Fall Running and 2015 Schedule Thoughts

With the tri season all wrapped up, my fall switched over to trail running. I made it out to all but one of the fall northland runner trail races this fall. I missed the Bull Run when I was out in Vegas playing Broomball.  

This past weekend was the final run of the season and was held at Hartley Park. I had not run this course before so it was all new as the run went on. When we hit the single track section less than a mile in, I tried to maintain a solid pace but not too fast. The previous week at Roughrider I went out too fast and faded at the end. So this week with the distance being similar I wanted to be a little smarter.  

Once on the single track I realized how slick the trail was going to be also. Maybe wearing my road shoes was not such a good idea...  Right about this time, Leslie passed me and I figured it would be worth trying to keep up with her. I know she is a good trail runner so I figured I could simply follow her and think less.  Now my biggest worry was the downhill off camber corners. I had to grab a tree or two to keep from slipping off the trail every now and the.  Some of the uphills I felt like a cartoon character running in place at times. 

In the middle of the run, we came upon a sharp but short uphill that was very slick. I was still trailing Leslie at this time and she almost did not make it up the hill, and I just about ran right over her. Luckily she made it over the hill without any help from me. 

The rest of the trail section was not too bad. I managed to not fall and did not fall off the pace either. At the end when we hit the wider trail, I even managed to pick up the pace as it was ever so slightly downhill. Overall I was pleased with my run and it was a great way to wrap up the trail running series. 

2015

So IM Wisconsin is the elephant in the room of my upcoming summer. Nick and Mike will be making their IM debut, and I will be returning to the scene of my only DNF ever.  I really expect both Nick and Mike to absolutely crush it. They both have some serious speed, and have knocked out a good half IM time. 

We have been trying to find some good prep events for Wisconsin. We are looking at Liberty as an early season half, and I know Mike is looking at Chisago Half in July. He has had good results there and wants to do it again. I am debating on another travel race: ironman Canada and the Honu Half are high on my list but I cannot decide right now. We have also talked about Burrito Union as they moved it up to mid August. It could be the perfect timing being four weeks prior to Wisconsin. 

All in all, 2015 is shaping up to be a fun year. I will be trying to put together a good training plan and execute a smart race at IM Wisconsin. If that works out, my goal of a PR should happen!

EMMA's

Made the trek to Gear West last night to attend the Oscars of the Minnesota Tri season. Clint had asked if I wanted to join him as Superior Man was once again up for race of the year. With Nick up for Rookie of the Year, I figured it would be fun.

The evening was fun, and Nick and Superior Man both brought home some hardware. Two years in a row as athletes choice race of the year for Superior Man. Watch out for Nick to make some waves next year on the regional race scene. No lead into T2 will be safe with his run speed, although I bet he is coming into T2 closer or even ahead of some of the fast guys next season. 

The evening was capped off by a beer chugging contest to settle the EMMA bingo winner. It was Matt Payne's only loss of the night...

Loony Challenge 2014

Similar to last year, I signed up for the loony challenge to get myself a guaranteed entry into the TC 10 miler. Last year I decided that after my late September romp through the Sierra Nevada mountains that running training was done. Instead I focused on finishing some important weatherproofing things on my house. So I showed up at the 10k Saturday morning not having done any exercise in two weeks. 

I figured this year could only go better as I was running a reasonable amount this fall. Should have been more, but it was better than zero. Included in this training I was showing up for the weekly trail runs that NMTC was putting on. On the Wednesday prior to the loony challenge, the weekly run was at Bagley Nature Center by UMD. Just to make life interesting, I found a way to roll my ankle at the race. 

So, limping around on Friday collecting my packet had me a little worried about the weekend events. Since it was paid for already, I figured I would show up and see how things rolled.

10K

At the start line I figured I would take it easy at the start to see how it felt. I also knew that running uphill or downhill was rougher than flats and the race started with a good climb. After a nice easy first mile I started ramping it up. The foot felt ok, and I finished in a decent time overall. 

5K

Less than 45 minutes to wait for the next go round gave me enough time to get something to drink and re-assess my race wear. I then decided to head back to the start line and get ready to run again. Waiting to start I bumped into Stacie from the DRC running group. We chatted about our goals and got ready to go. She was shooting to go a touch faster than I wanted to so she went a couple rows ahead of me just before the gun. I took the start a touch faster than the 10k, but still a touch easier than I might really have been able to. At the top of the hill I once again picked up the pace and held it through the finish. 

