Team Cross Runs

Race Review: Brian Kraft 5k

Monday morning was another near perfect morning for a race. Upper 50’s into the 60’s by race time, overcast, and a slight breeze (a little more than slight at parts!). The sun warmed us up while waiting at the starting line but seemed to disappear as we made the 5k loop around Lake Nokomis.

This event hosted by USATF-MN was pretty well organized and efficient. I arrived early was able to get my bib number and t-shirt within 5 minutes and waited around in my car for awhile.  It was cool enough at the time to want to get back “inside” and relax a bit before the warm-up.  Sadly, the Nokomis Community Center building was closed for the holiday weekend.

I did a short warm-up, stretched, and waited for the start. The starting line was approximately 1/4 mile away from the check-in/finish area, which we would run by at the start.  The event had 506 finishers with times ranging from 14:43 – 51:31. This was gun-time only race. This is a super flat race with the longest “climb” being 17 feet over a 1/4 of a mile, so pretty much negligible!

I finally ran into Nathan the only other MDRA athlete competing at the race so we talked and jogged to the start.

I had trouble figuring out where I wanted to line up, because I didn’t want to be too far forward and get sucked out too fast, but I also didn’t want to get stuck behind a lot of people.  I ended up getting a decent spot 5-6 rows deep and had a great start.  It took only a second or two to cross the starting line.  I took off pretty quickly and a lot of people passed me and it got crowded pretty quickly, but then the road opened up and I was able to settle into a pace that was fast but relaxed.    At about the 1/2 mile mark we turned south and picked up some headwind.  It didn’t feel super strong, but it was noticeable.  Not a lot happened in the first mile, a lot of people were getting settled into their pace.  There was some back and forth as we came through the mile in 6:18.  I remember thinking that might have been a little fast, but was pretty close to my race plan.

The miles seemed really long. At least compared to other runs around the lakes.   Nokomis is shaped in such a way that you can’t really see all the way around the lake, or much of the rest of the lake except at a few spots, which makes it seem like forever around.  It may have also been that I’m not used to running at such a fast pace, which tires you out and requires more effort.  This second mile was on the West side of the Cedar Ave bridge which seems really far out there and was pretty desolate.  There wasn’t a ton of cheering fans anywhere on the course, but especially not on this section.  I belive the water stop was here somewhere and I grabbed a quick squirt of water.

The racing was pretty solid through here, not much changes but continuing to go back and forth with a few runners or at least not letting myself fade away from them.  I came through mile 2 in 6:27.  Oops a little slow!

More of the same continued as we came through the third mile. A couple guys fell off and I  started seeing some new people ahead who were fading back a little.  They had jerseys that I recognized from the USATF Team Circuit, so even though we didn’t field a team, I thought I should try and get them!  I was beginning to get fatigued as well so the increased effort really just kept my pace the same.

We should have had a tailwind, but I’m not really sure if we did or not.  As we approached the starting line I remember thinking it was time to start shifting gears a little bit.  I started passing several runners and came across the third mile in 6:24.

I was feeling good, maybe a little too good as I crossed the 3 mile mark and made the final kick to the finish.  As the finish line came in sight, so did a bunch of runners that looked like they wanted to get passed.  I obliged and passed what seemed like quite a few runners.  Seeing the clock in the mid-19’s also helped the urge to kick and I came through the last 0.1 miles in 0:30 which is 4:49 pace for the last segment.  Yikes.  My overall unofficial time was 19:45 and the official time was 19:46.
After regaining my breath and stumbling around a bit I was able to enjoy the post-race bread, bananas, water, and carrot cake! After talking with some of the guys I wandered over to the lake for a nice ice bath. I waded in far enough to cover my knees and enjoyed the cold (but not too bad) water. I felt and feel like I ran a tough race but don’t think I hit 100% effort for the whole 5k. I’m glad to report that my foot and IT band felt fine throughout the race and only a little uncomfortable since finishing.

Overall this is an excellent small race with high quality competition.

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• Race Plan: Brian Kraft 5k (teamcrossworld.com)

Race Review: 2009 TC 1 Mile

The mile is an interesting race for a post-collegiate, non-elite runner. You don’t really do much “race specific” training for that distance. Training for a 5k doesn’t even compare for training for a mile, let along half-marathon training! Yet, on May 7th I lined up with about 2,100 other runners and raced 1 mile down Nicollett Mall in downtown Minneapolis.

