Holy Cadence Batman

As I was fishing through the mind numbing political posts on social media, I came across an advertisement for a product for runners.  (Does anyone else find it a bit creepy that these companies are "watching"us? -- or is it just me?)  Anyway, it seems that many of the ads that I see on social media are about fitness, over 40, and dentistry.  This particular product caught my eye and I decided to have a closer look.  It is call Lumo Run from Lumo BodyTech.  

It is a a simple little device that hooks to your shorts, aligned with your spine and connects to your phone bluetooth.  When you run, it analyzes your running form, stride, speed, cadence, running posture, braking, bounce, pelvic rotation, pelvic drop, distance, etc... and offers audio feedback and detailed reports to help one to improve their running form. 

I looked it up on Amazon to see how much it cost.  It was $100.  Dang this sport is simply expensive.  Then I started looking at the reviews.  Most of the reviews lauded the product suggesting that it helped them to improve their running form, and/or increased their speed and/or decreased their injuries.  I almost bought it.  A few of the reviews were seemingly from avid runners who suggested that this product was great for people who had bad form.  It would help them to improve their form.  That sounds good, but the point they were making was that if your form was already pretty good, then it would not give you much.  How can you improve on something that is already good?  One reviewer stated that the device showed him/her that everything was good except for his/her cadence, which he/she already knew.

This got me thinking about cadence, so I started reading articles about cadence.  Admittedly,  I have never really thought much about cadence other than to think that if my legs were moving faster, then I would be running faster.  Some of the articles I read suggested that one should be running with a cadence of around 180 steps per minute.  Other articles suggested that 180 steps per minute was a flawed hypothesis based off of a flawed study, but suggested that the average runner runs with a slower cadence than they should be running with.  Other articles suggested that a slower cadence could be the result of over striding which could cause heavier foot striking and braking and potentially more frequent injury; e.g. ITBand, achilles, heel, foot, calf, hip injuries.  Some of it seemed a bit of a stretch and I began to wonder if this was one of those very common scenarios where there is a whole lot of conjecture, but no one really knows anything.

I remembered that my Garmin watch also calculates a whole lot of data that I never really found much use for, and one of those stats was/is cadence.  So, I looked up a few of my runs and noticed that on the runs where I was feeling sluggish and not running very well, my cadence was around 160.  So, I began looking at more of my races.  Those races where I felt good, or posted a good time, my cadence was closer to 170.  I began to wonder if there may be something to this cadence thing.  Maybe it was simply that I was running faster, so my legs were moving faster, so my cadence was higher... or maybe, just maybe my cadence was higher and therefore, my legs were moving faster without expending as much energy as I was taking shorter steps and not working so hard and taking as much of a pounding which allowed me to run faster longer.  I don't know, but I thought I would give it a try.   Lately, I have been feeling discouraged because it seems that I am getting slower and having more difficulty training and more difficulty during my races.  I started to wonder if I got injured earlier because of poor running form.  Or maybe it is possible that I altered my running form because of my injury which caused me to slow down and struggle.  Either way, I decided that it was worth the effort to try to run and concentrate on my cadence.

So, I started out on my run.  I focused all of my thoughts on my cadence.  I did not worry with how fast I was going or elevation or terrain or pacing, simply keeping my feet moving with short steps.  There were times where I would find myself going too fast and I would slow down but I made sure to keep my feet moving at the same pace which decreased my stride.  Uphill sections made me feel like the witch from The Wizard of Oz, that is peddling super fast and not going anywhere fast.  Downhill sections were a bit of a struggle to not lengthen my stride.  

In full disclosure, the temperature because of the rain was around 79 F instead of the normal 92 F, but I ran 3.37 miles 8:18, 8:17, 8:19, 7:47

And I felt great.  I was hardly sweating and my breathing was not labored.  I was considering another lap and would have taken it, but we had dinner plans and I did not want to sweat through my shirt at dinner.

Is there anything to this cadence thing, or is it simply that I had a good day, or that I was sufficiently hydrated or the weather was not as oppressive or I drew the right Tarot cards?  I do not know.  Maybe it is some combination of all of the above, but I intend to try it this way again and see if there is any difference or trend data.

Oh, and BTW my average cadence was 170.  I'll post again after my run this afternoon. -- BTW, I don't see buying the Lumo Run at this time.

Big Sky Half Marathon Race Recap

Ennis Montana -- Big Sky Half Marathon

Race recap for state #10 -- Montana.

