Rundle 4 (and 5) Hometown trail.

 I live in a small town… I think that’s a song lyric from somewhere. Not sure, it certainly sounds familiar. No matter.

This weeks run route is pretty flat

This weeks Rundle is in my hometown. Small towns may seem a little limiting, and consequently boring in running routes. With such a limited selection of roads you’d think a runner would get bored quite quickly. 

Well, yes and no. It becomes a challenge. You start to set yourself rules. The one I use the most is you can never run the same direction on the same length of road twice in a run. You can run the road in opposite direction, but not the same way more than once. Crossing over your route is OK. Another one I use is to never do a direct U turn on the trail. If I’m on the trail and I need to turn and head home. I have to leave the trail, run on a road and rejoin the trail somewhere else, or run around a city block or two before heading back the way I came. You are allowed to double back and run a road previously run if you need an emergency stop for fluids for example.

Running around parking lots as well. Sometimes I use them, sometimes not. Circumnavigating one might add .25 of a mile or more depending on the size of the lot. 

Sometimes I’m working my route out beforehand, sometimes on the fly. It’s fun. It keeps your mind active. It turns the run into something that’s alive and evolving. I once managed a run of 15 miles around town following my rules.

You don’t always need to be obsessed with the minutiae of your run. Perhaps on a track session or a hill workout you should. But a recovery run or even a long slow run? Just be out there and relax and enjoy being out there.

So I did today. It was a bit hot out. 70 degrees apparently. This route is a simple one, not using too much brain power to create. I was on the wonderful Dakota Rail Trail for a couple of miles, and I’ll write more about that in another post. It’s just a great amenity to have. As per usual, I should have run slower. But this pace was feeling quite comfortable in the conditions. In fact I was quite shocked when I got home to find out my HR had slipped into zone 5. But that was probably down to the heat and is too much information.

Tomorrow it’s Parkrun and I’m already excited. I haven’t been for two weeks. I can’t wait.

The best laid plans of mice...

Once upon a time (2004), I discovered marathon running. I trained hard, and even though I bonked from running too hard, too soon, I finished my first 26.2 mile race. I was in agony and could hardly walk for a couple of days. But I was really happy with 4:33:36. My first marathon. How could I not be happy? So few people take part in and complete one. I experienced my first runner's high.

That first time

If you've finished a marathon, then you've had that runners high. That feeling that you can achieve anything. In that rush of blood to the head, I resolved to beat that time the following year, and thus began my addiction.

The following year, 2005, I trained harder, determined to smash that time. I did. Boy oh boy, did I smash it. By almost 40 minutes! 

My best ever marathon time

The runners high was something else. I thought I was superhuman and indestructible. In 2006 I posted another sub four hour time.

Another sub-4 time

It wasn't a better time, but it was under four hours again. I figured that I was ready to try for a Boston marathon qualifier time. I dug out training plans, and researched hard. As the training progressed I was pretty much on the ball, following workouts to the letter. Mid-length midweek runs were tough but I got nearly all of them in. I did a lot of research into race nutrition. As a convinced Hammer nutrition user I found something called Perpetuem. This was a specially formulated long-distance fuel. Not terribly nice tasting by itself, but you could mix Hammer Gels in for taste. Long runs went well with it. I began to feel that a BQ time of three hours 20 minutes was within my grasp. Race weekend arrived and we headed up to our friends in Ashland. 

When we got there it was chilly. The weather forecast for race day was cold. It would be below freezing at race start time. People were buying cold weather running gear from the traders at the expo. I didn’t have anything myself so I was amongst those rushing to buy new clothing. 

The temperatures on race day

It was cold at start time. Below freezing. This was the first time I had experienced a truly cold race. I’ve had a few cold Whistlestop marathons since then. But this first one was a shock to the system. However, my Mizuno Breath Thermo clothing was keeping me warm. The starter gave the order and we were on our way. I set off at the required 7:38 mile pace. It felt really comfortable. About 40 minutes in, I had my first refuel. I reached for a flask, raised it to my mouth and squeezed.

Nothing.

I squeezed harder.

Still nothing. I checked that the top was open. It was. What was the matter?

The flask was almost solid. It wasn’t frozen, but it had thickened so much in the cold that it was almost impossible to squeeze the substance out of the flask. I took what I could, which wasn’t much.

Realization set in. What was I going to do? Five miles into the race and I had no fuel. I was exactly on pace. I could have pulled out but I decided to keep going for as long as I could. Ten miles in and I was still on pace. Then at about 12 miles, with no fueling. I hit the wall. I made it the rest of the way on Powerade and any snacks that I could get from spectators on the route. It was getting warmer as the race progressed. Perhaps the perpetuem was thinning. I never thought to check. I don’t recall much else, I made it home in 4:06:51

4:06:51 is not a bad time.

That’s not a bad time either. But when it should have been 46 minutes faster than that. It was terrible. I was very disappointed. Psychologically, I think that it had a big effect on me. I had planned and trained so very hard for that race, only to have everything upset by the cold weather. I haven’t run faster than 3:56:47 since. Only twice have I been below four hours. I went through a long, long phase of not being bothered with my finish times. I enjoyed running and enjoyed marathons. I loved being out there in the fresh air, being cheered on by spectators, and I knew that if I just did the training I could get home.  

It’s taken a long time to get that enthusiasm and desire for better times back. I’m over 15 years older and wiser. There’s still some good times left in these legs yet. Let’s see if I can find them.

To cut a long route short

I'll be honest with you. I think I'm a little neurodivergent. I certainly have dyscalculia and might have a tiny streak of OCD in me. The OCD manifests itself when out running. There was a time when I had to absolutely finish a run on a whole mile. I've since expanded it to accept .25, .5 and .75 of a mile, as well as whole kilometres - 5K being 3.1 miles etc:

I have to live with race distances as they are officially measured. But I get a little annoyed when my Garmin reads 26.43 miles on a measured 26.2 route. That's almost a quarter of a mile difference.

