'Meet of the Miles' 1-Mile Track Meet

Well, I got a late start to the track because Henry decided to shit everywhere. It wasn't as bad as the 2 photos in this post, but it still wasn't good. He had poop up his back, on his arm, and all over the sleeve of his onesie. AND he manage to get a foot-ful of poop too. Great. Here he is THRILLED to be taking a bath post-poop-plosion:

Oh, you can see his 2 teeth in this photo!
They came in on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Anyway, I got to the race, warmed-up a bit, and watched the SPEEDY heat start:

I was going to be racing in heat #2. I didn't know what to expect in this mile. As I posted yesterday, I have NOT been doing as much speed-work lately, and I HAVE been doing more longer-distance runs. Here are my 4 previous 1-mile times:

Dec 2008: 5:00.70
Jan 2009: 4:54.60
Dec 2010: 4:53.01
Jan 2011: 4:49.53

I KNEW I wasn't going to be able to keep descending it like that! Pre-race, I typed up what I thought my chances were:

- 4:49.5 or better (a PR): 2%. I can't COMPLETELY rule out a PR, but it is highly, highly, highly, highly unlikely. Highly.

- 4:50 - 4:55: 38%. Decent chance I'll end up here. I'd be REALLY happy with this!

- 4:55 - 4:59.99: 40%. Even better chance I'll end up here. I'll still be happy with this. Sub-5 is my main goal for this race.

- 5:00 or slower: 20%. Much better chance of this happening vs setting a PR. This is quite possible. I expect to be right around 5:00, either a little above or below it.

I gave my camera to Nordica, and I toed the line with 10 high-school boys. Really. Well, maybe 1 other guy was older than 18. But still... it was a little intimidating.

"TO YOUR MARKS..... GGOOOOO!"

I'm in the 2nd row under the 5.

Just like last year, I was nearly in last place in my wave right off the bat. I was running along side of one kid with only 1 runner behind us:

I'm in purple to the far left.

I got ahead of the kid I was right next to, and ran most of the race in 9th in my heat:

2 kids behind me.


Trying to work my way up.

FIRST 400: 1:14.9. "Decent. Good start. Keep the pace, Steve!"

SECOND 400: 1:15.7. "You're feeling good! Don't get any slower than this. Go! You're at 5:00 pace, but you've got PLENTY left to go sub-5!"

If you've read some of my 1-mile reports, you know that I usually slow up too much near the middle, and then have TOO much left at the end. Well, I was doing that again. I KNEW I was going to go sub-5 even though at the half-way point I was just over 5:00 / mile pace.

I hit the 800 meter mark, and I kicked it into another gear. After running most of the race so far tucked in 9th, I passed 3 kids in the first 50 meters of that next lap. Bam, bam, bam. Steve Q, Stephanie B, and someone else (I think) were all shouting "Nice move, Steve! Nice!" Thanks guys! Then I passed another runner in the next lap. I was now in 5th.

Photo from Stephanie B. I'm the blur to the far left!


2 laps left!

THIRD 400: 1:13.5. "Nice! Go! You can do better than that!"

Working hard with 1 lap left!

I caught 2 more runners in that last lap. Look at that photo above - I was behind a guy in orange. Look at this next photo of me heading to the finish - I put 10+ meters on that guy over that final 200 meter lap:

Hitting the line / my watch.

FOURTH 400: 1:09.9. "Whoa. TOO MUCH 'LEFT IN THE TANK.' Again. But nice job!"

4:53.86 officially!

I'm thrilled with that finish! It's my "middle" time of my 5 mile races, and I think that's just swell! I need to thank everyone for the cheers and support out there - I heard my name a few times each lap. Steve Q was watching my strides and telling me to keep from over-striding. Other people would be telling me when to "go." And thanks to Nordica for all those photos of me! Thanks everyone!

Here are a few more photos from the rest of the heats:

Willie running with the boys.


Many familiar faces in this one: Suzie, Chad, Sean and Paul!
(All to the left with a guy in red between them all.)


Tom (in white) in the middle of a pack.


Nordica's first track meet since 6th grade! (She's in the blue.)


Nordica had an epic battle to the finish line. OK, not "epic," but whatevs.
(That's Claire taking splits for Nordica to the left,
and someone on the right telling them their finishing places.)


This little boy was IN FRONT for most of the final heat! Everyone was cheering for him!

I cooled down a bit and headed home. It was a fun night catching up with old "racing buddies," and a successful race! Back with more results and some goals for 2012 shortly. Thanks everyone!

