Race Report: Minnesota Brothers Trail Series, Day 4

Today was the fourth and final race in the Minnesota Brothers Trail Series.  Today, we were in Quarry Park and Nature Preserve, which is in Waite Park, MN.  This venue was closer to my hotel than any of the others.

This park contains several old rock quarries that are no longer in use.  Some of them have filled in with water and are now used as swimming holes.  I got the impression that most people come here to swim.  There wasn’t anybody swimming this morning, but this is what it looked like yesterday afternoon.

The course was relatively easy, but not as easy as yesterday’s course.  The trail surface was a mixture of crushed rock, clay and grass.  It was mostly flat, but there were a few undulations.

Besides going past one of the swimming holes, we also ran past this derrick, and some piles of rocks.

Today, we had our best weather of the series.  Temperatures stayed in the upper 60s for the first few hours of the race and only got into the mid-70s by the time I finished.

Today, we had to run 16 laps to complete a marathon.  I had some stiffness in my legs, so I needed one lap just to work into my pace.  I realized after one lap that I was already on a slower pace than yesterday, and I wasn’t likely so speed up.  It would have been tempting to try to run faster each day, but that’s a tall order.  When I realized that wasn’t a realistic goal, I decided to stay within my comfort zone.

For the first lap, the lighting was still dim.  I was wearing tinted lenses, so I had trouble seeing the trail clearly.  I had to strain to see the trail, but I could see that one section had a few roots.  Fortunately, they were big enough to be easy to see, and they were few enough that they were easy to avoid.  I managed to get through this race without tripping and falling.

For the second straight day, Tabatha was the runner going closest to my pace, so we ran together for the majority of the race.

I ate more solid food today.  Today’s hot entrees were brats and hot dogs. They were in buns, but cut into sections that weren’t too big to eat between laps.  I had two brat sections between laps and another one after finishing.  I also ate watermelon, chocolate cream pie, Swedish fish, and lefse roll-ups.  The lefse roll-ups were one of their Minnesota-themed snacks.  On other days, they had chicken wild rice soup and a tater tot hot dish.  (“Hot dish” is Minnesotan for casserole.)

I reached the halfway mark in about 2:29.  I was on pace to break five hours, as long as I didn’t slow down too much.  That was my only goal.

With about five laps left in the race, it started raining lightly.  The forecast included a chance of a passing thunderstorm, but this was just light rain.  It sprinkled on and off for the rest of the race, but it was never enough to get the trail muddy.

Kevin, who does most of the Mainly Marathons series, arranges plastic animals in different places along the route.  It was amusing to see how he kept rearranging some of the animals in the finish area.  After one lap, I saw a duck had toppled the T-Rex.  Later, I saw the T-Rex was back on its feet and had the duck in its mouth.  After another lap, a second duck helped topple the T-Rex again.  Then a bull joined into the attack.

With three laps to go, I could see I was still on pace to break five hours, but I stopped taking food breaks, just to make sure.  In my last lap, I picked up the pace as much as I could, to ensure I would run negative splits.  I finished in 4:54:09, running negative splits by four minutes.  For the third time in four days, I was the first person to finish the marathon.

After the race, I got two more pieces to add to my chain of medals.  One was for today’s race.  The other was for doing every race in the series.

Here’s what the whole chain looks like with the new pieces added.

There was a seven-day series that concluded the day before this one started.  Several runners did that series and then this one as well.  That’s eleven consecutive days of running a half marathon, marathon, or 50K.  They each received a special belt buckle.

Going into this series, I had only two goals.  I wanted to finish each race, and I wanted to avoid tripping on any rocks or roots.  I failed in the second goal, having two falls on the second day of the series.  Despite that, I’m happy with how I did in this series.  Trail running isn’t my strength, but my pacing was consistent, and I never needed to take walking breaks.  I didn’t feel like I was deteriorating from one day to the next.  I also finished the series with only a minimum of soreness in my legs.

Each day, I went to a different restaurant for post-race pizza.  Today, it was House of Pizza in Sartell.  Tonight, I'm going to a post-series banquet at The Pickled Loon. It would have been nice if everyone could attend the banquet, but some of the runners had to leave earlier to catch their flights home.

Everyone at the banquet got a free gift, and there were special awards for people who had notable achievements at Mainly Marathons races over the past year.  They also announced the schedule of races for next year.  The big news is that the Minnesota Brothers Trail Series will be expanded to six races, and the Heartland Series, Minnesota Brothers Trail Series, and Prairie Series will beheld consecutively.  That means there will be an opportunity to run marathons on 20 consecutive days.

Going into this series, there were six Minnesota Marathons I had not yet done.  After doing these four, I thought I only had two left.  Now there are going to be two more Minnesota races next year.  Running them all is truly proving to be a never-ending goal.