The multi-wave start meant that there were probably closer to 20-50 runners in my wave – the USATF-MN Team and Open Wave which went off at 7:53pm. Over an hour after the mass wave. I probably should have raced with my age-group so I would have had more competition around me and wouldn’t have gotten passed by a swarm of almost sub-elite women!

This year’s TC 1 Mile also served as the US 1 Mile Championship, featuring runners like Shannon  Rowbury, Sara Hall, Jon Rankin and David Torrence.Torrence actually broke 4:00, winning $10,000 and Rowbury missed her money mark by 2 second running a 4:30.  Both were great races to watch.  I did see Ryan Hall right after the elite women ran by, but he was on his way to see Sara so I didn’t stop him.  This also means Flotrack was there so be sure to check out their coverage.

My official finish time of 5:26 is a 1 second PR over last year’s performance so for that I should be happy.  I am pleased with that.  Asked about my expectations I said “I’m not as fresh as I was last year, but I’ve done more speed work. So somewhere between 5:15 and 5:30.”  I hit that pretty well.

I began feeling by quads about a 1/4 into the race – maybe at the top of the initial incline, and maybe because of my 1:17 split. A little aggressive but I was trying to take it out a little easy!  My body quickly reacted to the pain of moving so fast and then my mouth became really dry and my throat started to burn.  It was 74, dry, with a slight cross-breeze.  I came through the 1/2 mile in 2:39 having run a 1:22 second 1/4.  I really struggled to keep myself together passing through a ton of cheer zones and cheering people.  Half-way through and feeling it.   The third 1/4 was 1:26 and the flow of passing women had stopped except for this one wearing green.  We ran past 3 guys wearing full green suits who let out a huge cheer and screamed for her.   We fought back and forth for most of the rest of the race until I dropped the hammer (albeit a small one) for a final surge into the finish.  My last 1/4 was 1:19.  For a 5:26 official time.

My throat continued to hurt until mid-day on Friday.  We were all coughing and hacking for the rest of the evening we spent relaxing downtown.

Here is a map of the course which is mostly downhill but as you can tell with the below elevation chart it isn’t exactly all downhill.  According to my Garmin it does have a net elevation loss of 6ft!

Updated: In the comments Nathan disputed the elevation data from my Garmin.  So I looked at MapMyRun.com’s data for the mile stretch and it looks pretty similar.  Here is a chart I created from their information.

Check out the Twitter tag #tc1mile for more fun.  And @tcmarathon for more information about TC Marathon related events.

Technorati Tags: TC1Mile, TC 1 Mile, Mile, Hall, Rowbury, Road Mile, Torrence, Minneapolis, Nicollett Mall

Race Review: Lake Minnetonka Half

Wow. You could not have asked for a much better day to race. Mid to upper 40’s at the start with a slight breeze off the lake.  It was only in the mid-50’s at the finish.  Unfortunately, my race performance didn’t match the quality of the day.  But first some details.

Packet pick-up went smoothly at the Wells Fargo near the starting line.  A spacious and un-crowded room at about 7:15.  Picked up my bib number – 381 and then my timing chip.  Went to pick up some nice looking shirts and they only had smalls.  I’m not sure how you make that mistake when the race filled up ahead of time.  Seems pretty simple to place an order and get your shirts in time.  They are mailing them to us at a later time.  I jogged the 1/4 mile to the lake shore and warmed up a little bit before heading back to the start.  We were delayed for several minutes due to our missing police escort.