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TONIGHT is the Kick-Off to the MDRA Grand Prix

I'm trying it again this year. I'm dropping a big load of money (FIVE whole dollars) to take part in the Minnesota Distance Running Association "Grand Prix" series in 2012. (I signed up for it in 2011, and then badly injured my heel after only 1 Grand Prix race - here's a post where I showed the final rankings for 2011.)

The idea of the Grand Prix is simple:
- Race as many of the 14 Grand Prix races as possible.
- You'll be given points based on how you do against other Grand Prix racers at each race.
- The one with the most points at the end of the season wins.

Here are the 14 races in the Grand Prix this year (from the MDRA Grand Prix website):

January: Meet of the Miles (U-M indoors), January 9
January: Securian Winter Half Marathon, January 28
March: St. Patrick's Day Human Race 8K, March 18
April: Get in Gear 10K, April 28
May: New Prague Half Marathon, May 12
May: Brian Kraft 5K, May 28
June: Grandma’s Marathon, June 16
July: Richard A Hoska Rice Street Mile, July 26
July: Hagen Financial Run for Blood 5K, July 28
August: Rochester Half Marathon, Date TBD
September: Victory 10K, September 3
September: City of Lakes 25K, September 9
October: Twin Cities Marathon, October 7
November: Rocky’s Run 6K (cross country), November 4

You can run as many or as few as you'd like. They will take your best results from up to 10 races (so you don't need to race all of the races). And note how the race distances are from 1 mile (2 of those) up to a marathon (also 2 of those). I like that the Grand Prix is (seemingly) trying to find the best "all-around" runner.


FIVE THINGS REGARDING ALL OF THIS:

- Tonight's "kick-off" race is a 1 mile on the track. I haven't ran a mile since my mile PR last year at this race (4:49.53). As I'm running, I'll shoot for 1:14 / 400 for a total of 4:56, but I'll take ANYTHING under 5:00. Who knows. That brings me to my next point...

- I'm much more "ENDURANCE-based" this year, where I was more "SPEED-based" last year. Last year in the 4 weeks prior to this 1 mile race, I had 3 long runs of 10, 12 and 13 miles, a lot of 4-7 mile runs, and 2 short, faster races in there (a 1 mile and a 5K both on the track). This year over the last few weeks, I've had 4 long runs of 10.5, 11, 13.5 and 14.5 miles, slightly longer "middle-distance" runs (many with Henry), and NO races. This makes me nervous for how fast my short, fast, hard, painful 1 mile race will be.

- I REALLY want to stay injury-free for the Grand Prix this year. Duh. Let's try this for a change.

- I know that I WON'T race the first marathon in the series for sure. BBBBBUUUUUUUUTTTTTTT...... If I'm still injury-free, I'd CONSIDER signing up for the Twin Cities Marathon this year. It COULD be my first marathon finish! I'd have to go into the training with NO time goal, and hoping to "JUST FINISH" (and "finish injury-free"). But again, we'll see. I'm NOT saying I'm racing it.

- And regarding the race tonight, keep an eye on my Twitter page and my TwitPics page (both are also embedded on the right side of my blog). I'll shoot out some tweets and maybe some photos from the race. The race starts around 6:15 pm, and I'll be in the 2nd or 3rd heat.

Check back sometime tomorrow (hopefully) for a race report!!

Bye-bye from Henry and I:

(Bonus "Henry and Steve" photo from this weekend:)

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Intervals at the Metrodome (with Henry!)

Tuesday night, Pharmie and I hit the Dome for the first time since last winter. We've had such a nice winter so far, that we've been able to run fast and hard outside without the risk of slipping! (Note my intervals post from last week.)

This winter, intervals at the Dome were going to be different. We had little Hanky-Poo to contend with. Luckily, we set him up in a "nook" around the concourse at the Dome, and he LOVED watching the runners go by:

We also brought every toy in our house (apparently). Sheesh.

Pharmie and I were going to take turns running intervals and watching Henry. So Pharmie's recovery time would be spent hanging out with Henry for as long as it took me to run my interval, and vise-versa.

Pharmie wanted to do fast 1-lap intervals (just over 600 meters running on the "outside lane"), and I was going to do 3-lap intervals (around 1800 meters running on the inside lane). We each warmed-up for a few laps as the other watched Henry.