Registration:

I registered for this race online through events.com.  The reason I chose this race is explained in the following that I wrote on the plane ride home from Montana:

Some of these states are simply a long way away from Florida. Montana is one such state, so I had the brilliant idea to combine a couple of trips in an effort to minimize the time and expense of travel.  Several of you are aware that I go to Seattle regularly to teach and learn at the Kois Center. Our big annual Symposium was this past week. Keeley was asked to be a Junior Counselor for the youth program while I was in meetings. It is a fairly big deal for both of us. We needed to go out to Seattle to start our meetings and events early (7:00am) on Tuesday, which meant we had to travel on Monday. The event continues until late Saturday afternoon. So, I searched for a race out there somewhere and relatively in that time frame. I came upon the Big Sky Half Marathon in the Mountains of Montana.  It looked interesting and was run the day after my Seattle trip. This would allow me to fly out to Seattle, take part in my meetings and run the race and still be home in time for work on Monday. That sounded all good, but came with a series of challenges. One challenge was elevation. The race start was 8500+ ft above sea level.  I will discuss that more in a minute. Another challenge was time. Ennis Montana is slightly over an hour away from Bozeman Montana. Bozeman is the closest airport to Ennis. Getting good flights to Bozeman and from Bozeman that met our time frame proved to be challenging. Another aspect of the time challenge was that we would have no time to acclimate to the elevation as we would arrive the evening before the race, and there was really no chance of getting there any sooner without skipping the Seattle trip all together, and that was not gonna happen. Yet another challenge was sleep. It is not an uncommon scenario at these Sympsiums that I get very little sleep. Meetings early in the morning after a long travel day, events all evening, sometimes quite late, and early morning meetings again the next day until the red-eye flight home. Now, on this trip, if you couple the meetings and lack of sleep with more travel and a very early race check-in time of 5:00am, then a 13.1 mile race and yet another race to get to the airport in time to not miss your flight, sleep becomes a bit of a challenge. 

 Fee:

This one was pretty cheap, in comparison at $65.00 with no other fees.

The Expo:

There was no expo.  The pre-race packet pick-up had two options explained here:

Race Check In

There are two options for race check in. 

First, a box with SWAG bags, bib numbers, and all materials will be in the tasting room of Willies Distillery beginning Saturday afternoon.  Willies is at 312 Main Street in Ennis.  There will be a runners list in alphabetical order.  Find your name, note your bib number, and then get your bib number/bag from the box, and finally check off your name noting that you've picked up your bag.   This will be available for everyone beginning Saturday afternoon to about 8 PM.  Also, be sure to have a drink at Willies Distillery after you get your bag.  It's the best way to prepare for the Big Sky Marathon.

Second, we will have race day check in starting at 5:00 AM at the shuttle stop near the Exxon Town Pump gas station.  We will sign in runners until the shuttles depart for the starting line.  There is no check in at the starting line.

I opted to check in race day at 5:00 AM as I had difficulty getting there in time the night before... also, I might be tempted to over sample at Willies Distillery.  LOL.

Interesting story related to this... I walked up and the race director asked, "are you here to check-in?"  I responded, "Yes, sir."  He asked, "Name?"  I said, "Bynum".  He asked, "You are Jeff Bynum?"  I said, "yes".  He turned to a lady and pointed to her and said, "see, there?!?!"  and laughed out loud.  I asked, "What did I miss?"  He stammered and said, "it's nothing."  He then handed me my race packet and turned and walked away.  What the heck was that???  I still don't know.

Shirt:

The shirt was a short-sleeved wicking, tech shirt... and it came in this little bag.

Race Day:

Sunday, dark and early.

Race Start Time:

Race start was supposed to be 7:30am.  We actually started about 7:34am, but allow me to explain how this worked.  After race check-in at 5:15am, the busses (2 yellow school busses) made their way up the mountain.  The busses left about 6:00am.  Keeley and I followed the busses up the mountain.  There was ONE road.  One rocky, bouncy, hilly mountain road.  Dust was flying up behind the busses.  We had difficulty seeing the busses because of all of the dust.  Up we went to 8592 ft above seal level.  At about 6 miles into the trip, it dawned on me that we were traveling up the same road that I would soon be running down.  I do not recommend traveling the same road you are about to run before you run it.  It seemed long difficult, and my mind was preparing for this to be long and difficult.
The bus ride was a bit over an hour.  Somewhere along the hour drive, I realized that I needed to go to the bathroom.  By the time we made it all the way up, I REALLY needed to go.  There were two port-a-potties at the start.  This formed a line of about 40 people.  I could NOT wait.  I will spare you the details.  Suffice it to say I will never use those compression sleeves again.  There was still a line to the potties when the race started.

Course Map:

This is not exactly a course map, but it is from my Garmin.  I post it here because I thought you might find it interesting.  The blue line is my pace.  The gray part is the elevation.  Notice it is all downhill, except for these small (looking) uphill sections.  They were super steep and hard... so, I walked them.  Notice the blue line dips dramatically every time the course has any sort of uphill.  Makes me laugh (at myself).  Even worse was the last mile when my legs felt like they were filled with cement.

Here is the course map via Google Maps.

Accommodations:

Keeley and I stayed at the Silvertip Lodge.  It is a fishing camp.  It was not anything special.  The beds were comfortable and there was a bathroom with a shower.  I was able to come back to the lodge and shower after the race, but the manager was NOT happy.  He was ADAMANT that I "COULD NOT" return after the race.  There is NO late check out for the marathon!"  Well, I made it back before checkout time, so I was able to shower.  They had already cleaned most of the room and took our waters out of the fridge, but at least I got a shower.

