Twin Cities Marathon

My first marathon was the 3rd running of the Twin Cities Marathon in 1984. Even in its 3rd year, it was a big deal. After 25 years, I finally returned. After several hot and humid races this year, Twin Cities served up an absolutely perfect day. Mid-40's at the start, sunny most of the race, slight tail wind, and cloudy and 50 at the finish.

The race start was staged at the Metro Dome in downtown Minneapolis. I took the train down to the Dome, and went inside to stay warm before heading out to the starting line on the south side of the Dome. There were way more than enough bathrooms inside, so no long lines. About 15 minutes before the start I stripped off my warm-ups, and left them at the drop-off place.

When I got to the starting area they had two corrals. Fortunately, I had qualified for corral 1 at the Minneapolis marathon 4 months earlier – BEING IN CORRAL 1 ROCKS! The entrance to Corral 1 was about midway back from the front of Corral 2, and you had to walk in a narrow aisle to get up to Corral 1. I must have passed 5,000 people on my way up to the front. Then when I got to Corral 1, it wasn't very crowded – people were just mingling around casually. I could get used that. Then when the race started there were no waddlers, no TNT-ers running eight abreast at a 12 minute pace, and there wasn't a stroller in sight! At the gun everyone started running at the pace they had lined up for – AMAZING!!!!

As the race started, I hit "play" on the iPod Shuffle and the first song was Mason Williams' Classical Gas – a great song to listen to while running through the streets of Minneapolis on a cool, sunny morning. Around Mile 1, we passed The Basilica of St Mary. The Basilica is a major landmark in downtown Minneapolis, and it is significant to my family because my great grand-father built the church between 1907 and 1915, and my grand-father worked on the construction crew when he was a young man. The church has always been a sense of pride in my family. As we passed by the church, all of the bells were ringing wildly and it was a very nice way to start off the race.

Since it was about 45 degrees at the start, I wore an old long-sleeved t-shirt over my race shirt, along with a hat and gloves. At mile two I tossed the shirt, and at mile three I tossed the gloves. I didn't mind tossing the old shirt and gloves, but I realized that I probably wouldn't need the hat and I liked the hat. Just before mile 4 I saw my cousin standing among hundreds of people, and I flipped the hat back through the crowd right into his hand!

OK, time to race. I had settled into a comfortable 7:40 pace and my heart rate was good. The course went around Lake of the Isles, Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet, before following the Minnehaha Creek Parkway to Lake Nokomis. At Mile 10, just before Lake Nokomis, I ate my first 2 Shot Blocks. At mile 13 I ate my next two Shot Blocks. At Mile 15, I saw my loving wife Sheila near our house at Minnehaha Falls. All was well – the pace was still hovering in the 7:40-7:50, and I felt like I was on cruise control.

After a 4 mile run up the west bank of the Mississippi River, we crossed over into St. Paul around Mile 19. That's when I started to notice a little stomach gas – bloating and burping. I had this problem with Shot Blocks a few weeks ago at the City of Lakes 25k, but I have been using Shot Blocks for years, and thought it was an anomaly. At Mile 20 I realized it wasn't an anomaly. The nausea I was feeling had to be coming from the Shot Blocks. It really wasn't too bad, but the next four miles were the hilly part of the course, and the nausea didn't feel good. I could feel I was slowing, and knew that I needed calories, but the thought of more Shot Blocks wasn't a good thought at the time. At mile 22 I switched to straight water to try to calm the stomach. It seemed to help a bit. As I passed the next aid station at mile 23 I heard the normal calls for PowerAid and Water, but just as I passed I heard someone yell "Coke". That was probably exactly what I needed to settle the stomach and get some calories, but I was at the end of the race and didn't feel like stopping to go back… Oh, well.

In the end, I finished in 3:31:26. Fitness-wise I felt great at the finish. My legs felt good and my heart rate was comfortable. It was only the upset stomach that felt bad. After three marathons this year I think I have learned some good race management, and feel confident I can run an even 7:40 pace for the distance (given good weather). Now I just need to work out the nutrition issues with Shot Blocks. Maybe I'll go back to gels for the winter and see what happens.

