Dome Running!

Thursday, December 13:

Metro Dome Running, presented by your very own MDRA! We three had never tried it before, so off we went to see how it worked.

The Dome is open from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm most Tuesdays and Thursdays from late November through mid-march. Only runners are allowed in, for a one-dollar fee. All speeds and distances are accommodated. Runners use the upper-level concrete pedestrian concourse, not the playing field (too bad). It's warm in there - 70 degrees I thought, and we were advised that it will be even warmer if snow is falling because they need the heat to melt the snow.

The concourse is divided (using trash barrels) into a fast lane, for speeds of seven minutes per mile and faster, and a slow lane for everyone else including walkers. The fast lane goes clockwise on the inside, slower runners to their right along the inner wall. The slower lane goes counter-clockwise on the outside, slowest runners to their right along the outer wall. The outer wall is 636 meters (0.395 mi) per lap, and the inner 604 meters (0.375 mi) per lap. For those who aren’t timing themselves precisely, that’s almost four tenths of a mile per lap, or five laps equals almost two miles.

Thursday night about 100 runners showed up over the three-hour time window. The place was fairly busy when we were there, between 7:00 and 8:00 - other runners were always in sight. Yet it was never so busy that I had to slow down or slow anyone else down - there was plenty of room to run.

I ran well, too. 5.83 miles in 47:53, for a pace of 8:13, a marathon PR pace for me, and the last full lap was at a pace of 7:27, so I did have a little left. Lessee - it’s open for three hours - not enough time for ME to run a marathon, but some could do it. A mere 69.9 laps along the inner wall. Make it an even 70.

On a good day I could do a 20-miler in three hours or less. Hmmm. At an intermediate distance between walls, say 625 meters per lap, that's 51.5 laps. Oh my.

Wednesday, December 12:

North St Paul Community Center dreadmill, three miles which never seemed to end, but finally did after 26 minutes and 34 seconds. Why is it so much nicer to run around an indoor track like a gerbil in a cage than on a treadmill going nowhere at all? Part of it is that I’m always a little concerned about my wobbly old legs staying on the treadmill surface, so a lot of attention is required. I have to hold onto something if I even look briefly to the side - no such problem on the track. Further, there is no cooling breeze, whereas on the track, if I’m running at 7 mph then I’m facing a 7 mph cooling wind. I’ve seen a few people bring battery-operated face fans for the treadmill or the elliptical trainer. I hope the new track surface will be available soon. Today it appeared to be finished (!) but not quite cleaned up for use.