When the good people at Grandma’s Marathon announced plans for the 40th anniversary of the race, I perked up when they said runners who registered early would get a special jacket. When they published a picture of the medal, I signed up right away.

Guess I’m still a sucker for nice bling.

Lots of other people were apparently excited by this year too, with 9,100 runners selling out the race for the first time in quite a while. This was my eighth Grandma’s (and 26th marathon), but I hadn’t been up there to run since 2011. Love the race and how the city embraces the weekend, so I’m not sure why I waited so long to return again.

With my work schedule completely out of control right now, I was not nearly as prepared for this race as I would’ve liked to be. I did get in long runs of 17.5, 21.5 and 15 miles in the weeks leading up to the race, but there wasn’t much in the way of short weekday runs (or any cross-training or speed work). Add in my Garmin dying the week of the race and a forecast for hot and humid weather and my time expectations for this race went out the window.

My A, B, C and D goals were all very low-key: get an official finish under seven hours to get the damn medal, beat my worst Grandma’s time (5:26:54), keep it in the fours and, finally, try to beat my Des Moines time (4:37:23). Three out of four was pretty good on a day when the weather warning flags went from green to yellow to red to black as the day went on.

We stayed at my sister’s apartment again and I got dropped off downtown to catch the train to the start. I thought getting there at 4:50 was plenty of time, but the line to board was already down the street. Capacity must be way higher than it seems, though, as everyone in line before me only filled the front half of the train. Talked with three other runners on the way to Two Harbors, including a friendly woman from Colorado and a sixty-year-old gentleman who is a fan of the Galloway run-walk method.

We arrived at the starting line just before seven and I actually waited in line for a port-o-potty (which I think is a first for me). Maybe I missed it, but I don’t think they did the flyover before the start (which was always a highlight for me). Looked around a bit to see if I could find anybody I knew, but decided to head to the chute when it got crowded. No real announcement to start this year either – everyone just started moving slowly to the line and we were off.

Running without a Garmin was strangely liberating. I just wanted to take it slow and let my muscles take over instead of my brain. The only anxiety I had was due to the 4:15 pacer, who I traded places with twice. This race doesn’t have many clocks on course, so I knew I hit the halfway mark around 2:10. After that I had no idea until mile 25, but I knew I was going slower the second half because of walk breaks through each water stop to rehydrate, take on ice and sponges and pour water over my head (all tricks I learned the last time it was too hot).

As I’ve said before, this race takes on a whole new feel when you enter Duluth city limits after mile 18. The crowd support is amazing and they helped me run non-stop from the last water stop at mile 25 to the finish line, where I finished in 4:47:36 (10:59 Minute Miles). Full results can be found here, including my official splits (10K – 59:02, 13.1M – 2:10:22, 20M – 3:30:47 and 25M – 4:34:45).

Next up: Afton Trail Run 50K on July 2

As I likely wrote the first three times I ran this race, the TC 1 Mile is one of the hardest distances I run every year. Even the Superior 50K was a different kind of pain than I experience when trying to run 5,280 feet as fast as I can. My arms feel oxygen deprived, breathing is a challenge throughout, I never seem to have a kick at the end and I usually want to double over after crossing the finish line. Strangely enough, I’m always back to normal in about ten minutes.

This year was unique in a lot of ways. First off, they changed the course again because of the Nicollet Mall construction, moving to a riverfront course near the Mill City Museum and the Guthrie. Second, I was captain of a Corporate Team Challenge group representing U.S. Bank Stadium. Lastly, I’m three years older than the last time I ran this distance (and much, much slower).

The new course was extremely convenient to our office, so our team of eight just walked over for the start. The CTC wave was the very first one at 6:30pm and we made the rookie mistake of standing at the back of the corral. When the race started, our faster runners had to dodge and dart around people for the first quarter mile. Special shout-out to Jordan for being the group photographer, cheering squad and boot storeroom all rolled up in one.

I wanted to run four equal 90-second splits, but only did the first one at that pace, hitting the half-way mark ten seconds over the goal. I’ll admit I basically threw in the towel at that point and didn’t look at my watch again until I crossed the finish line at 6:47, a full 37 seconds slower than 2013. I’d say maybe 10 seconds of that was due to poor positioning at the start, but it was still disappointing.

The team, though, did great – I’m very proud of everyone. Shannon broke seven minutes, Marlon won the overall crown and we all talked about coming back next year prepared to take it to the next level. The post-race party at Day Block Brewing was very nice and several members of our team won door prizes. We ended up getting a table downstairs for drinks and dinner – quite a fun way to spend a beautiful spring Thursday in Minneapolis.