When the siren blew we were off.  I started a few rows back and went out what felt really slow.  I let a good number of people pass me and tried to stay very relaxed. I checked my Garmin pace and slowed down even more!  The first mile went along the Lake and then up a little hill where I saw my wife and we came through mile 1 in 6:47. I promise it felt a lot slower (the mile was a little short).  So I slowed down a little and didn’t push as we climbed the steepest and longest hill of the day. We kind of meandered through the countryside occasionally getting a glimpse of the lake through the huge houses. I tried to maintain my pace even with the mostly downhill coming through mile 2 in 7:13.  Ok and even 7 pace that is pretty good.  We continued a little bit before turning on to a main road – where I was expecting to see my wife and be able to toss her my arm warmers.  They had served their purpose and it was time to be done with them.  Sadly I wouldn’t see her again until the finish.  Evidently, she got messed up with some construction and had to turn around and then the cops wouldn’t let her through, so she ended up going all the way around the opposite side of the lake.  This is really odd since lots of cars were on the course and it was advertised as an “open course”.  It is really annoying that there was an apparent double standard.  So a little frustrated I came through mile 3 in 6:43.  I took water at the aid station and came through the 5k in 21:29.

These next few miles were on a random, hilly country road away from the scenery of the lake and pretty unshaded.  There were two large hills in this mile and per my plan I didn’t push the pace up them.  I tried to just stay relaxed.  I came through mile 4 in 7:18.  I felt ok with that and kept what felt like a steady pace.  There was a few small pockets of people cheering along the way but for the most part it was pretty quiet.  Mile 5 was 7:09.  A little disappointed in two mile over 7 I wasn’t too worried, I figured that it would be easy enough to make up.  As we kept going up and down I decided to take one of my Clif Shot Bloks.  I also took water and Gatorade at the waterstop. We came back out by the main lake and back onto the shoulder of a main road and through mile 6 in 7:32. Ok, now I was a little frustrated and given the plan was to run a faster second half I picked it up.  I came through 10k in 43:38 (my PR is 41:28) and the half way mark in 46:00.  It wasn’t marked so I didn’t know where it was, but that would seem to be right on track for where I wanted to be coming out of the first half.

We continued right next to the lake shore through a little town and my pick-up worked as I ran mile 7 in 6:52.  That was helpful, especially as I was catching up to some people.  More of the same as we kept running next to the lake and I came through mile 8 in 7:02.  I tried to stay focused on pushing the pace a little bit as we dropped down to within several feet of the lake shore for a little bit and then back up a short and steep hill through an aid station.  We were running next to a bike trail then we jumped onto it for a few yards before crossing a timing mat and turning back the way we came and then another turn back towards the lake.  We then hit mile 9 in 7:36.  I came through the 15k in 1:06:04. (My PR is 1:03:24).

As we continued on the lake shore it was almost as if something inside of me fell apart.  It was almost as if I hit a small wall or gotten into a funk.  I took a second shot blok to see if that would help, but the wheels were falling off.  I tried to keep pushing but it was getting harder.  I came through mile 10 in 7:29. I definitely didn’t remember their being so many hills throughout the last half of the race. I was starting to get passed my more and more people now. I came through mile 11 in 7:47.  Crap.  That’s unacceptable.  I remember telling myself I needed to keep it under 8 minute miles. Somewhere along here there was a waterstop – but it was off the course in a parking lot.  I probably should have gone through it but I just wanted to finish and the shorter the course the better. However I did come through mile 12 in 8:03. Yes the wheels were falling off the bus.  My 20k time was 1:30:35.

We turned onto a dirt trail right before the 12 mile mark and I knew this was going to be the way to the finish.  Yes, 1 mile to go pick up the pace a little…  Not happening.  Getting passed by everyone and their brother.  A few runners tried to encourage me and I did try to pick it up I promise. The last mile was a pretty slow uphill grind which wasn’t overly pleasant. As we got closer to the finish you could start to hear people yelling and getting excited.  It was a 6-8 foot wide trail but once we got within the last 1/4 or so it was lined with people on either side – making a lot of noise.  It was a cool tunnel effect.  I could hear someone coming behind me. I tried to open my stride a little.  Then he pulled up into my vision and I thought “I can’t let this happen” and dropped gears and gave it every last ounce.  I pulled away from him and left him in my dust – so to speak!  I came through mile 13 in 7:49 and the last 0.1(or 0.18) in 1:09.  My final time was 1:36:26.  A long ways off my goal, 3 minutes off my PR, and my 4th fastest half-marathon ever.  The course was a little long!

After recovering my breath I shuffled over to get water, Gatorade, and refreshments.  They had quite a spread of fruit, bread, and snacks available.  I found my wife and learned of her plight with the road marshals.  And I just sat down for a little bit.  Exhausted. Frustrated. Disappointed.  It was a pretty tough course though, I will give it that.  And in hindsight – not a PR style course.

