Zumbro Midnight 50-mile 2013

artwork John Storcamp

Trying to write the blog quickly after the race because I want to be able to write down many of the details!

The Zumbro 50 was my second 50-miler and it’s crazy to think it’s already over. The last relatively long race I did was back in December at the Honolulu Marathon which I was still burned up from Twin-Cities Marathon in October. Having January-mid April to recover/train for this race seemed like heaps of time, but the weeks came and went and suddenly the Zumbro weekend was here.

For the last 50 I did, my training consisted mainly of doing other marathons/trail races that year which was convenient but wasn’t really as specific of training as would have been helpful for a trail 50.  This time around for Zumbro, I tried to put in relatively higher mile weeks (70ish) and was just generally running more often. Made it out to the roads at Afton for 1 long run on the roads with some good climbing.

courtesy Edward Sandor

  It’s been fun running to and from Caribou in the mornings for work, getting 8 miles in by 10am and still being able to get an afternoon run in. Now that I am working at the Running Room in St. Paul, that will be another 8 miles of commuting to get on the feet.

Even though I was able to hit higher mile weeks than before, I wasn’t completely confident in my training because my longest run was just a marathon distance that I had done in Chicago, and I didn’t really do any long back-to-back days or much hill-work.

J1 and I drove down to Zumbro Friday during the day and arrived at the Zumbro Riverbottoms around 3pm. We got to hang out at the last aid station (start/finish) and watch the 100-milers come in and out.  Saw Edward pass through when we got there.

Trying to save a caffeine boost for later in the evening before the race, I had not had any coffee throughout the day, however ended up have a caffeine withdrawal headache around 5:00pm so had a half-caff cup to take the edge off before trying to nap (admitted addict). Hung out by the fire place and got pretty cold from not bringing warm enough clothes to sit outside for 9+hours before the midnight start of the race. After warming up 3 sweet potatoes by the fire and eating them, went and napped in Edward’s suburban with his golden retriever Tucker. It was tough getting to sleep because my hands/feet were so cold from spending all the time outside. Woke up from Jake opening up the trunk and letting me know there was a hour until the start of the race. Switched into race gear, heated up another sweet potato and drank a cup of coffee rushing over to the start where everyone was. Since the aid-stations are spaced so close together (longest one being 4.3 miles apart) I wouldn't be needing to carry any water/fuel on me which I was excited for.

The Zumbro 50 mile run started at midnight and ran 3 16.7 mile “loops” around the Zumbro Riverbed area in Theilman MN.  There was 9200ft of climbing at Zumbro compared to 12,500 at Sawtooth.

It had snowed the previous day and the trails were pretty sloppy from the 100-milers running 16 hours on the trails prior to us starting.

John Storcamp gave us the GO and I hollered for Jake because I didn’t see him in the mass of people running through the dark with headlamps. Little did I know, Jake and I would run the next 45 miles together.  We started off chit chatting and were enjoying the trails and hiking the uphill climbs. I was using a Coleman headlamp and a small handheld flashlight for when I needed to illuminate the ground when the cheap headlamp didn’t do the trick.  It was super cool after the first steep climb, looking down and seeing a line of people’s headlamps making their way up. I get giddy just thinking about it again! Despite how bone-chilled I was prior to the start, after running for just a few minutes, I quickly heated up and realized I would need to shed some clothes at the first aid station. Once arriving to aid station 1 (TCRC), I gave my long-sleeve compression shirt and a cotton-tshirt I was wearing to Kurt, along with a headband and a set of gloves (definitely was overdressed but was freezing at the beginning).

Think I didn’t even grab anything at the first couple aid-stations because of not being very hungry or thirsty and not wanted to start to get things sloshy in the stomach yet.  Realizing it would be pretty stupid to see how long I could continue to not eat/drink much, started to try and have real food such as grapes/bananas and hydrate with water at the aid-stations.  Knowing this “natural” fueling strategy wouldn’t last long either, started to eat PB&Js, quesadillas and other foods at the aid stations. Thankfully, my stomach can tolerate just about anything at relatively low intensities.

