Kurahashi Ekiden

(Lost photos for this)

Now I get the pleasure of writing about my first “Ekiden” (Relay-race) in Japan. 駅伝Ekiden’s characters mean station/transmit.  I guess many years ago, information used to be passed by runners running between stations and passing off written information.  Now an Ekiden is varying distance relay races generally having 7 runners on each of the teams.

I was inviting to run for the villiage that I live in, Uwagi. Leading up to the race, several nights a week I ran with another member from team Uwagi and middle-school student Ryuma Nakamoto. Generally we would run 3 laps around Uwagi which was about 3.4 miles total. Often we would see another team Uwagi member Iwashiro-san running at night. On Ryuma’s and my runs we were accompanied by his mother sometimes running with us and sometimes biking.

Team Uwagi had 7 members and each of us had a short segment of the relay race to run ranging from 2km to 3.7km. I was selected to the in the #6 position which was 3.6km.

On my return trip from the USA to Japan from Christmas break, I watched some of the Hakone Ekiden on TV at the airport and was surpised to see how intense it was. Runners would look completely wiped at the end of their segments and would often collapse after finishing.

Two days before the race, Ryumas mom drove Ryuma, Daichi and I to the actual relay course and surpsingly I was requested to run my best time on the section of the relay. Pretty much jumping out of van, I began running the #6 segment of the relay. It was very hilly and the others trailed from behind in the van. After finishing my segment, we watched Ryuma and Daichi run their segments and I was getting very excited for the Ekiden on Sunday.

Sunday morning rolls around and we relay members meet at Fuji-san grocery store before going to the Kurahashi gymnasium for the opening ceremony. The arriving members of team Uwagi were decked out in matching brand warm-up suits.

 Coach Nakano passed out full athletic warmup gear suits which were purple drape coats that kind of looked like boxing warmup jackets. 

After sorting out our sizes for the shorts and Uwagi jerseys we received amino acid supplements, sports drinks, and a recovery drink for after. I’ve noticed Japan seems to be really into the whole accessory and detailed preparation of events. 7 relay runners, two managers, and Coach Nakano all crammed into the van and we headed to the gymnasium.

Arrived at the gymnasium and walked into the the facility feeling like goofy royality in our matching purple suits and red draw string bags carrying out supplies. Only several other teams were decked out to the extent that we were.

Each relay team lined up in the gym and Morimoto-Sensei greeted us in the introduction ceremony. Center Jo-san and Idehata-san spoke briefly. Team Uwagi was lined up on the far right side of the gym, bearing number 1 race bibs because of last year’s victory. Coach Nakano informed me that I would be doing the “Runner’s Oath”  which I assumed each relay team would have a representative give. To my surprise, the Runner’s Oath that I gave was actually for the whole relay event. Cripes.

After the introduction ceremony, we hung outside for a bit and then driven to our respective relay locations. It was exciting knowing the race had begun as we were waiting.

The course was an out-and-back and I was #6 running back towards the start. Also running out as number #4 was another member from Team Uwagi. I expected the first #3 relay runner to be a member of Team Uwagi but I believe they were from Team Murou 1. About a minute or so later, the second place team comes in and I think it was Team Murou 2. Was getting nervous about how far back we were at this point and wondered if we could make up the few minutes that we were behind. At last, I saw Iwashiro-san, making his way to the #4 runner exchange. Watched Iwashiro-san pass off the purple shoulder strap and our #4 runner was off.

