So living and running in Minnesota has long provided some interesting challenges, primarily in the weather department. Our winters are long, cold and snowy, our spring almost doesn't exist, our summers are humid, and our autumns go by in the blink of an eye back to winter. However, the last couple winters have had much less snow (but still cold) so trails have been much more accessible. This winter seems like it will never end. More snow came over the last two days and some of my favorite trails are covered in a few inches of snow. Normally, I don't care but with my recovery from my most recent injury I have to be careful on uneven and unpredictable surfaces. The weathermen are saying 60s sometime this week but I'll believe it when I see it. In the meantime, I am continuing to pound the pavement dreaming of the days when I can finally run on some beautiful wooded grass and dirt trails again.
Only 6 days until Twin Cities Marathon registration begins and only 7 days until my first race in 10 months!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Running in the Rain
From the moment I left church this morning the rain has been coming down. With so many things to get done for what will certainly be a busy week I had to make time for my first run in the rain of the year. I love to run in the rain, as long as it's not too cold along with the rain, because it can be extremely refreshing. I don't mind getting wet and muddy on a run and with this rain, the good news is most of the snow around here is melting away. I decided to run on some of the trails through Bunker Hills Park to go through the woods. The sound of the rain hitting the trees and falling to the ground is so relaxing, plus I had the trails to myself which allowed me to talk to myself and not appear crazy to anyone else!
I just got hired as the middle school track coach at Northdale this week and practice starts in a week, so training these young kids should be an exciting experience. I'm really looking forward to it and I can't wait to see if my training methods will be beneficial to them.
I just got hired as the middle school track coach at Northdale this week and practice starts in a week, so training these young kids should be an exciting experience. I'm really looking forward to it and I can't wait to see if my training methods will be beneficial to them.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Who I Am
My name is Brandon and I am a runner from Coon Rapids, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. I have been running now for 10 years, since I was in middle school and am about to finish college this spring with a teaching degree in physics and chemistry. I will be using this blog to talk about why I run, what I'm doing with my running, racing, basically anything that has to do with running in my life.
A little history of my life as a runner: I began running on my middle school track team as a way to stay in shape for basketball season but quickly fell in love with running, so much so that within two years of high school I no longer played basketball but ran year round! I ran for Coon Rapids High School in cross country and track and absolutely loved it. I began college at North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND preparing to run for the college but a major injury came quickly and that plan ended abruptly. I transferred to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls the next year and began training for my first marathon (once I was healthy) and ran the 2004 Twin Cities Marathon that fall.
That race got me hooked on the distance and I had to do another one! I barely qualified for Boston but I did qualify so I had to go out and run it, so I did. I ran Boston 2005 and since I have run Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN in 2006 and 2007 and also ran the Twin Cities Marathon in 2005. My P.R. (personal record) is 2:59:01 (Grandma's 2006) but my running has been sporadic over the last 8 months.
After running Grandma's 2007, I began training for my final season of college cross country at UW-River Falls but quickly developed a rather severe injury to my left hip. I went through a number of doctors before getting physical therapy which finally solved the problem. Over the last month, while student teaching, I have finally gotten back into running consistently and it's such an amazing feeling to just be able to be running regularly again. When I can't run consistently, it feels like there is something missing in my life.
I believe that my ability and love of running is a gift that God has blessed me with and I want to be sure that my gift does not go to waste, not to mention running is easily my greatest stress reliever and my best way to relax.
I'm planning to register for the 2008 Twin Cities Marathon and train for it this summer. Up until then, I'm planning to take each run one workout at a time and just enjoy the coming of spring and perhaps run a road race here or there!
A little history of my life as a runner: I began running on my middle school track team as a way to stay in shape for basketball season but quickly fell in love with running, so much so that within two years of high school I no longer played basketball but ran year round! I ran for Coon Rapids High School in cross country and track and absolutely loved it. I began college at North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND preparing to run for the college but a major injury came quickly and that plan ended abruptly. I transferred to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls the next year and began training for my first marathon (once I was healthy) and ran the 2004 Twin Cities Marathon that fall.
That race got me hooked on the distance and I had to do another one! I barely qualified for Boston but I did qualify so I had to go out and run it, so I did. I ran Boston 2005 and since I have run Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN in 2006 and 2007 and also ran the Twin Cities Marathon in 2005. My P.R. (personal record) is 2:59:01 (Grandma's 2006) but my running has been sporadic over the last 8 months.
After running Grandma's 2007, I began training for my final season of college cross country at UW-River Falls but quickly developed a rather severe injury to my left hip. I went through a number of doctors before getting physical therapy which finally solved the problem. Over the last month, while student teaching, I have finally gotten back into running consistently and it's such an amazing feeling to just be able to be running regularly again. When I can't run consistently, it feels like there is something missing in my life.
I believe that my ability and love of running is a gift that God has blessed me with and I want to be sure that my gift does not go to waste, not to mention running is easily my greatest stress reliever and my best way to relax.
I'm planning to register for the 2008 Twin Cities Marathon and train for it this summer. Up until then, I'm planning to take each run one workout at a time and just enjoy the coming of spring and perhaps run a road race here or there!
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