Hangin' with Henry during Momma's warm-up

Then I took off. Here's what I ran:

[lap + lap + lap = 1800 total time]

2:14, 2:03, 2:07 = 6:24

3:06 rest

2:06, 2:08, 2:06 = 6:20

3:30 rest

2:11, 2:08, 2:03 = 6:22

4:28 rest

My right foot was just a LITTLE sore, so I thought I'd just try to do 2 "faster" laps for my final interval.

2:10, 1:58 = 4:08 (for 1200)

That ended up being much longer rest than I usually give myself, but they were longer intervals than I usually run as well. I averaged 6:22 for the 3 1800s, and that is 5:41 / mile pace. That's not bad for this time of year.

Zoning out watching other runners


With a red-faced, sweaty Dad after my last interval.
Ooh, look! The "vein of approval" is out! :)


The 3 of us after Momma's warm-down.
(It looks dead behind us because it was nearly the end of "Dome Running.")

So yes, plenty of things have changed since last year:

1. I can't start at my normal LINE between sections 210 and 211:

2. My rest between intervals is going to be less controlled.
3. My rest is going to be spent entertaining a child and not stretching / walking / drinking.

BUT, this important point has NOT changed:

1. I can still go do intervals at the Dome. That's awesome.

The first MDRA Grand Prix race is Monday night! It's the "Meet of the Miles" indoor track meet. I'll be running! I will NOT PR in the mile, but I hope to go sub-5. But who knows. Back with a race report hopefully sometime on Tuesday!

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Friday Funny 267: At the Dentist

I went to the dentist a few weeks before Christmas. I swear they ALWAYS do this:

Related: I've flossed every day except 2 or 3 since my appt! Yay me!

Back with some photos from Henry's first intervals tomorrow! Happy weekend!

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Friday Funny 266: If Logos Were Honest

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Friday Funny 265: When Making a Self-Portrait...

This happens to me. Often.

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2011 Year-End Totals

Here's what I have in my training log:

- Swim: 76,731.45 yards (43.60 miles, 1.76 mph ave)
- Bike: 516.66 miles (19.39 mph ave)
- Run: 748.23 miles (7:02 / mile ave)
- Bike Trainer: 13 hours, 38 minutes (all in the first months of 2011)
- Strength / Core: 110 hours, 26 minutes
- Elliptical Trainer: 1 hour, 10 minutes (all at the end of 2011)
- Aqua Jogging: 50 minutes
- Walking: 38 hours, 57 minutes (mostly with Henry)
- Weight: 155.0 start, 154.6 end, 159.2 high (Jan), 150.2 low (Sept), 154.47 average
- Body Fat: (monthly ave) 14.06% high (Mar), 11.90% low (Oct), 13.04% average

No spin classes and no mountain biking.


SOME NOTES ON THOSE NUMBERS:

- Swim: about 50% less than 2010, but just a bit more than 2009. In 2010, I swam a lot with swimming buddy Julia, which got those numbers up. In 2011, I didn't swim for about 3 months after my last tri!

- Bike: Lowest. Year. Ever. I only logged bike miles April - August. I just don't care for "training" on my bike (I don't mind casual rides around town). Gotta work on that in 2012. Maybe.

- Run: about 160 miles less than last year, but I can't complain. This year, I spent all of February injured, and I only logged 8 miles that month (and then only 22 miles in March). And I hurt my foot in July, and laid off the running a bit. Then I went on to log more miles the last half of this year than the first half (300 vs 447) EVEN with little Henry around - thankfully, he LOVES running in his stroller and we had a warm December! In fact, December was my second highest run-mileage month! In January, I logged 91 miles, and last month, I logged 88 miles (42 were with Henry!).

- Strength / Core: about 70% more than last year! That's partially due to doing a lot of PT work on my legs about 10 months ago. (I MAY have sometimes done my PT prescribed leg exercises in my office during my highly under-utilized office hours.)

- Weight: a bit better than last year! About a pound lower on average, after gaining a little weight in 2010.

- Body Fat: Only 4 of my monthly averages this year were lower than my highest single monthly average last year. Damn.


RACE COUNT:

- Duathlons: 4 total (2 individually, 2 as a relay)
- Triathlons: 3 total (all sprints)
- Half Marathons: 1
- 10 Mile: 1
- 5K: 2 (both indoor on a 200 meter track)
- Other: 2: a 1 mile (on a 200 meter track) and a "kitten" mile


HIGHLIGHTS:
(There are 5 for 2011)

- 1 mile PR in January (4:49.53 - a PR of 3.48 seconds from a month before!).
- Won my first "Apple" at the Apple Duathlon in May by placing 2nd in my AG (one of my first multi-sport goals from 2006).

