The Final 2011 MDRA Rankings and Upcoming Races

The Minnesota Distance Running Association just sent out the final standings for the "MDRA Grand Prix." I signed up to be part of the Grand Prix this past year because (1) it was only $5, and (2) I was planning on focusing more on running this year being we knew Henry was about to come into our life and I figured it was easier to run with a baby than to go for a swim. However, I didn't plan on getting injured in January (an injury that kept me from running for 8 weeks, and after that I was only allowed to slowly build).

The Grand Prix is a series of 13 races. You get ranked against other Grand Prix racers, and you're given a point value. They only take your top 10 finishes from the 13 races - 3 can be "throw away" races.

Well, I only ran the first race (the "Meet of the Miles" indoor mile race) before getting injured. So the overall rankings look like this:

I was quite surprised at how HIGH I ended up (having only done ONE race).

It's interesting to see that in the top 15 men (and of the 150+ individual races in that top 15), there are only 2 times that someone won the race. Proof that to place well in a big series like this, you don't always need to be the fastest, you just need to be consistent. And with my injuries, I'm not always consistent.


UPCOMING RACES....

• December 4th is the first Charities Challenge track meet of the winter. I've done a number of these races in the last 3 years. For $22 you can race as many of the events as you want. This one has the 1500m, 60m, 5000m, 200m, 800m, 1500m RaceWalk, and the 400m (in that order). I think I'm going to try the 5000m again! That's 25 laps on a 200 meter track! I did my first indoor 5000 this past winter, and it wasn't as "boring" as I thought it was going to be.

With 4 of the other 19 runners during my first indoor 5000m race.

• These "Charities Challenge" track meets go through mid February (there are 5 total), and I'd like to do a few of them. I'd probably be running the mile, 3000m, or 5000m at these races (they offer different distances at different meets). Come join me for the Dec 4th race and any others! They are "professionally" run with a fully automatic timing system, but they're still "low key" enough to be fun!

• Pharmie and I both have said that we'd like to do the Winter Carnival Half Marathon again this year. Last year, I did the half marathon for the 4th straight year, and Pharmie did the 10K. It was how we announced that Pharmie was pregnant:

• In early January, there's a race called the "Meet of the Miles" at the U of M. I did this race last year, and it stands as my 1 mile PR (4:49.53). It's part of the Grand Prix, so it brings out the speedy folks.

• I think I'll take another stab at the MDRA Grand Prix again this year (and hope to do more than 1 race!). This year, I'm signing up for 2 reasons: (1) it's still just $5, and (2) they added the Winter Carnival Half Marathon to the Grand Prix! So hopefully, by the end of January, I'll be "2 for 2" in the Grand Prix races - I'll have the Meet of the Miles and the Winter Carnival Half Marathon under my belt. Hopefully.

• After that.... who knows. I'm still hoping to do a number of duathlons and triathlons this year, but I'm being flexible. I might focus more on running again this year, but we'll just see how things go. I'll just try to stay injury free....