For the first loop, I stayed behind Jake the entire time and would sometimes feel myself wanting to push faster. It helped staying behind him because instead of running by feel and burning up the legs too quickly, I was able to conserve energy much better than the Superior 50 in 2011. The footing throughout the first loop wasn’t too bad because being it was Midnight, the temperatures dipped below freezing, hardening up the footsteps of the 100-milers. Lots of portions of the trail were completely covered in snow and other parts patches were combos of ice/water. It was difficult trying to keep the feet dry and several occasions on the first loop my feet sunk into spots that wet the feet up pretty good. Just before getting to the TCRC aid-station 4, there is about a 1.5 mile stretch of gravel road which is surprisingly super tiring. After all the climbing and descending in the trails before getting to the road, the legs are pretty beat up and it is hard to get the legs into a road running groove.

We finished up the first loop and it was semi-exciting knowing we only had two more loops to go, however also seemed too daunting at the time to think about doing two more loops. Ripped through a pair of SmartWool socks so changed to a Fitsok and headed out for the second loop.

Just into the second loop at around mile 18, 19, and 20 my legs were feeling pretty dead and my left hip flexor was being tricky and sensitive. Decided to try and start eating more at the aid-stations to see if that would help out. At one aid-station,  I remember having a fried egg, PB&J, a Hammer Gel, hot potato soup and washed it down with coffee. Thankfully I broke out of the fatigue slump I was in and felt quite a bit better. It was crazy to be thinking at like mile 30, I was feeling better than when I was at mile 18.  You sure do have high-highs and low-lows in these races and can only imagine what they feel like during a 100-miler.

My Garmin GPS watch had unfortunately died at mile 25 while we were in the second loop. However, by this point, it had began to get light out and we were able to turn our headlamps off which was super nice. Stashed the headlamp and handheld flashlight with Jake’s drop bag and didn’t have the headlamp band constriction on the head and both my hands were free. The course now seemed totally different, being able to see the scenery around us instead of being restricted to the small space lit up by headlamps.

(Took a week away from trying finish writing this race report because felt like I wasn't able to express as much as I wanted with writing..grr)

Can’t remember much of the middle miles except taking in some awesome views along the course, and rolling into the Start/Finish area with one last loop to go. Jake and I would randomly sing songs ranging from “Palmdale” by Afroman to the trail only knows..
Finished the second loop and switched from Scott Eride Grip to Brooks Cascadias. It was nice finishing up with tough climbs and difficult sections of the trail on the last loop.knowing that would be our last time passing through. We passed several other 50-milers and towards the end of the last loop we were going back and forth with another guy who Jake and I called “Blue Shirt Guy”. With about 5 or so miles left we hit the flat dirt road section that was 1.5 miles long and Blue Shirt Guy was coming up behind us again. I told Jake I was going to try and stick with him and not let him pass. Blue Shirt Guy started passing from behind and I starting speeding up to maintain his pace. We exchanged brief greetings and kept along the dirt road as our legs slowly adjusted to the change of footing. It was still a super tough section to run because of all the puddles/mud that I tried to avoid and how fried the legs were from the earlier miles/terrain. We stayed side-by-side for 5 or so minutes and there was a silent competitive aura between us as we both continued to pick up the pace. Decided I had enough of that and wanted to see what kind of pace I could maintain for the rest of the race. Started gaining a lead on him as we had about .5 miles left to the aid-station. Gained some solid ground and wanted to look back to see where Jake was in all of this but stubbornly didn’t want the Blue Shirt Guy to see me look back. After finishing the long stretch of road and crossing a little bridge, got to the last aid-station.  Made it a goal to try and be in and out as fast as possible in attempt to have the guy not even see me when he reached the aid-station.  After slamming some water and grabbing a couple orange slices for the way, I ran out of the aid-station and began power-hiking up the pretty steep climb. After ascending for a bit, looked down towards the aid-station and saw Blue Shirt Guy in the distance walking towards the aid-station. Think I remember saying out loud, “Yeah baby!” and was excited for Jake to pass him shortly.
The last 3 miles of the race were the quickest miles throughout the whole race, as we had been doing a lot of conserving and maintaining throughout the previous miles.  The first place 17-miler girl started cruising by and I attempted to stick with her but that lasted less than a mile. Tried to use whatever energy was conserved earlier on the last 14:00 hours out on the trails and I’m very curious what my pace was for the last section of the race. It felt like running less than 8:00min/miles but then again who knows..it could have been 10:00min/miles. Got to the last straight flat section before the open field and looked back to see Jake was not too far behind.  Was excited to see he was able to pick up the pace too and was surprised how much energy he had in his legs at this point for his first 50-miler. Ran through the open field and was greeted at the finish line by John Storcamp followed by Misty and Jeanine. Crossed at 11:45:52.  It felt awesome to be done and I was surprised and how different this race was than my first 50. Jake finished like a minute around me and we were relieved to finish. Felt like we hunted down Blue Shirt Guy together for the kill and now we were rewarded with the finish line. 