Race Statistics

Distance: 26.2 miles

Official Time:  4:54:09

Average Pace:  11:13

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  380

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  54

Race Report: Minnesota Brothers Trail Series, Day 3

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

Race Report: Minnesota Brothers Trail Series, Day 2

Today was day two of the Minnesota Brothers Trail Series.  The venue for today’s race was Mississippi River County Park, which is about 12 miles north of St. Cloud.  This park is on the west bank of the Mississippi, near a bend in the river.

We wear the same race bibs every day, so I didn’t have to allow extra time to pick up my race packet.  The drive time was longer, however, so I still had to get up pretty early.

I was so tired last night that I was able to get to sleep right after dinner.  I got a full night’s sleep, but woke up feeling dry.  Today was another hot humid day, so in addition to my usual pre-race breakfast of tea and pastry, I also drank a pink of water.

Like yesterday’s course, today’s course was mostly on grass, and you needed to wear lots of bug spray to keep the mosquitoes away.  We ran a longer out-and-back today, so we only had to run 12 laps to complete a marathon.

The park had a large parking lot and a covered picnic area, which we were able to use as the aid station.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that we had to run down a steep hill to get from the aid station to the trails.  That meant we had to run up that same hill at the end of every lap.  Other than that, the course was mostly flat.

Most of the course was next to the Mississippi River, so we often had views of the river.

We got a break on the weather.  A forecast thunderstorm never materialized.  Heavy rain would have made this course really muddy.  Instead, it was soft, but not sloppy.

While more than half of the course was grass, there were long sections over dirt.  It was clay that was just moist enough to be soft, but not muddy.  On average, it was less tiring to run on than yesterday’s course.  I didn’t feel like I was working harder, but my pace was faster than yesterday.

I walked part of the course yesterday, and didn’t notice any roots.  That led me to believe I didn’t need to worry about tripping.  As it turns out, the section I walked didn’t have roots, but the rest of the course did.  I didn’t realize how many there were until I tripped on one during my section lap.

The roots were easy to avoid – if you saw them.  It’s easy to see the ones that go across the trail, but I didn’t see this one sticking out of the dirt.

That sent me tumbling into the dirt.  Fortunately, the ground was soft.  The impact didn’t hurt, and I didn’t have any scrapes.  After that, I paid more attention to the roots.

Because of the longer laps, I didn’t have as many opportunities to drink.  Each time through the aid station, I forced myself to drink as much Gatorade as I could.  I didn’t eat much solid food, but it was more important to stay hydrated.

At the halfway point, I was already 10 minutes faster than yesterday’s pace.  In the second half, the heat and humidity forced me to slow down.  All morning, it was about three degrees warmer than yesterday.  As the temperature climbed, it began to take a toll on me.

We were right next to the river, so I was hopeful we would have a cooling breeze.  There was no wind at all.  Whenever I looked at the river, the water was as smooth as glass.

With about three laps to go, I finally persuaded myself to put some effort into picking up my pace.  Then I tripped on another root.  This one was a thin root going across the trail that only protruded about half an inch above the soil.  I caught it with the front of my right shoe.  That pulled the root out of the soil and snapped it in two.  It also sent me tumbling again.

I landed in an area where the trail was borderline muddy.  My clothes got dirty, and I was slow to get up, but the only injury was to my pride.  I tried to pay more attention to the roots, but I was having trouble with visibility.  The humidity was making my glasses fog up.

I pressed on and finished in 4:50:28.  I was a few minutes slower in the second half, but my time was 17 minutes faster than yesterday, in spite of the falls.  I attribute the faster time to an easier course.

After finishing, I added a new piece to my chain of medals.

For the second day in row, my clothes were so wet with sweat that I could wring them out.  For the second day in a row, my socks were so muddy that I didn’t know if there was any point in trying to wash them.  They may go straight into the trash.

I’m settling into a daily routine.  After each race, I refuel and get cleaned up.  Then I spend about 15 minutes in the whirlpool.  After showering and getting dressed, I drive out to the venue for the next race, and I walk a mile or two of the course.  Besides previewing the course, the walking keeps my legs from getting too stiff.  Later, I have pizza for dinner and try to get to sleep as early as possible.

Two down, two to go.

Race Statistics

Distance: 26.2 miles

Official Time:  4:50:28

Average Pace:  11:05

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  378

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  52

Race Report: Minnesota Brothers Trail Series, Day 1

Today was the first day of the Minnesota Brothers Trail Series.  Today’s race was in St. Cloud.  Our route was an out-and-back on the North Loop Trail near the St. Cloud Correctional Facility, a.k.a. the “Jail Trail.”   Each out-and-back was just over 1.3 miles, so we had to complete 20 of them to finish a marathon.  There was one aid station in the start/finish area.

