Happy Halloween!

Now get out & run!



I'll be running this race... and *sigh* I've seen the course and I'll probably come in last. But that's ok, cuz there are prizes for the last four!

With apologies to Aimee Mann

Forty-one today
What a thing to say
Drinking Guinness in the afternoon
Taking shelter in the black cocoon...

So far, the family has forgotten, but kickrunners, Facebook and my coworkers have not. And I have to renew my driver's license after work or I'll be all illegal.

More racing

little boy ran Jack's Race 5k this morning. His CC coach won the race.

I ran 7 when we got home. It was 45 and windy, so naturally I overdressed. I tried out a new chiropractor on Friday to address my piriformis issues that I don't want to get any worse. She is good! I was much more comfortable running (surprised to find I ran a 9:20 pace), but my hip definitely needs more stretching. If I'm actually going to run the Freedom 10 mile next week, I probably ought to register!

I'm glad someone is keeping tabs on my boy

He doesn't call, he doesn't write. But at least someone takes Big Boy's picture from time to time and posts it on Facebook. Thanks, Tenley!

Sorry blog, I've neglected you

In favor of Facebook, which I'm too old for, but which makes it so easy to post random things without having to think about it much. Plus the fact that Blogger Mobile does not work at all...

I have pix from last night's Section 4AA cross country race. I'm going to election judge training tonight, so if I can coordinate all the after work and after school details, maybe I can get them up here.

Some pictures

I'm back to running a little after the marathon. Technically, I haven't stopped running at all, because I've kept to the schedule that's on the right. Five miles this morning went fine, but wow was it ever cold. I had to wear a winter top that luckily has thumb holes so that the sleeves can be half mittens! Brrrr! My quads feel fine, but my left hamstring is still a little stiff. Day off tomorrow and we'll see how 6 goes on Saturday.

little boy's CC team won their conference on Tuesday.

ST. PAUL CITY CHAMPIONSHIPS (5K)

At Como Park

Central 23, Como Park 66, Highland Park 69, Johnson 92, Arlington 127, Harding 152, Humboldt incomplete. Medalist—Kemal Jarso, Central, 16:09

little boy ran a PR 17:04 on this race. It was really exciting to watch. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera and I'm still figuring out the camera on my new phone, so I have no pictures but mental ones. So here are some pix from last weekend's races.

Whistlestop 2008

Well, it was 20 degrees warmer at the start (49, not 29 like last year) and I was overdressed. It was also a lot sunnier than they'd predicted. It was unpleasant when we hit the sunny parts of the trail and it was almost 70 by the time I finished.

There was one guy running his own private ultra. He'd started in Ashland at 3am and had run to Iron River (where the race starts). I saw him show up before the race started and pick up his gear bag. I guess he ran all the way back to Ashland with us, but I never saw him again. There was a guy close by me at the start who dropped and did 12 push ups. Twelve? Why? I didn't want to make him feel bad, or I'd have dropped and done 40 or so.

Yes, I was shooting for a 3:50. I had a pace band that gave me 8:44 miles, which based on my last several races was a realistic goal. I didn't hit the wall, nor did the wheels really fall off. I was carrying a water bottle (I think I should learn to do without that) but my shot bloks were making me feel gross after mile 17 or so and I spit out the last one at mile 21. My right calf was crampy from about mile 22 onward, but it wasn't particularly painful. After awhile, I just couldn't make myself go any faster. I started losing time after mile 21 and by mile 24 I was three minutes behind my pace band and I knew I couldn't make it up.

little boy showed up around mile 23 to cheer me up and run me in. He'd won the 10k race and told me about it as I tried to speed up (but couldn't). He did his best as cheerleader, but I finally told him that I knew I couldn't run a 6 minute mile, so I would be happy breaking four hours and that would be good enough. And it was.

I managed to keep passing people over the last 10k. There were two guys running ahead of me that little boy kept trying to cajole me into reeling in. I thought it just wasn't going to happen, especially as those mile markers kept seeming farther and farther away! I never saw mile 26. little boy took off to watch me finish just about as I passed those two guys and could hear the finish line hooting and hollering. I passed another two people and actually managed a half hearted sprint to the finish. Splits below.

