Okay, I'm good and exited now. I'm checking the weather sites as though they actually mean anything (currently 55 with a high chance of rain and a headwind) and packing one of everything just in case. Or rather, planning on packing one of everything since I haven't actually started packing yet . . . At least I don't have to worry about single digits, snow, mud, and river crossings like some of my friends this weekend. Not that I don't also wish I was able to head to Zumbro, too . . .
I don't have too much of a plan for the race itself. I don't even know what a reasonable goal really is right now. I feel as though I'm in good shape but I don't know about good road marathon shape. And I had those 10 days of sick in March. So . . . under normalish weather conditions (no raging heat, no brutal head wind the entire way) anything under 3:50 sounds good with a preference to rock it out and see something 20 minutes faster than that. If we get not normalish weather, then it will probably become time to just have fun and enjoy.
Now, my old shoes were getting rather flat feeling and once I checked my shiny mileage spreadsheet I saw that they did, in fact, have probably a good 350 miles on them (I got them before I started using the spreadsheet, so I'm not positive on the exact mileage), so I decided on getting new shoes this last weekend. Since they're the same brand/model as usual, I'm not too concerned about switched to new shoes so close to a race. I've been on a couple of test runs and the problem area from my previous pair don't seem to exist on the new ones, so I'll probably wear them Monday. Granted, the runs were nothing too long but what I was worried about was a tight and sharp part of the heel that needed a couple weeks to bend back/soften up on the old pair and made itself apparent from the first three mile run that rubbed my heel off. I might wear my old shoes to walk around in this weekend and that way I have them with me if I change my mind. Though really, I'm checking a bag that will be probably mostly empty (since all race clothing will be on my carry on) so I could always just pack them, too.
If you don't know, I'm an over-packer for short trips. Especially for races. I want to have everything with me that I might possibly want. Now, come a longer trip and I'll probably have the exact same amount of stuff, so I'm not a heavy packer for those! It's New England in the spring - we don't really know what the weather will be like. So my racing jersey, t-shirt, and long sleeve. My roll down sleeves. Shorts, half tights, skirt. Boston has a .7 mile walk from where you drop your bag to the starting line so not only do you want clothes to put on when you finish, you ALSO want clothes to wear to the start that you can just toss (they have loads of collection points and donate everything that gets dumped to charity). Last time I found a zip up hoodie at Savers and it was great because I could keep in on for the first mile but still have my number showing and then toss it when I warmed up, so I'm planning on doing the same thing again. If it's even chilly enough to not toss it right at the start. Is it going to be 70? 50 with rain? Who knows! I've seen both predictions today!
Alright, I work a half day Friday. Then I take the Skyline Shuttle to the Cities (yay for not stressing about driving in gross weather or making a friend or sister worry about emergency snow parking with my car), fly out Friday night, arrive crazy late in Boston. I plan to sleep in late Saturday, spend too much time at the expo, and then hang out with friends until Monday. I may or may not update again before then, depending on how fast I pack tomorrow (ha! I'm a slow packer!) and what kind of time I have over the weekend.
If you want to track me, you can get texts or emails by going here. My bib number is 15438. Looks like it sends out at 10K, half marathon, 30k, and finish.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Human Race 8K
I ran the Human Race last weekend (the 24th, not the 31st). Though, it's not the Human Race now, as it's been renamed to Irish Run, complete with a bright green race shirt but hey, more shirts for being visible on a bike is always good, right? This was a short little 8K down in the Cities. I'm on the Austin-Jarrow racing team and we do the USATF team circuit - most of the races of which are in the Cities. The bad part is it's a long way to drive for short races but the good part is there's always lots of teammates running with you and they're generally a fun time.
The Irish Run changed it's start/finish this year to be right behind Macalester. It was also fun to have a race covering roads I ran in college - I knew exactly where I was at all times and knew what the road crossings meant in terms of distance to the finish, which really helps. We do about a mile down Summit and then turn around and head back up, past the start and just over a mile the other direction before turning around Billy Mitchell Law School and finishing where we started. I didn't think I would like the change but I really did. You end with a nice three block downhill, which is always a good finish.
It took a long time for my Short Race head to get in the game so perhaps two miles of warmup was not enough. Around two miles in the race, I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw my friend Rudy going by me. An awesome guy but he should not be passing me! Crap. My second mile split was no good either, but I generally try to not freak out about mile splits one way or the other and just use them as a guide. About a half mile later, I passed Rudy back and finally got some groove going and was running the 7 minute miles I should have been doing for mile 2. I wish the race had been at least a 10K and I could have done so much better! It was great fun to pass so many people on the way back, though, since it felt like the entire race was passing me in the beginning.
I came across the finish in what I thought was a few seconds slower than last year and was a bit bummed about it. But then I was rather hyper and ready for more running! On the way back to Duluth, I remembered that it took me a few seconds to cross the starting line and low and behold, I actually ran two seconds faster than last year! Granted, I wanted to run about thirty seconds faster than last year since last year was grossly hot but since I really haven't been doing any sort of speed training (so much for marathon specific track workouts . . .) I'm happy with it. Stupid second mile time. Good thing there were footsteps right behind me on the last stretch to help push out those two seconds! I didn't realize she was so close, though, until I saw the pictures! I did manage to drop her in the last block :) I like to think I'm a hard person to beat coming into the finish. Unless your name is Marcus . . .
So, here I am now, 13 days to Boston! Soon I can start stalking the weather predictions. Of course, I'll be bringing every possible racing gear anyway, so I don't know why I bother. I have my seat booked on a shuttle down to the Cities and back (it'll be nice to not have to drive, even if it gets me back to Duluth a little later Tuesday than I would like), my tickets are bought, my friend is going to host me. All that's left is obsessive list making to make sure I don't forget anything. And trying to figure out if airport security will let me fly with a sealed bottle of Boost . . .
The Irish Run changed it's start/finish this year to be right behind Macalester. It was also fun to have a race covering roads I ran in college - I knew exactly where I was at all times and knew what the road crossings meant in terms of distance to the finish, which really helps. We do about a mile down Summit and then turn around and head back up, past the start and just over a mile the other direction before turning around Billy Mitchell Law School and finishing where we started. I didn't think I would like the change but I really did. You end with a nice three block downhill, which is always a good finish.
It took a long time for my Short Race head to get in the game so perhaps two miles of warmup was not enough. Around two miles in the race, I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw my friend Rudy going by me. An awesome guy but he should not be passing me! Crap. My second mile split was no good either, but I generally try to not freak out about mile splits one way or the other and just use them as a guide. About a half mile later, I passed Rudy back and finally got some groove going and was running the 7 minute miles I should have been doing for mile 2. I wish the race had been at least a 10K and I could have done so much better! It was great fun to pass so many people on the way back, though, since it felt like the entire race was passing me in the beginning.