We were running on a wide cross country ski trail through a densely wooded area.  The surface was mostly grass.

I was happy to see that there weren’t many trip hazards.  If you looked hard enough, you could find a few roots, but they weren’t thick enough to trip on.  They were also pretty easy to avoid.

The course had some gentle rolling hills, but it could have been much hillier.  The main reason our out-and-back was so short was to avoid the larger hills that you encounter if you continue farther along the trail.  I think everyone was OK with running extra laps in exchange for a less hilly course.

I went out to see the course yesterday afternoon.  If I stopped moving, even for a few seconds, I was swarmed by dozens of mosquitoes.  I got several mosquito bites yesterday, so I made sure I had enough bug spray for the race.

The race started at 5:30.  I needed to arrive early enough to pick up my race packet, so I set my alarm for 3:30.  I got to bed early and slept well for the first few hours.  Then I was tossing and turning for the rest of the night.  I think I slept for about four hours.  That’s OK for day one, but I’ll need to get more sleep the next few nights or lack of sleep will be an issue.

I left the hotel at 4:15.  I already knew the way, but I also knew parking was limited.  The temperature at the start was 67 degrees with humidity.  The forecast high was 88, but I expected to be done before it got into the 80s.

I needed to conserve energy for the next three days, so I ran at a fairly conservative pace.  Even still, I was surprised to see that the first two laps took me just over 30 minutes.  At that pace, I would take more than five hours to finish the race.  Running on grass always seems to slow me down.

The trail had one muddy patch.  To avoid walking through the mud, we had to go around on one side.  With everyone doing that, it was only a matter of time before that spot got muddy too.

During my third lap, I heard another runner say, “new course.”  I quickly discovered what he meant.  A tree had fallen, and it was blocking the trail.  It seemed surprising that a tree would fall when the weather was calm.  I would expect that to happen when there was lightning or strong winds.

Undeterred, some of the runners started breaking off enough branches to create an opening we could walk through.

The race directors live in this area, so one of them was able to go home and get his chainsaw.  Before long, he had cleared a wide enough opening that we could get through easily.

By the time I finished my tenth lap, I was getting surprisingly tired.  I still had ten laps to go, and it seemed like I had already been at it for a long time.  Even at a slow pace, I found running through the grass to be tiring.

For the first half of the race, I was just drinking Gatorade.  Later, I started eating some solid food.  I had two PBJs, a strawberry smoothie, and some birthday cake.

In the second half of the race, I could tell the sun was higher in the sky.  I occasionally saw bright sun beams through the trees.  I could also tell it was getting hotter.  I expected the second half to be slow and tiring.

To keep the mud patch from getting worse, several of the runners were picking up handfuls of loose grass and depositing them where we were walking through the mud.  With a dozen runners doing that every lap, it made a huge difference.  Soon, we could easily get through that section without sinking in the mud.

After about 12 laps, I slowed down a bit, so I could talk to another runner.  That made the laps seem to fly by.  Before I knew it, I only had four laps to go.  Then I sped up, so I could get them done.  Sweat was dripping into my eyes.  The salt made them sting, but I pressed on.

I finished in 5:07:37.  Because I picked up the pace in the last few laps, I had negative splits.  I was wrong about finishing before the temperature got into the 80s.  It was already 83 degrees when I finished.

Like other Mainly Marathon series, this one has medals that chain together.  The top and bottom pieces go to anyone who runs at least one race in the series.  We’ll add pieces each day for the individual races.  Because we were running on land that belongs to a state prison, today’s medal had a “prison break” theme.

I didn’t feel like eating much solid food, but I had a large glass of chocolate milk.  In the start/finish area, we were more exposed to the sun, but there was also a nice breeze.  I couldn’t believe how much I was sweating.  Even after standing around for 15 minutes, my shorts were still dripping with sweat.  Fortunately, I had a towel in the car, so I could avoid getting my car seat wet by sitting on the towel.

When I got back to my hotel, I had food in the refrigerator.  I drank two or three glasses of chocolate milk and a few mini scones.  I could wait until later to eat a more substantial meal.  My immediate concerns were rehydrating, replacing carbohydrates, and getting some protein.  Chocolate milk works for all three.

I took a warm bath to get cleaned up and then spent 15 minutes in the whirlpool.  For now, I’m going to see if I can get through this series without taking ice baths.

When results were posted, I learned that I was the first finisher in the marathon.  It's worth noting that there's no prize for first place, and most people aren't trying to compete. They're just trying to finish and conserving energy for the next day.  Still, technically, it's a "win."  I've won races before, but never in my home state of Minnesota.

Race Statistics

Distance: 26.2 miles

Official Time:  5:07:37

Average Pace:  11:44

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  377

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  51