1 - 8:23
2 - 8:25
3 - 8:37
4 - 8:40
5 - 8:44
6 - 8:50
7 - 8:46
8 - 9:03 (water bottle)
9 - 8:25
10 - 8:37
11 - 8:33
12 - 8:42
13 - 8:48
14 - 8:48
15 - 9:16 (water bottle)
16 - 8:57
17 - 9:01
18 - 8:46
19 - 8:52
20 - 8:43
21 - 9:03
22 - 9:28 (water bottle)
23 - 9:48
24 - 9:41
25 - 9:29
26 - 9:36
0.2 - 8:08 pace

Chip time - 3:55:55.

I ran this course as my first marathon last year in 4:03:11. I think if I get my fueling figured out and run a race on pavement as opposed to gravel trails, I could go faster.

All in all, I feel much better about this race than I did last year. I felt so crappy and discouraged last year that I swore I'd never run a marathon again. I had also managed to tweak my achilles enough to make running painful for several months following the marathon.

After I finished, little boy & I walked back to the car so I could see his trophy and change out of my shoes. The we walked a couple of blocks to Lake Superior and I sat in the lake for ten minutes. The lake is definitely colder than a plain old cold water bath, as my legs were numb within about three minutes! We wandered back up to the beer tent and I re-carbed myself with a couple of beers and some pretzels.

We spent another night in Ashland and this morning took a little 2 mile run together. My left hammy is a little cranky and my quads are telling me that I did something yesterday! I loosened up on the run, though. We drove to Bayfield and walked around some, then headed to Duluth for some Hell's Kitchen brunch. It always seems to take forEVER to drive back home from Duluth.

little boy's report on the 10k follows:


Well, my race was very fast. I saw Mom off on her bus, and waited around downtown Ashland for another hour, checking out the competition. I was a little intimidated by the college boys that I saw but found out that they were running the 5k (top finish time 17:54). So I got on the first bus and got to the start about 7 minutes later (much less waiting than last year for the 1/2), then I went for a warm-up run for 10 minutes, and went through the regular warm-up drills I do for CC. Strangely no one else was doing anything to warm-up, hmm... maybe I was the weird one. At the start I see the real competition, a Duluth Running guy, and a pot-belly guy, both looked way older than me (I guessed ~25), they both looked fast so I figured that I would stay with them for the first couple then drop off if it was too fast.


The Splits:

1-5:45 (a bit excited)
2-6:01
3-6:00
4-6:08
5-5:54
6.2-7:10 (5:58 pace)

Total: 37:01.1, chip time 36:58.12, average pace 5:57

So, it turns out that DuluthRunning and PotBelly were not that fast; only DuluthRunning stayed with me in the first 1.7, then I must have psyched him out when I started talking to him:

I asked "have you done this one before?"
"yeah, I've done the 1/2 and 10k before, you?"
"Oh yeah, I did the 1/2 last year, but decided that it was a bit too much for me, so I signed up for the 10k this year"
"really, how'd you do?"
"I got 15th overall"
"wow thats pretty good"
"yeah for my debut"

He then dropped back, and I sped up a little and ran alone for the next 4 miles. I looked back a few times and he seemed to stay in the same place for 2 miles, then he started slowing down and by the end he was 37 seconds behind me. It was really cool to pass most of the 5k walkers and the really slow runners. I was so fast that the announcers didn't even know that I was a 10k'er.

I waited around for 2 more hours for awards, then I high-tailed out back to the course to cheer on Mom!

Taper Not-So-Madness

Taper is ok this time. Mostly I'm restless and a little bored and have phantom pain. I wasn't really loving getting up at 4am, so that part is good. The 50k training I have planned emphasizes LONG runs on the weekends and mostly 4s, 5s and 6s during the week, so in the cold, dark winter I will be out the door on orchestra mornings at 4:30. Hmm... Oh well.

I'm playing with my new phone, which is going to lead to me staying up too late.