I came across the finish in what I thought was a few seconds slower than last year and was a bit bummed about it. But then I was rather hyper and ready for more running! On the way back to Duluth, I remembered that it took me a few seconds to cross the starting line and low and behold, I actually ran two seconds faster than last year! Granted, I wanted to run about thirty seconds faster than last year since last year was grossly hot but since I really haven't been doing any sort of speed training (so much for marathon specific track workouts . . .) I'm happy with it. Stupid second mile time. Good thing there were footsteps right behind me on the last stretch to help push out those two seconds! I didn't realize she was so close, though, until I saw the pictures! I did manage to drop her in the last block :) I like to think I'm a hard person to beat coming into the finish. Unless your name is Marcus . . .
So, here I am now, 13 days to Boston! Soon I can start stalking the weather predictions. Of course, I'll be bringing every possible racing gear anyway, so I don't know why I bother. I have my seat booked on a shuttle down to the Cities and back (it'll be nice to not have to drive, even if it gets me back to Duluth a little later Tuesday than I would like), my tickets are bought, my friend is going to host me. All that's left is obsessive list making to make sure I don't forget anything. And trying to figure out if airport security will let me fly with a sealed bottle of Boost . . .
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Boston number details!
Ooof. Take over a full week off due to sickness and concern about it lingering on forever and ever if I didn't rest and you come up with some pretty dismal March mileage so far . . . Let's talk about silly happy things. Like how I have my number and wave/corral assignment for Boston!
I am number 15438. Wave 2, corral 7.
Numbers are assigned by speed, so I have something like the 15,438 fastest qualifying time. I think. The elite runners all get their names on their bibs and I'm guessing they don't start the bibs with number 1 and I'm not sure where they start numbering at.
For the 2009 Boston, my qualifying time was two minutes slower and my number was 14800 - wave 2 corral 1 (pretty cool to start at the front of the race). So the race has definitely gotten speedier. From last year to this year, the website told me that the cut-off between Wave 1 and Wave 2 is 37 seconds faster and the cut-off between 2 and 3 is 23 seconds faster. My original goal for running Boston again was to get into Wave 1, but I since decided that probably wasn't going to happen and started to worry about being in Wave 3 so Wave 2 is just fine.
Less than 4 weeks away now! Have I mentioned how it's really strange to be excited but not have it be my big focus for the year? Basically since I started running in 6th grade and heard about this Boston Marathon thing, it was a goal to someday make it there. I was worried that I was maybe over-hyping it in my head but that ended up not being the case at all. Despite it being a horrible race for me, it was still an amazing experience and I left determined to go back and show the race what's-what. So, I'm heading back, now. I'm in good shape, for sure, though I'm not sure what kind of speedy-road-marathon-shape I'm in since I haven't really been focused on super marathon training. Guess I'll find out, huh?
I am number 15438. Wave 2, corral 7.
Numbers are assigned by speed, so I have something like the 15,438 fastest qualifying time. I think. The elite runners all get their names on their bibs and I'm guessing they don't start the bibs with number 1 and I'm not sure where they start numbering at.
For the 2009 Boston, my qualifying time was two minutes slower and my number was 14800 - wave 2 corral 1 (pretty cool to start at the front of the race). So the race has definitely gotten speedier. From last year to this year, the website told me that the cut-off between Wave 1 and Wave 2 is 37 seconds faster and the cut-off between 2 and 3 is 23 seconds faster. My original goal for running Boston again was to get into Wave 1, but I since decided that probably wasn't going to happen and started to worry about being in Wave 3 so Wave 2 is just fine.
Less than 4 weeks away now! Have I mentioned how it's really strange to be excited but not have it be my big focus for the year? Basically since I started running in 6th grade and heard about this Boston Marathon thing, it was a goal to someday make it there. I was worried that I was maybe over-hyping it in my head but that ended up not being the case at all. Despite it being a horrible race for me, it was still an amazing experience and I left determined to go back and show the race what's-what. So, I'm heading back, now. I'm in good shape, for sure, though I'm not sure what kind of speedy-road-marathon-shape I'm in since I haven't really been focused on super marathon training. Guess I'll find out, huh?
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Skiing!
So after all of that whining about wanting to run when I was sick - what do I do on Saturday?
Well, I plan a long run. A loop course that involves the ability to shortcut home early in multiple places in case my post-sick body isn't interested in too long of a run. I planned with a friend for the afternoon so I could sleep in and also do some skiing in the morning with my husband. When I woke up at 6 to let dogs outside (okay, the husband let the dogs out and I woke up and checked out the window) and saw it was sleeting, not snowing, and sadly figured there wouldn't be any skiing in the morning. Back to bed only to wake up later to snow! Yay!
So I'm eating breakfast when my friend calls to say that she's okay with ditching the run. She's not training for anything yet and doesn't feel motivated to run long through gross roads. We decided to make a decision after my ski and husband and I headed for the Spirit Mountain ski trails, which I've never skied before. I actually enjoyed the weather, kind of foggy so you felt all by yourself, snowing in small (and sometimes sharp) flakes. The trails seemed great (though too hilly for my husband's liking) however, the conditions weren't stellar for skiing and the course wasn't well groomed. The poor husband had two inches of snow stuck to the bottom of his skis at all times and had a miserable, slow time of it. For what it's worth, though, my awesome shiny brand new skis did great!
*Sidetrack* I don't think I related that story here but basically, I've been skiing on skis that are too short for me pretty much since I've been skiing (because I wanted skis the same length as my skate skis so I could control them better). I finally got sick of pushing downhill and bought my first ever pair of brand new skis on a nice sale from a spectacular ski store (Itasca Trail Sports) in Grand Rapids. These skis have already been worth buying! It's so great to actually glide! *end sidetrack*
Now, driving to Spirit Mountain gave me a good preview of the road because we took sideroads there instead of the highway as my Jeep was about to hit 100,000 miles and I needed to make sure I was somewhere I could pull over a take a picture! Where there has been traffic, it was wet and slippery. Where there hadn't been much traffic, it was several inches of cold wet slush. The top of the hill (where the vast majority of my loop run was planned) was split pea soup fog. You couldn't even see half a block up by Spirit. Between that and the fact that I had to stop and hack the insides of my lungs out a few times while skiing, I decided that trying to run long just wasn't a good plan. So after Spirit, I dropped the husband off and headed up to Piedmont to do a quick loop there before lunch.
