Final "Loony" Thoughts

I never really wrapped up my thoughts from all 3 races in the Twin Cities in Motion "Loony Challenge" from early last month.

Left to right: TC 5K, 10K, 10 Mile, and Loony Challenge medals.

As to be expected, it hurt. Racing a 10K followed by a 5K 90 minutes after the 10K started, and then a 10 Mile 24 hours later is not a recipe for fun. I mean, it WAS "fun," but not "fun." The most fun part was having race-buddy Evan show up and beat me by 0:01 in the 10K and 0:02 in the 5K:

Evan just in front of me at the 10K, with the finisher's tape being held out for the lead female.

I was happy with my 10K and 5K times from the first day (38:33 and 18:54), but then the 10 Mile on the next day NEVER felt OK. I just felt heavy and slow from the start. About half way through my race report, I noted "I was really working hard, but it wasn't showing in my splits." And then with about 3 miles left, both calves REALLY started to get tight. I couldn't walk normal for a few days, tried running easy after a week, and then decided to take another 3 weeks off (as noted in this post as the "rest" was wrapping up).

I ended up with a PW (personal worst) in the 10 Mile with a 1:03:05. I was kinda bummed about that during the race, but was totally fine with my PW as soon as the race was over.

One thing I didn't mention in any of my blog posts about that weekend of racing was my chat with interval buddy Marie and former swimming buddy Julia. We all bumped into each other near the Cathedral as I was waiting for my wife to finish the Marathon. We talked about how I knew I didn't win the series like I did last year, but how that doesn't ALWAYS need to be the goal. I'm not an amazing runner, but I'm good enough to place well now-and-then. But I don't always need to be focused on "OK, I think I can win this one." It was good to say those things out loud with those 2 fine ladies.

So I don't think Pharmie or I will do the Loony Challenge again next year. Sure, it hurts, but it IS kinda fun. But it's also quite a commitment for an entire weekend, and it took a toll on both of our (aging) bodies. She noted that the Marathon got quite hard (harder than usual) by mile 15. (And she's done close to 20 marathons, so she has a sense of how hard it should feel.) And she had some heel issues post-race too. It's a fun "weekend series," and I'm TOTALLY not writing it off forever - I'd love to do it again sometime - but I don't know if we'll be back for 2016. My wife will probably sign up to do the Marathon, and I'll probably enter the lottery for the 10 Mile.

Here are links to my Loony Challenge races from last month if you missed them:
- My 10K and 5K race reports
- My TC 10 Mile race report
- The final Loony Challenge standings (also with finish line video screenshots to show Evan and I)
- The official photos from the 3 races