Lester Park Trail Run

Earlier this afternoon was the Lester River Trail Run.  It was the second to last race in the NMTC fall series.  The weather once again cooperated.  Cool with a bit of a breeze, a perfect crisp fall afternoon.  I decided to ride my road bike over to the park as a sort of warm-up for the run.  The idea was a good one, but my toes were a little chilled when I got to the park. 

Loop-De-Loop

The course for this week was going to be three loops of the "C" loop.  I have run the trails in Lester a few times this summer, but I had no idea which was the "C" loop.  Once we got out on the trail, most of it looked familiar but I do not think I ever ran the course in that order before.  However, the course was the classic Lester run.  As you head away from the lake you are going uphill, and then at some point you turn back towards the lake and go down. 

For the first loop I felt pretty good running.  On the second loop, I seemed to lack any real energy.  I kept running and all, but just could not find any speed in my legs.  All the running I did to be ready for the Twin Cities 10 miler had me running well early this fall.  The lack of running since then has really shown.  No big deal though, these trail runs are a lot of fun no matter what.  They are not races I schedule my training around.

Next Week

I am looking forward to Pine Valley next week.  The final run in the series for the fall.  I have circled the Pine Valley course multiple times on skinny skis, and it is a good circuit for running. 

Sports Spectacular!

Baseball

Loved seeing the Cardinals pull off the World Series victory this year.  I am a fan, and must say by mid June had already consigned myself to wait for next year as far as baseball was concerned.  The Cardinals were suffering from injuries and not playing well coupled with Milwaukee playing wonderfully.  The Twins, well they reverted back to the Twins of old and just could not win games no matter what they did.  But then September came...  The Cardinals did something amazing and somehow snuck into the playoffs.  Then, they took out the World Series favorite from the NL Phillies...  After a series of football like scores they dispatched Milwaukee too. 

When it came to the World Series I will admit by then I was just happy to see them still playing.  I figured they had a chance, but they would have to play very well and not make mistakes.  Boy was I wrong.  They kept on hitting, but they also made some wonderful mistakes.  Watching game 6 was hard because I felt making mistakes to lose the World Series would be a lot harder to take than simply being outplayed.  Then they managed an improbable series of comebacks to take the game.  What an end to the season.

Hockey

Coming into the year I was not sure what to expect from my favorite team the Golden Gophers.  They have struggled the last few years and had some younger players they would be counting on this year.  I was pleased that I would be seeing them play early in the year here in Duluth so I could see for myself what they had to work with this year.  I was both impressed and concerned.  Some of the players really impressed me, specifically freshman Marshall and Rau.  But the overall play on Saturday in Duluth was not very good.  When they coupled that with a loss at home to a very poor Vermont squad, I was a little worried with a trip to Alaska Anchorage coming this weekend.  The travel can sap any team, and Alaska plays well at home every year and looks decent this year. 

Well, last night the Gophers knocked Alaska around for a 5-0 win.  Another shutout for Patterson and another 5 goals for the Gopher offense.  Lets see if they can get the sweep tonight.  Those WCHA league points will be important come February and March.

Now if the Wild could just get going and string together a couple of regulation victories...

More trail running tomorrow, I will check in after the Lester Park run.

Trail Running Galore

Never checked back in after last week's run at Haw Ridge.  The weather was perfect for a run other than the wind.  I was still getting over a little chest cold so that made it a little hard to really get rolling at a solid speed.  But I was happy to be back out running on a nice trail. 

Roughrider

This week's run was nicknamed Roughrider and has a reputation as the hardest course in the series, when the trail is dry. Of course the rain that started drizzling down early today took care of the dry part. 

We started at 2:00 pm and the course was good and wet by then.  The singletrack start was a little slippery and I managed to not slip off the trail with the help of the trees on the trail.  After a short distance we pop out onto the power lines.  Here is where the fun begins.  A bunch of up down sections that were wet and muddy. 

The trail is an out and back so you got to see what you will be facing later.  This had two disadvantages on a day like today.  First, you know what you will be running up at the end of the race and it festers in the back of your mind.  Second, with the rain and all of the runners going over the trail on the way out, it was even muddier and more slippery on the way back through.

On the way out, I managed to stay up on my two feet the whole way.  There were a couple of spots where I slipped pretty good but I always managed to catch myself and stay upright. 

After tagging the pink turnaround tape, I headed back into the powerlines.  The first up down valley produced my first fall.  I lost my footing and onto my ass I went.  Not too bad, and I was up quickly and kept moving. 

