The Twin Cities 10 mile race is part of the Twin Cities Marathon events which I ran on Sunday. Both races start at the HHH Metrodome in Minneapolis and end at the Capitol in St. Paul, the 10 mile is called 'the shortcut to the capitol' for obvious reasons. The day had record heat with the starting temperature at 72 degrees already at 7:00am. In Chicago they were running their annual Marathon on the same day and they actually cancelled the race 3-1/2 hours into the race due to the heat. It's supposed to be cool in October!
Pre Race: Both my sisters had planned on running with me, but Audrey had to bow out because of an ankle sprain the week before the race. Audrey still accompanied Beth and I to the start and cheered us on there. I have run this 10 miler 3 other times and the Marathon twice and this is the first time I can recall not needing a long sleeve shirt to start. It was warm, but we were so worried about rain that the heat never really crossed my mind until a few miles into the race. As we were lining up for the start I notices how clear the sky was and mentioned to Beth we would not have to worry about rain. The bathrooms were crowed (as was expected) so I skipped it, hoping to make it through the race without having to go.
The Race: The gun went off and we were way in the back so it took a few minutes of walking to get to the start. Once we crossed it was slow going through the crowds. My 'hopeful' goal for the race, despite my lack of training was 1:30 or 8 min per mile. The first mile was 10:16 -- way off pace. We picked it up a bit and hit miles 2,3 and 4 all at 9:00 or better pace despite the huge climb to the Franklin Bridge om mile 3. Mile 5 slower a bit to 9:10, but the climb to St Thomas University on mile 6 was brutal, and it was at that point that I knew I could not make it to the finish without relieving myself. There were a few porta-potties by St Thomas and it took about 2:00 to wait in line and be on my way. Beth waited for me, but the heat and the hills were taking a toll on me. The sun was beating down now with less tree shade than I would hope and I knew I had to walk a bit. Mile 6 had slowed to 10:04 minus the pit stop and I told Beth I needed a break and she walked with me for a bit until I told her to keep going. She didn't want to leave, but I insisted, I didn't want to hold her back.
After a block or two, I started up again and felt much better and managed 11:16 for mile 7. For some reason mile 8 marker was missing, but I chugged along Summit Ave. averaging 10:00/mile pace for miles 8 and 9. At this point I just want to get to the finish. My shirt is drenched with sweat and I am very, very glad I was not doing the Marathon. My 'goal' has changed to get under 1:40 or 10 min per mile pace, but the last mile still seemed a long way to go. I walked for another block somewhere along that last mile and was not sure how much more running I was in for that day, until another runner gave me a word of encouragement, and that was apparently all I needed 'cause I picked it up and brought it in with everything I had left. I managed 9:58 for the final mile. Final Official Chip time -- 1:38:53 which is 9:54 min per mile pace. At this point I'm just glad I got under 10 min/mile. If it has been cooler I'm sure I could have made 9:30's or maybe even hit that 9:00. Beth's final time -- 1:35:38. Good job! If I hadn't held her back she would have been well under 1:35
Lessons Learned:
1) Go to the bathroom ahead of time and don't drink too much coffee. I generally only have 6oz or less of coffee on race days, but this morning I brought my mug with me and drank most of it (16oz) on the way to the dome. This was a mistake.
2) Train more. This goes without saying, but my training was pitiful for this run although I am ashamed to admit it.
Next Race: I have my eye on the St. Paul Winter Carnival 1/2 marathon right now.
Monday, October 8, 2007
It Was Hot!
Monday, August 20, 2007
Young Life Triathlon
Pre-Race:
The Family and I drove up to Perham Friday afternoon to stay and visit some good friends of ours. Perham is only about a 20 minute drive from Detroit Lakes (DL) which is where the Young Life Triathlon was. In fact, one of the reasons I chose the Young Life Triathlon was to spend the weekend with our friends. The night before the race my allergies were kicking into high gear and I slept poorly on a new (although not uncomfortable) bed.
The alarm went off without a hitch at 5:45 and I was out the door by 6:20. The morning was cold and overcast and windy. Arriving at DL I had plenty of time to get my gear situated and there was still plenty of space on the racks for my bike. I then checked in and got marked up. Unlike the Buffalo Tri this race was much smaller, I was in heat #4 which consisted of all short course men. The pre-race swim instructions were simply to swim around the first buoy and back counter clockwise. 'Simple enough', I thought as I looked at the first buoy which didn't seem very far.
