Minneapolis is a city of runners, and when I lived there it seemed like there was one a month. Because of that, I got to participate in a lot of races. There aren't as many here in the north county, although that's starting to change. Yesterday I ran the Wine Country 5K and remembered how much I enjoy the short races.
Wine Country also produces a half-marathon, which I've run a couple of times. I intended to run the half this year, but my piriformis was still sore and I didn't think I could manage the distance. So I signed up for the 5K with some friends, two of whom also ran the New Orleans Half marathon with me a couple of weeks ago.
With 5Ks, the distance isn't the challenge and having been in half-marathon training, it was almost a piece of cake. Almost. You run faster in a 5K, of course, hence the title for this post. A running friend describes 5K races as, "blow and go" cuz you're out of breath most of the way. That was certainly the case with me--I ran so hard I thought my heart would jump out of my body. My maximum heart rate was 192; talk about anaerobic.
Rain threatened and I wore a rain jacket just in case. At the last minute, I decided to ditch the jacket and I'm so glad I did. I wore my short-sleeved New Orleans race shirt with arm sleeves and tights. Also gloves and headband. After about a mile, I pulled the sleeves down, stashed the gloves in my waistband and wore the headband around my neck. That look really makes for some cute pictures, let me tell ya.
After mile 2, we ran through the vineyard on a dirt road. Since it rained the night before, the ground was firm but cushiony and made a nice surface to run on. We climbed a hill and I wheezed like a charging rhino. A woman caught up to me and gave me encouragement as she passed me on the uphill. I passed her on the downhill, then we ran in together.
As I crossed the finish line, I was spent. My friends had beat me in and cheered me on. A volunteer removed my race chip and I went to grab some grub with the girls. Egg burritos never tasted so good.
One of the nice things about this race is that it has a small field. I say that because I got 3rd place in my age group (55-59)! There were 10 of us in that category and my finish time was 32:05, a 10:20 pace. My friend SS is 55 and won our AG in 28:14 and my other friend Blossom won hers (60-64) in 30:51. The other woman in our group PRd with a 30:57, but was 5th in her AG.
We were given a tile coaster with our respective places written on it, which is what I'm holding in the above picture. A nice souvenir of a fun race.
This will be a short report, but I wanted to let you know that I ran the New Orleans Half Marathon a few weeks ago. My running friends wanted to do it and since SD and I had always wanted to visit N'awlins, we decided to go.
We had so much fun in New Orleans, that the race was almost an afterthought. But not quite. :-) I had actually signed up for the marathon, but never got the training in. I barely had enough training for the half. I don't know why--December parties, traveling, injuries. It all adds up.
The expo was small, but fun. I went on Friday to get my stuff and wandered around while it was uncrowded, but went back on Saturday with my friends. So glad I did, because running legend Frank Shorter was speaking. You know me, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to get my picture taken with him!
My friends didn't want to go to the start until 7:30 (we stayed near the start), but the race started at 7. I was concerned the bag check would be closed, so I went on ahead of them. Not that I'd run with them, anyhow, since they're all faster than me. The race field was 22,000 for both races and I was in a back corral, so I actually had time for one last stop in the portapotty (no lines!) before we started moving. I'm glad I did, because they I didn't lose any race time stopping for a toilet.
We ran through the Garden District (see photo above), which was beautiful but I hardly noticed it. I was focusing on my running. Then we ran along the Mississippi River and turned up Esplanade to City Park, which is where the race ended. Esplanade was new to me, and I enjoyed looking at the houses. City Park is an incredible park--it even has a track! Here's a picture of a typical Treme house.
My finish time was better than I expected, but not a PR. I had been nursing a sore piriformis, which cut into my training. No matter; I had fun and have a unique medal to show for it. Two of the girls went back to the hotel, but three of us waited for SJ to come in. She's a new runner--fast--but she did one too many races and had to walk this race. She really wanted that medal! Since this is a Rock n Roll race, there was a concert and we enjoyed the post race concert. The only drawback was we had to wait in line to board a shuttle bus to get back to the start.
That night we all celebrated with a dinner at Emeril's. Here's a picture of all of us, including the mother and mother in law of one of my younger running partners (the tall beauty in the back). They are the women on either end and they walked the half. They are both in their mid-late 60s and are slow but I'm proud of them for participating. Our medals have a multi-colored beaded necklace and the medallion has a fleur-de-lis on it.
I'm glad I ran this race, but I don't have to do it again. I hope to go back to New Orleans someday, though. I absolutely loved that town, especially the French Quarter. If you've never been to New Orleans, I highly recommend you visit it--even if you have to run a race to do it.
I didn't get lost in Paris, even though that was the last time I posted anything. We continued our vacation and I ran through some lovely towns in the Alsace region and also in Belgium. It was a fabulous vacation!
Since April I've been running and racing and recently completed my 8th marathon -- Portland, Oregon. One of my running friends read about the Portland Marathon in Runner's World and said, "It's well-organized and flat. Let's do the half." I was game but told her if I'm going to go to Portland, I'm doing the full.
I trained all summer and increased my total weekly mileage to 40-50 during peak time. I had a small setback (dog bite in the leg), which kept me from doing more than one 20 miler, but I still felt strong and confident.
SD and I flew into Portland on the Tuesday prior to the race. It turns out we know quite a few people in Oregon, so we rented a car and drove down to Eugene to see a friend of mine whom I've known since high school. We had a great visit and she asked me what I wanted to see in Eugene. I sheepishly said I wanted to see Hayward Field, even though I sounded like a running geek. She didn't mind and the three of us drove over there.
The track is open to the public during certain hours, but not when we got there. It didn't matter, because I wasn't planning to run, but once I got there I wished that I could run a few laps just to say that I did. What a gorgeous track! I'm used to the local high school track, but this one was in prime condition. I felt a rush of emotion as I remembered watching the Women's Olympic Trials on TV. That was when high-schooler Jordan Hasay ran and the crowd chanted, "Come to Oregon." And she did!
My friend asked if I wanted to go to Pre's Rock. This girl knows me! I did want to go, but I didn't want to ask. I wasn't a runner back in Pre's day, but of course I know of him and had read about his memorial in--where else--Runner's World. We were able to find it without too much difficulty.
We headed to Corvallis to visit some other friends who moved there a year ago. Had a nice reunion and then drove up to Portland, via the Willamette Valley Wine Country. SD is fond of Oregon pinots, so we stopped at a few wineries.
We arrived in Portland, smack in the middle of Occupy Portland. There was some concern they would disrupt the marathon, but it was all good. SD got us a great hotel room in Downtown and close to the start and finish. We had a great time visiting with friends who live in Portland and exploring the city.
There's not much to report about the race. I was running strong for about the first 15 miles, around a 12:30 pace. Years ago I read a race report from Naomi (No Ames) about her Portland Marathon. I thought about her as I ran, especially through the industrial area. I've lost touch with her after she moved to Africa. We spent a long time in the industrial area, but I barely noticed the surroundings. I felt good and felt I could maintain that pace, which would have been a 5:30 finish. I was wrong. About the time I got to the bridge, around mile 15, I hit the wall and from then on I was mostly walking.
There went my hopes for a marathon PR. I finished in about 6:37, which is my second worst finish time. The worst was Grandma's, but at least there I could blame the heat. But hey, I finished and got some cool swag, including a finisher's shirt, a participants shirt, a medallion, and a way cool medal. This was the 40th anniversary and they went all out. I'll try to figure out what I'm doing wrong, training wise, and look forward to my next marathon.