Transportation:

Rental car from Bozemon airport.  Then rental car up the hill.  Shhhhh.... don't tell the rental car agency, but Keeley drove the rental car down the mountain to the finish and waited for me.

Here is a pic she took of me coming in to the finish.

Weather:

The weather was great.  No humidity.  Nice and cool.  The Garmin shows 57F.  I could deal with that type of weather all the time.

Race Morning:

I think I already covered this part... but to gloss over it for clarity.  5:00am we got up and got ready.  Trekked all the way the the EXXON station (it was about 200 yards).  Got the race packet, off-roaded up the mountain.  Hid with the bears in the woods and then ran down the mountain.  Got my medal and bak to the lodge for a shower, then off to the airport.

Race:

This was a smaller race and not at all like any of the other races that I have done.  To be fair, the slogan for the race series is "These ain't no pansy ass city races".  This proved to be true.  It was mostly rocks and gravel and dust and deer and elk and antelope and solitude.  I ran alone with the exception of twice when I passed a few ladies on a downhill section.  (They all passed me back at some point).

Water/Food Stations:

There were NO food stations and an igloo cooler was on a table with paper cups at mile 3 and 6 and 9.  All of which, BTW were on the downhill sections.  So, in order to get water, one needed to stop and pull a cup out of the plastic sleeve and pour the water out of the spout and drink the water, then either hold the cup until the next station or discard it right there.  (they did not want anyone to litter the national park).  I did not want to stop to get water, but I would have if I needed it.  What made it worse was that they were all on downhill sections.  I was not about to stop on the downhill part.  That was the only time I was moving at any relative rate of speed.  I carried a water bottle from the start.  At about mile 5, I lost the cap, so water was sploshing out all over me.  At about mile 8, I dropped the bottle. It rolled into the woods.  I couldn't find it.  Not that I could see very clearly.

Scenery:

It was really pretty.  As you can see from the pictures.

Race Entertainment:

None, and none and none.  No music, not spectators, no bands, no earbuds, no nothing.  Just me and God.  I thanked Him many times on my trip down the hill.  Not sure I was coherent enough to say anymore to Him.  Thank God for the Holy Spirit.

Finish:

The finish was simply 13.1 miles from the start.  The only reason I knew it was the finish was because it was the first time I saw another person that wasn't running.  No clapping, no music, no DJ, no fanfare.  Keeley smiled, took my picture and laughed at me breathing heavy.  I got some water out of the igloo cooler and got my medal and left.

Bling:

Misc:

Downhill sounds fun, but it certainly comes with its own set of issues.  My quads are killing me right now.  The lactic acid has built up and planted itself firmly in my quads and hips and hamstrings.  I was worried about the altitude.  I considered medications and all sorts of stuff.  In the end, I took nothing except two cliff shots.  One before the start and one at mile 9.  The altitude did not bother me too much.  I got winded a bit quicker than normal and only on the uphill sections, so I just walked them.  I recovered easily and moved on.  I was concerned about becoming anaerobic and not being able to recover, so I ran slowly.  I resigned myself to last place.  I figured, "who cares???".  In the end, I was not last place.  There were only a handful of people in front of me.  But I was much slower than my best time.  Seems like one should run faster since most of the race is downhill, but I was careful.  I did not want to over do it and struggle.  I was also somewhat careful on the downhill sections because the gravel road was rocky and one could easily fall and/or twist an ankle.  Downhill also comes with issues of banging your toes into the front of your shoes.
This is not only unsightly, but it is also painful  This oic was taken in the airport yesterday.  They look worse today (I'll spare you the picture) and I am certain that I will lose both of these toe nails, as I have already lost four others on the smaller toes.

In the end I finished just under 2 hours.  I am happy with that.  Next race, Mesa Falls Idaho.  Right now, I am content to sit in this chair and not move.

Altitude and Open Water Swim

Since I posted the picture, I will start with the Open Water Swim portion of my blog.  Because continuity of thought pattern is incredibly important in my blogs?!?!

