Racing Reminiscing

Do you remember your first time?

I hadn't really thought about it recently, until today. A Daily Mile friend posted a picture of her and her daughter from the Halloween Trick or Treat Trail Run in Sioux Falls and the memories all came flooding in.

I remember how new I was to running. Back in 1999 I was running in cotton shorts and t-shirts. No Garmin or Timex watch, just me looking at the clock on the wall as I headed out the door. I remember that a long run back then was 5 miles. Running has been quite the journey for me. I have saved most of my racing bibs and I generally write the race results, date, my age, finish time, average pace, and placing on the back of most of them. Here are what I would today consider my top ten for various reasons.

1. The Trick or Treat Trail Run in Sioux Falls. Of course number one has to be my first race, it was back in 1999. I remember several runners wearing costumes, in particular a group of guys taking turns pushing each other in a wheel chair. This was a 4 mile race, I still have the newspaper results, I finished in 31:03, not too shabby for my first! My most memorable moment of this race is coming around the last turn before the finish, I was giving it all I had just to make it to the finish line when all of the sudden....a speed walker passed me. Pretty damn funny if you ask me!

1999 Trick or Treat Trail Run - Sioux Falls, SD 

2. I moved to Illinois shortly after my first race. I found a strong running group in Illinois, the Illinois Valley Striders (IVS). The great thing about IVS is that there were 5K or 10K races within about an hours drive almost every weekend. I really "cut me teeth" for running with 5K's. My first 5K was on July 1, 2000, I finished in 24:16. It was ok, the most memorable part was finishing up at the Peoria Chiefs Ballpark by running across home plate.

2000 Peoria Chiefs 5K - Peoria, IL

3. Race number three is my 5K personal best.This took place on June 15, 2002 in the Prostate 5K. I finished in 19:11 and was also first in my age group at that race! I don't remember a whole lot about that race other than seeing 18 minutes slip away on the clock. Still a great race and a PR to this day.

June 2002/ 5K personal best of 19:11 - Peoria, IL

4. Race number 4 is my first half marathon. This took place in Delavan, Illinois. We had a bus take us out into the middle of the country. We ran two 6 mile loops and finished up by running into town and finishing at a school. This was in March, I remember it was cold and there was really nothing to see but miles of blacktop roads and empty corn fields. I finished in 1:50:29 and was 3rd in my age group. They did a great job of using up old leftover racing bibs as this one was 3 years old when it got to me!

May 2001 Delavan Half Marathon - Delavan, IL

5.First Marathon. Throughout most of my running and racing history I had no desire to run a marathon. A good friend of mine in Sioux Falls talked me into it. We decided that we would train together and run it together. About halfway through the training he became injured, so I had to go solo. I made a lot of rookie mistakes, went out too fast, bloody nipples, didn't drink enough fluids. It was a tough go but very emotional at the finish. There is nothing like finishing your first marathon. Finishing time was 4:10:12, I haven't improved a whole lot from the first.

October 2009 First Marathon - Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

6. Frisco High Line Run for Scouting Half Marathon, Springfield, MO. This is my half marathon personal best and I got it this year! I must say that I was in pretty damn good shape coming out of the winter. I did this race in preparation for a Fargo Marathon BQ (that never happened). It was a nice little race. I remember it that it was extremely flat and we ran it in the middle of a thunderstorm. I was surprised that they didn't call it because there was lightening and thunder going off all around us. I finished in 1:33:45, I was 10th overall and 3rd in my age group. I was also lucky enough to meet Jon and David of  Daily Mile fame!

March 2011 Frisco Half Marathon - Springfield, MO

7. Hy-Vee Triathlon. This was my first Olympic distance triathlon. I did run two sprint triathlons prior to this but I am not quite sure what I did with the bib numbers.The triathlon is a whole other beast. The training takes a lot of time and dedication while the actual race itself requires patience and discipline in order to make it through all three events. I am probably more proud of this than any of my other accomplishments because of the training and logistics involved. If you are a triathlete or considering becoming one, I highly recommend the Hy-Vee Triathlon. It is well organized and a first class event all the way! (I may be a little biased because I work for Hy-Vee so do your homework first)

September 2011 First OD Triathlon - Des Moines, IA

8. Dam to Dam. I ran this race back in June of 2002, that was a really strong year of running for me. If you recall from # 3, this was my year of the 5K PR. The Dam to Dam was the first time that I had met up with people from a running social networking site. I can't remember the name of the site but I believe that Josh Cox  ran it before it was turned over to Cool Running. I remember running near a barefoot guy for awhile, I thought he was crazy. It was a great race, I finished in 1:28:01 (7:05 pace) and was 135th overall out of 2,500. I was pretty proud of myself!

