TheRunningRev.Com

Minneapolis 13.1

It was a beautiful August morning, warm and muggy! After a couple of poor performances in the marathon I was hoping to use this race to rebuild my confidence. The plan was to run a slow first mile to warm up and then settle into a sub-8:00 pace for the rest of the race.

As the race began I felt great running through the one mile mark in 8:22 and then picked up the pace and settled in. After two miles I was really hot so I ditched my t-shirt and exposed everyone on the course to my 41 year old physique (or lack thereof!). I aslo made the decission that I would walk through all the water stops to make sure I kept an adequate fluid intake throughout the race.

I loved every minute of the race, I felt great from start to finish, it was well organized and the volunteers where great.  As I crossed the finish line in 1:42:22 I was well shy of my PR but thoroughly satisfied with how I felt. It was everything I'd hoped for.

After crossing the finish line I took on the greater job of cheering home the other members of our team from church who were all running as part of Team World Vision to help raise funds to provide clean water for the people of Kenya.

After all our team members had crossed the line we stayed and cheered home the rest of the Team World Vision runners, some 500 in total from the Twin Cities area. The best part of the story is that some $140,000 has been raised for the clean water projects as a result of this race.

13.1 Minneapolis and Team World Vision

Yesterday I attended a fabulous breakfast with Team World Vision. World Vision will be the primary charity at the 13.1 series of races this year and that includes the Minneapolis race on August 22. All the funds raised by runners will go to digging wells in Kenya to provide life saving clean water to villages.

Jenny and I are planning to lead a team for this race as we both believe in the work that World Vision is doing and have a passion for the poor of the world. If you are in the Twin Cities area and would like to run with us go to the Team World Vision website and follow the three steps to sign up.

Yeah, I know for some of you 13.1 isn't far so lets do it together, have fun and support a great cause while doing so.

Securian Frozen Half Marathon

After sliding down our driveway on a coating of ice I was glad to see that the roads were in fairly good condition as I made my way to downtown St. Paul for this race.

It was a balmy 34 degrees at the start with the wind blowing at 15-20 mph, a light drizzle fell from the sky. I left the Securian building about five minutes before race time and took my place between the 1:40 and 1:45 pace groups. My goal was to run an even steady pace that would put me somewhere right between these two groups.

The race headed out of downtown and quickly joined Shepherd Road where we ran west, making our way from the river up to the bluffs across from Fort Snelling before turning around and making our way back. Yes, that means that most of the first half of the race is uphill. I quickly settled into a comfortable pace and made it through the half in about 51:20. I was really looking forward to the run back as it was downhill but it was also into the wind which at times made it very challenging.

At mile ten a Bald Eagle graced us with its presence about 75 feet above our heads, just beautiful.

I continued to run a steady pace and came across the finish line in 1:43 even on my watch, exactly what I'd hoped for. I had wanted to run this race but not push too hard, I finished strong and accomplished my goal. Now to enjoy the afternoon!

PR for Half Marathon at Twin Cities Marathon

I was just looking over the race results again from the Twin Cities Marathon and despite not running the race that I had hoped for it turns out that I ran a 6 second PR for the half-marathon!

I think I may need to race a half-marathon soon so I can put the idea of a PR for the half out of the realm of possibility in my next marathon. It's been a couple of years since I raced a half, it was the Rock'n'Roll Half in VA beach 2007.

A Bad Day's Racing Plus

It started as a normal day, breakfast of toast (with Orange Marmalade) and a glass of OJ. Then I climbed in the car at 7:15 and headed for Belle Haven Park in Alexandria to compete in the Abebe Bikila Day International Peace Half Marathon. My game plan was to run a strong race to test my fitness level a few weeks before the Marine Corps Marathon.

The plan was to start at an 8:00 pace for the first half mile and then pick it up over the next couple of miles to something close to a 7:30 pace, I would have been very content with a 7:30 - 7:40 pace.

Some days things just don't go as planned!

I started off way to fast going through the first mile in 7:16, so I decided to slow it down and went through the second mile in... 7:16! Ugh! I was way to fast at the start, it was a recipe for disaster and that's what it turned out to be.