Official 2016 Results

Ever since moving back to the metro area, I’ve been working my way through lots of things on the list of lists page. The Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon has been on my race list for a long time and 2016 was finally my year to try it out. Founded in 1980, this is a race that my friends Jeff and Deb have run many times and raved about, so I was excited to try it out (even though they were out of the country this year). Part of the MN Run Series, the race is produced by the same people who do Goldy’s Run, which I also crossed off the list this year.

Got to tour half of the Wayzata school district during the registration process and on race day: packet pick-up was at Wayzata West Middle School, while primary race day parking was at Wayzata Central Middle School. They had the same odd bib assignment process as Goldy’s, but the line moved much faster this time. The parking lot at the school on race morning was a mess – all the spots were full, but they didn’t put up closed barricades until about a hundred cars cycled through. I parked on a nearby side street and walked over to the shuttle buses, which dropped us off near the starting line in downtown Wayzata.

The course was very scenic, but much hillier than I expected. Weather that day was very pleasant for May 1, although it was a little chilly waiting for the start in the shade and wind. They had a four wave start, which really helped spread out the masses. I was hoping to stay under two hours and ended up with a 1:54:33 (8:45 pace). That was good for 832nd out of 2,525 total finishers and 64th in my age group of 132 (full results here).

Watch splits: 8:24, 8:06, 8:27, 8:23, 8:20, 8:40, 8:35, 9:02, 8:54, 9:04, 9:16, 9:12

The finish line area in Excelsior was very nice and the shuttle busses back to the school were easy to find and left promptly when full. It would’ve been nice to hang out at sponsor Jake O’Connor’s Public House for a while, but that was not in the cards, unfortunately.

It’s easy to see why this is a popular race that’s been around a long time – add it to your list and you too can purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka…

Saturday marked my 15th straight Get in Gear 10K in Minnehaha Park. Last year broke my streak of six years under 50 minutes (52:23) and I was really hoping to get back under that threshold. When I passed the five mile mark right at forty minutes, I thought I had it made. Of course, I also forgot how long that last 0.2 can take…

The weather this year was perfect for running: sunny, low 40s and a light wind. Started off a little too fast, but stayed relatively consistent after that (watch splits of 7:22, 7:49, 8:22, 8:26, 8:21 and 8:14). The official results page seems to be broken, only displaying gun time and not chip time. My watch showed an unofficial time of 50:28, so I’m getting closer to the old days. That was good for 568th out of 2336 (and 46th in my age group).

Not much else to report from this year’s event. Dropped off three pairs of old shoes before the race that I had tried to donate at REI a few weeks back, which was nice. Took off right after I finished so I could get to the packet pick-up for the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon, followed by golf at Valleywood with Brad. Walking the hills of Apple Valley carrying a heavy golf bag was surprisingly easy, so that was a good training sign for the rest of the 2016 racing calendar.

Last Saturday was my first race of 2016 and one that I’ve wanted to try for a few years now: Goldy’s Run 10 Mile. Part of the Minnesota Running Series, Goldy’s Run is produced by Podium Sports Marketing, which was kind enough to provide me with a complimentary entry to this race (and also one to their Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon next month).

The course starts outside TCF Bank Stadium and finishes inside the stadium on the 50 yard line, which was quite fun (similar to the Fargo Marathon finish). There is a reported 825 feet of gain, as you cross the Mississippi River four times and climb up and down the river valley. The course also included the Stone Arch Bridge, St. Anthony Main, Nicollet Island, the Broadway Avenue bridge, Mill City Museum and the Guthrie – very scenic overall.

Wasn’t really sure what kind of time I’d have for this one, since my most recent training runs have been on the slow side. When I lined up for the start (in the sunny 18F weather), there was a pacer in front of me with an 8:30/mile sign. I decided I’d try to keep up with her and ran with their group for the first two miles or so. Feeling pretty good, I decided to jump ahead of them and see if I could maintain that to the end. They almost caught me at mile nine, but I had just enough left in the tank to stay in front, finishing in 1:25:27 (searchable results). Congrats to my friend Jenn, who also ran this race for the first time and finished in 1:32:56.

Watch splits: 8:32, 8:07, 8:27, 8:31, 8:23, 8:24, 8:27, 8:34, 8:53, 8:30

The packet pick-up at Sports Authority in Roseville was a disaster (waited in line for more than an hour), but overall I thought this was a very nice event. Race day was great – they started on time, the course was beautiful (and challenging), the on-field finish line was thrilling and they had great refreshments waiting at the end. The Goldy medal was well-designed and the tech shirts seemed fine (haven’t worn mine yet).

Go Gophers!

Up next: Get in Gear 10K