The week in training

I think you can get the feel for how this blog is proceeding. It's about the experience of running. There won't be a great deal about the minutiae of training. If you want to read about lactic acid thresholds, go to a professional. I'll report on my training of course. My training runs will always be on my Strava page but for the purposes of the blog. I'll put together a weekly report.

Starting Now. 

Mon. Jun 26th - Sun. Jul. 2nd

Monday. I'm easing into the Best Athletics Sub 4 training plan ready for the Twin Cities Marathon. (My third TCM). The first workout was a strength and conditioning workout that worked me quite hard. Never having done an S&C workout before, I was quite surprised.

In the afternoon, I went over to a local TCRunning store to try out for a pair of supershoes. That painful experience was also documented on the blog. 

Tuesday. My bruised backside from falling on the dreadmill is very, very sore, and my scabbed over knee doesn't like to flex much. A comfy chair was the place to be today, and I did some work on one of my other hobbies Model Railways.

Wednesday. Less sore than the previous day, I set out on a very easy 5 mile run. It wasn't too painful.

The run route this week

Thursday. Back at the gym for another S&C workout. Those exercises that involved me flexing my scabby left knee were a tad uncomfortable. The workout worked me harder than on Monday. Which must be good.

Friday. Another easy five miles around town

Saturday. PARKRUN! Saturdays are parkrun day. If you’re a runner and you haven’t tried parkrun and you happen to have one close to you. I urge you to sign up and take part. 

Sunday. This longer run was probably a mistake after the flat out exertion of yesterdays parkrun and the heat this morning. But you can always take something from a run. There were five very good, strong miles in there. All I have to do is build up the strength and endurance to add 21 more by Grandma’s next year.

All in all, a good week to start things going.

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.

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. 

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

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...

 

Treadmill Trivia

What Ho running peeps!

OK. I’ll come clean. I’m not on the dreadmill. I wouldn’t be able to type anything while running. I’m on the exercise bike cross training. So for a bit of fun while I turn over the pedals. Here’s some running trivia for you. We all love trivia don’t we?

Which Lake Bemidji innkeeper and fishing guide has won Grandmas Marathon twice, and the London Marathon?

Dick Beardsley.

He’s a running legend. The only person to have run 13 consecutive marathon personal bests. Think about that a moment. Running a PB thirteen times in a row. That fact alone should boggle the mind. 

His finish time of 2:09:37 at the 1981 Grandmas Marathon stood as the course record for 33 years. 

But he is probably best known for his 1981 London Marathon finish with Norwegian Inge Simonsen. I can vividly remember watching the inaugural London Marathon back home in the UK as an impressionable youth. It was a huge thing with live TV coverage every step of the way.

It raised the profile of Marathon running in the UK and inspired many people take up marathon running. (Not me, that was still over 20 years away). But I do remember thinking as the two runners finished, that this was something pretty special. A unique runner's bond. It’s not stretching things too far to state that the Beardsley/Simonsen finish helped set the reputation of the London Marathon as one of the world’s great marathons. It was exactly the finish the race needed. It was so “British” in a way. If this race had been in America, the public would have wanted the US runner to power away to a resounding solo victory.  This was a result for the greater good of the sport.

Here’s some highlights of the event. If you don’t know the history of this race or had forgotten it, you’ll do well to take a look at this BBC footage from the time. It contains priceless interview footage with ordinary runners. If you aren’t inspired by Scots woman Madge Sharples then you are a cold, lifeless, human being. It’s also worth listening to Dick at the end of the race. I don’t think any professional marathon runner would do what he did today. 

Grandmas Marathon runners hear Dick’s voice at the start and finish line as he commentates with another Minnesota running legend Carrie Tollefson.

When Dick is not traveling the world being an in demand motivational speaker you can find him running a Bed and Breakfast up nort’ in Bemidji MN. If you’re a fisherman you can also have this Minnesota Running legend be your fishing guide on Lake Bemidji. 

Rundle (2) Norwood

Norwood Young America or NYA, depending on your point of view, is one, or two places. Historically speaking, Young America came first, being platted in 1856. Norwood in 1872. The two settlements merged in 1972. Depending on which you live in, the settlement can be known as Norwood, or Young America. Divided by Highway 212, I think of Young America as north of the highway and Norwood south. Having run in Young America on Tuesday, and spied the highway underpass as I finished, I thought that as today was Global Running Day. I would discover Norwood.

