St. Croix Valley Runners

Our favorite running friends meet at 7:00 am  every Saturday at the Northland Tennis Courts in Stillwater.  We three joined them for the first time this year, having had too many other things to do on Saturday mornings up to now.  With many of the other runners I ended up taking "Wayne's Route," a 5-mile combination that takes us on suburban roads and trails, circling around Lake McKusick and back to the cars.  It's far preferable to the more traditional but unnerving 5-mile route that takes us on the shoulder of 55-mph Manning Avenue for about a mile and a half.

Poison ivy along the Gateway
Trail (yesterday's run)

I ran without walking for the first two miles or so, but was breathing too hard, so I dropped behind the others and went to a 60/20 run/walk, running with Dave some of the time and finishing the five miles in 45:42, for a respectable 9:08 pace.

 I can do better, too - I've been training at marathon pace or a little faster for a long time now, and it's about time I did some training at a faster pace, maybe some short races, or intervals, hill training, cross training, resistance training, whatever.  When we know what other marathons we will do this year, I will need to establish a training plan and just do it.  I'll have more speed at shorter distances like this, and hopefully will build muscle for more endurance in marathons too.

Meantime, no whining today.  Nothing hurts, I feel great.

Browns Creek State Trail

Thursday, Jun 27, 2013:

The Browns Creek State Trail is the rail right-of-way for the former Zephyr Railroad, a dinner and entertainment train which operated out of Stillwater, MN.  We three enjoyed that dinner train several times, and when it closed in 2008 the owner sold the right of way to the State of Minnesota and Washington County.  The new Browns Creek Trail will connect the city of Stillwater to the existing Gateway Trail about a quarter mile southwest of the Gateway's bridge over Highway 95.

Sunrise driving to Mayo Clinic

We parked at that bridge and I had to take a look.  The sign says Trail Closed, so of course we three were obliged to run on it.  The rails and ties have been removed, but that's about the only improvement so far at the Gateway end of the Browns Creek Trail.  The surface is small gravel, the remains of the old rail bed, and it's not bad running actually, but after about a mile the trail ahead disappeared under water and I turned around rather than go for a swim.  Total distance about 2.5 miles, and it took me about 30 minutes because I was stepping rather carefully.

Whining: None at all.

Tuesday, Jun 25:

After four days off, we three are back at it again.  5.8 miles in the park, on the paved trails because the grass & dirt trails are mighty soggy.  Since we last ran here three major thunderstorms have rumbled through the Twin Cities, causing a lot of damage.  In one place a crew had sliced up a huge oak that had obviously fallen right across the trail, making our passage through the piles of wood quite uneventful.  This was a lovely run, actually, a little humid but with temperatures at about 70.

I felt a little draggy today, maybe because of the lovely but humid weather or because of four days off from running.  Probably that second thing.  My time showed the weariness, doing a 40/20 run/walk of 5.76 miles in 58:54 for a pace of 10:14.  No pains, no problems.  I’m back.  Where’s the next marathon?

Very Bad Luck

Saturn Ion.  Their newer
car looks just the same.

Our son and his sweet wife are enduring more than their share of tribulations lately, starting with her diagnosis of advanced ovarian cancer, then a house burglary on Easter Sunday, then the death of his grandfather (my Dad), and finally, on the very day of Dad's funeral, a lightning fire resulting in the total loss of their brand-new home.

Living Room

The local NBC station here, KARE 11, ran this story the day of the fire.

Friends asked if they could help, so the beleaguered couple established a 'Fire Recovery Fund'. Please feel free to pass it on if you know of someone else who might be interested in the story.

Grandma's Marathon Skipped

Saturday, June 22, 2013:

I didn't run Grandma's after all. Our son's house was struck by lightning Friday morning and burst into flames, a total loss. We attended my Dad's funeral Friday and then went home to help our son and his wife.

The house looks like this too.

Thursday, June 20:

2 miles or so in the park, running with grandson, more or less.

Tuesday, June 18:

2.5 miles in the park, tapering.