Anyway, I was at the lake in Winter Haven.  I had to get a new tire for the truck because I got a nail in the old one.  This place in Winter Haven often does free repairs, so I took it over there, but alas they told me it was not repairable.  But, they offered me a significant rebate on a new one because the old one was fairly new.  Long story short... it only cost me $79 total for a new tire.  So, I figured that was worth the drive to Winter Haven.  I could not find a similar offer anywhere around here, so I figure it saved me almost $200.  Anyway, the boys and I dropped off the truck when they opened at 8:00am and we walked over to this BBQ restaurant for breakfast.  I know it sounds weird, but it is a very popular venue in Winter Haven for breakfast on a Saturday.  When we walked in, I thought for sure that I had ventured in to Mayberry during old home week.  EVERYBODY knew EVERYBODY... BY NAME.  They did not wait to be seated, they just walked in and waved and found someone to sit down with.  The waitress brought their favorite drink without asking what they wanted... they simply KNEW.  During their meal, they would get up and go sit with someone else and chat with them as if they were at a family reunion.  Everybody knew everything about everybody, yet they asked each other questions that they already knew the answers to.... "How's Erma doin'?"... "Yeah, I heard that."... "Hey there George.  Lookin' good after your knee replacement."... then they would continue eating and telling each other stories that they have all likely heard several times before.   The food was really good.  I simply had eggs, bacon, grits, and a biscuit.  The boys had pancakes and biscuits and gravy.  All good.  I don't remember how much it cost.  I did not really care, it was good enough.  After breakfast, we walked back to the tire store and the truck was ready and we went back to the house.  I realized that I had eaten more than I should have, so I decided to go for a run, but I also decided to wait for a coupe hours to digest my food.

Finally, I went for a run.  I ran to Legoland.  It is a hair over 3 miles.  I have, in times past run to Legoland and around the back of the park and the parking lot until I reached 3.5 miles, so much return would also be 3.5 miles and give me a decent run.  I got a little weak minded today and just turned around at 3.0 miles.  Oh well.  Then I got a little more weak minded in there and walked for a minute at mile 4 or so.  Then, I found myself plotting my next stopping point.  My mind was filled with when would be the best place for me to stop and walk.  Just weak.  Then, when I got to my lake, I could see my house at the far end of the lake.  I knew it was almost two miles around the lake to the house at this point.  Needless to say, I was tired of running and looking for excuses.  So...  I decided to swim.  What the heck was I thinking?  I have no idea how far it is from Cypress Gardens BLVD across the lake to the house, but without regard, I decided to swim.  I flipped off my running shoes and socks, stripped off my shirt and shorts, leaving me with only my compression shorts.  Stepped into the water and began to swim.

I probably made 50 strokes before I realized that this was going to take longer than I anticipated and was going to be more difficult than I had hoped.  There were several problems.  I will list just a few.  1.  There were four boats on the lake at the time.  Three more came along during my trip.
2.  I did not have any goggles, so I could not see where I was going.  Lake water is not always what you want to look through.  Even if you could see anything of value, it would not give you any indication that you were headed in the right direction.
3.  There were lake weeds and various other things floating in the water that, at times resembled living creatures that might make my swim more interesting.
4.  I am, apparently, not a great swimmer any more.  I swam free-style, breast struck, flutter kick, upside down flutter kick, upside down breast stroke (if that is even possible).
5.  I was not wearing any sunscreen.  Why would I?  I was only going for a short 7 mile run.  I certainly was not planning on a 40-60 min. swim.
6.  My Garmin was acting a little funny.  To be fair, it may have been me.  It started beeping and buzzing at me somewhere along the way as if it was going to shut off to save power.  So, I told it to resume and it looked like it started over... but then when I got home (yes, I made it home) it only registered a swim part way into the lake.    Surely I did not swim to the center of the lake and stop there.  I did not even get "credit" for the entire swim.  Oh well.
--- I could continue... but I won't.

I really have no idea how long it took me or how far it was.  I suppose it does not matter, but it would be interesting for me to know the distance I traveled and how long it took me.  Either way, I am betting that I worked off part of my breakfast.

Why was I swimming in the first place?  I am not training for a triathlon.  I have ridden the stationary bike.  I have now swum.  Obviously I have been running.  I decided to swim because I am a bit nervous about the race next weekend in Big Sky, MT.  Which brings me to the Altitude portion of the blog.

The race next Sunday starts at 9000 ft elevation.  I have been reading a lot about running at altitude.  It is apparently a fairly difficult thing to go from sea level to relatively high altitude without acclimation.  I do not have time for acclimation.  I will not arrive in MT until the evening before the race as I will be in Seattle the entire week before.  So, I will show up, climb to 9000 ft and run.  This is precisely what "they" suggest that one should NOT do.  I have read about oxygen masks... that is, wearing a mask that will deliver oxygen as "they" say that the oxygen is less at altitude -- I would argue this point.  Actually, I WILL argue this point.  Here in FL the oxygen in the air is 21% O2.  (roughly).  In the mountains, the air is 21% O2.  This is important.  We need nearly 20% to survive.  The difference is the air pressure.  Since the air pressure is decreased at altitude, it is more difficult for the O2 molecules to enter into the blood stream and be delivered to the brain and the muscles, organs, etc.  So, in order to get the required amount of O2 molecules in the blood stream, we need to increase our respiration rate.  Hence the reason that we get more winded during strenuous activity while at altitude.  We can get acclimated to this decrease in pressure, but it takes time... time that I do not have.  So, back to my point about oxygen masks.  As I understand it, the pressure will remain the same whether or not one is wearing a mask.  It CAN deliver more O2, but the atmospheric pressure is still the same, so we would still have difficulty perfusing that O2 into the blood stream.  I have also read bout medications.  There is one medication that is used for altitude sickness.  Basically, it increases one's respiration rate to allow for more O2.  This can certainly help deliver the O2 to the blood stream, but may not help with strenuous activity in altitude and may even hinder performance - although it is a stimulant and banned from competitive sports.  Also, there is much written about corticosteroids -- anti-inflammatories.  Also, potentially a benefit for recovery from altitude sickness.  It also shows potential benefit for performance, but carries some side effects and risk.  Risk that I am not really interested in taking.

