Team Dad

The Get in Gear 10K was today. This is the fourth one I've raced since 2003; I missed last year because I was out of town.

I haven't run all week because I've had a sore throat and cough. I wasn't even sure if I would be able to race today; I occasionally get coughing fits and wasn't sure if my respiratory system would hold up.

I hooked up with some of my friends from LTF at the starting line. They had run over from a nearby health club, which was about 2 miles, in order to run more than 6.2 miles for the day. I didn't do that, because I planned to race hard and didn't want to tire myself out, so just warmed up a little before the race. It was a total fluke that we found each other.

As we crossed the starting line, it was every runner for herself! I tried to place myself near the back so I wouldn't get in the way of the faster runners, but there were plenty of people behind me. And I was passing plenty of people, too! I saw AmyBee at the starting line; she ran the 5K because she was coaching a beginning runners group and that's what they were racing, but she stuck around to cheer for us. Nat and Marty were just ahead, and at one point I passed them, although later they passed me. They called out to me as I went by, but all I could do was wave. I was on a mission.

I set my watch for 9 minute runs, 1 minute walks. I brought my own water and drank on the walk breaks. I'm glad I did, because the sun was shining brightly and the 63 degrees felt like 80. I dressed for warm weather, then chickened out and wore my jacket. That ended up around my waist for the entire race; I wished I had put it in my gear bag.

The race went north on West River Road (that would be the Mississippi River), then across the Lake Street Bridge and south along the East River Road. The Twin Cities Marathon goes north on W. River Road, and the Lake Street Bridge is where I'm always tempted to pull a Rosie Ruiz and cut across Lake St., rather than continuing a few more miles to the Franklin Ave. bridge (Mile 19). The East River Road is where I did all my training runs for Grandma's last year so it was very familiar.

Speaking of Boston, as we neared St. Thomas University I heard some female squealing. "We must be near Wellesley," I said to the guy next to me. He just stared at me blankly. Sheesh. I thought maybe it was some co-eds from STU, but they were actually little girls, around grade-school age. "Too young," I said to Clueless Guy. They were cheering for all it was worth, though.

I ran hard, but not as hard as at the Human Race 5K in March. I realized this around the 5K mark, and it occurred to me that I hadn't dedicated this race to anyone. That's when I dedicated it to my Dad. He's been recently diagnosed with melanoma and is undergoing chemotherapy.

According to the Garmin, I ran the first 5K in 33:06 31:37. Wow. Getting closer to that 30 minute 5K goal. The second half is where it started to get tougher, with the hot sun beating down. When my left knee began to ache, I thought about how my Dad had to endure a needle through his lungs to get cell samples. He told me if he ever had to do that again, to just shoot him. It was the most physically painful thing he ever had to do. My minor ache paled in comparison.

And that's what got me through the race. I thought about my father and what he's enduring, and just kept running. I was tiring and the final mile included a slight uphill. My mantra became Team Dad. I just kept repeating that as I crossed the Ford Bridge towards the finish line. The closer I got to the finish, the more I tried to pick up the pace. Then I could see it and moved in.

"Team Dad" was replaced with, "Get out of my effing way!" Don't worry, I didn't say that out loud. But that's what was going through my head. People were blocking my way and slowing me done. I thought I heard someone call my name as I neared the finish chute, but I turned my head and couldn't see who it was.

Final time was 1:06:15. I had planned to PR for this race, but wasn't sure I could since I had the crud. I was also worried that I had lost fitness, since I hadn't run or done any exercise since my long run last Saturday. But I beat my best time by almost over 9 minutes. I'll take it. Next stop: Fargo.


RESULTS
Chip Time: 1:06:15; Division Place: 38/76; Pace: 10:40 (!); Sex Place: 1348/1875

Garmin:
Miles: 6.35; Time : 1:06:24; Avg. Pace: 10:27. I like this one better. :-)

Previous Years
04/30/05 Age 51 1:16:08 12:16
04/24/04 Age 50 1:15:33 12:10
04/26/03 Age 49 1:22:22 13:16

It's nice to start seeing improvement.

Rally Round the Flag

It looks like my sister caught the marathon bug. I mentioned before that she's walking the San Diego R&R marathon with some friends. Now she's signed up to walk the Nike Women's Half-Marathon in October. I'm doing the full, so it will be great to be able to share the event with her.

Yesterday she did a long walk (that sounds weird) of 16 miles and Gary and I did a long run. We planned to run 14 miles, but we missed a turn and went a little bit out of our way, so 14 turned into almost 15 miles. This is getting to be a regular event. Apparently we don't know our way within the city limits either.