courtesy Jordan Hanlon

courtesy Jordan Hanlon

With it being a week after the race, I’ve looked back and had mixed feelings of how I ran it.  For me, a 50-mile race is super tough to pace and I credit Jake for leading such a rocksteady pace for 45 miles. A part of me wonders what it would have been like if I attempted to run it solo. I know I would have started out quicker and crashed later on but sometimes it’s nice to learn lessons the hard way (in many cases, I’d much rather learn a lesson through experience than through other people warning or telling me) so I’m a little disappointed in myself for choosing not to struggle pacing myself in the race and using Jake’s pace as a crutch.  Also it is a bit embarrassing how vivid the last few miles with the Blue Shirt Guy were because I don’t think I should base how good I feel about something that is determined by beating another person but competition has always been an easy way for me to take things to a level I might not have been able to without it.

After the race I sat down for a bit eating warm food generously crafted by Misty and Vickie while quickly becoming stiff/sore/cold just sitting around. If I hadn’t really pushed it the last 5 or so miles, I probably wouldn’t have been half as sore as I was. Went to change into some dry/warm clothes in J1’s car and after 10min of struggling to switch out of my clothes, made my way back to the fire and hung out with a bunch of the others as we watched other 17, 50, 100milers come across the finish. It was so fun and comforting sitting next to the fire after the race with such a cool group of people. I keep thinking how much I will miss this group of people as I’m about to be in Japan for a year :(

Took a full week off of running after the race and am slowly getting back onto the road/trails. After my 50 in 2011, ended up running too much too soon and feel like that definitely prolonged the recovery. Was pretty cranky towards the end of this week without running but thankfully for me (and my friends/roommates/co-workers/people I interact with..) am back and running again :)

Signed up for Kettle Morraine 100-mile race June 1st and am 40 days out from it. Plan on doing a week of Core Power Yoga and some strengthening exercises to keep the legs/body balanced. Feel like my stomach and bum are pretty weak now and need some work.

Maple Lake Irish Scamper 5k 2013

As the middle of March arrived, it was time for our 5th year of doing the Irish Scamper 5k. This year for the Irish Scamper was definitely the smallest group of people that we went out with. Back in high school (2006) we started going out to this 5k stemming from Kari Jo's Mom Patricia Langum. This race was Ryan, Tav, Kayla and my first running race and despite it taking place 45min+ away, we still find ourselves going back when we can.

Prior year recaps:
2006: my time (22:08) Group: Ryan, Patricia, Tavis, Kyle
2008: (20:16) Ryan, Tavis, Kayla, Kyle
2009 (19:11) Ryan, Andy, Kody, Tavis, Kayla, Chin, Kari Jo, Patricia
2010 (18:24) Ryan, James, Tavis, Chine Jaime
2013 (16:58) Ryan, James

I didn't have many expectations going into this race because lately, I have been trying to log more miles rather than get in much speed work. Ideally, it would have been helpful to do more interval training shorter distance runs but I am currently three weeks out from the Zumbro 50m trail race.

Traditionally before the race, we've had pizza and beer at Tav's, but this year with it being just Ryan and James, we had pizza at Broadway Pizza in Crystal and brews over at James house.

 Played some knee-hockey at James and Erin Haefs stopped over for a bit. Went to bed pretty late and got up with just enough time to wake up, eat breakfast and head towards Maple Lake.

Without having much of an idea of a pace I could sustain for a 5k, just figured I would start out running and adjust from there. I was a bit nervous before because of how different a 5k is from a longer race and how quickly you have to adjust your mindset.

 Wore the Nike Waffle shoes I bought in Hawaii as part of the Lance Armstrong costume because they are the only lightweight shoes I have.

