Category Archives: resources

Twin Cities Running Stores

You can buy shoes almost anywhere it seems. But runners tend to be a little more picky about shoes that are going to carry them over the miles. Most runners tend to prefer a good quality running shoe or the growing trend of going barefoot. Even barefooters need clothing and accessories. So I’ve compiled a list of the “running specialty stores” in the Twin Cities metro area. I’ve commented as best I can on them. I’ve listed the Top 5, followed by a few others! I hope this list is helpful and please provide feedback on your experiences.

	Run N Fun – St Paul, Burnsville If you were to ask most of the guys I run with, they would say this is the only running store to visit. The Burnsville store just opened last year and their St Paul store was in the news due to a robbery. Their staff is extremely knowledgeable and experienced. The St Paul store, which I’ve been to a few times, covers 3 or 4 store fronts and offers quite a range of merchandise. Like most of the other stores they offer a great discount for local running clubs (I know the MDRA and USATF-MN). They have a Facebook group that shares photos, upcoming events, and information. Finally, Run N’ Fun is the choice of most of the local college teams.
	Marathon Sports – Minneapolis This is probably the running store I’ve been in the most. The MDRA training groups have had special discounted events there. Most recently I won a gift certificate from the MDRA Annual Party. They are known for having a doctor in the store twice a month. They are also located a block from Lake Harriet. I’ve always been impressed with the staff and the products they offer. The last event hosted there included post-run bagels and drinks plus a special discount (larger than the normal MDRA).
	Running Room – Minneapolis, Burnsville, Woodbury, St Paul, Rochester, and Maple Grove This is the closest store to our house and I’ve been there a few times. They are the most “corporate” of the specialty stores. Running Room is a chain of stores in Minnesota, Iowa, and Canada. I was not overly impressed with their staff the few times I’ve been there. But they have some amazing sales. One thing that sets the Running Room apart is their marketing machine. It helps to have the large corporate backing (i.e. not being family owned) but they have a monthly newsletter and sales.
	Gear – Edina I’ve never actually been into this store. Some friends of mine really love it and say it is one of the best running stores. Here is their Facebook Fan Page. It is actually very close to Marathon Sports.
	TC Running Company – Eden Prairie We visited this store one night for a Team USA-Minnesota event. Nothing really stands out to me about that brief experience. They sponsor a team and have an RV that makes appearances at races. Their Athlinks page has some great info.

Other Running Stores

I included some “corporate” stores, because they do sell running shoes and occasionally the staff can be very helpful. In college we actually went to Finish Line. They didn’t really provide much technical help, but we got a good discount.

Schuler’s Shoes (Twin Cities New Balance) – Bloomington, Burnsville, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, Roseville, Saint Cloud, St Louis Park, and Woodbury

Runner’s Edge – St Paul Their website doesn’t work and the phone rings and rings. Anyone know if they are open still?

Nokomis Shoe Shop – Minneapolis

Runners Gate – Lakeville

Gear West – Long Lake

Start Line – Minnetonka

REI – Roseville, Bloomington, Maple Grove

Foot Locker – Minneapolis, St Paul, Richfield, Edina

Finish Line – Burnsville, Mall of America, Minnetonka, Maple Grove

[tags] Running Shoe Stores, Shoes, Store, Twin Cities [/tags]

7 Christmas Gift Ideas

Guest Post: Tune-up Races

1 Reply

Coach Mike Nawrocki with MDRA’s 2009 Fall Marathon Training Class had some good words to say about tune-up racing for the marathon.

You may be asking, what is a tune-up race? It is a race you run between now and Labor Day weekend to simulate the race day environment of a marathon. I recommend some of the bigger races with fast fields, because that will be closest to what you will experience when the marathon comes around.

Why do a tune-up race?
a. Fourteen weeks is a long time to train without racing. A tune-up race helps break your training up into smaller pieces, so this training process won’t feel like such a grind.

b. Practice race day logistics. Take it from a savvy veteran like me, who famously (infamously?) ran the first mile and a half of the 2006 TC10 with a safety pin in my sock: race day logistics matter. I lost over a minute fishing that **&%$# safety pin out of my sock and am still bitter every time I see a safety pin (unfortunate, because they are used at every race, making me one bitter guy). A tune-up race allows you to practice your eating, bathroom, drinking, and gear preparation routine.

c. Practice pacing and running your own race. Savvy veterans and eager rookies alike need to practice race-day pacing. Running a tune-up race is a low-stakes way to find out if you are prone to being unwittingly sucked out to a faster start than you intend. Better to find this out now than at mile two of the Twin Cities Marathon.

d. Help determine your marathon pace vs. Practice your marathon pace. Don’t know what your marathon pace should be? Race a ten miler, 15k, or half-marathon. Consult me or Marty afterwards and we can put the race in the context of your training to help you come up with a goal pace for October 4. Already know your goal pace? Go run a half-marathon at that pace. See if you can hold it without getting sucked into the dynamic of racing harder.

