The Quiet Before the Storm

February is perhaps the quietest running month in the Twin Cities.  The lead up to the Frozen Half is in the rearview mirror and the St. Patrick's Day races are well beyond the horizon.  What a great time to gear and train hard.

I met my End-of-January goals and to be honest, the mileage goals were much tougher than the race goals.  The weather should continue to cooperate from here on out.  So I mapped out my goals for February and was at first surprised to see just how similar they were to Chad Austin's.  But then I thought about it a bit more and it shouldn't be that surprising.  Our plans are common sense.  And we've both been doing this for a long time and have reached a point in their racing life that prioritizes staying healthy over running fast.  So a Jack Danielsien approach to base training and hills over fartleks and the track makes sense.

So here are my February goals.

Post Frozen Half Week: A Randy Moss Week.  I run when I want to run.  
This was done by design.  After my mileage build-up, the Frozen Half, and ongoing flirtation with sciatica, I needed a week where a I ran only when I felt like it.  For me, that meant running three days, good for about 20 miles.

Week One: Sixty miles with one hill workout (four dam hills) and 20+ miles on Saturday and Sunday.

Week Two: Sixty-five miles with one hill work out (six dam hills) and 20+ miles on Saturday and Sunday.

Week Three: Seventy miles with one hill workout (eight dam hills) and 25+ miles on Saturday and Sunday.

Week Four: Sixty miles with a little workout I call Hills 1-2-3 midweek.

Better get to bed so I can get up early for tomorrow morning's hill workout.  Boo.

Until then, check out Steve's latest post.  That's a lot of ink I'm getting there.  This will be a fun year.  I haven't a rivalry this friendly since these guys were blogging.  Of course, Steve is running out of my league and my win over him at the Frozen Half was a fluke of his underestimating his fitness more than I underestimated mine.  But I do believe I can train my way back to his level.  But I know he too is training for the level beyond that.  We'll see where this year takes us.

Thawing Out in the Frozen Half

Like Han Solo thawing out after being frozen in carbonite and slowly coming back to his normal self, today's Frozen Half represented the start of that process for me.

Today's race was another good step in the right direction and a clear indication it is time to race more aggressively, raise the bar, and add a quality workout (hills) to weekly training.  I was able to run through my leg pain and I am pretty convinced I am dealing with sciatica/piriformus.  But if I add some core work I should be able to train through it.

On to the race.

Last night, Chad Austin devoted a good portion of running blog's post to me and Steve Stenzel.  Chad was calling us out for having weak goals.

Well Chad, neither one of us broke 1:25 today.  We showed you!  But we both came close.  Sandbaggers indeed.  In my defense, my last two races were a 5:14 indoor mile (not all that fast; let's be honest) and a 18:34 5k (so very not fast).  I really had NO CLUE what I could run today.

Bottom line: I ran a 1:25:13.  Still not all that fast, but good for second place among masters, and a huge improvement from last year.

I'm still building my mileage up.  I haven't touched a quality workout in years.  And I still weigh over 180 pounds (181 to be exact).  And I'm not 25 anymore.  So I'll take today's time and be happy with it under one condition: I continue to improve.

So that is the forest.  If you want more trees, here are the self-absorbed details of race day.

Last night I got home around midnight, after hanging out with Cait and Zach.  I am hoping Zach can help design a cool retro old school logo for MDRA's racing singlets for the USATF Team Circuit.  Because you know what MDRA is?  A cool, retro old school organization.  So yeah I didn't get a ton of sleep but figured it really didn't matter.  I got good sleep all week and had been eating a good light diet.  We were always told in college that it was the night before the night before race day that really matter race-wise, and I believe that to be true.

I woke up feeling good and ready to go.  I carpooled over with a couple friends, including the former blogger still known as Nasty Nate (don't bother clicking through.  He hasn't updated the blog in two years).  Nathan had 1:23 on the brain but also had White Castle sliders and chili in his stomach from the night before.  So it was amusing to listen to him go back and forth between predicting "I think I'll puke at mile two" and "I'm going to run 6:20s like clockwork,"  depending on how his stomach and its attachments felt at the time of his predictions.

