{"id":538,"date":"2008-09-09T03:55:36","date_gmt":"2008-09-09T08:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/?p=538"},"modified":"2008-09-08T19:55:56","modified_gmt":"2008-09-09T00:55:56","slug":"race-review-city-of-lakes-25k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/race-review-city-of-lakes-25k\/","title":{"rendered":"Race Review: City of Lakes 25K"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Yes, that is a 25K or 15.5 miles.\u00a0 My longest race ever and before this training cylce my longest run ever was a 15 mile hike\/run in Yellowstone, when I worked out there one summer.\u00a0 We could not have asked for a much better day for this race.\u00a0 The temperature was in the mid-50’s with overcast skies.\u00a0 It was pretty humid and actually rained while we were eating breakfast shortly after the race. The sun was out during my warm-up but disappeared for pretty much the entire race. The race appropriately loops around 2 of the many lakes in Minneapolis and makes for a great spectator event.\u00a0 My official time<\/a> was 1:48:49 while my watch was at 1:48:40 (this was not a chip timed race).\u00a0 That was good enough for 131st overall and 27th in my age group.<\/p>\n

This is the 27th running of City of Lakes<\/a> and is a pretty fast course.\u00a0 Four men’s age group records and 2 women’s records were broken today. The race is billed as “a middle distance trial for those running the newly created Twin Cities Marathon<\/a> and other fall marathons, or for those looking for a fall, middle distance running event.”\u00a0 It lives up to its name with 984 total finishers.<\/p>\n

Pre-Race<\/strong><\/p>\n

I received my bib number in the mail a few days before the race.\u00a0 I was a little surprised, but I didn’t really do a lot of research about the race.\u00a0 With a mile seperating the start and finish lines and registration at the finish line this was pretty helpful.\u00a0 I didn’t have to go to the registration table.\u00a0 We parked on a street about half-way between the start and finish and my wife went towards the finish and I went to the start. I wore gloves for my warm-up but decided not to wear them. I waited in line to use the bathroom for 15 minutes and never got to use it so that I could start the race on time (see below). I wore my singlet with shorts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Race Time<\/strong><\/p>\n

I thought long and hard about the race plan.\u00a0 I have been pushing my body pretty hard for the past month or so – taking my “recovery” weekends and racing over them.\u00a0 So I thought that my body could handle a nice marathon pace effort and it would give me a good chance to see how the pace felt for a longer distance.\u00a0 That means that I would run at 7:15 pace or 1:52:38 overall.\u00a0 I thought that if I ran that pace and felt strong in the last 5-10k then I’d pick up the pace and anything under 2:00 would be acceptable for this distance.<\/p>\n

The race directors had setup two signs on trees next to the starting area one for 7 and the other 9 for people to self-select a starting place.\u00a0 I started right behind the 7 marker and went out at what felt like a pretty easy pace. The start has a quick series of 2 hills and then flattens out.\u00a0\u00a0 The crowd was pretty thick so I was suprised when I came through the first mile in 7:05<\/strong>. Okay, not too fast “slow it down a little”.\u00a0 I felt like I had slowed down and was suprised again to see mile 2 come at 6:58<\/strong>. Ok, so still a little too fast – let’s try slowing it down again…\u00a0 A quick uphill, waterstop and down to Lake Calhoun – still feeling comfortable.\u00a0 Mile 3 6:53<\/strong> and through the 5K in 21:32<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ok so I’m still running faster than planned, but the 2 guys next to me are talking about their pace being dead-on their race plan.\u00a0 Hmm… I’ll run with them I guess and see what I can do.\u00a0 I had taken water at the stop and was a little suprised to see another water stop so quickly – so I skipped it.\u00a0 The 2 guys took water so I waited for them to catch back up and fell back into rhythm with them.\u00a0 We came through mile 4 in 6:59<\/strong>. Still feeling good, but it felt really cold running in this stretch and I never really warmed back up.\u00a0 It wasn’t cold enough to worry – just enough to make your hands cold. Mile 5 was in 6:58<\/strong>. At the 5 mile mark 3 runners from some of the “fast teams” were standing around talking – can’t remember if they were wearing numbers or not, but strange.\u00a0 Back through the waterstop and up and over the hill back on Lake Harriet.\u00a0 Still Mile 6 was 7:04<\/strong> and 10k in 43:07 – this 5k was 21:34<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Around and around we go heading past the starting line. I continued to run with these 2 guys and we came through mile 7 in 6:59<\/strong>. Passing the starting area we hit the 2 quick hills and going up them I seperated from the guys I had been running with.\u00a0 I was planning to catch their race numbers so I could look them up later, but was expecting to drop them here.\u00a0 I don’t think the pace was comfortable anymore, but it wasn’t strenuous either so I decided to continue with the rhythm.\u00a0 I came through mile 8 in 6:57<\/strong>.\u00a0 Overall crowd support was pretty good.\u00a0 There was a lot of people in the area between the two lakes and a smattering of people around the course.\u00a0 Passed the finish line again and back into the area between the lakes.\u00a0 The mile marker was right before the waterstop.\u00a0 Mile 9 was 7:00<\/strong> and through the 15k in 1:04:41.\u00a0 This 5K was 21:33<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

