Today was the first day
of the Mainly Marathons Summer Camp Series, which is a series of five marathons
in the St. Cloud area. For me, it was
the second day of six, because I also did the last day of the Heartland Series
yesterday.
Today’s race venue was
Bend in the River Regional Park. Our
course was a gravel trail that took us around a historic farmstead and out to
three viewpoints overlooking the Minnesota River.
There was one aid
station, which was set up under the park pavilion. We came back to it after every lap. To complete a marathon, I had to run 14 laps.
It wasn’t quite as hot as
yesterday. The temperature ranged from
low 60s to low 80s. The air quality was
also better, although it was still in the “poor” range.
Before the race, I
noticed a chocolate cake on one of the aid station tables. At first, I wondered whose birthday it
was. Then I saw the writing on the cake. It was for Mark Hudseth achieving Loony
Legend status at yesterday’s race.
To become a Loony Legend,
you need to run at least 100 marathons or half marathons with Mainly
Marathons. You also need to complete
every series. I believe they have 14
different series.
Mark had previously
earned Loony Legend status by running half marathons. Yesterday, he did it for a second time by
running marathons.
When I started running, I
immediately noticed two things. First,
my left Achilles tendon was so tight that I was running with a slight
limp. Within a minute or two, my stride
smoothed out, but the discomfort was there for the whole race.
The second thing I
noticed is that I was really sluggish. I
was running slower than yesterday, but it was more tiring.
The temperature at the
start was about 10 degrees cooler than yesterday. I knew it would be hot in the second half of
the race, so I committed to running the first half of the race with no walking
breaks.
I ran my first lap in 24
minutes. At that pace, it would take me
5:36 to finish. My goal was to finish in
six hours, so I had room to slow down, but I needed to hold that pace for the
first half of the race, if I could.
I usually only drink
Gatorade at the aid stations. Today, I
drank Coke for the first four laps. That
seemed to energize me. I wasn’t running
any faster, but after a couple laps, it was easier to force myself to keep
running.
When I finished my fourth
lap, I saw the aid station volunteers cutting Mark’s cake. Before heading out, I had a small slice of
cake, drank the last of my Coke, and filled my bottle with Gatorade.
I stuck to only running
for three more laps. At the halfway
mark, I was still on pace for 5:36.
Another treat at the aid
station was “Minnesota fluff,” which is made with Jell-O and marshmallows. The volunteers were filling Styrofoam cups
with it. Before I headed out for my next
lap, I had a cup of Minnesota fluff.
It was hotter now, so I
needed to start taking walking breaks. I
was disciplined about it, limiting myself to two one-minute walking breaks per
lap. The walking breaks didn’t add that
much to my lap times, but they gave me a chance to cool down.
It didn’t get as hot as
it did yesterday, but there wasn’t as much shade on today’s course, and it was
a bright sunny day. About half of the
course was shady, but the other half was exposed to the sun. When I was in the sun, it felt intense, and I
got hotter with each lap. I stuck to
only two minutes of walking per lap, but my running pace was getting slower as
I got hotter.
With three laps to go, I
did a time check. I was still focused on
finishing in six hours. At this point, I
just needed to average 30 minutes per lap in my last three laps. My recent laps had been 25 or 26 minutes, so
I could afford to do a lot more walking.
I wanted to have a big
cushion going into my last two laps, so I stuck to only two minutes of walking
for another lap. Then I did another time
check.
Now, I could afford to
average almost 33 minutes per lap. I was
tempted to take longer walking breaks, but I stuck to my plan for one more
lap. I did a little more walking in that
lap, but not much.
As I started my last lap,
I realized that I could probably walk the entire lap and still finish in six
hours. Instead, I decided to run until I
caught up to someone I knew who was walking.
Then I’d walk with them.
This park is sometimes
used for weddings. As I ran through the
farmstead, I saw a wedding party taking pictures.
After running for about
half a mile, I caught up with Karen and Lisa.
I walked with them for the rest of the lap. Despite walking for most of that lap, I still
finished in 5:53:00.
Because this series is
all in Minnesota, the medals are various Minnesota icons. The starter piece for the Summer Camp chain
of medals features Paul Bunyan and Babe, the blue ox. The piece for today’s race depicts a loon
(the state bird) paddling a canoe. Over the next four days, I'll add to this chain.
Before leaving the finish
area, I took the time to start rehydrating.
When I got back to the hotel, I had more to eat and drink.
Tomorrow’s race will have
similar temperatures, but that course has more shade. I expect my Achilles tendon to be an issue
all week, but hopefully I won’t get as hot tomorrow.
Last year, I did the same six races, and my goal was to keep all my times under six hours. At the time, that seemed like a really easy goal. I was able to do all kinds of walking. This year, it’s a more challenging goal. With four days to go, it may get increasingly difficult.
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