By this time, Ishihama-Sensei and Kenshu had showed up to cheer me on and I began a second warm-up. The expected time of our runner was :53 and it was :43. Many cars drove by and I was told to get ready quickly. Now, two runners had run by and I knew that the #5 Uwagi runner would be arriving soon.  I scrambled to get my warm-up clothes off and lace up the shoes. Frantically had to unpin the race bib but I accidently pinned it to my warm-up longsleeve underneath. Not 30 seconds after finishing, I saw Team Uwagi’s Taku running towards me for the pace off. My heart was racing and I was getting exciting to run. Taku passed off the ribbon and I dashed off as I put it around my shoulder and tucked the strap into the back of my pants. I knew there was lots of ground to make up but I was so energized by the sitation of running together as a team and needed to catch up to them. The beginning section was flat and the first time I looked at my watch I saw 4:45min/mile and think I swore outloud and tried to slow down a bit. My section was 3.7km (2.3 miles) which is my shortest race to date. Obviously I didn’t know how to pace myself at a race this short but you learn quickly what kind of pace you can keep. Started the first hill climb and was breathing pretty heavy. Legs felt a bit slow but it was a pretty decent sized hill I was climbing. I knew I was making up ground on the other runners, but could not see any yet.

Kenshu caught up to me on his bike and he was rooting me on. Ishihama Sensei drove by several times cheering and taking pics. Also many cars drove by and would clap and cheer. Our team car was following behind me for a bit and cheering. I caught up with the 2^nd place runner and passed him quickly.  Saw the first mile split at 5:35min/mile and I was impressed at the pace with how big of a climb and descend I needed to do. Kept trying to push at the maximum pace for the distance and the legs were getting tired.

 I saw the town/pass-off area which was the exchange spot for the end of my leg, but I wasn’t quite sure if it was the finish. When I realized it was in fact the exchange placed, pushed as hard as I could to pass off the ribbon to our “anchor” Nakada-san.  

Was greeted by 5 other enthusiastic Team Uwagi members who jumped out of the van to say “good job”. We quickly hopped in the van and drove to catch up to Nakada-san trying to catch the 1^st place runner.

Our #7 runner was also by chance, a 2:59 marathoner.

We droved passed Nakada-san who was cruising and I screamed loudly at him out the window. Despite him not knowing what I said in English, I am sure he got the point. We caught up to the 1^st runner and he appeared to be running significantly slower than our runner which made me hopeful that Nakada-san could pass him in the remaining 2 or so miles left. We drove to the finish line where we would wait for the first sight of a runner. Our teamed to not be very quite sure if Nakada-san would catch him and I was scared I was being overly optimistic. After waiting for some time, we saw the first runner come around the corner.

We saw the purple and white colors of Team Uwagi and we all screamed in excitement. Nakada-san had passed the 1^st place runner and ran through the finish line. We congratulated each other at the finish line. What a dramatic finish!

We watched and cheered for the other runners as they finished. After the runners finished we went over to the community center area and had zenzai (liquid azuki bean paste and pounded rice). It was super good (all 5 bowls of it).

The race ended in a closing ceremony. Again we were greeted by Morimoto-Sensei in which he also announced the awards. As he was announcing the awards for each section he announced my award in English which was cool to hear.

After basking in our 1^st place jolly spirits for a bit hanging around the community center, we were drove home by Ryuma’s mom and I showered quickly to go back up to the community center to watch the “20 year old ceremony”. Took some pictures with the Kimono girls and some guys in traditional clothing. (ahh lost all these pictures! :(

Quickly rushed from the ceremony to meet Ryuma’s mother again over at Komeri Hardware Store. We drove to Saijo where our team went to an all-you-can-eat/drink yakiniku place. So many good foods.. salad, curry rice, sushi, ramen, meat, and drank many beers. Nakada-san was pounding the beers and I was trying to keep pace We had quite a large group and it was fun hanging out with Uwagi people for the first time. Had 3 glasses of wine before we left and from there we went to karaoke in Kure-city. Details from beyond this moment, remain in the pictures that provide evidence of the fun night we all had.

This was my first experience of an Ekiden and it was very exciting. It was such a communal feeling to not only be running for yourself, but for a group of 6 other guys who were depending on you. 