Buyer Beware
a. Tune-up races may not be for everyone. If you are recovering from, nursing, or managing an injury, a race could very well be too risky in terms of aggravating this injury. Remember everyone’s second goal for this class: get to the starting line healthy.

b. Racing is essentially a hard workout. You should contact me or Marty for guidance on how to train the week before and after any tune-up race.

c. No races after Labor Day. It breaks my heart to not recommend the MDRA City of Lakes 25k to everyone, because I serve on the MDRA board and have MDRA pride. But it’s just a tad too close to the marathon. Talk to Marty or me if you are interested in the City of Lakes race and we can decide together if it is a good idea. If your competitive streak is such that you are prone to racing hard no matter what, City of Lakes or any post-Labor Day race is just too close to the target marathon, as you may put wear and tear on your legs without enough time to fully recover.

Thanks Mike!

2009 Marathon Class #1

2 Replies

The first “class” session of this year’s Fall Marathon Training program focused on three areas

1) Places to run in the Twin Cities Metro

2) Training Philosophy

3) Goal Setting

Where to Run in the Twin Cities Metro?

Of course I’ve written about great places to run, some of which Nathan included in his presentation:

Here are some links to the places he talked about:

Minneapolis City Bike Routes
Hennepin County Bike Maps
St Paul City Bike Routes
Metropolitan Council Routes
Three Rivers Park District (lots of parks and trails)
Fort Snelling State Park
Afton State Park
Minnesota Monthly lists some other bike trails
Dakota County Parks – including Lebanon Hills and Terrance Oaks
Kate Havelin’s Minnesota Running Trails book

Listen to the audio of Nathan’s presentation here. [audio:NathansRunningRoutes.mp3]

Marty and Mike talked about the training philosophy of this year’s class (I guess it varies slightly with each year’s coaches) and what we might expect. Marty mentions that he isn’t a huge proponent of using lots of fancy terminology or wasting money on expensive tests for things like VO2 Max or Lactic Threshold. He subscribes to a more “old school” mentality of getting the miles in and alternating between hard and easy runs. With a diverse group of athletes in the room, he said that we won’t work much on specific speed workouts but getting the long runs in and doing some hill training. We are hitting the hills much earlier this year than last and knowing these guys we’ll be doing some long runs on hills as well. Their goal, as stated later by Mike is to make sure we have fun and cross the finish line.

Feel free to listen to their sometimes humorous discussion here.

[audio:marty&miketrainingphilosophy.mp3] For some reason I can’t get this to work. Any suggestions? It is the same exact link as the one above… You can scroll to the bottom and listen to the full audio – this section begins about 16 minutes in.

Mike continued the evening’s discussion with a talk about goal setting. He used a simple pyramid diagram to show what the most important goals are. The three main goals of a training program are to

1) Have fun/good experience in the training program

2) Get to the starting line healthy

3) Finish (this is then split into 3 subcategories)

a) Finish

b) Target Pace – Double your 1/2 marathon time and add 10 minutes (similar to McMillian Calculator)

c) Dream time – This is a stretch goal that you shouldn’t even think about on race day until after the 1/2 way point and really start going for it after 20 miles.

Listen the audio of Mike’s presentation here. [audio:mikegoalsetting.mp3]

You can listen the complete audio (about an hour long from this first session here) [audio:July7MarathonTalk.mp3]

Got IT Pain?

5 Replies

A tight IT Band is not a good sign. It needs to be stretched out and loosened up or it could turn into the dreaded IT Band Syndrome.

I was told my a massuse last year that my IT Band was extremely tight. So I started stretching it on a regular basis. I did some research and found this excellent information sheet about the IT Band. By a trained physical therapist it lists some of the who, what, when, where, why, and how questions of the IT Band.

I think most of us are most concerned about not having problems with it and could care less about some of the anatomy that surrounds it. She lists five keys to preventing ITBS – but they are actually almost identical steps to preventing any injury!

The list is:

– Changing running shoes every 300-400 miles and alternating between shoes with every run. I’ve occasionally talked about my shoes and shoe preferences.

– Slowly increasing mileage (no more than 10% a week or on any run), including adding hill workouts gradually. Downhills can add a lot of strain to the ITB.

– Avoid uneven surfaces. More likely always running on the same side of a cambered or cantered surface like a road. One leg can become predisposed to ITB because of the extra pressure placed on it.

– Keep the knees warm. Seems like if you are predisposed this might be helpful. She said below 60 – but above 40 I’m wanting to wear shorts.

– Cool down and stretch after a run. Ice if needed.

The article continues on and offers some stretches and strength training ideas specific to the ITB. For now you’ll just have to go read up on it.

[tags] IT Band, ITBS, iliotibial band [/tags]

Team Cross Runs and…

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