Race Report: 2024 Xenia Avenue Marathon

On July 27, I ran the Xenia Avenue Marathon in Brooklyn Park, MN.  This is a relatively small race, sponsored by the Champlin Park High School Cross Country Running Booster Club.  I’ve done this race every year since its inception in 2020.  It’s close enough to home that I can sleep in my own bed.

Early packet pickup was available Friday afternoon.  I could’ve waited until Saturday morning to pick up my race packet, but doing packet pickup the day before made race morning less hectic.  It also gave me the opportunity to have dinner at Rocky Rococo, which is one of my favorite pizza places.

I had the good fortune to arrive at packet pickup while three friends were there.  We talked for about 30 minutes.  Then I joined two other friends for dinner at Rocky Rococo.

The race started Saturday morning at 6:30 at Orchard Trail Park, which is across the street from Champlin Park High School.  The parking lot for the park is small, but there was also parking available at the high school.

The course consisted of a 2.2 mile loop that we ran once, followed by a 4-8 mile loop that we ran five times.  Both loops started and finished in Orchard Trail Park.

The shorter loop was the only one that had us on city streets.  The longer loop was entirely on paved bike paths.

There were two aid stations.  One was at the start/finish.  The other was in a park that we went through twice during each of the longer laps.  That gave us 15 opportunities to drink during the race.

The temperature at the start was 72 degrees, and it warmed up quickly from there.  I expected it to get into the 80s by the time I finished, and the humidity was high as well.  It was too hot to run a fast time, so I planned to stay within my comfort zone.

I don’t normally drink anything right before a race.  I’ll have a cup of tea when I wake up, but I don’t usually drink anything else until after I start running.  Today, I made an exception.  I drank a 20 oz. bottle of Gatorade before starting the race.

We started by running around Orchard Trail Park.  Then we left the park to run south until we reached the Rush Creek Regional Trail.  This is a fairly busy bike path, so we needed to stay far enough to our right to make room for the occasional cyclist to pass.

In our first lap, we were only on the Rush Creek Regional Trail for a short distance before leaving that trail to run a loop on some city streets.  It was on this loop that we ran down Xenia Avenue.  After that, we got back on the bike path to return to Orchard Trail Park.

At the start of the race, I felt a light breeze.  I felt comfortable, but only for about a mile.  Then I started to feel the humidity.

My pace on that first lap was 9:13 per mile.  At that pace, it would take me more than four hours to finish the race, yet I was already finding the pace to be tiring.

In the past, I’ve worn a fuel belt for this race, so I could pick up a bottle at an aid station and bring it with me.  I didn’t do that today, so I was counting on drinking enough at each of the aid stations to keep from getting dehydrated.

When I reached the aid station in the start/finish area, a volunteer handed me a cup of Gatorade.  I was pleased to see that it was completely full.  I had to slow to a walk for a few seconds, so I could drink it all.

By now, I was already sweating profusely.  As I started my first lap of the longer loop, I slowed down a bit.  I wasn’t trying to stay on any particular pace.  I was paying attention to how I felt.  I wanted to find a pace that wouldn’t tire me out and wouldn’t cause me to overheat.

The longer loop started the same way as the shorter loop, but we didn’t leave the trail to run on city streets.  Instead, we continued west on the Rush Creek Regional Trail.  We ran through a tunnel under Douglas Drive and continued through Oak Grove Park.

When we reached the west end of the park, we did a short out-and-back segment.  Then we came back into the park and turned to run past the playground and picnic pavilions.  This is where we reached the secondary aid station.  I drank a cup of Gatorade, but it was only about half full.

Next, we ran a loop around a meadow on the south side of the park.  That loop brought us back into the park, where we went by the same aid station again.  I drank another cup of Gatorade.  Again, it was only half full.  I wasn’t sure if I was drinking enough, but I knew the cups at the aid station in the start/finish area would be full.

From there, we ran east along the Rush Creek Regional Trail until we got back to Orchard Trail Park.

By the end of that lap, my pace had stabilized.  I was averaging just under 10 minutes per mile.

The Rush Creek Regional Trail had lots of shade.  Other parts of the course were out in the open.  In the early laps, I enjoyed the open areas, because that’s were I could feel the breeze.  I needed that breeze to help counteract the high humidity.  As the race progressed, the sun got higher in the sky.  I still enjoyed the breeze when I felt it, but I also started to feel the sun.  Now, I had a greater appreciation for the shady sections.

Each time I came through Oak Grove Park, I saw a group of spectators holding up signs and cheering for a runner named Zach.  They always seemed to be cheering just as I ran by them.  About halfway through my second lap of the long loop, I slowed down to ask the runner behind me if he was Zach.  He was.

Zach told me that following me was helping him to stay on a consistent pace.  As we continued talking, I learned that this was Zach’s first marathon.  He was training for a 50K trail race, but his longest run before today was only 18 miles.

Up until this point, I didn’t have a goal for this race.  Now I had a mission.  I was going to run the rest of the race with Zach and make sure he finished the race.  Going from 18 miles to 26.2 is a big step up.  Doing it in hot, humid conditions would make it even tougher.  I knew Zach was in for some tough miles at the end of the race, and I didn’t want him to have to suffer through those miles by himself.