So, I can really find nothing that --- oh yeah, there is the whole blood doping thing.  Simply explained, as I understand it, one COULD draw their own whole blood and store it.  After a period of 5-6 weeks or so, one will regenerate more red blood cells back to normal/baseline.  Then prior to the event, that whole blood (containing the red blood cells) can be added back into the body.  This will effectively give the athlete more red blood cells and more opportunity to carry more O2.  From what I read, it is possible and beneficial to aid in performance.  After all, the reason for fatigue is the depletion of the oxygen... so more oxygen would delay the fatigue.

Suffice it to say, I am not going to do that... or any of the other things I just discussed.  Even if I wanted to, I do not have the time to regenerate the RBC's before race time, so it would be worthless to subtract and then add back the same amount.  Even I can do the math on that one.  Net gain 0.

So, I have biked and now swum in an effort to do something, anything to increase my cardio.  My mind is weak, so I am having difficulty solo training.  I have little incentive to train longer and harder and I talk myself into stopping or slowing.  So I figure if I add another activity, at least my body is active and I am forced to utilize and improve my cardiac output.  I am hoping that this will assist me WHEN I get fatigued up the mountain.

I have no idea if I will survive the race.   I have a VERY tight time frame, so if I want to make my flight back with my daughter, then I NEED to finish in a respectable time and rush to the airport.  I bet I will survive, but it is quite possible that I miss my return flight if I struggle through the race.  I have no idea if any of this swimming, etc. will help me in MT, but I figured it is worth a shot.

Wish me luck.  Prayers are welcomed.  I'll update you... maybe while I am stranded in MT after I miss my flight.

Incremental Improvement

A little better every day.  Continue to work and you will get stronger and faster.  Muscles with become stronger.  Cardio will improve.  Red blood cells will multiply.  Oxygen will be delivered more rapidly to all of the areas that need it.  Stamina will improve.  One will be able to run faster longer.  All you have to do is put in the work and you will steadily improve… right?!?!  Sounds plausible, but NO! and NO!! and NO!!!  THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENS!  Oh, and you will lose weight because you are expending more energy and burning more calories, right??  NO, and NO again. 

Who writes this poop?  I have heard these things my whole life.  I have believed many of these my whole life.  I have even told some of these things to others in an attempt to teach them how to improve.  BUT IT DOES NOT WORK THIS WAY!  At least not with running, at least not for me, at least not at this moment.  There are simply too many factors involved.  As I have mentioned before, I have had the mindset that running should just be easy.  It does not require a lot of equipment and preparation.  One just decides to go run and they just go run… SIMPLE… BUT IT IS NOT SIMPLE!  Not easy, not inexpensive, not quick (in reference to time consumption), It DOES require a bunch of equipment — expensive equipment, (my shoes are $150 a pair… my shorts are at least $75 each… my socks are $15 a pair), lots of research, and multiple ups and downs.

These things are difficult to accept when you have been relatively successful with a totally different mindset for your entire life, but the most difficult thing for me to deal with is the mental aspect of this sport.  Most of the sports that I have participated in have been physical sports.  Football, baseball, basketball, soccer, racquetball, tennis, etc… even golf and bowling etc… to some degree.  Just run full speed or swing hard or throw hard or hit hard.  Yes, I recognize that there is the need for finesse in all of these sports.  Most of the times when I have had difficulty with these sports has been because I tried to “muscle” my way through where I lacked finesse.  And to be fair (to me :) ), this technique has a fair level of success.  Not with running though.  Running is a different animal.

If I were to simply run faster and/or train harder, I have already shown, I would injure myself, and/or I would “gas out”.  It just does not work the same way as everything else I know.  I still think it should be easy.  I read an article the other day that was suggesting that running should be fun.  Just like when you were a kid.  Kids just run.  They run in the house.  They run in the mall and in the parking lot and in the grocery and everywhere.  They run around the pool. They run to the bathroom.  They run for fun and they enjoy running.  This article was suggesting that we should enjoy running the same way.  I have said this before and I will repeat it here — I do not like running!  Running is not fun.  I do not run to the bathroom (except in those rare moments when the Mexican restaurant wasn’t as clean as it should have been.  And even then it is less of a run than a squeeze and waddle.)  

I set this goal of running these half marathons as a way of forcing myself to continue running for fitness and weight control.  Without a goal, when it becomes difficult, most people, myself included often quit.  So, I set a goal.  I kind of figured that I would lose some weight and I would be able to run easier and farther and improve … just as a matter of working and expending the energy.  And just for fun, and to upset me, that is exactly what happened at the beginning.  I lost weight.  I was able to run farther.  Running was easier.  It was never fun, but it was easier.  I was faster.  I just assumed that would continue.  It did NOT!

