Team Cross Runs

Week in Review

This was an interesting week.  It went by fast and I had a few random meetings and stuff along the way. It was a pretty solid week of running with my highest mileage since the marathon, both in weekly mileage and long run. I also started core and push ups. I forgot to write in last week’s review, but I did my initial exhaustion test and pumped out 20.  That seems pretty weak compared to some of the women’s team who did over 30.

Monday was a needed rest day after hitting 14 miles total over the weekend! I also restarted the 100 Push up Challenge getting out the required 36 and doing 11 for the max out section for a total for 47 pushups.  I also started The Core Performance book today. Some time I’ll talk more about it, but today was a “Movement Prep” day.

Tuesday I found I was a little sore from the Movement Prep activities, but still went out for an easy 5 mile run along the Greenway in 38:55.  It was a chilly 26 with wind blowing from the West.  Nothing too exciting except for a view squirrels that ran with me for a little bit on their fence highways.  Today’s core workout was movement prep and physioball. I should say this is the first of a 3 week core foundation period.

It snowed Tuesday night and there was a layer of snow on Wednesday morning.  This was heavier than a dusting but melted mostly off the roads and sidewalks.  I ran 3.5 miles around Powderhorn and ran in the soft snow.  It was a nice change of pace. The temps were a little above freezing so it was also a little slushy in some places.  Today’s push up workout included the required 38 and 13 on the max out.  Regeneration was the core workout for today, my legs were still a little sore from the movement prep sessions the last two days.

I took Thursday off from running but still did my Prehab 1, 2, & 3 workouts for the core strength.

On Friday I ran a brisk 3.25 mile run on my Metrodome loop. I ran in shorts because the temperature I saw said 39.  When I got home the temp was at 31.  My legs did get a little cold out there, but it was fine.  I did my 44 required push ups and barely squeeked out the 13 in the max out section.  I skipped the core workout because it is “Strength” and requires a gym and I didn’t feel like going!

Saturday was the first Polar Bear run for me of the year.  It was an excellent run, I got to catch up with some guys I hadn’t seen in awhile plus meet some new ones.  We ended up running 10.66 miles along the Mississippi River.  On the way out there was a fairly strong headwind that made the 30 degrees feel a lot colder but on the way back I took of my ear muff and gloves. There was a dusting of snow on the ground but it went away.

Having church on Friday nights frees up Sunday morning to go on the group run. We met at Jensen Lake in the Lebanon Hills Regional Park we skipped out on some of the major hills (at least that I remember from last time) and had a really nice run making two big loops. For most of the run I had no idea where we were! It was 27 degrees with a dusting of snow on the ground and it snowed off and on during the run.  We ran about 10 miles in just over 80 minutes, all on trails.  The trails alternated between single track hiking and wider horse trails.  A good way to finish off the week.

Mileage Totals:

Running - 32.4

Biking - 14

Race Review: USATF-MN 10k

This race served as the USATF-MN Cross Country Championships.  As with collegiate championships this year it was a 10k.  Fitting for the mid-November race, it was cold and snowy when I awoke.  By the time we got to the race course, another golf course, the snow had stopped falling but the ground was very wet and soggy.

The course was 4 laps meandering around the golf course hitting a few good sized hills each time and rarely more than a couple hundred yards of flat terrain.  Knowing the course would be hilly and wet I secured a new pair of cross country spikes. They did a good job for me.  I didn’t slip and fall and I don’t really remember sliding at all while climbing the hills.  The Nike Zoom Waffle XC 7 did an excellent job.  With the waffle it is only a 4 spike bed. My toes hurt a little bit from jamming but I think that is due to the hills and I should have cut my toe nails!

Each lap was 2,500 meters long and the only distance marker on the course was the 1 mile mark.  So if you wanted to do that math that’d be 1600 meters which means that each lap after passing it you had about 900 meters to get to the finish line.  This was helpful on the last lap.  I felt really good at the start and went out with a few guys from my team.  We sorted around a little and ended up with a pack of 3 until about midway into the 3rd lap. At that point I started dropping back a bit.  I tried not to let them gap me too much and we all finished within 20 seconds of each other. It was a little disheartening to see Chris pull off the course in front of me during the 3rd lap as I was starting to get tired, but I struggled on and it looks like he’ll be ok.

I didn’t have much of any kick at the end but the finish was also kind of uphill. The cold made it a miserable day. On the way home a bank thermometer said “32″ so it was right around the freezing mark for the run.  Most of us ran in long sleeves and shorts.  Once you got moving your legs weren’t too cold, until you stepped in a puddle or something! There was no precipitation for our race, it was snowing/sleeting for the women’s 5k.