Sunday, June 16:

3.6 miles in the park again, in 37:46. I ran/walked 20/20 this time, probably something like what I will do in the upcoming marathon. Maybe 30/30. Pace was 10:30, about a minute faster than I actually expect to run, though I did run a little more than 20/20 on some downhills. Again no pains, no problems except the cold that I thought had left me is back in the form of a sinus infection, mild fever and all. Oh well, this too shall pass.

Saturday, June 15:

3.6 miles doing a run/walk of 30/20, time about 37 or 38 minutes. It's fine, tapering now. No pains.

Thursday, June 13:

5.8 humid miles again, this time taking 58:08, slightly slower than the last two identical runs. I was a bit tired I guess. No pains.

Wednesday, June 12:

Warm Afternoon. We ran six more miles in the 73-degree sun this afternoon. That's not too hot for running at a modest pace, and I never felt the flushed face that is my signal to slow down in heat. Not quite. I ran/walked 5.76 miles in a time of 57:41, for a pace of 10:01. This was 20 seconds faster than Monday, running exactly the same course except backward, and with the same 30/20 run/walk. 20 seconds is nothing - it's a tie. Whining: Zip. Good run.

Monday, June 10:

Humidity 110%. Not technically, of course, but the car windshield was covered with mist when we got back from the run. I got back with t-shirt and shorts soaked, mostly from sweat that wouldn't dry off. I did a 30/20 run/walk, finishing 5.8 miles in 58:02, for a pace very near 10:00 minutes/mile. No pains, no problems. Splits: 29:31, 28:31. Faster on the second lap - that's good.

Saturday, June 8:

Good Short Run. We've been busy lately, actually too busy to run, which is saying something because running is a very high priority in our house. But we did get out to the park for forty very humid minutes today, where I ran/walked 3.6 miles in 35:24, for a pace just under 10:00 minutes per mile. No pains, especially none in the lower right abdomen. Yay!

New Era

Thursday, June 6, 2013:

Dad died last Tuesday.  I'll sure miss him - he was one of my very best cheerleaders, following us on our trips and always wanting to know how the marathon went.  He loved what we do.  I'll miss calling or emailing him with our results, chatting with him on visits, even doing his taxes.  He was a wonderful Dad and a wonderful person, as sharp as anyone, with lots and lots of friends even at his age.  He leaves quite an empty place.  Go with God, Dad.

Today's run was appropriately dreary, 5.8 miles in 56-degree mist on the paved trails in the park.  I did a walk/run of 30 to 20 triplets, and finished in 59:30, for a pace of 10:20.  It's OK, I felt strong, as I should after taking three days off from running. Good to be back at it.

Whining: The lower right abdomen hurt a little, in the area of last year's hernia surgery.  I sure hope that doesn't get worse.

Seven Miles in the Park

Sunday, June 2, 2013:

Seven Miles in the Park.  We're three weeks away from the next marathon, Grandma's, and I should have done a long run today.  I have cold right now, though, and ran a marathon a week ago, so I just did 7 miles on the grass trails in the park.  Call it a recovery run I guess.  The grass is growing fast, six to eight inches high now, trying to stay ahead of the dandelions.   Running takes just a little more energy than it did a couple of weeks ago.  Two exchanges with other people:

• A moron let his unleashed dog take a run directly at me as I approached.  The dog collided with me but turned out to be friendly, though of course I didn't know that until the last second.  The moron and I exchanged words about controlling the dog.  I don't usually like conflict, but I was happy to stop this time and face him down.  Almost fun.  I doubt he learned anything though - he was a lot angrier than I was, for some reason.  I sometimes carry a knife when I run, for protection against dogs, but didn't have it along this time.  Good thing - that dog might have been hurt badly.

• A young woman, running toward me on the trail, asked me "How wet is the trail ahead?".  I pointed to my almost-clean shoes and said "No problem, you can get through."  She grinned, "Yay!  Sounds great!" and off she went. No doubt she flew through those marshy spots at twice my pace.

All organic

Whining: The right knee with PFS actually did hurt a bit, going down one hill especially.  I walked for a minute or two and the hill was in the past, along with the knee pain.  I should probably start up the PFS therapy exercises again though.