June 2002 Dam to Dam - Des Moines, IA

9. Lake Run - Best Darn Race By a Dam Site. This also was in my 2002 breakout year. Interesting note about this race is that it is a 12K and a 4.37 mile run. The 12K runs around the lake and the 4.37 mile is an out and back course. They start at the same time in opposite directions but finish at the same place. I do remember that there were some ladies walking 3 abreast for the 4.37 mile run taking up half of the road. I was pretty mad that I had to run around them because they were inconsiderate and didn't even think to move. Yeah...you would have thought I was trying out for the Olympics or something. Still a great race, my 12K PR with a finishing time of 49:12 (6:37 pace).

2002 Lake Run - Normal, IL 

10. Polka Pace Race. Really nothing special about this 5K, I just thought you might find the name amusing like I did. I ran this back in 2000, two moths after I had run my first 5K. I lowered my time to 21:55 by the time I ran this race in September. I was a 5K machine back then! My fan club (my daughter) decided to write a little note on this one. :-)

2000 Polka Pace Race - Havana, IL

As I finish writing this there are a lot of other races I could have included. Running and racing has allowed me to have a healthy hobby and meet a ton of awesome like-minded people. It has been an awesome journey and I look forward to the future!

Do you remember your first time? Any interesting racing stories from the past? 

I have completed race distances of 2.5 mile, 5k, 4 mile, 4.37 mile, 10K, 12K, 10 miles, 15K, 20K, Half Marathon, and Marathon. I am working on a possible 50K for 2012. What unusual race distances have you run?

Training Update

I have not posted since the Fargo Marathon back in May, mostly because there hasn't been anything too exciting to post and I have been super busy. Since finishing Fargo I have enlisted a coach to help me with my training. Not because I have any hopes of becoming an elite athlete but because I was feeling overwhelmed with my summer training. As I have mentioned before, I am signed up to do a century ride as a fundraiser for JDRF and have plans to run the Mankato Marathon in October. I am a runner at heart but was talked into doing the ride because it is for a great cause, it is for one of the major charities that my company supports, and of course....I love a challenge. I did not even own a road bike until May so I had not clue as to how to train for a 100 mile ride while also maintain my marathon training.

The Coach
I found Coach Jeff from PRS Fit through my running buddy Jenn. Jeff trains his athletes mainly through heart rate training. I am just over one month into my training with Jeff and I can tell you that it has been a positive experience so far. He gives me enough workouts to keep me busy but not so much to cause injury. Jeff provides me with running, cycling, and strength training work outs. An interesting fact is that in the five weeks that I have been training with Jeff, I have had two complete rest days, one was during week one which was more of an evaluation week, and the second rest day was because I just could not fit a strength training workout into my day due to job responsibilities. This busy schedule fits right in with my restless personality, but it is also tempered with enough variety through the week to keep me injury free.

The Ride

Currently most of my weeks consist of 3 days running, 2 days cycling, and 2 days of strength training. Although it's not my favorite thing to do, I am enjoying the cycling. What a great way to cover much more ground than running, and it presents a unique set of challenges. My rides so far have been 1-3 hours in duration with my farthest ride being right at 40 miles and my average pace is typically about 15.5 mph. I still have a long way to go though because I am anticipating my century ride to take about 9 hours. Luckily I will have some other people to share it with. By the way, I have now raised just over $1,000 for the ride. I still have at least $2,000 to go. Thank you so much if you are one of the people that have helped donate towards my ride. If you have not yet but would like to, it is super easy, quick, safe, tax deductible, and can even be anonymous if you prefer. Just go here to donate to my ride, thank you so much for your generosity!

