The week in training (2)

July 3rd - 9th

Monday Week two of Twin Cities Marathon training starts off with another S&C workout. These really work me hard right now. The balance exercises with kettlebells are really tough. For those who are interested this is the workout I'm doing right now. 

Tuesday. Happy 4th July! Today, we ran the 4th July 5K in Delano, MN. Delano has the largest 4th July parade in Minnesota and the 5K precedes the parade along the parade route. My wife and I had vastly differing experiences.

Wednesday. Rest Day. About time and much appreciated.

Thursday. Six Miles easy 

Thursday’s run

Friday. S&C kicked my arse again.

Saturday. You all know it’s parkrun day today. Today is different. I volunteered. We all need to volunteer once in a while. Events like these can’t go on without volunteers so it’s good to give back. There will be a blog post about the experience to follow.

Sunday. 10 miles. Pace felt very comfortable over the distance. I really felt that I had a few more miles in the legs at this pace. But it was the view that made it all worthwhile.

A 10 mile PR you say?

A grand early morning view to end the training phase.

This is the end of the prep phase of the training plan. Tomorrow we begin the build phase of the Best Athletics training plan. Exciting days are ahead.

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.

Rundle (3) Baylor Regional Park. A Cross Country Rundle

Who like me, detested cross country at school? It was the winter athletic sport/method of torture, of choice when I was being educated. Running across fields, up and down hills, through farmyards, slipping and sliding in the mud. 

Ugh. Then why do I find myself looking forward to this run at Baylor Regional Park forty years later?

Mainly because it’s not cold wet and muddy. I have run my fair share of marathons on trails. Approximately 24 of the 26.2 miles of The Whistlestop marathon in Ashland, WI are on old railroad track bed, not unlike the surface at the park. I’ve run that event in the snow. I have cold weather running gear, when needed. Cross Country holds no fears for me now.

Since I learned to cross country ski earlier this year, I have spent quite a bit of time on the trails in the park getting the hang of the sport, and I love it. There’s five miles of trail here, and as that was what my training plan called for. That was what I decided to do. Run the trails that I have ski’d and snowshoe’d.

It didn’t look like this the last time I was here

Of course, everything looks totally different at the end of spring compared to the bleak midwinter when I was here skiing last. Where I felt I should run turned out to be an RV pitch, and a fire pit had appeared from nowhere. But once I got out of the camp site it was plain sailing.

The scenery was a beautiful as it was in the winter.

Nicely compacted limestone trail, comfy on the legs.

The trail heads off into the distance

I easily found the section of the trail where I had embarrassingly fallen going uphill, because my skiing skills were no match for the gradient. Another spot I recalled because it was where I fell and lost track of one of my ski’s as it sped off into the undergrowth.

The oddest thing I saw on the trail were the brushwood teepee’s in a couple of clearings in the woods. Why they were there is a mystery. It was an interesting sight to cogitate on as I jogged around the trail.

Teepee 1.

Teepee 2.

I left the woods behind and skirted Eagle Lake, the swimming beach was deserted. A few swans in the distance were pretty much the sum total of the wildlife I saw on the run. 

No swimmers today

The Observatory

One thing worth recording on the run is the Minnesota Astronomical Society’s Onan (Eagle Lake) Observatory. The M.A.S. is one of the largest astronomy societies in the USA. The observatory is sometimes open at night for star parties when you can use their telescopes to view the cosmos.

With that I headed back to the car. My Garmin came up slightly short on the distance, so I did a lap of the parking lot to bring up five miles. A relaxing run in lovely scenery. Nothing could be finer. What’s next? 

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.

Rundle (1) Norwood Young America.

What’s a Rundle?

Rundle is the name I give to my training runs. 

Do you remember way back in the far off Covid times of a couple of years ago? Wordle was the big thing, and people posted their scores all over social media. I got sick of those posts very quickly. In reply I posted my Strava run details and called them “Rundles”. The name stuck. 

Here then is the first Rundle of the blog.

You would expect that my first Rundle would be of a route that I run regularly. Not so. This is the first time I’ve run this route in Norwood Young America. 

As I’m tapering down for Grandmas marathon, I find myself tiring of my regular shorter routes in my home town, and I’m in need of a change. My gym is the Snap Fitness in NYA so I thought I’d run around there. A sort of voyage of discovery. 

After a 20 minute warm up in the gym, I set out on my three mile/5K run. (I’d measured it out on Google Earth the night before so I was pretty certain of the distance.) 

It’s nice to run on new roads, distances can fly by quicker because you don’t know where you are. On a familiar run you know exactly where you are. 

All. 

The. 

Flipping. 

Time. 

It can get quite tedious. 

I left the health club and ran past the school, through a residential area and turned at a delightful small town baseball park (note to self; take pictures next time). 

I ended up taking a wrong turn at a staggered 5 road crossroads, but that made little difference to the total distance covered. The only drawback being that I ran on the shoulder of the busy Highway 5 for about 1/4 mile. In another way it was a fruitful wrong turn, as in the distance I spied my favourite food truck. Elephant Joe’s Coffee. I decided to stop there when I was done. As I approached the end of my run, I saw that there was an underpass beneath Highway 212 leading into Norwood itself. There’s another new running route to discover sometime.

The pace of 9:04 minute miles was likely a bit fast, but I find that short runs can be quite comfortable at quicker paces by this stage of training. You’re hardly eating into your energy reserves at all, and if your breathing is fine. You’re good. 

It’s humid hereabouts right now, and thanks to the Canadian forest fires, there’s an air quality alert for sensitive groups today as well. But I felt quite comfortable out there, and had such a pleasant time discovering 5 kilometers of new roads, that a cup of coffee from Elephant Joe’s was a nice treat to end the run with.

I’ll have a large “Ivory Elephant” please. Thank You.