The Swim (18:35):
I expected the swim to be about 10-12 minutes and as you can see something went terribly wrong. As I watched the first 3 heats go off I spent my time adjusting my swim cap and goggles, and did not really look at the buoy until just before our heat went off, I looked up then and noticed that it had moved significantly farther from the shore. Then we were off. There was no dolphin diving to speak of as the ground took a sharp dive and after a few stroke I found myself swimming in huge waves that were relentless. I swallowed gulps of water, but managed to keep my stroke somewhat smooth. It was as if there were speed boats running along side of us. I just kept swimming and swimming wondering when the heck I would get to that dang buoy! As I look at the results the Short Course Winner averaged only 1:59 per 100 yards. At Buffalo I averaged 1:43 and was only in the top 1/3. I noticed that this same athlete was in the Green Lake Tri a week earlier and did the Olympic distance averaging 0:47 per 100 yards. That should tell you that it wasn't just me, and even with the waves the distance must have been off.
T1 (4:33):
I was beat from the swim, and most suprizingly my legs were tired. I didn't even realize I was using my legs! I saw the family cheering me on through the transition and pushed myself through. I was bloated from swallowing lake watter and skipped the gel shot I was planning on taking, forced myself to swallow a little Gatorade Propel and got myself ready for the bike almost :30 faster than Buffalo (A small bright spot).
Bike (42:46):
By this point I am tired and discouraged, but determined to pull this thing though, so I pedal. The winds that made the lake unbearable were somewhat manageable on the bike, but certainly not helpful in any way. I started biking and no mater how hard I push my speed is just not there. I have had training runs much faster than this and I am being passed left and right. As I struggle up a hill (there was a few, but not nearly as many or as steep as Buffalo) I notice my front tire is quite low on air. Now Why didn't I check that! Must be the colder weather causing the air pressure to be lower in my tires. Nothing I can do at that point but to push through it again.
T2 (1:06):
Family cheering me on I push into T2 and transition quickly to the run :20 seconds faster than Buffalo. Smooth in and out.
Run (24:20):
Only three miles left, I am determined push through to the end. Of the three this was my best leg and I was passing more than getting passed at this point. The legs still had a bit left in them and at the turn around point I walked through the water stop and pushed it home. My time was still slower than Buffalo here, and I can only say that I suppose I did not push myself to the limit feeling poorly about my race so far, but I did not quit and my time, although not stellar, is respectable here and the best of the three legs. Final Time: 1:31:18
After doing this race and performing the way I did, I want to have another crack at a Tri yet this year. I don't know if there is time left in the season, but if I find one where my sister Audrey (who completed her first tri Sunday in St Paul and did much better than I) and I can both participate, I may have to do that to avenge this race.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Andover 5k Race Report
There is nothing that will suck the energy out of you during a run more than the blazing heat of the unimpeded sun beating down upon you. It would have been better if I had been out all night drinking than to have this race done on the hottest day of the year. Even at the race start at 8:30am it must have been well over 80F. Beyond that I wasn't feeling 100% and it turns out I was coming down with some stomach bug thingy (that I am only now a few days later mostly over)
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Buffalo Triathlon Race Report
The race was June 3rd in Buffalo, MN. This was my first tri ever 400yd Swim, 13Mi Bike, 3Mi Run and I finished in 1:26:59
First off this was a GREAT race. I enjoyed it immensely and will most likely do many more Tri's in the future. Thus I recently switched from coolrunning.com to BuckeyeOutdoors.com for logging because BuckeyeOutdoors has better tri logging capabilities (and built in linking to blogs!)
There were several people from my work in the race (the tall bald one is Ben who was the guy who talked me into doing a tri in the first place) As you can see from the picture everyone at my work was very happy pre-race (I am the one in yellow).
Pre-Race:
I woke up around 4:30 in the morning so as to arrive there early. Everyone told me how important it was to arrive early to do all the 'set up' and not feel rushed. I had a piece of toast and a cup of coffee and my father picked me up at 5AM to load my bike and take the hour drive to Buffalo. It rained most of the way out there, but we were expecting (or at least hoping) it to clear up.