I ran today with Valerie.  She was slated to run 4 miles.  Run for two minutes and walk for two minutes.  I figured I would run with her for a while, then when she started her walk phase I would continue running and double back and pick her up.  I figured I would run at least five miles, sort of around in circles.  I did just that for the first of her two miles which was a bit more than 2.5 miles for me.  But then my weak mind took over.  We got to the point where I knew she was at two miles and needed to turn around, so instead of running past and circling back as planned… I STOPPED and walked with her.  Then when she turned around and started back… instead of running past and circling back to pick her back up… I ran WITH her, at HER pace… AND THEN WALKED WITH HER — TWICE.  Then I decided that was not gonna work for me, so I ran on back to the neighborhood, then doubled back for her and went back to the house with her.  Such a weak mind.  It has become increasingly easier for me to convince myself to stop, to walk, to slow up — what a wuss!  And to make matters worse, when I got home I noticed that my shirt was drenched, soaking wet.  I laid down on the hardwood floor in the living room.  I left a puddle…. and I was tired!  I think I averaged a 10:00 minute mile for just over five miles and I was exhausted and sweating profusely.  So much for running becoming easier and more fun over time.  So much for improvement.

I am fully aware that we all go through dips in our journey in every sport and all aspects of life, and maybe this is just one of those.  It sure is frustrating though.  

I am getting a little nervous about Big Sky Montana in a few weeks.  Elevation is somewhere around 9000 feet above sea level.  Rumor has it the air is thin up there and the oxygen is not as abundant.  I was really hoping that I would be in great shape and the effects of the altitude would not be such a big deal.  Another potential issue is that this is a fairly small and remote race.  I am not so sure there will be any significant hydration stations.  I have been looking at water packs and water belts and had held bottles, etc… but I do not like to carry a bunch of “stuff”.  This should be interesting.

Duluth, MN Race recap

Duluth Minnesota -- Grandma's Marathon -- Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon

Here is the race recap for Minnesota.  Officially,  Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon, a part of Grandmas Marathon.   It is actually the second half of the full marathon.


Registration:

Registration for this race (for me) was quite a bit different than the other races.  I decided to run for charity.  On the Grandma's Marathon web site, on the registration page was information about how to register for this race with a charity.  This race was a lottery registration which means that you would register and they would choose somehow who was in.  Charities were given several registrations that would allow people to register with their team and the individuals would commit to raising a designated amount of money which would give them the race entry.  If the racer was not able to raise the designated amount of money, then the money would be drafted from their credit card and the racer would give a donation to that charity for at least the amount deficient and then they could receive the race entry.
Because of very kind and generous people like you, I was able to raise nearly $2000 and received entry into this race after the lottery had already happened...  AND we were able to help a wonderful charity and some incredible kids at St. Jude's Children's research hospital.  THANK YOU!!

Fee:

I did not have to pay the fee for this race -- again, THANK YOU!

The Expo:

This expo was at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.  I went and picked up my packet and left.  I did not spend any time there.  I did not look at any of the "stuff".  I simply walked in and walked out.  The truth of the matter is that all of the people were getting on my nerves.  Ya know how there are times when people seem to constantly and forever be in your way.  It is not like they are doing it on purpose, but it sure seems like there is some conspiracy to keep you from having clean air.  Someone is always crowding you and stopping in your path and cutting you off, etc... That is what it was like at the Convention Center.  So, I breezed in and breezed out.  I was not in any hurry.  I just couldn't handle the crowd.  Also, I had a 2.5 mile walk ahead of me to the hotel.

Shirt:
The shirt was a short-sleeved wicking, tech shirt.   

Interestingly, this race did not give out the T-shirt at the Expo.  They only gave out T-shirts to finishers.  I think that is fine, just interesting... unlike the other races.

Race Day:
Saturday -- which was good since Sunday was Father's Day.

Race Start Time:

Race start time was 6:15am for the half.  My hotel was located on the race route, but 9.5 miles from the start of the half and 22.5 miles from the start of the full.  So, we had to take a bus to the start.  My hotel was one of the bus stops, so all I had to do was walk across the street and get on the right bus between 4:45 and 5:15 am.  The Half started at 6:15 and the full started at 7:45.  This would give the slower walkers of the half enough time to clear the way for the faster runners of the full.    The buses were the old style yellow school buses and they were packed to capacity as there were some 9000 runners in the half, but they did the trick.  I sat next to an older gentleman.  He was about 80 years old.  He has run this race 9 times.  I am happy to report that I finished before him... phew!

Course Map:



This race was along Lake Superior and it really was a pretty course.  The roads were in decent condition and the traffic and crowds were well controlled.  This is a major event for the town of Duluth and the entire town appears to happy and supportive of the race.

