Minnesota Senior Games: 5K Road Race

I’m competing in two events at the Minnesota Senior Games.  One is a road race (running) event and the other is a power walking event.  By competing in these two events at this year’s Minnesota Senior Games, I can qualify for the road race and power walk events at next year’s National Senior Games.

Next year’s National Senior Games will be held in Tulsa, OK.  I don’t know what my schedule looks like for next year, so I don’t even know if I’ll be going to Tulsa.  I wanted to qualify to keep my options open.

This year’s Minnesota Senior Games are being held in Mankato.  I drove to Mankato yesterday, so I could do my athlete check-in.  My first event was the 5K road race.

The National Senior Games have events in more than 25 different sports.  In most sports, you need to qualify by placing in the top four in your age group in any of the state Senior Games.  The road race events are an exception.  They can accommodate a large field, so you can qualify just by competing in the state games.

There are two road race events: 5K and 10K.  By competing in either of these events in Minnesota, I could qualify for both events in Tulsa.

The event schedule in Mankato had both road race events taking place at the same time, so I had to choose between the 5K and 10K.  Making matters worse, my power walking event is also today.  I chose to do the 5K road race, because running 10K would make it harder to recover in time for my power walking race.

The 5K race started at 7:30 AM at Sibley Park.  This is the same venue that was used for the 5K race four years ago, but the course was different, because of road construction.  In particular, the race started and finished in a different part of the park.  After looking at a course map, I decided to drive over there to make sure I knew where to park in the morning.

Athlete check-in started yesterday at 5:00 PM.  I made a point of getting there right when it started, so I could have an early dinner.  While I was there, I looked at the registration lists for both of my events, so I would know how many people were in my age group.  As it turns out, there was only one other person in my age group for the 5K road race.

I got to sleep early enough, but I woke up at 1 AM, and I never got back to sleep.  After four hours of resting in bed, I finally got up.

The weather was unusually cool for an August morning.  The temperature was in the upper 50s, and it didn’t warm up much by the time I finished.

I could’ve stayed in my comfort zone.  I didn’t need a fast time to qualify for Tulsa, and I was guaranteed to place in my age group, as medals go to the top three.  I chose to go all-out anyway.  It’s been a long time since I ran a 5K race, and this was a good way to evaluate my current fitness level.

There were only 36 runners, and some of them were doing the 10K race, which was two laps of the same course.  I knew there was one other runner in my age group, but I didn’t know who it was.  Mostly, I was racing the clock.

When we started running, three runners took off much faster than everyone else.  I was leading the next group.  I quickly realized I was starting too fast, so I had to ease up until my pace felt sustainable.  As I did, five or six other runners passed me.

After about a quarter mile, we left the park and turned onto residential streets.  By now, I had found my pace, and I was following the runners ahead of me, trying not to fall any farther behind.

I hit the one-mile mark in 7:55.  That’s about what I was hoping for.  The question now was whether I could sustain that pace for the rest of the race.

In the second mile, we turned onto a paved trail that follows the river bluff.  There were a couple of small hills.  The first hill slowed me down, but I was keeping pace with the runner ahead of me.  After the hill, I quickly got back up to my previous pace.

On the next hill, I also slowed a little, but I started to gain ground on the runner ahead of me.  After that hill, I passed him.  Then I tried to keep pace with another runner who was farther ahead.  At this point, he was the only runner I could still see.

My time for the second mile was 8:12.  That was a little disappointing, but not surprising.  I knew those hills slowed me down.

As I began the third mile, I reached a turnaround.  Going out, we were on the trail, but coming back, we were on the road.  I could see that I would have to run up a hill right after making the turn.  I passed the next runner as I started up that hill.

I fought hard to keep up my pace on that hill, thinking it was the last hill on the course.  When I reached the top, I saw that there was still one more hill.  That was disheartening.

That last hill really tested me.  I fought up this one as well, but I didn’t have much left in the tank.  As I got back onto residential streets to head back to the park, I was struggling to keep up my pace.

I was almost to the park, when I saw the leader of the 10K race going out on his second lap.  After entering the park, I saw my time for mile three.  It was 8:07.  I was pleased to see that it was a little better than my second mile.  I knew what I had left.  There was one more turn, so I still couldn’t see the finish line.  It seemed like it was a lot more than a tenth of a mile.

I finished in 26:17.  Officially, the course was 5 kilometers, but my watch read 3.26 miles.  I don't generally trust GPS measurements, but after talking to other runners, the consensus was that the course was a little bit long.  Going by the official distance, my average pace was 8:28.  According to my watch, my average pace was 8:04.  That's more encouraging.

I had to wait for everyone else to finish before they did the awards ceremony.  It was only then that I found out I won my age group.  For that, I got a gold medal.

My next race is the one-mile power-walking event this afternoon.  It starts at 2 PM, so I need to recover quickly.

Race statistics:

Distance:  5 kilometers

Time:  26:17

Average Pace:  8:28 per mile

Place in Age Group:  1st

2025 National Senior Games: 5000 Meter Race-Walk

On July 29, I competed in my second race-walk event of the National Senior Games.  Today’s event was 5,000 meters.

