NMTC Roughrider Trail Run

This past Sunday 75 or so brave souls met up just off of Beck's Road to tackle the NMTC Roughrider course.  I was hopeful this year as there was little precipitation in the previous day or so.  This would allow us the best opportunity to actually try to "run" the course as opposed to survive as we were doing last year.

I brought my Contour camera with me this year to try and capture what it is like to attempt to run up the power lines.

Note in the video below the following details:

• The camera is mounted on the right side of my visor...  At eye level...  Even when it appears it is a few inches off of the ground as I climb the power line section.
• While climbing the power line section I did not have to crawl this year, I was able to walk up all slopes, no matter how close to the ground the video makes it look.
• Yes, I do realize I sound like a dirty old man with my breathing while I run.  I think I will dub music over the next video I make...

So without further ado, here is a short chunk of the run I posted to YouTube.

Off-Season

With the TC10 Mile, and with it my 2012 racing season complete, I am easing into my off-season.

Now I am heading out for runs or rides when I feel like it and not because I need to get ready for an upcoming race. This evening I headed out when I got home as the rain had stopped about an hour earlier. It had been five days since I had run and it felt great to be out on the trails at Pine Valley.

This weekend the fall trail series will be at the power lines in Jay Cooke. This course is as tough as they come when it is dry. If the course has any residual wetness from the recent rain and it will be a repeat of last years slip and slide. I am looking forward to having a fun afternoon running up and down the steepest hills I have ever seen a trail go over.

I will report back with my experience next week.

TC 10 Mile Race Report

Short Version – 1:09:04 PR by 52 seconds

Long Version

Came into this race with decent run fitness, and some up and down results throughout the summer.  No great run race results, but I have had some good results from triathlons so I was thinking I had a 50/50 shot at a PR.  The weather was decent for the race with very cool temps (30 at the start) and the wind would not be a headwind for us.

Pre-Race

Nothing special here.  Wake up and have my standard two pieces of toast and some Gatorade and water.  Head to downtown and park in a nearby ramp.  Walk over to the Dome…  Of course, seeing tailgaters for the 3:20 Vikings game already setup at 6:00 am was a little bit of a surprise. 

Once in the dome I ran into Dave and wished him luck.  Then I went to look for a short bathroom line.  I found one where I walked right in and did my business.  Once that was over with I finalized my race wardrobe and headed to the exit.  Ran into a few other runners I knew and said hello, and then made it to the bag drop and on to the start line.  When I got to the corral I bumped into Kraig and we chatted a bit.  Wished each other luck and off to find the correct spot to start my race from.  I also took in my gel and some more Gatorade to finalize my pre-race fueling.

Off We Go

On your marks, go…  With that we all started running.  I was close to the front (12 seconds to the mat) and had no trouble with the crowd.  Quickly got into my groove and tried to not take the race out too fast as is typical for me.  Take advantage of the downhill, but don’t burn yourself up is all I was thinking.  As we were going through the second mile I started to peel my outer shirt I was wearing just for that purpose.  I wanted to be ready at the aid station to ditch it.  Up the steep hill to the bridge I simply concentrated on keeping the feet turning over and soon enough I was on the bridge heading to the water stop at mile 3.  Ditched the shirt and grabbed a water making good time.  Knowing what was ahead I wanted to work on staying smooth on mile 4 and then really stay strong and not slow down too much on the hills.  When I hit the halfway mark I saw 34:XX on my watch and was pleased.  I had a little in the bank, but I did not want to waste it on the hills. 

Through the three miles of uphill I worked hard on staying strong and was glad to see my slowest mile was 7:10 in this section.  Exactly what I wanted to do.  When I got to the flat area at the top I tried to put in a little push as I was feeling good probably due to the cool temperatures.  My last three mile splits were all good and led me to a negative split for the race. 

Finish

I knew I would have a PR as I was approaching the finish line so I was very happy.  When I saw how close I came to 1:08 I wished I had a little more somewhere, but overall a great race for me.

Post Race

Right at the finish I saw Dave again and he said he did a 1:04 and was very pleased with his race.  Roger was right behind me at the finish and we all congratulated each other on a strong race.  With the temps still being chilly, I went off to get my dry clothes and needed to bail out so I did not freeze.  I went and caught a bus back to the start line and back to the hotel for a shower.  Overall, a great day at the races…

Details

Here are the mile splits.  Overall, I was very pleased with my pacing for the race.  I came through the five mile mark in 34:47 official time so 17 seconds of the extra 28 belongs spread out in the first five and the other 11 gets split up over the last five mile splits.  Bottom line, I managed a well paced negative split effort.