We arrived around 6:15 (the rain had stopped) and I set up my bike and got my packed and was marker-ed up with my numbers (745). I was one of the earliest ones to arrive and had no lines and any place I wanted to put my bike. then I basically waited about 2 hours, but didn't feel too bored as the rest of my friends arrived we talked strategy and such. Mostly I just wanted to get things started, I was a bit nervous and must have gone to the bathroom about 5 times while waiting for the race to start.
with about 15min before the first heat was to start we headed down to the lake and got acclimated to the water. It was a good thing too as the water was freezing until I got used to it. someone had some anti-fog and I desperately needed it because my goggles were fogging up like crazy although I have never noticed it before. Probably because I always swam inside. The water felt real good after a few warm up strokes and then we were told we had to get out as the really good people were on their way in.
I lined up waiting for my heat to be called (14) and waited...
The Swim (7:32):
I was told to start in the back and just wait until people were out of the way to start to avoid traffic. This is not something that I can do very well. I mean is this a race or not? So I did the worst thing I could have done and started smack dab in the middle because I was afraid of getting trampled if I started in the front. I will not make this mistake again, but it's not as if I was in danger of my life or anything, I just would have been better positioned in the front as I am already better than a majority of triathletes at swimming.
Just before the gun (or whatever it was, I don't really remember) I herd someone calling 'FRANK!' I turned around but saw literally hundreds of anonymous people and couldn't focus on any one of them. 'My wife and kids were running behind and they can't possibly be here yet so it must be another Frank in my heat' I thought. and re-focused on the start. It turns out it was my fetching wife who arrived just in time. BANG! off we were. I ran for a little ways, just until I had enough watter to swim in and started swimming. This too was a mistake. someone was running right next to me and for several strokes we kept the same pace. I thought that this was really stupid that I am swimming while he/she is wadding at the same pace. Next time I'll do dolphin dives until it is too deep.
The rest of the swim was fine except I had to strain to keep my head up to breathe and figure out where the heck I was supposed to be going. for the next few days my neck would be sore because of this. I ended up catching several people from the heat before mine (they left 2:00min earlier) and did dolphin dives once it was shallow again.
T1 (5:00):
Once I was out of the watter I felt light headed from the swim and quite a bit more tired than I thought I would. I sort of ran/jogged up, up, up, to the Transition area and on the way saw the Wife and kids cheering me on. That was real cool. Once there I proceeded to get my biking/running gear on in a hurry. While I started doing this Ben (who left it the heat before mine) arrived and told me to slow it down and take a breather. I knew he was right and I would have little energy for the bike if I didn't get my heart rate down. So I sat down, washed off my feet and got ready for the bike.
Bike (49:31):
Man were there a ton of hills on this. I was going 25-35mph down and 6-10mph up. This really surprised me. I knew that the race was hilly, but I was not prepared for the number and size of the hills. Biking is my weak point anyway and the hills were no help. Ben passed me early on the bike and we went back and forth a few times until he passed me for good around mile 8-9. about mile 10 my left calf started acting up and I knew I had to relax a bit or there would be nothing left for the run.
As I rounded the corner of the final stretch I saw the family cheering again.
T2 (1:27):
Getting off the bike and running to the bike spot was difficult, but I caught up with Ben in the transition and we started the run together. This transition went smooth and fast.
Run (23:32):
This is probably my best part of the tri. I moved ahead of Ben early and saw him shortly after the turn around (it was an out-and-back run) I did not expect to run this as fast as I did after the first two events. Although it was by no means easy. My legs kept screaming at me to stop but I was determined to go as fast as I could until I died or they fell off. Fortunately neither happened and i finished with a 7:50 min/Mi pace
Post Race:
After waiting at the finish for a few minutes for Ben to finish my family found me and congratulated me. again.. cool. Ben went to the water to cool off, but I didn't feel too hot and stayed with the family. I was going to find the rest of my co-workers and wait until the slower ones finished the race, but then the rain started pouring and with the baby and the rest of the kids that was not going to work so we took off early and went to get something to eat.
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