Just after I crossed the finish line it started to rain. Fortunately, I got my warm-ups immediately and found an empty porta-potty to change in. The best part was seeing Sheila standing at the race exit with a hug and a kiss.

Oh, one other thing – I found out that 3:31:26 qualifies me for CORRAL 1 in Boston!!!!!

See you out there (Maybe in Boston?)

Running

The other day, when we were kayaking on the St. Croix river, Sheila
asked me which I liked better: running or kayaking. Without any
hesitation I answered "running".

Afterwards, I thought about it. I love to run. More than cycling. And
WAY more than swimming. Running is many things. It is primal,
calming, energizing, peaceful, healthy, personal, social, zen and
more. But there's more to it... It's also convenient.

A long time ago I loved sailing. From the time I was 5 years old I
sailed almost everyday. From Memorial Day to past Labor Day, I'd wake
up, do my chores and hop in my sailboat. It was easy. We lived on a
lake and my sailboat sat at our dock 50 feet from our house. After I
moved to Illinois, I continued to race sailboats. First at the Cedar
Lake Yacht Club in Indiana, and later at Lake Michigan. The problem
was it wasn't convenient. I had to drive over an hour, oneway, to get
to my boat. Sailing became an all day event. It took planning and it
conflicted with other activities. Soon sailing became a burden and I
stopped.

Next, I started hunting with my dogs... Same thing, too much travel
and planning. The inconvenience took all the fun out it.

Cycling was better. I had always riden, and soon the simplicity and
convenience of riding a bike quickly made it a new pleasing activity -
a release. As my riding intensity increased, so did my running. They
were not only compatible with one another, they were also mutually
convenient. I could open the front door and go. Together, they formed
the perfect combination of sports.

However, now that I have a 400+ mile commute, plus lots of business
travel, time management and convenience have made running my priamary
activity. No matter where I am, Minneapolis, Frankfort, the north
shore of Lake Superior, Nisswa, New York, New Orleans, Las Vegas,
Toronto, or anywhere else, I can run. Simply throw on the proper
clothes, lace up a pair of Newtons and be gone. When I travel away
from home it is usually two-a-days - once in the morning and once in
the evening. It's convenient.

Yes, I love to run.

See you out there

Doug

Good Days and Bad Days

I've been injury free for years. Nothing. Nada. I actually attribute it to my fairly large running base (which seems to be increasing with age).

Then, exactly one month ago, I went water skiing - first time in over 20 years. Yeah, sure, no problem. I'm light, and the boat seemed powerful. I put on a slalom (which was a little on the small side for me), hoped in, and gave the sign... Um, it didn't pop me out of the water. Actually, it was more like a long slow drag that ended in a face plant with the full length of the ski catching the water and attempting to separate my right leg from my torso. Not good. The boat came back around, and I grabbed the rope. I now knew what to expect, and after a long slow drag, the boat got up to speed and I was off for a tour of the lake. Along the way I could feel my right leg, or should I say butt. Later that night I could feel it - it was either my glut or my ham string. And not in one of those "it will be better tomorrow" kind of ways.

Now, I'm a reasonably intelligent guy. But, I'm also an athlete of sorts. So in the case of an injury, the athlete mentality takes over and says "Rest? Time off? I don't have time for recovery! Ice it three times a day,eat ibuprofen like candy, and it will be gone in no time. Six, maybe seven months tops!"

So, for the past month I've been training through it. There have been good days and bad days. For the first two weeks, running sucked. Maybe 1 to 2 minutes per mile over my normal LSD/Recovery pace. Intervals and speed work were out of the question. For the past two weeks, my LSD/Recovery pace has pretty much returned to normal, but the power and speed are still gone. I tried some 800 intervals last week. I was completely missing my power, missing my normal 800 time by 15 to 20 seconds (30 to 40 seconds per mile). I could feel the lack of top end power. However, I know that will come back.