This was at the start at 5:30am, and this is pretty much what we saw the entire race.

Accommodations:

I stayed at the Days Inn in Duluth.  It was a Days Inn.  There was nothing wrong with it.  It was just like every other Days Inn you have ever stayed in.  Two things I liked about it.  1.  It was right on the course.  After I got back to my hotel after my race, I sat out on the street and waited for the elite runners of the full marathon to come by.  They were cruising.  They were running 5 minute miles... for 26.2 miles.  It was impressive.  2.  They had breakfast for us.  Breakfast was usually at 6:00am, but they started breakfast at 3:30am for the racers.  I thought that was very nice. 

Transportation:

I already told you about the buses to the start.  There were also buses from the finish back to the hotels.  This was a bit crazy.  The finish line was where the checkered circle is on this map.  The buses were on railroad st. right near the 35 sign on this map.... so, the finishers had to cross the race path to get to the buses and then walk down an alley.  It was strange.

So, picture this.  There were thousands of runners finishing the race.  They were tired and not thinking clearly.  There were hundreds of racers that had just finished who were tired and not thinking clearly and who were trying to cross the street full of racers so they could get to the buses.  People were bumping into runners and basic mayhem.  It was crazy.  I finally made it to the return bus and waited 30 min and they took my back to the hotel.

Weather:

The weather was really pretty nice.  The forecast called for rain and even thunderstorms, but it was clear and sunny.  The temp was high sixties and warmed to low seventies during the race.  It was humid, but it felt much like home to me, so I was comfortable.

Race Morning:

4:30 am was early for a Saturday, but I went to sleep about 10:00pm so it wasn't too bad.   I went down and got some breakfast and walked across the street to the buses.  Easy peezy.  The buses dropped us off on the road to the start.  We walked nearly a mile to the start.... and it was a strange start.  There were no corrals or waves.  They had signs that had numbers that corresponded to your average pace.  Elites, 5:30, 6:00, 6:30, 7:00, 7:30, 8:00, 8:30... etc...  Using the honor system we were supposed to line up behind the sign that represented our average mile pace.  I lined up at 8:30 because I intended to run fairly slowly at first.  I did not want to push it too hard too fast as my cardio is not back completely were I was.  My goal for this race was 1:50:00 which is 8:39 per mile.  The issue was that there was some 20 yards between each sign, so I was so far back I could not even see the start line and this area between 7:00 and 8:30 was PACKED with people.  I was a little claustrophobic.  We sang the national anthem and were waiting for the start of the race.  Normally they will have a countdown.  All of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, with no warning, people just started running toward the start.  Then a few seconds later a horn sounded.   "Oh!!.... I guess we have started".  It took me almost two minutes to get to the start.  I walked to the start.  I was not about to start running yet.   Not until the starting line.  Why would I run farther for no reason????  But the worst part was because of the confusion of the starting positions, the not so honest people that lined up too far up and the fact that I walked to the start while others ran, there was a huge blockage of people that I had to navigate around.  It was a bit exhausting playing pinball in the race, particularly when you are being used as the ball.  It did not thin out until about mile three.

Race:

The race was well organized.  I did not have any trouble finding where to go.   There was no confusion in the race about where to go.  The roads were in pretty good condition.  The weather was good and the scenery was nice.  For the first six miles I kept a nice 8:15-8:20 pace.  My decreased training prevented me from being able to sustain that, but I was feeling really good for the fist five miles at least... then slowed significantly after mile six.

I don't have any race photos yet, but I will post them here when I get them. -Here is one at the finish :

Water/Food Stations:
Plenty of water and plenty of PowerAid.  I got oranges once and bananas once.  I missed the cliff shot station as someone cut me off.  An unofficial station had pickles, pickle juice, energy drinks, vaseline, and bandaid (or nip guards).  -- I actually could have used those -- but I opted for the pickle juice.  The one thing that slowed me the most on this race was cramps.  I had a recurring cramp in the lower abdomen and one at my collar bone a few times.  I can usually breathe my way out of cramps, but I could not shake these until I stopped and walked.  I walked a total of 7 times.  One was to remove a rock from my shoe.

Scenery:
The scenery was the lake -- actually looks like the ocean.  It is HUGE. -- and the quaint little town of Duluth.  I thought it was pretty.  Much more interesting than my run around my neighborhood.

Race Entertainment:
I had my earbuds in again.  I almost ran without them this time as I have been training without them, but in the end opted to use them.  So, I did not really hear any of the entertainment.  I did see a fire baton twirler.  Interesting... but I did not notice much else, except the usual group of cheerleaders.

Finish:
The finish was in Canal Park.  It was a cool part of town (down at the bottom of this hill) on a little peninsula of the lake.
Very pretty area.  I nice place to run and finish.  Cute little town.  Valerie would have enjoyed walking around and shopping and sightseeing there.


Bling:



The finishers medal was nice and color coded with the shirt etc.


