Securian Winter Run "Fifty-Eight One Hundred and Thirty-Firsts" Marathon

Saturday morning was the Securian Winter Run Half Marathon.  You know, the race for which I was significantly undertrained.  I would have been really happy with anything close to my PR of 1:52.  Well, I finished in 1:35.  WHAT?!?  HUH?!?  Uh, keep reading...

I know how to dress for weather that's above 30.  I know how to dress for 15 below.  I have trouble with the in-between temps.  So here was my living room floor the night before the race:

Many options for clothing, and I changed my mind many times

Strangest chip I've ever seen

Eventually, I decided to wear my new New Balance compression tights with an Under Armour base layer top and Under Armour pullover.  Adding a hat and some gloves, it turned out to be the perfect race-day outfit.  I was also really excited since this would be my first race on a dry surface in my Brooks Launch.  (As it turns out, they felt fantastic.)

Katie was racing the 10k, and we got to the Securian Building about 75 minutes prior to the gun.  We milled about, ran into some friends (Steve and Pharmie, Tony, and Steve Q., then meandered outside for the start.  Katie and I wished each other luck, and I found a spot in the starting corral.

Looking down Jackson

While waiting around for the start, I ran into two people who I had only known via Dailymile/blogging: Shannon and Salli.  All of a sudden, the gun went, and we were off.

At the start, still on Jackson

The course was...challenging.  Instead of heading down to the river as in past years, we had to detour around the light rail construction area (another reason I'm not a fan of the Central Corridor).  So, we went downhill to Lowertown, then began a long, steady climb up Kellogg to Rice Park.  Below, you can see the start of the climb beyond where Union Depot crosses the road.

Before getting to Rice Park, I saw Steve running the other way.  My aim was a little off, so I had to edit the photo just a bit to get him in the shot.

At the same time, he was recording video and got a shot of me.  His aim is slightly better.  (If you can't find me in the photo, look under the BIG. RED. ARROW.  Thanks Steve.)

The loop around Rice Park was actually quite nice because we got to see all the ice sculptures.  And a circa 1990 Dodge Dakota.

The 10k'ers started 5 minutes after the Half Marathoners, so I was keeping an eye out for Katie heading back down Kellogg.

She's wearing BRIGHT GREEN.  And she's not the cop directing traffic.

The 5k was brought to us by the letter Y.  It's in front of the bus.

Heading downhill to Shepard Road, the course headed up the river.  Reaching the first water stop at mile 3, I was a bit puzzled by the water:

The problem is that they gave me a bottle of water with a cap on it.  So, I had to juggle a camera, the water, the cap, and later, a Gu.  It was a little tough.  And there weren't any trash cans except right at the water stop, so since I held on to the water for a little while, there wasn't a good place to ditch it until the next water stop a few miles later.

At this point, I should update you on my running.  Actually, I was having a great time and feeling pretty good.  It was tough to read my watch because it fogged up.  The hills were nice and rolling along Shepard Road (my favorite type of course), I felt reasonably swift, and the day was perfect for a run.

I hit the mile 6 marker in 50'06", and knew that I had a shot at my PR.  Up ahead was the turnaround, and I thought "Wow, that came up pretty quickly!  Nice!"

The turnaround.  No race official, just a cop.

After turning back towards Downtown, I saw the next marker.  It said 8.  "Wow, this race is flying by!"  Then, "I don't remember marker 7, well, maybe I just didn't see it."  Hitting my watch, my time from marker 6 to marker 8: 3'44".  Two options.  First, I just set a world record in the 2 mile.  Second, someone screwed up.

Somehow, someone botched the turnaround and did so about 3/4 mile too early.  The final distance of the race ended up being 11.6 miles instead of the usual 13.1.

Let me editorialize here.  Did Securian/Anderson Race Management screw up?  Yes.  Was it the end of the world?  No.  All the runners knew going into the race that the course was not certified.  Thus, you couldn't use the race to qualify for Corral 1 of TCM, for example.  It was billed as a fun, winter run.  Whether it was 13.1 miles, or 11.6 miles, it was still a race of significant distance.  Everyone ran the same course.  We'll hope they fix everything for next year, but I urge you that if you ran this race on Saturday and are upset about the distance, understand that things happen, and try to enjoy the run.  It was really a spectacular day for a run.

