Team Cross Runs

Week in Review

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This is week 3 of both my 100 Push up Challenge and also the Core Performance
book.  I am starting to feel some of the benefits, at least a little! This was a nice short week at work and a wonderful day of giving thanks. It has been a great week!

Monday was my requisite rest day.  I did my push ups completing the required 72 pushups.  After last week’s exhaustion test I’m in the middle column for now.  In regards to the Core workouts, I’ve decided to drop the Movement Prep.  My knee and heel were starting to hurt and I felt like some of the exercises in MP were aggravating those areas, I might try to slowly work them back in later. I did do the Prehab: Core-Hip-Shoulder, and used my Stick instead of a Foam Roller.

Tuesday I was feeling lazy and never made it out the door! No real reason, just lazy.  I did manage to do my core workout though.  Today was a physioball and rope  workout.

Wednesday I did make it outside.  I ran my Metrodome 3 mile loop in 23:36. It was about 19 degrees but the wind was really strong on the one leg and made my hands really cold! I did my required 82 push ups and Prehab:Core and used The Stick.

Thursday Happy Thanksgiving!! Nathan and I did a 1.5 mile warm-up before we ran the Giving Thanks 5k.  I finished in 20:01.  It was a pretty nice morning for a Thanksgiving race! Look forward to a more in-depth review.  I came home and did my core work - physioball and Prehab:Hip.  I’ve stopped doing the Prehab:Shoulder because I think it duplicates some of the push up workout and exhausts my shoulders.

Friday I went out for an easy 3 mile run in my new Mizuno Wave Inspire 4 shoes. My old Mizuno’s have 381 miles on them. This was a pretty uneventful run. I decided to run along the Midtown Greenway, but instead of running on the “Greenway” I ran on the dirt trail that runs alongside the paved one. The two trails are seperated by a fence and the lower is more like a service road type thing.  It was different.  Weather was mid-20’s with some wind making for a decent 23 minute workout.  I did my 88 required push ups and Prehab:Core

Saturday means Polar Bear Run.  This run was fairly close to home and my wife was working again so I didn’t feel like calling anybody for a ride. Instead I biked to the Light Rail station - took the LRT - and biked to the start of the run, this was approximately 2.5 miles on a frigid morning.  Awake and ready to run we ran from Historic Fort Snelling down into Fort Snelling State Park getting in 8.5 miles on mostly soft trails.  The run featured a lot of deer, at least 15.  At least one of which had 10 points.  It was a neat mix of bucks, does, and fawns running around.  Some let us get pretty close, staring us down before leaping away to safety.  I am always amazed that animals kind of know when hunting season is and when they are generally safe.  This was another great run on a sunny day with a thin layer of frost covering everything.

Sunday was a snow covered run along the Minnesota River.  Maybe an inch of snow covered the ground as we headed out along the trail.  We cross the footbridge on Cedar Ave and then headed north to Lyndale Ave all on trails next to the river.  It is a great place to run and the fresh snow covering made for some beautiful sights.  There was plenty of animal tracks - mostly coyote and rabbit. I did see what looked like deer tracks and we saw a bunch of wild turkeys on the drive to the parking spots.  This was about a 9 mile run in 1:18:09.  A few of us had a little sprint finish across the footbridge!

Weekly Mileage:

Running - 28.3 miles

Biking - 23.6 miles

Last Year:

Running - 0 miles

Biking - 20 minutes

Swimming - 1 session

Last year I was analyzing my training cycles. My second cycle was for a 10k.  I ran a 4 mile Drumstick Dash in Indianapolis and posted a guest review for the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkeys Marathon. Also during this week last year Dr Cade, Gatorade Inventor, died at 80.

Thankful Today

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you are having a wonderful day enjoying friends, family, and food!