- Matt and I won BOTH of our duathlon relays as "Team Happy Pants" (both were races where we've come in 2nd or 3rd in the past, but never 1st), and both wins were come-from-behind!

At the wet and chilly Oakdale Duathlon


At the muddy Gear West Duathlon

- Missed my only Oly tri of the year because my wife was giving birth!

6 hour old Henry

- In the 5 multi-sport races where I raced INDIVIDUALLY (2 duathlons and 3 sprint triathlons), I placed in my age group in 3 of them! That's a great percentage (in my book). Here's my age group placement:

      - 4th out of 13 at the Falls Duathlon
      - 2nd out of 21 at the Apple Duathlon
      - 5th out of 49 at the Life Time Fitness Triathlon
      - 2nd out of 17 at the Waseca Triathlon
      - 3rd out of 20 at the Lake Marion Triathlon


RANDOM NOTES:

- For the second year in a row, I ran more than I biked. I just don't care for biking. I've dealt with that. By not biking.

- I feel SO lucky that Nov and Dec were so nice! I logged over 74 running miles with Henry between those 2 months (out of the 158 that I ran total).

- My strength work slowed down after Henry was born, but I still try to bang out 20 minutes here-or-there if I have a moment. I've gotten good at doing that. I miss the "long, slow burn" of a longer workout, but I just have to live with the quick intense workouts that I have time for now.

- Last year was my first year since I started doing triathlons (2006) that did NOT contain an Oly or longer! All sprints! I'm OK with that! I'd like to do an Oly this year, but nothing longer.

- My "yearly race count" is going down. That helped out a LOT in 2010 to keep me injury free when I was trying to be smart. But I'd like to race a BIT more this year. If you add up my running and multisport races listed above for 2011, you get 13; in 2010 it was 15; in 2009 it was 19; and in 2008 it was 21.


Back in a bit with my goals for 2012, and how I did achieving my 4 goals for 2011 (short answer: not well). And if you missed Henry's "year in review" post from Monday, click here to check that out.

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New Year's 'Resolutionists" Crowding Our Gyms

About a year ago, I published this article on my Examiner page. At that time, I posted something about that here on my blog too, but I thought it would be a good "re-post," so here it is again:

Here's a note I recently saw that helps put the "New Year's crowd" at the gym in perspective. It was written and posted by "Marmadaddy" in a BeginnerTriathlete forum. Marmadaddy is one of BTs site administrators. Here's what he had to say:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
We're endurance athletes. We train all year not only outside, but also at the gym and the pool. We can expect some serious crowding in both places for the next few weeks. It happens every year.

Suddenly we have to add 30 minutes to our scheduled gym time because of the "resolutionists". There are no parking places. When you do manage to find one and get to the locker room 10 minutes behind schedule, there aren't any lockers available and the door is blocked by someone trying to remember the way to the weight room. In there, the machines you need to use are all occupied by people in new track suits pushing too much weight with truly horrible form. The bubbler is blocked by someone who is trying hard not to look totally out of their element. You can't get in the pool because it's jammed with people using pull buoys on their arms and kickboards as flotation devices. Half the lanes have people with no goggles and baggy swim trunks down to their knees who can't swim an entire lap.

The whole freakin' place is filled with...with...

beginners.

It's one of my favorite sights. I've never been in a place more full of hope than a gym during the first week of January. It's a place full of people giving action to their dreams. People who for that day are making an effort to be fit, to improve themselves, to live a better quality of life. The effort and courage it takes them to get there that morning is huge. It certainly exceeds what it takes me. I know where everything is. I know the pool etiquette. I know what my workout is going to be and how to use the machines. I'm not the least bit embarrassed to take my shirt off in the locker room. This is routine for me. These new people will be showing a lot of courage and determination by going to the gym in the next few weeks and they'll deserve my respect. They'll get it.

It wasn't that long ago that I was one of them. During the next few weeks I'll be making an effort to help some of these people feel a little less uncomfortable. Maybe make eye contact with some of them, be ready to give a nod or say hello.

Once we're halfway into February, the crowds will be gone. Parking will be easy. Machines will be available again. The wait at the pool will go away. We know this. We're endurance athletes. We know the reward that comes from sticking through the hard parts.

And from helping others through them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I read this to my wife, and it really gave us a different perspective on "resolutionists." Have you seen new faces at the gym or in the pool? Be kind to these people - you never know if they are about to become a new training buddy. Happy New Year!