It was supposed to be warm, but the weather turned on us. I wore shorts and a singlet, but would have been better off with short sleeves. It was windy too, which we felt on our return trip. We ran up Wirth Parkway, which goes through some beautiful wooded areas, to the Veterans Memorial, known to Club Runners as the flagpole. I've run this route with my group before, but never all the way to the flagpole.

We got there without incident and took a picture to commemorate our tremendous achievement. Gary didn't want me to take his picture, so I promised him that I wouldn't put it on my blog. It's just as well, because the picture turned out bit-mappy. Here it's my camera, and Gary took a better picture with it than I did. All I had was the cel cam, so you can't actually see the flag, just the base with the dedication engraved in the stone.

The park department didn't turn on the water fountains here, so we stopped at the hospital to re-fill our water bottles and take a bathroom break. It seems a little disrespectful to go to use the facilities at a hospital, since people there are undergoing trauma, but it's all that was around.

We ran strong until around mile 12, then started to fatigue. We couldn't wait for it to be over. Gary's race is in two weeks and he's getting nervous about finishing within the time limit, based on how much time we take on our long runs. I reminded him that we're deliberately running slower than race pace and that the training will kick in on race day. Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, from Gary when he was coaching me for my marathon. And he thought I wasn't paying attention. :-)

Today I went to a local running store and signed up for the Get In Gear 10K race, which is Saturday. I could have mailed in my application earlier, and saved $5, but by going to the store I could pick up my race packet at the same time. Except, not the shirt. I can pick up the shirt on race day, but it's first come-first served, so the size small shirts will go fast. I'll go on Friday afternoon, which is what I would have done if I had mailed in my application in the first place. Sigh.

Last night SD and I went to the Prairie Home Companion show. They were having the People In Their Twenties Talent Show. The first, second, and third prize winners all received a trophy, which was--get this--a miniature water tower! I really wanted one, even though I'm not in my twenties and, um, have no talent. I'll have to go out with my camera and take pictures of some of the water towers around here. They're really quite something.

Speedy Gonzales

That's what I'm feeling like. We did two speed workouts this week. On Monday, we warmed up for a mile, then ran 1 mile loops at half-marathon pace, with 30 second recovery. We did four of these. I tried to slow down to 12 mm, but it was too hard. First loop was 10:45, second was 10:22. Oops! Slowed down to 11:01 for the third loop, then the last was 10:59. Coach Sarah joined me at the end and I told her I kept running too fast. She said if I was able to talk at the pace I was running, then I was running at the right pace. It was supposed to be 85% heart rate. I don't really know what my maximum HR is, so I just go by how I feel. Sarah noticed how much stronger I'm running and asked if I had lost weight. Hadn't she noticed? I told her I lost about 15 pounds and she said that would explain it. I guess the number of pounds you lose equates to the number of minutes you lop off of your finish time. Who knew losing weight would make that much of a difference! Makes the sacrificing worth it. :-)

On Wednesday, Coach Gary joined me for my workout. He doesn't usually go to that club, but he works nearby and needed to get some running in. I was glad he showed up, because no one else in my group did. The workout included a new route for me. We ran from the club to a nearby lake. At the lake, we were to run hard for 45 seconds, then a working recovery (which I think means don't walk) for 2 minutes. Repeat for a total of six intervals. I don't have my times for the 45 seconds, but let's just say I flew. This is a new feeling for me!

Both Gary and I live within the city limits and we're lost in the suburbs. We were supposed to run around the lake, then back to the club for a total of 7 miles. Neither Gary nor I knew the area and somehow we ended up with 8.5 miles instead of 7. Oh well, we needed the miles even though we didn't plan to be out so late.

Since this training seems to be paying off, I need a race to prove it. I had wanted to do the Well Fargo Half Marathon with Gary and AmyBee, but something came up and I can't do it. So I signed up for the Fargo Half, which is a couple of weeks later. I've never run it before and I'm looking forward to it. Tomorrow Gary and I are running 14 miles to get ready for our respective races.

Water, Water, Everywhere

On Saturday, I ran 12 miles with Gary and Bev. It was a nice day but a tough run. Not too tough, though. We managed to make it through without injury, althoug Bev's knee was hurting her at the end. We ran around the lakes, stopping twice at the water stop the club had kindly set up for the marathon training group, as well as some of the public water stops. The picture above is Gary pumping spring water so he can get a drink. It's at Cedar Lake, which is mile 2 of our run.