I bumped into the usual suspects before the race, including Chad, Steve S, and a slew of MDRAers.  Half marathons are, I think, the most laid-back races at the start.  You need to start out relaxed like a marathon, so the pre-race pressure, dread, and intensity of a 5k or 10k is absent.  But the stakes aren't as high as a marathon.  The gravity and uncertainty of a marathon is absent in the half.  It's rarely a goal race and you don't have to worry about hitting the wall.

And I made sure to make my start as relaxed as possible.  Since I didn't have a watch and ran on feel, here is how I can best break down the race.

Miles 1-2: I started out as if I was going for my typical workday run and happened to be right behind the 1:30 pace group.  So I sat there.  I ran perceived effort up the hills until the turnaround point at mile 7+.  It's really an interesting way to run.  People charge up the hill and get a pretty big lead on me, but without fail when I reach the hill's crest, it only takes 10 to 15 seconds on an average hill, to catch up the pack I was with.  Way less work and it pays off in the end.

Miles 2-3: You go down the steep Jackson Street hill that takes you out of downtown to the Mississippi River.  If that damn hill is going to kick my ass at mile 12, I am going to kick its ass at mile two.  I opened up my stride and without changing much effort passed about 10 people who were hitting the breaks and adjusting their stride.  Why more people don't this is beyond me.  Perceived effort is the only way to efficiently run hills until you are running aggressively at the end.  Sure I look like a crazy man going down the hills but it pays off.

Miles 3-7: We are running along Shepard Road which takes you out of downtown St. Paul, along the Mississippi River up the bluff to the western neighborhoods of St. Paul.  The hills roll but it is a net uphill climb.  We are running against the wind.

I see Nathan a good minute ahead of me, in a huge pack.  Good for him.  He's running a smart race and can sit in the back of the pack and let the other ten guys do the work.  I'm not so lucky.  I'm around a lot of folks who went out too fast or want to draft off me.  I don't allow that.  I'll draft off anyone fool enough to let me, but if you want to draft off me, you'll work for it.  But I found two guys to bounce off of.  I'm running perceived effort up the hills so I let them go for the hills and then tuck back behind them on the flats and downhill.  I can tell by their breathing that I will soon be running alone.

Mile 7: I see Nathan's big group is breaking up.  He is with maybe five guys when he hits the turnaround and goes by me as I am still reaching the turnaround.  And what is this?  Steve English is running in front of him?   Pushing the pace?  Crap.  There goes my first ever chance at a master's title.

The two guys I was with for miles 3-7 are trying to go with me as I pick up the pace, but by mile seven I am alone.  Time to get aggressive... but the next people to get is Nathan's pack.  They are still a minute away.  But I am motivated by the pack behind me.

Miles 8-10:  I have no idea what my pace is here, but I pass two guys who REALLY fell off Nathan's pack.  They don't even put up a fight.  Damn.  Come on guys; let's push each other.  But it doesn't go that way.  I am still alone.  I know I can get close to Nathan but will not be able to catch him.

Miles 10-12:  This is where the Frozen Half becomes a very tough race mentally.  You are done descending the bluff and are in the river flats.  You feel like you are so close to heading back up into downtown, but you are not.  Instead you have two miles of flats to run with condos on your right and a gigantic Science Museum on your right.  Then a jail that suddenly doubled in size. And you STILL have half a mile to go.  And all the while you have to measure how aggressive you want to be vs. how much to leave in the tank for the last uphill 3/4 mile.

Not fun.  But I stayed in the game.  Never prayed for a broken ankle to get me out of the race.  Never rationalized not giving my all.  I just worked.  I haven't run a race like this in a long time.  The few races I ran the last two year, I let my frustration and doubt get the best of me.  Not today.

Miles 12-finish.  Nathan's pack of three is now strung out.  He broke them.  And I realize I can catch one of the guys unless he attacks the hills that take us up to downtown.  I use him to drive me because I know I have Steve S, 4:50 miler somewhere behind me.  I balance going up the hills easily and recovering vs. being aggressive as best I can.   It is clear to me my mind is ahead of my conditioning.  I just can't go any faster and can't recover as quickly as I'd like.

Finish:  You make a 90 degree right turn and the finish is right there.  I catch the guy from Nathan's pack meaning I am only two places behind him.  Nathan is a good runner and in pretty good shape.  I am happy to be within 30 seconds of him and that I had him in my sights.

Steve S. finished only nine seconds behind me.