At this point, we had only run about 10 miles, and we were both feeling fairly comfortable with our current pace.

One of the things I could do to make the miles pass more easily was to carry on a conversation.  I went into story-telling mode.

We finished that lap and started the next one still feeling good.  We were almost half done with the race.  That I got a split from my watch, and I saw that we sped up to 9:33 in our 13th mile.

When I’m talking, I have a tendency to speed up without realizing it.  I told Zach that we were starting to go too fast, and I slowed down to our previous pace.  At this point, Zach was feeling good enough that he didn’t realize we sped up until I said something.

We were in our third of five laps of the longer loop.  The rest of that loop went OK, but we were both noticing the sun more.

As we neared the end of that lap, Zach told me he needed to make a bathroom stop when we got back to the start/finish area.  I walked until Zach caught up to me.

After walking for a couple minutes, I lost my sense of pace.  I told Zach he should run at whatever pace felt comfortable and I would just keep up with him.  We slowed down a little at first, but not as much as I thought we would.  Then we sped up for a mile.  Then we slowed down again.  On average, our pace for that lap wasn’t too different than before.

Zach was starting to feel hot.  As we neared the end of our fourth long loop, I suggested he pour some water over his head.  That helped.  He had some tight muscles, so he also paused briefly to stretch.  Then we started out last lap.

Earlier in the race, I asked Zach if he had a goal for today.  He said his goals were finishing and not walking.  I did my best to convince him that walking was OK.  The important thing was to keep moving forward.

Zach was now ready to take a walking break.  We were in a sunny area, so I suggested we keep running until we reached the shade and then walk.  Zach liked that idea.

We walked through the next shady section.  When we reached a sunny patch, we resumed running.

When we got back into Oak Grove Park, Zach wasn’t feeling well.  We walked for a long time.  I asked him a few questions to determine if Zach was experiencing symptoms of heat stress.  He wasn’t at all short of breath, but he was feeling slightly nauseous.  Then he said he might need to take a break.

I wasn’t sure what to say.  On one hand, I thought walking was better than stopping.  If he kept making forward progress, even slowly, he would eventually finish.  On the other hand, I didn’t want to push him too hard.  Before I said anything, Zach decided on his own that he should keep walking.

When I’m struggling in a race, I employ a lot of psychological tricks to keep myself going.  One of my favorites is to divide the course into short segments and focus on one segment at a time.

We were in our last lap, so we were running each segment for the last time.  Knowing that helps.  I pointed out when we were starting the out-and-back for the last time.  I also pointed out when we were done with it for the last time.  The next segment was getting to the aid station in Oak Grove Park.

By now, Zach was feeling a little bit better.  He wasn’t as hot, so he didn’t feel the need to pour any more water over his head.

Just past the aid station, we saw Zach’s family, and they asked him how he was doing.  He explained that the heat was getting to him, and they all walked with us going around the meadow on the south side of the park.

That loop was about a mile.  Talking with his family helped Zach to get through it.  By the time we got back to Oak Grove Park, I could see a difference in our pace.  We were still walking, but we were walking at a faster pace now.

When we got back to the aid station in the park for the last time, Zach was ready to run the rest of the race.  We had less than two miles to go.

We ran the rest of the way, but it was rather slow.  We finished the race together in a time of 4:49:31.

This is the third time this year that I had the opportunity to help someone finish their first marathon.  The last lap was slow, but the important thing was to make sure Zach finished.  His family was there to meet him, and his father thanked me for being Zach’s mentor.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:49:31

Average Pace:  11:03 per mile

First Half:  2:08:04

Second Half:  2:41:27

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  523

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  103

Race Report: Summer Camp Series, Day 5

Today was the final day of the Summer Camp Series.  Since I also ran the last race of the Heartland Series, it was my sixth consecutive day running a marathon.

Our race venue was Quarry Park and Nature Preserve in Waite Park, MN.  I’ve run at least 14 marathons in this park.  There’s a network of gravel trails in the park, and Mainly Marathons experimented with at least six different routes before settling on the current route.  This route was the most popular, mostly because it’s the least hilly.  It also has the most changes in scenery.

Today was by far the coolest day of the series.  It was 55 degrees at the start, and it was about 70 when I finished.

The last day of this series is the day Mainly Marathons recognizes people who have achieved “Loony Legend” status during the past year.  To become a Loony Legend, you need to do at least 100 Mainly Marathon long races (half marathon, marathon, or 50K), and you need to do every complete series at least once.  Today there were three new Loony Legends, in addition to several people who reached other lifetime milestones.

With so many people reaching milestones, the pre-race announcements took about 30 minutes.  Not realizing how long we would be standing around, I had taken off my warm-up layers before the announcements started.  By the time we were ready to start running, my legs were getting cold.

The length of our out-and-back route was the same as yesterday.  To complete a marathon, I needed to run 14 laps.  This was at least my fifth marathon on this route, so it’s quite familiar to me.

The start finish area was in the southeast corner of the parking lot.  From there, we ran past the main entrance to the park and continued past a picnic shelter to enter a trail from the eastern end of the parking lot.

This trail took us through the woods and over a small berm I call the “speed bump.”  On the way out, it’s about a five-foot rise.  Coming back, it’s a ten-foot rise, and I usually walked it.