The venue for today’s race was Jack Trice Stadium.  That’s the football stadium used by the Iowa State Cyclones.  Our course was a one-kilometer circuit on a road that goes past the parking lots.  We needed to walk this circuit five times.

In yesterday’s 1,500-meter race, I was fourth in my age group.  That’s always a little bit disappointing, since the top three get medals.  Historically, I’ve always been more competitive at 5,000 than I am at 1,500, so I had hope that I might be able to place higher today.

There were only two heats today, one for women and one for men.  That meant most of the walkers in my heat were in different age groups.  I knew which walkers placed second and third in my age group yesterday.  Two years ago, at the National Senior Games in Pittsburgh, I finished ahead of both of them.  My goal was to beat at least one of them today.

I got to the stadium in time to see the women’s heat.  That also gave me a chance to see what the course looked like.

The course was mostly out-and-back, but there was a small loop at either end.  We started and finished in the middle.

The two men who finished second and third in yesterday’s race were Dan and Brett.  While talking to Dan before the race, I learned that Brett wasn’t doing this race.  There were only five men in my age group today.  One was David Swarts, who was much faster than anyone else.  Dan and I were likely to take second and third.  My revised goal was to see if I could outrace Dan for second place.

The fastest walkers lined up in front.  Dan and I were each lined up in the second row.  As we started, I kept an eye on Dan.  We each started at about the same pace, but Dan gradually moved in front of me.  Then, I did my best to stay close to him.

As we came around the loop at the south end of the course, I started to fall farther behind Dan.  Coming out of that turn, I was about 20 meters behind him.  After that, I picked up my effort to keep from falling any farther behind.

I trailed behind Dan but kept pace with him until we went around the loop at the north end of the course.  Then I started to close the gap.  I realized I could catch up to him.

I pulled alongside Dan just as we were completing our first lap.  He turned his head toward me and said, “Go get it.”  I knew at this point that Dan wasn’t too concerned about competing with me.  His primary goal was to get a medal.  He didn’t care as much if it was silver or bronze.

My time for the first kilometer was 6:22.  My average pace per kilometer yesterday was 6:15, so I wasn’t that much slower.  If I could keep up this pace, I could break 32 minutes.  I would be very happy if I could do that.

As we started the second lap, I moved ahead of Dan.  That made me a little bit nervous.  Was I starting too fast?”

When I made it around the loop at the south end of the course, I noticed for the first time how far ahead of me the leaders were.  I had nobody to chase.  The faster walkers were much faster.  I was the best of the rest.

It was easier to push myself when I was chasing Dan.  It was now much tougher to coax myself to go as fast as I could.

As I made it back to the midpoint of the course, I had completed 1,500 meters.  I had already gone as far as yesterday’s race.  I still had 3,500 meters to go.

After another 100 meters, I got my split for the first mile.  It was 10:25.  That was consistent with my one-kilometer split.

I did my best to keep up my pace, but with nobody to chase, I eased up a bit.  When I finished that lap, I saw that my second kilometer was 20 seconds slower than the first one.  It was now clear that I wouldn’t break 32 minutes.  At this pace, I wouldn’t even break 33 minutes.

I wasn’t going to catch anyone in front of me, but I had to remind myself that other walkers might be crying to catch me.  My best chance to see who was behind me was when I went around the loops at either end of the course.  The next time I went around one, I looked to see who was coming.  There were two walkers who were about 15-20 meters behind me.  One was Dan, but there was another walker who was just ahead of him.  I didn’t recognize him, so I was pretty sure he wasn’t in my age group.  I knew everyone in my age group.  Still, I wanted to stay ahead of him.

When I came back to the middle, I was half done with the race.  I forgot to check my time.  It didn’t matter that much.  I cared much more about my position in the race than what my time was.

The next time I came around a turn, I looked again.  The same guy was behind me.  Dan was starting to fall farther behind him.

When I’m doing race-walk training, I think a lot about my mechanics.  I think about things I can do to go faster, like increasing my cadence, or rolling through my toes as I push off my trailing foot.  Today, I didn’t think about any of that.  I just thought about my pace and my effort.

The only aspect of my form that I thought about was keeping my knee straight on my supporting leg.  That’s a rule in a judged competition.  I never think about it when I’m training – only in a race.

There were six race-walk judges.  Because the course was mostly out-and-back, each one of them would see us twice per lap.  On average, we were passing a judge every 50 meters, so we were constantly being watched.

The judges look for two things: are we maintaining contact with the ground at all times, and are we keeping our knee straight.

If you have both feet off the ground at the same time, it’s called “lifting.”  It’s pretty easy to avoid doing that.  If you’re lifting, you can feel it.  The only way you’re going to get flagged for lifting is if you’re blurring the line between walking and running.

It’s more difficult to avoid having a slightly bent knee.  Without being able to see yourself, you can’t know for sure if your knee is always straight.  When people get disqualified, it’s usually for bent knee.

When a judge sees a violation, they can either warn you or give you a “red card.”  If three different judges give you red cards, you’re disqualified.  They had a white board near the end of our circuit that showed the number of red cards of any competitor who had at least one.