Miyajima "Cross Country" 15km

第４０回宮島クロスカントリー全国大会

Miyajima is a very iconic Island in Japan. So much so that it has been deemed a World Heritage Site. I remember even as a kid, seeing pictures of the famous shrine called Itsukushima on the island. The Miyajima “Cross Country” 15km race brought me here.

Found out about this race not long after arriving in Japan and thought it would be a good chance to see Miyajima. Anybody who visits me in Japan, I am taking them there. So beautiful.

Miyajima means “shrine island” and this place has a lot of history. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about it but have been inspired to learn more after visiting.

With the name of this race being Miyajima Cross Country 15km, I was expecting the course to be off-road trails however, the weekend of the race, Paul Walsh informed me that it was 99% road.

A month ago was the Hiroshima Peace 10km and since then I have been doing relatively low mileage with averaging around 20 miles a week.  However, have been doing a ton of elevation (for me) with running/hiking Hiyama a few times a week.  

Slowly hiked/ran Hiyama Friday with Okada-Sensei and then slowly hiked with Ishihama-Sensei on Saturday.

Woke up 5am Sunday and had the perfect combo of my special oatmeal n’ coffee.

Living out in the sticks, it takes a considerable amount of time to go anywhere. Here was the schedule for the commute the day of the race.

Bus- Kurahashi-> Kure

Train- Kure-> Miyajimaguchi

Ship- Miyajiimaguchi to Miyajima Island

With nobody riding the bus at 5am on a Sunday, it felt like we were crawling around the island It was a bit stressful going slower than I could be going by bike. Met mountain hiking friend Kawamoto-san at Kure station and began to ride the train to Miyajimaguchi together. It was a fun train ride because we saw many runners also on their way to Miyajima.  Japan is so compact so you often run into people you know and the same people again and again (at least in my experience). For example, on the train ride to Miyajima, a friend Maki and her friends boarded the same train we were on. The ship ride was super fun as it was my first time taking a ship for public transportation. How fun to have a ship deliver a mess of runners to such an iconic island for a running race.  As we shipped over, we could see the shrine in the distance basking in the light of the sun. Very energizing.

We arrived in Miyajima Island around 9am with the race race start being 10:50am. Had some time before and ran into Kazuya from Kure City and a group of his foreign friends. Kawamoto-san and I settled our stuff near him and kind of putzed around the race hangout area and soaked up the energy of the approaching race. It was a bit chilly out so stayed in windbreakers until the sun became stronger and it was closer to the race. It was turning into a perfect day. Drank some warm lemon water drink they were passing out and saw Maki with her friends again. Ran into Kaori and her husband from the RUN+ group trail run I went on last week.

There was lots of excitement as over 2600 runners were here for the events. The spot we settled our stuff was near the highschool band that was playing. Very mood seting. After the school band finished, a M.C. led a jazzercise type of exercise warm-up and I joyfully participated. With about 40 minutes to the race, did some warm up jogging around the start area and a school-yard that was nearby. Decided it was a bit early to do a full warm-up and waited until about 20minutes before the race to do much of a warm-up. Didn’t do much besides jogging around 50-60% and probably would have benefited from doing more of a substantial warm-up.  With about 5 minutes to the race I snuck in line around 40^th place or so. Was curious of the level of runners of the people around me. Was very aware of how much bigger (taller+thicker) I was than everyone and tried to not think that I would be hauling an extra 40+ pounds than most people. Saw Paul Walsh whom I had been following on Strava prior to coming to Japan.  He snuck in up towards the front. Was excited to chat with him. The announcer gave 3/2/1 minute warnings and then we were off.

Here is the race elevation profile:

It was cool to hear a few people cheering my name on the sidelines whom I had met earlier in the day. It’s fun to start meeting members in the running community out here. It didn’t take long before we started the first climb on the road. It wasn’t super steep but knowing the race elevation profile, knew it was important to keep the legs fresh and stay within a conservative pace. Thankfully the Hiyamas have made my legs pretty conditioned to uphill running however, in hindsight, it would have been smart to do a little more intense interval work running up Hiyama in preparation for this race. The only intervals I had done on Hiyama were 30sec repeats to the top. Such a killer but might have been smart to do 1min repeats and maybe 400m repeats. Will experiment from now on.