At Piedmont it was more raining than snowing and the tracks leaned more towards icy instead of the sticky I just came from but I managed to do both black diamond mini loops without any real threat of falling. I had fun doing a lap and got absolutely soaked in the process. Luckily, it was quite warm out so it didn't really matter. I almost headed out for another loop but was rather hungry.
Now, at Spirit the parking lot was packed to the brim and overflowing and yet, we only saw three people while we were out there (and two were skiing together). At Piedmont the parking lot was full but not overflowing and I didn't see a single other person out there. Goes to remind me to not be turned away if it looks as though the trails are going to be busy. There's a lot of room out there.
I came in for lunch and watched the rain get heavier and wetter and more gross and tried to rouse the motivation to go ski more in it. I figured if I were skipping my long run, then I definitely had to get out and do one more ski. Happily, as I was finally changing back into ski clothes, the rain changed back to snow.
This time I headed to Snowflake - they had free skiing on Saturday and I wanted to take advantage of it since I haven't skied out there since 7th or 8th grade and hardly remembered it. I brought along both pairs of skis and boots, just in case. When I got there, I strapped on my classic skis, skied up the main hill and didn't see any obvious classic tracks. I decided that meant I was fated to skate ski and so I turned around, skied back down the hill, and switched my boots and skis. Of course, once I got going on the trail proper, there were classic tracks but that's just fine. It was great to skate again.
Now, I haven't been skate skiing in . . . well, not at all last year and I don't think the year before either. So it's been a while. The problem with skate skiing is that there's not really a 'rest' mode of it. In classic, you can just go slow if you get tired. In skate skiing, I think slower might actually be harder. The 5K loop was exhausting! I was skiing a block and then stopping tobreak and marvel over the different muscles being used admire how beautiful the trails were and what a nice day out it was and then continuing on. I did get better as the ski went on and my muscles remembered how to ignore their own complaining. I skied past someone I know and when she asked how I was, I responded "Exhausted!" and explained I hadn't skated in ages. I then promptly skied back to the car after finishing the loop and switched back to my classic skis again since apparently I wasn't all that exhausted in the end.
By this point, it was REALLY SNOWING. As in, boulders falling down from the sky. It was absolutely gorgeous and I wish I had a camera. Without a hat, I was quickly becoming the Abominable Snow Sam. Of course, when each snowflake is literally a couple inches across, it doesn't take long for that to build up and I was quickly feeling as though I was back country skiing, even though I was in the tracks. When I started slipping out of the tracks because there was so much snow in them, I decided it was time to turn around and head back.
The point of all this being - I seemed to have skipped my long run for a day of skiing. And it was quite an enjoyable trade!
***Coming soon (tomorrow? Thursday?) to a blog near you: Sam gets her Boston race number and gets excited. ****
Well, I plan a long run. A loop course that involves the ability to shortcut home early in multiple places in case my post-sick body isn't interested in too long of a run. I planned with a friend for the afternoon so I could sleep in and also do some skiing in the morning with my husband. When I woke up at 6 to let dogs outside (okay, the husband let the dogs out and I woke up and checked out the window) and saw it was sleeting, not snowing, and sadly figured there wouldn't be any skiing in the morning. Back to bed only to wake up later to snow! Yay!
So I'm eating breakfast when my friend calls to say that she's okay with ditching the run. She's not training for anything yet and doesn't feel motivated to run long through gross roads. We decided to make a decision after my ski and husband and I headed for the Spirit Mountain ski trails, which I've never skied before. I actually enjoyed the weather, kind of foggy so you felt all by yourself, snowing in small (and sometimes sharp) flakes. The trails seemed great (though too hilly for my husband's liking) however, the conditions weren't stellar for skiing and the course wasn't well groomed. The poor husband had two inches of snow stuck to the bottom of his skis at all times and had a miserable, slow time of it. For what it's worth, though, my awesome shiny brand new skis did great!
*Sidetrack* I don't think I related that story here but basically, I've been skiing on skis that are too short for me pretty much since I've been skiing (because I wanted skis the same length as my skate skis so I could control them better). I finally got sick of pushing downhill and bought my first ever pair of brand new skis on a nice sale from a spectacular ski store (Itasca Trail Sports) in Grand Rapids. These skis have already been worth buying! It's so great to actually glide! *end sidetrack*
Now, driving to Spirit Mountain gave me a good preview of the road because we took sideroads there instead of the highway as my Jeep was about to hit 100,000 miles and I needed to make sure I was somewhere I could pull over a take a picture! Where there has been traffic, it was wet and slippery. Where there hadn't been much traffic, it was several inches of cold wet slush. The top of the hill (where the vast majority of my loop run was planned) was split pea soup fog. You couldn't even see half a block up by Spirit. Between that and the fact that I had to stop and hack the insides of my lungs out a few times while skiing, I decided that trying to run long just wasn't a good plan. So after Spirit, I dropped the husband off and headed up to Piedmont to do a quick loop there before lunch.
At Piedmont it was more raining than snowing and the tracks leaned more towards icy instead of the sticky I just came from but I managed to do both black diamond mini loops without any real threat of falling. I had fun doing a lap and got absolutely soaked in the process. Luckily, it was quite warm out so it didn't really matter. I almost headed out for another loop but was rather hungry.
Now, at Spirit the parking lot was packed to the brim and overflowing and yet, we only saw three people while we were out there (and two were skiing together). At Piedmont the parking lot was full but not overflowing and I didn't see a single other person out there. Goes to remind me to not be turned away if it looks as though the trails are going to be busy. There's a lot of room out there.
I came in for lunch and watched the rain get heavier and wetter and more gross and tried to rouse the motivation to go ski more in it. I figured if I were skipping my long run, then I definitely had to get out and do one more ski. Happily, as I was finally changing back into ski clothes, the rain changed back to snow.
This time I headed to Snowflake - they had free skiing on Saturday and I wanted to take advantage of it since I haven't skied out there since 7th or 8th grade and hardly remembered it. I brought along both pairs of skis and boots, just in case. When I got there, I strapped on my classic skis, skied up the main hill and didn't see any obvious classic tracks. I decided that meant I was fated to skate ski and so I turned around, skied back down the hill, and switched my boots and skis. Of course, once I got going on the trail proper, there were classic tracks but that's just fine. It was great to skate again.
Now, I haven't been skate skiing in . . . well, not at all last year and I don't think the year before either. So it's been a while. The problem with skate skiing is that there's not really a 'rest' mode of it. In classic, you can just go slow if you get tired. In skate skiing, I think slower might actually be harder. The 5K loop was exhausting! I was skiing a block and then stopping to
By this point, it was REALLY SNOWING. As in, boulders falling down from the sky. It was absolutely gorgeous and I wish I had a camera. Without a hat, I was quickly becoming the Abominable Snow Sam. Of course, when each snowflake is literally a couple inches across, it doesn't take long for that to build up and I was quickly feeling as though I was back country skiing, even though I was in the tracks. When I started slipping out of the tracks because there was so much snow in them, I decided it was time to turn around and head back.