How could one get upset about the error?  I mean, look at the fantastic views one gets as they head back into Downtown:

Getting back downtown, I realized how much I loathe the Central Corridor.  First, we go up the hill on Jackson:

Then, it was downhill to Lowertown, then back uphill again in the last mile back to the start.  That last uphill just killed me.  I lost any momentum I had and my calf cramped.  Ugh.  But, I was happy to be done:

So was Katie:

Result: 11.6 miles, 1:35:29, 8:14/mile pace.  Extrapolating that pace out to a 13.1, I would have finished in 1:47ish.  Which, would have been a great PR.  I felt great running, and it showed in my finishing time.  Even though I can't count it as a half marathon PR, I definitely set an 11.6 Mile PR.

Afterwards, we ate, stretched, and left.  Back home in the parking lot, I noticed that Katie hadn't taken the plastic bag off her backpack, so she had a cape thing going on:

It's Cold Here

It's a fact of living in Minnesota: it will get cold in the winter.  And this week, it did:

That 5°F temp and -14°F wind chill was before it got really cold.  (That night, it would get to -16°F air temperature.)  And of course, I ran.  It's not hard to run in extreme cold, it just requires lot's of layers.  Like a parfait.  Or an onion.  Here's what I wore:

• Hat
• Neck warmer
• Ski goggles (silly, yes, but if you've ever had contact lenses freeze to your eyeballs, you know what I'm talking about)
• Under Armour long-sleeve base top
• Brooks long-sleeve shirt
• Nike windbreaker
• NB windblocker tights
• High School warm-up pants
• thick socks
• shoes
• Yaktrax

Yes, a little crazy.

I even did the "duct tape on the shoes" trick:

It was a good (but short) run.  My Yaktrax malfunctioned halfway in, so I carried them.  And I lost the duct tape when I did that.  Oops.

Moral of the story: Cold weather is not an excuse to run on a treadmill.  That is all.

My New Compression Tights

Readers of this blog know that I'm pretty "old school" when it comes to running.  No GPS, no HRM, no CIA, no, wait, what?  Anyway, it may surprise you that I know own compression tights.  New Balance Windblocker tights, to be exact.  Surprised me too.  And it's a convoluted story of how I got them.  In essence, I wanted to register for the Securian Half Marathon in person at Run 'n' Fun.  By registering in person, you get 25% off any purchase made in-store.  A pretty sweet deal.  I was in the market for new pants and/or tights that were better suited for winter.  So, after trying on more things than I care to recall, I ended up with these compression tights.  They were the only things that fit my criteria and were available in my size.  So here we are.

I'm skeptical of all the compression fanatics out there.  Some of the theory behind compression gear makes a little sense, but if it were that big of a deal, runners would have been squeezing their muscles long ago.  It actually seems rather silly that the mere act of squeezing muscles will cause us to set new PRs.  Long story short, if you want to run faster, put the investment into running more miles and crafting a better training plan.

Yet, here I am, with a pair of compression tights.

I tested them out today, and they behaved like I expected.  Like tights.  The windblocking fabric kept me comfortable, and my legs propelled me forward.  I didn't notice any extra benefits from the compression.  I didn't run 4 minute miles.  I didn't leap over buildings in a single bound.  I stayed warm, and I ran.

The awkward part about these tights is New Balance's approach to runner safety.  Concerned that runners may not have a RoadID (which is must-have for all runners), they put a "tape" in the pocket on which you can write emergency information.  In reality, this "tape" looks more like a pull-tab just above my butt.  Here is the placement:

No, pulling it will not make me say "Somebody's poisoned the water hole!"

Same Great Taste, 50% Less Winter

Minnesota can be...trying during the winter.  Lately, I've dealt with this:

and this:

and this:

and, putting a damper on Dome Running, this:

So, when it came time to head to Michigan for the holidays, I wasn't exactly going to miss Minnesota weather.  Now, I'm not saying that Michigan is like Florida, but at least Michigan doesn't have so much snow that it doesn't know where to put it.

This past summer, my folks moved.  Instead of driving to Lake St. Clair to run, I can just go right from their house.  There aren't many trails and parks in Metro Detroit that are good for running, but there is one right in front of my parents' house--the Metro Parkway Bike Path:

It's a little tough to see, but I took this photo from the front door of the house.  There's a snow covered path/bike trail just 20 feet from the mailbox.  If you go left, you'll eventually get to Freedom Hill.  If you go right, you'll get to Metro Beach.  Not a bad place for running.