Recovery

Last year I did not do a good job recovering from the Saturday runs in preparation for Sunday. This year I made a point of getting my legs ready. I rode the exercise bike at the hotel for a bit to get some lactic acid out, and then used my compression socks for a bit too. 

10 Miler

So this year I stayed at the Courtyard at the corner of Washington Ave and 35W. This was about 3/4 mile from the start line. With no Metrodome this year, I figured I would simply jog over from the hotel as a warm up and arrive with 20 minutes before the race started. Perfect plan. I packed up my clothes for after the race, got into my race clothes and jogged over. I then threw my bag onto the UPS truck (best race sponsor ever; UPS as the bag transfer folks!  Genius!). I then bumped into Tiffany and Leslie, two killer fast ladies from the Duluth area also running the ten miler. They were looking ready to rock, and when I talked to them after the race they both had nailed good times and seemed happy with their race. 

I headed over to the start line and got ready to roll. With the road construction, the first three miles were going to be all new until we joined back up to the standard course at the three mile mark. When we hit the flag markin one mile, my watch said 0.86 miles. Based on the reaction of everyone around me, I was not the only one thinking it was short. We proceeded over to the east bank or the river and the U of M campus. It was pretty with the leaves, campus and the river. When we met up with the standard course at mile three, my watch still read over 0.1 miles short. 

At this point we were on the only real sustained flat portion of the course so I tried to maintain a nice even pace and assess how my foot and legs were feeling. The ankle/foot was doing ok as long as I did not step on uneven ground. The legs were doing pretty good also. I think the clown shoes (Hoka's) I wore for all three races were helping out in that regard. 

Back to the hills with the long slow climb up Summit and I was trying to stay focused. I was able to stay pretty consistent and soon enough I was on the flat portion of mile 9 getting ready for the big downhill to the finish. I kept a smooth and relatively good pace down the hill and the foot still felt ok. Through the finish and I was happy with my time and the weekend of races overall. 

TBW'15

So a couple Tri buddies were talking about IM Wisconsin as a possible race road trip for 2015. These are the same guys I road tripped to Spicer MN to race the Green Lake Tri with this past summer. You know, an Olympic distance race that is about two hours of fun. Now they are talking about an Ironman...  

A little back story here, IM Wisconsin and I have a little history with each other. It is the site of my only DNF ever. It is also the site of my only puke and rally episode in a race also (my personal worst Ironman time was in this race). In over 100 Tri races, I have never failed to finish what I started except for IM Wisconsin 2009. After collecting an IV in the med tent, I pretty much swore off the race and seriously doubted I would ever try an Ironman again.  Well, since I got back on the proverbial Ironman horse last year at Lake Tahoe... Why not take another swing at IM Moo.

So, if I am going to race there I want to exact a little revenge on that course. I plan on nailing a good race, with a PR being the result. There is absolutely no reason not to go sub 12 hours. There, I said it. Well, wrote it at least. 

2014 Tri Season Review

So I should have been blogging more, but I slacked off. So, I will wrap up the entire 2014 multistory season in one blog post...

Tinman (Morris, MN; 1100 yards pool swim, 18 mile, 6.2 mile)

Good start to the season with no hiccups. 

Blaine Triathlon (Blaine, MN; 0.25 mile, 16.7 mile, 3.5 mile)

51 degree water. Enough said. 

Gear West Duathlon (Orono, MN; 5k, 28k, 5k)

Good weather and ran the second run well for a good day. 

Grand Rapids Triathlon (Grand Rapids, MI; 1.2 mile, 56 mile, 13.1 mile)

"A" race for the year. Terrible swim, solid bike and solid run for a half iron PR in 5:04:xx. Did not earn a spot to worlds in 2015, but still happy with my race. 

Lake Waconia (Waconia, MN; 0.5 mile, 20 mile, 4 mile)

Tired legs from the Garry Bjorklund the previous weekend, but still a fun day. Lost my heads up race bet with Lou, but I will get that as soon as he gives me a rematch....

Z Tri (Grand Rapids, MN; 1/3 mile, 14 mile, 3.2 mile)

Great weather and a fun way to start the Fourth of July. Really happy with my run here as biked hard and ran sub 7:00 still.

Duluth Tri (Duluth, MN; 1.2 mile, 56 mile, 13.1 mile)

For all that went right at my last half iron, it all went bad here. Could not find a good rhythm on the back half of the bike, and the heat crushed me on the run. 

Moose Lake Tri (Moose Lake, MN; 0.4 mile, 12 mile, 5 mile)

Great weather to start. Solid swim with a decent bike to follow. Ran a little slower than I wanted but ended up with my first overall win ever. 