The point of all this being - I seemed to have skipped my long run for a day of skiing. And it was quite an enjoyable trade!
***Coming soon (tomorrow? Thursday?) to a blog near you: Sam gets her Boston race number and gets excited. ****
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Sicky sickling
So there's not too much to blog about right now seeing as how I haven't run since last Thursday and last Thursday's run I made it just over 2 miles. I've been sick with the variety of sick that you don't run with - namely a deep (and painful!) lung cough and some dizzy/heaviness/weak fatigued muscles. For a couple of days, I did little but sleep (14 hours on Monday) and sit around watching Netflixed episodes of Sherlock and Doctor Who. But! The cough is practically gone, I've been able to be at work since Wednesday, and there is no more dizzy so I will be running tomorrow! Yay! My running log has been sad and empty in March.
The Boston website tells me 36 days to race day. My plane tickets are bought (though I might move some times around since there's no fee for doing so) and I have a friend to stay with and two more friends coming to hang out. Of course, I haven't completely decided on my goal for the race, yet. I would like to at least beat my last Boston time by an hour . . . Beyond that, I'm not too sure. Perhaps it's time to lay out a hard road long run and see what kind of speed my legs are interested in. Or, I'll just show up and start out and see how long I can hang on. I'll keep you all posted on that!
The Boston website tells me 36 days to race day. My plane tickets are bought (though I might move some times around since there's no fee for doing so) and I have a friend to stay with and two more friends coming to hang out. Of course, I haven't completely decided on my goal for the race, yet. I would like to at least beat my last Boston time by an hour . . . Beyond that, I'm not too sure. Perhaps it's time to lay out a hard road long run and see what kind of speed my legs are interested in. Or, I'll just show up and start out and see how long I can hang on. I'll keep you all posted on that!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Star fish and palm trees!
A coworker of mine mocked my excitement for heading "south" for a trip in the winter. Apparently Kentucky doesn't constitute far enough south - "Yeah, watch out for those starfish and palm trees" she said. Rather sarcastically said, in my opinion :) So Starfish and Palm Trees became my rallying cry for the weekend! And we saw both! Granted, the star fish were on a billboard and the palm trees were the light up kind outside of a bar we drove by but the details aren't important . . .
It's about a twelve hour drive from Duluth to Louisville so we left late afternoon Thursday and after a nasty drive through some gross snow, time for sleep! Step 1: Freeze for about an hour under super thin blankets. Step 2: Get up and rummage through various drawers for an extra blanket that MUST be stowed somewhere. Step 3: Eye up Andrea's bed to see if she beat me to the extra blanket. Nope. Step 4: Determine the heat is off. Turn on heat in room. Step 5: An hour later, roast for the rest of the night since there is no temperature control aside from "heat on." On the bright side, I had a delicious hotel Belgian waffle for breakfast! Then on to the rest of the drive down to Louisville. Good company makes long rides go fast and I'd go for a long trip with the same group of people any day.
Louisville was warm when we arrived. Sort of. We didn't need jackets, anyway. We sent the other Minnesota van to pick up all the race packets and met them at the free pasta feed. Hardly anyone was there (okay, we were the ONLY people there for a while) so it was super low key and also delicious. After some threats from the other van to withhold our packets, it was back to the hotel to start obsessing about what to wear in the morning. The weather called for 29ish at the start, potentially warming up to 50. Come morning, I decided on my Northwoods T, running sleeves, and half tights. However, since I'm indecisive about dressing myself, I also stuffed a long sleeve and a tank top in my drop bag and brought a bag with of other clothes, just in case. This ended up to be good because after seeing the other Minnesota runners clad in shorts, I was convinced I'd be too hot in half tights and changed to . . . my running skirt! First race in my skirt!
We got to the start rather early, but that ended up being okay - allowing me to wander from van to building, trying to decide on what to wear. It also gave me the chance to exchange my shirt! I hate, hate, hate choosing a size for a race shirt ahead of time (I think I've mentioned this before). Since I actually love to wear my race shirts around and want them to fit me, it matters to me. My general rule of thumb is, if it's gender specific, then I want a medium, if it's uni-sex, then a small. The website seemed to indicate uni-sex so a small I ordered. Not so. My shirt was TINY! Crisis averted, though, I was able to change my shirt for a men's medium, which not only meant a good fit but also loose sleeves instead of tight sleeves so, happy.
So here is the Minnesota crew is at the start. All in shorts. Notice everyone else in hoodies, pants, hats, etc . . . Granted, my hands were frozen for the first couple of miles and I really should have worn my mittens for the first section. After that, though, I was quite comfortable. I kept my arm warmers on until mile.... ummmmmm...20ish? I actually have no idea. I could look it up, but I like that I didn't really know where I was mileage wise most of the time, so I'm not going to look.
The course was three different loops. First a 6ish mile loop, back to the start, then over to another loop, and then a long stem with a lollipop at the end. I knew where 2 miles to go was and I knew the tiny loop at the end of the stem was 3 miles (so they say, anyway. I don't actually believe them) before heading back along the stem and into the finish.
I'm happy with how I did here. It was a long course (33 miles) and a tough course and I finished in 5th woman and 6:57. I was in 3rd for women for the longest time but I let that 3 mile loop slow me down way too much. I felt strong at the end, though, and could hear runners coming up behind me during the last 3 or 4 miles and was determined to not let them get me. They didn't. My stomach mostly behaved for the race. It did start feeling a little oozy several times but I took an s-cap each time and it calmed back down. During that 3 mile loop section, I did start getting certifiably nauseous but started sucking on a ginger chew and it went away. I LOVE my ginger chews! I even had to eat a gel around one since it was past food time and I didn't want to quick chew what was left of the ginger but still really needed to eat. My knee was also fine during the race, though it was a bit pissed the following week from the sudden jump in long run mileage.
The course was very runnable, which was nice. Mostly single track but not technical so that you could blast downhills - lots of fun! The trail was canted quite a bit in places and, of course, mostly in the direction that does not agree with my minor leg length descrepencies but that ended up not being a problem. There was also a long section in that second loop that was ATV trail width with even footing and nothing too steep so that there was a lot of sustained running at a decent pace. I'm happy that it both felt good and didn't seem to make my wheels come off later.