This trail brought us into a clearing, where there’s a floating bridge over a marsh.

The water was higher than usual, so the bridge was a bit bouncy.  If you were the only one crossing it, it was somewhat stable.  When several people were on it at the same time, you could feel the sections rising and falling.  I always had to slow down on the bridge.

After crossing the bridge, we got back onto the trail, which brought us up to Quarry #4.  This is one of the old granite quarries that has been transformed into a swimming hole.  At one end, there’s a dock and a picnic shelter.  At the opposite end, people dive in off the cliffs.

On the opposite side of the trail, there’s a pond where people can fish for trout.

We continued past the quarry until we were almost to the eastern edge of the park.  Then we turned and headed south along the east side of the park.

Just before the turnaround, we went around a slight bend and up a small hill.  Then we turned around and came back.

In the first lap, I needed to do continuous running, so my legs could warm up.  That gave me an opportunity to talk with Chris, who was usually one of the faster runners.  I waited until my second lap to take pictures.

photo credit: Kevin Brosi

In my second lap, I was stopping frequently to take pictures with my phone.  Between pictures, I tried to run fast enough take make up for the lost time.  I didn’t want to carry my phone for the whole race, so after that lap, I made a detour to my car so I could put my phone away.  Since I was stopping already, I also used the bathroom.

In my third lap, I had to slow down a little.  I wasn’t starting any faster than I did on other days, but the pace was already getting to be tiring.

The last day of a series is hot dog day.  There were a few different kinds of hot dogs at the aid station.  They were cut in half to make the portions manageable for eating during the race.  Often, I’ll wait until after the race to eat solid food, and then they’ll be out.  Today, I didn’t wait.  After my third lap, I paused at the aid station long enough to have a hot dog that had wild rice in it.

For the next few laps, I was running everywhere except the “speed bump,” but my pace was much slower than it was the other days.  After six laps, I realized that I would need to run the next lap in 20 minutes to reach the halfway point on pace for a five-hour finish.

In the next lap, I tried hard to pick up the pace, but I couldn’t do it.  After seven laps, I was already more than a minute behind schedule.  To break five hours, I would need to be more than two minutes faster in the second half.  That wasn’t going to happen.  I couldn’t even sustain my current effort.  I was running out of gas.  I reluctantly gave up on my goal of breaking five hours.  Before leaving the aid station, I had another hot dog.  This one had cheddar cheese.

For the next lap or two, I eased up in my effort.  I was still running everywhere except the “speed bump,” but my pace was now about a minute per mile slower.  After that, even my slower pace was starting to take quite a bit of effort.  I was going slower, but it was still too tiring.

I was slowing down, but most of the other runners were starting to do a substantial amount of walking.  The only runner who wasn’t slowing down was Tom.

Halfway through the race, I commented to Tom that he was running strong.  He said he was only going to keep up that pace for the first three hours.  Later, when I was in my 9th lap, I saw that Tom was still running.  He was on his way back as I was still on my way out.  As we passed, I said, “No pressure, but you’re winning the race.”  Then I looked at my watch.  It was just past the three-hour mark, which was when Tom was going to slow down.

In my next lap, I didn’t get as far before I saw Tom.  His lead was bigger now.  He was about 10 minutes ahead of me.

For one lap, I tried hard to pick up my pace.  I wanted to see if I could cut into Tom’s lead.  I did manage to speed up, but I didn’t gain any ground.  With three laps to go, I realized there was no way I could catch Tom by the end of the race, so I stopped trying.

Besides hot dogs, the aid station also had brats.  Before starting my 12th lap, I had a brat.

I couldn’t go very fast, but I was still running everywhere except the “speed bump,” which always forced me to slow to a walk.  I was tired, but I wanted to get done.

In lap 13, I was almost to the turnaround, when I saw Chris coming back from the turn.  He asked me where I was (i.e. which lap I was in).  I told him I had one more to go.  Chris was still in his 12th lap.

When I finished that lap, Chris was still in the start/finish area.  I told him I wanted to run together for the next lap.  He was planning to take walking breaks, but I was fine with that.  It was only one lap, and I no longer had any goals other than finishing.

I ran that lap with Chris, and I eventually finished in 5:12:43.  For the entire second half of the race, I was discouraged with my pace.  I’ve run this same course several times, and it’s never taken me five hours to finish – not even on the last day of a 20-day series.

This course is somewhat more tiring than the other ones, but it’s not that much more tiring.  The problem today was that I ran way too fast yesterday, and I had nothing left in the tank.  Do you know how it feels when you hit the wall with six miles to go?  I felt that way with more than 10 miles to go.  I was struggling just to keep moving.

By the time I finished, Tom had already left.  I came in second, but it was a distant second.  It was the fourth straight day that I had a second-place finish.

Today’s medal was a loon, which is Minnesota’s state bird.  The loon is also the logo of Mainly Marathons.  In addition to this medal, I received an additional medal for competing the entire Summer Camp Series.

Here’s what the entire chain looks like, with the addition of today’s medals.

The race is over, but there are still post-race festivities tonight.  Mainly Marathons always holds their annual party after the last race of the Summer Camp Series.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  5:12:43

Average Pace:  11:56

First Half:  2:31:04

Second Half:  2:41:39

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  522

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  102

Race Report: Summer Camp Series, Day 4

Today was day four of the Summer Camp Series.  I don’t usually do the whole Summer Camp series, but I’ve done the fourth race of the series every year.