Brewhouse Sprint (Duluth, MN; 820 yards, 12.4 mile, 3.1 mile)

Signed up the night before for the sprint as a bunch of buddies were doing it. We split into teams for a beer bet with Nick and I taking Mike and Ryan down when Ryan crashed coming into T2. Biked well and once again kept my run pace sub 7:00 to have a solid race and set my age group record. 

Green Lake Tri (Spicer, MN; 0.75 mile, 22 mile, 6 mile)

Rolled down to Spicer with Nick and Mike for Tri road trip. Kris, Skeeter and Meirs met up with us so we put together another beer bet for the day. I had an average swim, and hammered the bike.  On the run I still ran decent for a good race overall. However, Mike, Kris and Skeeter won our bet this time. Great race road trip overall. 

Superior Man Tri (bike course director...)

Completely different outlook on race day. Tiring and busy, but had a good time. 

Burrito Union (Superior, WI; 600 yards, 12.4 mile, 3 mile)

A fun race to end the multisport season with. 

Overall ten triathlons, one Duathlon and one Tri as a course director. 

Burrito Union 2014

For this years running of BU, I thought I would try the one-and-done version. One swing though the race course and get a beer to watch all of the 5&10 hour competitors still rolling.

Race morning dawned and it looked nice, although a touch cool with the temp in the upper 40's. 

I cruised over to Pattison State Park just south of Superior Wisconsin and got my stuff setup in transition. Pretty basic setup with it being a sprint course. I then figured I should check out the start of the bike course since it has changed since two years ago. I jogged through the start and saw the grassy and gravel sections we were warned of. Nothing to bad, so it was time to get going. 

Swim

63 was the stated water temp as we watched the ten hour competitors take off. I then slipped into my batman costume, aka wetsuit and waded into the lake. 

Shorter hair, and no beard but you get the idea...

A quick countdown and off we went. Things were going fine until the second buoy. There we turned directly into the sun making the next buoy impossible to see. Swim in the general direction of the woods and hope I was not too far off. Finally into the shade of the trees and I can see I took an amazingly good line. I will call it skill, you can call it luck...  Around the final buoy and out of the water. No watch and no clock so I don't have splits, but it felt ok for time. 

Bike 

Came onto the bike right behind a couple folks, so I had to be patient through the campground as they told us it was a no pass zone. Once on the road I ramped it up. Slight tail wind on the way out, so had to keep pressing hard. By the time it was done, I managed to catch all but one person from our wave.

Run

They had changed the run course since the last time I did this race also. It was still a trail run, so it was a matter a running hard and trying not to trip and fall. There are a lot of steps and a couple times I came at them a touch fast but I managed to stay upright. I ran hard, but could not catch the one guy in our wave ahead of me. 

Recap

In the end, the guy ahead of me was a 5 Hour competitor so I took home the win. It also happened to be a course record. Since I raced the Duluth Tri and the Brewhouse Sprint in addition to the Burrito Union I got a golden growler to go with my finishers pint glass and winners bowl. 

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Here you go Craig Vork.  No puny bucket either, a nice five gallon pail...

2014 Preview

Running

Garry Bjorklund

Loony Challenge - 5k, 10k, and 10 miler on TC Marathon weekend

Those are my big races for the year. I will start with some fun stuff like the pub shuffle next weekend. I will also hit local races like the Park Point 5 miler and others. 

Triathlon

USAT long distance nationals

???

Trying to put a good race down at nationals in Grand Rapids in early June. No other nailed down plans right now. I will do some local MN races, and might try and find a cool fall race also. This year will see me on the other side of the fence at Superior Man.  I will be directing the bike course instead of racing. I am excited and look forward to helping make Superior Man an even better race. 

2013 Review

I know this is a little late, but I am trying to get back to blogging so here goes. 

Running

Early season running had me knock out a PR at my pre Grandma's 10 k in Barnum. I also hit my PR at the Garry Bjorklund half. My fall running suffered though. After Tahoe I had no drive to train and went into TC Marathon weekend with no training at all. The loony challenge proved to be painful but interesting. Interesting enough that I signed up again for 2014. 

Tri

I made a big focus on long distance races in 2013. I started with a promising race at the Duluth Tri. I followed that with a PR at Boulder in tough conditions. Superior Man was equally tough, and I felt pleased with my effort. My season finale ironman at Lake Tahoe left me happy with my effort even though I did not get the time I was hoping for. Overall, a decent season.