The Run
It has been difficult to figure out where my running performance had progressed. At this point in my training it is mostly building and maintaining a strong base. It has been a little different because the coach has us mostly run in prescribed heart rate zones for a certain duration of time. This means that you don't always know exactly how far your run will take you. Terrain, weather, and general overall well being can cause some fluctuation in distance. This is the first time in all of my years running that I really have not paid any attention and up until today, could not tell you how many miles I ran this week or last.

Last week was my first performance test since employing a coach. I ran the "Salute the Troops" 10K race. I can only remember running one other 10K, so I was a little worried about race strategy. How fast to go out, and what kind of pace that I could maintain. I was fairly confident that I could hold 7:30 for the 6.2 miles and if things were really clicking along, I might even be able to run it a bit faster. Unfortunately 80 degrees and 90% humidity do not make for ideal race conditions. I won't get into too many details other than I went out way to fast which is a common mistake. I just had a tough time judging my speed for the first mile or so. My splits were 6:55(whoa hoss!), 7:25, 7:23, 7:46, 7:53, 8:05, 1:10. Yep, that's pretty much what you would call a regressive run.

 Despite the fact that I didn't run the smartest race, I did finish in 46:36 (goal time was 46 or faster), which was good enough to be the overall winner of the race! It pays to pick the right race I guess, but it was particularly sweet because my father was there to see it. There may have only been 20 people in this race, but you know what, it still counts!!

In summary, my training seems to be going well so far. Next week will be interesting because we start to step up the mileage. As always it will be challenging trying to fit my training in while working 11-12 hour days, but, I am not sure that I would have it any other way either!

Special thank you to my wife and daughter for putting up with and supporting my passion / hobby and listening to me talk about all sorts of weird running things. And to my running / fitness friends for being just as crazy about running or working out as I can be at times.

Running with Issues

I was scheduled for a 4 mile run this morning but it just didn't seem right. I felt like I was cheated out of some miles on Sunday's run, and I still had a little residual frustration from in too, so I tacked on a couple of extra miles today.
Nice cool overcast morning on the bike path. Ran a pretty consistent pace on an out and back course. 23:45 for first three miles and 23:16 for last three giving me a pace of 7:53. I am very pleased with my pace on this run. It brings me that much closer to the possibility of running a 3:20 marathon and qualifying for Boston.

10K fiasco

Today I was scheduled to run a 10k race from the Canaries stadium. I was a little worried the day before because it was an 11am start and the temperature was supposed to reach 90 degrees today. When I got up this morning we had a light rain and it was cloudy and cool, perfect running weather!
Upon arriving at the stadium the person signing up runners did not seem very well informed. We were handed a google map of the course with no mileage marked on it and there were no bib numbers, instead they wrote the number on our hand with a Sharpie. I thought it was all a little hokie, but I went along with it. It was a pretty small turnout, I would guess there were 30 people.
The course was a 5K loop through the neighborhood running into the stadium and finishing at home plate, while the 10K runners made the loop a second time.
Finally, it is race time! I start out pretty strong, almost too strong I am afraid. There are no mile splits or signs along the route, so I have to try and guess where I am. The course is fairly flat at first, but there are a couple long gently sloping hills that are somewhat challenging. All is going well when we finally run back into the parking lot of the stadium. As we approach the front of the stadium there is one person asking everyone if they are running the 5K or 10K. When he asks me I flash him both hands, as in "10" for 10K,keep in mind I am in no shape for any type of conversation, it is a little confusing but he points the way for me. I see a couple of runners ahead of me, one of which told me pre-race that he was running the 10K too, so it seems that all is well and I am headed in the right direction. We continue through the parking lot and head south around the back of the ball field. When I reach end of the the field, thinking we are getting ready to start the second half of the 10K, the two runners ahead of me have disappeard! I cannot see another runner anywhere in front of me or behind me! I stop and look all around me to see some sort of person, course marker, anything...I see nothing. Finally someone else comes from behind and goes into a small door leading to the ball field, so I follow him. It's too late, this is the finish for the 5K, I was directed the WRONG WAY! I went ahead, finished as a 5K runner and left. I was mad and frustrated. It really stinks because I was really geared up for this 10K and due to poor organization I didn't get to complete my race as planned. Even after running the wrong way, stopping and circling back I managed to finish my 5K in 22:40 / 7:18 pace.
My thanks to Jeff (@1968jpickett) to stopping out with the kids to watch!