I know why it's out. The measured route is recorded with the shortest routes around the corners. The shortest is the fastest. The "racing line" as motor racing drivers call it.

When you're in a big pack of everyday runners, most of the time you're not taking the "racing line". You can't in a mass of people. You have to accept that. 

So I wondered. Just how much can running the racing line affect your distance?

I'm working on an experiment.

A typical American "city block".

This is section of the streets of my home town. I'm going to run the two routes marked. The red around the inside of the block. The blue around the outside, and a longer route. But how much longer is it?

The inside line .35 mile

The outside line .41 mile

The exact rules of such an experiment need ironing out The Garmin should be have some kind of official calibration and I should probably experiment with other GPS's too. It's just an idle idea off the top of my head. But already you can see that my Garmin records that the outside route is .06 of a mile further than the inside. Two laps would equate to a tenth of a mile difference. You can see how you can easily pick up some extra distance if you don't run the official measured route of a race exactly. 

Any thoughts on how to properly conduct such an experiment gratefully received. 
 

Blood, sweat, and carbon running shoes

First the good news, I am the proud owner of a pair of HOKA Carbon X3 running shoes. The bad news is I shed blood to get them.

Ooooh. New Shoes.

Buying running shoes is the best experience. One to savor, enjoy and to learn from. Once you’ve done it right and got the shoes that fit your feet. You’ve got a life partner. You may never have to choose another pair in your lifetime. A knowledgeable assistant will take a look at your gait and stride, and be able to recommend brands for you to try. Then they help you to identify what you are feeling as you put shoes on. It’s invaluable to pay attention as you try running shoes. These are not “tennies” or “trainers”. 

The first time I tried on a pair of Mizuno Wave Riders with the help of such an assistant 20 years ago I was sold. I am loyal to the brand and model. 

“AH! But why have you bought a pair of HOKA’s then”. I hear you shouting. “Where’s your brand loyalty now?”

We need to go back a month or so. At the recent Charity run, the “Get Hoppy 10K” in Waconia. I finished first in my age group, (M60-64) and won a gift card to TCRunning. Prizes for running, that was pretty cool. 

I was going to use it to get a pair of Wave Riders and be done with it. Then I ran into Dick Beardsley at the Grandma’s Marathon expo and he convinced me to try some carbon plate running shoes. 

For those that don’t know, performance running shoes these days have a plate, often carbon fibre, in the sole. They make the sole rigid and more like a lever to propel you down the road. Couple this with the cushioning from extra foam and you have a shoe that pushes you along.

With Grandma’s out of the way and the need for new shoes approaching on the horizon. I headed to TCRunning to see what I could find.

I explained to the nice young lady in the store what I was after. She told me what I just told you. With the caveat that carbon plate shoes are not training shoes. They are pretty much racing shoes only. Many of the hi-tec foams used in the soles of these modern shoes are not as durable as those in regular shoes. Still, I wanted to try them, and with the gift card burning a hole in my pocket, I proceeded to get a feel for this modern technology.

First up: Mizuno Wave Rebellion.

Mizuno Wave Rebellion. Just look at that heel!

I tried the Rebellion out of brand loyalty. But I had serious misgivings about the lack of a heel. I used to be a very predominant heel striker when running. I once wore the heels off a pair of shoes out in 150 miles. Over the years I’ve corrected that, but I still see a scuff mark on the outside of the heel of the left shoe after a few hundred miles. 

As I put these shoes on, there was an unusual sensation. Even sitting down. With no heel, there was no support back there. It was just plain odd. My opinion was that you can’t walk in them. These are shoes that you would put on at the very, very, VERY last minute at a race. Not until you’re in the start corral ideally. The fit of the uppers was to the Mizuno high standard of personal comfort that I judge all other shoes by. So I felt duty bound to try them on the dreadmill. 

It was a revelation! I was amazed. Once you broke into a run, the dynamics of the shoes took over, pushing you forwards and onwards. There’s no doubt. If this is what the supershoe is about then It’s an amazing feeling. A little unnerved, I needed to balance and leant back a bit. With no heel to support me, I slipped and fell, and was spat out by the dreadmill. Knee skinned and bloodied, I was quite embarrassed in front of a store full of athletes. This was not the shoe for me.

The Mizuno Wave Rebellion rebelled

Second Pair: Saucony Endorphin Pro 3

Saucony Endorphin. Yes, they’re very green.

As I held these in my hand, I was a little put off by the foam and the sole. It didn’t feel durable. The green colour was a bit much too. Putting them on, I was quite pleasantly surprised at the fit. Having said that, I wasn’t impressed with the material of the uppers either. Some kind of silicon, rubber, plastic material. The padding around the heel was negligible. I ran on the dreadmill a while. The propulsion effect was noticeable, and as I had a heel underneath me I felt more confident. I just didn’t like the materials.

Shoe Three: HOKA Carbon X3

The winner! But it was a close call

I have already said that I picked these. What was it that made these stand out? The fit was nice. The material of the uppers was more conventional, so they felt good on my feet. I liked the cushioning on the heel tongue and the foam of the sole felt more resilient than the Saucony. I wound the dreadmill up to a faster speed than when trying the other shoes. These shoes gave me confidence. That was important after the tumble I’d just taken. I know a few minutes on a dreadmill is nothing compared to 4 hours on the streets of Minneapolis and St Paul. But first impressions count for a lot. The sensation of being pushed forwards was a little less pronounced but still there. These felt a lot like regular running shoes. That was it I thought. HOKA’s for me. 

