It's been a while since I posted. Training has been coming around, probably due to the fact that I'm actually sleeping a reasonable amount most of the time now. I have also gotten out and raced a few times, so here's a brief summary of recent races:
TC 1 Mile:
2:08 first 800, 2:20 second 800. What else is there to say? I died. BUT...I really hadn't done anything to prepare for such a short race, and I will say that I really enjoyed the event. It's pretty cool to race down Nicollet Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, and it was fun to be there to see the championship races as well.
Superior Trail 50k:
This was my third year in a row of running this race. I felt smooth and strong the whole way. Brian, Dimitri and I were running together most of the first half. There was a guy named Josh from Indiana who was with us part of the way out, and then surged ahead and stayed about a minute in front most of the way out on the out-and-back course. We didn't really know who he was, but he was wearing some old-school looking racing flats, so I figured he meant business. Nonetheless, when Brian asked if I wanted to chase him down, I said, "Not particularly," as I remembered well the difficulty of the last section of the course, and didn't want to get caught up in "racing" that early in the run.
The major focus on the way out was not taking the wrong turn that both Brian and I took last year. As we talked about this incessantly, I think Dimitri was probably wishing he had some more reliable navigators, as it was his first time doing the race. Anyway, we stayed on course, and the trail was in very good shape, with the exception of a bunch of down trees on some of the higher points along the trail. At the second aid station, just before the turn-around, I took a little extra time locating my drop bag and re-filling my bottle. Everyone got separated at this point. I passed Brian on the way up Carlton Peak, and Dimitri had caught and passed Josh. They were descending pretty close to each other. I hit the turnaround at 1:54:30, almost exactly on my course record pace from 2 years ago, although that year I had run the first half in 1:58 and then came back faster.
I returned through the aid station on my own, but quickly caught up to the guys after that. Dimitri continued to lead, and Josh was 20 meters or so back, but holding steady. They were still moving pretty well, so I sat in for a while and enjoyed the trail. I passed Josh, then Dimitri on successive uphills, where the fatigue and difficulty of the trail was starting to catch up to them. It seemed to happen very suddenly, but without "making a move" I was alone out front.
The run back felt really good, and I pushed the pace occasionally to test myself a bit, and make up a little time. I came into the last aid station knowing that I would be close to the course record, but that I'd have to go pretty hard to get it. For better or worse, I did not wear the GPS during the race, so I really didn't have any objective indicator of where I was at, except from the 4 aid station splits and the turnaround. The last stretch of the course is a rugged 7.5 miles, so it's pretty tough to evaluate how you're doing for pace.
I took one pretty bad fall, cutting up my right hand pretty badly, and scraping up my left leg and abdomen. It took a minute to shake that off, but then I was back and moving well. The down trees definitely slowed me down a lot more on the way back, as I definitely was lacking in agility, and was no longer able to hurdle them. I didn't think too much about time until the end, when I heard the stream that you cross shortly before coming out onto the road and down to the finish line. At that point I realized just how close it was going to be, and really picked up the pace. However, the stream deceived me, and I seemed to hear it for a long time before actually getting there. By the time I came out onto the road, I realized I would miss the CR, but I figured I was already running fast, so I might as well keep it going. I'm glad to have gotten under 3:50, and to have finished feeling so strong.
In the meantime, Brian, the wily veteran at age 26, had moved into second and finished in 4:01, a big improvement over his previous efforts on the course. Dimitri held on for 3rd in 4:07, a very strong run for a relative trail novice. Jordan, from my marathon training class two years ago, ran his first ultra, and finished in just over 5 hours and with his faculties fully intact.
Brian Kraft 5k:
Nine days later, I warmed up for the Brian Kraft 5k knowing that it was going to hurt. The 5k has always been a tough race for me. I had been sick and was coughing up phlegm, but my legs actually felt really good warming up and doing strides. I had gotten in a couple of speed workouts since the mile, so I figured I'd be a little more road race ready.
The 4:50 first mile felt fast but controlled, and I had a good pack to run with. Matt Gabrielson had taken it out super-fast and a few guys were strung out in pursuit, and then there was a large pack of club guys like myself just holding steady. I felt pretty good during the second mile and took a couple of turns at pushing the pace. We came through in 9:46, so we had slowed slightly.
Then it started to get very hard! I managed to try to go with the moves that people were making, though my breathing was very labored and my legs were getting very heavy. I was not able to find that next gear with a half mile to go, and lost contact just enough so that when I kicked with 200 to go, I was too far back to be in striking distance of anyone. I stopped my watch in the chute at 15:18, though my official time is listed as 15:20. Not a great run, and definitely a rough last mile, but for the first time this year running under 5:00 pace didn't feel totally awkward and/or impossible.
Looking Ahead:
I can't say where this leaves me for Grandma's. I'm obviously aerobically very strong, and that's most important, but I would be more confident with some good road race times under my belt. I don't plan to race again before the marathon, though, and I will have to try to fight the temptation to prove my fitness to myself in workouts. It's time now to just put the final touches on training, honing in on marathon pace and improving my efficiency and stride a little bit, while also getting rested and fresh.
TC 1 Mile:
2:08 first 800, 2:20 second 800. What else is there to say? I died. BUT...I really hadn't done anything to prepare for such a short race, and I will say that I really enjoyed the event. It's pretty cool to race down Nicollet Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, and it was fun to be there to see the championship races as well.
Superior Trail 50k:
This was my third year in a row of running this race. I felt smooth and strong the whole way. Brian, Dimitri and I were running together most of the first half. There was a guy named Josh from Indiana who was with us part of the way out, and then surged ahead and stayed about a minute in front most of the way out on the out-and-back course. We didn't really know who he was, but he was wearing some old-school looking racing flats, so I figured he meant business. Nonetheless, when Brian asked if I wanted to chase him down, I said, "Not particularly," as I remembered well the difficulty of the last section of the course, and didn't want to get caught up in "racing" that early in the run.
The major focus on the way out was not taking the wrong turn that both Brian and I took last year. As we talked about this incessantly, I think Dimitri was probably wishing he had some more reliable navigators, as it was his first time doing the race. Anyway, we stayed on course, and the trail was in very good shape, with the exception of a bunch of down trees on some of the higher points along the trail. At the second aid station, just before the turn-around, I took a little extra time locating my drop bag and re-filling my bottle. Everyone got separated at this point. I passed Brian on the way up Carlton Peak, and Dimitri had caught and passed Josh. They were descending pretty close to each other. I hit the turnaround at 1:54:30, almost exactly on my course record pace from 2 years ago, although that year I had run the first half in 1:58 and then came back faster.
I returned through the aid station on my own, but quickly caught up to the guys after that. Dimitri continued to lead, and Josh was 20 meters or so back, but holding steady. They were still moving pretty well, so I sat in for a while and enjoyed the trail. I passed Josh, then Dimitri on successive uphills, where the fatigue and difficulty of the trail was starting to catch up to them. It seemed to happen very suddenly, but without "making a move" I was alone out front.
The run back felt really good, and I pushed the pace occasionally to test myself a bit, and make up a little time. I came into the last aid station knowing that I would be close to the course record, but that I'd have to go pretty hard to get it. For better or worse, I did not wear the GPS during the race, so I really didn't have any objective indicator of where I was at, except from the 4 aid station splits and the turnaround. The last stretch of the course is a rugged 7.5 miles, so it's pretty tough to evaluate how you're doing for pace.