I decided to pick up the pace to put some distance between myself and a few women I just passed! I also thought, I feel good let’s see what I can do.\u00a0 It felt like I picked it up a lot so I was a little disappointed(?) to come through mile 10 in 6:53<\/strong>, but I knew that the clock was still under 1:10 – so I was sub-7.\u00a0 That small pick-up hurt more than I expected it to and I soon realized that 10K is a long way to pickup the pace! Examining my pace chart, I did it the hard way – hitting 6:28 for a few seconds and then slowing down and yo-yoing a little bit around 6:45 pace.\u00a0 The next mile I continued to speed up and slow down – hitting 6:36 but never slowing below 7:15.\u00a0 Another water-stop, around the top of Lake Calhoun and through mile 11 in 6:57<\/strong>. I don’t remember much from the next mile except thinking that I still had a long way to go! Mile 12 in 7:01<\/strong> and through 20k in 1:26:19 and this 5k in 21:38<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 Interesting that the 5K I tried to pick-up the pace in was actually my slowest 5k up to this point.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The last time through the waterstop and over the hill and less than 5K to go.\u00a0 Just hold it together Cross and you’ll do great.\u00a0 I saw a clock somewhere in here (may have been the 20k sign) and realized that a half-marathon PR was in reach.\u00a0 Mile 13 was 7:04<\/strong>. I got a half-marathon PR!!!!! in 1:31:something<\/strong><\/em>. They had an official clock there and I don’t remember the exact time.\u00a0 I can’t get my Garmin to given me the time either – but it was faster than my 1:33:22 from 2 weeks ago.\u00a0 Credit to Chris Taylor for saying I’d hit the PR! Excited about the accomplishment I knew that I just needed to hang in here and not blow up.\u00a0 Up to this point I had been taking a Clif Shot Blok after each 5k, however I decided not to after the 20k (rookie mistake!) and Mile 14 was 7:13<\/strong>. Stay calm, you are doing great. Relax and stay focused.\u00a0 At this point one of the guys I had run with earlier caught back up to me and encouraged me to stay strong.\u00a0 We came through mile 15 in 7:06<\/strong>. Ok, that’s good pick-up the pace and give it everything.\u00a0 I don’t know, something magic happened – I guess knowing the finish was so close it was like a jolt and I picked up the pace – hitting 6:22 pace according to the Garmin.\u00a0 That hurt – backed off a little and got passed by a guy wearing headphones.\u00a0 Can’t let that happen surge to catch him and try to pass – hitting a 5:28 and he switched gears and took off.\u00a0 Crap I can’t keep this pace to the finish anyway so I eased off and finished in 1:48:40 for a last half-mile in 3:25<\/strong> (6:25) pace.\u00a0 I was a little tired, excited about my time and overall performance, and disappointed for a second about getting out-kicked at the finish.\u00a0 The last 5k was in 21:49<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Post-Race<\/strong><\/p>\n

I stumbled through the chute letting them take my number, getting a few dixie cups of water.\u00a0 The big prize at the finish was a “beer stein” or a glass mug with the race logo and sponsors on it.\u00a0 And picked up my cookie from Great Harvest Bread Co. of Linden Hills<\/a> and it was delicious.\u00a0 Other post race food included banannas and apples. Booths from Saturn Cars (got a cow bell) and Sister Kenny Sports & Physical Therapy Center<\/a> (got a little band aid holder) rounded out the party! I picked up my bag and got some dry clothes on.\u00a0 We waited around for the rest of our team to finish and went out for breakfast.<\/p>\n

A Few Criticisms<\/strong><\/p>\n

This was a great race<\/em> pretty much all around.\u00a0 I was very surprised that a race of this size and caliber didn’t utilize timing chips.\u00a0 I know it saves a few bucks and I only lost 9 seconds from my official time and watch time, but I’m sure the people at the back of the pack would appreciate knowing their actual time.\u00a0 If you want to be a tune-up for the marathon, people should get to know their official time for 25k.\u00a0 The other minor criticism is the amount of porta-potties.\u00a0 There was still a line at the start of the race (another good reason to use chips).\u00a0 I was waiting in line, but decided to skip the bathroom to make the start (I was in line for 15 minutes).\u00a0 Ok, so another little nit-picky detail but the plastic cups weren’t the easiest to drink from while running (not easy to squeeze the top) and they were pretty small to be drinking fromat the finish.<\/p>\n

