Category Archives: Race Review

2011 Ragnar Great River Leg 5 Recap

For the 2011 Ragnar Relay – Great River edition I was the number 5 runner. This is a different leg than I had last year and was the longest overall distance for the team. An 8 mile, 6 mile, and 7 mile run sounded pretty intimidating and my first run was the worst.

Our team (MN Rocks) started in Winona at 9am and our lead off runner started us off quite well. By the time it was my turn to run (at 1:30pm) the sun had been out beating down on us for hours and with there being virtually no shade along the road I prepared for an 8 mile run in rough conditions. I had hydrated throughout the day and it the toilet a few times so I felt prepared for whatever Ragnar could throw at me.

Here is a map and the elevation chart (this chart looks bad, but the graph is only 200 feet – so the elevation spikes are pretty minimal).

I started out a little too fast which probably doesn’t surprise anyone who’s followed me for awhile. But I did realize this and try to slow myself down. I felt comfortable and that was pretty much my goal – to stay comfortable and try to hit 8:30 pace for most of the run. We ran through the cute little town of Alma to start the run. The first part of this leg was on the Mississippi River which was beautiful (when the trains weren’t passing by). The rest of the leg was near a smaller river and marshy land.

I was carrying water in my hand held water bottle and was drinking from it regularly, but by mile 4 I was really starting to feel the heat. I started picking points up ahead and forcing myself to run to it and repeating that process. After 3 or 4 times I realized it was unrealistic to continue doing that for 4 more miles and picked one more point and walked for a bit. I walked, took my Gu, and drank a lot of water from my bottle.

I ended up walking 3 times before the end of my run. One of the other vans let me squeeze a wet towel over my head/back and that helped cool me off! Thanks dude who let me use the towel! This leg did have 2 water stops along the way which was nice. The volunteers at these stops weren’t super-excited, but it was hot. Most of the volunteers along the way were super-energetic and excited to be a part.

After the last time walking I ran for what seemed like a mile and decided that at the short little power line pole if I couldn’t see the exchange area I would take a short break. As I turned the corner a little more I could see the bright orange vests of the spotters and knew I was within striking distance. Each exchange has a set of spotters about 400 yards ahead of the exchange who communicate back to the exchange what runners are coming up so that the teammate is ready and waiting in the exchange chute!

Boy was I glad to be done, in the shade, and drinking some cool water!! After relaxing for a few minutes, we hopped into the van and drove ahead to cheer on Aaron. The problem with Ragnar is that you don’t get a lot of time to stretch and relax after your specific run. I did take the opportunity to get out of the van and stretch while we waited for Aaron to pass us.

Here are a few random pictures from the first 1/3 of Ragnar:

Starting line:

Nick getting ready to start:

The First Exchange:

Once we passed the slap bracelet off to Van 2, we stopped at the Nelson Creamery for some much deserved air conditioning and real food!

Race Recap: MDRA Mudball Classic

1 Reply

You can’t complain about a free race! That being said, I was quite surprised when my Garmin said 4 miles at the end of the race, it was after all the MDRA Mudball Classic 4 miler. In the 3 years we’ve lived here, this is the first of the free races that I’ve run. I look forward to doing more of them.

Obviously, low-key this trail race at the Quaking Bog was a perfectly fun way to get back into the race scene. It was 36f with wind chill of 22 at the start, fortunately it was quite sunny. I was perfectly dressed: shorts, long sleeve, and singlet with gloves and ear warmers. Took off the ear warmers mid-second lap. Before the race started I wasn’t sure if I’d dressed properly or not, so I was quite glad as we started that it felt good.

The race was 3 1.34 mile loops starting just up the trail from the Quaking Bog parking lot. Within the first 30 feet you were heading up a hill. There are a million different options for running through the Quaking Bog area and I think there were 3 or 4 “major hills” and then a few smaller ones. I positioned myself towards the middle of the pack and went out really slow. I had no idea what to expect since I’ve only done slow base mileage. My goal was to have fun and finish strong. I ended up deciding to push up the hills and recover on the downhill and flats. This worked out pretty well and I dropped 3 or 4 people doing that. They would catch up on the flat and then fall back on the hills.