Came up on Paul a few minutes after the start and it was pretty cool to be running with him. He is signed up for UTMF for the 3^rd year in a row and I looking forward to running w/ him in the future. It seemed like others around me on the climb were breathing pretty hard and selfishly recognizing this, I tried to relax even more and run quicker/smoother. Sometimes, someone would pass me on an uphill later matched by me passing them on a flat. This would repeat on the different climbs with different runners. Seems like each runner has their strength. Definitely, I felt more comfortable running the flats but enjoyed watching how tired others got on the climbs. It was pretty tough to run uphill, then having to transition to keeping a quick pace running downhill. Haven’t done much downhill training and usually just slog on the way down when running Hiyama. Could tell the quads were taking a  royal beating from the downhills. From 3k to 4k there was a 118m climb (in U.S. units that’s 387ft in .6 miles). Nothing too crazy but tough in race conditions and also tough with the race being 15km.

Saw about 20 people heading back to the start before I made it to the turn-around. The return trip was energizing as we could see many other runners making their way to the turn-around. Saw Paul not too long after turning around and then Kaz. High fived him and kept trying to cruise along. Seemed like the crowd of runners behind me was thinning out a bit and passed a few runners on some of the flats. To my surprise there was much less flats than I expected. It seemed like we were either climbing or descending for the majority of the race. Tough to get in a grove with this kind of terrain but kind of fun just to have to react to course.

the 1% of course that was flat and cross country!

As a few of us were nearing the top of the 387ft climb, a volunteer was calling out our position in the race. He said 23 to me and 24 to the guy quickly catching me from behind. As that guy passed me, I gave him a firm push up the hill and said “23!” He let out a good laugh and shouted back “24!” to me. Told myself I would overtake him and say “23” again to him but he started to storm the downhill after we reached the top. Think I passed a few runners going down as well even though the quads were taking not feeling so hot.  This was my first time ever really pushing it on downhills and in race conditions. 

The last few climbs were tough but kept a decent pace. Surprisingly, I was able to speed up a decent bit towards the end, even though it felt like I was starting to crawl. As we finished the decent saw the “23 guy” way ahead on the flat and knew he was outta reach.

With the last mile or so, the calves were starting to get dangerously close to cramping, making me take quicker strides and consciously try to run from the quads more. It was a fun finish with some spectators near the finish line.

GAP=Grade adjusted pace

Believe finished 22nd in 57:45. Definitely feel like can get in better shape.

Walked around for a tad and went to the finish line to watch other finish. Saw Paul, Kaz, Toshiya, Maki, Kaori and Kawamoto-san finish and enjoyed hanging out in the perfect weather. Chit chatted with Paul for a bit a snapped a photo together. Funny how it was our first time meeting, but we were chatting about the race as if we’d been friends for a while. Love how quick runners can become friends.

Met up with Kawamoto-san and went over to get the post-race oyster soup. 

It was burning hot and delicious. Could have had 10 bowls but found out this year the race decided to limit the runners to one bowl instead of having it all you can eat. L Came to Japan one year late.

After the oyster soup we headed over to a small room in the community center building that there was women in Kimonos passing out traditional Japanese tea and treats. We then quickly hurried over to a bath shop closer to town. It was funny entering the bath area seeing all the shoes were running shoes. What a cool group of people!

Such a great feeling soaking up in the hot bath and warming up from the chilly air outside. After the bath, we did some site seeing around the island. It was funny because all over the island, there were what seemed like domesticated deer walking around and begging for food. Couldn’t help but laugh over and over at how silly of a site that was to see deer just hanging around in such populated areas.

Checked out the shrine for the first time in person. It was much larger than I had anticipated and can’t believe it was build 1500 years ago. How they constructed such a massive piece of architecture that long ago, I have no idea.