Each time I was coming to the end of a lap, I looked at this board.  For the first two laps, there was only one guy with a red card.  By the end of the third lap, he had two red cards, and another guy had one.  By the end of the race, several walkers had red cards, and two were disqualified.

People who get red cards for bent knee are more apt to have it happen later in the race.  Their form begins to break down as they get fatigued.  It’s more of a problem for older walkers, whose knees aren’t what they used to be.

I always think about this in a race, but it’s rarely been a problem for me.  Here’s a picture my friend Anita took during the race.  It shows how straight my leg is as I’m making contact.

Early in my fourth lap, I got my split for the second mile.  It was 10:44.  That was 19 second slower than my first mile.  I tried to keep from slowing down any more, but I was getting hot.  The temperature at the start was only 70 degrees, but it was warming up quickly, and we were in the sun.  I was sweating pretty hard.

As I was nearing the midpoint of that lap, I heard a bell.  The leader was already starting his final lap.  It was David Swarts.  He was already about 600 meters ahead of me.

With a little less than a lap and a half to go, I glanced to my left and saw two shadows.  One was mine.  The other was the guy behind me.  Somebody was getting close.

That was the incentive I needed to pick up my effort.  Without knowing who was behind me, I wanted to get some separation.  The next time I looked to my left, I could see that our shadows were farther apart.

The last time I came around a turn, I looked to see who was chasing me.  It was the same guy who had passed Dan earlier.  I was starting to build a safe lead again.

With less than 500 meters to go, I pushed hard to pick up my pace and finish strong.  Before finishing, I got my split for mile three.  It was two seconds slower than mile two, but that’s not too bad.  Now I was almost finished.

I had been lapping several of the slower walkers.  There were three more between me and the finish line.  I managed to pass all three of them before finishing.  I finished in 33:21.

We had to wait a long time for the awards.  A few walkers were disqualified in each heat.  They had to give those walkers at least 30 minutes to appeal before they could finalize the results.  They also held off on the awards ceremonies for any age group that included people who were still competing in another event.  More than an hour after I finished, they finally did the awards presentation for my age group.  As I expected, I won the silver medal.

Before my race, I notice a little bit of tension in my left Achilles tendon.  I never noticed it during the race.  It wasn't until about an hour after the race that I even thought about it.

I’ve been feeling a little discouraged, because I knew my training wasn’t as good this year.  I was also a little discouraged when I didn’t win a medal yesterday.  My pace was a little slow today, but I’m very pleased to have finished second.  That was the best I could possibly have done.

This is the last year than the senior games will include race-walking events.  There’s another walking discipline called power walking.  It’s similar to race-walking but it has different rules.  If I want to continue competing as a walker in the senior games, I’ll have to switch to power walking.  I’m not sure at this point what my future plans are.  I need to make sure I understand the rules.

Race statistics:

Distance:  5000 meters

Time:  33:21

Average pace:  6:40 per kilometer (10:44 per mile)

Place in age group:  second

Race Report: 2025 Boston 5K

On April 19, I ran the Boston 5K.  This race was formerly known as the B.A.A. 5K.  This is the fourth straight year that I’ve done this race.  It’s held two days before the Boston Marathon, so it’s convenient.

They changed the course this year.  The race used to start and finish on Charles Street, between Boston Common and the Boston Public Garden.  The new course starts on Boylston Street, next to the Boston Public Garden.  The new starting line is around the corner from the old one.

The bigger change was moving the finish line.  The race used to finish where it started.  Now, it finishes at the Boston Marathon finish line.  I like this change.  The last kilometer of the 5K route is now the same as the last kilometer of the marathon.

A lot of the people doing the 5K race are local runners who have never run the Boston Marathon.  The new course gives them an opportunity to finish a race at the Boston Marathon finish line, which is among the most iconic finish lines in the world.

I arrived in Boston Friday afternoon and took the subway to my hotel.  I stayed at the Hilton Boston Park Plaza, which is only a block from where the 5K race starts.  It’s also a convenient location for the marathon.  I’ve stayed at this hotel twice before.  The last time I stayed here was 11 years ago, before it was a Hilton hotel.

After checking in, I walked over to the Hynes Convention Center, where the marathon expo was held.  My race bib for the 5K race was mailed to me, but I still needed to pick up my race packet for the marathon.  I had good timing and arrived at a time when there wasn’t any line to get in.

After bringing my race packet back to the hotel, I took the time to do some strength training exercises.  This hotel has a huge fitness center, although it took me a while to find it.

For a marathon, I usually have pizza as my pre-race dinner.  For the 5K race, I wanted something that wasn’t as heavy.  I found a place where I could get veggie tacos and sweet potato fries.  That seemed just right at the time, but may have been too much fiber.  More on that later.

I got to bed early enough to get a full night’s sleep.  I slept well, only waking up a couple times.  I typically wake up every hour or two.

The race was divided into two waves.  I was in the first wave, so I needed to be in the start corral by 7:30 AM, even though the race didn’t start until 8:00.  My alarm was set for 6:00, but I was already awake.  As soon as I woke up, my mind was on the race.