Final pair: New Balance Fuel Cell Elite

New Balance. So close. It was down to the cost and colour

Then the assistant brought out these New Balance. 

Woah. Look at the colours! Orange and Yellow and Mauve and Blue. That is a vivid palette. I’m not sure I’m bold enough to wear those colours. I’m used to greys in my Wave Riders. 

As soon as I put them on I could tell that these too, were some seriously good shoes. The comfort and construction matched the HOKA’s. Then when I ran with them on the dreadmill, I couldn’t tell the makes apart. Seriously. I honestly couldn’t. I was torn. I put the HOKA’s back on. I ran on them. I wore one of each and walked around on them looking for clues in the fit. I couldn’t split them. I put the New Balance on again and ran on the dreadmill. 

Oh, hang on a moment, what’s that? The arch support. There’s some cushioning there. Soft but noticeable. New Balance shoes are noted for arch support. My wife loves New Balance for this very fact. I don’t usually notice arch support in my shoes. I’m not sure if I like that or not. Would that break in after a few miles and be less noticeable, or would it cause blisters after 20 miles? I did not know and I thought long and hard about it.

In the end I went with the HOKA’s. I think I made the right decision. They feel great. Perhaps if I’d tried the New Balance on before the HOKA’s, I would have bought them instead. The only way to find out if I made the correct decision is to run in them. What works on the treadmill, might not work as well on a less forgiving asphalt or unforgiving concrete surface. I asked if there was any guarantee should they not work for me in the real world. I was told that HOKA shoes have a 30 day unconditional guarantee.

“So if I don’t run a PB at the Parkrun on Saturday I can return them?” I joked.

“Unconditional guarantee.” The assistant replied.

Okay then.

Post script:

I woke up this this morning, (How many Blues songs start like that?) With some rather sore glutes. I must have gave them something of a hammering as I fell on the treadmill yesterday.

Grandma's Marathon video

 My personal video shot during the run. I hope you enjoy it and that it gives you a feel for the event.

New day, new race, new plan.

Back home from a weeks relaxation after Grandmas marathon, and I’m easing back into working out ready for the Twin Cities Marathon. The old legs felt quite good last week, just a few days post marathon. So I completed a few short easy runs. To date they’ve not reacted badly to that. Which is a good sign. 

Counting back from race day (October 1st) in my Best Athletics training plan still puts me in the “prep phase”. So I really can be taking it easy and still be in a training plan. 

I got up, made some coffee in my new Grandma’s Marathon mug, and considered the day ahead.

I really like the Grandma’s coffee mug. A nice piece of merch.

Today on the training plan is down as a strength and conditioning day. Something which I’ve done precious little of in the past. I’ve always concentrated on racking up the miles to get me through a run. So I’m late to the party with strength training. But as I get older I should really work on it more to lessen the chance of silly injuries and niggles. I did pick up a couple training for the last Mara. Perhaps that was a warning.

As you can guess then, I know nothing about what exercises would be best for me. Google and YouTube was my friend here, and I quickly found videos from Ben is Running and Steven Scullion as well as Nick Bester, with some exercises that seemed quite easy for a beginner. I memorized them and headed to the gym.

Shhhh… Don’t tell the wife I “borrowed” her yoga mat. 

I’m not sure I knew what to expect from a strength and conditioning workout. But it was a lot tougher than I imagined. One set of reps of some of the exercises and I was working up quite a sweat! Then I added a weight and things got hard.

OK, I probably added too much weight. In the Ben is Running video, he worked with a kettlebell. It looked fairly big in the video, so I picked one in the gym that looked the same sort of size. It was 15lbs! Let’s face it. Black text on a black kettle bell is difficult to read. I decided that to start with I needed a lighter bell, I found a nine pounder. Things were easier. It still made me sweat. But I was more comfortable.

First S&C workout in the bag then. A new experience, and a not unpleasant one, certainly something I should have tried earlier in life. 

A few minutes with a legend

I’m in the presence of greatness

At the recent Grandma’s Marathon expo. I almost literally ran into running legend Dick Beardsley, and had the chance to spend a few minutes chatting with him. The meeting was quite by accident, as I almost bumped into him as he was walking away from a meet and greet session at a sponsors booth. 

If you haven’t met Dick before, you should know he likes to talk. He talks with such passion and joy in his voice that you can’t help but be carried away on his waves of enthusiasm.

Being English, my accent is often a gateway into conversation, and this time was no different. He latched on to this and was straight off into his memories of that first London Marathon in 1981 and the run with Inge Simonsen. 

He told me that He and Simonsen became best friends after that race, and they had been invited to drop the starters flag together at the 40th anniversary running of the event. But Covid had other plans. Perhaps they will be able to do that for the 50th.

He shared how they had duked it out from Tower Bridge onwards, each attacking the other, until they decided to cross the finish line together holding hands.

“It had never happened before, and it will never happen again”. He said. “It was exactly what that race needed”.

I remarked that in a post race interview he said that he had run three competitive marathons in three months.“Nobody would do that these days” he said, and he effortlessly segued into his training and race nutrition. His fuelling on the London Marathon had been flat Coke that had been sitting in his hotel room for a couple of days. It was the sugar in the Coke that kept him going. But the energy from the sugar burst only lasts for about three miles, then you crash and have to take more.

Every three miles he had to take a drink of flat Coke. How times have changed.

Times have changed with shoes too. “My shoes back in London weren’t much more than pieces of nylon with rubber soles”. He said before going on to explain about supershoes, how they work, and that I should be trying them. He related how he was utterly amazed the first time he tried a pair for himself. I envisioned him running out of control in these new shoes. 

If they are good enough for him, then I should give them a try.