*minus the spikes

Lined up at the start-line and the director gave us the go. Started off to the side of the main people up front and as usual people started out pretty quick and chaotic. Within 30 seconds a guy wearing a full green spandex suit was well ahead of everyone else (later to win the race) and probably 5 guys staggered in front of me. I remember looking down at my watch and seeing 5:14m/miles and not knowing if it was an error or not. Things felt fast so decided to slow down a tad into a pace I could realistically try to hold onto. There were two guys cruising pretty close together ahead of me and around the first mile I caught up to them and passed them after making a remark about the green guy in spandex. I was breathing pretty hard which wasn't something I was used to and was trying to keep the legs spinning. Could see the 2nd place guy about 15-30 second ahead of me but didn't dare try to speed up and try to catch him. Seeing the 1.5 miles on the GPS, I was a bit scared of not being able to hold onto the pace and at 2 miles, started to get a little burpy (perhaps from the "nutrition" from the night before). Made the second lap around town and tried to speed up a tad towards the finish line. Finished and in hindsight, feel like I could have left more out on the course, as there was no dry heaving after the race like previous years. Was pleasantly surprised with my times/splits and am excited to try and drop time on the 5k later on, perhaps another year at the Scamper.

*forgot to turn off for about 4 seconds after the race

 Saw Ryan/James finished and sneezed probably 25 times on the way back to the high school (always do that for some reason). Had the usual after race snacks and headed out after the awards.

Just the 3 of us this year

This race has been a fun tradition and always is something to look forward to in March.

Honolulu Marathon 2012

Just like I wrote the TC Marathon blog post on the way out to Hawaii, now I find myself writing the Honolulu Marathon blog post as I’m heading back to Minnesota. Actually I’m at the airport but same thing.  

Unfortunately, I did not sign up for the Honolulu Marathon when they were offering a $26.2 registration fee for Hawaii residents, however fortunately, I was able to register as a Hawaiian resident right before the race paying $100 something rather than $200 something. Regardless, this race has much more than monetary value to me. Running the 2011 Honolulu Marathon last year left me wanting to experience the Aloha again and again and again. Uncle Paul told me he needed some help with work on Oahu and I decided to book a 2 month trip to Hawaii, making sure to be back in time for Christmas and the special role I will be playing Christmas Eve (Ho ho ho!)
I left Minnesota a couple days after running Twin Cities Marathon and arrived at the Big Island during the buzz of Ironman World Championships.  Aunty Share was able to hook me up w/ a little gig working with semi-professional triathletes Andrea Bess and Thomas Vonach in which we promoted a nutritional supplement Biestmilch. It was heaps of fun talking and connecting with many of the triathletes. Ironman day came and I got the opportunity to pass out water on Queen K at Lapakahi Park, spectate (road leading to finish), work the massage tents for a couple hours in the evening, then spectate until the last finisher came through. Very special to be a part of this event and might see myself trying to qualify for the race.
After TC Marathon, I had 2 months until Honolulu Marathon and was not sure of my goal for the race.  I knew it was going to take some time to recover after racing TC, however even a month after, it felt like I was just slugging to get through my runs. I had the idea of wearing a costume like many of the other runners do for this race but decided against it (another time).  Just a few weeks out from the race, my legs felt like they were starting to come back so I compulsively decided to shoot for 3 hours just to see what would happen. I would have bet 100% against myself for being able to do this so close to TC and especially with how dead the legs were leading up to it, however thought it would be fun to experiment and see what happens.

  My Sunday long-runs leading up to Honolulu were pretty consistent distances as previous marathon training plans, however a bit unconventional in location and the type of runs they were. It probably would have been smarter for me to just do a couple intermediate runs throughout the week rather than put the higher mile Sundays in but out of routine and habit, did my typical Sunday long run lead-up schedule for a marathon with regards to distance. For the 20-miler, I met up with Paul S. whom is a 9x H.U.R.T. 100-miler runner and we ran a loop of the H.U.R.T. course at night. What a blast that was and it was fun putting time on the feet rather than shooting for a pace. The 1.5hour run 2 weeks from the race I decided to do running the first 45min up Kohala Mountain Rd right outside of Aunty’s house and 45min back down. Prob not the smartest if I was going to be shooting for a time at Honolulu but was fun to throw all these unconventional runs in just for pleasure. It was pretty cool running everywhere from the resort lagoons in Ko Olina-Oahu

to Manu Road in Waimea-Big Island.