I didn’t have time for a sit-down breakfast, and I wouldn’t have wanted to eat a full meal anyway.  I made do with food that was in my race packet for the marathon.

Before leaving the hotel, I spent about half an hour in the bathroom.  It seems like everything I ate in the last three days was going through me.  When I finally left for the race, I wasn’t sure if I was done.

The temperature was about 60 degrees.  I could’ve run comfortably in shorts, but I chose to wear tights.  I was going to be in the start corral longer than I would be running, and I remembered how windy it was when I was walking to and from the expo.

Although the starting line was on Boylston, the start corrals were around the corner on Charles Street.  The only people who could line up on Boylston were the wheelchair athletes and the professional athletes.  After they started, the rest of us gradually moved forward.  After moving forward, I was right at the corner.  I could see the starting line, but it was still a good distance away.

This is a large race.  I would guess there were about 10,000 runners.  Inevitably, with that many runners, it takes a while for everybody to get up to speed.  I was held back a bit by the congestion until I got around the first turn.

I kept accelerating until I was getting out of breath.  I don’t do many short races, and when I do, I’m usually race-walking.  Running a 5K feels different than race-walking one.  When I’m race-walking, I can only move my legs so fast.  This morning, I knew my legs could go faster, but I also knew I was close to my aerobic limit.  I had to make an educated guess how fast of a pace I could sustain for the rest of the race.

After the second turn, we were running west on Commonwealth Avenue.  Here, we ran straight for a while.  I still needed to pass a few runners who lined up too far forward, but there was enough room to get around them.  I started to settle in and run at the pace of the runners around me.

I didn’t have any idea how fast I was running until I finished the first mile.  I got there in 7:30.  That’s comparable to my pace in other recent 5K races.  I think my best recent starting pace was 7:22, but congestion at the start made it impossible to start that fast.

Next, we angled to the left and went down a ramp to go under Massachusetts Avenue.  I accelerated going down the ramp, but struggled to hold my pace going back uphill on the other side.  By the time I reached finished that short climb, I was intensely out of breath.

Looking ahead, I could see the Citgo sign in the distance.  In the marathon, you see it late in the race, but today, I was seeing it from the opposite side.

As we reached Charlesgate Park, we had to made three quick turns.  First, we turned right to run along the east edge of the park.  Then, we turned left onto Beacon Street.  After running through the park, we angled to the right to turn onto Bay State Road.  These were all streets that I had never run on before.

Along Bay State Road, I left like I was running a consistent pace, but then I started to notice that some of the other runners were passing me.  I wanted to challenge myself to keep up with them, but I knew I couldn’t sustain a faster pace.  I thought about how far away the Citgo sign was when I saw it earlier.  I knew we would have to go past it before we started coming back.

We followed Bay State Road as far Sibley.  After making two left turns in rapid succession, we were back on Commonwealth, but now we were running in the opposite direction.

As I reached the two-mile mark, I was curious to know if it was faster than the first mile.  The first mile included a congested start, so I was hopeful that this mile would be faster.  It was, but only by a few seconds.

As we ran through Kenwood Square, I knew we had one mile to go.  I expected the last mile of the 5K race to be identical to the last mile of the marathon.  There was one small difference.  Commonwealth Avenue is a divided parkway.  The marathon route follows the eastbound lanes.  We were on the opposite side, in what are normally the lanes for westbound traffic.

Ahead of me, I could see the Charlesgate Bridge, which is painted with the words, “Boston Strong.”  Just before we got there, we turned to cross over to the other side of Commonwealth Avenue.  Now, with one kilometer to go, we were on the marathon route.

I could see the triple blue line that’s painted in the street to show elite athletes where to run to follow the most efficient path.  I stayed close to this line the rest of the way.

For days, I had imagined how I would feel at this point in the race.  I knew the rest of the course like the back of my hand.  I imagined myself deep in oxygen debt, but pushing myself hard to the finish.  The reality was different.  I felt like I expected to feel, but I just couldn’t push myself to go any faster.  Physically, I was probably capable of running harder.  I just couldn’t motivate myself to do it.

It briefly got easier as I went down the ramp to go under Massachusetts Avenue again.  It was tough coming up the ramp on the other side.  As the street leveled off, it got easier again.  Then I made the right turn onto Hereford.

Hereford is slightly uphill for two short blocks.  I had imagined charging up that hill.  I couldn’t force myself to do it.  I maintained the same effort.

As I made the final turn onto Boylston, I had a different problem.  Since the second mile, I had felt pressure building up in my intestines.  You never know if it’s just gas, and you don’t want to find out the hard way.  I was within sight of the finish line, but I had to hold back.  If I ran any harder, I risked having an “accident.”

I didn’t actually slow down on Boylston, but I wasn’t giving it my best effort.  That was frustrating.  In the distance, I could see the large digital clock just beyond the finish line.  It was counting up, but I couldn’t risk going any faster.

I finished in 23:23.  Comparing that time to other 5K races that I’ve done in recent years, this one falls somewhere in the middle.  I’m satisfied with my time, but I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to push myself harder on Boylston.  The good news is that I’ll get another chance on Monday, when I run the marathon.