He even charmed my wife, telling her she was the best sort of supporter for cheering me on at events. 

With that he was done, it may only have been five minutes but it had seemed like an hour or more. I had been so inspired by his passion. His recall of an event from almost 45 years ago was amazing, and he’s still clearly very excited by it. I asked him for a selfie and he willingly obliged.

I have a new sporting hero now. 

The Grand Plan

Nick Bester Sub 4 hour training plan

I am setting out my stall now. This is my plan for the next 12 months. 

My fastest marathon to date is the Whistlestop Marathon of 2005, I ran that in 3:56:46. I was extremely proud that day. I’ve run sub 4 twice since then, Twin Cities in 2008, (3:59:23) and Grandma’s Marathon in 2012 (3:59:55). 

Four hours is a good benchmark for the average runner. It’s a nice round figure. It’s also half the pace of the world record holder. It gives you something to think on when you’re out running at four hour pace.

“The world record holder runs twice as fast as this.” Mind boggling.

While I would have like to have run below four hours a few more times, things never worked out. I think I got a bit of a psychological block after a while.

Living on my runner’s high immediately after finishing in Duluth this year, I looked at Boston Marathon Qualifying Times. For my age group it’s 3:50:00. Twenty eight runners in my age group at Grandma’s posted a BQ time this year. Surely I could then? Couldn’t I?

I paused for a while. I think we all tend to get a little carried away with ideas while on our runners high after an event. 

A couple of years ago. I considered running an Ultramarathon during one of these post marathon rushes of blood to the head. So, I got off my arse, found a training plan and competed in an Ultra. I’m embarrassed to say I finished first overall in it, and in a much faster time than I expected. So I know I CAN do these things if I put my mind to it.

We all can do anything we put our minds to.

I searched around for a suitable sub-four hour training plan.

Recently, I have enjoyed following the videos of Nick Bester on YouTube. He has a great personality, and his individual training work has produced some amazing results. Anya Culling for example, went from being a 4:35:00 marathoner to qualifying to run for Great Britain (2:34:00) in the space of two years. That fact really piqued my interest. Of course I’m not going to get any personal training. But the substance of his plan structures must be basically the same across the board.

I found his website and downloaded his sub 4 plan and studied it. It’s a lot different to the Hal Higdon plans I’ve used for almost 20 years. There’s weight training in there, which would be a new experience for me. The plan also seems to contain less total miles, but more miles at a higher intensity. 

Most importantly, as Nick is based in the UK. Parkrun forms a part of the training structure. As you know, I love parkrun. Basically this plan allows me to run a flat out fast 5K every other week. I was pretty well sold at that point. 

I’m adopting the plan immediately for the Twin Cities marathon on October 1st. Now, I don’t expect to go sub 4 there this year. But I will get an idea if my 60 year old body will run that fast. I can then aim for a Boston Qualifier time at Grandma’s Marathon a year from now. 

Exciting days are ahead, that’s for sure.

Easing back on track

Put those running shoes on again.

I awoke feeling pretty good this morning, at our secret recovery location (lake place in Northern Minnesota). So I decided to go for a run. Usually, I don’t run so soon after a race. Perhaps it’s the protein recovery drink I took after the race. But my legs have been feeling quite good since Monday. I had already walked 7 miles in the previous days and didn’t feel bad. 

So a run it was. 

I started off very easily thinking if my joints and muscles complained then I could stop and walk again like the other days. But they didn’t so I eased up the pace slowly, and dialled it down if necessary. Quicker started to feel better and better. Each mile felt better than the first. Mile three was an utter delight. The joy of running started to course through my legs. With the early morning sun on my face, all was right with the world. I crushed the last tenth of a mile because I wanted to. 

Bring on Twin Cities Marathon!

 https://strava.app.link/Y91daM0mOAb

Grandma’s reflections

Monday morning. Relaxing on the shores of a lake in northern Minnesota. A great place to recover and reflect on the weekend.

A relaxing spot

It was a good weekend. I had a pleasant 5K, the marathon itself turned out somewhat tougher than expected. But I still reached two of my three goals for the race. Best of all, I met global running legend Dick Beardsley. That five or ten minute chat is worthy of a blog post in itself.

Dick Beardsley and yours truly. 

The 5K was done in 25:23 and I probably should have run it slower, but as the corrals moved forward at the start I found myself at the very front, right on the start line as they released my group. An open course is tempting and as I’ve never been in such a position before, I had to make the most of it. My video shows I was at the head of my group all the way past the first corner. 

The race went on. I had been running through the park above the lakefront and I heard a voice shout out.

“Ian!” 

It was Bob from Parkrun. I wasn’t expecting that. Parkrunners get everywhere.

Overall, I managed to rein myself in finishing two minutes slower that last year, and quite comfortable all the way around.

I cooled down and found Bob for a chat, and cheered my wife on as she finished. 

Marathon morning dawned bright and sunny. The marathon start area was as busy as I have ever seen it. There was a long, snaking line to get on the shuttle buses at Two Harbors, and when we got there it seemed like all 7000 entrants wanted use the bathroom at the same time. There were reports of people waiting over an hour in line and missing the start. I know we are all chip timed so it doesn’t matter when you cross the start line. But to be in that massed throng when the start command is issued is part of the experience. It’s one I wouldn’t want to miss, and I’d be pretty annoyed if I did. 

Conditions were great at the start. It was a green flag race,  so we were all feeling good about good times. I latched onto the 4:20:00 pace runner and stayed there quite comfortably. Until half way. She announced she was taking a potty break.

Great I thought. I’ll take one too. I did the same last year, when the pace runner stopped. I found her quite easily last year. Not so this time. 

I don’t know what went wrong.

