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

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

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.

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

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

Twin Cities 10-mile

TC-10

Humid and pretty hot today. Much hotter than the 10 mile trail race I ran 3 weeks ago. I learned what happens when you start out too fast.... You end too slow. :-(

The first 5 miles I averaged a 7:17 pace. I would be happy with that any day. The last 5 miles my average was 8:14. I think another primary factor in my slowdown was dehydration caused by the heat/humidity as well as my running hard. Dehydration increases heart rate and if I was trying to keep heart rate constant, the slowdown would be a natural side effect.

Almost a 1-1/2 years ago I had my anaerobic threshold tested at 160. I know it's higher than that now. I've been thinking that it's about 165. Then why in the world did I maintain the averages I did? The first 2 miles averaged 159 but you see my max in that segment was 170. It was already too late and there was not much chance of running at a lower rate now. I tried to keep my HR at 172/173 and held on for the ride. Unfortunately, the ride shifted into low gear at the half-way point. My form was good, I felt good, but I knew if I ran any faster my HR would shoot through the roof. Like it wasn't already.

Lap Ttl-Time Lap Time_ Max Avg Min Dst min/mile
1. 0:14:00.0 0:14:00.0 170 159 111 2.0 7:00
2. 0:21:15.6 0:07:15.6 175 171 167 1.0 7:15
3. 0:28:35.4 0:07:19.8 174 171 165 1.0 7:19
4. 0:36:23.3 0:07:47.9 175 172 169 1.0 7:48
5. 0:44:42.9 0:08:19.6 174 172 168 1.0 8:19
6. 0:53:14.1 0:08:31.2 176 173 168 1.0 8:31
7. 1:09:36.9 0:16:22.8 178 173 168 2.0 8:11
8. 1:17:33.1 0:07:56.2 180 175 173 1.0 7:56

I ended up finishing 374th out of 5080 which puts me in the top 8%. I can't complain about that.

TC Marathon

After my race I showered at the club and went back to watch the marathon runners. I parked and walked about 2 miles to my friends house. I figured the walking would be good for me. I think it was. I watched the marathon for about 45 minutes. At this point I'm seeing the 4+ hour runners at around the 24 mile mark. Many were doing well. Many more were not. As I was walking back to my car, a runner came off the road, sat down, and fell over. Three other runners and myself came to his aid, as well as several nearby volunteers. I'm glad the guy lived because I thought he was going to die right there. He was non-responsive to verbal questions and he could barely see. He started to come around with some water, sports drink, GU, and salt. One of the runners who stopped was a nursing student. The positive was that three runners stopped to help. The negative was that the volunteers didn't have the proper phone number list immediately available. The ambulance came and provided additional assistance. He was talking and thanked us all for helping. I wasn't able to help much but at least I knew to check the back of the guy's number tag for emergency contact and medical info.

--Mark

Harmon Farms 10 miler

I ran the first annual Harmon Farms 10 miler trail race in Inver Grove Heights, MN on Sunday, September 16th. The race is held in Salem Hills Park on mountain bike trails. Being a first year race, there were 100 or so registered to run. In the end, 89 finished.

The race director asked people to line up according to their speed. I wanted to be near the front but there was only one lone guy at the front of the pack. Just before the start, several others joined him. I felt better, because by the looks of the crowd, I was not going to finish in 2nd place. At the starting horn we were off. I think there were 6 guys in front of me as we took off. The first .75 miles was in open parkland and paved walking trails. Then we entered the park mountain bike trails for most of the rest of the race and the finish was the reverse of the start with .75 miles of open park / paved trails again.

The morning was cool in the low 50's and there was a slight breeze. Pretty nice weather for a race but I had been freezing my butt off before the start in my sleeveless shirt and light, long-distance running shorts. I knew I would warm up soon enough. At mile 1 I hit the split on my watch and noted a 7:16. Pretty fast for the terrain. Mile markers were not placed at every mile so I couldn't keep track of my pace very well. I was running by my heart rate and knew I was testing my threshold for a 10-mile race.