Misc:

This was a nice race.  I enjoyed the course and the scenery.  Had I not had any cramps, I would have met my goal and had a nice run.  I was able to enjoy the scenery and the surroundings because I was not suffering with my calves nor was I breathing too heavily.  It was nice.  Maybe if I get in better shape they will all be like that (without the cramps).

I went back to the hotel and got a shower and sat down on the street and watched the elites from the full.  I clapped for them and sat in amazement. as they FLEW by.  Then I went to a  local restaurant and treated myself to a greasy "breakfast burger".  It was a burger with cheddar cheese, bacon, peanut butter, an egg (over easy) between two pieces of French Toast and a side of syrup and fries. -- sounds disgusting, but it was soooo good!!

When I came home I was able to be back for Father's Day and spent a great day with my family.  Keeley even baked me a cake.
  It was amazing good!

In all, I was able to race for a great cause.  I did not meet my time goal, but I was not too far off.  1:57:44.  Not my best, but not terrible and thanks to YOU, I was able to help some deserving kids.  Thanks again for your help.  Next race Big Sky Montana.  Elevation 8592 ft.  Wonder how that is gonna go.

Feeling good!

  I have run at least 20 miles this week... without pain.  I have run several days in a row without pain.  My times have not been super fast, but not really slow either.  This morning I ran 6 miles and then I played racquetball this afternoon.  I did not feel one twinge of pain.

My next race is June 17th.  in Duluth Minnesota along Lake Superior.  The weather there has been low of 54 F and high of 75 F.  This Saturday is supposed to be high 85F.



I expect the temp to be in the high 60's low 70's at 7:00am - 8:30 am.  Should be good running weather.  Running is so much more enjoyable when one is not in pain and/or injured.

I just wanted to give you all a quick update.  I plan on running another 20 miles or so from tomorrow until next Thursday, tapering next week and resting up for next Saturday.

The down side to all of this running is.... I am so hungry.  I am currently fighting hunger pains -- and I have eaten three times today -- It is only 4:00 pm.  When is dinner??

I am looking forward to Carb Day!!! YAY!

Speaking of which.... I have not weighed myself in months.  After I lost 30 lbs too quickly, I put much of it back on and got injured which prevented me from maintaining a good race weight, but I have been running again and now playing racquetball again, so I expect that I will drop a few around the ole waist line.  Maybe I will check my weight again soon and see where I am.  I'll let ya know what I find.  If I had to guess, I would say I was carrying an extra 15 lbs that I don't need.   If I have no takers here, maybe I will try to sell them on eBay.  Respond here if you want them... first come first served.  LOL

My Doctorate Finally Paid Off

As I sit and sweat over my computer keyboard, I think, "My Doctorate finally paid off."... but then I quickly realize it had very little to do with my doctorate.  More like my stubbornness.  I did however "play doctor" on my own instead of going to a "real doctor".

As you know, I have been whining about my calf for a long while now... since February.  It has been a significant struggle.  Just when I would think it was healed, I would go out and have another problem.  Then I would allow it to "heal" and then yet another problem.  So, utilizing my doctorate, lol, I decided to do nothing about it -- other than ignore it.  I decided to diagnose myself with tendonitis and simply push through the pain and make believe that I was not injuring myself further.  And the truth is, it kind of worked -- for a while.  My last race in Salt Lake, I really did not have any calf problems.  So, this month I figured I would have 6 or so weeks to train and I would be in good shape.
I got a little derailed as I got sick with the stomach flu, the cruise debacle AND a sinus/upper respiratory something.  What a terrible two weeks.  So, then I began to feel a bit better and decided to go run.  At mile ONE, I hurt my calf.  WHAT?!?!?  UGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I went out and bought a new pair of shoes in hopes that would help and I ran with them yesterday. (I also got a massage, thanks Pamela!)  I ran almost three miles.  Just after mile one, my calf started to hurt, so I walked a bit.  Then started running again.  Then before mile two it started hurting again, so I walked a bit.  Then I ran the rest of the way home and felt pretty good... even considered another couple of miles, but decided to not push my luck.  Wuss!

So, I foam rolled and stretched and ignored it.  Using my doctorate again (tongue in cheek), I decided that it would be fine and I would go running again this morning.  Some  minor soreness in both tight calves, but no pain.  No need to walk, or slow or rest.  I ran 3.5 miles @ 8:28 avg/mile.  And I could have gone more.

My next race is in Duluth, MN in two weeks, so I am going to ease into this in hopes that I will stay healthy and have a strong race.  I am pretty excited that I was able to run two days in a row and I was able to run without pain.  Now I need to work on my cardio and distance.  I've got two weeks.

Just in case anyone is confused, I am aware that although my doctorate has paid off many times over in my life and career, it did not help me in any way here.  -- only the Grace of God!!  He is good.  All the time.  And all the time, He is good!

Also, I want to thank all of you who donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital!  I was able to reach my goal and raised a significant amount of money to benefit these kids.  It will be an honor to run for them in two weeks!  Thank you for your support!!