THE GOOD:

• I hit my high goal time.
• Mentally I was in the race and making good decisions the entire time.
• I finished strong.
• I had fun.
• My leg was a non-factor.

AREAS TO IMPROVE:

• Even as I age, a 1:25 half marathon should not be a high goal time for another decade, health-willing.
• The endurance is there.  Speed is not.  I need to balance quality workouts with staying healthy.
• The next race I need to work getting away from such a cautious game plan.  I needed to be this reserved to get my confidence.  That was the easy part.  Now it's time to put my butt on the line and really challenge myself.  I am going to use the next week to recover from my mileage and racing and come up with the next 12 week plan.  Hopefully it will be as successful in terms of progress.

Goals for the End of January
1. Ten days of 45+ minutes of running.
2. Ten days of 60+ minutes of running.
3. 70 mpw by mid January
4. Sub 5:30 at Meet of Miles
5. Sub 1:30 at the Frozen Half

Kirk was right.  These goals were too soft.  I think this speaks to how much the last two years hurt my running confidence.  Hopefully the next race will speak to my newfound confidence.

Decisions decisions...

It has taken some time, but I have finally come up with a plan for the Frozen Half this weekend that I can live with.  Now I need to decide about what to do about my aching right leg besides "stop running."  If it comes to that I will.

Well the good news is I hit my mileage goal and my frequency goals.  It took awhile, but I finally finished off a streak of ten straight days of at least an hour a day of running.  In fact, I am now up to day 11 because I am finally in good enough shape where I can do back-to-back long runs on the weekend.  I just wrapped a second 70 mile week for January and over the last 11 days averaged 10.5 miles.  Arthur Lydiard's principles are just as valid today as they were 30 years ago, so this low-intensity, consistent running should hopefully pay off in a few months.

The key now is to stay healthy.  Like I said, my right leg is bothering me a little.  Nothing big, but I do need to cut back my mileage this week anyway.  It's needed because of the steady diet of miles my legs have absorbed over the past three weeks and also because the Frozen Half Marathon is this Saturday.  Hopefully cutting back on the mileage will keep this under control.  We'll see.

And of course the other issue is I have no idea what I can run this Saturday.  My low goal remains to get under 1:30 and  erase the summer half marathon times from my recent running resume.  My hunch is I am in sub 1:25 shape, but really I won't know until I try.  The problem is two of my last last three half marathons have been ruined by too aggressive of a start.  So I will be bringing those bad memories with me to the race and really want to finish strong and confident, even if it means having to sacrifice a minute of time because of a slow start.  Yes, my running ego is presently that fragile.

My plan for Saturday is to open with a 7:00 minute mile and then see how I feel.  If it feels like I'm crawling, I'll bump it to 6:45 for mile two and run on feel from there.  I will be relying on a HUGE negative split to get under 1:25 but I have been able to so that in the past.  And like I said, more than anything I want a strong finish.  And then these would be my goals:

Low goal: sub 1:30
Medium goal: Sub 1:28
High goal: Sub 1:25

The weather shouldn't be a huge factor Saturday so that is good.  Hopefully I will be able to take advantage of the all the great running this winter has given us.

Goals for the End of January
1. Ten days of 45+ minutes of running.
2. Ten days of 60+ minutes of running.
3. 70 mpw by mid January
4. Sub 5:30 at Meet of Miles
5. Sub 1:30 at the Frozen Half

Progress Report

Ten days straight of at least 45 minutes of running.  I had 13 miler, a seven miler, and an eight miler thrown in there.  Consequently my last week of running brought me 54 miles of running.  A good start.

Starting tomorrow: ten straight days of at least 60 minutes of running.  It all starts tomorrow at 5 a.m. with the blogger formerly known as Nasty Nate.

After those ten days I have a mileage build-up plan that will get me to 70 mpw by mid-January.  This assumes of course that all days between now and then will be free of ice, dangerous windchills, and unplowed snow.

Highlights of the last ten days:
1. I didn't bust my knee open after falling, like I did over two weeks ago, when I was on day eight of my pursuit of ten days of 45 minutes.

2. Running consistently through the Thanksgiving holidays even with family in town.

3.  Most of my runs were solo, but I did get two good runs with Nasty Nate and two runs in with a friend from work whom Nasty Nate is jealous of.