As I’ve written this though I’ve realized that I’m in pretty good shape! While none of my splits are super impressive I was pretty consistent throughout the race and even with my wheels falling completely off I didn’t do too terrible!  As of this writing the official results are posted yet – but this is the link they are supposed to be posted at!  The results are posted here (pdf).

As you can see by the chart below – the “official” mile markers were a little bit off.

Technorati Tags: Half Marathon, Lake Minnetonka, Race

Race Review: Fred Kurz 10 Mile

Almost another perfect day for a spring race made for a pretty good race for me.  According to my race plan I was hoping to finish in 1:08 which would have been quite excellent.  I actually passed the halfway mark in 34 minutes (and change) but knew I was struggling so it was going to be tough.

I arrived pretty early and got my bib number and start time.  The first runners left the starting line at 8:30 and then every one else’s time was handicapped off of it in 1 minute intervals.  Based on their projections I started at 9:30 with the last runner starting before 9:40.  This gave me WAY too much time to sit around before the race started.  It is a low-key race but I still got pre-race nerves.  Not an ideal race if you have alot of anxiety.  I “gave” my wife the morning off so I didn’t really have anyone to talk with or to take wonderful pictures of me!

As I mentioned due to a bridge being redone on the Luce Line trail the traditional out and back course was modified.  They made up all of the missing miles at the beginning which was appreciated.  Though they added 3 180 degree turns which wasn’t cool.  They are planning on this only being a 1 year diversion so let’s hope that the construction stays on pace!

The Luce Line is a great place for a race because it is a limestone covered dirt trail (according to the DNR).  There is some shade off and on along the course and it is more scenic than many road races.  The course included 2 water stations which made for a total of 4 potential water stops (although the 4th was about 1/2 mile from the finish).  I took water 2x’s.  I maybe should have taken some more since it was sunny and a little warmer than we were used to mid-40’s.   The weather actually made for some difficult clothing decisions.  I didn’t pack 9 different choices like Joe but I had 3 shirt options to wear – long sleeve, short sleeve, or singlet.  I had trouble deciding and ended up wearing the short sleeve over the singlet.  This was a decent choice given some slight winds.

I was a little surprised by the elevation chart that my Garmin produced.  It resulted in a net elevation loss and most of the “hills” seemed like long slow grades not the sharper grades on the chart.  But it is close enough!  You can tell there are some inaccuracies because the elevation chart should be like a mirror.  This year’s turnaround point was at mile 6 so it should be a mirror on either side and it obviously isn’t. Hmmm.

In some sense the slow grades are harder than short quick hills.  They wear more on the quads.  I was impressed by the overall accuracy of the course measurement – especially given the changes this year.  My Garmin produced a 10.03 mile race which may be one of the closest measurements I’ve seen.

A few things of note during the race. Three of us started at my time and we went out a little quick but I stayed with them for the first 2 miles and never saw either of them again.  I “caught” the first runner between 4 and 5 miles and got passed for the first time at 6 miles.  I cramped up a little bit around mile 5 and it eventually went away.  I don’t really remember where the water stops were mileage wise but it seemed pretty reasonable.  By miles 7 and 8 I was starting to pass more participants which was a pretty nice feeling.  I tried to keep pushing the pace in the late miles – but wasn’t overly successful with that endeavor.

Here are my splits according to the marked miles:
6:48
6:42
6:44
6:59
7:10
7:07
7:20
7:07
7:22
7:06

Based on the results posted at Raceberry Jam I was 15th overall, 12th male, 2nd in my age division and an official finish time of 1:10:31.

For $5 you couldn’t have asked for a much better race. I would be willing to pay a few bucks extra to use a timing chip and potentially save the race director some post-race headaches, including faster post-race awards.

Technorati Tags: Fred  Kurz, 10 mile, Race Review, Wayzata

Race Review: 2009 Human Race 8K

It was a gorgeous morning to go for a run, the afternoon was excellent as well.  54 and sunny are pretty nice conditions for a race.  The Human Race 8k is excellently managed by The Sporting Life (TSL) Events, a local race management company.  This year’s event featured biodegradable water cups and lots of compost trash receptacles.  The University of St Thomas makes a pretty nice staging area as well, headquarters are in the fieldhouse and the campus is pretty to walk through.