Whats down here?

As with the previous day, I warmed up on the exercise bike in the gym for 20 minutes. Setting out, I looped around the public trail through the school grounds before hitting the underpass on my voyage of discovery. 

NYA appears to have a good selection of new trails and sidewalks, judging by those that I ran on. It was nice to have a good trail away from the highway as heavy semis and cars sped by.  
I had planned out a route of 4 miles on Google Earth. I find it a quite handy tool to use for plotting routes. The measurement of distances is accurate, and you can always take a look in Streetview to see if there are any notable features on the route, should you think you’ll get lost running in a new locale.

Is that a train I see?

As I’m a bit of a railroad enthusiast, turning onto Railroad Avenue filled me with hope that I’d see a train. But it wasn’t until I had done a loop around the strip mall and was heading back the way I came, that I spied a couple of locomotives at the head of a train on the Minnesota Prairie Line spur. It was hidden by trees, if the motors had been running, I would have for sure heard and seen it the first time!

Running on more good sidewalks I soon found myself at the ballpark fields, a very nice community facility. My Garmin had chirped at three miles, so I was pretty confident that the Google Earth prediction of 4 miles would be correct. I slalomed through the trees for good measure. 

The Karmann Ghia is the Orange/Red car in the middle

Crossing over the railroad. I hoped to hear the horn of an approaching train in the distance, but no such luck. However, on the other side of the road, I saw a small industrial unit signed as “Dune Buggy Supply”. Outside were parked a couple of VW Beetles, a pair of Microbuses, and a Karmann Ghia. I secretly covet a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. So it was pretty sweet to see one. 
That was it really. Back to the underpass, under 212, and just as I entered the gym parking lot, my Garmin chirped four miles. Excellent.
Once again, the run could be said to be a bit on the fast side, but I was having fun exploring, and I hadn’t worked too hard, despite the humidity feeling higher than the previous day.

How did I get here?

Twenty years ago, I didn’t even have an idea of running one marathon. Let alone coming up on 25 of them. It was 2004, I had entered my forties, and like everyone approaching their mid-life crisis, I started to evaluate my life. Things I’d done. More accurately the things I hadn’t.  I remembered seeing something about the first Ironman triathlon on TV growing up. I thought that was pretty amazing. Perhaps I could work towards that. I’d improve my fitness that’s for sure. That would please my family physician. 

I decided I would start small to see if I liked it, and go from there. I signed up for the first Buffalo, MN sprint triathlon, found an online training plan and started training. 

Everything was going well until two weeks before the start. Out on a training ride, I got too close to a crumbling road shoulder, fell and broke my collarbone.

Two weeks from race day!

I was pretty upset. All that hard work and training was for nothing. On top of that I was signed off work for six weeks. All I could do was sit at home and feel sorry for myself.

A few weeks later, my brother-in-law, Jeff, was running Grandma’s marathon. He had started training for marathons at the same time as I started on triathlons. He then gravitated to triathlon, completing a dozen Ironman, including Kona, while I switched to running from doing triathlons.

My wife and I went up to Duluth to cheer him on. I sat on a lawn chair on the finishing straight, my arm in a sling, still feeling sorry for myself. 

That was until I saw a young woman run past with her arm in a sling! She was running the half marathon.

She was running with her arm in a sling! 

I immediately stopped feeling sorry for myself. After the race, we went home. Pretty much as soon as we got back, I changed, strapped up my arm tightly and went for a run. Just a couple of miles, but there was no pain. I could run again! 

Naturally, the next thing to do was find a marathon to run. The Twin Cities marathon was already full, but there was a marathon in Ashland, Wisconsin in the fall. The Whistlestop. 

We have friends that live in Ashland. We had a marathon. We had accommodation. 

For a few years, I ran various triathlons and the Whistlestop marathon. That was until I got to the half Ironman distance. It was then I discovered I would never be a strong enough or confident enough swimmer to do an Ironman. I switched to marathons and never looked back.

Marathon has given me so many memorable experiences. Good and not so good. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve listened to experienced marathoners, I’ve ignored what experienced runners have told me and paid the price. 

I’m 60 now and retired. I’ve matured as a runner. I’ve left my best years and PB’s behind me, so there’s no pressure. It’s all about the joy of running now. 

I think about the woman with her arm in a sling sometimes. Is she still running?