6:41 – mile 1 adrenaline and a little bit of a downhill.

6:40 – solid downhill mile, try not too go out too fast now.

7:13 – toughest single hill on the course getting up to the Franklin Ave. Bridge.

6:52 – nice flat mile to get back to pace before the hills start.

7:04 – start of the hills.

7:10 – work on staying strong as there is another mile of these hills.

7:01 – last mile with real hills in it.

6:44 – course flattens out, time to get back to pace.

6:45 – hold the pace because I know mile 10 is downhill and quick.

6:22 – let gravity help on the downhill, and give it everything I got.

0:28 – miscellaneous GPS time/distance.

Race Profile

How I Video Bike Rides

Any video of a bike ride I have on this site or my YouTube channel has been shot with the setup below on my tri bike.  The ContourRoam camera has some very nice mount options and I used the low profile mount and stuck it to the bottom side of my aerobar.  The sticky tape from the mount has had no problems holding throughout this season over some very rough roads and also getting doused with rain during one day of racing.

Check out the following pictures to get a feel for what it looks like.

Note the low profile mount under the left portion of the aerobar (right side in picture)

Here is a close up of the mount.

Close up with the camera mounted.

Head on look of the bike with the camera mounted.

Side view with the camera mounted.

Fall Running

NMTC Fall Trail Series

It is once again time for the weekly fall trail series put on by the Northern Minnesota Track Club.  So far, the weather has been wonderful every week with dry conditions and cool temperatures.  The schedule this year has been switched around a bit, and the races have changed a little also.

Lester Park

This year we started the series at Lester Park.  This is the longest of the fall races at 10.5k.  I had a good evening at Lester and put together a solid run.  This course did not see any changes from the last time I ran it, we still ran out and then did two loops before coming back to finish at the main park area.

Rolling Stone

With the flooding earlier this year, the start area at Spirit Mountain for the standard Rolling Stone course was washed out.  This year we started at the zoo and used a modified course.  The course started with a slight uphill to a service road that was flat.  We then took a left onto a singletrack trail.  I was lucky that on the road Connie passed me and I tucked in behind her for the singletrack section.  I simply trusted her skill as a trail runner and followed her through.  I did not have to pay attention for the flags to find the course or worry about the trees or rocks or roots.  Wherever she ran I followed.  When we popped out of the trail we were at the very bottom of Spirit Mountain and we turned right and were looking at a line of runners heading straight up the ski hill.  Great...  I was forced to walk for a portion of the hill, but was only passed by one runner.  We then headed across the hill and connected with the normal Rolling Stone course.  On the quick open downhill, I managed to pass the gentleman who passed me on the uphill and I held him off for the rest of the run.

Overall I was pleased with my run.  I kept a solid pace and did a better job on the second half of the race not slowing down too much.  Luckily I was not one of the folks to run through the bees that were a little riled up.

Brown's Point

We were back to the normal Brown's Point course that is a 2.5 mile out and back that has a series of steep up down portions that really test your climbing ability in short chunks.

Coming into Brown's Point my knee was bothering me a little and it was a little sore during the run.  This caused me a little concern, but it was not bad enough to slow down.  I just promised myself I would take a day off after the race.  The whole second half of this course I was doing everything I could to not slow down.  Each time up the short steep sections I concentrated on keeping the legs turning over.  When I would hit the flatter sections I worked on getting back up to speed quickly and then getting back into rhythm.  When we came out onto the road for the last 0.4 miles, I tried to pick up the speed as much as possible to make sure nobody would catch me.

Again I felt good overall with my run.  My knee was a little sore, but now a few days later it is fine.  I think the steep downhills were not doing it any favors.  I am now looking forward to Rock Hill next week.

Wrenshall Fall Fest 10K

I saw this race and figured it would be a good practice run prior to the TC 10 mile next weekend.  The conditions this morning were perfect for running.  With a 10:00 am start time, the sun was up and the air temps were in the low 50's.  There was a little wind, but nothing to worry about for running.  My goal was to stay sub 7:00 for all of the miles., which I talked about with Dave at the start.

I started a little quick with a 6:40 mile, but I then found my pace in the 6:50 range after that.  A lady runner that was by us at the start line stayed with me for the first mile, but then started falling back.  I was a little worried that she heard me say I was planning on running right around 7 flats and then tried to stay with me when I ran a 6:40 to start.  Good at pacing at the start has never been said about my running skill.  In the end she did not fall too far back so maybe she just runs like I do and starts too fast.

