Muddy Calves

One of the great benefits of being a member of the Minnesota Distance Runners Association (MDRA) is that they put on some great races including the MDRA Ron Daws 25K which is an old-school, low-key race. It reminds me of many of the races I ran in the 80s–registration is in the basement of a gym, there’s no fancy chip timing, there’s no T-shirt, and the cost is only $5.

Wayne’s Photography

Now, I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a huge Ron Daws fan. Daws was a Minnesota runner who described himself as having average talent but was stubborn enough to make it to the 1968 Olympic marathon through had training.  Daws later wrote two books, Self-Made Olympian and Running Your Best: The Committed Runner’s Guide to Training and Racing.

I found Daws’ books at an impressionable time–it was when I started running again in college after a few years of Not Running (AKA The Dark Period). While my high school coach had been very good about including everyone, I think I could have been pushed harder. Or maybe I just wasn’t very coachable. Anyhow, in high school, I never trained over 6 miles.

When I got back into running, two thing inspired me to go beyond the limits I had learned through my previous training.  First, I had my sister, who now was running in high school but with a different coach, her training schedule and it included runs of at least 9 miles, maybe more.  And I read Daws’ books where he raised my expectations.

One sad note, sometimes I’m a letter-writer. If someone inspires me, I like to let them know. I sent Daws a letter a couple of months before he died. Because I only had his publisher’s address, I doubt he ever received it.

Daws used Athur Lydriad’s training, especially emphasizing the hill work.  In  Running Your Best, he wrote,  that “(hills are) so much better, in fact,  may be that shortcut or gimmick every runner wants.”

Given Daws’ belief in hill training, it is only fitting that the course for this race is on a “VERY hilly course“.

Just like last year, I wanted to use this 25k as a training race as I train for a June race.  I’ve been dealing with a couple of problems–first it was a groin probably caused by compensating for a muscle imbalance. I’ve seen a physical therapist (Margi at Viverant) who diagnosed the root problem as lazy glutes. After my first session with her, I went out too fast on a cold day and strained my calf which has become the bigger problem.

But even though I came into this race feeling out of sorts because these problems have affect my consistency–especially my weekday runs–and nervous about making these worse.

But, as this Tweet shows, the day started off good in one aspect.

Even though temps were mild–upper 40s at the start, I wore my tights to make sure my legs were warm.  The start was a bit tight as the ~170 runners had to run along a sidewalk so I just hung back taking the first mile easy. Eventually we turned onto a road and things spread out from there. I spent most of the rest of the race slowly reeling in the runners.

Originally I had planned to just try to run consistent 8:00 (marathon goal pace) effort–running even splits was unlikely given the topography of the course. But at some point during the race I decided to try to go through 10 miles at a 8:00 average pace and then speed up from there.  Basically, that is what I did as shown by my 5k splits:

25:01 (8:04)

24:41 (7:58)

24:01 (7:45)

23:49 (7:41)

22:20 (7:59, 2.8 miles,hilly finish)

The groin was fine but the left calf complained, especially climbing the hills.  The race went pretty smooth, can’t complain about anything. I though I was going to be able to extend it to 20 miles but after I finished, my left calf & hamstring said they were done.

I’ve worn my compression socks for 24 hours straight now, only taking them off for a cold-water bath (I haven’t worked up to ice, yet) and actually legs feel great other than the top of my left calf which is still bothered but I am walking fine so it’s not too bad.

My average pace (via Garmin) was 7:53 this year–on a different course last year, it was 8:1o so I’m happy with the improvement.

As part of my training plan for Grandma’s Marathon, I want to run a half marathon a little over a month out. Grandma’s is on June 16th, so I would prefer to race one of the first two weeks of May–sometime between May 5th and May 13th. That would give me a week to recover, one last long run and then taper city.

I like the idea of doing a half around that time for a couple of reasons. First, it will be my best speed workout for the marathon. I’m not planning on doing any sort of track work only some tempo work so running 13.1 miles at a faster pace will be a challenging workout. Second, I’m hoping it will help me gauge a reasonable pace for the marathon. As I said, I’ve got a goal time set (3:29:59) but that’s flexible depending on how my training goes–if I need to adjust, I will and running a half 5-6 weeks will provide an indication of where I’m at. I won’t do any half-specific training so it’ll be interesting how it goes.

I haven’t decided what half marathon I’m going to do but I’ve basically narrowed it down to three.

Eau Claire Half Marathon, May 6th.

The big draw to Eau Claire is that I lived in the area for close to 20 years & still consider it home. So I know the course–looking at the map, I can visualize exactly where it is going, places I have run for decades.

The downside is I would have to travel a bit–it is only a 2 hour drive & I’ve got a sister (Hi Beans!) or a sister-in-law that I could probably bunk with if needed. The price is a little high at $65 right now (if I had been more decisive and registered before the end of last year, I could have gotten in for only $40).

I have not run this race before (this is the third year) but I think it is put on by the same organizers that did the Tour de Eau Claire which was a well-organized race in its one year of existence. The course is not overly hilly although I see a few in there including the steep entrance back into Carson Park during the final mile. Last year over a 1,000 runners ran this race with 300 more doing the full marathon, which was run at the same time.

Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon, May 6th.

I ran this race last year and while there were some unusual problems for a well-established race, it was still a well-organized race overall.

The fact that I ran it last year and can compare time make this my default race for this year. The course has some moderate hills, there were around 2,000 finishers last year. It’s a simple 45 minute drive for me and the current price is $55 now.  One of the small bonuses is that the Minnesota Pacers will be there–I’ve considered trying to be a pacer with them but have hesitated because I don’t know what it entails. So I would like the opportunity to see them in action again.

New Prague Half Marathon, May 12th.

This is another established race that I have not run. It has a good reputation and I believe has some rolling hills (a positive). The Minnesota Pacers will also be here. It is probably about a 45-60 minute drive and the price is right, $40 (I can get in for $35 through tomorrow using their Facebook code).

I like idea of running a race I haven’t tried before but this is a week later than I would ideally like, it would mean probably running my final long run seven days after doing a training race. I could logistically do both this race and one of the other two but that is getting away too much from my main focus unless I use it as an aided training run & tack on a few extra miles before or after.

The ability to compare year over year gives Lake Minnetonka the lead this year–the numbers geek in me finds that very appealing from an analytical point of view although I already plan to run the Ron Daws 25k in early April so I’ll have that as a measuring stick.  If New Prague was a week earlier, it would be a stronger contender. Eau Claire is the one I would do if I just picked one on its own merits and not part of a larger plan.

Any suggestions or recommendations? Anyone run any of these before?

Last week I posted my running goals for 2012 without much explanation.

Well, I can either sit around in my underwear and watch The Big Bang Theory or I can actually write something for this blog (also while sitting around in my underwear). While the goals themselves are pretty straight-forward, I want to explain my motivations.

First, I’m gonna man-up and take ownership. I was pussy-footing around about running a marathon. Well that’s bull-shit. I am going to run Grandma’s Marathon on June 16th, 2012. There, I said it.

I hesitated to actually commit to this because I was not sure if I was willing to properly training for it. I have run one marathon before–Grandma’s 2000–and while I didn’t die, I went into it under-trained and struggled in the second half–I went through mile 16 in about 2:14:29 (8:24 pace). From there on, though, I struggled and ran/walked the final 10.2 at 10:22 pace, finishing in 4:00:14 (watch time).

To confess, while I was happy and proud that I finished, it was not a life-changing accomplishment for me. I guess having started running at 14, I just assumed that I would be able to do it if I tried–I had run as far as 16 miles before I started training for the marathon so I just had the mentality that I just needed to run longer.

I was not even disappointed in how the second half went–I knew I was under-trained. I had some more important things going on in my life (we were expecting our first child and my mother-in-law, who lived 5 hours away, was dying of cancer) and battled a cranky ITB during training so I did not have extremely unrealistic expectations. Although when I went through the half in about 1:50, I started to think I might run a 3:40-ish.  Ha!

And while those final 14 seconds lingered in the back of my mind, I did not care enough to do anything about them. Although every time I told another runner I had run a marathon, I had to confess that those 14 blasted seconds existed.

But I thought I was content running 10 to 13.1 milers–those are great distances to race. They are long enough to be an endurance event but short enough that I can, if I want, jump into one if I’m in any sort of shape and not have to worry about being able to finish.

But then as I started to re-connect with other runners and I heard about their marathon experiences, I got the itch to try 26.2 again. Not sure when the I gave in-in August I was still saying I did not plan on running a marathon. But since September, I have run a 10-miler nearly every weekend “in case” I decided to train for a marathon. I am not only going to train for & finish a marathon but I’m going to run a marathon.

So I am starting my training. I have sketched out my plan, I have penciled-in a couple of practice races and I am going to do it. This coming weekend, I up my long run to 12 miles. I plan on doing 16 by the end of February.

And I am setting an aggressive time goal, 3:29:59. That is about what the race predictors say I should be able to run but considering I am a recycled Marathon Virgin, it should be pretty difficult.

Not sure how these old legs are gonna hold up, but I’m hoping for the best. And I’m sure I’ll bore you with some of the boring specifics.

With 17 hours left in 2011, I’m sitting around in my underwear waiting for some daylight so I can sneak in my last run of 2011 and evaluating how my running went in 2011.  Overall, I’m satisfied with how my running went–I ran over 1,000 miles for the first time since 2004 (holy cow, I didn’t realize it’s been that long since I put together a full year), performed reasonably well in some races (including approaching a sub-20:00 with a 20:17 at the Rockford River Run 5k in August despite having struggled with an injury for a couple of months prior to that).

In January, I posted some goals for the year, let’s see how I did:

So while I met some goals & didn’t meet some others, I met the important ones and came close enough to the performance ones that I’m mostly satisfied.  One thing I hadn’t set as a goal but ended up doing that made this year stand out, though, was getting more involved.