When then hiked to Momiji (Fall leaves) Park. It was so beautiful with the fall colors only slightly past peak season.

Was getting pretty hungry after not really having a meal after the race. Kawamoto-san said that the hungrier we are, the better the food will taste. I laughed pretty hard at this, partly because how hungry I was, and partly because how true his statement was.

Another testament to how often you see people you know in Japan, saw another ALT whom had become separated from her visiting bf from newzealand and needed to use a phone to facebook him. Kinda silly.

Arriving back in the town area, we found an oyster shop to eat at called Kakiya. It was pretty busy and had a long line out of the door. Kawamoto-san said it was the most popular oyster shop on the street. Ran into Maki again with her friends and they ended up joining us for lunch. Ate a delicious set lunch of fried oysters with a cold beer. Kept thinking how lucky I was to be experiencing all of this.

Kawamoto-san and I said goodbye to the girls and we slowly made our way back to the fairy. Another fun ship ride later and we hopped on the train back to Kure city. By this time, was starving again so bought a boxed dinner, some nuts and chocolate. Saw some students from Kurahashi Gakuen middle-schools while I was waiting for Ishihama-Sensei to pick me up.

 It’s funny being here only 4 months and always seeing people I know.  Surprisingly, ended up spending 4 hours in Kure city shopping around and going to dinner at our favorite hole-in-the-wall Okonomiyaki shop Hayato.  Warm Kimchi type of soup and another beer later, we drove back to Kurahashi island. Ate some more food at home and was too lazy to properly unpack from the busy day so just scattered stuff across apartment.  Accidently slept past two alarms but luckily made it to school on time the next day. Actually kind of fun having to rush.

Miyajima 15km was a super fun experience and am surprised at the outcome of the race. Despite running half my typical mileage lately, am getting faster. I’m sure it's a combination of taking my first extended break from running in five years, doing Hiyama 30 times, eating relatively healthy out here, and the weekly yoga at the local doctor clinic. I’m really enjoying the yoga and need to continue going. The best part is doing partner shiatsu massage at the end. J Did I mention I’m the only guy there. Can’t wait until yoga tonight!

Kind of bummer the next running event is in 1.5 months. Was invited to run in the Kurahashi Ekiden (relay) January 12th. Will have some good time to recover and get some speed-work in. Also, looking forward to meeting up with new friends I’ve met in the trail running community out here.

Hiroshima International Peace 10km

Can’t believe the last time I wrote a report was back in June for the Grandma’s Marathon. Fast forward three months and not much running later, and I’ve been settling in a rural village named Uwagi in Hiroshima, Japan.

As you can see, have not been running much and/or updating Strava------->

I had signed up for the Mikan 10km that was October 21^st but finding out that week, I had school obligations attending a culture festival, I was unable to run it. Luckily 2 weeks after that, I was signed up for the Hiroshima International Peace “Marathon” (10km) with that being the longest distance available (In Japan they consider every distance a marathon}).

After running Kettle 100 June 1, and Gma’s June 24^th, my legs felt like garbage for a long time. Don’t think it was very smart to run a 3:04 just a few weeks after my first 100. Tried taking sometime off after Gma’s but kept finding myself trying to run. Once arriving in Japan at the end of July, my legs still didn’t feel normal but I could occasionally go out for a few mile jog. It was strange because I would struggle through a 5-miler and be sore the next day. It was a scary feeling how setback I felt and it left me wondering how long it would take to feel “normal” again. The heat was another challenge here with it being 88degrees and. over 80% humidity.