For the first 5 miles there was a 17 year old running right behind me. Nobody could run side-by-side as it was all single-track bike trails. I chatted a bit with the young guy and he knew he was first in his age category. I didn't know if I was or not. I'm in the 40-49 age group and was hoping not many of those in front were in the 40's. There was a guy about 100 feet behind me most of the race. I thought he just might be in the 40's so there was no way he was passing me. You see, they were giving out awards for the top three in each age/sex category. After mile 5 there were 10 runners in front of me including the 17 year old that passed me because I took more time at the water stop to have a little GU and water.

Near the end of the race I caught up to the 17 year old and the guy tailing me was still right behind me. I increased my pace so he couldn't catch me and I stayed right with the young guy to the finish. My finishing time as a new 10-mile PR for me at 1:14:28 for a 7:27 pace. I was 11th out of 89 finishers. The results got posted and I was 4th in my age group. Ugh. But wait... They had an award for the first male/female finishers from Inver Grove Heights (I was not) and he was from my age group. They didn't give double awards so they moved me up and gave me the third age-group award. Yes! I'll take the $20 certificate to one of my favorite running stores! It almost paid for the entry fee!

It was a great race for me and I'll do it again next year.
--Mark

Only 275,000 footsteps to go

I ran the Great River Ragnar Relay on August 24th and 25th with 10 other team members. Our team name is "Only 275,000 footsteps to go". That's about how many I figured it would take. The race was originally planned for 198 miles this year from LaCrosse, WI up to Stillwater and then to Minneapolis. With the 35W bridge collapse and then some police lines from a chase/shooting Friday night, sections were re-routed and the new mileage was 208.2.

We had 12 team members. Six in each of two vans. How it works is that starting in LaCrosse, each of the six in Van 1 runs their legs. Then Van 2's runners run. It switches back to Van 1 then Van 2 for two more times. Each runner has to run three legs in the race from 3 to 8 miles each. I ran 7.4 at 11am then 8.2 at 10:30?pm then 7.1 at 6:30am. My total was 22.7.

Oh... At the beginning I said 10 other team members. Van 1 was planning to leave for LaCrosse at 6am Friday. Well, at 3:58am one of the team members called and cancelled due to a leaky water softner in his house. Three others on the team had to run his legs in addition to their own. We sure didn't plan on that.

Most on our team have said this has been the best running experience of their lives. I think that says alot. Our finishing time was 28 hours, 40 minutes, and 31 seconds which is an 8:16 average pace. We finished in 17th place overall out of the 99 teams that finished. We can't wait until next year.

My average pace was a 7:57. I can't complain about that.

--Mark

Afton 25K 2007

I've been wondering when a race would break me. It happened at the Afton 25K trail run on July 7, 2007. I ran with my friend Christine on that very hot and humid day. Christine and I stayed together for 13.5 miles. It was awesome to run with someone the same speed as I am. I think we both pulled and pushed each other to run faster than we would alone. After mile 13.5 Christine pulled ahead, or more likely I fell behind. I finished with an excellent time of 2:19:56.

This is the first time I took GU in a race. I tried it a few times during practice runs at Afton. There are 5 water stops in the 25K. I decided to just drink water at the first stop and all later stops I was going to take half a GU packet along with water. I had been reading that a half packet along with a typical drink of water during a race gives the correct ratio of GU/Water. Right or wrong? I don't know. That combination worked for me.

That run wore me out. I tried running with a friend two days after the race and had to quit after 0.25 miles. I was just too sore. I feel much better tonight, and will take a kickboxing class in the morning, the 4th day after the race. Although we have a family vacation planned for next year this time, I look forward to another Afton 25K in two years.

I record my heart rate during exercising. An anotated chart of my run is shown below. I'm not exactly sure where my anaerobic threshold is now. A year or so ago I had it measured at 160 on a treadmill.


--Mark