Grandma's Marathon and other updates

Well this past weekend was Grandma's Marathon. Was pretty excited to run it because this is the marathon I grew up as a kid hearing about from my Aunt and Uncle who would run it every year. Unfortunately developed a sinus infection the week leading up to the marathon so was a little nervous as to how the race would be. Drove up there with Jin and another guy Evan who my mom connected me with through her work. This was his first marathon so was pretty exciting. Slept Friday night up in Duluth at some on-campus apartments with some of Jin's friends. Was a new experience staying with all Koreans for a night. Woke up the next morning a bit late (40 min) because my alarm was set wrong and we both slept through Jin's multiple times. Scrambled to pack stuff up and a bit unorganized because with both Jin and I feeling under the weather the night before, we just went to bed without really planning the morning out (mistake).
Was able to get to the parking area we needed to and hop on one of the last shuttles from Duluth to Two Harbors. Was pouring rain in the morning but luckily by the time we reached Two Harbors it seemed to have drizzled off.
Race: Ended up seeing Jake Pittman at the start and we decided to start out running together. Both of us went and wished Chris Lundstrom good luck on his race and waited for the start. The start was exciting with over 6k people there. Many international (Kenyan) athletes were there for the large payout to 1st place ($10k I think).
Beginning miles felt pretty good. First couple miles we ran at about 7:08 making our way to about 7:00 miles. Felt a little more fatigued than usual at around mile 7 and worried how the later miles would feel. Was nice to run with Jake because he had is GPS watch and would give up mile splits that we needed to hit. He was in charge of our splits and I was in charge of where we ran on the road and also when to take our Gel's which we did every 45min. We ran together until mile 11 when Jake decided he was "going to drop" which I initially thought he meant out of the race but he actually meant his shoes. From that point on I was solo running with a pretty steady group older people. Slight tailwind on our way to Duluth really helped keep cool and feel light. Went potty (#1) at mile 20 after holding it in a little longer than comfortable. Put me down about 30-45 seconds but tried to catch the group of guys I had been running with slowly as to not burn out the legs too much before the tougher miles came up. With the increased crowds and college students support, felt pretty good in the later miles. Lemon drop hill was pretty tough and was feeling a little heavy legged at that part was still had a little energy left to pick it up in the late miles. Felt like I was passing many people from mile 21-25 and near the last mile didn't have to much to give. Compared to previous marathons though, this one I had cramped the least and was able to push it the most later towards the end of the race. Ended up finishing at 3:06:something AGAIN, and was not too disapointed. For a bit during the run, I had my hopes up of getting 3:05 and felt very excited for a bit (was a math miscalculation though :(  )
After the race had a chocolate milk and headed to the massage tents to wait for a massage. Met a guy named Eric who was a runner for Minneapolis who had run Tokyo marathon before! Was a fun chitchat with him. After becoming freezing cold and searching for Jin for some time without bringing a drop bag, was happy to meet him and receive a blanket that he had been carrying around from the rest of the day. Went back to Kayla's roommates house and then went to Burrito Union and enjoyed eating there for the second time.
Overall, was a beautiful race and I look forward to running it next year. Have felt the least sore after this marathon than any other which is a great thing. The thing that hurt the worst though was having feet crammed into my Aasics Trainers and having been accustomed to running in my Aasics trail shoes to not wear out the Trainers. Bad idea.
Have a 10k next week (Time to Fly) that will be doing with Tavis and maybe a few others. Kind of bummed not to have any long distance events scheduled until the 50mile. Am trying to find a back to back Sat/Sun marathon duo as preparation for the 50mile. Haven't been able to find any at the time I need so might be doing some high milage on my own.  Thank god for Japanese podcasts that I can zone out and listen to.

This have been a little rough with the McNair program so far, not having as much direction as I imagined and feeling a little lost in the research paper process. Might sadly be switching to another mentor and different topic if I cannot meet up with my current mentor by tomorrow. Am  a little excited to start progressing though with summer project.

Well am in the BioMed library so should probably pretend to get back to work.

Sorry didn't proofread

After Semester updates +beginning of summer

Well, haven't updated as much as intitially planned but here we go.

The Superior Trail 50k was absolutely gorgeous and thanks to Paul H. and Brian P. (thanks to Chris L.) I was able to finish the course without too much suffering. Went to Fitger's the night before the race, then went to a burrito place for post race.  Will definitely be looking forward to signing up for more trail races and have a better idea of what the Superior 50 mile will be like. Course was so amazing to be on and constantly reminded me of the portages in the Boundary Waters. Whenever felt a little tired, always had to remind myself how nice it was to not have to be carrying a canoe and a pack.

Time has been going pretty quick that the semester wrapped up. Starting out the few days of just sleeping in a tad, going down to Caribou and studying some Japanese (sometimes w Longen-san) and playing catch here and there w Stones. Have done a few short distance (recovery) runs since after the race.

Just got back from Oshkosh and some members from Team 4 Japan got to say goodbye to Heather who is leaving in 3 weeks to teach fulltime there! After getting back from Oshkosh, Jeremy and Jin and I went to volunteer at Rochester Med-city marathon and watched a couple buddies partake in it. Look forward to being able to be part of many more marathons and also with getting creative it. (costumes/music/themes/ect)

Tomorrow will be moving back into Middlebrook for the start of the McNair Scholars program. Am pretty excited but would like to get a set schedule for the summer so can jam pack it with other enjoyable things that are happening.

Next race is Gma's June 18th. Today technically should have been my long run but with still feeling fatigued from the 50k and running on 4ish hours of sleep in the last two days, might hold off until tomorrow. Also time to get a specific training schedule for Gma's. Diet has been pretty pathetic lately (today having BK for breakfast at the marathon :(,  very large portion of cake/icecream at Granpa Vernon's Birthday party, followed by chipotle with stones, followed by 2 homemade cinnamon rolls freshly backed by ma) Need to start having more discipline with my impulses...Anyways, will finalize a training schedule leading up to Grandma's and start figuring out how to train for the 50miler w the help of Chris L. in the upcoming days.

Will try to write something in Japanese when there is a little more cognitive energy left to give.
Can't forget to start practicing Kanji!　口！

First blog

Decided to make a blog for some reason during finals..Maybe just another excuse to not study or to justify why I didn't do so well on the final tests..Anyways, thought this would be a cool place to just record feelings/pictures/memories.
Tomorrow we are having a floor BBQ outside of Middlebrook which should be exciting if the weather holds up. Upcoming week is final exams and then will have a week until the Superior 50k and starting the research program with Professor Ingraham.
Kind of have a little tweak in the hamstring after Eau Claire Marathon so have been babying it a bit (except for running around at the Undie Run last night) which was pretty fun. Need to heal up in order to be able to train this summer and do the Superior 50mile in the fall. Don't want to be not able to finish that.

このブログで時々日本語で書くつもり。日本語をもっと練習したいから、これはいい練習かもしれない。ここに全部コンピューターは日本語書けないから、よく日本語で書かなければ、すみません。もう、たくさんまちがえるから、それをすみません。

明日MBHでBBQするけど、雨がふるはずです。（です）を使ったら、へん（ですか）。まあー、じっさいけいごのほうが使うのが好きです。どうして、しりません。

後で


(Wondering if this will evolve into a diary type of blog, or more of a summary of events and activties blog.) Guess I will find out.