Today we were back on smooth pavement.  Our race venue was at River Bluffs Regional Park, which is in St. Cloud.  We were just a couple miles south from Beaver Islands, where we ran on Day one.  This trail was an extension of the Beaver Island trail.

The aid station was set up in the parking lot, so there wasn’t enough room for more than a few cars to park there.  There were volunteers to direct us to the closest street parking.  I knew how limited the parking was, so I arrived an hours early to get a close parking spot.

The weather was a little cooler this morning, and we didn’t have any rain.  It was 60 degrees at the start, and it only got into the low 70s by the time I finished.  That’s about the best you can hope for in the summer.

Our course was an out-and-back that was a little less than a mile each way.  To complete a marathon, we needed to run 14 laps.

The start/finish area was on higher ground than most of the course.  Early in each lap, we ran down a hill.  Coming back, we had to run up that same hill.  I always enjoyed running it in the downhill direction, but coming back up was tiring.

In my first lap, I was taking pictures, but I was having a problem with my camera.  That caused me to lose some time, so I fell way behind the other runners.  After that, I was by myself.  I was well behind the people who were doing continuous running, but I was well ahead of the people who were walking or doing a run/walk mix.  The worst part is that only three of my pictures turned out.

In my second lap, I ran the whole way, but then I had to make a bathroom stop.  It wasn’t until my third lap that I had any hope of gradually catching up to some of the other runners who were ahead of me.

As I was nearing the end of my fifth lap, I saw Tim just starting his sixth lap.  I was hopeful I could catch up to him, but I had to pause at the aid station long enough to refill my bottle.  That caused me to fall farther behind.

During the next lap, I did catch up to Tim, but only because he was walking, so he could talk to another runner.  Tim usually starts fast, but he eventually starts taking walking breaks.  Now that he was walking, I missed my chance to run with him for a lap.

At least four of the faster runners were doing the half marathon, and they ran the whole way.  I never caught up to any of them.  That left two faster runners who were doing the marathon.  I passed one when he started taking walking breaks.  The other was Mike, who kept getting farther and farther ahead.  There was nobody else still running who was going my pace, so I had to run the whole race by myself.

Through my first seven laps, I was averaging just under 20 minutes per lap.  That put me on pace to finish in 4:40.  My only goal at the start of the day was to break five hours, so I had room to slow down in the second half.

Running up the hill was tiring, but I forced myself to do it for the first half of the race.  Starting with my eighth lap, I gave myself permission to walk up the hill.

Walking the hill was a game-changer.  Before, the hill was the most tiring part of the lap.  Now it was my rest break.  I actually looked forward to the hill.  Getting a rest on the hill made it easier to run the rest of the lap.

There was another advantage to walking the hill.  It kept me from getting too hot.  Most of the course was out in the open, but there was a row of trees next to the trail.  In the morning hours, those trees provided shade.  The hill was in the middle of a meadow, where there was no shade.  Running up the hill under the late morning sun would’ve caused me to overheat.

I expected my laps to be slower after I started walking the hill, but they weren’t.  I was still finishing laps in less than 20 minutes.  I wasn’t sure how long that would last.  I kept up that pace for four more laps, but I expected to slow down at some point.

During my 12th lap, I ran a mile in 9:39.  Before that, I was never faster than 10 minutes.  That was in a mile that was net downhill, but it made me realize I could run negative splits.  I wasn’t as fast in the next uphill mile, but in my next downhill mile, I sped up to 9:35.

At this point I had just over two miles to go.  Even if I slacked off a bit, I would still run negative splits.

As I started my last lap, I saw Mike already finishing his last lap.  I didn’t push quite as hard in that lap, but I still ran negative splits by more than three minutes.  I finished in 4:33:21.  It was my fastest race of the series by six minutes.  I hope I won’t regret that tomorrow.

Today I got a walleye medal, to go with the lady slipper, monarch, and morel mushrooms.  Tomorrow, I’ll get the last two pieces to complete the chain.

Today’s hot food at the aid station was tacos.  Before leaving the finish area I finished my Gatorade, ate a taco, and drank a glass of chocolate milk.

I’m worried that I overdid it today, and I’ll either be sore or tired tomorrow.  I can’t do much now to prevent fatigue, but I can do something about soreness.  As soon as I got back to the hotel, I put ice packs on both legs to minimize soreness in my quads.  While I was at it, I also iced my left heel.  It didn’t bother me today, but it’s still an area of concern.

I just have one race left.  Hopefully, I still have some gas in the tank.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:33:21

Average Pace:  10:26 per mile

First Half:  2:18:19

Second Half:  2:15:02

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  521

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  101

Race Report: Summer Camp Series, Day 3

Today was the third race of the Summer Camp Series.  Today’s race was at Warner Lake County Park, which is near Clearwater, MN.

We seem to be alternating between hot days and rainy days.  Today was a rainy one.  It started raining a few minutes before the start of the race.  The good news is that the aid station was set up in the park pavilion, so the food tables and bag drop area were always under a roof.