 Sure would be fun to spend more time out here and continue exploring and running throughout all these beautiful varying locations.
A few days before the race, I flew over from Big Island to Oahu and went to the Marathon Expo. This expo is pretty funny because almost all the vendors are from Japanese companies and it feels like you are in Japan. Bumped into Yuki’s friend Tomo at the Docomo bag handout which was funny because Tomo and I had only met once through Yuki at Marukame Udon Restaurant.  After overstaying my welcome at expo, I decided to rent a scooter from one of the local places in Waikiki. The whole time I had been out here I had wanted to rent one and was always waiting to do it w/ someone else but decided just to do it myself. Putzed around town for a bit, cruised up to the Hawaii Nature Center where the H.U.R.T. race starts, then scootered the marathon course. After, I scootered back to where I was staying at Uncle P’s in  Ko-Olina taking the backroads which was an adventure. In the AM, scootered back to Waikiki to return the scooter and meet Aunty Sharon and Uncle Randy in town. They booked a hotel in Waikiki right off the finish line which was super convenient. Dinner Saturday night before the race I planned on going to Marukame to eat a couple servings of Curry Udon but when I got there the line was humungous so walked down Kuhio St. to Ihop where they were having an All-you-can-eat pasta dinner. Ate 3 large plates of spaghetti and after buying some groceries for the AM’s breakfast, headed back to the hotel and got settled for sleep in the hotel w/ Aunty, Uncle and Bella.
The race starts at 5am so I woke up around 3:15 after getting to bed around 11. Felt excited and ate up a bagel w/ almond butter, banana and drank some Gatorade.  Walked over near the Honolulu Zoo where the bus pick-up was and took the bus over to Ala Moana Blvd to the Start Line. Was overwhelmed with the 1000’s of runners and kept laughing at people’s funny running costumes. Probably walked pass 4 people eating (onigiri) rice balls. Went over to near the Start Line and ran into Andrea and Thomas and their Team Ichiban. After hanging out w/ them for a bit, warming up a little down the street and finding a nice corner to go to the bathroom, headed over to the start-line and snuck in towards the front. The elites were escorted to the front and boy did they look ready to run. Heard the national anthem as usual and a quick countdown and we were off. Like last year, there was a nice firework display which makes the start very exhilarating.  Started off hitting about 6:50’s and it was nice to be a little more familiar with the course this year. I remember hearing the Japanese guys around me GPS’s beeping at every kilometer and am still unsure if I would like feedback as often as that. Saw some other guys looking at their watches quite a bit and figured they were also shooting for under 3 hours so decided to use them as pacers rather than rely on that rather than my own GPS. The course felt much more familiar this year after staying in Waikiki last year for 1.5 months.  Passed Aunty/Uncle/Bella on the way out to Diamondhead and made it to the hill. My pace slowed significantly going up the hill and I knew the time would have to be made up later as even at around 6 mile into the race, my legs were much more tired than usual at this point. It was a fun feeling running up Diamondhead because there was a spot on the course where there were no street-lights or volunteers and we were running under tree cover so it was completely dark. Made me giddy running in the pitch black w/ so many others around. Even at this point, I knew I was going to blow-up but was just trying to hold on and see how long I could hang onto 650’s. Was running on the highway out towards Hawaii Kai and the sun was starting to rise. There were some spectular views of the mountains with the rising sun illuminating them. This year also, there was a decent headwind heading out towards Hawaii Kai so more often than not I was trying to stick behind another runner to cut back on some of the it. I was still near some of the runners from earlier on and some of them sped off. Saw the first wheelers come past us on the other side of the highway heading back to town and knew I would be seeing the lead runners soon. The lead group blew past and I marveled at how effortless and easy they made it look, while I was already struggling pretty bad at a relatively early mark. It was mainly my hamstrings that were feeling the most fatigued. Came across another guy who blew up and said he was just in surivival mode. We chatted for a bit and after hearing another story of a Marine who spent time in Japan, kept on. It was mile 15 and was doing the loop in Hawaii Kai and was feeling like a pile of junk. My legs were on the verge of cramping, every mile was getting progressively slower and more painful. I ended up catching up to Testutomo whom runs in a Micki Mouse Costume and had passed me last year at Honolulu near the end of the race, and I had passed him at Boston in the Spring.