Through the middle section of the trail I tried to preserve a little energy for the tough section on the powerlines I knew was coming and had a few folks cruise by.  As I came out onto the last section on the powerlines I had a few more episodes of planting my ass on the trail.  On one of the sections, I tripped and went head first into the brush.  Luckily I did not slip too far, but when I caught myself my thumb jammed a little. 

On the next downhill, I had a couple slips with one providing me with a very quick 50 foot drop on my ass.  I did however allow me to catch back up to another runner who had passed me earlier.  That is not worth noting, other than when he passed me on the outbound leg he heckled me telling me to "quit running like a girl" and then telling me to run faster.  At the time he was ahead of all of the ladies running and passing me.  However, karma slapped him upside the head and he finished behind two ladies and me.  So, note to everyone: if you feel it is necessary to talk shit to other runners, don't let your mouth write checks your legs cannot cash.  On top of that, if you are a middle of the pack runner, making a comment about running like a girl (many of whom finish in front of you...) is not the best smacktalk to be using.

I worked my way back up the singletrack that seemed tougher than what it was on the way out, and then finished up.  After finishing it was amusing to watch everyone come through to finish and see the huge mud streaks on everyone's legs and butts.  There were very few people who were finishing without a large mud stripe somewhere. 

Next Sunday we get to try out the ski trails at Lester.  I have run the trails a few times this summer.  Not sure the exact route we will follow, but I am looking forward to it. 

MTU in First Place!@?

In college hockey news, Michigan Tech is currently the top team in the WCHA and the nation.  I figured I had better make mention of this now before it went away.

15 Shots, 5 Goals?

So at last nights Gopher game the end result was the right one, a Gopher victory.  In fact, a matching 5-4 score to the previous evening.  The events of the game were significantly different from the previous night's game.  I do not think I have ever seen the Gophers play worse and win in my life.  They gave up almost 50 shots on goal again last night.  And outside of their power play time, they did not have much for sustained offense at all.  Their offense was opportunistic in every way.  They scored on the power play, and they even scored off the end wall/under the goalie/off the defenseman/back under the goalie... 

Bottom line, the Gophers leave Duluth with two WCHA victories.  They may not have been pretty, but they all count the same.  There were some positive things with the Gophers this weekend: they managed to score on the power play, Patterson was making a lot of saves, younger players such as Marshall and Rau played strong and showed promise.  Other than the first period on Friday, the Gophers ability to break out of their own zone and transition into the offensize zone and then develop some sustained pressure was non-existent.  Hopefully the Gophers can keep the hot start going next weekend against the Vermont Catamounts at Mariucci. 

I will be back this afternoon with a race review of the NMTC Hawk Ridge run.  The wind will be a challenge this afternoon...

OT and a Morning Run

Last night was an exciting game.  As a Gopher fan, the first period was great.  The Gophers took advantage of the power plays they were given and played well all around to grab a two goal lead.  In the second and third periods the bulldogs started playing a lot better and the Gophers could not get any consistent offense going 5 v 5.  I was really impressed with a couple of the young players for the Gophers.  Marshall on defense and Rau on the front line played well all night.  Rau had a couple of power play goals and gave the bulldog defense fits.  Marshall moved the puck well and did not seem intimidated at all by playing on the road against the defending champs.  I felt a little bad for Ambroz, he clearly does not play on the penalty kill and spent more time in the box serving other guys penalties than anybody.  In an odd touch of fate, Condon got the game winning goal in OT after being one of the least effective players on the ice all night.  More than one time he tried to make a rush up the ice all by himself without passing the puck only to have the bulldogs steal it away and go the other way. 

Morning Run

It has been a little over a week since I have been out for a good run.  The cold I had really knocked me down from running and biking.  Since I did not have any more races on the horizon, I figured a rest was in order to get well.  This morning I felt good enough so I went out for 4 easy miles.  It felt good to be out running again, and during the first mile I think I coughed up the bad chunks of lung up and left them on the side of the trail.  I think I will be ready to have a nice trail run tomorrow at Hawk Ridge.

Hockey Time

Getting ready to go to the Gophers vs bulldogs games this weekend at the Amsoil Arena.  I watched a little of the game last Friday when the Gophers were playing Sacred Heart.  It was good to see they won, and I am excited to see them early this season in person.  I want to get a feel for how the defensive corp works together.  Also, it will be nice to see the new players and how they handle a good hostile road WCHA environment. 