During pre-race announcements, they recognize runners who are reaching any kind of lifetime milestone.  Today, I was one of the runners hitting a milestone.  This was my 100th marathon or ultra in Minnesota.

photo credit: Elizabeth Carrie

photo credit: Elizabeth Carrie

My last three races were all on paved trails.  This course had a mixture of surfaces.  The majority was either gravel or packed dirt, but there was also a wooden bridge and two short segments of pavement.  The dirt trail had some roots, so I had to watch my step.

The length of our out-and-back route was the same as yesterday’s race.  It was about 0.82 miles in each direction.  To complete a marathon, I had to run 16 laps.

It was sprinkling when we started, but I was expecting heavier rain.  I started the race with a plastic rain poncho.  I was comfortable for about half a mile, but then I started getting hot.  It was still only sprinkling when I finished my first lap, so I took off the poncho.

The rain poncho forced me to go slow in the first lap, so I wouldn’t overheat.  Without it, I was able to pick up my pace.  During my second lap, I caught up to Tim.  Then I was able to run with him for about a lap.

The rain stopped during my second lap, but it started up again during my third lap.  Thankfully, it never rained hard.  It was just sprinkling.

At some point, I started to notice some discomfort on the back of my left heel.  I felt the same thing during Saturday’s race.  Both times, I was running with wet shoes.  I started to wonder if that had something to do with it.

To make the laps seem to pass quickly, I broke them into short segments.  Then I could focus on one segment at a time.  Each one was short, so I never felt like I had to run that far.

Each lap started out on an asphalt path that led from the pavilion to a dock.  We were on that path only briefly before turning onto a gravel path.  The first section of gravel led to the boat launch.  Near the boat launch, we briefly ran across pavement again.

Next, we ran through a gate and started another gravel section.  This one took us past a building and to the bridge.  After crossing the bridge, we were on the dirt section.

I also broke up the dirt section.  First, I had to get through the section where most of the roots were.  Then I looked for a yellow traffic cone.  This cone was the turnaround point for the 5K and 10K races.  After the yellow cone, I knew there was a purple cone just around the next bend.  That was the turnaround point for the last lap of the 50K race.  As soon as I reached the purple cone, I was within sight of the red cone.  That was the turnaround for the marathon.  After turning around, I ran all the same segments in reverse.

On the section of course that was dirt, I had to slow down to a cautious pace, so I could be careful to avoid the roots.  There weren’t any roots on the gravel sections, so there I could speed up without fear of tripping.  The dividing line was the bridge.  I always slowed down when I started the dirt section, but I would start pushing the pace as soon as I crossed the bridge and got back onto the gravel.

By my fifth lap, I started to notice muddy patches on the dirt trail.  Now, in addition to watching out for the roots, I also had to watch out for slick spots.

Halfway through my sixth lap, I felt a sting on the back of my neck.  I reached back and grabbed a biting fly that was still on my neck.  I had applied bug spray before the race, but the rain must have rinsed it away.

By the time I started my seventh lap, the rain was stopping.  I heard another runner say that a period of heavy rain was going to start in about an hour.  Thankfully, that forecast was wrong.  We were done with the rain.  It would take another hour, however, for the muddy patches to dry out.

At the end of my seventh lap, I needed to make a bathroom stop.  There was a permanent building with pit toilets, but it wasn’t right next to the course.  Making a bathroom stop meant taking a short detour off the course.  It took extra time, but making a stop was unavoidable.

After eight laps, I was half done.  I was on pace in finish in about 4:40.  My only goal at this point was to finish in less than five hours, so I had room to slow down in the second half.

For the first half of the race, I was noticing about six runners who were going at a faster pace.  As I started the second half, I didn’t see them anymore.  It seemed like they must all have been doing the half marathon.  I couldn’t be sure, but I started to wonder if I was the fastest runner doing the marathon.  The only other time I ran a marathon on this course, I won the race.  With that in mind, I wanted to see if I could do it again.  I didn’t slow down.  I continued to put some effort into my pace when I was on the part of the course with no roots.

I was in my 10th lap when I had my first scare of the race.  I was focused on a cluster of roots that I recognized when I caught my foot on a root that I didn’t see.  I stumbled briefly, but I was able to keep from falling.  That was a reminder that I needed to be extra careful in the remaining laps.  As I got fatigued, I was more prone to tripping.

When I finished that lap, I had about 10 miles to go, but I didn’t look at it that way.  I occasionally noticed how fast I ran each mile, but I paid no attention to how many miles I had completed.  Instead, I only kept track of laps.  At this point, I needed to run six more laps.

Mainly Marathons has a unique method to help you remember your lap count.  At the aid station, there’s a table covered with rubber bands.  Each time you finish a lap, you grab a rubber band and put it around your wrist.  If you ever forget how many laps you’ve run, you can count the rubber bands.

When you finish your last lap, you don’t need to grab a rubber band.  Instead, you ring a bell to let the timekeeper know to record your finish time.

As I started my 11th lap, what I was telling myself is that I needed five more rubbers bands plus a bell.

When I got back to the area where I tripped before, I recognized the cluster of roots that I had seen just before I tripped.  Near them, I saw another root that I had never noticed before.  It was obvious that this root, and the ground around it, had been disturbed recently.  That’s the root I had tripped on.  It wouldn’t happen again.