Perhaps she took a quicker break than I. But I lost her. I’d been pretty quick so I thought I was ahead and slowed to catch her as she went past but she never did. It never occurred to me that she had been quicker. So I lost a few minutes there. 

I plugged on, and things got warmer. Everyone talks about how great the Lake Superior breeze is on Marathon day when it’s out of the east. It sure is. Except today there was no breeze. Gitchee Gumee was mill pond calm. That made things quite tough, and with a little haze out there from the Canadian forest fires. Conditions went from ideal to moderate. 

A little disconsolate that I had lost my pace group, and feeling some heat. At 18 miles I switched to my run walk strategy of .1 miles walk, .9 miles run, following the mile markers on the road. This strategy gets somewhat obfuscated when the water stations get thrown into the mix. But it gave me a chance to mentally regroup, attack Lemondrop Hill, and really push the final 5K. 

“It’s only a Parkrun”. I told myself at the 10 mile marker of the half marathon. That’s a distance I cover every Saturday morning at 9am . That gave me the boost I needed, and I pushed. According to the stats. I passed 185 people in the last 5K.

The spectator signs are always fun.

“What route does a marathon finisher take to the finish - The psycho path”

“You’re sexy when you’re hot. Call me”

“Worst. Parade. Ever.”

“Chuck Norris never ran a marathon”

There was even a marriage proposal sign. 

On Superior Street I saw a pace runner ahead. I hoped it would be the 4:20:00 runner, but as I closed in, I saw it was the 4:35:00 one. I pushed on harder remembering my goal to beat 4:33. Could I stretch out a two minute gap in the last mile and a half?

Push hard.

I kept pushing and overtaking people. 

Past the DECC, The William A Irvin. People who don’t know you cheer like you’re the winner. 

The 26 mile marker. Was I going to do it? Two minutes is a lot to make up in a mile. That last two tenths of a mile is a long way. 

“It’s Ian!” I heard my wife cheering me on. 

Keep pushing harder.

Why is the finish line so far away still?

Eventually the finish line arrived, and I remembered that I had been so intent on filming the start, that I forgot to start my watch as I crossed the line. My Garmin was .4 of a mile short. It recorded a time of 4:28 and change. I still didn’t know if I had met my goal. 

I sat with my medal and food. Spent and confused, not knowing my time was eating me up.

The App! The official Grandmas app had timing. It would have my time!

It did. 4:36:20.

What!!! But I had passed and left the 4:35:00 pace runner in my dust. Were they that far off the pace?

I was disconsolate, but did my best not to show it as I left the recovery area and met my wife and our other Parkrun friends. 

Then the news began to percolate through the marathon Facebook group. Through a glitch, the app was sending out gun times, not chip times. 

I still didn’t know my finish time!

Sure, I’d finished my 24th marathon. No mean feat. But did I reach my goal? 

Then at 4:15pm I received my official time email.

4:32:16. I HAD MET GOAL 2!

It was a little anticlimactic having had to wait so long. 

But I did it. I ran my 24th marathon faster than my first. after a gap of 19 years. I think that’s an achievement.

Now the runner’s high can set in.

Boston Qualifying time for my age group is 3:50:00. I wonder if I can do that?

Two races, three medals

Sweet Dreams are made of this.

Big events like a marathon create a lot of nervous energy. Different people channel it different ways. Some people have trouble sleeping. Some get all excitable. You can see that sort of person on Internet forums posting ALL IN CAPS WITH LOTS OF EXCLAMATION MARKS AT THE END OF THEIR POSTS!!!!!!!

Me, I’m a much quieter person. My nervous energy gets channeled in different ways. 

I have odd dreams. Not necessarily bad dreams. Just plain odd.

It has been that for as long as I can recall. Right from my days of acting on the amateur stage. I used to have a recurring dream where I woke up in bed, on the stage just before the curtain was about to rise.

When I was taking part in triathlon, I used it dream about swimming in circles and not getting anywhere. 

When I was co-driving a rally car, I would have all kinds of weird and wonderful dreams. The one I remember the most was when I was co-driving and my driver was pop singer Ariana Grande. I know nothing at all about her. But I knew it was her in the dream because her long pony tail was sticking out of the top of her crash helmet.

I came to depend on the dreams. I see them as a positive way of channeling my nervous energy. Some kind of good luck charm if you like. If I had the bad dream, things were going to be OK, and I was going to do well. 

So where has my bad dream been for Grandmas Marathon? It has been noticeably absent so far. Until last night.

I had this bizarre dream where I was taking part in a race where the route was so twisty and tortuous that we could only walk it. In single file. No-one could run. Only walk around this lush garden. A very odd situation indeed.

But it makes me feel good and ready for Grandmas Marathon.

BRING IT ON!!!!!   

 

Worms of Wisdy

As we get closer to race day. I’d like to share some words of wisdom. Things I have picked up over the years. Some serious, some fun. Some you will have heard before, some you may not. Hopefully you’ll be able to take something from them to help you through your race. 

1. Your first goal is to finish. You may want to set a PB or a BQ time or something. You never know what might happen on race day. The weather might not co-operate in some way. Perhaps you wake up feeling a little off-colour and extra nervous, and you just can’t do it. It’s happened to many of us. You’ve trained a long time for this. You should get to the finish first.

2. Always smile for the race photographer. Look like you’re enjoying yourself. No-one needs to know if you’re in any pain. If you can, save a little something and sprint in. Do you know how amazing that’s going to look if the photographer catches you with both feet off the ground? Your friends will see that picture and say.”Oh My God! Look at YOU! Running like that for 26 miles? You’re amazing!”

3. Enjoy the crowd. By the end, they are playing a huge part in keeping you going. There will invariably be young children offering high fives to runners. Take them. Take as many of them as you can. Give back.