I hope to be writing at the end of the weekend about a wonderful two game sweep that the Gophers unleased on the bulldogs.  I will also hopefully be writing about a nice run on Sunday afternoon also.  The trail run series is venturing up to Hawk Ridge this weekend.  This run starts out on Skyline and runs down the road for the first mile or so and then jumps onto the trails from there.  It has a very quick finish that is slightly downhill running along Amity Creek.  Looking forward to it.

Tri Season Review

Now that the triathlon season is officially over for me, I thought I would put together a little overall review of the season as a whole.  I want to preface this by saying that going into the season, my “A” races were Timberman Triathlon in early July and Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon in mid June. 

Apple Duathlon (Sartell MN)

I signed up for Apple a week or two prior to race day.  I had not gotten out for much training on the bike, but felt it would be a good jump start to the season.  I have racced here before, so I had a good feeling for the course.  On the first run I went out hard but comfortable.  My goals for the race were to have a well paced bike and to have as small of a slowdown from second to first run as possible.  When it was all said and done, my bike split was the fastest I have ever had on this course and was very even effort wise.  The runs were less than 2 minutes difference and my second run was the fastest I have had when doing the course as an individual.  Overall, very pleased with the race. 

Moose Lake Tri (Moose Lake MN)

I showed up for this small local event just to find out what it was all about.  It is a second year event that is the epitome of low key.  The cost was $25 on race morning.  There were 25 or so people there, and transition consisted of picking the best tree in the park to lean my bike against.  The swim was as simple as swim across the lake and come back.  There was a single small buoy on the far side of the lake to go around.  The bike course was an out and back on the Munger Trail with a volunteer at the turn around.  And the run was around the lake.  I really enjoyed this event. 

Timberman Triathlon (Grand Rapids MN)

The second event of the summer I was really hoping to do well at.  When we woke up race morning, it was windy and wet.  For a running race this is not a big deal, but for a tri it is interesting.  On the swim, the wind was not a big deal.  Out onto the bike, and the rain was annoying more than anything else.  The wind was a nuisance heading into it which happened to coincide with the worst roads as far as surface.  I had a hard time getting in a good rhythm into the wind.  When I hit the big hill on the second loop around the course, I was greeted with a skunk running across the road at me.  I do not know who was more surprised, him or me.  Thankfully he did not spray me and I got away clean.  Once onto the run, I ran decent.  Not my best run ever, but a good effort overall.  I was reasonably pleased with the race even though the bike was not paced very well for me. 

Chequamegon Bay Sprint Tri (Ashland WI)

Another race I got into at the last minute.  It sounded like fun with a swim in Lake Superior and a short sprint course.  When I showed up on race day, I was very disappointed with the race setup.  For the price they were charging, I expected not to see people laying bikes down on the grass.  With the extremely warm weather, Lake Superior was not even that cold.  Onto the bike and the course was decent.  The aid station hand ups were interesting.  On a short course I was not expecting them, and one of them was on a slightly downhill section of the course so we were moving extremely quick.  Luckily, I had payed attention to the course map as one of the corners coming back into town was on a downhill section with a tailwind and there was no volunteer.  I made the corner fine, but I would bet more than one person missed it.  When I got to the run course I was simply trying to survive.  The heat was really tough and even though it was only a 5k, I was happy to get through it without walking.  Overall this race has potential with a cool Lake Superior swim, but the amenities to cost ratio was not very good. 

Brewhouse Triathlon (Duluth MN)

I have done this race in the past, and swore it off due to the poor quality of the roads.  Now that I am back in town, I figured I should give the local race another try.  Also, I heard they were reworking the bike course.  I understand requiring packet pick-up the day prior with such a large race, but as a local I wish there was another method so I did not have to schlep up to Pike Lake two days in a row.  Maybe like some other races, have the packets available at a sponsor bike/tri store earlier in the week for the locals…  Race day weather was fine for a race.  No rain but clouds to keep the sun off of us.  The swim went well and I got out onto the bike fine.  The bike course was interesting.  It was a ten mile loop with 700 people on it.  Also there was multiple sections with two way race traffic and one 90 degree corner with two way traffic coming from both directions.  This corner had fencing up to separate all of the lanes of traffic and was quite tight.  And even though they re did the course, the pavement was still the roughest I raced on all year.  It is really too bad that there is no decent pavement around Pike Lake as the rest of this race course is pretty nice.  When I got to the run I took it out hard but smooth on the out leg.  After the turn around I focused on getting up the hill and then slowly picking up the pace as I could.  When I turned the corner onto Midway road I saw a few people up ahead that I figured I could try and pick off in the last mile.  When I got to the final quarter mile, there was one last guy I thought I could catch.  I passed him just before the turn into the auto club.  At this point, he decided to try and outsprint me to the finish.  So I had to see what I had left in the tank, and I managed to beat him to the line.  All in all, the race was decent, but the bike course is still less than good. 