One of the tougher uphills had a tree fallen over the trail, but it was easy to jump/steeple over. The race photographer was there on one of the laps and I’m sure he got some great pictures. If I find the pics, I’ll post a link or post them. This added a fun challenge!! There actually wasn’t a lot of mud, except for at the finish area. This was a fairly large muddy area that got worse each time we ran through!! It made me smile each time. There was a table with water on it around the start area and I paused each time by to grab a drink. I actually stopped and drank, because there was no sense in trying to drink while going up the hill!

The course was marked with flour or chalk (white arrows) which were pretty easy to see, except for in some of the grassier areas. A young boy almost missed a turn on the first loop and in the last lap I almost turned too early (both would have been major short cuts)!

When we came through the second lap someone was yelling out times and I was at 23 something. I felt like that was a pretty good pace and guessed that I was under 10 minute pace and would finish well under 40 minutes. I remember previous run in this area last year when I was in shape that were hard to be under 10 minute pace so I was happy with that. I made sure no one passed me in the last lap and really only had one person try but he ended up 10-15 seconds behind me.

Overall only one person passed me and stayed in front, sadly it was a woman, but she was 3rd overall female I think. I finished in the top 20 (17) and 3rd in my age group. Official Results! Great pictures by Wayne Kryduba. I ran the 4 miles in 34:54. Quite pleased!!

Great morning, great race!!

Ragnar Great River – My Running Legs

Leave a reply

This will be the first in at least two posts about Ragnar.

The basics of a relay race is that you split up the 193 mile race into more doable segments. Ragnar’s Great River Relay is broken into 36 legs which get split up between 12 runners (or 6 in the Ultra division). The average runner ran 16 miles over 3 runs. I personally ran 13 miles. At least one person ran in the 20’s. Several people in my van were in marathon training and this is good timing for “long runs.” The 12 runners are split into 2 vans of who leap frog each other throughout the overnight relay.

I was in Van 1 which was “on” first. I was runner number 3 which meant I ran leg 3, 15, and 27.

Leg 3 was fairly flat and on wide-open road. I ran on the shoulder as much as possible. The route took a turn off WI-35 (which the runners saw, but many vans missed) onto a country road in corn fields! I had seen a bank sign that said 85 degrees and there was no doubt that the humidity was quite high, but it was very cloudy. This leg had non-supported sections, which meant that in places my van could give me water. I misunderstood the wording of the Race Bible – legs that were “non-supported” would have water stops if they were over 4 miles. I assumed I’d have a water stop, so I was disappointed after the half-way mark when there weren’t any. With about 1.5 miles to go my van caught up to me (they missed the turn) and gave me some water! I finished the 5.3 miles in 46:56 or 8:52 pace.

The great thing about Ragnar is that you run through the night! Any runner on the road after 7:30pm had to have a reflective vest, a head light, and a tail light on. Any member of the team outside the van after 7:30pm had to wear a reflective vest. After relaxing at Major Exchange 12 in Stockholm, WI our van took back over for our night leg. I didn’t end up running until after 11pm. I woke up at 5am on Friday to finish getting ready and to pick up the van, etc. I was surprised that I didn’t feel too bad – though there was lots of adrenaline. It was in the mid 70’s and still quite humid, though there was no sun since it was dark!

All geared up I ran Leg 15’s 5.22 miles in 45 minutes for an 8:38 pace. This route ended up being hillier than I had expected it to be. I knew there was one hill towards the beginning, but it seemed like there were more noticeable hills. I could have also just been getting tired! Running in the dark was quite interesting. You couldn’t see very far ahead, behind, or around you and all you could see in the distance was little red flashing lights of runners and Ragnar signs. I did have a water stop this time! The dark also made it quite hard for vans to figure out if you were their runner or not, but mine did find me and cheer me on. As I got closer to the exchange area, I started to see lots of headlights and a glow so I knew I was getting close. On each leg Ragnar posts a sign that says “One Mile to Go” but on this particular leg it seemed to take forever for that last mile. I got 8 “road kills” on this section. In Ragnar language a road kill is a person that you pass from another team. I only got passed by one guy. For whatever reason, the headlamp I was wearing gave the weird sensation of wearing sunglasses. It was something to do with how the light was shaped. It was fun running in the dark!