The course had 2 bad spots.  One was over a 90 degree turn around a tree that was on the edge of the rough. The other was a hairpin turn around 500 meters to the finish.  Both of these caused me to slow down a little, even though I tried running them a little wide.

I finished the race in 43:09 which is 6:57 pace. (That is faster than last week’s 6:59 pace for a shorter run!) I was 6th on our 3rd place team and 32nd out of 39 overall.  The winning time was 33:23 by Christopher Erichsen of Collegeville TC.  As I was coming around the hairpin turn on my 3rd lap I saw the gator in front of the leaders and vowed not to let myself get lapped.  (I didn’t!) Our women’s team placed 4th in their 5k (which was 2 laps of the same course, run after our race).

Technorati Tags: USATF-MN, Cross Country, XC

Race Review: Rocky’s Run 8k

The Rocky’s Run 5k & 8k brought back a lot of college memories for me.  I’ve done a lot of trail races since college, but this is the first “cross country” race.  So many things about it were similar to a cross country meet.

Location - a golf course, we ran on a few golf courses throughout my career, most notably the Notre Dame Invitational.

Format - this event was a 5k and 8k.  The women’s USATF race was the 5k and the men’s was the 8k - just like in college.  NCAA men run a 10k championship race, my alma mater was NAIA so we stayed at the 8k all year.

Weather - this was like an early season race, warm and sunny! My first collegiate 8k was at Purdue on an extremely hot morning.

Team - This was part of the USATF Team XC series.  We cheered for our female teammates (and Kirk who ran the double so he could score in the Grand Prix) and they cheered for us. All of the other factors heightened the team feeling.

Ok, but what about the race? This was my hardest workout since Twin Cities so I pretty much had no expectations going into it.  When you have no expectations you can come out happy! I ran a 34:40 which is just at 7 minute pace and we actually cut off a little piece of the course.  How does a golf cart mislead the race leaders?? I finished 44/87, just missing the top 50%. But I was a 1:20 faster than the average!

The course was fairly hilly, nothing major but lots of little ups and downs that wear on you over 5 miles.  The course had a lot of turns and made numerous loops (see picture).  Since this was my first year here I had no idea where in the world we would be going next, except for seeing the string of people ahead of me, occasionally.

I think I may have been a little dehyrdated.  The sunny conditions took some out of me.  The nicest thing though was how short the race felt compared to the marathon. And the rest of the day I wasn’t sore or tired.  What a nice feeling.  It did help that I had an hour to lounge around after the race talking with Nathan and Mike, while we waited for AAA to retrieve Nathan’s car keys for him!

Another little highlight of the morning was the fact that the Rocky’s Run raises money for the University of Minnesota’s Women’s Cross Country Team’s scholarship fund. After the 5k it was announced that their Varsity team won Big Ten Championships! You can read more about the story of Rocky here.

Technorati Tags: Rockys Run, University of Minnesota, XC

Week in Review

Tuesday was the coldest run of the fall.  It was 28 degrees when I left the house so I was bundled up a bit and ran my 4 mile downtown loop.  I finished in 30:50.  The cold wasn’t uncomfortable, I’m just glad I dressed warmly.  I should have dressed warmer for my bike commute to work though! My face was quite cold, I wore heavy gloves and forgot to grab a second coat to go over my biking coat. Oops! I survived and learned from my mistake.  It should be warming up the rest of the week though.

I’ve been taking it easy since I don’t have too much to train for right now, just going with how I feel.  This has made me a little lazy as noted when I went out for Wednesday’s run.  I was going to do 6 miles East on the Greenway.  About 2 miles into the run I started feeling pretty tired so I turned around and made it 4 instead. I did it in 31:28 and it was a nice sunny 31 degrees out, but I just didn’t feel like extending!  Oh well I guess. This was another cold biking day.

Why didn’t I bike or run on any of the warm days that filled in the week?

Friday was another similar day… I only ran 2.5 miles.  Is that even worth getting dressed for? Probably not, but I cut it short mostly because I had to go to the bathroom.

I skipped the first MDRA Polar Bear Run so that I’d be at least a little fresher for Sunday’s Rocky Run 8k race. it was an amazing day with temps in the mid-50’s at the start and the sun beating down fiercely on us as we did loopty loops around the golf course.  More later but I ran a 34:41.

Weekly Mileage:

Running - 15.5 miles

Biking - 28.1 miles

Week in Review

This was a pretty good week all around.  I was feeling a lot more motivated to run and despite a very busy schedule at work this week I still managed to get some good runs in. The cooler weather has made biking to work a little bit more of an adventure!