I lost track of the time toward the end, but at about five miles the pace was 10:40.  Good enough for tall grass.   What a wonderful, energy-giving run in perfect weather.

Friday, May 30:

This was the second run after the Med City Marathon.  2.51 miles on the park's paved trails, time 25:50, pace 10:18.  No problems.

Wednesday, May 28:

This was the first recovery run after the Med City Marathon last Sunday.  2.51 miles in about 27 minutes on the paved trails in the park.  No problems.

Med City Marathon 2013

Don't invite us to your marathon!  We sometimes encounter bad luck when we go to a marathon.  It could be so hot that they have to cancel the marathon (Chicago), or rain so hard that the course gets flooded out (St. Charles, MO), or a fire on the course requires a last-minute diversion of the race (Cincinnati).

Today it rained.  That's not new, we've run in rain lots of times, but today it cooled off when it rained, and the wind increased, so instead of the warmish rain that was forecast, we got a cold rain with strong winds.  I had three garments up top, including a wind jacket, and was glad for all of them, but got a little cold anyway.  My bare legs, in particular, got cold and they cramped up and wouldn't work as well as they should have.  Oh boo hoo, that's the way the marathon ball bounces.  No fault of the Med City Marathon.

My race:

I enjoyed myself.  I finished in 5:07:41, for a pace of 11:44, second of three in my age 70-74 age group, my 73rd marathon since the cancer diagnosis ten years ago.  In better weather I might have broken 5 hours, which would be an accomplishment for me these days.  Anyway I'm happy enough with the finish time, considering everything.

I did cramp up in the last two miles or so, which is nothing new.  In fact I was cramping up at the finish, limping and hopping over the finish mats, with reporters taking video!  So I'm surprised to see that my second half marathon took only a minute and a half more than the first half marathon.  I suppose I took more or longer porta-potty stops in the first half.

Billboard near Rochester, MN

Whining: None!  Except for the cramps, just a temporary muscle thing, nothing hurt during the entire 26.2 miles.  Yay!

I took six gels along the way, and three or four salt tablets, plus a lot of water, doing a run/walk of 30 to 20 triplets most of the distance.  I took off my wind jacket after maybe mile six, but had to put it on again at about the half marathon point when the rain started.  The rain was unusually cold and the air temperature dropped a few degrees too, with high winds, so the wind chill dropped into the high 30's for most of the last half.  That wind chill calls for more than just shorts on the legs.

Med City Marathon:

It's a good one.  I would happily do it again, probably will.  Last year the weather was too hot, this year too wet and cold, perhaps next year it will be just right.  Much of the race was on trails, with lots of ornamental shrubs, fruit trees, and lilacs in bloom.  Beautiful.  Some of the run was on roads with a coned-off shoulder or lane, with traffic sailing by, but I never really felt at risk.  The expo was moderate in size, but at least appropriate to the size of the marathon.  I found lots and lots of volunteers on the course, and police where needed, though my girls did not think that the half-marathon route was marked well enough.  I was surprised by the number of spectators, even in the rain.  Results were available on line very quickly after the race.

Other:

• One runner is running all of Minnesota's marathons.  I believe that he said there are 13.  That's more than I thought.
• Another runner, doing a run/walk at about my speed, was clasping her hands on top of her head during the walk.  When I asked her about it, she said that it helped expand her lungs.  I might try that.
• For a while I ran with a guy from Stillwater.  We had never met each other - actually still haven't.
• One woman in the half had shaved her head and said something to the effect that she was reinventing herself.  She didn't wear a hat, and I bet her head got pretty cold when it started to rain.
• We three stayed at the Doubletree, for a very reasonable rate.  We were treated well and the hotel is perfectly situated for the start (busses) and the finish.
• The race starts in Byron, MN, which looks like a very nice small town, located close to Rochester.

Splits: 11:02, 11:54, 10:19, 11:26, 12:50, 11:09, 10:48, 23:19 (2 mi), 11:52, 23:07 (2 mi), 25:24 (2 MI), 11:40, 10:55, 23:21 (2 MI), 11:08, 10:35, 23:07 (2 MI), 11:04, 26:47 (2 MI), 14:04, 1:49, total 5:07:41, pace 11:44.