I took one pretty bad fall, cutting up my right hand pretty badly, and scraping up my left leg and abdomen. It took a minute to shake that off, but then I was back and moving well. The down trees definitely slowed me down a lot more on the way back, as I definitely was lacking in agility, and was no longer able to hurdle them. I didn't think too much about time until the end, when I heard the stream that you cross shortly before coming out onto the road and down to the finish line. At that point I realized just how close it was going to be, and really picked up the pace. However, the stream deceived me, and I seemed to hear it for a long time before actually getting there. By the time I came out onto the road, I realized I would miss the CR, but I figured I was already running fast, so I might as well keep it going. I'm glad to have gotten under 3:50, and to have finished feeling so strong.
In the meantime, Brian, the wily veteran at age 26, had moved into second and finished in 4:01, a big improvement over his previous efforts on the course. Dimitri held on for 3rd in 4:07, a very strong run for a relative trail novice. Jordan, from my marathon training class two years ago, ran his first ultra, and finished in just over 5 hours and with his faculties fully intact.
Brian Kraft 5k:
Nine days later, I warmed up for the Brian Kraft 5k knowing that it was going to hurt. The 5k has always been a tough race for me. I had been sick and was coughing up phlegm, but my legs actually felt really good warming up and doing strides. I had gotten in a couple of speed workouts since the mile, so I figured I'd be a little more road race ready.
The 4:50 first mile felt fast but controlled, and I had a good pack to run with. Matt Gabrielson had taken it out super-fast and a few guys were strung out in pursuit, and then there was a large pack of club guys like myself just holding steady. I felt pretty good during the second mile and took a couple of turns at pushing the pace. We came through in 9:46, so we had slowed slightly.
Then it started to get very hard! I managed to try to go with the moves that people were making, though my breathing was very labored and my legs were getting very heavy. I was not able to find that next gear with a half mile to go, and lost contact just enough so that when I kicked with 200 to go, I was too far back to be in striking distance of anyone. I stopped my watch in the chute at 15:18, though my official time is listed as 15:20. Not a great run, and definitely a rough last mile, but for the first time this year running under 5:00 pace didn't feel totally awkward and/or impossible.
Looking Ahead:
I can't say where this leaves me for Grandma's. I'm obviously aerobically very strong, and that's most important, but I would be more confident with some good road race times under my belt. I don't plan to race again before the marathon, though, and I will have to try to fight the temptation to prove my fitness to myself in workouts. It's time now to just put the final touches on training, honing in on marathon pace and improving my efficiency and stride a little bit, while also getting rested and fresh.
well, i'll be up at grandma's this year cheering you on, chris... go get 'em! and if it makes you feel any better, the time it took you to crush that 50k is what i'm hoping to get this weekend at the sunburst marathon haha!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tim. I was just talking to someone about keeping things in perspective and the relative nature of what constitutes a good run. It's really easy to get caught up in worrying about a few seconds per mile and lose sight of the big picture. Thanks for the reminder, and best of luck this weekend!
ReplyDeletefun race report, thanks for writing it. i wouldn't just say the fatigue of the race was catching up to me, I would say somewhere on mystery mountain on the way back I got hit by 7 semi trucks in a row, which then (rudely) backed up over me again.
ReplyDeleteIndiana is flat as pancake, so I give you props for chewing those "hills" up- which chewed me up. wish I could have hung on longer with you guys, you might have got that course record. great race. as put by my mom, "wow, that front guy looked like he was going easy, you looked like you were dying." mom always knows what to say. keep pounding those trails.
the dude in the old school racing flats from Indiana
Enjoyed the recap, Chris. Nice run! I really liked the race, but wow- that last stretch was murderous. I've never had legs die on me that quickly. By now i've recovered to the point where I can contemplate doing it again; might try work some more hills in next year. Good luck at grandmas,
ReplyDelete-dd
Josh and Dimitri-
ReplyDeleteAgreed that the last section can really get you. Josh, your mom obviously didn't see me faceplant and tear my hand apart on the rocks, or attempt to get over those downed trees on the way back. Not a pretty sight! Anyway, it was fun running with you guys, and I hope you'll do it again next year.