4. I still prefer running alone in the dark than alone in the daylight.  It really is nice to be out in the dark alone.  It is very tranquil at 5 a.m. and River Road is actually very pretty with it's lights reflecting off the river.

5. The problem is nothing funny happens this early.  No one is out but boring runners and cyclists.

Where I've been and where I'm headed this winter:
1. Ten days of 45+ minutes of running.
2. Ten days of 60+ minutes of running.
3. 70 mpw by mid January
4. Sub 5:30 at Meet of Miles
5. Sub 1:30 at the Frozen Half

Lordy I'm 40

My challenge is simple.  On the last day of my 30s (October 8, 2011), I ran a 5k.  I ran that dreaded 18:34 I mentioned earlier and was running all out.  Beforehand I bet my friend our usual wager (a carrot), that no matter how fast my time was, I would beat that time for my next 40 5ks.

So there it is.  The goal is out there.   A tough goal in that I have to stay injury free as well as in shape. It's achievable thanks to my crappy time.  I really did go all out.  Those of you who know me, know I don't like to give my best effort in training but will always go all out in  race.

When is my next 5k, you may be wondering.   I am wondering the same thing.

Running Back to Blogging

I know I have let this blog twist in the wind, but I am going to revive it for the sake of my own running.  The last good race I ran was the Victory 5k in 2009.  I ran a 16:29 5k off a steady diet of 60 mile weeks and weekly hill repeats.  I felt maybe if I pushed up to 70 mpw and added a second quality weekly workout, one final sub 16 was there for me to have in my lifetime.

Since then, life happened.  Emily got pregnant, was on bedrest, then was in the hospital with bedrest, Charlotte came early, we had a newborn in the NICU and then at home, and then just as things were settling down, Emily's mom's health began to deteriorate and we lost her this June and miss her everyday.  So here I am, 20 pounds later with an 18:34 5k from October being a satisfactory race for me.  Unacceptable.

This has to change.  And change has been slow so far.  This morning after running with a couple of friends I got to thinking about how nice it is to have goal races, and to race often.  But then I had itchy skin for 30 minutes, post-run, and I remembered how I need that extra motivation to run in the winter to tolerate crap like itchy skin.  If I want to return to the racing scene at a level I can accept, I HAVE to train through the winter so I need to make running more a part of my life.  I miss blogging about running.  Hell, I miss blogging in general.  I miss reading running blogs.  I miss racing.  I miss being around people who love races as much as I do.

I was up to 60 mpw in early October, but not anymore.  I maybe got 35 miles in a week, once, since then.   So I am hitting reset and going back to the basics: 45 minutes a day for ten days.  And when I get there, I will write about the next step.

The end game right now is simple: to get to 70-75 mpw before the Frozen Half Marathon.  But first I have to get through the winter and come out on the other side of the December's first major cold snap and/or snow storm at 50-60 mpw.

And the big picture is also simple.   I know the sub 15 5ks for me are a thing of the past, but I still think I have a puncher's chance of getting under 16.  Yes I have a lot miles and quality workouts to add and pounds to lose, but I do want to give it one more shot.

I hope that by writing about it, I will hold myself accountable.  So my path to 70 mpw does not start with tomorrow's run.  It starts with this blog entry.

The Frozen errrr... Half--What happened?

Today, I and 1000 or so like minded runners, trudged up and down Shepard Road for the annual Securian Frozen Half Marathon (and 5k and 10k). This is one of my favorite winter traditions. It's a good race to stay in shape for to keep your honest and running through the winter months.

This year the course changed to take us around the farmer's market and then past the ice sculptures at Rice Park, before dumping us back onto Shepard Road. Personally, I love the new course, even though the hill at the end of the race still exists.

But today's race did not go without incident. The half marathon ended up being between 11.6 and 11.7 miles, based on two people with Garmins that I spoke with. So what happened? Well, somehow the turn around point was miscommunicated.

My mom and wife and out infant daughter went out to watch the race. I told my wife the perfect cheering spot would be to go to Rankin and Shepard Road, right around mile seven of the course and just before the turnaround (this was not a pure out-and-back, so the turnaround was past the 6.55 mile spot). However, when they got there they looked down Shepard Road they saw the flashing lights down the road and knew that was the turnaround.