The starting line is on Summit Ave, home of the famous Twin Cities Marathon hills.  The Human Race starts around the 22 mile mark and goes out about 2 miles makes a square around the William Mitchell College of Law and heads back down Summit.  Summit Ave is split on two sides of a grass boulevard for much of the race.  The start is split with the male and female on two different sides of the boulevard joining together about 1/2 mile or so into the race.

I started a few rows back and planned to take it fairly easy out of the start, especially given that the whole first mile is uphill.  My pace seemed pretty solid without being overly fast.  Blogger Chad Austin ran by me and for some reason I thought it might be a good idea to try and pace off him – he’s definitely faster than me, even coming off ski season! I came through the first mile in 6:35.

The second mile is pretty much all downhill.  It doesn’t really feel like it though.  I was just trying to stay relaxed and using people to help block the wind.  Nothing too exciting happened during this mile.  I was still passing people and getting passed.  Was pleasantly pleased to see an even split time of 6:35.

The third mile includes the little square part around the Law school.  It is a one block square with a water stop on the Summit Ave side.  This square is an easy way to make a fast turn-around on an out and back course. Much preferred to the traditional cone in the road method, especially with this sized event!  I saw the leaders coming back by at this point too.  This is an up and down mile and I was starting to feel pretty tired.  Somewhere in the last half of the race my upper body got really tight and I kept dropping my hands to try and relax it.  I went through mile 3 in 6:49.

The fourth mile is all uphill again, but knowing that the final mile is all downhill makes it a little better!  I really started struggling and was getting passed a lot more.  Thinking back though I recall that my breathing wasn’t labored but that my legs really hurt and I just felt bad overall.  Somewhere around here I got a cramp on my right side.  I came through in 6:53.  Glad to keep it under 7.

The last mile is all downhill with 80 feet of elevation loss at a -4% grade (see chart below).  Before the race started I thought downhill with the wind at your back you can fly to the finish.  I tried turning it on, but that didn’t work too well.  Some people passed me and I tried to stay with them and they pulled away a little bit.  It is a little deceiving because the road makes a quick little jog and so you can’t see the finish line, but then you see it for a really long time.   You also run past the starting line.  Finally with about 1/4 mile left I realized that I had to pass all these people and dropped the gears down.  My final 1/4 was 1:21 (which was almost 10 seconds faster than the previous).  The Garmin records your fastest pace (you only have to hit it for a second) and today’s fastest was a 4:24 pace! The final mile was 6:07.

Overall race pace was 6:35 for a 33:02 overall time.  Which was a little disappointing.  Everyone was pretty encouraging and reminded me that this is the first race of the year, so not too put much weight on it.

You can see the 2008 review here.

Technorati Tags: Human Race, 8k, Race Review, The Sporting Life

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• Race Plan: Human Race 8K (teamcrossworld.com)

Week 5: Half Marathon Training

Last Year

Last year was week 6 of training. It was a tough week with hills, 4 x 1200’s, and 2 x 20 minutes at 10k pace.  I joined the USATF’s stretching study – which I believe is still ongoing.  This week we had some air quality warnings which is related to a story about smog and the Olympics, which ended up being not too much of a worry.  I loved writing this post about running strategy and using the idea of baking cookies.  Foto Friday was a picture of my “Olympic Trials” number.

Mileage

Run: 34.0 Miles
Bike: 7.0 Miles

Monday was hard to wake up after the Daylight Savings switch on Sunday morning everything was dark again. I had been enjoying the sun on my runs.  The extra sun also made the motivation a little easier to get up! I did the 3.25 Metrodome loop in 27:30.  It was 27 with no wind.

Tuesday saw another human error operating my Garmin.  You’d like after over a year I’d remember how to use it!  Today I forgot to restart it after stopping it while waiting to cross a street.  So that’s a little frustrating but it could be worse!  I ran about 7 miles total in 57 minutes.  This included an 8 x hill workout on the hill next to the Franklin St bridge.  I ran the exit ramp hill (from West River Road).  It is approximately .16 miles or 257 meters.  The intervals were 1:10, 1:13, 1:11, 1:10, 1:09, 1:08, 1:09, 1:05 The temp was about 34 with a 29 wind chill and a slight drizzle for part of it.  I feel pleased and after I loosened up I felt pretty good.