The finish area for the 5K is similar to the finish area for the marathon.  It stretched on for the next three blocks.  After crossing the line, you need to keep moving forward.  That was fine with me.  I was motivated to get back to the hotel, and I was moving in the right direction.

About a block after the finish line, I reached the volunteers handing out food bags.  They give you as much food after the 5K race as they do after the marathon.

Just beyond the tables with the food bags, there were a few tables with bananas.  I skipped those.  I already had more food than I needed.

In the next block, I got my finisher medal.  The medals for the 5K race feature the B.A.A. logo, so they’re similar to the marathon medals.  I now have 18 of these unicorn medals.

The next block had our T-shirts.  After picking up my shirt, I kept on walking, so I could get back to the hotel for a much-needed bathroom stop.

The Boston Marathon is Monday.  Stay tuned.

Race statistics:

Distance:  5 kilometers

Time:  23:23

Average Pace:  4:41 per kilometer (7:31 per mile)

Unicorns:  18 (13 Boston Marathons, 1 Virtual Boston Marathon, 4 Boston 5Ks)

2024 Minnesota Senior Games: Race-Walking Events

This is my second post from the 2024 Minnesota Senior Games.  Yesterday’s post included my two running events.  This one covers the two race-walking events.

The race-walk, power-walk, and track and field events were all held at the Sauk Rapids Middle School, and they were all scheduled for Saturday.  Last month, I saw one of the race-walking judges at another event, and I asked him if he was aware of the schedule conflict.  He was, but he didn’t seem too concerned about it.  I got the impression that all of the events would be held on the same track

Yesterday, I drove over to the school, and I noticed a one kilometer loop around the school buildings marked off with traffic cones.  The distance around the building must be just under one kilometer, because the route included a detour into one of the parking lots for a short out-and-back.

My first race today was the 5,000 meter race-walk.  It started at 7 AM, so I had to set my alarm earlier today.  When I arrived at the school, I confirmed that this race wasn’t going to be on the track.  It was five laps of the one kilometer loop marked off with cones.

The last time I was healthy and well-trained for the Minnesota Senior Games was three years ago.  On that occasion, I was the overall winner of the 5,000 meter race-walk.  I’m healthy this year, and I’m in comparable condition, so I expected to win again.  My goal was to break 31 minutes, but that’s ambitious.  I would need to average 10 minutes per mile.

I assumed the lead from the beginning of the race.  I started out at a fast enough pace, but after making the first turn, I encountered a headwind.  Walking as fast as I could into the wind caused me to get out of breath, so I was forced to back off a little in my pace.

After following the cones through a parking lot on the back side of the school building, we walked along a driveway that took us out to the street on the other side.  We were going counter-clockwise around the school, so most of our turns were left turns.  This driveway was an exception.  It bent to the left, then the right, and then back to the left.  Here, I needed to be mindful to walk the tangents.

On the out-and-back section, I was already done with it before the next two walkers started that section.  At that point, I knew nobody would catch up to me.  I was only racing the clock now.

There were two race-walking judges.  One was in the start-finish area.  The other was next to the out-and-back section, where he could watch us in both directions.  The judge in the start/finish area was also the time keeper.  When I finished my first lap, he told me my time was 6:20.

To be on pace for 31 minutes, I needed to average 6:12 per lap.  I was already eight seconds too slow.

At this point, it might have been possible to speed up enough to bring my pace down, but this was my third race of 5K or 10K in three days.  These are intense races where you’re at or near your aerobic limit for the entire race.  To pick up my pace, I would need to go into oxygen debt.  I just couldn’t force myself to do that again.  Instead, I continued at about a 95% effort.

The course was mostly flat, but it was slightly uphill where we turned into a parking lot to begin the short out-and-back segment.  Here, I had to stay focused on keeping my knee straight as my lead foot made contact with the ground.  That’s one of the rules of race-walking.

When I finished the out-and-back on my second lap, I couldn’t see any other walkers approaching, they were still somewhere behind the school building.

My time for the first mile was 10:26.  Now I knew for sure that I wasn’t going to break 31 minutes no mater how hard I pushed.  I had no incentive to go all-out, knowing I would easily win the race.

My time for the second lap was 6:32.  That was 12 seconds slower than my first lap.  That was disappointing, but not surprising.

As I was finishing my third lap, I passed a walker who was still on her second lap.  That was the last time I saw another walker during the race.  Nobody else was every close to me.

My third lap was only one second slower than my second lap, but when I got my split for the second mile, it was 10:40.  I knew I wasn’t pushing as hard as I could, but that was still disappointing.  There was a time, several years ago, when my marathon pace was almost that fast.

As I finished my fourth lap, the race-walking judge told me that my right knee looked a little soft.  It was just a warning, but after that, I paid more attention to keeping my knees straight.

I managed to pick up my pace in my last lap.  I finished with a time of 32:45.  I won the race by about three minutes.

There was enough time between finishers that the race-walking judge in the finish area was able to take video of our form as we each finished our last lap.  On my last lap, I did a better job of keeping my knees straight.