4. Thank the volunteers. Seriously. This goes without saying. Over any distance, from 5K to Ultramarathon. We can’t run without volunteers. Manning water stations, road junctions, whatever. Thank as many as you can. It doesn’t take much. Maybe have a witty comment lined up. I used to thank volunteers at road crossings with “Thanks for making sure I don’t get run over”. A traffic cop in Duluth once laughed at that. A little thanks goes a long way.

5. Don’t wear your finisher/participants shirt until you’ve finished the race, It’s bad luck. OK, I just made that one up. BUT

6. You should wear as many t-shirts from previous years as you can in the days before. If you have them of course. It marks you as a veteran and a loyal supporter of the event. MIND YOU

7. If it’s your first time, it’s OK to wear other event finisher shirts.  You’re a runner. Be proud.

8.  The .2 effect (.1 for half marathoners) This is very real. You’ve run all the complete miles of the race, and you now have that last fraction of a mile to go. Crowds line the streets, cheering like you’re a superstar even though they don’t know you. From somewhere will come a burst of energy. Your aches and pains will subside and you will be able to dig in for a spectacular finish. (See number 2)

9. Savor the moment. Listen for your name being called by the race announcer as you approach the finish line. This is your moment. You’ve worked hard for this. Drink it in. Remember it. If its your first marathon remember it for the rest of your life.

10. The .05% factor Never forget that you are a part of an extremely small group of the population. Only .05% of the population have run a marathon. Be special. Have a great time.

Lights, Camera, Action!

GoPro, battery charger, and handy, dandy handle

A couple of weeks ago, I thought that it would be a fun idea to video my 25th marathon for the memories. I've seen some great POV videos of marathons online and some really capture the spirit and excitement of being there. You're right in amongst the runners, hearing the crowd and feeling the excitement. 

I recommend that you search out coach Nick Bester on YouTube and watch his London Marathon 2022 and 2023 videos. The crowds at London are really special, and Nick’s ebullience puts you right at the heart of the runners and all the energy. 

My 25th marathon, The Twin Cities marathon, is a whole summer away. Thinking ahead, I wondered how feasible it would be to carry my GoPro Hero 7 Black for 26.2 miles to record the event, and how much training I would have to do running with the small camera to get used to the extra weight. 

It turns out not much really. I ran with it for 10 miles and really didn’t have a problem. The big lesson learned was to power down the camera after I filmed something. Putting it to sleep still drained the battery. When I tried it out again on a 20 mile run I had no problems at all. No arm fatigue from carrying and no drained battery. 

“I guess I might as well use it on Grandmas too.” I thought to myself. 

Here we are then. On a petty annoyance level, it’s something extra to remember. Something more to put on the packing list. But the memories I should get from it outweigh that disadvantage.

This will be the sixth time I’ve run from Two Harbors to Duluth. As a result I’m quite familiar with what there is to see on the course. So it’s quite easy to put together a list of what the film should contain.

Start line scenes of course. The massed throng as it crosses the start line. Cliché shots of feet pounding the ground, that sort of thing. Crowd shots are a must when I get to Duluth. Then there’s the little things that I always see, like the phone box in someone’s garden. Then end the film with the finish line and the medal.

Hopefully the battery lasts to get all the things I want. 

Watch for the premiere of the video a week or so after the race.  

*Plan your race. Race your plan.

*All plans are subject to change every step of the 26.2 miles

Finishing in 2022 4:39:27 not what I wanted

What’s your plan for race day?

Are you going to head out fast and hold on to the bitter end? Perhaps you’re planning on running negative splits.

Maybe you’re going to do what I’m planning on doing and following a pace runner. You’ve had 16 weeks of training to work it out. Perhaps you’ve been adjusting your goals up or down as your training has progressed.

My plan was set in stone before I started training. It might even have been outlined at the end of last years event when I didn’t reach my goal time. 

This is my 19th year marathon running and Grandmas is my 24th race. Except after last year’s event I thought the 2023 race was going to be my 25th time over 26.2 miles. I wanted to mark my 25th marathon in some way. It took a lot of recounts on Athlinks and medal counting to confirm that it would actually be number 24. 

I remembered that first marathon. Whistlestop 2004. It was a great achievement. But I was absolutely spent at the end. I bonked and it was an absolutely agonizing struggle to finish. My time that day was 4:33:35. I decided that I wanted to run my 25th marathon faster than my first.

Given that all marathon courses are different and that I was planning on running two marathons in 2023 (now I’m running three) I would aim to run one of them faster than that first one. Three bites of the cherry if you like. 

Four and a half hours would be fine for me. But 10 minute miles would be about 4:22:00. Nice and easy to work out. Six miles an hour,

So that’s what I’ve trained for. An approximately four hour 20 minute marathon. I’m pretty certain I’m capable of finishing quicker than that. The Jeff Galloway magic mile calculator says I could do 4:11:39. If I could do that, I’d be ecstatic.

So my goals are:

1: Finish. This should always be everyone’s first goal.

2: Achieve goal time of 4:22:00. Though any time between 4:20:00 and 4:33:00 fits the bill.

3: Beat 4:20:00 

As the race has a 4:20:00 pace runner this should in theory be quite easy. I’m just going to sit there with the pace runner. Pace runners are trained to get you home in the time you want. 

Pace runners are great. They run well within their capabilities to get you home in your goal time. They have covered the marathon distance hundreds of times in their running careers. If you’ve never run with one before, you should expect lots of encouragement, instruction, and tactical advice. I’ve run with pace runners many times, and although I have sometimes been dropped by them because my plans were too grand for my level of fitness. I have also dropped them and gone on to a good finish time because they set me up well. I hope for the same this year.

Decision point.