There was a dusting of snow, so Yaktrax were necessary

Snow, but not so bad as Minnesota

The bridge going over Groesbeck was a bit more snowy because they don't plow it.  Nice "hill" though.

It started to melt by the time I headed back

A sad thing is that in my 6ish miles, I saw one other runner.  In Minnesota, no matter how bad the conditions, you'll see other crazy people out running.  Oh well, at least it was a good run.

(S)Now I'm Running!

I'm now ready to deem my 2 weeks sans running a success.  I eased back into running this week making sure I didn't do any speedwork.  I was a little scared the first few runs thinking that any weird feeling in my knee was the return of Runner's Knee.  On Thursday morning, I did a run in some pretty cold temps on one of my extra hilly routes.  It was good.  I was planning a 40-50 minute run for Friday, put with the impending snowstorm, I moved that run to Thursday evening so I could return to one of my favorite winter running events…

Dome Running!*

I ran two laps, then ran into Steve and Pharmie.  I did two laps with Steve, then ran the rest of the time with Pharmie and we were joined later by Steve Q.  Even though I had planned to run for 40 minutes, we were having a wonderful conversation and next thing I know, it's been and hour.  And I'm ok with that because I ran for an hour on the hard surface with no knee pain!  Victory!

Then winter came.  Again.

Last night it snowed, and my normal 20 minute commute took 1.5 hours in part because my bus was 40 minutes late.  This morning, I awoke and it was sunny with 4-5 inches of fresh, fluffy snow—perfect time for a run.  So I strapped on my Yaktrax and grabbed my camera and off I went.

My foot with Yaktrax.

The first few block were pretty treacherous, but once I got to the golf course near the river, the paths were cleared:

The sidewalk you see in this photo is new.  It used to be a wonderful tree lined, grassy, trail-like path heading down to the river.  Then the city decided that no one was allowed to have fun anymore and they took out a bunch of trees and put this concrete in.

The path was already cleared along the river in St. Paul...

…and in Minneapolis

A magnificent view from the Franklin Ave bridge 

Me, afterwards.  It looks like there is a spear going through my head.

So, take that, winter!  Between Yaktrax and Dome Running, there's no reason to forego running in the winter.

*Every Tuesday and Thursday from 5-8pm, the Metrodome is open for runners on the upper concourse.  It only costs $1, and parking is free in the lot on the east side of the Dome.  Go here for more details.

No Running!

Uh, yeah, I'm still here.  After my race last weekend, I learned 2 things.  The first is that I was able to run the race faster than expected.  The second is that I NEED to take it easy on my knee.  So, to remedy this second point, I'm giving myself a two week break from running.  I had planned on doing the Detroit Turkey Trot when I go home for Thanksgiving, but I'm going to cancel that.  There will be other races, and I really want this knee to get better.  I'll try and race in December, or use December to rebuild my base, but there won't be any running until November 28th.

————————

In the meantime, though, official results are up from the 623 Run:

(click to zoom)

Some thoughts…

There must have been some discrepancy between my watch and the official clock because this shows me running it 13 seconds faster for a pace of 6'45"/mile.

Yes, 6'45"/mile.  In the snow.  With a bum knee.  And after a few weeks of slacking of training due to bum knee.  I'll take it.

I placed 14th overall and was the 13th male finisher.  It's tough to judge how I could have done if it were in ideal conditions and if my knee was in good shape, but I'm pretty confident I could have cracked the top 10.

Roseville 623 Run Race Report

Or, "I Should Have Brought My Yaktrax"


Or, "How I Raced My Department Chair"


I raced today.  I decided to do the 623 Run for Roseville Schools.  Yes, the 6.23k race.  This turned out to be rather fortuitous, since I had to deal with this:

Yes.  Snow.  Lot's of it.  In fact, we're on track for this to be the biggest pre-Thanksgiving snow since 1991.  Since the race was a crazy non-standard distance, I wouldn't be trying to hit certain pace goals, and that would be good for running in slippery conditions.

I dropped Katie off at the airport, then made the slow commute to Roseville.  I decided to park at the start (it was a point-to-point course), and afterwards I would run back to the start as a cool down.  It was a pretty popular race since it raised money for Roseville Schools.  Even Minnesota running legend Rick Recker was there.

Well, it kept snowing.  And snowing.  And snowing.  They managed to plow the whole course, but that only lasted a little while before it was covered again.  If I had worn my Yaktrax, I would have had a HUGE advantage.  But I didn't.

