We're All Human

And we all make mistakes.

I sure made a big mistake in the opening mile of the Human Race.  Big as in 14 seconds big.

I've had a string of bad races over the past six months.  My last solid race was the Victory 5k over Labor Day weekend.  All of this makes sense because I kind of stopped training intensely right around that time.  I got a new job, which was a major change, winter set in, and suddenly I'm 15 pounds away from race shape. 

So I own my 28:39 time in the Human Race.  I am okay with how slow I ran, but a little disappointed with how I got there.

My plan was to open with a 5:50 mile, and then take stock of how I was feeling.  If I felt good, I'd slowly start picking people off.  And if I didn't feel great, I knew I could cruise in at 5:45-5:50 for awhile and get in under 29:00.

Well that plan lasted about half a mile.  I saw a group of runners I usually finish just in front of, tucked in behind them, and all of a sudden I was "accidentally" racing.  It's funny, you'd think over the course of half an hour one little lapse in focus and judgment wouldn't make or break a race.  But we've probably all been there before.

Mentally, once I make that leap, I have a new, race plan.  It's like jumping from one train track to another.  And there I was 1/2 a mile into the race, going out hard to see what happens.  I hit mile one, asked the guy next to me what our split was.

"5:36," he said.

"Ooops, " I said.

And then I passed one more guy who like me, was going out too hard.  After that, I was able to hang onto a pack until about mile three.  Then I lost contact with them and for the last two miles I parked myself in the far right lane and watched the fast moving traffic pass me on the left.  All told, 25 people probably passed me after mile one.

Like I said,  oops.

If I had run smarter, would my time have been any faster?  Maybe just by a little.  But I would have been a lot happier.  I am not used to positive splitting.  While I am used to finishing in the middle of the pack, I am not used to getting there by having the pack catch me.

The physical component to my running will come around as I get back into the swing of training.  I knew that going into the race.  What surprised me was how much I need to work on the mental part.  My focus wasn't there at the start, and my ability and willingness to get back on the original plan once I got off track was also missing.  I have a lot to prepare for between now and the Brian Kraft 5k.

For more Human Race reports and news check out the Run Minnesota blog.

Taking My Place In The Human Race

For runners in the Twin Cities, The Human Race is like the first day of school. The weather has a hint of a new season in the air, everyone is back in one place together again, we all have uniforms on, we're all excited to see each other, and we are all back to our cliques (but we have no problem being friendly with the cooler kids in the cooler cliques).

Before I go any further, it is time for full disclosure: a week ago I had no interest in running this race whatsoever. So, I gotta send a shout out to Chad Austin for being the straw that broke the camel's back as it was a conversation I had with him that convinced me to race. Chad and I are both on a committee for Twin Cities Marathon and we had a meeting last Wednesday. At the end of the meeting Chad said he'd see me Sunday at the Human Race.

"Yeah I'll go watch," I told him, "That's what I do every year."

I can't speak for Chad, but he basically looked at me like I had just told him I was going to skip the first day of high school because "I don't feel like going."

So I ended up running the race.


While I'm doling out props and love, I gotta give it up for Gene Niemi for sending me this picture of me he snapped near the finish line.

So like I said, Chad was the straw that broke camel's back. But my two Boston Marathon training partners Nasty Nate and Fancy Kirk also helped. They never pressured me, but each week they reminded me the race was coming up. So when we went for our weekly run on Thursday they made it clear to me how much fun it would be to run the race and be with the team. Especially because the beer and burgers would taste that much better post-race. So, I'm sending a shout out to them too.

I guess I was hesitant to race because I was less than happy with how I ran at the Frozen Half. I just wanted to get back to running for fun and not worry about place and time.

But then I wondered if I was being selfish and realized I'd be missing out in all the fun of running and racing with my friends. And that is way more important than how fast a 36 year-old bald never-was like me runs 8000 meters.

A funny thing happened on the way to the finish line. I ran over a minute faster than I thought I was going to. I knew the Human Race is a ridiculously fast course, but I factored that in, and I figured I break 28:30 and be okay with that.

So I was freaking shocked when the finish line clock was first close enough to read, and it said 27:15. I ended up running a 27:21. One more shout out to a very savvy veteran runner in Apple Valley (sorry Chad, it's not you) who told me if I opened with a 5:45 mile, and then get aggressive at mile two, and I'd end up running a 27:30.


This one came from Fancy Kirk who lent his camera to that Apple Valley savvy veteran runner.

So I opened with a 5:45 mile, felt good and decided at that point to start running aggressively, a mile ahead of schedule.

You know, I've learned it's easy to be zen runner when you don't run the time you want; but it's damn hard to stay even keeled and in the moment when you run over a minute faster than your goal time. Emily can attest to that. I was pretty wired when I got home from the race and post-race festivities on Sunday. And Emily gets the final shout out for putting up with all my weekends and nights spent running and talking about running. She also has been encouraging me to race more and have fun with it.

So as you can tell, I needed this race. I realize now that the TC10 in October and the Frozen Half this winter both affected my confidence. My challenge now is to remember what got me here. It was more than just hard work. It was letting go of trying to run certain times and enjoying every run, whatever it would bring. I wasn't doing that last fall.

My challenge is to hold onto that focus.

Here are some other recaps that are well worth reading.

Click here for Nasty Nate's recap. It's interesting to see how both of us needed the Human Race to give us back the confidence that the Frozen Half took away.

Click here for Chad Austin's take. The guy gets the Standard Deviation Award for how similar his performances have been over the past three years.

Click here to see what New Guy Nick has to say. As his name suggests, he is new to Minnesota, new to Team MDRA, but he's an OG runner. He's also good people. Anyone who will sit across me post-race at O'Garas as I deliver my rants, and not get up and leave out of boredom/frustration, is not just good people, but patient good people.