listened because I didn't get lost....I get lost every time I run out there training.

I did a good job and running at a nice moderate effort. I liked the course changes and hope next year's course is the same as this year. The aid stations were great. Today I used 3 S!Caps, 6 Shot Bloks (one package), and one orange slice. Seemed good for me today.

Back to running....as I said, I was not pushing hard but I was still moving right along. Something clicked-in after 9 miles and I got into an effortless, but fast, running rhythym. I just cruised right along until mile 11 when the heat was starting to affect me. Oh well, at least I got in 2 great miles of running. haha

Wrapping this up, I finished in 2:36 and felt great at the finish. Goal 1 complete. I wasn't lapped by any 50K runners however I believe Chris Lundstrom's time was 3:48 for a new course record. Made that goal with only 12 minutes to spare. Great job Chris Lundstrom!

I chatted with friends at the finish and then called it done for another year. My one line summary is "I loved every minute of it." You'll see me out there again in 2011.

--Mark