Last Monday the half-marathon training group that I'm in did a hill workout. But this wasn't any old hill, this was the WATER TOWER HILL. I ran with Denny, a guy in my group, and it was fun getting to know him. He's from Southern California, too, and knew the area's I lived in. He even knows the area that I'm moving to.

On the way to the water tower (sidenote: because it's so flat around here, water is stored up high in an enclosed tower, which somehow helps it flow better. They can be seen from miles around and every town has one, usually with the town's name painted on it.), we saw a wild turkey on the side of the road. I couldn't believe it! At first I saw it from the back and thought it was a dog.

By the time we got to water tower hill, the other's had already climbed up and were heading down as we ascended. Any plan I had of running up the hill was soon squelched by how steep it was and how crappy the trail was. After I downloaded the data from my Garmin, I saw that it was a 32% grade. It felt like it. At one point, Denny stopped and I got worried. I asked him if he was having chest pains, but he was fine. At the top, while we were trying to catch our breath, I noticed some wise guy had written on a nearby rock, "Pain is temporary." We heard Coach Marlee calling for us, so we reluctantly headed down. But first, we took pictures. We took it easy on the way back to the club. That hill got our heart rate up!

On Wednesday night SD and I went to the Lucinda Williams concert, so I had to do the speed workout on my own. We were supposed to do 2 miles at half-marathon pace, and somehow I decided that for me, it would be 11:19 minutes/mile. Yeah, right. Who am I kidding. As if I could hold that pace for 13.1 miles. I'm embarassed to admit that I can't even calculate what the finish time would be at that pace. But I was able to hold that pace for 2 miles on the treadmill. I warmed up for 2 miles, with the treadmill incline set to 2%, then dropped the incline to 1.5% when I increased the speed. I cooled down for a mile, with a 2 minute run at 6mph.

Total miles for the week is 23.2. It's starting to creep up.

Running's a Beach

California was beautiful! SD and I stayed in Avila Beach, a beach town on the Central Coast that is undergoing a renovation after a major cleanup from one of the oil companies. We spent four nights in a small hotel that is right at the end of the Bob Jones trail, so I was able to get some great runs in.

We arrived Wednesday night and SD wanted to walk over to the restaurant. While I'm game to run long distances, the idea of walking is not my idea of fun. I embraced my inner-whiner as we walked over to Port San Luis, which took about 45 minutes. After dinner, we walked back, and the road was not lit, which made me nervous. In reality it was a pleasant walk and I enjoyed hearing the waves crash as we went along. But don't tell that to SD. :-)


The next day, I went for a two-hour run. I ran to the same place that we walked to the night before, sure it was 4 miles one way. Actually, it was only 2. One the way back, I ran along the beach, since it was a low tide. The surface was firm but cushioned, nature's own little running track, and it felt great! I turned off the tunes and just listened to the beach noise. Then I ran up the Bob Jones trail, which I have blogged about before. It's a nice little 2.5 mile bike path that is away from traffic and out in nature. I really like running there.


A couple of days later, I went for a one-hour run along the Bob Jones trail. I saw a blue heron and a white crane. There were some people on the path, but it wasn't as crowded as the local city lakes on a weekend. I'm glad I was able to get these runs in while I was on vacation. It's sometimes hard to fit them into the schedule.

One Egg at a Time

Last night Coach Marlee varied our speed workout--by creating an Easter Egg hunt! We ran to a local park, then broke up into 6 teams, counting off numbers so that it wasn't too one-sided. Then each team sent out one runner to retrieve an egg. It was a relay--when one person on your team came back, the next one went out. There were a few hundred plastic eggs, and with 5 or 6 runners to a team, we each had to run several times.

These were sprints, and I quickly became tired. Each team had some pretty fast runners, but the slower runners were split up among them. It was a nice way to get to know the faster people, because we would shout out each other's name in encouragement. It was also a good way to develop teamwork within the running club--not the "slow runners versus fast runners" mentality that occurs all too often.

We were there for almost an hour, collecting eggs for our team and depositing them in a plastic bag. It was tempting to just grab a bunch of eggs, but nobody did. Although some members of my team were known to "hide" an egg and tell the next runner where to find it. Call me Sargent Schultz--"I know nothing. Nothing." :-)

When all the eggs were retrieved, we learned that some of them had numbers written on them and added up the totals. The team with the highest "score" won, which was more fair than just the one with the most eggs.

We headed back amid dark skies, and I jogged gently up the hills. I already had my workout. The dark skies brought snow (!) today, though not much of an accumulation here in the city. My tulips have pushed through and now the leaves will be frost-bitten. Hopefully, the flowers won't be harmed. Until then, I'll have to enjoy my flowers indoors.

