Coliseum Running at the MN State Fair

After Jen told me that Dome Running wasn’t listed this week on MDRA’s website, I had to think of another way to get in my speed work. So yesterday I did intervals at the Coliseum at the Minnesota State Fair:

I had driven by the fairgrounds many times this winter, and I had noticed a sign that said “Coliseum jogging and skating: 11:30 am - 1:00 pm daily.” So I showed up at 11:30. I drove through the fairgrounds, and the “World’s Greatest French Fries” and one of a dozen “Cheese Curds” stands both looked sad covered in snow:

But the giant slide looked REALLY inviting!! Who wants to jump a 3 foot fence with me and have a BLAST some night?

Anyway, I got to the Coliseum, and here’s the outside as I got out of my car and looked up:

I got inside and looked left...

...and I looked right:

And then I saw it. I should have known it. There was a touch of Bengay in the air. It was a weekday. It was mid-day. Yep, the place was crawling with old people. Here’s one:

Ooh, here’s another (wearing a sweet denim shirt):

And here’s a third, which officially makes it a “herd:”

Seriously though, there weren’t many people there. I was the only one under 50 years old getting ready to run (or walk) around the coliseum. At the center of the building was a ice rink that was just starting to fill up with people:

I asked a woman walking around the coliseum if she knew how long a lap was, and she said, “Well, I’ve been told that 5 laps makes 1 mile.” So that’d be 320 meters / lap. I figured I’d do 2 lap intervals (640 meters) with 60 seconds rest. I used the red arrow that said “Vending” (5 photos above) as my start/finish line. Here were my splits:

1:51
1:47
1:44
1:44
1:44
1:45
1:45

1:45.7 average
Unknown distance (SHORTER than 640 meters)

It’s probably CLOSE to being 5 laps / mile, but not quite. I’m not that fast (that’d be running a 4:24/mile pace!). But it was still a good workout! After catching my breath for a few minutes, I snapped a sweaty photo:

I stretched a bit and then climbed the stairs inside the arena. The rink had filled up with ice skaters:

There were 47 stairs that I had just climbed in order to get that photo at the top of the arena. They were small steps, but they had little “grippies” on them so they were safe. AND THAT GAVE ME AN IDEA! I think we should skip the Saturday 9 am meeting at the icy and treacherous JJ Hill steps (see previous post) and instead meet at the Coliseum at 11:30 am to run stairs in comfort! I still want to run a workout on the JJ Hill steps sometime, just not when I’m going to slip and die. That’s fair, right? And if I bring an ass pad, I can lay that out of the way so I can do sit-ups and push-ups and make it a great Crossfit-like workout! I think I’ve sold myself on the idea of indoor stairs this weekend...

Anyway, as I was doing a cool down lap, I noticed a ticket booth. I came in a different entrance, so I didn’t see the man behind the window. Being I’m a good boy, I walked up to him on my way out and said, “I came in a different way and just noticed you here. Is there a charge to run in here?” He laughed at my honesty, commended me, and said it was 3 bucks. Not a bad deal to be able to skate, run stairs, or walk/run laps. He told me that the Coliseum is open 7 days a week (except for New Years Day) from November through March. I told him I’d be back.

So check back tomorrow to see if I can break 5 minutes in the 1600 meters at the “New Years Resolution Challenge” indoor track meet.

And let me know if you want to run stairs with Borsch, Steph, Jen, and myself on Saturday (maybe at the JJ Hill House, but more likely at the State Fair Coliseum at 11:30).

Happy New Year everyone! Yay 2009!