Overall I ended with a 42:30 for a 6:51 average per mile.  This was a PR for me at the 10K distance and I was very pleased. Also, my knee was fine.  It did not feel sore at all while running and throughout the day continues to be fine. Some friends I saw at the race also had good races; Dave finished just ahead of me in the low 40's, and Amanda crushed her goal of sub 1hr in her first 10k.  All in all a great last strong run prior to next weekend's 10 miler.  

Burrito Union Race Report

Pre-Race

Morning of I arrived for setup at about 10 minutes after 6:00 am.  First order of business was to grab a nice spot and a picnic table so we would have a place for 10 hours of transitioning.  I then got all of my bike gear setup so that in the case of a mechanical, I would be able to take care of it quickly.  Clint arrived shortly after I did and he had a wonderful pop-up tent the Duluth Running Company uses at events he was able to bring.  This would be key later to protect us from the intermittent showers and keep us dry.  Lou showed up next and we were ready to go. 

Left to Right, myself, Lou and Clint.

 Strategy

Going into the race our plan was to stay in our specific sport for at least the first 3-4 rounds and then decide after that.  Clint would be our swimmer, I was biking and Lou was running.  For our overall goals, we wanted to win our category, win the 10 hour overall, and therefore also win a growler of beer. 

Start

At the start of the day, all of the 10 hour teams and individuals take off 30 minutes before the 5 hour folks.  Right off the bat, Clint pulled in behind the growler teams swimmer Howie.  He drafted for most of the way.  I had to get prepped so I did not see the finish, but Clint pushed hard to be the first out of the water and into transition.  He sent me out on the first bike ahead of the field.  I wanted to push a little harder on lap 1 to make sure every other team knew we were planning on racing hard.  I was able to stay out in front for the entire ride and sent Lout out first.  On the bike, it was apparent early on that the wind was going to be an issue all day.  It was early morning and it was already blowing pretty hard.  Lou took off and ran well.  We came off the first lap with a good lead on everyone else in the 10 hour race.  So far, so good.

Note the profile and the corresponding speed profile for the first triathlon...

Lather, Rinse, Repeat…

It now became an effort in quick recovery and trying to spot your athletes.  As noted in lap 1, Clint was clearly one of the fastest swimmers here today.  On top of that, he was basically our transition athlete.  So while his event might have been the shortest in time, he was really kicking ass by hammering the transition from run to swim and from swim to bike.  We actually had me setup right at the bike mount line with one foot clipped in and he would sprint the entire way from the lake so that we could take every last second out of transition possible. 

For myself, I would be biking a lot with less than 30 minutes to recover in between.  For me it was all about staying hydrated and fueled while also not having stomach issues on the bike.  As the day went on, it really became an exercise in surviving the wind and the rain.  Talking with athletes throughout the day the wind was what all of the bikers talked about.  Considering it rained on 6 of the 9 laps, you know the wind was bad. 

Running had to be tough.  In the end Lou ran 27 plus miles.  I am not sure it would have been harder to run it back to back as cooling down for 45-50 minutes in between had to make it tough later in the day.  Factor in the cool temps and the hilly course; well I think our runner had a tough task and did well.  I was most impressed with Lou’s ability to strip in no time flat.  More than once I was coming back from the bike and he was still in his warm clothes and he had them off and was out running in no time flat. 

Video from third time through the bike course...

Finish Time

As the time started to wind down we were chatting strategy again.  As Lou was out for our 8^th run it was obvious we would have more than enough time for 9 laps.  There were only two other teams that would be allowed to start their 9^th lap.  Talking to them in transition, neither of them were going to start the 9^th lap.  So, we were guaranteed the overall win for the 10 hour race.  So, go out for 9 or not?  Clint wanted to win in style, so we decided to knock out a 9^th lap.  He hammered the swim as usual and off I went on the bike.  At this point, I had already ridden 114 miles on the day.  I have never ridden that far in a single day ever.  I now was heading out for 14 more…  It went well and I was glad we did it as there were many racers still challenging themselves on the course as the 10 hour time limit was coming. 

In the end, 9 laps was the count.  A nice bowl, and a growler of beer.  Basically a great day of racing with friends.

The Spoils of the Day

Burrito Union Prep

This weekend I will be taking another shot at the Burrito Union Triathlon.  Instead of competing as an individual like last year, I found a couple other crazies to try out the 10 hour relay event.  Our tentative plan is to race as specialists with Clint swimming, myself biking and Lou running.  We plan on having our other gear in case we get sick of our specific sport and want to switch it up.

I will be back on Sunday with a race report if I survive the Minnesota Mile in the morning.  That should be interesting, 10 hours of biking on Saturday and then waking up early to see just how fast I can run a mile on Sunday.