I decided during this race some of what I already discovered at Wild Duluth last year. The reason my ultra times are so much slower then they ought to be (compared to my road times/who I keep up with on roads) is my muscles. I'm actually incredibly weak in a lot of places and I think the combination of distance and trails really brings that out. So my renewed big goal for the year is to focus on this. I have a routine that I do after every run and a longer one that I mostly do on days I don't run. I'll keep adding to these as I get stronger and as I find exercise that I like and that work. I am determined to go into September knowing that I did everything possible to have a super strong body. If you have a favorite move, feel free to share it with me be it core work, upper body, legs, whatever.
Here I am immediately post race:
I hardly even look tired. To me this indicates a couple of things. First off, I definitely could have gone harder and maybe should have but I'm okay with going conservative in Feburary. Second, I'm already getting stronger. Now, ignore the mud on the hand holding my finisher heart. I certainly did not take a nose dive less than a minute from the finish on the only stuck up tiny corner of rock to be found.
For a February race, I am pleased. I do have a lot more detail I could share about the race but it's been over a week and I refuse to let a race blog entry hold back other entries again!
It's about a twelve hour drive from Duluth to Louisville so we left late afternoon Thursday and after a nasty drive through some gross snow, time for sleep! Step 1: Freeze for about an hour under super thin blankets. Step 2: Get up and rummage through various drawers for an extra blanket that MUST be stowed somewhere. Step 3: Eye up Andrea's bed to see if she beat me to the extra blanket. Nope. Step 4: Determine the heat is off. Turn on heat in room. Step 5: An hour later, roast for the rest of the night since there is no temperature control aside from "heat on." On the bright side, I had a delicious hotel Belgian waffle for breakfast! Then on to the rest of the drive down to Louisville. Good company makes long rides go fast and I'd go for a long trip with the same group of people any day.
Louisville was warm when we arrived. Sort of. We didn't need jackets, anyway. We sent the other Minnesota van to pick up all the race packets and met them at the free pasta feed. Hardly anyone was there (okay, we were the ONLY people there for a while) so it was super low key and also delicious. After some threats from the other van to withhold our packets, it was back to the hotel to start obsessing about what to wear in the morning. The weather called for 29ish at the start, potentially warming up to 50. Come morning, I decided on my Northwoods T, running sleeves, and half tights. However, since I'm indecisive about dressing myself, I also stuffed a long sleeve and a tank top in my drop bag and brought a bag with of other clothes, just in case. This ended up to be good because after seeing the other Minnesota runners clad in shorts, I was convinced I'd be too hot in half tights and changed to . . . my running skirt! First race in my skirt!
We got to the start rather early, but that ended up being okay - allowing me to wander from van to building, trying to decide on what to wear. It also gave me the chance to exchange my shirt! I hate, hate, hate choosing a size for a race shirt ahead of time (I think I've mentioned this before). Since I actually love to wear my race shirts around and want them to fit me, it matters to me. My general rule of thumb is, if it's gender specific, then I want a medium, if it's uni-sex, then a small. The website seemed to indicate uni-sex so a small I ordered. Not so. My shirt was TINY! Crisis averted, though, I was able to change my shirt for a men's medium, which not only meant a good fit but also loose sleeves instead of tight sleeves so, happy.
So here is the Minnesota crew is at the start. All in shorts. Notice everyone else in hoodies, pants, hats, etc . . . Granted, my hands were frozen for the first couple of miles and I really should have worn my mittens for the first section. After that, though, I was quite comfortable. I kept my arm warmers on until mile.... ummmmmm...20ish? I actually have no idea. I could look it up, but I like that I didn't really know where I was mileage wise most of the time, so I'm not going to look.
The course was three different loops. First a 6ish mile loop, back to the start, then over to another loop, and then a long stem with a lollipop at the end. I knew where 2 miles to go was and I knew the tiny loop at the end of the stem was 3 miles (so they say, anyway. I don't actually believe them) before heading back along the stem and into the finish.
I'm happy with how I did here. It was a long course (33 miles) and a tough course and I finished in 5th woman and 6:57. I was in 3rd for women for the longest time but I let that 3 mile loop slow me down way too much. I felt strong at the end, though, and could hear runners coming up behind me during the last 3 or 4 miles and was determined to not let them get me. They didn't. My stomach mostly behaved for the race. It did start feeling a little oozy several times but I took an s-cap each time and it calmed back down. During that 3 mile loop section, I did start getting certifiably nauseous but started sucking on a ginger chew and it went away. I LOVE my ginger chews! I even had to eat a gel around one since it was past food time and I didn't want to quick chew what was left of the ginger but still really needed to eat. My knee was also fine during the race, though it was a bit pissed the following week from the sudden jump in long run mileage.
The course was very runnable, which was nice. Mostly single track but not technical so that you could blast downhills - lots of fun! The trail was canted quite a bit in places and, of course, mostly in the direction that does not agree with my minor leg length descrepencies but that ended up not being a problem. There was also a long section in that second loop that was ATV trail width with even footing and nothing too steep so that there was a lot of sustained running at a decent pace. I'm happy that it both felt good and didn't seem to make my wheels come off later.
I decided during this race some of what I already discovered at Wild Duluth last year. The reason my ultra times are so much slower then they ought to be (compared to my road times/who I keep up with on roads) is my muscles. I'm actually incredibly weak in a lot of places and I think the combination of distance and trails really brings that out. So my renewed big goal for the year is to focus on this. I have a routine that I do after every run and a longer one that I mostly do on days I don't run. I'll keep adding to these as I get stronger and as I find exercise that I like and that work. I am determined to go into September knowing that I did everything possible to have a super strong body. If you have a favorite move, feel free to share it with me be it core work, upper body, legs, whatever.
Here I am immediately post race:
I hardly even look tired. To me this indicates a couple of things. First off, I definitely could have gone harder and maybe should have but I'm okay with going conservative in Feburary. Second, I'm already getting stronger. Now, ignore the mud on the hand holding my finisher heart. I certainly did not take a nose dive less than a minute from the finish on the only stuck up tiny corner of rock to be found.
For a February race, I am pleased. I do have a lot more detail I could share about the race but it's been over a week and I refuse to let a race blog entry hold back other entries again!
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Heat Wave! In Kentucky, anyway.
Things I need to pack for a 50K in Kentucky this weekend: shorts, running skirt?, t-shirt.
Things I don't need to pack: wool running socks, bun toasters, ice breakers running pants.
Awesome.
Don't get me wrong, I love winter and I enjoy running in the cold but I'm excited for some single track that isn't snow and/or ice covered. Though, word on the street is that it might be super muddy but at least it'll be warm. It'll also be nice to run without ten pounds of clothing on me. The high on Saturday fluctuates from the mid 40s to lower 50s so it's not going to be crazy hot but it'll definitely feel like a heat wave. Of course, with a starting temperature in the 30s, I'll still be bringing a wide variety of clothing to choose from come race morning :) Half the reason for having a drop bag is in case I want to switch up the layers I have on!