Wednesday Well so much for the worst of winter being behind us.  It was -2 with -23 wind chill and fresh snow.  I ran 3 miles around Powderhorn with my Yaktrax.  They did really good and I didn’t really slip at all.  Some of the snow had drifted into several inches of powder but for the most part it was maybe 1/2 inch.  It took me 27 minutes to lumber around and get home.  The stiffness went away after the first 1/2 mile or so.  I also ran in my new Mizuno Wave Inspire 4 shoes.  Same brand and model just a different color!

Thursday was even colder than Weds so I was happy to take the morning off and enjoy sleeping in.  Although when I awoke I was actually really tired and groggy.  Oh well – sleep is good.

Friday was a sunny morning with temps rising but it was 22 with 19 wind chill for the start of my run.  I drove to Lake of the Isles and ran around it and Calhoun for my 45 minute tempo run. There were plenty of patches of ice still on the paths around the lakes, though I didn’t fall and they weren’t enough to have wanted the Yaktrax. I felt pretty good for the whole run and managed to lay down a good tempo section hitting 6:30 pace for about a mile.  I finished the 6 mile run right at 45 minutes and almost exactly back at my car!

Saturday was a beautiful morning for a run.  Sunny and 27 (ok could have been a little warmer) with no wind.  We met at the Longfellow Grille and took a new scenic route of Minneapolis.  Cutting across the heart of South Minneapolis via the Greenway, the short side of the Isles heading up into Kenwood on Mt Curve Ave and then under the Walker Art Center through the Sculpture Garden and then through Loring Park up Nicolet to the River and then across the Stone Arch Bridge and down the river back.  This made for almost 15 miles in 1:54:12.  I felt pretty good until we crossed the Stone Arch and then I started really feeling tired and by the time we got to Franklin Ave I had pretty much dropped off the group’s pace.  I struggled through and finished thanks to Kirk’s help.  Overall an enjoyable run!

Sunday my foot had been feeling pretty good all week and was a little stiff so I took it easy and went for a swim.  It was a little hard knowing that the temps were going to be in the 50’s but it was the prudent thing to do.  So I went to the YWCA and swam about 300 yards, sat in the hot tub, and did some stretching.  It felt really good.  The actual swimming part is tough!  I need to work on building my endurance – but I’d rather be running so we’ll see.

Weekly Total

Running – 34.2 miles

Swimming – 300 yards

Race Review: Frozen Half Marathon

You know the race will be interesting when the website offers this warning:

Extreme Weather

This is a cold weather race! Temperatures have been at or below zero for this race in the past. Hypothermia could be a definite concern. Make certain that you are dressed properly for conditions on the day of the race. In case of extreme weather conditions this race could be canceled or shortened. All entry fees are nonrefundable. An accurately measured 1/4 marathon course may be used as a short course option. Check with active.com for up-to-date weather information and changes in the race schedule.

The Securian Frozen 5K and Half Marathon is a part of St Paul’s Annual Winter Carnival.  Well sadly, we had those “extreme” weather conditions and the 1,200 pre-registrants got the following e-mail from Mary Anderson, race director.

Hi All,Just a note to let you know that the half marathon course has been shortened to approximately 6.5 miles (or half of the marathon distance) for tomorrow. The start time will remain the same at 9:00am.

The 5K race will go on as scheduled and start at 9:15.

The half marathon turnaround is just East of 35E on Sheppard Road and will be at the break in the median there so that runners can go westbound on the way out and eastbound (or with traffic ) on their way back.  We will move the water stop to this point and will be serving individual bottles to the runners. This should make it easier for volunteers.

Thank you participating in the 2009 Securian Frozen 5K and Half Marathon!

A wise decision given the fact that the actual temp was officially -15 with a wind chill in the -20’s. The morning broke with a clear blue sky and lots of shining sun, so that helped make the race bearable!  There was some confusion about the actual course distance.  The e-mail clearly says 6.5 (6.55 would actually be a half of a half) but the announcements coming over the PA system in the registration area kept calling it a 10k (which is obviously 0.35 miles shorter than half of a half).  My Garmin called it 6.46.