TriStar 111 (Maple Grove MN)

This race sounded intriguing.  Bike heavy with a shortish run that should be easy to recover from.  Also, this course was on roads that I have biked on a lot when I lived in the Maple Grove area.  When I showed up to the race site on Friday night to sign in, it was nothing but a clusterf#!@%.  Sign in at one table and be told to head across the park to get my transition bags.  Get over there; nope the bags are back at the first table you were at.  Here is a chip to put on your bike, no we do not have instructions on how to do it.  Rack your bike and place your bags in the assigned spots.  Get to the racks, no they are still working on tagging the racks with the assigned spot stickers (this is with ½ hour left in check in left).  Anyway, I left my stuff and headed home for the night.  Show back up race morning, and my bike and bags are moved.  A little surprising but at least I went to find my bags prior to the race so I knew where they were. 

The swim was uneventful for me.  Out onto the bike and as we are leaving transition there is a short steep hill.  I saw it and made a point of leaving my shoes off of the bike so I would be clipped in and not fumbling with my shoes at this point.  As I am biking out, there is another biker who was fumbling with his shoes and he started veering straight left into me.  I let out a quick “on your left, watch out!”  He replied with a few well placed expletives.  Sorry buddy, but I was just alerting you to the fact that the general race direction is parallel to the road direction and not perpendicular.  He passed me a couple miles later, and then a few miles later I saw him sitting on the side of the road with a bike problem he could not fix.  I would like to think that was karma coming through…  The rest of my bike was pretty laid back.  I managed to stay on course, even though a lot of people had issues.  I ended up going a little easier than I wanted to, but that is better than going too hard.  When I hit the run it went well.  A little upset stomach, but my legs felt strong. 

Burrito Union 5 Hour Tri (Superior WI)

Another race I signed up for just for the heck of it.  This race is so unique, I figured it was worth giving it a try to see what it was all about.  The park where this race is staged is perfect for a race.  A nice small lake, outside of town so there is not too much traffic, and nice trails for the run.  Of course, see what you think of the lake the third or fourth time you have to jump in.  The first circuit of the sprint course went well, but I might have went a little too hard.  The second time around, it was really interesting getting into my wetsuit.  Other than that, it went well.  The third time through, was getting a little tougher.  I was really feeling the fatigue on the third run.  And I knew based on the time I would have one more time through the course.  On the fourth trip around the course the run course was a struggle.  The hills on the trails seemed to have grown, and the course seemed to have gotten longer.  When I finally hit the finish line, I went straight for a water and a piece of shade.  All in all, this is a race I will do in one form or another again. 

Recap

Overall I was pleased with my season.  My best races overall would be Moose Lake Tri, and Apple Duathlon.  At these events I put all three legs together and paced my race very well overall.  The race that impressed me the most (combining all factors including course, cost, setup, etc...) were Timberman, and Burrito Union.  Timberman has a nice location and a good overall setup.  Burrito Union is a very unique and fun event.  Moose Lake tri was another event that I found very fun and will be doing again for sure.

Wednesday Night Trail Run

Another Wednesday, another fun trail run with the NMTC group.  The weather once again was perfect for running.  The wind was the only down side, but since we were in the ski trails at Snowflake, the trees did a wonderful job of blocking the wind for us. 

Ankle's Beware...

The trails at Snowflake nordic look like they would be great for skiing on in the winter.  In my previous life when I did ski, ,this place did not exist.  For running, the trails are nice, but if you want to make it out with your ankles intact you need to pay attention.  There are quite a few holes, rocks and general obstacles to avoid.  In some of the low spots there are half buried logs that show up at the last second as you run.  Personally I was able to make it through with no big problems, but a few others had some problems.

The course was  two loop affair so once you got through it the first time, you had a decent idea what was coming at you.  I felt pretty good out on the run, no real after affects from the weekend's race.  My legs felt pretty decent so that was nice.  My quick bike ride yesterday was a good recovery ride and probably helped out too. 

With the TC 10 Mile being my last real goal race of the season, I will be simply having a good time out running and riding.  The trail runs fit perfectly with that.  I will also be trying to get a few more bike rides in outside before the weather gets too cold and I am relegated to the trainer. 