[tags] City of Lakes, 25K, Race Review [\/tags]<\/p>\n

\"Reblog<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, that is a 25K or 15.5 miles.\u00a0 My longest race ever and before this training cylce my longest run ever was a 15 mile hike\/run in Yellowstone, when I worked out there one summer.\u00a0 We could not have asked for a much better day for this race.\u00a0 The temperature was in the mid-50’s with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[227,13,37],"tags":[226,681,67,224,679,163,151,209,70],"class_list":["post-538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-25k","category-my-running","category-race-review","tag-clif-shot-blok","tag-half-marathon","tag-lake-calhoun","tag-lake-harriet","tag-marathon","tag-minneapolis-minnesota","tag-minneapolis-saint-paul","tag-racing","tag-twin-cities-marathon"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4iaAv-8G","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":810,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2009\/usatf-mn-teamchampionship-schedule\/","url_meta":{"origin":538,"position":0},"title":"USATF-MN Team\/Championship Schedule","author":"crossn81","date":"February 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2009 USATF-MN Team Circuit and Championship Race Schedule was voted on awhile back.\u00a0 Here is the schedule: March 22nd St. Patrick\u2019s Day Human Race 8k \u2013 St. Paul USATF Minnesota 8k Championship\u00a0 Last year's review I ran a 31:27 which is a post-college PR. April 25th Get in Gear\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10K"","block_context":{"text":"10K","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/10k\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"\/running\/images\/usatfmnlogo.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1318,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2009\/race-plan-lake-minnetonka-half-marathon\/","url_meta":{"origin":538,"position":1},"title":"Race Plan: Lake Minnetonka Half-Marathon","author":"crossn81","date":"April 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The time has come.\u00a0 Twelve weeks of training is about to pay off on what should be a beautiful morning to race around beautiful Lake Minnetonka. Yesterday I published a course preview and I must say that I think it is a pretty ideal course.\u00a0 Point to point, a few\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Half Marathon"","block_context":{"text":"Half Marathon","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/half-marathon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/images\/minnetonkaice.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":910,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/best-of-2008-personal-race-experience\/","url_meta":{"origin":538,"position":2},"title":"Best of 2008: Personal Race Experience","author":"crossn81","date":"December 31, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is a\u00a0 list of my best performances at each distance this year: TC 1 Mile 5:27\u00a0 MCQ = 39:13 USATF 5000m 19:51MCQ = 41:14 Human Race 8k 31:27 MCQ = 39:38 Get in Gear 10k 41:30 MCQ = 41:30 MDRA 15k 1:03:24 MCQ = 40:55 Rochester Half-Marathon 1:33:22\u00a0 MCQ\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Best of"","block_context":{"text":"Best of","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/best-of\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":621,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/september-highlights-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":538,"position":3},"title":"September Highlights","author":"crossn81","date":"October 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I probably say that every month seems to fly by, well September was no different.\u00a0 The middle school I work at started right after Labor Day and it has meant some busy weeks. It is good to have the students back though, they help give purpose to my work -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Highlights"","block_context":{"text":"Highlights","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/highlights\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2927,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2012\/explore-minnesota-race-series\/","url_meta":{"origin":538,"position":4},"title":"Explore Minnesota Race Series","author":"crossn81","date":"January 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The new Explore Minnesota Challenge Race Series begins this coming weekend with the Securian Winter Run\u00a0(my 2009 race review)\u00a0festivities. Athletes who participate in 8 qualifying events (including one from each region) will receive a commemorative medal (including commemorative pins for each race). \u00a0Registration for the Series is $50 and appears\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Calendar"","block_context":{"text":"Calendar","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/calendar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.andersonraces.com\/_uls\/resources\/EMC_Logo_FINAL_3_resized.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1606,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2009\/twin-cities-marathon-pictoral-preview\/","url_meta":{"origin":538,"position":5},"title":"Twin Cities Marathon Pictoral Preview","author":"crossn81","date":"September 23, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Twin Cities Marathon course has been quite busy this summer, just like every summer (actually year round).\u00a0 This is because the course takes in some of the coolest recreation spots in the metro - or at least Minneapolis.\u00a0 Beginning in downtown Minneapolis the 26.2 mile course\u00a0 makes a big\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Course Comments"","block_context":{"text":"Course Comments","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/course-comments\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":548,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538\/revisions\/548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}