Tuesday I went for a four mile run on my Downtown loop and finished in 30:14. It was a chilly 34 when I left the house, so I pulled out the pants for the first time this fall. It was a nice run though, especially enjoying the sunrise hitting the skyline!  I also threw in a couple of faster paced sections to see how my legs would react - went pretty well I think!

Wednesday I ran for 5 miles along the Greenway. It was a cool 42 with a slight drizzle for most of the run.  I finished in 38:36 and had another pleasant run!

Thursday I rode for 14 miles, but didn’t get a chance to run.  Riding feels pretty good, but you need gloves and something over the ears - I forgot both for part of the ride!

Saturday I ran with some of the guys on a new trail (for me at least) along the Minnesota River.  It was about 8.5 miles on single track and bulldozer track trails.  Ever tried running on bulldozer track? We took it pretty easy and finished in 1:17:29.  It was a fun run, dodging trees, jumping creeks.  Ahh that is what running is supposed to be like!

Sunday My ride twittered me that he was sick and wasn’t going to go to the group run and a quick call to another guy wasn’t answered, so carless I was left to run on my own.  I rolled over and enjoyed sleeping in. I ended up running 7.5 miles alone.  It was a cool 42 with wind gusts well into the double digits, I didn’t think to check the real-feel.  I had no real plan for the run, just that I was going downtown and the hitting the river.  I ended up making my way to the U of Minnesota’s campus via the East River Road before crossing Franklin Ave Bridge and heading home.  It was a nice run, except for the headwinds.  I’m glad I got it finished before the cold-wet snow started flying!

Weekly Mileage:

Running - 24.6 miles

Biking - 22.5 miles

Week in Review

Image via Wikipedia

Happy Monday! As I write this I’m relaxing at home after a fun-filled weekend of camping along Wisconsin’s “North Coast”.  That’s Lake Superior for most of us.  We wanted to get a last fall camping trip in before the really cold weather hit.  It got cold but our campsite was right on the lake which was perfect!  The campground we stayed at was primitive and Lake Superior was cold back in the summer time… so I didn’t run at all over the weekend but we did bike 17 miles and hike around a little bit.

On the running side, I doubled my mileage from last week… all the way up to 7 whole miles!

On Wednesday I did an easy 3.5 miles around Powderhorn Park.  The weather was pretty near perfect, just at 40 degrees.  It was a nice relaxing run.  On Thursday morning before we left I ran just over 4 miles while I ran some errands downtown.  I had left my YWCA membership card at the downtown desk, so I ran there and picked it up.  Then I ran to the AAA office to see if they had any information about Bayfield, Wisconsin or the area in general.  I then had the interesting task of running home while carrying a Tourbook.  It was another beautiful morning and a nice run.  I probably got some weird looks while running home and I know the lady at AAA was wondering why I was sweating.

Weekly Mileage:

Running - 7.5 miles

Biking - 24 miles

Post Marathon Thoughts

Image by crossn81 via Flickr

One of the main reasons I run is to race, I really enjoy racing and the feeling that comes with it, even when I place 700 and something!  When I have a goal race or races it gives me something to look forward to and to be motivated by.  So after completing my goal race, no matter the distance, the next week or so is always a little like a slump.

Things are no different for the marathon.  It has been a week and a half since I conquered the beast and for the first few days I was so stiff and sore that running never really crossed my mind. But as the pain and fatigue wore off I started to get a little bit of an itch to go running.  I scratched the itch by biking to work and that helped a little…  My schedule wasn’t really conducive to running without getting up really early (and I was tired) so I didn’t worry too much about running.

One week after the marathon I went for a 5k run, I made it a little more special by running on trails and enjoying the fall beauty of the Mississippi River.  This was great and after the first little bit I felt pretty good.  A few days later on Wednesday I went for another short run and it felt pretty good too. But I am severely unmotivated.  This is maybe the best time of year to run, the temps are cool, scenery is amazing and I lack motivation.  That is a little frustrating.

I know that running a marathon takes a lot out of you and things have been extremely busy since the marathon.  I’m sure that hasn’t helped.  Neither has the fact that the sun doesn’t come up as early anymore. I’ve been eating a ton of food at each meal and sometimes walk away hungry and my sleep schedule hasn’t been the best either.  All of this to say that while I was so extremely focused before the marathon to make sure I was taking excellent care of my body, that isn’t the case now.  In fact I should be sleeping instead of writing this post and last night I played around on Delicious for hours instead of getting some needed sleep.

I think if was taking care of myself better I might not be feeling as unmotivated and fatigued.  What do you think?? Have you experienced similar thoughts and feelings?

Ok enough ramblings from me… I’m going to put my thoughts into action and get some sleep..