Last week while I was out running, I stopped into the Cowles Conservatory at the Walker Sculpture Garden. It's an oasis in the winter and in the center of the structure is a glass fish sculpture, "jumping" out of a water pond. The sculpture was designed by Frank Gehry. There are also palm trees in there, and it's the only place I've seen palm trees under glass! Here are some more pictures from that visit.

I'll be in California for a few days and won't be posting until I get home. Happy Easter, everyone!

Something New

As mentioned previously, I planned to run 10 miles on Saturday. Most of the group was doing the Dam Hill workout which is hill repeats at the Mississippi River Locks and Dam, interspersed with calisthetics. Gary wasn't interested in doing the Dam Hill, and I didn't care where I ran, so we met at the club and ran over to the lakes. In the rain.

We met at 8 a.m. and briefly considered running on the treadmill. I only had my tights and a long sleeve shirt, which would be way too hot for an indoor workout. I did have my waterproof jacket and pants, so we headed out and figured we'd just cut the run short. Fine with me, I'm not in training right now.

Fortunately, it didn't pour but it was plenty wet. We ran our usual route along the Downtown Trail to Cedar Lake, then over to the east side of Lake Calhoun--the water is still turned off, so the bathrooms were closed and the water fountain was dry. At this point we decided to continue on for the full 10 mile run so from Calhoun we went over to the west side of Lake Harriet to 43rd St.

Lake Harriet is a popular spot for 5Ks, and there was one going on that morning. We had to make sure we stayed out of the way of the racers, which wasn't a problem. Gary noticed the finish line clock read 53 minutes and observed that had we been in the race we would have been finished by now. Instead, we were halfway done and turned around at 43rd St. to retrace our steps. As we turned, the children's fun run started and we cheered on the four and five year olds as they ran their little hearts out. They were very cute!

We closed the loop at Lake Calhoun by running up the west side and took a short detour into the Calhoun Beach Club so that I could refill my water bottle. I tried to be quick, but I couldn't find the water fountain and kept Gary waiting for ten minutes. And I didn't even use the bathroom! He was getting chilled but soon warmed up again as we ran on.

Around the 9 mile mark I was getting fatigued. Usually I have breakfast before a long run, but only had time for a banana that day, so I downed 3 gels over the course of 1.5 hours. We finally reached the club, but my Garmin only registered 9.8 miles, so we ran around in the parking lot to get in our complete 10 miles. These days I'm happy to round up, but Gary wanted to get in his full mileage. After all, they don't shorten a marathon.

We did our post-run stretches and strength work, then showered. We met up at Brueggers and had bagels and talked about how ready we were for a nap. But that wasn't in the cards for either of us. He had errands to do and I had a commitment to scrapbook (is that a verb?), so we said our goodbyes and I headed to Marcia's.

My running friend Marcia is an avid scrapbooker (?) and was hosting a crop club at her house. She pushed her living room furniture against the wall and set up card tables with lamps for us to work on our projects. She planned to work for the entire day and we were welcome to drop in when we wanted. I've been listening to her talk about her hobby ever since we started running together, and when I mentioned that I have a scrapbook that I've been meaning to put together for my long-deceased cat (5 years), she invited me to bring some food to share and join her and her friends. It worked out that I could, so I did!

There was a time in my life when sitting for hours in the company of women doing craft projects sounded like punishment. I'm not a crafts person, even though I like to be creative. I did my share of macrame plant hangers in the 70s, but these days I don't even put my pictures in photo albums. It takes up too much time. Marcia learned that the secret is to devote time specifically for her scrapbook projects and started what she calls Crop Club.

Marcia makes some amazing scrapbooks. She showed me one that she put together for her son's wedding, and she's working on her marathon scrapbook. She ran her first marathon last October and her scrapbook includes the training leading up to the race. She saves all her race numbers and is creating another scrapbook of her races. Now I wish I had saved my race numbers.

Although I didn't finish my book, I formulated a plan for putting it together and made a lot of progress. But mostly I enjoyed talking to the other women, which included two other running friends, Jen and AmyBee, as well as a scrapbooking buddy of Marcia's and Marcia's sister. It made me think of quilting bee's I've read about, where women get together and produce a quilt. In fact, Jen was working on piecework for a quilt, since her scrapbooking paraphanelia is in storage. And Amy created some cards and has a surprising arsenal of stamps, gels, and other tools.

It was a great day, and to think it came about through a love of running!