Attire? Yes how in the world do you dress to race at those temps? Well ultimately the same as you would to run in those temps!  Unlike warmer weather where you could wear less layers, it was vital to keep everything nice and warm. I actually wore the attire mentioned here, minus the silk balaclava and adding a pair of goggles.  I wore mid-weight smart wool socks, duct-taped shoes, tights, wind breaker pants, a singlet, long-sleeve dry-fit, long-sleeve cotton, under a wind breaker jacket, gloves, an ear band, and fleece balaclava.  I got a new pair of “fog-proof” goggles, but I steamed them up within the first mile.

Pre-Race We were able to park in the Securian building’s parking lot for $2 in downtown St Paul, which was great.  Take the skyway over to another building for packet pickup and then stand around and wait. Unfortunately all of the indoor restroom facilities were closed to the public so you had to venture out to the porta-potties lined up on the street.  We did a little warm-up jog and then waited for the race to start.  The directors were nice to wait until all the runners lined up, but it was a chip race so they should have just started instead of punishing those of us who followed directions!

The Race Almost immediately you go down a hill (about 200 feet in 1/4 mile) from downtown to the river. The race is an out and back along the Mississippi River on Shepherd Road.  The first mile came up pretty quickly and I came through in 6:35.  I tried keeping my goggles on because the wind was extremely bitey at this point and hurt my face, but I couldn’t really see out of them so I shoved them up on my face.  I tried to settle into a pace that would work for the whole race and picked some people to try to stay with.  A guy was reading splits at the 5k turn around, which was a little weird but I came through mile 2 at 7:08.  The course was a little hillier than I had expected since it was on the river flat.  They weren’t anything monstrous, but definitely steep enough to tire you out a bit.  I wasn’t really cold anymore at this point although the layers were making it hard to keep up a fast pace.  I came through mile 3 at 7:23.  The turn around point came pretty quickly after mile 3 and there was the race’s only aid station.  Dedicated volunteers passed out bottles of water – caps already off.  People were taking them, I did not.  Maybe I should have, but I didn’t feel like messing with my balaclava or spilling on myself! 22:34 at the turnaround.

I was actually starting to get tired at this point.  I was also getting really hot and raised up the balaclava and un-zipped my jacket a little.  This helped regulate the temps as the wind was solidly at my back.  Sadly I don’t think the added push of the wind helped my times too much and I came through mile 4 at 7:03.  Now I was beginning to get really tired and couldn’t wait for the finish line to arrive.  I was a little disappointed when I looked at my watch and saw that we were only at 4.5, yuck 2 miles to go.  Around the 5 mile mark we saw the 5k runners.  Fortunately we were on a divided road so they weren’t in our way yet (this usually isn’t a problem due to the half-marathon being farther and the 5k starting 15 minutes after us).  I came through mile 5 at 6:58.  I tried to pick up the pace because I was tired of getting passed, but I was also plain tired!  One of the 5k runners was wearing capri tights and the bottoms of her legs were bright red, looked painful.  I actually took my gloves off because my hands were sweating, my feet too but nothing you can do about that! I came through mile 6 at 7:25.  The last bit was straight back up the hill.  We joined the 5k runners.  I stayed way off to the side so as to not get stuck behind them and passed a lot of people up the hill which was a nice feeling! I may have passed a couple of half-marathoners on the way too and finished hard into the biting wind for the finish. 3:02 for the last 0.46 miles.

My official time was 45:31 (7:02 pace) [the website said 7:21 pace, but my Garmin and weblog both said 7:02] and good enough for 96th out of 661.  (Official results)  Evidently the 5k isn’t scored so I don’t know what the total turnout was.

Post-Race I hadn’t heard my teammates cheering me into the finish and I didn’t immediately see them so I wandered back into the buildings to get my post-race food and finisher’s mug! Then I wandered back out and got some pictures of people, including this great one of Mark Deters! I finally caught up with Nathan and we headed home.

A pretty crazy race day!!  Did you run it, what were your thoughts?

Local  News pieces:

Pioneer Press

Technorati Tags: Half Marathon, Race Review, Securian, Winter Carnival, St Paul, Frozen 5k