So as I am running up Shepard Road, I like so many other runners was very confused about what was happening. Here was a police officer at a random spot telling us we are at the turnaround. We were nowhere near the official turnaround, but everyone else was turning around, so the informal turnaround would have to do.

My mom and wife said they overheard him saying that he had directions that this was supposed to be the turnaround and he was just following the orders he was given. Hard to blame the guy. So my family watched me go by, heard me say a few choice words about spending $30 for such a disorganized race to anyone within earshot before turning around to head back to the finish. Then they drove back home on Shepard Road (on what was supposed to still be part of the course.)

As they were driving back, they saw a few volunteers with an official clock, a sound system with large speakers, and your token fun music pumping out of the speakers. Ooops, there is the official turnaround. These poor guys had no idea that the race would never reach them because the runners were all turned back over half a mile too soon. So my family let them know, so they shut it down.

Boo.

To be honest, when I got to mile 11, I was kind of relieved to only have less than a mile to go. But I was hoping to get a true half marathon time as a baseline to measure my improvement when I run the Grnamda's half this June. I paid thirty dollars for this race with a certain expectation that was not met.

All in all, the race management company has to do a better job. Where is the redundancy in planning and execution to make sure this doesn't happen? What company doesn't have a system of double and triple-checks in place? All it would have required is one employee on a bike who knows the course to ride out in front of the runners. Or have an employee drive the course ahead of time and assure that each person knows his or her job.

But this did not happen. Because of one communication breakdown, an entire race was marginalized. Anderson Race Management has to do better than this. They make the Winter Carnival and Securian look bad, when really it is their job to make sure this race goes smoothly.

At the end of the day, I will do this race again next year. I love the course, the tradition, and the challenge. But my love for Anderson Race Management is lacking. This is not the first race I've been to where a huge error was made (2009 Go Northside 5k had a 12 year-old girl winning even though an adult woman was the actual winner) and I can point to other races where smaller errors were made. However, this is a numbers driven sport, as are all individual sports. And I am really not all that interested from the numbers that come from an 11.6 mile race.

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.

Random Question #327

Why the hex am I running another effing marathon in ten days?

Too Tired to Write, Too Lazy To Race

So pictures from the TC5k from last weekend (courtesy of Nasty Nate) will have to do.

Whatever goes up....



must come down.


These pictures were taken at the same spot of out-and-back course. Nathan was probably at the 1/2 mile mark (which would be the 2.5 mile mark as we came down the hill). What I find remarkable is the guy in the blue and I are pretty much in same spot in both pictures. We probably switched spots four or five times and gapped one another at least twice. But you wouldn't know it from these pictures.

Maybe we could all save each other a lot time and energy in a 5k and just race for half a mile. Does your place really change that much after that? Well of course I know the answer is YES (especially since I'm someone who tries to sit in the weeds for two miles), but you know, like all distance runners, I'm actually a lot lazier than people think.

Let's just run a half mile with mentality and pace that we're running a 5k and stop there! We can call it the Lazy Mike 5k.

Christmas Card Idea

Me, Emily, and a giant pee cup. Happy Holidays Yall.



Insert your own caption here.

And click here for more pictures and an explanation of the event that brought me, Emily, and a pee cup together. Look for the two posts from Saturday 10/4/09.

Hurricane vs. Blizzard

What happens when the Olympics meets the Minnesota State Fair head on? We'll find out this weekend, when they co-occur. Maybe Emily and I will just deep fry all our meals this weekend and watch the Olympics in our backyard and encourage people to walk all over our backyard. Then we can experience the Olympics as if we were at the State Fair.

Actually, we are doing the Milk Run again this year. Click here for Emily's full preview.

Oh Mylanta

Yesterday I had an e-mail exchange The Anginator, a fellow Olympic enthusiast about our favorite Olympic moments. This list is not to be confused with The Greatest Olympic Moments. Instead, it is more personal. Simply, which ones mean the most to you. In other words, which ones would you go to YouTube to watch? And seeing as how three of my moments predate me, YouTube is the only way I can go.

5. Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising their fists on the medal stand. Mexico City, 1968. Whether or not you agree with what they did, you have to agree it is one of the most poweful and provocative moments in Olympic history. Carlos and Smith now sound like a couple of grumpy old men sniping at one another. Carlos now says he let Smith win and both bicker over whose idea it was to don the gloves and raise their fists.