Today was the only day that it never got hot.  Maybe it got hot for the slowest runners, but it wasn’t hot while I was running.  The sun came out briefly, but then it got cloudy again, and there was a strong breeze.  I didn’t feel the breeze when I was running through the forest, but whenever I came into a clearing by to the lake, it felt nice and cool.

With two laps to go, I looked at my watch.  I must have made a mental arithmetic error, because I thought my pace was slower than it really was.  I wanted to beat my time from Saturday, but I thought I needed to pick up my pace.  I put much more effort into my next lap.

As I was crossing the bridge, the front of my left shoe caught the crack between two boards.  I didn’t lose my balance, but it was awkward enough to momentarily scare me.  This is why I’m always wary of running on wooden bridges or boardwalks.  As I entered the section with roots again, I was more vigilant than ever.

A few minutes later, a mosquito flew into my left eye.  I don’t think it bit me, but it was still painful.  I wanted to rub my eye to get it out, but I was in an area with roots.  I didn’t dare take my attention off the trail for even a moment.  My eye bothered me for the rest of that lap, but it felt OK later.

Despite those distractions, my 11th lap was my fastest of the race.  As I started my last lap, I wanted to see if I could break 4:40.  If I did, it would not only be my fastest race of this series, but I would also run negative splits.

During my last lap, as I was racing toward the bridge, I noticed the back of my left heel again.  It hurt more now.  It finally occurred to me why it was more likely to flare up today.  This course has lots of uneven footing on the dirt section.  When your ankle is turning in unusual ways, it puts more stress on your Achilles tendons.  I would have to deal with that after the race.

I just had to navigate the dirt section safely one more time.  When I got back across the bridge for the last time, I was home free.

I finished the lap and rang the bell.  My time was 4:39:11.  I thought I won the race, but it turns out there was one runner who finished ahead of me.  I did, however, run negative splits.

I earned another medal to add to my chain.  Today’s medal depicts morel mushrooms.

After getting back to the hotel, it was time to refuel, take a hot bath, stretch, and ice my inflamed Achilles tendon.  It’s all familiar.  Four years ago, I was doing this stuff for 20 straight days, and I had more sore spots then.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:39:11

Average Pace:  10:39 per mile

First Half:  2:20:16

Second Half:  2:18:55

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  520

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  100

Race Report: Summer Camp Series, Day 2

On July 14, I ran the second race of the Mainly Marathons Summer Camp Series.  For me, it was the third day of six on a row, since I also ran the last race of the Heartland Series.

I haven’t been getting enough sleep.  Yesterday, I had an early dinner and made a point of getting to bed early.  I slept well for a few hours, but then a thunderstorm woke me up.  It was a violent storm, and the thunder was too loud for me to get back to sleep.  Even after the storm ended, it was at least an hour before I finally got back to sleep.

The good news is that the thunderstorm came during the night and not during the race.  The weather today was similar to Friday.  It was 65 degrees at the start, and it gradually warmed up to about 80 by the time I finished.  There was one difference, however.  The humidity was much higher today.

Today’s race was in Sauk Rapids.  Our start/finish area was in a small parking lot near the boat launch at Sauk Rapids Municipal Park.  Our course was a paved trail near the Mississippi River.  Our laps were shorter today, so we had to run 16 laps to complete a marathon.

I saw a friend in the start area who isn’t doing the series, but decided to drive up to run today’s race.  I was talking to Karen before the race, and we both started the race at the same pace.

Karen and I both had similar goals.  Neither of us wanted to go too fast, but we didn’t want to take longer than five hours.  We ended up running the whole race together, while talking the whole time.

Yesterday, I felt stiff at the beginning of the race.  Today, I had an easier time getting started.  Karen was letting me set the pace, and I started a little faster today than I did either of the last two days.  For the first five or six laps, I was averaging about 10:15 per mile.

It was a little difficult to know for sure what our pace was, because our watches were telling us different things.  Karen’s watch was consistently giving a longer distance than we actually ran.  My watch was reading a shorter distance.  As a result, we were seeing different splits from our watches, even though we were running at the same pace.  By the end of the race, our watches were half a mile apart.

I usually run by myself.  Having someone to talk to was a welcome distraction.  It made the laps seem to pass quickly.  After our first lap, I forget to stop and drink some Gatorade.  I was careful after that to drink after every lap.  Since there were more laps today, I had more opportunities to drink.

Because of the overnight storm, there were a couple of puddles on the course.  In our first lap, we ran around on the grass.  By our second lap, one of them was already drying up, and we could run through it without getting our shoes wet.  The other puddle was larger, and we had no choice but to go around it, even though it meant briefly running on mud.

We knew we were going kind of fast, but it seemed pretty easy in the early laps.  I have a tendency to speed up when I’m talking to someone.  After about five laps, we eased up a little.

photo credit: Kevin Brosi

After eight laps, we were half done.  We were on pace for 4:30, but we both knew we would need to slow it down in the second half.  We could afford to slow down quite a bit and still keep our times under five hours.  That’s fortunate, since the heat and humidity started to wear on us in the second half of the race.

I started to feel like my throat was constantly dry, even though I was drinking more and more after each lap.  Karen was monitoring her heart rate, and sometimes needed to take a short walking break if it got too high.

