Twin Cities 10 Mile Training STARTS TODAY!

Yep. Today is when the training starts. It's 8 weeks until the TC 10 Mile. Yikes! EIGHT WEEKS!

Let's review the FOUR 10 mile races that I've done:

Oct 2009: 1:02:43


Later in Oct 2009: 1:02:19


March 2010: 1:02:44


The BIG "A-race" of 2010: Oct 2010: 59:05
(Got to that sub-60 goal with the help of Coach Jen!)

So, if you've been keeping track, that's THREE 10 mile races in 1:02:XX all within 25 seconds of each other, and then a killer sub-60 race when Coach Jen coached me for 8 weeks to "see what she could do with me."

Well, I've got 8 weeks. But there's no way I'm repeating last Oct's performance.

Last year, I was really able to focus on training, as our 8-week-old Henry was just a dream. Now, I'm not willing to become a worse father or husband and put my family on hold each day so I can shoot for a random personal goal. That's NOT meant to be a shot at Dads who have the means to be able to train un-impeded through raising a crabby baby. But Pharmie and I aren't in a situation where training can be THAT important in our lives.

FITNESS is "that important," but not TRAINING.

Don't get me wrong - I'm going to bust my ass and see what I can do this year. But sub-60 (or sub-59:05) isn't possible. Can I say I want to shoot for a PR in my 1:02 times? Let's say that. "I'm going to shoot for a PR in my 1:02:XX finishing times."

In the last week, I've taken Henry for 2 good runs with me! Last Monday, I went for a 6 mile recovery run with him in his stroller. (Well, 6 miles TOTAL with more like 5.5 miles of running, with only about 4.5 of those miles being on a good trail where I could concentrate on running.) I took the following 8 photos on our run:

Leaving home (notice Henry's bottle on the left and my bottle on the right)


Starting to run down the sidewalk by the Town and County Club


Running down the River Road trail


Crabby because we crossed into Minneapolis (he's a St. Paulie, apparently...)


"Shade's drawn" to cross back into St. Paul....


.... and then he passed out like a canary does when you put a shade over the cage!


Awake and dazed once I stopped running


Back home, starting to get tired again

On this "easy-ish" recovery run, I kept all my mile splits under 8:00, with my fastest being about 7:30. I figured I could run down to 7:00 / mile pretty easily with Henry without feeling like I was going too fast with the stroller.

Well, on Saturday morning, Pharmie left me home for over 6 hours with Henry, so we went for another run. This was an 8 mile run, and I did the middle 6 miles (on the good trail) in 6:59, 6:55, 6:40, 6:50, 6:34, and 6:21. And that felt JUST FINE with the stroller!

Henry just after I stopped running


Being cozy with the little guy as Pharmie got home a few hours later

Anyway, I bring up running with Henry so much because I may be having 1 or 2 runs each week with with the little guy. Training for this 10 Mile will be "when I can fit it in," and it will be much less hardcore than last year.

Speaking of the TC 10 Mile / TC Marathon weekend, it was last year that Pharmie and I learned the DAY AFTER THE RACE that she was pregnant with our little guy!

Pharmie at mile 25.5 of the TC Marathon last year - keeping
the pace easy knowing she COULD be pregnant