Taking the RRCA Coaching Class and making some great new friends (Rebecca & Ann), coaching a kids Running Club, meeting up with a virtual friend I’ve known for over a decade, using Daily Mile, and even reaching out to members of the Run-net community like Norm, Steve, and 3 Non-Joggers.  These relationships help make 2011 a great year.

To review my racing, I ran 13 races, a new personal high if you exclude high school track & CC.  The races were:

• Waconia Winterfest 5k (2/5/2011)
• Ron Daws 25k (4/2/2011)
• Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon (5/1/2011)
• ALARC legends 10k (6/11/2011)
• Bjorklund Half Marathon (6/18/2011)
• Oulu Rock Run (7/23/2011)
• Rockford River Run (8/13/2011)
• Salomon Autumn Trail Series 1 of 4 (8/31/2011)
• Salomon Autumn Trail Series 2 of 4 (9/14/2011)
• Salomon Autumn Trail Series 3 of 4 (9/28/2011)
• Salomon Autumn Trail Series 4 of 4 (10/12/2011)
• Jack-O-Lantern 5k (10/29/2011)
• Chaska Turkey Trot (11/12/2011)

So overall, I’m happy with my how my running went in 2011. My life has settled down some from previous years and allowed me to focus more on my running. I did struggle with some minor injuries in the second half of the year but think I’ve worked my way though most of that.

• How did your running go in 2011?
• What were some of the highlights/lowlights?

Sometimes a simple idea is so obviously great, it makes you wonder why no one  thought of it before.  One of those ideas flickered across my Twitter feed today.

Enter parkrun.

parkrun is a British organization that organizes free, weekly, 5k runs.

I love this idea on a few different levels.

First, earlier this week, I whined about the whole process of getting into some races now-a-days.  You can almost hear me cuing-up my old, crotchety voice, “back in my day, you could just decide on a whim to show up at any race on race day and just sign right up”.   From what I skimmed, these are much smaller, informal races that discard the hype.

Second, from a training perspective, the best way to get into racing shape is to race.  I know I’m able to race much faster than I can train.  For whatever reason–the excitement, the competition, the feeling of being judged, I can just race faster than I can run.  Having a consistent, affordable, regular series of races/runs provides awesome workouts and measuring tool.  Reminds me of the awesome Salomon Autumn Trail Series that I’ve run the last three years.  The series consists of 4 races, two weeks apart, at a local park.  I’ve said it before but the Salomon Trail Series give me a chance to re-create a mini-Cross Country season.

Which leads me into the final, and perhaps most important, reason I love the idea–it gives runners an excuse to get together on a regular basis.  A few different events over the last three months have emphasized how much more personal an in-person bond can be, experiencing things together.   Getting together with friends, comparing notes, having a bit to eat, and going for a run together is a great benefit.

I’ve been toying with a similar, less grand version of this for a little while but maybe I should raise my goals although taking time to organize things takes a lot longer than I knew.

Would you participate, at least occasionally, in a weekly run/race?  For either training, psychological or social reasons?

Registration opens today for the 2012 Cellcom Green Bay Marathon & Half Marathon, which I am not running for a  record 11th straight year.

Not that I have anything against this race, in fact I would have signed up for the half today if it weren’t for the fact that the route will not go through Lambeau Field this year.  Last year, I considered running the half primarily for that reason but by the time I wanted to (Mid February), the race was closed.  And while Green Bay is one marathon that allows numbers to be transferred, I wanted to set my schedule in stone and not hope I could find a second-hand number.

But this raises an increasingly common issue–races that fill up to capacity.

I understand races need to limit the field of races because of logistical, planning, and safety reasons–overbooking a race is worse than limiting the field.  But, for the runner, it’s a pain in the gluteus maximus.

It seems that to get into some of the more popular races, you first have to win the registration race just to get into it–and as a race becomes known for filling up, the registration race gets more competitive.  Which really sucks for a marathon or even half-marathon because they can fill up months before the actual race and if life gets in the way of your training, you end up donating your registration fee to the race unless they let you transfer or roll-over your registration although that isn’t the standard.

Some races–Garry Bjorklund 13.1, my Goal Race for the first half of 2011–require you enter a lottery for registration.  And while I got in, going through the lottery process isn’t fun either as it makes planning difficult.  In most cases, I think you find out fairly quickly but there still is usually a period where you end up training without knowing whether or not you’re actually going to get into the race.

Generally, it is a good thing that more runners are out there doing more races but it has added a dynamic to some races that takes away a bit of the fun.  As I’m thinking about my 2012 racing plans, the ability to actually get into the race is another factor to take into consideration.

Running smaller, less likely to fill up races is an option with a different set of pro’s and con’s and I enjoy doing that for training races but would be a little bummed if that decision gets forced onto me because of race capacity restrictions.

I do have an idea of what I want to do next spring & there haven’t been registration problems the last couple years so, if my training goes well this winter, I might not have to worry about getting in but if things fall through, my backup plan could definitely be effected by registration caps.

Has anyone been burnt by training for a race they couldn’t get into?

Have you “discovered” a great  race that you ended up running because you couldn’t get into a different race?