My plan is to stick with the 4:20 pace runner to approximately 20 miles. There’s an English telephone box in someone’s front yard there. (The owner tried to sell it to me last year). If I’m feeling strong at that point, then I’ll up my pace to try to beat the 4:20 time. The infamous Lemon drop Hill comes at 21 miles so I may wait until I crest that before starting the final push. After that we have less than 10K to the finish. Cheering crowds line the route, and I’ll be carried along on a wave of enthusiasm to Canal Park and glory.* 

He’s making a list, checking it twice.

I think that’s everything. Marathon on the left, 5K on the right

What Ho running peeps!

It’s another day on the exercise bike, keeping the legs loose ready for the marathon this weekend. I’m going through my checklist, making sure I don’t forget anything.
It’s pretty important to be sure you have everything on race weekend, especially if you’re travelling away. It would be difficult to head back home nearly four hours if you get to your hotel room and find you’re missing some element of your race gear. If you’ve forgotten band aids, you can easily get them at a local pharmacy or grocery store. Shoes not so. I wouldn’t recommend getting any new running gear at the expo. You shouldn’t be wearing anything new on race day.

I’m doing both races this weekend. The William A Irvin 5K on the Friday evening, and then the marathon on the Saturday. So I need two sets of running gear. I need to be doubly sure I’ve got everything. I’ve completed all my long runs wearing the same gear, so I know that it all fits and shouldn’t chafe me. What I wear was decided a long time ago.

This is the first time I’ll start paying attention to the weather forecast, to see if I will need anything other than shorts, socks and top. Is it going to be hot with lots of sunshine? Then I’ll be needing my headsweats hat and my spf sleeves. Right now we’re looking at cloudy with a chance of showers and temps no higher than the 60’s. It could be almost perfect conditions. If it’s chilly at the start then I may wear a long sleeved undershirt to keep my arms warm. That’s a race time decision. Like at the recent Get in Gear half marathon when I decided just before I entered the start chute. 

There is one thing I’m watching for, weather wise. Is there a chance of thunderstorms at the time of the 5K? I don’t want to get caught out running in puddles and soaking my running shoes during that. I wouldn’t want to start the marathon in damp running shoes. A second pair of running shoes might be a prudent decision.

Nutrition wise, I need a Clif bar that I will take just about 20 minutes before the start. One water bottle with a serving of Hammer nutrition HEED. Most importantly seven Montana Huckleberry Hammer Gels. I love Hammer gels but the Montana Huckleberry is the only one I enjoy on a marathon. I take one every four miles,which at my planned pace is one every 40 minutes which fits in with the manufacturer recommendations. Plus one for emergencies. A Clif bar, HEED and Hammer Gels have seen me though 20 years of running. I won’t change now.

Then there’s my running belt to keep my gels and HEED in, and my number belt. Since my triathlon days, I’ve used a number belt. I know that the race number is the great leveller. Many of the greatest runners affix their numbers to their vests with safety pins. I find the number belt more convenient. I used to use a bog standard number belt, but am switching over to one that has loops it to hold my energy gels. Much easier than reaching into a zipper pocket on your running belt, or perhaps even the pockets of your running shorts.

I think that’s it. You should make a list out yourself. Laminate it and use it every time. I’ve even found that just writing this blog post has organized my thoughts of what I need to bring. 
Right now, I'm going to sit and stare at this pile of gear for a while, just to be doubly sure I haven't missed anything...

 

Long Run day.

It’s all relative.

Today my long run is eight miles. Two weeks ago it was twenty. Training is now a finely tuned science, and even though I feel like I could run 20 miles or more at the drop of the hat, training plans say NO! Even for professionals. Compare this to the interview with Dick Beardsley at the end of the London Marathon in 1981, that I blogged about the other day, he had run three competitive marathons in three months. That would be frowned upon in serious marathon circles today.

 I chose to run in Norwood Young America today, not because I had run there nearly all week and enjoyed the change of scenery. But because my favourite coffee truck was in the town. I would be able to treat myself to a coffee after the run. If you follow this fledgling blog for a while, you will notice that long runs to the coffee shop are an important part of my training plans.

Running through both Norwood and Young America would give me the chance to get some pictures of the neat old ballpark I saw on Tuesday. The Norwood loop is four miles, the Young America one, three. As I needed to run eight miles today, I needed to find a mile out there. If I find I need to do this on a run, I’ll run around the perimeter of parking lots, or run a crenellated pattern through city blocks. Even running the long way around a corner can add up. Races are measured on the shortest distance around a corner. If you run the longest route around a curve, you may only add a few hundredths of a mile. But if you do that round 20 corners, then you’re well in the way to adding a quarter of a mile to your run.

As usual I started with a quick warm up at the gym before heading out. It was very breezy out there and the temperatures were only in the upper 50’s compared to the low 70’s earlier in the week. There was a positive chill in the air.

Perhaps that made me run a little quicker, just to get warm. I circumnavigated a parking lot or two to get some extra distance in the bank straight away and headed up to the old ballpark.

It’s called “Willkommen Park”. It’s from another era.

The view from the right field fence

Welcome to Willkommen Park

Wonderful message on the outer wall of the grandstand

A last look at the ballpark

I said goodbye to the park and the wind blew me down the hill. Then as I passed one of the towns many churches, I spied Elephant Joe’s truck hidden in the trees.

I can see the coffee truck. Can you?

However, I still had 5 miles to go before I could get the days caffeine fix. I carried on under the highway and became fascinated with the sound of my feet striking the tarmac echoing around the tunnel walls. So soft. Quite the surprise. I expected a harder sound. 

I ran on. 

At one point I bemoaned the lack of garbage cans on the trail as I had to carry my sticky, used Hammer Gel packet for almost a mile. 

