Sunday, May 24, 2009

Stillwater Marathon 2009

Sunday, May 24:

I didn't run it, because it would just have been one too many marathons for me. But Sweet Pea and I watched it - Sunshine was home taking care of a banged-up knee. We hooted at several friends as they cruised by at Mile 10, then one at Mile 14, and finally we watched a couple of them cross the finish line. They did well.

As we watched, someone ran past and hollered "Minnesota Don!". Sorry to say, I don't know who that was. I wish I had chased after him to find out. Who was that unmasked man?

Impressions of the marathon by other runners seemed generally good. Hilly ("challenging") but not too hilly. Maybe just right for someone who wanted to train for Grandma's or another upcoming marathon. It included one start line, two different finish lines, and four different races. Here's a preliminary rundown on finishers:

Marathon 453
20 Mile 103
Half Marathon   894
12k 511
Here are some results.

Weather was almost perfect. Cool at the start, never getting over 70 by race's end. I might do this marathon next year if the timing is better.

Saturday, May 23:

St Croix Valley Runners, 5 miles. We have our own web site up and running again, StCroixRunners.org. Thanks, Gauss. Six runners showed up this morning to walk, all of them intending to run in tomorrow’s Stillwater Marathon. That’s become a tradition before Sunday marathons - walk a few miles as a group the day before.

I ran with Wayne and Mary, finishing the five miles in 46:22, for a pace of 9:16, slower than I could have run. I did feel much better today than I felt on Thursday. This is a good start to a taper week. More taper Monday.

Thursday, May 21:

Sweet Pea and I went to a local bedroom neighborhood to run, where car traffic is minimal. She ran 5k while I ran 5 miles. My overall pace was horrible, because we walked together some of the time, but I ran a pace of about 9:30 when I was running alone.

Not a good day, though. I felt rubber-legged and weak the whole way. There will be better days. This makes 28 miles for the week, plenty enough.

Yum

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