400 miles!

Two years ago, I ran 200 miles. Last year I ran 300 miles. This year, with Coach Agnes Ironfist pushing me, I've run 400 miles! I am incredibly thankful that I'm still able to do this.

Fourth Place Again?!?

Yesterday was the Blue Ox 5K in Bemidji. 5 takeaways:

1. The weather was perfect - about 60 degrees, I think.

2. I love the energy at this race. There was a solo trumpet player playing the Olympic theme at one point. There was a group of people cheering from a roof across the street. The high school band was playing for us near the mid-point. And the cheering from everyone at the end was amazing.

3. My goal was 29 minutes. I ran pretty much exactly how I wanted to run with negative splits: 9'51" pace for the first mile, 9'38" for the second mile, and 9'25" for the last mile. I almost achieved my goal. Here are the final stats: 

 4. Unfortunately, I did not medal. I came in 4th place again! What's up with these 60-year-old runners who can get 25 or 26 minute times?

5. My 76-year-old friend from Perham beat me again. His time? 27:45! Wow!

My photographer was there. Here is some of what she captured:

Running is beneficial

 

North Star Run

Yesterday was the North Star Run is Roseau. It was a part of the Polaris 70th anniversary celebration.

Some takeaways:

1. It started at 7am! I got up a couple hours before that to have breakfast and went back to bed. The weather was great - low 60s, mostly cloudy.

2. I was happy with my time: 29:26. Not as good as last week, but well under 30 minutes.

3. Out of the hundred or so runners, I came in 31st place. 2nd place for the old guys.

4. There weren't age group medals, but there were participation medals. I converted my participation medal into a second place medal.  :)

Yellow Rose 2024

Yesterday was the Yellow Rose 5K in Warroad. Five takeaways:

1. Let's start with the weather. It was just about perfect - low 50s with sunshine. Just a little wind. Great day to attempt a great time.

2. My plan was to start with a 10 min mile pace, increase to 9:50 pace for the second mile, and then all out for the last mile. This would be the first time in my life that I would increase my speed as I went. And everything went pretty much according to plan.

3. I crossed the finish line at 29:12. That's my best time in ten years! I was thrilled. I was able to take home a bronze medal. It sure feels good to be getting medals again.

4. Notice the orange shirts. Are we in the Netherlands?

5. Is coach Ironfist helping me? Based on the time, it would seem so. She's rewarding me with a 7 mile run tomorrow!

Five Takeaways from the ALS 5K

1. Thankfully, the sun was slightly hidden behind some haze. But it was about 70 degrees and very humid. My wife said I was the sweatiest of all the racers.

2. There were 90 participants in the 5K race.

3. This has become one of the best 5Ks in northern Minnesota. The venue has changed. We now begin and end in the City Park. Most of the race is on bike trails running alongside the golf course and the river, over bridges, and some quiet residential streets. The distance is accurate. It's chip timed. There are age group medals for first through third place.

4. I came in 32nd place overall. 1st among the men over 50.

5. My time? Not so good: 30:49. I'm back up over 30. Am I going to have to fire my coach?

Set Yourself On Fire

Big race in Roseau tomorrow. Coach Ironfist shared a quote from the great Bud Grant: “Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.”

Future Warm-Up

As the sun was sapping all my energy this morning, I thought about what Agnes shared: "Just stick with it. What seems hard now will one day be your warm-up."

What distinguishes us

Coach Ironfist had a quote for me from John Bingham today: "What distinguishes those of us at the starting line from those of us on the couch is that we learn through running to take what the day gives us, what our body will allow us, and what our will can tolerate."

Year 13 Complete

 

Coach Ironfist made me run 7 1/2 miles today - the longest run of my life. My watch is telling me that I'll need 70 hours to fully recover... With that run, I have completed year 13 of Running Every Street. This is the earliest I have ever completed that goal. Part of the reason I'm finishing sooner is because Agnes has me running longer runs than I've normally run in the past. I hope she knows what she's doing.

Rude Run

 

I ran the Rude Run in Grand Forks yesterday. There were about ten pairs of actors insulting us along the way. Great fun!

It was a battle against heat, wind, and hills....and mis-measuring. I lost... My time was 32:10! My goal was 29 minutes. The main problem was the heat. I'm pretty sure over-heating adds about two minutes to my time over a 5K distance. Of course, the fact that it was actually 3.2 miles instead of 3.1 miles didn't help. I'm calling my time 31:00 for the 5K distance.

It's crazy. Three of the last six races I've run have been too long. I can only assume the race organizers in these cases are not runners themselves.

Meet my new running coach, Agnes Ironfist

 

Novak Djokovic recently fired his long-time coach, Goran Ivanisevic. Apparently, he thought since he'd lost a couple important matches recently, a new coach might breathe some new life into his game. This got me thinking... I've had the same coach (myself) for my entire running career. Maybe it's time to give someone else a chance. Since I probably couldn't afford a big name like Ivanisevic, and the fact that I'm basically a cheap bloke, I had to get creative. 