The legs didn’t have much spring but I still continued trying to run. September rolls around and I set-up a 10km training schedule to shoot for a PR at the Mikan 10km race. After a tempo, interval and hill workouts on consecutive days (pretty stupid), I tried to do a 5km time trial that weekend and ended up walking home after a few minute warm-up jog. Decided it was time to officially take break from running. :(

 Put the GPS watch in the back of my closet and didn’t officially run for almost a month. Would often walk in the AMs, bike to school or into Kure city, hike up the mtn near my apartment but no obligated running. Think I was getting so excited to see fast numbers on my Garmin Connect site that I was completely disconnected with my body and how it was feeling. It was a struggle to take off so much time from running. I realized it was my everyday stress reliever and essentially what I was living for.  I felt pretty lost without that release and was anxious all the time. That led me to move in other ways whether it was biking/hiking.

Even though I am writing this post in my “race diary” blog, I didn’t really consider it a race as far as preparation is concerned. The last time I was even able to run 6 miles before this race was more than a month ago. Even on short runs, it was strange to feel my heart beat after jogging just a mile or so but the legs were starting to feel better. I’ve done relatively a ton of hill work hiking Hiyama a few times a week since arriving here. Usually it is just a slow jog/hike on the way up and slow jog back down wearing sandals. Definitely a nice cathartic get-a-way experience doing that.

The day before the race was filled with 7+ hours of commuting and 5+ hours of hiking a mtn and waterfall trail (BLOG soon). Usually the legs feel fine walking around the day before a race so was looking at the hiking as a good way to stretch the legs out. Thankfully the day ended at a hotspring and was able to relax the tired legs.

Woke up the day of the race and commuted from Kurahashi to Hiroshima City. Unfortunately, it was raining which made the commute in sandals a bit sloopy. Had a bit of a mix-up on the train to Hiroshima and ended up having to take a taxi to the Coca-Cola Stadium. Thankfully, the race started at 11:20am so there was time to spare. Picked up the race packet and ran into a group of about 6 other JETs.  Found a spot in the stadium and continued to meet more JETs. It was very comforting being with such a large group of people and nice to communicate in English so effortlessly.

 Hung out and tried to stay as dry as possible. About 1.5 hours before the race I ate a riceball, pizza-man, and had a cup of coffee for breakfast. It was nice to have some warm food and especially the coffee after being out in the chilly rain for some time.

With about an hour before the race, put on running clothes and did some warm-up laps around the grass field inside Coca-Cola Stadium. It was only my second time wearing the new RC1700s and they felt awesome. Headed over to the start and did some warmups down the side streets. Was already regretting wearing the USA t-shirt because the air felt very humid and warm once beginning to move. Lined up for the race and there was a 5 minute speech were everybody was in the squatted position listening. The announcer led some stretches and warm-ups. Without much warning or announcement everyone was off.

It felt so good to be finally running a race where my only job was to run as fast as possible. Without much running in the prior months, I wasn’t sure what kind of pace was possible so was just running on feel. Looked down at the GPS watch and saw 5:35min/mile and knew I had to slow down. My PR before this race was 5:56min/mil so planned on hitting around that. Felt the speed plateau and looked at the watch again to show 5:45s. Didn’t feel like slowing down much so in the midst of all the excitement, decided to maintain and see what happened.

  Unfortunately, it didn't take me long to realize that I forgot to lace up my right shoe completely Usually before a race I don't like to tie shoes until it is necessary because it is more comfortable to have them loose fitting. Not much could to about it now though. 

Tried to relax and keep a quick cadence. Runners were starting to fall back at about the 1.5 mile mark,  as well as a guy dressed in a business suit with dress shoes and all. At about the mile 2 mark, I was surprised to come up on another JET ALT whom I hadn’t known would go out this quick. Was curious to see where he would end up! Nearing the turn-around I was surprised to see the leaders were not a crazy distance ahead of me. Had I been in decent shape, I felt like I could have ran with them. At the turn-around, was still maintaining about a 5:45 pace aside from during a few rolling hills. It was funny to hear several runners w/ super goofy breathing techniques. Passed a few of those “in-labor” sounding runners and saw a few JETs on the other side of the road.