 After catching up to him an exchanging a few words about how I remembered him, I used what little energy I had to pass him and attempted to put a lead on to try and stay ahead of him. He caught me several miles later and with his quick step-step cadence he yet again passed me this year. Look forward to seeing him at other races!

Despite the pain and uncomfortableness of trying to run a race I was not prepared to run, I often was able to remind myself to enjoy everything as much as possible because of relatively how quick it would be over. Was fun running back with seeing the thousands of others runners on the other side of the highway running out towards Hawaii Kai but was a little shameful for how bad of shape I was in. Got one shout out from someone who recognized the TCRC shirt I was wearing. Saw a bunch of silly costumes, shouted out to many of the Kokoku and Tohoku Highschool runners, and kept trying to trudge through the fatigue and cramps. Overthought bringing Salt Caps with and even my biceps were starting to cramp up.  Throughout the race I had more GUs than normal with probably consuming 7. I couldn’t feel much of a difference taking them, but am sure it would of made a difference if I wouldn’t have. Took a turn off the highway and was in the residential neighborhood which was a sign of getting close to the finish. I remember thinking I had to go to the bathroom so went into a Biffy, stood there for a bit, decided that I didn’t actually have to go and stepped out, thought I needed to go again so went back in, figured out that I actually didn’t need to go, and got out and tried to keep putzing along. My legs kept cramping and unfortunately for the final stretch I wasn’t able to speed up much and even worse, jump at the finish line. Waved over at surfer Joe the announcer whom I’d met earlier at the expo who was announcing the finishers. Went and had a couple hot malasadas, got a Shiatsu massage, had a couple more malasadas and went and watched the finishers coming in for the next couple hours. It was wild how many runners kept on coming and coming and how it never got old watching them run by. Sad to think this race is over but at least I can look back on pictures, re-read this post and if I miss it enough, can always sign up for it again.
Next race on the calendar is Zumbro 50 in April and am excited to do another one of these again!

Splits: (Note nice progression in pace after 13 miles ha)

Twin Cities Marathon 2012

Right now I am sitting on a flight from SanJose to Kona for my 6^th time to Hawaii (everything in moderation right?).  Now I get the challenge of trying to preserve the memories of another race that came and went so quickly.

Prior to race
I don’t think I’ve had more time to prepare for a race than this one. Having just graduated and not having a job after doing Upward Bound in the summer, I had a little more than 3 months to train for my first time racing the TC Marathon. My goal was to finally get under 3 hours. I was excited to be racing TC on my own for after running it the previous 3 years with Tavis and Brandon.  I was excited that the TC course takes place on which 90% of my runs the last 5 years did. A majority of the marathon training runs were ran on E/W Riveroad so I coulnd’t be much more familiar with the course. Along with this, I would bike the course about once a week just to soak in the sites and become even more familiar with it. I wanted it to be that on race day, it would be automatic to figure out how much effort I needed to exert when. It seems like when I don’t know the course well, I’ll spend surprisingly a lot of effort just deciding when to give what. We learned a concept in one of my KIN classes called teleo-anticipation, which suggests that our bodies adjust levels of exertion/muscle recruitment based on the perceived distance/time the exertion will take place. A good example of this is how it’s not uncommon to feel the same level of fatigue after a 5-mile run compared with a 10-mile run. I guess a less drawn out version would just be saying that we prepare ourselves for what we plan ahead to do. The teleo-anticiaption concept mentioned that people who are doing their first few marathons have a difficult time perceiving the entirety of the race and inevitably slow down because they were unable to dispense limited effort efficiently through the race and save some for the end.  With this thought in my head, and after multiple failed attempts to break 3 hours (Eau Caire, Boston, Honolulu) I was very aware how I would feel after 20-miles at marathon pace and just had to figure out a way to prepare to deal with it mentally and physically.  Thankfully I was able to work with Chris and get a training schedule figured out (talk about a confidence booster knowing my plan was written by 3x Olympic Trial Runner).

