A Good, Tiring Test

Yesterday was the annual Human Race on Summit Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota. As the unofficial start to the spring racing season in the Twin Cities, tons of runners came out for what turned out to be a pretty nice day on Summit. The 8K was the road state championship so many top local elite runners were competing. The course on Summit is gradually uphill for most of the first 2 miles, a block turn-around near halfway and the final 1.5 - 2 miles around downhill. And with the wind yesterday, there was a strong headwind on the way out and a very nice tailwind on the way back.

I fared pretty well in my attempt at the doubleheader of running both the 5K and 8K races at the Human Race. I placed 7th overall in the 5K, running 18:03. I negative split the entire race, something I've never done in a 5K before. My first mile was 6:02, slow, as I spent much of that mile breaking the wind for the pack I was in. I felt smooth and strong in my final mile, while trying to not push too hard, knowing I had 5 more miles of racing less than 90 minutes later. Many UWRF teammates were in the 5K race. Jason Quarford won it, Ben Kirmse was second, I was seventh, and 4 other UWRF alum, Matt Olson, Eric Nordgren, Jeremy Olson and Kevin McDonough were not too far behind me.

In the 8K, I tried to pace myself out early, but it was of no use. My first mile in the 8K was 5:52, 10 seconds faster than the 5K. The legs felt okay at that point but miles 2, 3, and 4 were a major challenge. I kept trying to get my legs to go, but there just wasn't any speed there. I managed to close with a 5:42 for the final 0.97 miles, equal to just over 5:50 for the final mile. My time was 30:11, placing 129th overall. I've run much faster in 8Ks before but I've never run one shortly after a decent 5K. The results for the doubleheader haven't been officially posted yet, but looking at the 5K and 8K results, I finished 3rd out of all those that ran both races.

Overall, the day was fun. I was able to get a good reading for where my body is at. I need to keep reminding myself that I'm not training for these distances, I'm training for a marathon. Still, I will be racing again in two weekends in my hometown of Coon Rapids, MN. The annual Bunker Hills Run is run on trails that I have been running on for nearly 10 years, only 2 miles from the house I grew up in. It'll be an 8K race and it will be good to see what I can do over that distance when my legs are fresh.

Until then, the training will continue. I have mile repeats this week and when the weekend arrives I will be on spring break!

What Do You Think About When You Run for 2 Hours?

Many of my students and some of my fellow teachers have asked me this question multiple times now and I finally decided to pay a little more attention to just all the things I think about on a long run this weekend. I ran 18 miles down at the chain of lakes and along Minnehaha Parkway in Minneapolis on Saturday afternoon. Saturday was a beautiful day for a run, a little breezy but couldn't ask for much better.

So, over the course of my hours of running, here is a list of the different things that ran through my mind:

- amazed by the number of people out on the trails around the lakes (tons of them!)
- rethinking my tests I just finished taking (took 2 Praxis tests to renew my teaching license, 4 hours of testing)
- my races coming up: Human Race 5K & 8K doubleheader on Sunday
- Fargo Marathon in less than 2 months
- my girlfriend (who is currently enjoying running in the foothills of the Rockies in Boulder, CO
- my lessons I will be teaching over the next 2 weeks (only 2 weeks until Spring Break!)
- training plans and workouts with the WMHS track team coming up over the next week
- more than anything though, I think about what an amazing gift God has given me to be able to run, and I use my long runs as a way to worship and thank him for that

Needless to say, a lot goes through my mind, especially when I'm all alone on these runs. Towards the end of the run I was beginning to feel some discomfort along the front of my left shin, right where my foot flexes and relaxes. It was still sore yesterday so I took the day off (my first in 3 weeks) and it made the difference. Today, in the beautiful 65 degree sunny weather, I ran for over an hour and it felt really good. This week should be a good one with the warmer weather. I have an interval workout and a hill workout along with the two races at the end of the week.

Enjoy the beautiful spring weather in Minnesota!!

Good Training Week

This week I completed my first 70+ mile week in nearly two years. The legs are feeling pretty good at this point and I had some real good workouts this week. Yesterday I put in 17 miles the day after my first interval workout since September. The interval workout on Friday went well. I ran it in shorts on the WMHS track, doing 6x800m at 2:40-2:50 with equal time recovery. It is called Yasso 800s (see earlier post) and I felt really good about how it went. I ran faster on each interval despite getting wetter and colder with each interval.

I'm looking forward to this week. High school track practice starts tomorrow afternoon. It will be exciting to see what kind of athletes we get out for the team this spring. I have talked to a number of my students who will be out for the team and they are getting excited to get going on the season. The first outdoor meet isn't until the first week of April so we'll have a good amount of time to get the runners in shape for their first meet. I will be running with the team most days of the week but when I run with them it will usually be only the start of my workout because my short runs are now very similar to the high school team's medium to long runs. I might also start doing my main workout early in the AM before school and then put in some easy miles in the afternoon with the team. I haven't decided for sure on that yet but it's certainly a good possibility.

More snow and nasty weather is on its way to Minnesota this week. It wouldn't be the start of track season without it though! Enjoy daylight savings time being back, lighter much later, I'm liking it already!

Blizzard Run on a Shortened Work Day

My planned run for today was to get in between 11 and 13 miles at a normal pace, just putting in some miles. Well, obviously today in Minnesota was not an ideal running day. The snow began to fall in Watertown outside my classroom a little after 10:30 am and the superintendent decided to close school at 11:00 am because of the incoming storm. I spent a grand total of 50 minutes teaching today (I don't teach during 1st period, that is my prep time). In a way, it was great but it was also almost like a waste of the morning because I didn't feel like I accomplished much. The big positive that came out of the day was that I got to drive back to my apartment in Mound before the snow got too heavy. Once back I decided to get my run in right away before the snow got to be too much.