After twisting funny when landing in a mud hole this summer, resulting in a slightly torn meniscus, I'm feeling a bit paranoid about mud. However, a quick check on the race website updates me that the trail is wet but only a few muddy areas. Fabulous!
Flagging is pink, so I'm well used to looking for pink ribbons with the NMTC series!
I don't really feel like I have a race this weekend. I suspect it'll start to sink in when we start driving down there tomorrow. Or maybe if I get off my butt and go pack instead of writing a quick blog update . . .
Things I don't need to pack: wool running socks, bun toasters, ice breakers running pants.
Awesome.
Don't get me wrong, I love winter and I enjoy running in the cold but I'm excited for some single track that isn't snow and/or ice covered. Though, word on the street is that it might be super muddy but at least it'll be warm. It'll also be nice to run without ten pounds of clothing on me. The high on Saturday fluctuates from the mid 40s to lower 50s so it's not going to be crazy hot but it'll definitely feel like a heat wave. Of course, with a starting temperature in the 30s, I'll still be bringing a wide variety of clothing to choose from come race morning :) Half the reason for having a drop bag is in case I want to switch up the layers I have on!
After twisting funny when landing in a mud hole this summer, resulting in a slightly torn meniscus, I'm feeling a bit paranoid about mud. However, a quick check on the race website updates me that the trail is wet but only a few muddy areas. Fabulous!
Flagging is pink, so I'm well used to looking for pink ribbons with the NMTC series!
I don't really feel like I have a race this weekend. I suspect it'll start to sink in when we start driving down there tomorrow. Or maybe if I get off my butt and go pack instead of writing a quick blog update . . .
Friday, January 25, 2013
Not quite frozen gizzard
It's only January and I already have two races done and another planned in just over two weeks. Crazy!
Last weekend was the Freeze Yer Gizzard Blizzard Run in International Falls. I think I've mentioned that I've wanted to do this race since high school but just hadn't gotten up there yet. They have a 5K and a 10K and they start them an hour apart so that it's feasible to do both.
The weather forecast had been promising super cold weather (below zero and then wind chill) but that got pushed off a couple of days and race morning was actually quite pleasant: 14 degrees when I checked the temperature to decide what to wear! As per usual, I brought every possible thing I might want to race in but I did an okay job of figuring out the layers. Spot on, actually, since I was warm but not too hot. Go me! The temperatures did drop by the second race but still, MUCH warmer than I originally thought. The main problem came with the two or three inches of snow that fell Friday/Friday night and hadn't really gotten plowed or packed down by race morning. Though, they DID make an effort to sand the shoulders we'd be running on. It didn't help at all, but the effort was nice. I did my warmup outside and quickly realized that it would not be a good racing day. Ah well, still fun, right?
Not so right. The 5K was very little fun, actually. The footing was just so horrible that there wasn't much rhythm to be found. Not much else to say, really! I found a good pace for a while and then lost my decent footing and slowed way down. I didn't really race at all and stayed content with just hanging out. I don't think I got too frustrated, just didn't try to fight the footing or push the pace. There seemed to be a lot of people in the race and they all seemed to be bopping by me then, though I managed to fight back and pass SOME people, at least. There was even a woman right in front of me heading into the finish and while I did speed up some, I decided it wasn't worth hurting myself to beat her since I still had another race coming. Of course, she ended up being third woman leaving me with fourth . . . but I did still get third in my age group so I guess I can't complain too much. I'm not telling you my time, though. If you want so bad to know, you can look it up! Let's just say that my 10K pace was faster. In fact, my marathon pace is generally faster. So. Moving on... :)
I finished the 5K and didn't hang around the finish much, just cheering for a couple friends who finished close by. Then I moved quickly back inside to keep moving and keep warm. I went with a group back to the cafeteria where the main area was (we're all contained in a community college, which is SUPER nice since it's nice and warm and spacious). I took off my top layers so they could dry out a bit but decided not to actually change layers since I wasn't too wet. Before I knew it, it was time to head back outside for the 10K start.
Brrrr. It sure seemed much colder this time around. And more windy. Suddenly, this didn't seem like a stellar idea, but there we were anyway. The first part was so much colder than I remember the 5K being. The wind was strong from our sides and had gotten much stronger since the 5K. My right hand was frozen. The temperature had also dropped some, but before long I had my jacket zipped part way down and everything was quite comfy, even after we turned back into the wind.
Overall, I really enjoyed the 10K so maybe I was just finally warmed up The footing seemed a TON better or else I had finally gotten a good hang of how to get through it. There was still loose snow but it was more packed or more of a type to get a grip on, I'm not sure. There were a decent number of people in the 10K (101 as it turns out. 201 in the 5K) but I was generally on my own for the race. I saw a one mile marker and then nothing until mile 4 and then nothing again until the end (though others saw regular mile markers, so I just missed them). For once, I actually kind of liked not knowing exactly where I was at. I hadn't taken a real good look at the map so I knew I was somewhere around halfway on the stretch I found mile 4 at and it was nice to find out I was further along than I thought. The last couple of miles were a bit less lonely as I had been steadily gaining on the woman in front of me and I passed her somewhere between miles 4 and 5.
Another thing that helped a lot in the 10K, especially by the last mile and a half, was that the 10Kers were not content to run down the coned off shoulder with had a few inches of gross loose snow the way the 5Kers were. No, no, instead they seemed to creep into the traffic lane and hey, if the people in front of me are doing it, it must be okay, right? There was about a mile stretch where we were moving back and forth from road to crappy shoulder when cars came by. By the last part, though, the road had two lanes coming our direction and the runners stayed in the lane the whole time. It was sooooooooo fabulous to have something solid to run on. I remember looking at the shoulder we had run on for the 5K and being both amused that EVERY runner was ignoring it and annoyed that we had to run through it for the 5K. And happy that the traffic seemed to hold no malice towards these runners forcing them over a lane. I was really feeling good at this point and was able to bring it in strong, despite being all by my lonesome. 3rd woman overall, 3rd in my age group (man, wasn't I supposed to leave some speedies behind when I turned 30?).
I hung around for a while at the finish this time but of course, at that point, I'm ready for more running! And getting cold FAST so I opted for warming down inside the community college. It's set up as a circle so four laps of the college is just over a mile. A mile of circles and weaving through crowds was about what I could handle, though, so I called it a day after that.