Looked at the watch and only had about 2 miles left and knew I could maintain the pace . Breathing was controlled but the legs were not feeling very fresh. Just kept trying to NOT think about how little I had ran in the last 3 months. Starting seeing signs indicating 4km left, 3km left, and was getting tired. Was trying to speed up but it seemed that the additional effort was needed just to maintain the pace. As we got closer to the stadium there were more spectators which made it a bit easier to keep pace. Cruised into the stadium and finished relatively strong.

does it say "Do not copy"?

GPS said finish time was 35:11

a tad short^

  Was happy to be done and walked around the track feeling semi-confused how I just pulled off a PR with the least running I’ve done in 5 years. Regardless, I was happy and excited to watch the other JETs finish. Found out Mark finished at 37minutes which is awesome. Cheered with Danny and Mark until near the end of the race and headed back to grab our stuff in the bleachers.

 It’s pretty funny that everyone just left their stuff unattended during the race. It’s a comforting feeling knowing you don’t have to worry about someone stealing any of your stuff!  After a cold return trip to Hiroshima Station, went back to Marissa’s place in Kaitaichi and had ramen and coffee. MmmmM

Now it’s 4 days after the race and the hammys are still sore but the joints feel OK. Excited to start trying to run more and sign up for more races. Want to actually train for a 5k or 10km. So fun to race in Japan. Such a different atmosphere.

this photo from the race website captures the spirit of this race quite well!

Big differences:

Many costumes

Everyone dressed in fancy work out clothes, matching brands, many people seem very overdressed

Many skinny people, most people look like elite distance runners

Next Races:
December 1^st: Miyajima 15km Cross Country Race
January: Need to find a race near/around Tokyo because plan on spending 2 weeks up in Honshu.

February 23^rd: Souja Kibiji Marathon 42km

March 30^th: Setouchi Trail 22km

April 25^th: UTMF 161km

May-July: Prob just hiking and easy running

Grandmas's Marathon 2013

Initially, I was going up to Duluth, MN to watch Dan, Edward and many others run the Grandma's marathon. This race is one of my earliest memories of learning what a marathon is. My Aunt Sharon and Uncle Randy were running these when I was in elementary/middle school and it was beyond me how anyone ran 26.2 miles, however, I wanted to be able to do it. My Aunt bought me a marathon training book the summer of 8th grade and I began to try and follow a marathon training schedule. I struggled with consistently keeping to the schedule and found excuses not to run. Fast forward 7 years later and my buddy Lucas convinced me to sign up for a marathon training class at the U. The rest I guess, is just history.

As we were heading out the door of my apartment Dan told me to bring my lightweight Gel Hyper-Speeds. Thought maybe it would be nice to get in a run up in Duluth w/ them.

It was a super fun drive up to Duluth w/ Dan as we rocked music from my iPod w/ the windows down. Man, how fun are road trips with a good buddy. We made a quick stop at Jay Cooke State Park

and it was tooo fun. It was so invigorating being up in the cool Duluth air and seeing these unbelievable views. Ended up finding a bib through one of Jeremy's clients and looked like I would be running it.

Jay Cooke State Park (Dan Laplante)

We made it to Dan's house and later met a bunch of people at a restaurant. Hung out there for a while and at about 10pm we went to Little Sleezy to get a pizza for me. 

Not the biggest fan of meat but it was the only pizza they had left after they were technically closed. Felt pretty full but ate a protein bar for shits (pun intended) and went to sleep.

Woke up in the AM and was still full from the night before. Had a cup of coffee for breakfast and thought about what it was going to be like running my first marathon (aside from during Ironman) without orthotics and in addition, with a shoe that was 30% lighter than my regular shoe I put my orthotic in. Common sense would have ruled most people away from running in circumstances like this but it's always fun to test the limits.

Drove over to where Edward and Alicia were staying and we got dropped off at the start line. The weather was cool and super super super foggy. We could barely see the street lights from 20ft away because of how thick the fog was. Made it to the start line and met w/ some others before starting off.