Interesting side note: Peter Norman, the Australian silver medalist in the same race (200 m) wore a badge in support of the Project for Human Rights and to support Smith and Carlos. Norman's nephew has made a documentary about the medal ceremony called Salute.

4. Jessie Owens wins four gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Sometimes the significance of an event is bigger than the man himself that created it. Owens life post-Olympics matches any fall from grace movie. A pack-a-day smoking habit. Racing horses for money. Bankruptcy. Tax evasion. But that's not how I'll remember him.

Gold medals in the 100 m, 200m, long jump, and 4x100 in front of Hitler. Calling out FDR for not even sending a letter or giving him a phone call after the Olympics. That's how I'll remember him.

3. Billy Mills, 10,000 m, Tokyo, 1964. "LOOK AT MILLS!! LOOK AT MILLS!!" One of the biggest track upsets of all time. You could watch Running Brave or watch the footage below.



But what I would do is rent Tokyo Olympiad. A hidden gem is during the marathon footage you will see Billy Mills is running in the middle of the pack. I had no idea he had doubled in the 10k and the marathon until I saw this documentary. There are some visually stunning moments to this movie. Well worth renting.

2. US men's 4x100 freestyle relay team beat the Frenchies, Bejing, 2008. I don't normally get fired about swimming, but that come from behind victory on Sunday night was special.

1. Miracle On Ice, Lake Placid, 1980 We beat the freaking Russians! I watched five hockey games my entire childhood, growing up in Texas. All five of them were in 1980. Who didn't watch those games? During those games, my mom took me and my sister to the flea market where we bought some of those newfangled tennis shoe rollerskates.

My friends and I tore up the lenoleum in my family's knotty pine rec room acting like we were either a bunch of Eric Heidens or the US Olympic hockey team. I had these giant tinker toys. The green pieces were long enough to be a hockey stick (er, pole) and there was even a piece (a black plastic disk) that could pass as a puck. And that was how we did winter sports in South Texas.

Back In The Saddle

I went out for my quarterly sortie to Matt's Bar for Jucy Lucys with, among others, Fancy Kirk, Awalt, Los Deets, and Mrs. Los Deets.

I do not know if Los Deets will post a field report on his Jucy Lucy website, but I do know this: the waitress was the most organized and, dare I say, regimented server that restaurant has ever seen.

Anyway, Mrs. Los Deets scolded me for not blogging anymore. And I know she loves lists. So I thought I'd get back into the blogosphere with what's new. I have a new...

1. Favorite Restaurant Brasa has a simple menu and really good food. A great summer spot. Ride your bike there and then you can head over to St. Anthony Main for a nightcap. It looks like I have the next date night planned for Emily and me.

2. Favorite Bar The Hexagon Bar. Great live music that is usually free. Cheap beer. Half the bar is for the music; the other half is quiet enough to socialize. It has a mix of quasi-hipsters, locals, and aging lamies like me. It's like a cheap First Ave without the scene.

3. Netflix Series Emily and are caught up on Weeds (well maybe not, season three might be out now) and are now making our way through Entourage It's like Sex and the City for guys. But so far Emily has been watching it with me.

4. Favorite Twin Carlos Gomez. The Strib ran a story last week about how he was scared of a ghost in his hotel room. He sometimes tries to steal third for no appearant reason. He can outrun a comebacker to the pitcher (okay I exaggerated on that one). What's not to like?

5. Training Plan I will train for both the 5k and the marathon for the rest of the year. Is such madness possible? I will tell you after my first injury. I pretty much knew after my last race in college I'd never run that fast again, much less break 15:00. I knew I was too lazy to keep training that hard. But I always figured I could hop off the couch and break 16:00 until I was like 70 years old. Obviously I was an idiot back then; but I would like to break the 16:00 barrier one last time (I ran a 16:20 a few weeks back). I'll focus on a marathon goal after the Victory 5k in September.

6. Favorite Snack Kettle Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper Chips. A friend of mine introduced them to me last week. I have eaten an entire bag since then and I am still wanting more. Damn those sons of bitches at Kettle make good chips.

7. Hobby Biking everywhere. The same friend who got me hooked on those chips, got me hooked on biking everywhere. On Saturday I a) ran 18 miles through Afton State Park with Fancy Kirk and Grizzly Christ, b) worked in the yard for three hours, and c) biked to Dominguez with Emily. So I was pretty tired, but we had a summer solstice party to go to. We were both thinking we didn't want to go, due to fatigue. But as we rode our bikes there, we got so energized.

8. Favorite Day of the Year Summer Solstice in Minnesota just beat out Thanksgiving. We went to that party, which was a summer solstice patio party with awesome food and great beer, and last night we had a our solstice meeting at Matt's. It's like two Thanksgivings without the turkey.

9. Horrible Idea A Jucy Lucy turkey for Thanksgiving. Instead of stuffing, inject the bird with cheddar.

10. Blog to Read Coincidentally, it's all about one lady's quest to do new things. Check it for yourself. I have know Maureen since college, so I know a lot of things she's already done and therefore can't count them as new things. You know, things like "watch Mike shotgun a can of Busch Lite" or "chant ' PARTY! PARTY! PAR...' with a bunch of idiots." That would describe the four years she had to come across me in college.

Boston Roll Call

My blood blister burst over the weekend. I am still sore but was able to get two runs in this weekend. Pancho is calming down from his separation anxiety. And like most of us, I have to a five day work week coming up. In other words, the dust from the Boston Marathon has finally settled. My summary is in the post below. For more stories...

Nasty Nate summarizes his race. Open letter to the Nasty Man: you are too hard on yourself. I think we all tend to second-guess ourselves after a race. Outside of the winner, all runners tend to analyze and deconstruct their race. We find things we did wrong or wish we did differently more than we celebrate what we did right. Bottom line: you ran a fine race.

I for one am already wondering what would have happened if I had been more aggressive after the first three miles.

So I admire Nathan's race in that he ran aggressively yet intelligently, compared to my "hedging my bets" style of running.

Awalt has a nice recap of how connected we feel to those who follow us from afar and some nice tidbits that explain why Boston is such a special occasion. And I agree, there is something emotional about crossing the checkpoint mat every 5k. You'd here the mat beep and you know your split time was being posted on the web for all your family and friends to see. I felt suddenly connected to my running friends here, Emily, and my family in Texas every time I heard that beep.

No Handle Chad summarizes his race here, talks about what makes the Boston crowd special here, and highlights the women's' trials and, well ME (sort of) here.

Fancy Kirk deconstructs his 2:55 and ends up feeling just as happy with his time as I did mine. Open letter to Fancy Kirk: your take that Boston is essentially for the 40+ year-old marathoner with disposable time and income is a good one.

Tall Colin has some pictures of me, Mr. Nasty, and Mr. Fancy, along with a story of why the Boston crowds are different than any other. A good read for sure.

Running to The Walking City

Well, now I know why the Boston Marathon is such a big deal. It truly is special. There are runners who have tried for five years to qualify and finally did. And there are others who love the city and the race so much they have been there for the last 20 years. But no matter what, every runner is more excited to be at Boston. I feel lucky to have been a part of it all.

And I feel extremely lucky that we had ideal weather for the spectators and runners.

Here are the nuts and bolts of the race: I ran a 2:55, good for a PR.

I ran the (mostly downhill) first half of the marathon in 1:29 and I followed that up with a 1:26 second half. Somewhere between the 35k mark and the finish (42k), I must have thrown in an 18:00 5k.

So basically I sandbagged my way to a PR. I sat in the weeds for 16 miles. Halfway up the first Newton hill, I decided to start pushing it. Maybe not the gutsiest way to run a race, but it has to be the only comfortable way to run that course.

Now, onto the pictures, taken by Emily around mile 24.


Fancy Kirk, on his way to a 2:55 of his own. We had two very different races. Two guys who run a 2:55 in a marathon can have as much in common with their race as two golfers who both shoot an 85 in 18 holes of golf. Bottom line is, Mr. Fancy "schooled me" by 18 seconds, good for 5th fastest among Twin City marathoners.



Emily said I looked really happy when I passed her. This picture offers photographic proof to the contrary.



Duel of the Bald Guys.

What a race. The crowd really is unique in Boston. There is a connection we the runners have with the spectators that you can find nowhere else. From the families handing out sponges and water in the early towns, to the drunk college kids in Boston, and the rabid marathon lovers as we head into downtown, you really felt the crowd. They were just as much a part of the race as we were. They weren't just there to cheer on their friends and family. Instead they were there to cheer on the entire field.

No Handle Chad and and Tall Colin both did an excellent job of capturing what the Boston crowd is like.

And it was awesome to be a part of it. Here's to Boston 2009.

One Week Out

The Boston Marathon is one week away. Emily and I will be flying out first thing Friday morning, assuming the FAA and American Airlines will have their shit together by then. The race is Monday and we fly out the next day.

This isn't a marathon I really have a lot of goals for. I assume I will accomplish my basic goal: be healthy enough to start the race. After that, I'd like to finish, break 3:00, and anything beyond that is gravy.

No matter what happens in Boston, I already accomplished a huge goal, and that was to be in good shape at the start of spring. And I had a lot fun along the way, training with Fancy Kirk and Nasty Nate.


This picture is from the Run the Valley 5k/10k two Saturdays ago. The close observer will note that Fancy Kirk and Nasty Nate are both sporting champion's medals. I have an equipment bag. I was bascially their water boy. Kirk won the 10k, Nathan won his age-group in the 5k, and got beat by an Olympian. Me? I got to hold their Gatorade.

One of the highlights was doing our lone 20 mile run with Minnesota's most famous blogging marathoner.

Throughout the week, all four of us (myself, Fancy Kirk, Nasty Nate, and Chad the Blogger) will likely be updating our week of anticipation. Obviously, I'll stop after Thursday since I'll be in Boston and not blogging. Check in afterwards for full reports.

Click here for Fancy Kirk's blog. He already got up at 4 a.m. yesterday because of his marathon fever.

Click here for Chad the Blogger's updates. I see Chad once a month now, but thanks to his blog, it's like I see him every day.

Click here for Nasty Nate. If the shape of the Minnesota gets him fired up, imagine how hard he'll be typing on the keyboard, USING ALL CAPS, and lots of exclamation points as we get closer and closer to next Moday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

Random Question #890321

Do runners drink more alcohol than the average American?

The Deets already posted about a pizza party Emily and I had at my house last Thursday. Click here for his report on The Battle of Longfellow Pizzas.

We had all this pizza at my house as part of the "closing ceremonies" to an annual workout we run on a track near my house. So there were 12 of us over at my house after the run. After everyone left, I gathered, rinsed, and put all the empty bottles together.


The close observer will note a few Coke and Gatorade empties, but also an empty champaign bottle, to go along with all those beer bottles.

So as I was cleaning, I thought about my non-running friends here in the Twin Cities, my college friends (those who don't run anymore or played other sports), my family, and my high school friends. If you put all those people together, I don't know if all those people combined would have had as many beers as the 12 of us did on that Thursday night.

And this was a very tame social event. No one was even close to being out-of-control. It's just that we all enjoy drinking beer.

So I'm not suggesting runners are drunks. In fact, in all my years of running and knowing runners, I personally know of only one person who actually had a drinking problem. And that was in college. And no formal diagnosis was made. And that dude was never going to be a scoring runner on our team, in part because of his drinking.

So beer is at the center of most running circles, and I don't think it is unhealthy or bad. But I do wonder, is this true for other subcultures? Chess enthusiasts? Bloggers? Cartoonists?

Pancho Has A Question

Is it really supposed to snow tomorrow?

Because I speak for the both of us when I say we are both sick of having to run on days like this...


Especially when tomorrow is Opening Day for the Twins! Give it up for another year of indoor baseball in Minnesota!

And give it up for Emily, who was able to get some pretty good seats. We're going to the game with Nasty Nate. Should be fun. As per usual, the face of the Twins, Torii Hunter will be starting the season out in the Metrodome in centerfield.

What is unusual is the fact that he now plays for the other team, the Angels, who just happen to be opening their season against the Twins. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune ran a really nice story about how Hunter is fitting in with his new team. Click here to read the story.

The Twins will probably finish third in their division this year. Detroit and Cleveland are superior to them. Chicago is overrated, but Kansas City seems underrated. So I see the Twins battling it out with those two teams for third, significantly behind the Tigers and Indians.

But I have to admit, part of me is cheering for the Angels just because Torii Hunter is now on their team. When I was a kid I had one favorite team: whichever team Nolan Ryan was on. Torii Hunter is that kind of player.

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.