After 12 laps, we were three quarters done.  To be on pace for a five-hour finish, we needed to run the first 12 laps in 3:45.  We finished our 12th lap in 3:28. so we were 17 minutes ahead of schedule.  That gave us room to not only slow down, but also take more walking breaks.  By the last two laps, we were taking two or three short walking breaks per lap.

My left heel, which bothered me yesterday, felt fine today.  That was a pleasant surprise.  The ice/heat treatment I did yesterday was effective.

There was a young guy named Antoine who was running his first marathon.  From time to time we noticed him.  He seemed to be handling his first marathon well, despite the increasingly difficult conditions.  Halfway through our last lap, we asked him what lap he was on.  He was also on his last lap.

With half a lap to go, Antoine was running just ahead of us.  I was tempted to catch up to him, so we could accompany him to the finish line.  We didn’t, because he was speeding up, and we didn’t want to work that hard.

We finished at our own pace.  When we finished, we discovered that Antoine had won the race.  Neither of us was paying enough attention to realize that there weren’t any faster runners.  Karen and I tied for second place, finishing in 4:51:23.

I got another piece to add to my chain of medals.  Today’s medal was a monarch butterfly.

Today’s race went surprisingly well.  In my previous two races, I felt tired, even going at a slow pace.  Today, I had more energy, in spite of the lack of sleep.

After the race, I finished my Gatorade.  Then I ate a few pickle slices.  One of the volunteers asked me if I wanted some pickle juice.  When you’ve been sweating profusely, drinking pickle juice is an easy way to quickly replace salt.  I drank a glass of pickle juice and then drank a glass of chocolate milk.

When we were both done snacking and rehydrating, we waited for a few minutes to see another friend, who was about to finish a lap.  Then we started walking to our cars.  Before we got there, we each realized we had forgotten something, so we walked back to the finish area.

Antoine was still there, sitting on a bench.  I asked him how he felt.  He said, “Not good.”  Then he said he felt like throwing up.  Karen was concerned that he might be hyponatremic.  She and the volunteers encouraged Antoine to eat or drink something with salt.  Then he threw up, which made us more concerned.

By the time we left, he seemed to be feeling better.  By now, everyone in the finish area knew they should keep an eye on him.  By the time I left to drive back to the hotel, I saw that Antoine was up and around, and he was walking back to his car.

I brought a bathroom scale from home, so I could weigh myself before and after each race.  When I got back to the hotel, I weighed myself.  I was both surprised and relieved to see that I didn’t lose any weight.  I still felt thirsty, so I drank two glasses of chocolate milk.

I didn’t feel the need to do another ice/heat treatment for my heel, but I did do a number of stretches after getting cleaned up.  I still felt thirsty, so I’ve been continuing to drink water.

I’ve run three marathons in three days, and I’ve got three more to go.  After yesterday’s race, I was feeling pessimistic.  Today, I feel better.  I need to get more sleep though.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:51:23

Average Pace:  11:07 per mile

First Half:  2:15:06

Second Half:  2:36:17

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  519

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  99

Race Report: Summer Camp Series, Day 1

On July 13, I ran the first race of the Mainly Marathons Summer Camp Series.  This is a series of marathons on five consecutive days.  All of the races are within 15 miles of St. Cloud, MN.

Yesterday, I ran the last race of the Heartland Series, which was also in St. Cloud.  For me, today was the second of six consecutive days running marathons.

All of the Summer Camp Races are on different trails.  Today’s race was originally going to take place in Bend in the River Regional Park.  Because of construction in that park, today race was moved to the Beaver Islands Trail.  That’s the same place where the last race of the Heartland Series was held.

I was able to pick up my race packet for today’s race right after finishing yesterday’s race.  As a result, I didn’t have to get to the race venue early.  I’ll wear the same number for the whole series, so I also won’t need to get there early on any of the other days.

The race started at 6:00, so I still had to get up early.  That’s going to be one of the challenges of this series.  It’s no big deal to get up early for one race.  You can easily shake off one night without enough sleep.  After a few days, however, it can take a toll on you.  I need to adjust my sleep schedule, so I go to bed early enough to get a full night’s sleep.  I did better last night, but I still didn’t get a full night’s sleep.

Yesterday, I learned that there are lots of mosquitoes near the river.  Today, I applied bug spray liberally before leaving for the race.

There’s lots of road construction in St. Cloud.  I had to take a different route to the race today, because the road I used yesterday is closed now.

It was 72 degrees at the start of the race.  That’s several degrees warmer than it was yesterday, so I was expecting this to be a hot race.

I heard a few other runners expressing concern about a possible storm.  The forecast I saw showed a chance of a passing shower, but it didn’t look like anything long-lasting.  I wasn’t too concerned.  On a hot day, rain might feel good, as long as it didn’t last too long, and it wasn’t a downpour.

I didn’t have any sore muscles, but as I started running, I felt stiff.  I gradually worked into my pace.  After a few minutes, the stiffness went away.

I started the race at the same pace that I started yesterday.  I recognized several of the other runners.  A group of runners was starting at the same pace I did, so I ran most of the first lap with a few friends.

Early in my second lap, I heard some thunder.  A few minutes later, I started to feel drops.  It was raining, but most of the course was under a canopy of trees, so very little of the rain was getting through.