After everyone was finished, we had a brief awards ceremony.  I was first overall, so I already knew I won the gold medal for my age group.

Race statistics:

Distance:  5,000 meters

Time:  32:45

Average Pace:  6:33 per kilometer (10:32 per mile)

Place in Age Group:  1st

After my first race, I went back to the hotel to get cleaned up and change into dry clothes and shoes.  I had a couple hours to relax, but then I needed to head back to the school for my second event, which was scheduled to start at 11:30.

My second race was the 1,500 meter race-walk.  This race was on the track, so it had to be scheduled around the various track and field events.  When I got back to the track, I found our that the track events were running behind schedule.  At 11:45, the only remaining track event was the men’s 200 meter, but there were seven heats.

While I waited, I was standing in the parking lot, talking to other walkers.  Spending so much time out in the sun wasn’t helpful.

At times, I noticed a strong breeze.  Before the race, it helped keep me cool, but I didn’t want to feel that same strong breeze during the race.

My primary goal was to win this race, but I also wanted a fast time.  My time in this event will be my qualifying time for the same event at next year’s National Senior Games.  Lane assignments will be based on our qualifying times, and I wanted to get a good lane assignment.

It was a 400-meter track, so we needed to do three full laps, plus an additional 300 meters.  We started at the beginning of the far straightaway.  My goal for the first 100 meters was to be the first person to reach the turn, so I could go around the turn in lane one, with nobody in front of me.

They lined us up with the women in the inside lanes.  Other than that, we were lined up in order of our bib numbers, which were essentially random.  I had about five people on my left.

When the gun went off, I started fast and raced for the turn, which was 100 meters away.  There was one woman who went out faster.  I had never seen her at a race before, but I couldn’t match her speed in the first 100 meters.  She was a stride or two ahead of me as we entered the first turn.

I followed her around the turn.  As soon as we were out of the turn, I poured it on to see if I could pass her.  Within the next 50 meters, I pulled alongside of her.  In the next 50 meters, I got far enough in front that I was able to move into the inside lane for the second turn.  After that, I led for the rest of the race.

The start of that turn was our eventual finish line.  I had walked 300 meters, and I now had three full laps to go.  I looked at my watch as I crossed the line.  My time so far was 1:46.

My goal was nine minutes, but I knew I could only do that if I went all out the whole way, without ever letting up.  Before the race, I figured out what time I needed at the 300 meter mark to be on pace for a nine minute finish.  The time I needed was 1:48, so I was two seconds ahead of schedule.

My first 300 meters were only that fast because I had worked so hard to get into the lead.  It wasn’t a pace that I could sustain.

As I came out of the second turn, I felt a headwind.  The strong breeze came back.  For the next 100 meters, I had to fight it.  That made my pace more tiring.

About half of the time, I was focused on going as fast as I could.  The other half of the time, I was focused on making sure my knees were straight.  That’s the difficult thing about race-walking.  You need to constantly pay attention to making sure your form is legal.  At this race, the judging was fairly lenient.  At the National Senior Games, the judging is strict.  I need to be thinking about that now, so I don’t develop bad habits.

As I got back to the eventual finish line, I had two full laps to go.  I did my best to keep up my effort.  I didn’t check my watch again until I had 500 meters to go.

To be on pace for a nine minute finish, I needed to complete the first 1,000 meters in six minutes.  I got there in 6:13.  I was winning the race, but my time was going to be disappointing.

I was about to pass the two slowest walkers in the race.  They were walking side by side in the first two lanes.  I was able to pass them before reaching the turn to begin my last full lap.

In my last lap, I had to fight the wind again.  That caused me so slow down in that lap.  As I came around to the final 100 meters, I knew I wouldn’t like my time, but I made sure I was keeping my knees straight.  I finished in 9:26.

The woman who led for the first 250 meters was second overall with a time of 10:15.  She’s fairly new to race-walking.  I encouraged her to keep training for the next year and go to the National Senior Games next July.  If she does, she’ll be competitive in her age group.

Because it was such a short race, we didn’t have to wait long for everyone to be finished.  I won my second gold medal of the day.  I also won a gold and a silver in my running events, so I came away from the Minnesota Senior Games with three gold medals and one silver medal.

Race statistics:

Distance:  1,500 meters

Time:  9:26

Average Pace:  6:17 per kilometer (10:07 per mile)

Place in Age Group:  1st

2024 Minnesota Senior Games: Running Events

The Minnesota Senior Games include events in 15 different sports.  Anyone over the age of 50 is eligible to compete.  This year’s games were held in St. Cloud, with events taking place between August 15 and 18.

I’m competing in four events this year.  Two are running events, and the other two are race-walking events.  This report covers the two running events.

St. Cloud is about 100 miles from where I live, so I stayed at a hotel.  I drove to St. Cloud on Thursday, stopping for lunch along the way.

All athletes had to check in at a central location before competing in any events.  Athlete check-in was at the Whitney Recreation Center.  As I drove there, all the streets looked familiar.  When I got there, I realized why.  The Whitney Recreation Center is right next to the Whitney Sports Complex.  A few years ago, I ran a marathon there.