Up next, Rock Hill on Sunday.  With the ever shrinking amount of daylight on weeknights, the switch to Sunday afternoons for the NMTC runs is happening starting this Sunday.  The Rock Hill course is one of the nicer surface runs.  There is still a challenging hill that you get to tackle twice, so it should be a fun run.

Kona and Hockey...

Also this weekend the big race on the big island will be going down.  Good luck to Marc Malinoski, local Duluth triathlete toeing the start line in Kona.  Also, the hockey season really gets underway with the NHL kicking off and college hockey getting in full swing too.  I am very curious to see how the Wild and their new players/coaches do this season.  As for the Gophers, with only one upper classman on defense, it could be a very interesting season.  Not sure what to expect from them so I am really excited to see them on the 14th and 15th in Duluth playing the bulldogs.

TC 10 Mile; PR or Stupid Mistakes???

Finisher's Medal

This morning I competed in the TC 10 Mile race again.  Last year I came into this race with pretty solid race fitness, and I set my PR on the course by running one of the smartest races I ever have.  In the past, this course has always given me problems and I typically go out way too fast, and then proceed to fall apart on the last five miles.  Last year I ran a 1:13:39.  Earlier this year at the Garry Bjorklund Half, I came through the 10 mile mark in 1:11:24.  Coming into today's race, that was my 10 mile PR.

50 Degrees and Clear Skies...

In other words, the weather was on our side again.  There was a little wind, but it never really felt like it was really pushing against us.  No excuses not to put up a solid time.  My running this summer has gone well so I know I had good enough fitness to run a good time.  The question was could I keep out of my own way and not do anything stupid on the run course that would stop me from running a good time.  I really felt I could get my personal course record, with an outside chance at hitting my 10 mile PR.  In order to do that, I figured I wanted to never see a split higher than 7:10 on my watch other than the third mile (the hill to get up to the Franklin Avenue bridge).  If I managed that, I figured I would have a chance to let gravity do its thing in the final mile and help me hit my PR time.

7:23???

That was the split I saw when I came through mile 6.  Now, mile 6 does not have the worst of the hills and I was just a little pissed at myself.  Especially since I had come through the 5 mile point in 35:16 which had me in good position to that point.  So I made a conscious effort to pick up the pace a little.  So when I saw a 7:12 for mile 7 I was really pissed off at myself.  The rolling nature of the hills on mile 7 were definitely easier than mile 6 and I was not able to get back to my goal of 7:10 or better per mile.  So, the weather was cooperating, my running prep was there, and here I was screwing it up again.  At this point, I had made enough small stupid mistakes on this course that I figured why not throw it all out there and either get my PR or have a really epic failure.  So I really picked it up now.  If my mental math was correct, I needed to hit 7:00 flat for the final three miles to make my PR.  As I was picking it up, I was not feeling too bad.  So when I saw the 6:49 for the next split I was glad to be back on track.  I tried my best to hold the pace for the next mile and hit a 6:51.  I was still feeling pretty good at this point.  On the edge, but I thought I could hold it for another mile.  Of course at this point, I was doing the math to see what would be needed to go under 1:10 so I could actually average sub 7 minute miles.  I could not really do the math so I just ran down the hill towards the Capitol as fast as I could.  As the clock came into view, I could see 1:09:4X and was not sure if I could get to the line in time.  As I crossed the line with a clock reading of 1:10:1X I was a little pissed off.  It really sucks to be that close to a milestone and miss it.  Who knows when the weather and my fitness are going to come together for a great race opportunity.  Then I checked my watch...  1:09:57...  So, my chip time was just under the 1:10 barrier. 

Summary

Overall I ended up pleased with the race.  The more I look at my splits, the more I wonder what the heck I was doing out there.  My splits were all over the place.  Also, the final three miles were all under 7:00 minutes so I clearly could have run a little bit faster than I did.  Oh well.  Be happy with a PR.

One last thing...  Next June I will be taking another shot at the Garry Bjorklund.  I "won" a slot in the random drawing from the Grandma's Minnesota Mile in Duluth a couple weekends ago.  The whole concept of calling the method of giving out slots for the popular races as lotteries is a little bit of a misnomer.  Something tells me Powerball would not be nearly as popular if when you "won" the Powerball you had to pay the lottery $75 and then you now had the privilege to run 10 or 13 miles.

Garry Bjorklund Here I Come!