So I'm glad I went - it was a good race and I'd do it again. I saw a friend from high school (well, she went to International Falls but we were similar speeds all through middle/high school so became friend) and promptly spilled hot cider all over her . . . I also saw two other friends I wasn't expecting so that was fun, too. All in all, I recommend the trip. And remember - if you're heading up there, you might as well do both races!
Last weekend was the Freeze Yer Gizzard Blizzard Run in International Falls. I think I've mentioned that I've wanted to do this race since high school but just hadn't gotten up there yet. They have a 5K and a 10K and they start them an hour apart so that it's feasible to do both.
The weather forecast had been promising super cold weather (below zero and then wind chill) but that got pushed off a couple of days and race morning was actually quite pleasant: 14 degrees when I checked the temperature to decide what to wear! As per usual, I brought every possible thing I might want to race in but I did an okay job of figuring out the layers. Spot on, actually, since I was warm but not too hot. Go me! The temperatures did drop by the second race but still, MUCH warmer than I originally thought. The main problem came with the two or three inches of snow that fell Friday/Friday night and hadn't really gotten plowed or packed down by race morning. Though, they DID make an effort to sand the shoulders we'd be running on. It didn't help at all, but the effort was nice. I did my warmup outside and quickly realized that it would not be a good racing day. Ah well, still fun, right?
Not so right. The 5K was very little fun, actually. The footing was just so horrible that there wasn't much rhythm to be found. Not much else to say, really! I found a good pace for a while and then lost my decent footing and slowed way down. I didn't really race at all and stayed content with just hanging out. I don't think I got too frustrated, just didn't try to fight the footing or push the pace. There seemed to be a lot of people in the race and they all seemed to be bopping by me then, though I managed to fight back and pass SOME people, at least. There was even a woman right in front of me heading into the finish and while I did speed up some, I decided it wasn't worth hurting myself to beat her since I still had another race coming. Of course, she ended up being third woman leaving me with fourth . . . but I did still get third in my age group so I guess I can't complain too much. I'm not telling you my time, though. If you want so bad to know, you can look it up! Let's just say that my 10K pace was faster. In fact, my marathon pace is generally faster. So. Moving on... :)
I finished the 5K and didn't hang around the finish much, just cheering for a couple friends who finished close by. Then I moved quickly back inside to keep moving and keep warm. I went with a group back to the cafeteria where the main area was (we're all contained in a community college, which is SUPER nice since it's nice and warm and spacious). I took off my top layers so they could dry out a bit but decided not to actually change layers since I wasn't too wet. Before I knew it, it was time to head back outside for the 10K start.
Brrrr. It sure seemed much colder this time around. And more windy. Suddenly, this didn't seem like a stellar idea, but there we were anyway. The first part was so much colder than I remember the 5K being. The wind was strong from our sides and had gotten much stronger since the 5K. My right hand was frozen. The temperature had also dropped some, but before long I had my jacket zipped part way down and everything was quite comfy, even after we turned back into the wind.
Another thing that helped a lot in the 10K, especially by the last mile and a half, was that the 10Kers were not content to run down the coned off shoulder with had a few inches of gross loose snow the way the 5Kers were. No, no, instead they seemed to creep into the traffic lane and hey, if the people in front of me are doing it, it must be okay, right? There was about a mile stretch where we were moving back and forth from road to crappy shoulder when cars came by. By the last part, though, the road had two lanes coming our direction and the runners stayed in the lane the whole time. It was sooooooooo fabulous to have something solid to run on. I remember looking at the shoulder we had run on for the 5K and being both amused that EVERY runner was ignoring it and annoyed that we had to run through it for the 5K. And happy that the traffic seemed to hold no malice towards these runners forcing them over a lane. I was really feeling good at this point and was able to bring it in strong, despite being all by my lonesome. 3rd woman overall, 3rd in my age group (man, wasn't I supposed to leave some speedies behind when I turned 30?).
I hung around for a while at the finish this time but of course, at that point, I'm ready for more running! And getting cold FAST so I opted for warming down inside the community college. It's set up as a circle so four laps of the college is just over a mile. A mile of circles and weaving through crowds was about what I could handle, though, so I called it a day after that.
So I'm glad I went - it was a good race and I'd do it again. I saw a friend from high school (well, she went to International Falls but we were similar speeds all through middle/high school so became friend) and promptly spilled hot cider all over her . . . I also saw two other friends I wasn't expecting so that was fun, too. All in all, I recommend the trip. And remember - if you're heading up there, you might as well do both races!
Monday, January 14, 2013
Bloody nose!
So I guess an important question is - how often do YOU want to be reading my posts? Once a week? Multiple times a week? As often as I can spit them out? Let me know!
I had a couple of lovely runs this weekend. Saturday was a long trail run with two friends. Well, long in terms of the time we spent out there, not so much in terms of the distance we went. See, due to all the rain Duluth recently received (in January!) the trails are rather icy right now if they've had any sort of traffic at all in the last week (incidentally, the SHT around the Mission Creek area is quite ice free). This makes for rather treacherous running in places, especially ski trails or SHT near an access point and especially since I still haven't put screws in my shoes. I didn't really notice it Saturday but by the end of Sunday's run, I had a good form for ice running going - taking very small steps, keeping my weight directly above my feet, and concentrating on landing forefoot so that if I slipped, I didn't do that magical arm flailing/back wrenching attempt to not fall. Something I saw Ron do a couple of times as he pranced about ahead of me like an elf on Saturday . . . Amazingly, though, none of us actually fell, so it couldn't have been all that icy, right? Anyway, we played around on trails for a while, finding some good crunchy trails to get a rhythm on and then discovered were running out of light. So we ended up hitting the Munger Trail for the way back to the car. I don't so much recommend snowmobile trails right now, either. Unless you're looking to cross country ice skate. Luckily, the edges held enough packed snow to be runnable, as long as you were careful to not fall off the edge of the packed trail and destroy your ankle and kept an eye for un-packed sections that sent your feet flailing behind you.
So we're running along the Munger when I turn my head and spit. And see blood. Hmmm. That's alarming. Lisa informs me that I have a bloody nose. Less alarming. Except it seems to keep going and when you can't actually SEE your bloody nose, you imagine it as this great geyser gushing blood down your face. Well, at least I do . . . So I decided to grab some snow and clean it off but we're on an iced over snowmobile trail so I sort of have to kick at some snow until I get a few crystals loose, not enough to really do anything. So really, all I felt like I managed to do was smear blood all over my face as opposed to cleaning anything up or stopping the flow. Again, this is really just the visual in my head, in realty, you could probably barely tell it was bleeding . . . Now, I had my awesome multi-colored mittens on (remind me to take a picture for you) and I didn't want to get them all bloody so I didn't attempt to clean with cloth and just let it drip along. I did decide that it was good I was wearing a red jacket. You know, for all that blood gushing out of my nose and covering the rest of my body? Eventually, I stopped feeling it oozing and at the end, I kicked up some more snow until I was able enough to clean up with. Which didn't require all that much because, shocking as this may be to everyone, I was not, in fact, about to die from blood loss.