We were able to shower and eat spaghetti sauce (they ran out of noodles) at Prescott High School (Major Exchange 18) before driving through some very dense fog to get to Stillwater, MN. It was 2 or 3am and I was driving. It was a little nerve racking because there were runners and lots of vans on the road, though fortunately, not many other cars. We decided to stop in Hudson for breakfast at Denny’s. I’m pretty sure I was the only person awake in the van (don’t tell Ragnar that my Safety Officer fell asleep!) After Denny’s we drove to Major Exchange 24 in Stillwater, just North of the Liftbridge. I had to sleep in the driver’s seat of the van and maybe got 30 minutes of real sleep. We had miscalculated our timing and I started waking up the van around 5:45 to get ready. After 6:30am runners and support people were no longer required to be illuminated.

My last leg was 27. Now in Minnesota we switched to more suburban areas for most of the run. Just an FYI that this exchange didn’t have port-a-potties, good thing I didn’t need one. This leg started out on the road and went under I-94 before running on a paved trail next to the roads. This felt like a long steady uphill, but I’m sure my legs were completely exhausted at this point. I’m not sure of the temperature, but it was very overcast and very humid. The fog actually almost felt like a mist at points. I got at least 8 more road kills on this leg. Some guy passed me, which made me mad, then I realized he wasn’t wearing the Ragnar Wrist Band (the baton) so I didn’t feel quite as bad! I got a couple of road kills at the very end and set Mike up to get a few himself! I did the 3.38 miles in 27:15 or 8:04 pace. (Note: each leg was faster than the last!) It felt really good to be done. We didn’t have a lot of time to sit around though, because most of these legs were fairly short. So I stretched a little and off we went.

You can kind of see an exchange in this video. This is me running into my final exchange handing off to Mike:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYMv3YzUEzs

After my final leg I was triumphant, as seen in this short video:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8H90mIVhtU

After arriving at Major Exchange 30 at Lifetime in Woodbury our team started to break apart. Our van was done with running and a few people needed to head out so we sorted out the van, drove some people to their cars, and ended up with only 2 of us waiting around at the Boom Island finish area. We got massages, ate some pizza, and tried to relax. My body was so worn out that it didn’t like the idea of laying down on the grass. Several hours later I got the call – we are dropping off the last runner. A 3rd teammate rejoined us and 7 of us waited anxiously for the final runner to come down the trail. We joined her about 100 yards from the finish and ran triumphantly across the finish line!! We had done it!

Team Hodge Podge finished 169th out of 286 teams for a total time of 29:46:15 which is an average 9:19 pace! Well done ! (full results)

Get in Gear 10k

TCM 2009

1 Reply

TCM Expo

I finished my second marathon. Pretty worse for the wear, but I finished. I had pretty modest expectations going into the race based on my training over the last year. I felt that 3:30 was pretty reasonable since most of my longer runs had been at 8 minute pace.

A friend from college, Pez, was debuting this year and he’s a pretty smart guy and decided to run with me for the first 3 miles around 8 minute pace and slowly build up. He had an excellent race finishing in 3:19. I felt really good during the first 5k, I did stop for a quick bathroom break and had to force myself to not try to catch back up.

I passed fellow classmate Kevin on the north side of Lake of the Isles. Staying pretty consistent at 8 minute pace. The 3:30 pace group was pretty far ahead now, because of my potty break – but they did take it out fairly fast from the start. I passed Deb on the north side of Lake Calhoun and the ran with Anne and her friend for awhile on the south side of the lake. I probably should have stayed with any of them and continued running at an easier pace. But I was hitting my splits pretty accurately.

At some point early on the Minnehaha Parkway part of the course I started catching up to the 3:30 pace group. At which point it got really crowded. Marty was towards the front of the group and we slowly came together as we went through the rolling hills stretch. I was taking it easy and hitting 8 minute pace. Marty and I ran together for a couple of miles. He said he was struggling and right before Cedar he said he would see me at the finish and dropped off.

I maintained my pace through 13 but started to hurt around 12. It started in my hips and throughout the race slowly worked its way down my legs. Mostly on the left side (where I have plantar fasciitis). I got through the half in 1:44 so pretty much right where I wanted to be. I slowed down a bit and I think I stopped to stretch it out before leaving Nokomis. From here my splits slowly slowed down as I struggled with trying to loosen up my legs, staying mentally tough, and not bonking.