            What gave me even more confidence was I would often imagine myself while doing training runs on the course that I was at that respective distance during the actual marathon (long winded, I know) A long-run that really boosted my confidence was ending a 22-miler at the 20-mile mark of the TC marathon route. This semi-simulated being more tired than I actually would be on race day for miles 5-20 of the actual marathon route. Chris had me mix in some strength training on distance-taper weeks which also helped me feel better. So many different factors changed for this race that I can’t really attribute what actually helped take about 7 minutes off my previous PR.  I do know though that it was a combination of different training, completely different diet, being about 5 pounds lighter than running any race before, and being so familiar with the course. What kind of drives me crazy (could also be now from all the coffee on the plane) but not knowing what’s the best way to get a PR for next race. Wish it was easier to have blind confidence in my decisions on why I do something.

Prerace

As I was going around chalking the course the night before the race, my transmission dropped in my car and I was stuck waiting longer than expected to eat the pre-race dinner (but huge thanks to Kayla/Trisha/Matt for helping me out during it) after getting the car towed back to the apartment, I scrambled to just eat anything. From what I can remember I had an enchildada, white rice with PB, Pizza, Icecream, carrot cake and cookies and downed it down with powerade (everything in moderation right?) I had not been eating much if any sweets before this, but read that more glycogen gets stored when high glycemic index foods are consumed so unlike being careful of eating “bad” foods before a race, I found myself eating a mess of different “bad” foods. What made my weight drop down to 164 was consuming mainly a plant-based diet thanks to Scott Jurek’s Eat & Run book and another book called The China Study. I attempted a slight carb depletion/repletion diet the last week of the race for whatever reason. Think that I spend so much time/effort trying to mess with less significant variables as compared to the actual running component of training for a race.  That’s why I’m excited to get into ultras and do the “JFR” plan “just flippin’ run”. But I guess in order to get fast at ultras it takes the same principles of consistent training and periodization that having quick marathon time does (not that I have one yet). Anyways after eating my mess of a dinner, hung out and relaxed until bedtime. Got to sleep around midnight and woke up a few times during the night. Ate some white bread w/ peanut butter, white rice and drank a little bit of power-ade. Kayla and Kyle then drove Brando and I up to the Metrodome. It was chilly in the AM and we were wearing old clothes that we would be shedding before the race. Gathered in the usual overcrowded Metrodome and waited until about 10 minutes before the race. Headed over to the start line and bid farewell and good luck to Brando. Got near the 3:15 pace group and listened to the national anthem(always love this part). Was standing next to a super fit East African (must have been his first marathon which didn’t help my nerves before we started). Then the gun was off.

Race
 As always, there was so much excitement with the start. I was feeling nervous about how I would feel later on in the race, although I also felt relaxed at how well I knew the course and excited to see family and friends at mile 20, along with other friends watching. It was suprising to finally be running in the race that consumed so much of my thinking for the last three months. I’m thinking to myself “this is actually happening now!”. Within the first mile, I was greeted by passing TCRC runner Tony K. who said he was shooting for a 2:45 I believe (he had an awesome race. At mile 2-3  I was then greeted by passing Steve who often runs at Hyland on Fridays and also had an awesome race.  The temperature had a nice chill to it and all things seemed within normal limits. I was beginning to heat up passing by lake Calhoun at mile 5 so through my long-sleeve under my TCRC shirt to my dad and continued on. Gada whom I met in the Upward Bound program and also wanted to hit 3 hours passed me after we exchanged words for a bit. The splits at this point were just a few seconds shy of being on at a 3 hour marathon pace so I was happy to not have went out to fast, and also not be too far behind. Passed Lake Harriet and hopped onto Minnehaha Pkwy.  A band at one of the bridges we ran under was playing The Final Countdown and was stimulating to hear that. I was getting very excited to hit W River Road because of how familiar it was to me. I was happy I could shut off mentally and just let my legs and the course bring me closer to the finish. Took a Ralph onto Cedar Ave and saw the usual Scottish Club playing their bagpipes as the planes flew over not too high above us. After turning onto W River Road, CA Caitlyn was there cheering me on and followed me almost until the Franklin Bridge. Saw Brian Peterson on this stretch and Kurt for maybe the 4^th time already during the race cheering.  On the Franlkin ave Bridge I passed Gada and told him that he had it in him, but knew he was struggling. As I was turning onto E River Road, heard some people screaming my name but didn’t find out who it was until after the race. Popped another Gu with some water and proceeded to the 20 mile mark. Saw Uncle GG and his friend biking along the path right before reaching “the wall”. Right past the Alarc Wall the whole immediate family was there along with some friends cheering on. Kayla and Kyle ran up to either side of me with Kyle playing Gangnam Style and Kayla handing me a GU and a cold wash cloth. Talk about first-class service! After running with them for a few seconds and getting the goods, I was own my own with the last 6 miles were ahead to run. Was almost exactly on pace at the 20-mile mark and kind of sped up during the excitement of the Franklin Bridge, and passing the family and friends. Heading up the hill leading to the Lake Street Bridge was a little worrisome for me because I knew this was the tougher part of the course. Surprisingly my legs were not as tired as they typically were at this point in a marathon, however I knew things could change in a hurry with a.) the last 6 miles of a race being the toughest and b.) the last 6 miles of TC are by no means relatively flat. I tried to conserve as much energy going up the couple hills before getting onto Summit Ave. Once getting onto Summit Ave, I was starting to feel more and more confident that I could pull off a sub 3 hour marathon. I remember a quote from the intro of the movie Unbreakable