It was a good and bad plan all in one. I avoided the roads and ran on the Dakota Trail which goes right through the center of town and connects St. Bonifacius to Wayzata (about 17-18 miles long). I went west into the wind first until I reached St. Boni and turned around to come back. Just prior to me turning around to come back the wind shifted and the entire run back to my apartment was also into the wind! Not fun. The snow also picked up at that point so I had steadily growing icicles coming off of my eyebrows, eyelashes, and my hat. Despite all of that I completed the run (about 12.5 miles) and felt fairly good about it too. It will set me up good for the rest of the week's workouts. Tempo workout tomorrow after school, long run of 15-16 miles along the Mississippi and on Summit Avenue in St. Paul on Saturday, and a hill workout at Bunker Hills in Coon Rapids on Sunday. I'm looking forward to them and hopefully no more snow!

Tough Race, Tough Start to the New Week

Saturday was a tough race to get through. It was a 5K, which is basically a warm-up for me, and the course was covered in fresh snow. Parts of the course had been plowed but much of it had not been so I knew the times would not be fast (which was right). I ran a hard effort without faceplanting in the snow and finished 2nd overall out of about 150 runners. Considering the conditions I was happy with the race. I ran my cool down with the guy who beat me. He actually lives about 10 miles from me and is also training for a spring marathon, Madison (Wisconsin), at the end of May. He's run a couple before with a P.R. of just over 3 hours.

Sunday's run was tough and it was simply because I didn't eat what I normally do prior to a longer run. The food didn't sit well and I was uncomfortable for most of the run, but I maintained a decent pace and got in 14 miles before the sun went down. I ended with 61 miles for the week which I am pretty happy with for it being only February. I'm looking at reaching into the 80s for mileage by late March and into early April and everything is right on track for that. My first significant interval workout is next week, a workout called Yasso 800s. I'll be doing 5-6 of them the first time around. The goal is that 3 to 4 weeks prior to the marathon, you run 10x800 at your goal time (i.e. run the 800 in 3 minutes, 0 seconds if your marathon goal is 3 hours, 0 minutes) with an equal amount of jogging recovery. I'll be doing this workout 3 teams over the next two months, gradually increasing the number of intervals each time.

Anyway, I'm ready for this day to be done. I am currently sitting at the quarterly parent-teacher conferences. I haven't had a parent come by in about 15 minutes, this place is like a ghost town for all the teachers around me right now (kinda nice!). I'm here for 20 more minutes and then my day of 13 hours at school will be done...just in time to start it all over again in less than 10 hours!

Phase 2 Underway

This week marks the start of the 2nd phase of my marathon training for Fargo in May. The 1st phase was primarily just a base training phase, building miles and increasing the endurance. This 2nd phase brings in more marathon pace workouts and hill and interval workouts as well as continuing to increase my longer runs and my overall mileage. Today I ran my first real tempo workout (not counting the Fartlek workouts I've done weekly) and considering I ran most of the tempo pace head-on into a pretty tough chilly wind, the pacing felt good and I felt strong. I didn't push too hard but I know I put in a good effort with the legs definitely feeling a little sore right now.

What will be really interesting will be my 5K road race coming up this weekend. I'll be racing an outdoor 5K in White Bear Lake Saturday morning. It'll simply be a test to see where I'm at. I plan to push myself pretty hard but a February 5K outside can be pretty unpredictable with weather and road conditions. I'm excited to just get out and compete though, it feels like it's been too long.

If all goes well on Saturday, my next race will be the Human Race on March 22nd in St. Paul. I'm planning to run the doubleheader there (5K then 8K). After that, it's a little open but I'm looking at this for a schedule: April 4th: Bunker Hills 8K in Coon Rapids, April 25th: Get in Gear Half-Marathon in Minneapolis, and May 9th: Fargo Marathon.

A Fun Day at School!

The weather is finally taking a turn for the better in Minnesota. We hit 35 today, and it felt like 40! But before I got out on my afternoon run, we had a fun event at the end of the school day today. It is Snow Week at WMHS and today was the annual Staff vs. Seniors basketball game. This has been a tradition for over 20 years and I got to be a part of it. I hadn't played much ball in a while so I was unsure of how it would go. I grew up playing basketball before I got into running so it is another love of mine. With me being the youngest teacher in the building and in very good shape compared to most of the other staff members, I basically played the entire game (only 20 minutes). My shots early on were ugly but I managed to put a few baskets in and the Staff ended up winning by 2 at the end! It was a lot of fun to have many of my students cheering for me and I even got to play against some of my students.

Running is a sport that rarely gets publicity or much notice from the average public. My students occasionally hear me talk about my running but they don't ever see it, but they got to see a small taste of it today. A few students came up to me after the game and said, "Wow! You are fast!" I wasn't even running that hard but I almost always beat everyone else down the court. That's just how I always played. Tomorrow will be fun to see some of the other comments I get from my other students about the game.

After the game and the school day ended I got out on a 10.5 mile Fartlek run in the beautiful weather. It felt great and I got warm enough I dumped my headband and gloves 2 miles in. Looking at the weather report, it'll be like that for a week or so now. I am looking forward to it.

Also, there is a new half-marathon race in the Twin Cities beginning this spring. The annual Get In Gear event at Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis is adding a half-marathon to the event. I am leaning towards running this as my final prep race before the Fargo Marathon. The Get In Gear will now have a distance for almost every runner: Half-Marathon, 10K, 5K, and 2K.

Enjoy the warm weather in the midwest this next week, I know I will!