Today was the third race of the Minnesota Brothers Trail
Series. Today’s race was held in Bend in
the River Regional Park, which is near Rice, MN. As you might guess, this park is next to a
bend in the Mississippi River. It’s
actually the same bend in the river that we were near yesterday. Today, we were running on the opposite bank
of the river.
This venue didn’t seem to have any mosquitoes, but when I visited
yesterday, the biting flies were all over me.
I’m using a lot of bug spray this week.
This course was more sun-exposed than the first two, so I also used more
sunblock. Between the sunblock, the bug
spray, and Aquaphor on areas that chafe, I felt like I was wearing three coats
of paint.
Today’s course was easier that the first two. The surface was gravel, and it was completely
flat. For the first time in this series,
I could run without worrying about tripping on a rock or root.
Each out-and-back was about 1.9 miles. To complete a marathon, I needed to run 14 laps. Having two more laps than yesterday meant I also had two more visits to the aid station. That made it easier to stay hydrated.
As I started running, I felt some soreness in my quads. At first, I could only run at a slow pace, so
I stayed near the back of the pack. It
took about half a mile for my legs to loosen up. Then I was able to run faster.
In my second lap, I started running with Tabatha, who was
doing the 50K race. We ran most of the
race together, while talking about races, training, and running goals. Tabatha’s pace was slightly faster than I
would’ve run on my own, but having someone to talk to made the laps pass
quickly. In small races, I seldom find
other runners who are going at the right pace.
In the first half of the race, our lap times were
consistently under 20 minutes. I reached
the halfway mark in about 2:16. In the
second half of the race, we slowed down.
Some of the extra time was due to longer stops at the aid station.
In addition to the usual snack foods, the aid station
sometimes has hot entrees. Every day is
different. Today, they had cheeseburgers
and vegan hot dogs. The cheeseburgers
smelled good, but I didn’t want to eat something that big during the race. I had a few small snack bars, but mostly, I
drank Gatorade.
The volunteer behind the food table usually asked us if we
needed anything. I usually asked him to
keep my glass filled with Gatorade. At
one point, I got tired of drinking Gatorade and asked him to fill my glass with
Coke and ice. By the time I finished my
next lap, I completely forgot about it.
When I saw Coke in my glass, it was a pleasant surprise. I didn’t need the caffeine. I just wanted to drink something different.
I was worried we would heat up as the sun got higher in the
sky, but that turned out not to be a problem.
It was mostly cloudy, so even though we were out in the open for most of
the race, I never really felt the heat of direct sunlight. On average, it was two or three degrees
cooler than yesterday. It was still hot,
and I was still sweating like crazy, but I didn’t wilt in the heat like
yesterday.
Out lap times in the second half were mostly slower than 20
minutes. With one lap to go, it wasn’t
clear if I would break 4:40. I went
ahead on my own, and ran that lap as fast as I could. That lap was significantly faster, and I
ended up finishing in 4:35:30. For the
second time in three days, I was the first person to finish the marathon.
After finishing, I finally ate a cheeseburger. When I got back to the hotel, I drank the
rest of my chocolate milk. As usual, I
spent some time in the whirlpool, but I expect to have sore legs tomorrow. So far, I’ve been running significantly
faster each day. I like that trend, but
I doubt if I can keep it going.
I added another piece to my chain of medals. I just have one more race to go.
Race Statistics
Distance: 26.2 miles
Official Time: 4:35:30
Average Pace: 10:30
Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:
379
Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:
53
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