I lined up at the start, and we were off.  I settled into about 12th place for the first mile or so.  Over the next mile, I passed 2 people.

THUNDERSNOW!

My knee started to give me issues around 2.5 miles.  By "issues", I mean it felt like it was on fire.  The course left the roads and went to paths/trails.  I was passed by 2 people in this stretch.

In the final mile, there was a decent uphill, followed by a downhill.  In this last bit, I was passed by the first place female.

I finished in 26'20", which is a 6'51" pace.  I'm pretty pleased with that considering my knee and the weather.  I'd guess that I placed 12th or 13th for men, but I'll wait for the results before making that official.

Afterwards, we gathered in the Roseville High School cafeteria, and they had pie.  Apple Pie!  It was absolutely delicious!  I also won a door prize (I think 50% of the people there won door prizes, and the other 50% won slightly lesser door prizes).

As I was waiting for the bus to head back to my car (I had given up on the "cool down run" because of the weather and my knee), I noticed someone familiar—the Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the U (aka, my advisor's boss).  We chatted a bit (he was running with his wife and kids).

I rode the bus back, and cleared a few inches of snow off my car, and drove home.  It took a while to get home.

This was also the first time I've raced in my Brooks Launch.  Overall, they worked good, although it was tough to judge because I was concerned with traction more than shoe weight.

They're like tire chains…for your feet.

The toughest part about running outdoors in the North is not the cold.  Rather, the main difficulty is physics—particularly friction and the lack thereof.  See exhibit A:

Exhibit A

Well, today I found a solution to this problem.  When I got out of the shower and got dressed for the day, there was a knock on the door.  Who could it be?

A box!  And not just any box—this box had my new Yaktrax!

What are Yaktrax?  Well, the best way to explain them is that they look and behave like snow chains for car tires.  They are a rubber webbing with metal coils along the webbing.  The idea is that the coils will dig into snow and ice and provide more grip.  It's the same principle behind spiked shoes, except that the Yaktrax design allows them to be used on dry pavement (to a degree).

Do They Work?

So, what does a runner do when they get a new piece of gear even if they just showered?  Go for a run!

They aren't that difficult to put on although I spent a few minutes trying to decide if they were left-right specific.  Turns out they really aren't, but I can see the benefit of having the loose end of the strap on the outside of the foot.  Here's what they look like while on my feet:

The type that I bought are the Yaktrax Pro—which means they have a nifty strap across the top to keep them on the shoe while running.  You can get the regular Yaktrax without the strap for things like walking.  Being careful to avoid my authentic-imitation-fake-linoleum hardwood floors, I went outside.

How Was the Run?

From the first bit of ice/snow that I hit, I was shocked at how much grip there was.  It was just like running on dry pavement.  The toughest part was getting used the amount of grip.  In snow, runners shorten their stride and their form diminishes because so much work needs to go into maintaining a semi-vertical orientation (or, for the engineers out there, we need to keep our center of gravity directly above the contact point so as to ensure there is as much of a normal force as possible).  After a little bit of time getting used to the grip, I was able to approximate my normal stride fairly well.

**Disclaimer**  While they resemble cool things like slingshots, Yaktrax cannot do cool things like suspend the laws of physics.  There is a grip limit, and they aren't as effective when you step into a pile of softer snow/slush.  They still grip well when they hit the pavement, but you still must compress the snow/slush down to a hard-packed state under your feet—they aren't snowshoes.

One downside is that while they are great on snow, they aren't as great on bare pavement.  I'll admit that picking a day toward the end of a thaw wasn't a great idea, but as long as I stuck to the snow and ice in the road, I was fine.  (Imagine that—I would rather run through snow than dry pavement!)  Running on the bare pavement seemed to transmit a bit more pressure onto my feet along the coils, so it could be a bit painful after a few miles on the pavement.  But if I can go miles on pavement, why would I be wearing these?

One last comment:  make sure to take them off before walking into your apartment!  They hold a bit of slush, and that slush flies off and lands on your authentic-imitation-fake-linoleum hardwood floors.

After 1 run, I strongly recommend Yaktrax.  They're superb for running, but I might even wear them on snowy days for my walk to the bus.  From what I've read, they don't last as long if you are on gravel or dirt paths, so probably not the best choice for hiking or trail running.

Check out Yaktrax here, and I bought mine at Dick's.