I looked up the word “thanks” in the Webster dictionary and it used the word gratitude, or having grateful thoughts.  Using the Webster thesarus brings even stronger words: appreciation, appreciativeness, gratefulness, gratitude, thankfulness, thanksgiving; gratification, indebtedness, satisfaction; acknowledgment, recognition, and tribute.

I think most of us don’t use these words often enough. I know I don’t.  I try to be thankful in every day life but it is hard sometimes.  I want to take a few minutes and share with you a list of things I’m thankful for, but first I really like this verse from the Old Testament: Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

In no particular order:

I am thankful for…

… my wonderful wife

… my parents

… my extended network of family

… great friends that span the world and the technology to stay connected to them

… the opportunity to serve my community

… being able to wake up each morning in a warm house with food on the shelves

… great neighbors

… the ability to run and the strength to do so

… my growing network of friends who care about me individually

… friends and people who challenge me to strive to become the best person possible

… a church that cares more about taking care of each other and our neighbors than a building

… amazing co-workers who truly care about our students and their education

… the freedom to worship

… the snow, the sun, and even the rain (but maybe not -34 windchills)

What are you thankful for this year?

Technorati Tags: Thanksgiving

Week in Review

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This was a pretty busy but good week.  I had to work later than normal 3 days this week and our good friends got married on Saturday.  My wife was in the wedding so we had lots of festivities to enjoy and lots of quality time with friends, old and new. I still managed to get 26 miles in the for the week and I’m pretty pleased with that.  My training philosophy right now is to try and get the Sat and Sun group runs in and run as much as I can during the week - but if I feel too tired or something, not to stress about getting the runs in.

Monday was a rest day running-wise. I got a total of 63 push-ups in for the beginning of week 2. I also continued with Week 2 of Core Performance which included Movement Prep, Prehab: Hip - Shoulder - Core and Regeneration.  It made for a busy morning, even without the run! The core work increased the number of repetitions from last week.

Tuesday I ran the Downtown Park 4 mile loop in 32:05.  It was 19 and pretty windy out for the uneventful run.  I did the Physioball and Regeneration core workouts.

Wednesday I ran 3.5 miles around Powderhorn Park in 28:05.   It was a little warmer, almost reaching 30! I also noticed that the lakes are starting to freeze over, especially around the edges. I did 71 total push-ups today - which hurt - and did Movement Prep, Prehab: Core, and Regeneration.  I do my push-ups first because they require a lot more energy!

I skipped a run on Thursday so I could sleep in a little bit.  I got my core workout in, doing the Physioball, Prehab: Shoulder - Hip, and Regeneration.  I also skipped Friday’s run.  I had to be at a training by 8 and was almost late, even without the run. I did manage to squeeze in my 81 total push-ups and Movement Prep and Prehab: Core.

Saturday morning’s Polar Bear Run met at Hyland Lake Preserve for a pretty tough 8.5 mile run.  During marathon training we ran at Hyland as part of our hill period so it was a tough run.  There was a thin layer of snow on the frozen trails which made it a little slippery.  It was a good workout.  It was in the mid-20’s and I finished in 66:38. Fortunately, this time we skipped the big ski hill! I did my push-up exhaustion test and completed 25.

Sunday morning we went to a new (for me and most of the other guys) trail called Louisville Swamp. This was an excellent treat of a run.  Afterwards we were all commenting on the run but more about the location.  Kirk even came out of semi-blog hibernation to make a comment about the run. I imagine we’ll be back.  We saw a river otter and Kirk saw a Bald Eagle.  We also saw a huge beaver dam and some old farmsteads.  Did I mention this was an excellent place to run? This group of 7 (today) is a very talented group and I’ve never seen them stop so many times in a run to pause and take in the scenery.  It helped that it was an almost perfect weather day - overcast and 30’s.  Ok, enough.  We did 10.5 miles in 1:29:15.  This was the best run I’ve had in a long time.  I also did my Week 2 push-up test and belted out 25 fairly easily.

Weekly Mileage:

Running - 26.5

Biking - 10

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