As my paces show I quickly deteriorated and never really recovered. Part of me wanted to quit, part of me wanted to walk, part of me knew I had to fight to the finish. I made a mental decision that I would finish, even if I had to walk the rest of the way, but also made the decision that I would run for at least a mile in between walk breaks. I started just trying to walk through water stops, but then gave up on that and just started walking when I didn’t feel like going any farther.

I saw my wife and friend at mile 16 and gave them the thumbs down. I think they knew I was off pace but the thumbs down was a clear sign that I was struggling. I heard a couple of my students cheer for me and a former student gave me a needed/welcome Gu pack around mile 17.

Blood Filled Blister!

The rest of the race is a blur of struggle and pain but I finished. And I was running at the finish. I finished in 3:56:00 officially. Deb and I passed each other back and forth throughout the last 8 miles. She served as much needed motivation to keep on pushing. A first time marathoner chatted with me a bit as we were getting ready to go up the St Thomas hill. I told him I was doing terrible but he kept talking. As we started up the hill he asked, “Is this the big hill.” I replied, “One of them.” He was caught of guard by that, and I felt a little bad, but I was out of it and didn’t really want to chit chat about the intricacies of the last 6 miles.

One high point of the final stretch was my wife and friend were just in front of the Target Cheer Zone. Summit Ave is already pretty packed with people and can be very encouraging. So I passed them and they were really cheering and the whole block or two was extremely uplifting, especially as you pass through the Cheer Zone. I got a boost in my step, which didn’t last near as long as I was hoping!

Seeing the cathedral top made me happy because I knew it was almost over. Then slowly making the turn and seeing the capital. I dug deep and found something and pushed hard. The crowd roared and I finished. Then I shuffled through the chute getting water, fruit, chips, a banana, a heat sheet, vegetable broth, and finally a finisher’s shirt. Marty and I hobbled and talked for a bit before I tried to find my wife and friends to go home.

It is amazing how much pain you can be in after running that far. My body hurt during the run, but hurt even worse right after it was over and for the rest of the day! When I peeled off my sock I found a nice blood filled blister pictured above!

Thank you to the thousands of people who cheered!! Those who knew my name, those who cheered for “MDRA” (my jersey), my race number, and even those who yelled for “MORA” (because evidently the D looks like an O). Each and every one of you and all of the volunteers helped make this race successful.

Mile	Distance	Time	Overall	Pace
1	1.07	8:28.04	8:28.04	7:55
2	0.99	7:57.48	16:25.52	8:03
3	1.02	8:09.95	24:35.47	8:01
4	1.02	7:58.29	32:33.76	7:49
5	0.96	7:15.28	39:49.04	7:34
6	1.06	8:25.73	48:14.77	7:58
7	0.99	7:43.52	55:58.29	7:49
8	1.02	7:57.9	1:03:56.19	7:49
9	1.01	7:55.63	1:11:51.82	7:51
10	1.01	7:51.82	1:19:43.64	7:48
11	1	7:54.18	1:27:37.82	7:55
12	1.02	8:07.53	1:35:45.35	7:58
13	1	8:04.94	1:43:50.29	8:05
14	1.02	8:52.08	1:52:42.37	8:42
15	1.01	8:47.04	2:01:29.41	8:42
16	0.99	9:00.91	2:10:30.32	9:07
17	1.01	9:03.92	2:19:34.24	8:59
18	1.01	9:45.17	2:29:19.41	9:40
19	1.01	10:58.91	2:40:18.32	10:53
20	1.01	9:48.07	2:50:06.39	9:43
21	0.99	10:43.72	3:00:50.11	10:51
22	1.03	10:37.88	3:11:27.99	10:20
23	0.99	11:16.7	3:22:44.69	11:24
24	1.01	10:11.53	3:32:56.22	10:06
25	1.01	11:56.87	3:44:53.09	11:50
26	1	9:23.23	3:54:16.32	9:24
26.2	0.23	1:45.15	3:56:01.47	7:38

[tags] Twin Cities Marathon, TCM, Marathon [/tags]

Team Cross Runs and…

Follow the path of a runner, running where runners run! And so much more!