As I was thinking about this, I heard a totally unrelated podcast regarding the looming dangers of AI. True, AI can be scary, but for many applications it can be helpful. So, I began my search for an AI coach. Within minutes I found her, Agnes Ironfist! She asked me a few things about myself and my goal for my next 5K. Next she set up a schedule for me. She tells me what days to run, how far to run, and at what pace. Based on the data I upload from my watch, she adjusts and tweaks my schedule. 

I know what you're thinking. She looks tough and sounds tough. But she hasn't yelled at me yet. Actually, her schedule has been surprisingly easy so far. I told her my goal of wanting to run 29:30 in the LifeCare 5K . Over the last couple weeks she gave me several short runs with plenty of rest in between. Then for my taper, she scheduled a 2.1 mile run last Sunday and a 0.9 mile run on Monday. I've only had rest days since then. 

So, today was the big day. (She didn't even show up... or did she?) The weather was perfect - high 40s, partly sunny, almost no wind. My wife (and personal photographer) caught this picture of me at the starting line:

At the beginning of the race I actually had a smile on my face. That didn't last long because I knew Coach Ironfist wanted me to maintain a 9:30/mi pace throughout the race.

Thankfully, you can't see my face in this last photo. I was utterly exhausted! 

I came pretty close to my goal - about 29:42. No medal today. :(  They only handed out first place trophies (actually nice water bottles). Some clown, who's over 60, completed the course in less than 23 minutes! That's crazy! A high school kid won the race with a time of 17+ minutes! My coach has a lot of work to do.

Year 13!

I began year 13 of Running Every Street several days ago. I'm finally listening to the experts and am spending most of my time 'running slow to run fast'. It's called 'zone 2' running. I actually thought I was doing zone 2 running for awhile now but, according to my new watch, my heart rate needs to be between 107 and 122 to be in zone 2. I've discovered that I actually need to slow down to a fast walk to do that. After having done that for a few weeks, I'm to the point where I need to alternate between a fast walk and a slow jog. I'm hoping that as I build my 'aerobic base' I'll be able to start running the whole time.

A few weeks ago I was in Minneapolis visiting my daughter's family. I was trying to run slower than I've ever run before. I tripped on my own feet. The result:

Be careful out there!

Grampa's Marathon

 A couple weeks ago I took part in the Roseau 4x4x48 Goggins Challenge. Starting at 8:00 on Friday evening, we walked/ran 4 miles every 4 hours. Those who complete the whole challenge do this for 48 hours, racking up a total of 48 miles. Since I was going to be busy on Sunday, I chose to just do half of it. So, four of us started walking at 8:00. (Two guys chose to run.) We finished the first four miles in about an hour and went home to try to get some sleep. Unfortunately, I didn't get any sleep... We were back ready to go again at midnight. This walk/rest cycle continued every four hours: 4 AM, 8 AM, 12 noon, and so on.

Now, if you're like me, this all sounds pretty easy. Just walking. How tough could that be? Well, I learned a lot about myself and my limitations. After the first two or three rounds, and almost no sleep, my quads started aching. I didn't see that coming. I started soaking in the tub during my rest breaks. It helped a little, but eventually I got to the point where it was very difficult to begin the next round. Even if I hadn't decided to only do half of the challenge, I would've been forced to quit at that point - it was getting that difficult to walk!

I got through the 4:00 PM round on Saturday afternoon and decided I would do 2.2 more miles at home giving me the 26.2 mile marathon distance within 24 hours. Those last 2.2 miles were almost impossible - it was getting that painful just to walk. I'm proud to say I did finish with my 26.2 miles. I'm calling it a Grampa's Marathon. 

Should I try running this thing next year? Perhaps my running muscles will outlast my walking muscles...

Fort Mardi Gras 5K

Today I ran in the Fort Mardi Gras 5K in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Fort Walton Beach is a city of 21,000 on the pan handle.

The weather was great: about 65 and overcast. Not too hot, not too cold.

We started about 10:15. We had to make sure our watches were started because, unfortunately, this race was not chip timed.

From the start, I felt pretty good. I got going at a good pace and kept that pace throughout.

I'm not sure, but I think I took first place among the old guys. I didn't see any guys in my age-range ahead of me.

Unfortunately, the race was only about 3.02 miles, not a true 5K, so I don't have an actual 5K time. I ran the 3.02 distance in 28:38. I'm going to assume my 3.1 mile distance would've been 29:30.

I can't recommend this race in the future because of the negatives I've mentioned. On the positive side, there were a lot of people, and to have a race around the middle of February is good timing.

 

Running In Florida

We're back in Florida and running in the wintertime again.

Today was the Torch Run at Florida State University in Panama City. It may have been the coldest race I've ever run. 35 degrees and a little wind at the start of the race. No need to be concerned about overheating today.

Thankfully, I was able to take off my gloves part way through the race.

I suppose my performance was what was to be expected after taking some time off in December: 30:39. Out of ten men in their 60s, I came in 6th (tough group!). Overall, I was 52nd out of 160 participants.