Was starting to think about if I should just try and run w/ Dan/Edward trying to get 3:05 even though I knew I would not be able to keep pace. Impulsively, decided to start w/ them and was going to find out what would happen. In the previous three weeks, I had not been able to do much running and the legs were pretty trashed from the hundo and was real curious as to what was going to happen. 

When we were in the starting shoot I ran into my co-worker from the running room Wilder and wished him luck (nice job getting 2:56!).

Edward, Dan and I started off the race hitting about 7-min miles and were keeping things relaxed. It was exciting having the train on our left side blowing it's horn. Immediately, the shoes felt amazing due to having no orthotics in and such lightweight shoes on. This was the first time in the last 3 weeks I ran over 3 miles at a 7min pace and although the legs did not feel fresh, the pace did not seem unbearable. 

At around mile 10, Edward decided to slow his pace down and Dan and I were wondering if we should stick it out with Edward or go on and still try to get 3:05. We continued on at a 7min pace and just held onto that for a while, following the 3:05 pace group. Dan kept on commenting how amatuer the pace-leader was which was kind of funny.  It was a blast goofing off w/ Dan as the miles slowly ticked by however it was a bit intimidating running w/ him as he's done like 50+ marathons and has a humungous running base. Not knowing how my body would respond later in the race, just kept on and was looking forward to the first gel station at around mile 17. Ate one and grabbed a couple for the road and the legs were starting to feel it. My calves were starting to get really sore from running more on my mid-foot. My furthest run in the Hyper-speeds prior to this was 3 miles and the calves were definitely getting a new type of workout. Around mile 20 or so I needed to use the bathroom but was able to thankfully hold off (perhaps because all of the excitement once getting into town). Soaked up a lot of the energy as we got closer to the finish and Dan helped me keep onto the 7min pace.

The calves were dangerously close to cramping up and was able adjust the stride a little bit to avoid that. Made our way into town and passed the 3:05 pace team with the last mile or so to go. Sped up a decent amount and kept fighting the calves from cramping. The feet were also a little sore as I now think size 10.5 shoes are too small for me. Finished in 3:04 something and it felt good to stop. Took some pics after and walked around the finish area. It began to get super cold after we stopped running and thankfully we had a drop-bag we picked up after the race. Might start taking advantage of these in the future.

Edward finished not long after us and we all hobbled over to a pizza restaurant real quick before Dan and I headed back to his house to grub. Ate some fish and snacks and his mom had an awesome sushi set-up w/ tons of different food. We ate and drank, later making our way down to the Canal for the post-marathon festivities. There was not many people up there yet, as it was still pretty early and the temperature was not very ideal for outdoor concerts. Dan ran into a ton of people he knew and we putzed around town for a while and had some drinks. Met some of the Elites in the band tent. Met another Elite J1 and his gf at a restaurant for a bit. Hung out w/ his buddies in bars for a while then headed back to his house. It felt good to get back and sleep. Woke up with the legs not feeling the best but nothing unexpected.

It was an ongoing joke that weekend to call running "jogging" and on the way home we stopped to jog on some of the Voyageur course on the Superior Hiking Trail. Need to hang out w/ Dan more to do fun stuff like that. 

Happy and grateful I was able to run this race and experience another year at Grandma's. Was surprised that the legs were able to hold onto a pace that is only 5 minutes away for a PR which either tells me one of two things: either I sandbagged a 2:59 back in October at Twin-Cities and should be able to run relatively much quicker with proper training and/or made fitness gains during the 100 that translated to a decent time at Gma's.

The last couple weeks since Grandma's, I have taken the most extended break from running that I have within the last couple years. Want to make sure the legs recover and are ready for some running in Japan. Have been active though biking/rollerblading and walk commuting once in a while to work. So excited to do some shorter/faster runs within the next few weeks. Really miss the Hyland Friday AM runs and speeding up at the end with a bunch of guys.