Something to consider before you get too annoyed with those "resolutionists" at your gym. ;)

By the way, there was a new "resolutionist" at our gym yesterday. Henry was determined to not have "0 yards swimming" in 2012 as he noted in his guest-post yesterday about 2011. So he spent 25 minutes in the pool:

Getting changed.


Flexin' his pipes for the ladies.


Learning to splash with Momma.


Afterwards with Daddy.

Scroll down (or click here) to read Henry's funny "guest post" from yesterday. Back with my 2011 totals soon!

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2011 Totals: a Guest Post from Henry

NOTE: I'm letting my 6.5 month old write about HIS 2011 yearly totals. This should be interesting...

Well, Dad is giving me control on his blog for 1 day. Finally. Jerk-face.

So here are my yearly stats:

- Born: June 12th, 2011
- Swim: 0.0 yards
- Bike: 0.0 miles
- Run: 159.67 miles with Dad, at least 40 with Mom (she's not as anal about tracking miles), for easily over 200 running miles on the year. Maybe more like 250.
- Walk: 38 hours and 57 minutes with Dad, and probably more than that with non-walk-logging Momma.

- Most miles in a single day: Thurs, August 11th: 18 miles. Ran nearly 10 miles with Dad in the morning, and then covered another 8+ with Momma between 2 short runs.

- Longest runs with Daddy: TWO runs of half-marathon length or longer: 13.11 miles on Oct 30th (1:33:59), and 14.3 miles on Dec 18th (1:40:51).

During the 13.11 mile run.


During the 14.3 mile run.

- First runs: I started going on some runs with Momma in mid-July. July 24th was my first run with Dad. We went 4.4 miles in Alexandria, MN. Here's a photo he snapped of me as he was running:

Photos WHILE running? Great. Super-safe, Dad. Sheesh.

- First time cheering for Dad: This was at the Life Time Fitness Triathlon when I was just 4 weeks old. That was the first race where Daddy crashed his bike. Frickin' noob. Seriously.

All of us before Daddy started.


Heading to the finish with some road-rash on his leg. Again I say: noob.


Man, I was skinny! Momma's put some good meat on my bones since then.

- First time cheering for Momma: When I was 12 weeks old (just under 3 months), I got to cheer on my rockstar Momma at the St. Croix Valley Triathlon. Twelve weeks postpartum!! My Momma's a beast!

Giving Momma a pre-race pep-talk.
Hey, she pushed ME out... this race was going to be a breeze!


Momma on the run!


Post-race. Cut me some slack - cheering is damn hard work.

- First time cheering for BOTH Dad and Momma at a race: At 16 weeks of age (just under 4 months), I got to cheer at the TC 10 Mile / Marathon. (Here's Part 1 and Part 2 of Daddy's write-ups.)

It's true! Momma ran it easy the year before because they knew I COULD be more than
just a twinkle in Daddy's eye - they found out I existed the day after the race!


Dad running to a 1:01:20 10 Mile finish. What, no sub-60 this year Dad? Slacker.


Super embarrassing photo of Dad and me. Weirdo.


Momma finishing her 12th straight TC Marathon!


Resting with Momma post-race. Again, this cheering stuff is hard work.

3 FINAL NOTES:

- We FINALLY got a little snow here in St. Paul, MN, so I might have to be cutting back my runs with Dad. Between the colder temps and then snow-packed trails, I don't know if we'll be able to run as much. I don't know how I feel about that...

- My "0.0 yards swimming" total from last year is about to be smashed this week. I heard Momma and Dad planning a trip (or TWO) to the Y with me to hit the pool! I'll be busting out 100s faster than Dad by March. Suck my wake, Daddy-o. Oh, and I'm sure Dad will post super embarrassing photos of me in my swim diaper, so check back for THAT.

- I brought in 2012 with a shitty BANG at our house yesterday morning. Check this out:

Momma was scared. She yelled at Dad to get me in the shower!


Dad and I hosing off - my first shower!

I'm planning on making this mess a daily thing - that was kinda fun! ;)

Oh, and word on the street is that Dad is getting ready to start a "Henry and Cats" album on Facebook shortly. What an ass hat. How is he married? Alright, time to turn control of this crap-tastic blog back to Dad. Here's to a great 2012!

Thanks Henry. Jeez, you're sassy. Back with MY 2011 totals shortly!

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Resolutions: 2012

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