My athlete packet included a program, a towel, two water bottles, a pair of socks, St. Cloud tourist information, and some coupons.

After athlete check-in, I picked up a few groceries.  Then I relaxed at the hotel until it was time for my first race.

My first event was the 5K road race.  This race started at 6:00 PM on Thursday.  My second event was the 10K road race.  That race was scheduled for 8:00 AM on Friday.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to have quality efforts in both road race events.  An all-out effort in the 5K would take too much out of me to come back and have a good 10K race the next morning.  Realistically, I had to choose which race would get my best effort.

I had previously seen a list of participants online, so I already knew how much competition I would have in each of my events.  There were four runners in my age group in the 5K race, but only two in the 10K race.  With that in mind, I decided to go all-out in the 5K race.  That gave me the best possible chance to place in the top three in both events.

The course for the 5K race was out-and-back along a section of the Lake Wobegon Trail.  This is a 10-foot wide, paved trail.  The beginning and end were concrete, but the majority of the course was asphalt.

The section we ran was mostly straight and relatively flat.  We started and finished at the eastern terminus of the trail, which is in Waite Park.

I still needed to check in at the event site to get my race number.  I got there about 45 minutes early, so I would have plenty of time to get ready.  Already, there were about 10 people waiting in line to get their race bibs.

The temperature was in the mid-70s.  I was happy with that.  At this time of year, it could easily have been much hotter.  When I left the hotel, I was surprised to see that the streets were wet.  A rain shower passed through in the late afternoon, but it was already done when I left for the race.

I lined up near the front and went out fast, taking short rapid strides.  At first, there were only two runners ahead of me.  Within the first few minutes, I realized I was starting at an unsustainable pace.  I was already going into oxygen debt, so I had to take it down a notch.

I didn’t slow down much, but it was enough that another runner gradually passed me.  There was no way I could keep up with him.  I gradually fell behind him.

The trail was fairly linear, but there were a few places where the trail would bend slightly to one side and then come back to the original line.  I had to get past at least two of these before I could see far enough ahead to see the first mile marker.  Long before I got there, I had to knock my pace down again.  I started much too fast, and I was already deep in oxygen debt.

It seemed to take forever to finish the first mile.  My time for that first mile was 7:36, but I was already slowing down, and it was hard to imagine sustaining this effort for two more miles.

I had to get around another pair of bends in the trail before I could see something that looked like it might be the turnaround.  When I saw the leader coming back, I knew for sure that was the turn.

All the way out, I was running into the wind.  That made my fast start feel more tiring.  I looked forward to having the wind at my back in the second half of the race.

The overall leader was a woman.  There were two men ahead of me.  Even if they were both in my age group, I would still be in the top three in my age group.  That was my primary goal.

After taking the turn, I saw that that I had a sizable lead over the next two men.  I couldn’t sustain the same pace the rest of the way, but I was motivated to limit the damage.  I didn’t want anyone else to catch up to me.

I had to get around another pair of bends before I could see the two mile sign.  When I got there, my pace for the second mile was 7:54.  That was slower than my first mile, but I questioned whether I could keep up this pace for another 1.1 miles.  I felt like I was completely out of gas.

Having the wind at my back was a mixed blessing.  In the first half, the wind kept me cool.  Coming back, I started to get hot and sweaty.

The course was mostly flat, but there were a couple of small rises.  Going out, I was able to take them in stride.  On the way back, each small rise was tiring.  I was able to use the downhill sections to regain my momentum.

Early in the race, we crossed a bridge over a creek.  In the last mile, we crossed it again.  From a distance, I saw a bend in the trail, but I didn’t realize I was about to cross the bridge until I got closer.  When I saw the bridge, I knew I was getting close to the finish.  Then I was able to dig deep and push hard to the finish.

In my third mile, I sped up to 7:43.  That was a pleasant surprise.  I was confident at this point that nobody would catch me from behind, but I still ran hard to the finish.  I finished in 24:05.

My overall time was the same as my last 5K race, but I felt like I did it the hard way.  I started too fast, and I was in oxygen debt for the entire race.

The overall winner was a woman.  I walked over to her and asked her if her name was Wanda.  It was.  Friends had told me how fast Wanda Gau was, but I had never met her before.  She almost always wins her age group.  In a race where everyone was over 50, she was the overall winner.

We had to wait for everyone to finish before they did the awards.  By then, it was after 7:00.  I still didn’t know if the two men who finished ahead of me were in my age group.  As it turns out, one was, but the other wasn’t.  I won the silver medal for my age group.

Race statistics:

Distance:  5 kilometers

Time:  24:05

Average Pace:  7:45 per mile (4:49 per kilometer)

Place in Age Group:  2nd

By the time I got back to my hotel, it was already 7:30.  I had picked up food for dinner earlier, so I just had to heat it up.  I took a hot bath, did some stretches, and tried to get to bed as early as I could.  I slept well.

I got up early enough on Friday to take another bath, do some stretches, and massage my legs with a massage stick.  This is the first time I’ve done a 10K race so soon after a 5K.

Breakfast at the hotel started at 6:30, so I was able to eat a light breakfast before leaving for the race.