So that was my first run.
Sunday's run was with the Northwoods team. For those who don't know, I'm on the Austin Jarrow running team and we're trying to do group runs every Sunday. An hour and a half or just over of a good pace on roads. I think this might be a great plan for me - run long trails on Saturday followed by a harder paced run on the roads with some speedsters the next day. Good to get my legs moving when they're tired, right? It took a little while for my legs to shake out and then they felt pretty good and I wanted to go further. It makes sense to me that this will help push the legs in a road marathon - especially if we keep doing hilly courses. The problem with having Boston be my last road marathon for a while is that I'm sick of roads - thus giving road marathons a break. Which means what I want to do is train on trails, which is probably not so stellar if I want to run a decent time come April. This seems like a decent compromise, but I should probably still get up at 5 to run with another group of road friends on at least some Saturdays . . .
The current forecast for International Falls on Saturday? A high of 0 with a windchill as low as -36. Friday night low of -17, windchill to -31 with up to 3 inches of snow possible. So below zero with fresh snow. I do not expect to be putting up any stellar times! I wish the shirts were like a New Year's run I used to do - you got the shirt a couple weeks later because they waited to print them so they could print the race day temperature on them.
I had a couple of lovely runs this weekend. Saturday was a long trail run with two friends. Well, long in terms of the time we spent out there, not so much in terms of the distance we went. See, due to all the rain Duluth recently received (in January!) the trails are rather icy right now if they've had any sort of traffic at all in the last week (incidentally, the SHT around the Mission Creek area is quite ice free). This makes for rather treacherous running in places, especially ski trails or SHT near an access point and especially since I still haven't put screws in my shoes. I didn't really notice it Saturday but by the end of Sunday's run, I had a good form for ice running going - taking very small steps, keeping my weight directly above my feet, and concentrating on landing forefoot so that if I slipped, I didn't do that magical arm flailing/back wrenching attempt to not fall. Something I saw Ron do a couple of times as he pranced about ahead of me like an elf on Saturday . . . Amazingly, though, none of us actually fell, so it couldn't have been all that icy, right? Anyway, we played around on trails for a while, finding some good crunchy trails to get a rhythm on and then discovered were running out of light. So we ended up hitting the Munger Trail for the way back to the car. I don't so much recommend snowmobile trails right now, either. Unless you're looking to cross country ice skate. Luckily, the edges held enough packed snow to be runnable, as long as you were careful to not fall off the edge of the packed trail and destroy your ankle and kept an eye for un-packed sections that sent your feet flailing behind you.
So we're running along the Munger when I turn my head and spit. And see blood. Hmmm. That's alarming. Lisa informs me that I have a bloody nose. Less alarming. Except it seems to keep going and when you can't actually SEE your bloody nose, you imagine it as this great geyser gushing blood down your face. Well, at least I do . . . So I decided to grab some snow and clean it off but we're on an iced over snowmobile trail so I sort of have to kick at some snow until I get a few crystals loose, not enough to really do anything. So really, all I felt like I managed to do was smear blood all over my face as opposed to cleaning anything up or stopping the flow. Again, this is really just the visual in my head, in realty, you could probably barely tell it was bleeding . . . Now, I had my awesome multi-colored mittens on (remind me to take a picture for you) and I didn't want to get them all bloody so I didn't attempt to clean with cloth and just let it drip along. I did decide that it was good I was wearing a red jacket. You know, for all that blood gushing out of my nose and covering the rest of my body? Eventually, I stopped feeling it oozing and at the end, I kicked up some more snow until I was able enough to clean up with. Which didn't require all that much because, shocking as this may be to everyone, I was not, in fact, about to die from blood loss.
So that was my first run.
Sunday's run was with the Northwoods team. For those who don't know, I'm on the Austin Jarrow running team and we're trying to do group runs every Sunday. An hour and a half or just over of a good pace on roads. I think this might be a great plan for me - run long trails on Saturday followed by a harder paced run on the roads with some speedsters the next day. Good to get my legs moving when they're tired, right? It took a little while for my legs to shake out and then they felt pretty good and I wanted to go further. It makes sense to me that this will help push the legs in a road marathon - especially if we keep doing hilly courses. The problem with having Boston be my last road marathon for a while is that I'm sick of roads - thus giving road marathons a break. Which means what I want to do is train on trails, which is probably not so stellar if I want to run a decent time come April. This seems like a decent compromise, but I should probably still get up at 5 to run with another group of road friends on at least some Saturdays . . .
The current forecast for International Falls on Saturday? A high of 0 with a windchill as low as -36. Friday night low of -17, windchill to -31 with up to 3 inches of snow possible. So below zero with fresh snow. I do not expect to be putting up any stellar times! I wish the shirts were like a New Year's run I used to do - you got the shirt a couple weeks later because they waited to print them so they could print the race day temperature on them.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
First race coming up!
One of my goals for the year is to update more frequently! Feel free to nag me about this if I start falling behind.
My first race(s) of the year are coming up already. I've had the Freeze Yer Gizzard Blizzard Run on my list since high school and have never managed to make it up to International Falls for the race despite growing up not all that far of a drive away! Well this year, I'm finally going! And hey, why drive all that way for just a 5K? They've set it up so that the 10K starts an hour after the 5K and that way, a person can run both of them - and you don't even have to pay double the entry fee! Of course, I haven't done anything short and fast in ages so this could be an interesting outing to say the least but it will definitely be a fun time. Then there's the part where the high for next Thursday is -4. Yes, the high. Granted, this IS Minnesota so not only can you not trust that forecast, but the forecast could be completely accurate and it could still be 40 by that Saturday. I'll let you know, though.
My first race(s) of the year are coming up already. I've had the Freeze Yer Gizzard Blizzard Run on my list since high school and have never managed to make it up to International Falls for the race despite growing up not all that far of a drive away! Well this year, I'm finally going! And hey, why drive all that way for just a 5K? They've set it up so that the 10K starts an hour after the 5K and that way, a person can run both of them - and you don't even have to pay double the entry fee! Of course, I haven't done anything short and fast in ages so this could be an interesting outing to say the least but it will definitely be a fun time. Then there's the part where the high for next Thursday is -4. Yes, the high. Granted, this IS Minnesota so not only can you not trust that forecast, but the forecast could be completely accurate and it could still be 40 by that Saturday. I'll let you know, though.
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