A short time later, I saw a flash.  Because of the trees, I couldn’t see where it came from.  A few seconds later, I heard a loud crack of thunder.

By the middle of that lap, I was feeling more rain.  It seemed like just a light sprinkling, but I wouldn’t know for sure until I finished the lap and came out into a clearing.

As I continued running, I saw another flash.  I started counting until I heard the thunder.  It came only two seconds later, so the lightning was close.

The start/finish area was in a parking lot, so there wasn’t any shelter from the rain.  When I got there, it was only raining lightly.  I was only a few minutes into my third lap when the rain stopped.  It only lasted for about 30 minutes.

As I was finishing my third lap, I felt some minor pain on the back of my left heel.  After yesterday’s race, my left Achilles tendon felt tight.  It felt better this morning, but the pain I felt in my heel is something I’ve experienced before.  It’s most likely a minor case of Achilles tendonitis at the insertion point.

I thought the rain was done, but as I started my fourth lap, I started to feel drops again.  This time, the rain lasted longer, and it was only a matter of time before my shoes were soaked.  For the rest of the race, I had to run in heavy wet shoes.

Toward the end of that lap, I saw a brighter flash of light.  There was a longer delay before the thunder, so it seemed like the lightning was farther away now.  The rain, however, was getting heavier.

Running through the parking lot at the end of that lap, I felt pain on the back in my heel again.  It was more noticeable this time.  Running in the rain was causing my calves to tighten up.  Running with heavy shoes also didn’t help.  It was a concern, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it until after the race.

Now that my shoes were wet, my pace slowed down.  I was putting in about the same amount of effort, but I wasn’t running as efficiently.  For the first three laps, I was averaging about 10:30 per mile.  In the next three laps, my pace was closer to 10:45.

At the halfway point, I was about three minutes faster than yesterday.  My only goal was to break five hours.  Ideally, I would’ve slowed down or started taking walking breaks, but I needed to keep running with the same effort to keep from getting cold.  Other runners were putting on rain ponchos, so they wouldn’t get cold in the rain.  I didn’t bring one, so I could only keep warm by running.

The rain persisted through the seventh lap.  Then it seemed like it was stopping.  It was only a matter of time, however, before I started feeling drops again.  For the next hour, the rain was starting and stopping, but it was just light sprinkles now.

At the end of my eighth lap, I needed to make a bathroom stop.  I took my time, because I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t need to stop again later.  When I resumed running, my legs were stiff.  After that, I couldn’t get back into the same rhythm.

With four laps to go, I was running much slower.  At this point, I just needed to drag myself through the remaining laps.

The course was only 1.1 miles each way, but it always seemed longer.  In particular, it always seemed to take longer than I expected to reach the turnaround point.  It seemed more like 1.5 miles.

The course was a bit deceptive.  It had a slight bend it to.  Looking ahead, it always looked like you were going straight, but you could never see any farther than a quarter mile.  Because of that, I could never see the turnaround point until I was almost there.

I managed to get through three more laps.  Now, I just had one lap to go.  At the pace I had been running recently, it was unclear whether I would be faster or slower than yesterday’s time.  I didn’t want to have a slower finish time after being faster at the half.  As I started my last lap, I lit a fire under myself to pick up the pace.

For the first time since my bathroom stop, I managed to shake off the stiffness and run faster.  I had a good pace getting to the turnaround.  Now I just had a little more than a mile to go.

I could gauge my progress by looking for intermediate landmarks.  When I passed the yellow cone that was used as a turnaround point for the 5K and 10K races, I knew I had less than half a mile to go.

I was already past that cone when I felt the warmth of the sun for the first time.  Up until now, it had been cloudy.  I was almost done, but it was about to get hot for the people who were still on the course.

I finished in 4:48:27.  That’s two minutes faster than yesterday.  It’s a bit disconcerting how hard I had to work for that time.  I still have four more days.  I’d like to keep all my times under five hours, but it’s only going to get more difficult.

The finisher medal is in pieces that form a chain.  The top and bottom pieces go to anyone who does at least one race of the Summer Camp Series.  We’ll get additional pieces for each race we complete.

For multi-state series, the medals for individual races are in the shape of the state.  This series is all in Minnesota, so the medals all depict things associated with Minnesota.  Today’s medal was a showy lady slipper, which is the state flower.

I stayed in the finish area for a few minutes to talk to a friend, but I didn’t have anything to eat or drink.  I was anxious to get back to the hotel to get out of my wet clothes and shoes.  I had enough food and beverages in my room to refuel and rehydrate there.

I took a bath to loosen up my muscles, so I could do some stretches.  Then I went to work on my left heel.  I filled an insulated container with ice and water, so I could give my foot and ankle an ice bath.  I brought it to the hotel’s pool area, where there’s a whirlpool tub.  Then I alternated between five minutes with my foot in the ice bath and five minutes with my foot in the whirlpool.  I did that three times.  This has been an effective treatment for Achilles tendonitis in the past.  Part of getting through a series like this is managing issues as they come up.  Immediately afterward, I felt much better.  We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:48:27

Average Pace:  11:00 per mile

First Half:  2:20:23

Second Half:  2:28:04

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  518

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  98