It was an unremarkable run, which is the way you want a “long” run. Pretty quickly, I was back in the parking lot where I started. I had found enough car parks to run around to get that extra mile in.

I cooled down and headed over to the coffee truck to get my reward.

The reward

That’s it. I’m shutting down until Friday and the William A Irvin 5K. I’m going to rest a few twinges and niggles I have. They don’t bother me when running. But I’ll rest them all the same. See you at the start line of Grandmas Marathon.

Parkrun Day.

I really do enjoy Parkrun. 

It has given me back some enthusiasm for running. I am approaching my 25th marathon in 20 years, and lately I have been feeling a lack of interest and was looking for another challenge. To that end, I took up cross country ski-ing, and was going to train for the American Birkebiner in Hayward, WI. over the coming years. 

Then I discovered Harry Morgan and his “Jog On” podcast and videos. He’s completed many a parkrun in the UK. His enthusiasm is infectious and the material he puts out is very entertaining. In one video I watched he stated that parkrun was a global phenomenon.
“Rubbish” I said to myself. “It’s a British thing, there aren’t any in America.” So I Googled parkrun and was taken straight to the Parkrun.us website.
“Oh, that’s interesting.” I thought. “I bet there aren’t any Parkruns in Minnesota though”. I was wrong again. There are three of them. 

“I bet there isn’t one near me”. My streak of being proved wrong extended to three as I found one just 35 minutes away in Chaska. Chaska Courthouse Lake Parkrun. I vowed to go to the next one on the coming Saturday. Parkruns are always on a Saturday, and almost always at 9am. I went. I had a great time.

If you don’t know about Parkrun. Here’s a quick history lesson. Parkrun began in the UK in 2004, when a gentleman called Paul Sinton-Hewitt, gathered a bunch of friends together to run a 5K course at Bushy Park in London. There were no medals or t-shirts. Just a time for your run. Those friends and a few more came back the next week to try to better their times, and the following week, and so on. Things grew and grew. Other Parkrun venues were added, and now you have the global running juggernaut that it is today. Over six million parkrunners are registered around the world. Parkrun is free, all you do is register online and print off your membership barcode. You then turn up at your Parkrun and, well, run. At the end of the race, your barcode and finishing token are scanned and your finish time is recorded. It’s that simple. 

My local parkrun in Chaska is a relatively new one that started in September 2021, and already they are up to 80 of them. That means they run in the winter. I’m reliably informed that the trail is kept clear in the snowy months. It’s only during the heaviest snows or the coldest cold weather that the event doesn’t take place. Minnesotans are a hardy bunch. The course is a simple out and back, very flat, aside from a steep hill before and after the turn around point.

I returned from my first parkrun excited, and told my wife that she should join in. Runners, walkers, run walkers, dog walkers, stroller runners. All are welcome. Even partially sighted walkers have taken part at CPL.

Parkrun here we come!

We like to get to the run site a bit early, Lorrie likes to socialize, and I like to get a warm up run in. Such is the nature of the people at parkrun, I’ve already picked up a running buddy for my warm up. Paul Barnard and I get in a mile to mile and a half warm up on the trail before the start. 

I never used to warm up before a run, I used it think I was wasting energy. Now I’m older, I really feel the benefit. Loosening up and getting my legs used to race usage. 

This week I had to be on my best behavior with Grandmas Marathon next weekend. No PB attempts. Just a comfortable run. 

Following the race briefing from Race Director Cynthia Smith-Strack, the race start command was given by Annabella, our visiting parkrun volunteer from Florida, a volunteer with almost 50 events as race director under her belt.

I knew that if I started running at the start command then I would just want to keep up with the head of the course. I waited for the start to clear, (there were only 30 runners) before heading out. I dropped into a comfortable 5K pace and enjoyed the morning. Easing past the other runners along the levee.

Runners stretched out on the levee.

The course takes a turn into some trees for some welcome shelter

The turn around is at the top of this steep hill

I met my cheerful wife as I was heading back to the finish line

Running back on the levee the runners were well stretched out.
Much respect to the three runners with strollers, they must have quads of steel.

The runners all kicked for home hard

I cruised through the field. Eight minute miles were feeling quite comfortable for a 5K for me. I was feeling strong. A mile from the finish I passed a pair of runners.

“You latch on to him” said the older guy. “He’s running strong”

“Someone need a pace runner?” I asked. There was some kind of affirmative gasp from behind me. I eased my pace slightly, checking my pace, it was 8:05 minute miles. I checked the runner. He was still there. He stayed there. I stayed at that constant pace. The young lad stayed there with me. With the finish in sight I kicked harder, he stayed there. We finished within seconds of each other. I’m proud to say I helped Xen Westie to a new parkrun PB.

The tale of the tape

Once finished, the fun part of parkrun starts. People socialize, compare times, discuss runs and things. I chatted a while with Dennis Amundson, one of the volunteers who is running Grandma’s Marathon like me. Then once his wife and mine got chatting, phone numbers were exchanged, and now both ladies are planning to watch the end of Grandmas marathon together. 

With all the race accoutrements all packed away, a group of us retired to Caribou Coffee for more socializing. Sometimes we take up one table at the coffee shop, sometimes two. Today three tables,  inside and out filled with runners and volunteers.

It’s during this time that one of the things that really amazes me about the whole parkrun thing takes place. Race director Cynthia gets her iPad out, uploads the results, and just like that, the whole parkrun database is updated. Within moments all participants get their race result email, with all their details. Pretty amazing.

Parkrun result email: Delivered moments after the results are uploaded

Another fun day. I behaved myself (pace wise) and helped someone to a PB. Things don’t get much better than that. 

Thanks to all the volunteers, this can’t be done without you. I’ll see you when we get back from Grandmas Marathon.