The frustrating part is the good days and the bad days. Last Wednesday and Thursday I had decent middle distance runs during the week. On Friday I went out for a Tempo run and nailed it perfectly - I had that floating feeling of endless speed, and never felt like I was pushing. I took Saturday off and went long today. Today was a bad day. Never quite got into the flow or pace. Sure I was able to maintain a decent LSD pace, but it was forced and a LSD pace should not be forced. Good days and bad days.

Sheila and I have the City of Lakes Classic 25k next Sunday, and I have the Twin Cities Marathon 3 weeks after that. The intelligent person would rest and recover... I think I'll press on and hope for the best. Maybe I'll get lucky and have good days for each race. I can always recover this Winter when I back the weekly mileage down into the 50's ;-)

See you out there.

Northern Exposures from the Boundry Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

The view from our cabin:

My morning "8-miler":

A friend I met on the run:

The Indian "Pictographs" on a cliff at North Hegman Lake in the BWCA (we kayaked into the BWCA to see them):

Sheila below the Pictographs:

Sheila Kayaking:

Me:


Probably won't see you out here ;-)

Doug

The Bitch Almost Got Me Again!

Grandma's threw everything she had at me today. It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't fast, but I'm claiming victory over the bitch.

Sheila got this shot just before the finish

For the past week, the weather on the North Shore of Lake Superior has been highs in the 50's and 60's. Perfect marathon weather!! The Lake Superior water temperature rarely gets above 55, so any South or East wind keeps the area near the shore cool. All week long, they kept vacillating over the forecast: rain and 60's, sun and 70's, sun and 60's... This morning it was 63 at 5:00AM with a forecast for 80's. Grandma knew I was back in town.

It was downright hot out on the open roadway for the start of the race - probably low 70's. Since we were a half mile or so from the lake, all I could hope for was that the temperature would drop when we got next to the lake (never happened). I felt really good at the start, and quickly settled into a good pace. The only problem was that my heart rate spiked pretty high in the first mile, and it didn't want to settle into the normal range for the pace I was running. I didn't know if it was the heat, or the fact that I ran a marathon 3 weeks ago, or a combination of both. But, if it was going to get hot, this was not good.

At mile two I saw Sheila standing in front of of our friend Brad's jewelery design and Scandinavian gift shop. I blew her a kiss and continued on. For the next several miles I stayed on pace. I still felt good, but it was getting hot, and my heart rate was slowly rising. Finally by mile ten I decided it was best to "live to race another day". My heart rate was just too high, the course was getting dangerously hot and there was a lot of course left. I started to adjust my pace to regulate my heart rate - I desperately did not want a DNF, nor did I want to walk.

Along the way, it was an interesting game of pace strategy. After I slowed, I got passed by a considerable number of runners for many miles. However, after mile 20 the reverse was true. Lots and lots of people were walking or slowing to a crawl and I was now the one doing the passing. In the end I squeaked in under four hours at 3:54:45. I admit it was ugly, but I wasn't going to let Grandma's get me twice.

As a side note, I carried a hand-held bottle for the race, and was very glad for it. I kept it nearly full of ice and water/Gatorade (or whatever crap they were serving) from the aid stations. Plus, I still drank a cup or two at each of the stations. So, I was plenty hydrated and never worried about that aspect.

When we got to the car after the race, the temperature was 84, and it read 87 as we were driving through Duluth one block up from the course - with lots of runners/walkers still marching towards the finish.



My nephew survived the heat for a strong finish in his first marathon. We missed each other at the start, but I kept getting reports every time I saw his brother and girl friend out on the course. He was about 10 minutes behind me slogging through the long march to the finish, just like everyone else. I hope he recovers well and gets another shot at a race with better conditions.

At least I still have Boston in the bank for 2010, and Twin Cities this Fall with ScottI (3:30:59 or better)!

See you out there.

Doug

Heading North

I'm on my way to Duluth to meet Sheila and my long-awaited rematch
with Grandama's. As an added bonus, my nephew Pat is running Grandma's
tomorrow - his first marathon. I have a feeling this one will be
special...

See you out there.

Doug

Sent from my iPhone. Please forgive typing errors - I'm typing with
my thumbs.

Michelle - the IronWoman

This is the moment I will always remember...