Official Photos from the Raspberry Run 1 Mile

The Raspberry Run posted photos on Google Drive from the race. (Here's my race report from two weeks ago if you missed it.) These photos also answer my question about if the course was long because the start line had changed and I thought the finish line hadn't! More on that shortly...

Here are a handful of pics I wanted to share:

They had sweet shirts, as always.


Mary! Thanks for timing!


Kind of a booty shot.


A "Fleet Feet" teammate (Machiko) getting her number!




Waiting for the first 5-miler to finish!

When I saw that last photo, I looked back to old race photos from the Raspberry Run. I noted in a follow-up post about the race that I wondered if the race was a bit long. The start line had moved NOTICEABLY back, but I thought the finish line was in about the same spot. But looking at some finish line photos from 2023, I spotted these 2 to compare to that last one above. Notice above (from this year) how the timing mat is just after the crosswalk... and notice how it's WELL PAST the cross walk in these 2 photos from 2023:

The cross walk is WAY back there in this photo from 2023, and we still can't see the finish line.

So it was not a long race even though it was the first time my Garmin showed it over 1 mile. Both the start and finish had moved, and I just posted my slowest lifetime 1-mile. Dang.

Back to the race photo...

We just finished a team photo in the background as this 5-miler
finished his race! (See all the "Fleet Feet" jerseys back there?)


A 5-miler cooling off under the fire hose past the finish line!


Kirt finishing the 5 mile! The boys and I cheered for him from about 4 block
from the finish. (We were walking back to the start of the upcoming 1-mile.)


The leaders of the 1-mile storming to the line!


The winner.


2nd and 3rd.


Then there was a big break in photos (so none of me), and then
it picked up again with Rob E and Andrea H (5:27 milers).


Teammate Dan!


I didn't edit this image in any way... it could have been edited out.


Women's winner Heather K.


Wet pooch in a Raspberry Run t-shirt.


Cooling down.


The much larger non-USATF 2nd heat!


The topless winner of that heat! (A 17-year-old running a 4:36.)


2nd and 3rd in that heat going 4:44.


THERE'S CHARLIE IN THE GREEN!!


Sweet shades! And Patrick R on the right.

The year I won the "Minnesota Distance Running Association's Grand Prix" series, I was often behind Patrick in races where we were head-to-head. And he was in my 10-year age group too (I'm 44 and he's 49). Maybe he's been injured or just isn't running as much these days, as he appears to be working here for a 7:46 mile.

"Baby's first race!" I love that!




That hat does NOT look very aero.


Cooling down under the fire hose!

"Distance" Intervals... Kicking Off TC 10 Mile Training

I guess yesterday's workout was the official start of my TC 10 Mile training. I'm NOT going hard with my training like I did last year which got me to my 2nd fastest 10 mile of 59:23 - it was fun to look back at Coach Jen's old training workouts from 2010 when she coached me to my 59:05 10 mile PR, but I don't feel like doing that again this year. (And, with June's busy schedule and therefore crappy training, I feel like I'm waaaaay behind where I should/could be at.)

My training in 2010 and 2024 kicked off with a descending 4x1 mile at the track with a longer 4 minutes between each interval. So I figured I'd do that as my first interval session that wasn't 200s, 400s, or 800s since this spring - it was truly a shift towards distance training as the Raspberry Run 1 Mile was 2 weeks ago.

I didn't have major goals, but I wanted to make sure to get faster and drop time. When I ran a 5:32 first interval, I didn't know if I'd be able to keep running each interval faster. That'd be a great start if I can keep it up, but it'd be TOO FAST if I run out of steam. The goal was to stay fast and suffer.

I still had the descend going as I started the 4th and final interval, and I was "going for broke" and trying to hit 5:15 (under 2:40 for half-mile splits). But my legs just couldn't do that. I still got my descend, but just BARELY:

2:47 + 2:45 = 5:32.2
2:44 + 2:41 = 5:26.0
2:41 + 2:40 = 5:21.9
2:42 + 2:39 = 5:21.6

AVE: 5:25.43

That was honestly better than I thought it would be! This "kick off" workout back in 2010 averaged 5:29, and last year it averaged 5:24 (just 1 second faster/interval than this workout). That's a good start to 10 mile training! Still... I'm not going to follow Coach Jen's intense workouts from 15 years ago... although I'll grab a few of them here-and-there maybe...

These last few days, we've had nasty "air quality" alerts as we have been at a 4 out of a possible 5 because of some wildfires in Canada. Those intervals were with some THICK air, and my ride this morning started super hazy:

The sun is that orange glow in the trees to the left.


An hour later crossing the Mississippi.


Just a long moderate ride: 38 miles at 19 mph, adding in lots of extra little hills.

Friday Funny 2481: Puns

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