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a26xp28jm0  (3:54) where I think Tony K. says something like “you start to get goosebumps on your arms, if I can execute for just the next 15 miles, it could mine” referencing a win in the Western States, but I slightly modified it to my situation saying to myself, “if I can hold onto this pace for the next 3 miles, I will finish under 3 hours. It still felt like there was some energy in my legs but I could tell they were starting to get on the verge of cramping in my hamstrings.  I got to the TCRC spectator section and it was crazy. Both of the RVs were out and there were so many people cheering. I lifted up my shirt and gestured over to the crowd as the DJ shouted out something that made the crowd go even crazier. It was such an adrenaline rush to run through all of that excitement and it was just the pick-me-up I needed at that stage in the race. I got a little emotional right after passing them because I was starting to realize that I only had to run 2 more miles to get this done. Despite thinking I had it in the bag for a few minutes, I realized that I needed to pick it up or it would be close and might miss it by a few seconds. I began to get really nervous thinking of something such as a cramp stopping me. I was trying to pick up the pace more and more to ensure of making it on time.  After struggling through the last bit and feeling my legs dangerously close to cramping, made it to the top of the hill where we can see the capitol. Tried to speed up as much as possible until I realized that I was going to make it. After knowing I was going to get it for sure, I laid off a bit to make sure I wouldn’t hurt something in my legs. Did the usual jump at the end and was pretty excited to have finally achieved something I failed out so many times before.

Post-Race.

After finishing, drank a few chocolate milks and met my Dad and Suzy. They drove me back to the 20-mile mark where the marathon party was going on and was greeted with an excited group of family and friends. I was happy to not have had to go back to everyone not meeting my goal like has happened in the past.  It was such a nice feeling accomplishing that and then spending time with so many people that came out to support the runners. Snacked on a few donuts as we watched more runners go by. Saw Gigi run by and was surprised at how strong she looked at mile 20 for her first marathon! Congrats to her!  Also Congrats to Tim for completing his first marathon! Had a couple drinks and after saying goodbye to the family, we passed out alcoholic beverages to some of the last runners advertising them as “carbohydrates” and “flavored water” although they knew what we were passing out. After watching the DNF bus roll throw, we packed up all the party paraphernalia and walked back up to the apartment where I got to having a feeding frenzy. It was such a nice feeling to have finally got sub 3, right at the end of the time staying at Kayla’s apartment, end of the time living on campus, and end of the time before leaving MN for Hawaii. I went on a walk with Jigon on the riverroad after and it was crazy to think about how after all that preparation and buildup of excitement, that it was all over. Kind of am getting used to that feeling but also am trying to figure out how to preserve all those good feelings. I guess that’s why I blog. Am in Oahu with Uncle Paul now doing a lot of physical work so am finding it difficult to run on a usual basis but I think that was a good thing for recovery right after. Am currently signed up for Honolulu marathon and am thinking about running it with a costume and just enjoying the atmosphere, rather than get worked up about meeting a time goal. Last year I was disappointed when I didn’t get sub 3 out here and wish I would have just absorbed the fun atmosphere more.  Well I guess until next time!

Splits: