Northern Lakes 10 Mile Race - May 31, 2008

Ran my first 10 mile race around Bald Eagle Lake.  Wasn't sure how my legs would respond as I haven't run two races so close together before - particularly after a marathon.  With Fargo just two weeks behind me I decided to run a decent pace but not kill myself.  I ran a 7:40 pace the first few miles and then began to push the pace as my legs felt pretty good.  Ran a 7:25 pace for most of the 2nd half of the race with the final mile at 7:12.  I finished 25th overall among 197 runners and 3rd in my age group of 22 runners.  I really enjoyed the race and have decided to enter other small local races of varying distances.

http://www.finalstretch.com/races/northern_lakes_run/results/2008.htm

Scheels Fargo Marathon - May 17, 2008

We are back from our trip to beautiful Fargo where I ran the Fargo Marathon. Emily and Andrew made the trip with us and were a huge help to Gail in navigating the course as well as a huge help to me with their cheers and enthusiasm. Despite warmer than expected temperatures and head-on gale force winds during miles 20- 24, the weather was fairly nice. Race temp was 61 at the start and 70 at the finish, much improved from the tropical Twin Cities Marathon last October, but with the sun beating down all day and our unseasonably cool spring, it felt a bit warmer to me than it really was. The humidity was low which also helped.

It was a weird marathon in that it was 3 races in one.  2000 of us ran the full marathon but there were another 8000 who ran either the half marathon or the 4-person marathon relay.  But we all started the race together at the same time and same course other than the half marathon eventually broke off our course.  As we passed each leg of the marathon relay I would notice runners on the course looking fresh as a daisy and then I realized it was just a new runner several hundred yards into their 6.5 mile leg of the relay.

Anyway, my goal was to run my first sub 4-hour marathon and I did it just barely (by 7 seconds!). I also finished 439th among 1,440 who actually finished the marathon and 39th of 109 men in my age class (50-55). My finishing time was 3:59:53, which looks good on paper. I wish I could say I had to pick up the pace and finish strong to achieve this, but the truth is I was hanging on for dear life during the final 5 grueling miles - most of which were run into a strong headwind with fine pieces of sand in the air that tended to blind you if you didn't squint while you ran. My pace really fell off dramatically and I was literally running on fumes those last 5 miles.

Now the fun part of the race. The race began just outside the Fargo Dome. I felt great through the first 18 miles, running a consistent 8:35/mile pace which translates into a 3:46 marathon. I felt like I was on cruise control and could maintain this pace for the entire race. never felt like I was pushing too hard or wasting precious energy. Then I sensed one of my pistons was occasionally misfiring. The Fargo course was actually very interesting as we traversed through parks, golf courses, scenic river roads, quaint business districts and beautiful residential areas.

Since I already shared my actual time, you now know that my solid and consistent pace felt apart near the end.  I lost almost a minute/mile to my pace in miles 19-21, averaging about a 9:30 pace. Then I really hit the wall for the last 5 miles, running a 10:20 pace. My body wasn't terribly sore or hobbled, but I just had nothing left in the tank no matter how much water I drank or Cliff Bar bites I took to generate some energy. The wind and sun took their toll as well and it was all I could do to drag myself back to the Fargo Dome where the final 70 yards finished inside the Dome.

All in all, I am very happy to have achieved the sub 4 hour goal I set for myself, but also a little disappointed as I fooled myself during the race that I was going to cross the line around 3:50 or better based on how I felt through the majority of the race. This late race endurance thing is something I will need to improve upon this summer as I train for the Chicago Marathon in mid October.

http://www.onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php?race_id=7814&relist_record_type=result&lower_bound=0&upper_bound=1427&use_previous_sql=1&group_by=default#racetop

Earth Day Half Marathon - April 19, 2008

This morning I competed in the Earth Day Half Marathon in St Cloud. The weather was almost perfect running weather with the temp in the mid 40's.

This was my second race after completing the Twin Cities Marathon last October. I was dealing with a cold but it didn't bother me much. I finished the race in 1:48:41 - good for 533 place overall among 1,773 finishers of all ages. I had hoped to run in the 1:55-1:58 range so I was pleased and a little surprised by my time.

The thing that pleased me the most was that I was able to push my pace throughout the race. I ran the first 3 miles in a mid 8:30/mile pace, the mid-race miles in the 8:15 range, and my final 4 miles in 7:45 with my best mile - mile 13 in 7:31. If I maintained my half marathon pace for a full marathon, my time would be just 2 minutes short of my age group Boston Marathon qualifying time of 3:35:59. Trouble is, I could not maintain that pace today. But I have 4 years to try. Plus, when I move to the 55-60 age group, I buy an additional 5 minutes of qualifying time to play with.

Anyway, next stop on the race trail is Fargo on May 17th and the Fargo Marathon. My goal is to break 4 hours. I ran 4:37 at the Twin Cities last October so I think this is very achievable if the weather cooperates. Although tired, I felt strong throughout the race today. The 600 training miles I logged over the winter are definitely paying off. Next Saturday is my final long training run of 18 miles, followed by 3 weeks of tapering and hopefully fresh legs for the marathon.

http://www.onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php?race_id=7503&relist_record_type=result&lower_bound=0&upper_bound=1774&use_previous_sql=1&group_by=default#racetop