When I reached the 3 mile mark I couldn't see any other runners, either in front of me or behind me (small field) and I began to wonder if I had veered off track at some point. The mind games had begun. It wasn't long before I could see people cathcing up on me!

 

By the half-way point I still thought I could average a 7:45 pace for the race and set a PR but I knew I would have to focus on my running and push through the pain. So when I reached mile 8 and realized I had lost my car key it all went to the dogs. I had no way to get into my car, so I had no access to my cell phone to call my wife to bring the spare, where did I drop it? How did it happen? I filled my mind with this distraction and the running slowed to a crawl.

I figured out what happened with the key... Before the race I used the bathroom, the door wouldn't close properly, so I used one hand to hold the door closed while I took care of business. When I pulled my shorts back up my shirt was tucked in and when I pulled out my shirt I, unknowingly, pulled the pocket in my shorts out and it sat there inverted just waiting for the inevitable.

My splits were a disaster ranging from 7:16 to 8:47 over the course of the race, no consistency at all. I finally crossed the finish line in 1:45:07, a pace of 8:02. Hardly the race I wanted or hoped for and I was very disappointed with my performance. To cap it all off there were no medals to be had, they hadn't been delivered on time!

So with no key to access my car, I borrowed a cell phone to call Jenny and left her a message. It was a message she never got! An hour later I borrowed another phone and this time she answered. Jenny and the kids came flying to my rescue, only to make a wrong turn on the way, the 50 minute drive became a two hour fiasco for them as they battled traffic on 495.

I left the house at 7:15 for a quick run and planned to be home by noon to enjoy this Labor day afternoon with my family... I finally got home at 3:45 pm, but I am now home and the race is over.

We're going to order Chinese take-out tonight and have some fun.
There's more to life than running!!!

[Not an excuse, but I ran a slight fever on Wednesday and had terrible allergies on Friday and Saturday]

Rock and Roll Half Marathon

What a great weekend in Virginia Beach. Perfect weather, although a little warmer than I like it for running, great company (my wife) and great food.
Here's our results...

                                                                                 

Bib

FName

LName

ChipTime

Overall

DivPl

pace

ttlrace

ttldiv

ttlsex

_5k

_10k

_10_mile

_11_mile

3607

Jennifer

Craigan

1:51:46

2487

98

8:32

17009

1539

9576

25:36

51:19

1:24:30

1:33:52

3606

Neil

Craigan

1:45:22

1495

228

Running Thought

With just about 11 weeks to go to the Virginia Beach, Rock and Roll Half Marathon I suppose its time to start a more formal training program. I've been running between 20 and 25 miles a week since the Marathon in April and have managed to keep a long run of between 8 and 12 miles each week since then as well.

I'm working hard on my time averaging better than 8 minute miles on all my short runs and between 8 and 8:20 minute miles on the long runs. I'm looking forward to getting to Ireland at the end of next week, it will be a pleasant break to be able to train in cooler (60-70 degree) weather for a few weeks instead of the stifling heat of Northern Virginia.

One final thought... I'm still about 30 seconds a mile faster than Jenny! Sorry dear.

103 Days to Go

6 miles! How many 60 degree days will there be in the near future? I'm guessing not to many. Pace for todays run was 8:30, almost a minute faster than I'd thought I was running.

Race Day VA Beach

OK, so this post is post dated, but this is my running log and I thought I should keep a record of all my races here.
My first half marathon! It was warm on race day, 72 at the start and the last three miles where in the direct sun, so it must have felt like it was in the upper 80's by that time. I felt great through the first ten miles and then faded significantly during the last three. I can't wait to run this race again!

Time: 1:58:15
Pace: 9:02
5K: 27:37
10K: 55:40
10 mile: 1:28:56

Race Day VA Beach

OK, so this post is post dated, but this is my running log and I thought I should keep a record of all my races here.
My first half marathon! It was warm on race day, 72 at the start and the last three miles where in the direct sun, so it must have felt like it was in the upper 80's by that time. I felt great through the first ten miles and then faded significantly during the last three. I can't wait to run this race again!

Time: 1:58:15
Pace: 9:02
5K: 27:37
10K: 55:40
10 mile: 1:28:56