The 10K race was also on the Lake Wobegon Trail.  We started and finished in the same place as the 5K race, but we had to go twice as far before turning around.

The temperature was in the mid-60s.  There was a fine mist in the air.  I could feel it, but I wasn’t seeing drops on the pavement.

In this race, I was guaranteed to finish no worse than second in my age group.  After going out too fast in the 5K race, I wanted to run this one at a sustainable pace.  I needed to find a pace that was within my aerobic capacity, but faster that my marathon pace.

I started running at a pace that felt somewhat tiring, but didn’t have me feeling out of breath.  Initially, there were four runners ahead of me.  Two were men and two were women.

Within the first half mile, another guy passed me.  Before the end of the first mile, I caught and passed one of the runners who had started faster.  Now there were two men ahead of men but it wasn’t the same two men as before.

I finished the first mile in 8:13.  That was a bit disappointing.  That’s not as fast as I started my last marathon.  Still, I didn’t feel like I should be trying to go any faster at this point in the race.  I maintained the same effort as I started the second mile.

About halfway through the second mile, I passed the point where I turned around in the 5K race.  From there, the course was straight and flat almost all the way to the turnaround.

My second mile was two seconds faster than the first one.  I was satisfied with that.  I maintained the same effort as I started the third mile.

About halfway through the third mile, I started looking ahead to see if I could spot the turnaround.  I saw something bright colored, and I wondered if that was it.  As I got closer, I realized I was seeing Wanda, who was wearing a pink shirt.  She was already on her way back.

As I got closer, I saw a yellow sign.  That was the three mile sign.  The turnaround was just around a bend, where I couldn’t see it.

My time in mile three was the same as mile two.  I felt like I was under control.  I was working somewhat hard, but not too hard.

When I reached the turnaround, I glanced at my watch.  I thought it read 26:30.  In fact, it must’ve been 25:30, but I misread it.  Before the race, I thought 50 minutes would be a reasonable goal.  Now that seemed way out of reach.

After turning around, I saw that I had a big gap over the next two men.  They weren’t likely to catch me unless I slowed down.

I wasn’t sure how fast I would run in the second half.  I felt like I was probably capable of speeding up, but I didn’t want to go too soon and risk running out of gas.  I decided to maintain my same effort for another mile.

Throughout the second half of the race, there were always two voices in my head.  One was telling me to race hard, now that I only had a few miles left.  The other was telling me to do just enough to stay ahead of the guy behind me.  I have two more races tomorrow, so I should conserve my energy.

When I reached the four mile mark, I saw that I sped up to 7:58 in that mile.  Apparently, I was listening to the first voice.  I didn’t make a conscious decision to speed up.  I did it without realizing I was doing it.

Midway through the next mile, I spotted a street crossing.  I knew when I got there I would be past the point where we turned around in the 5K race.  After that, everything was familiar.  I knew each bend and each small hill.

I kept up the same effort in mile five.  My pace for that mile was 7:56.  With 1.2 miles to go, I still had the same two voices in my head.  I knew I could probably speed up.  This close to the finish, I wouldn’t be in danger of running out of gas.  On the other hand, I had nothing to prove.  I couldn’t possibly catch the guys ahead of me, and nobody behind me was close enough to catch me.

When I reached the last street crossing, I was within sight of the bridge.  I picked up my effort a little.  After crossing the bridge, I came within sight of the six mile sign.  I picked up my effort again.

I ran mile six in 7:58.  That was a but disappointing.  At the end of that mile, I was working harder.  Maybe my effort was a bit soft in the first half of that mile.

Now I could see the digital clock at the finish line.  I ran harder the rest of the way.  It wasn’t an all-out sprint, but I ran faster here than anywhere else.

I finished in 50:06.  Had I known I would be that close to 50 minutes, I would’ve pushed much harder in those last two miles.

I ate a banana and walked back to my car.  I was the third male overall, but I didn’t know if one of the men ahead of me was in my age group.  I had to wait until the awards ceremony.

It was another hour before the last runner finished.  We all lined up to cheer for her as she approached the finish line.  She was the oldest woman in the race.  She was the only woman in her age group, so she won the gold medal for her age group.

During the awards, I learned that I had won my age group.  I collected a gold medal to go with the silver medal that I won in the 5K race.

Race statistics:

Distance:  10 kilometers

Time:  50:06

Average Pace:  8:04 per mile (5:01 per kilometer)

First Half:  25:30

Second Half:  24:36

Place in Age Group:  1st

 

My race-walking events are both tomorrow.  Stay tuned for my next report.

Beer Run and Tony Banovich 5K

On Sunday, I’ll be running the Missoula Marathon.  For the second straight year, I’m doing something called the Big 3 Challenge, which consists of a three mile beer run on Friday, the Tony Banovich 5K race on Saturday, and the Missoula Marathon on Sunday.  Runners who do all three events get a surprise gift after finishing the marathon.  Last year, it was a blanket.

I flew to Missoula on Friday, arriving in the early afternoon.  I stayed at a downtown hotel with a free airport shuttle, so I didn’t need to rent a car.

I had a couple hours before packet pickup started.  While I waited, I did a strength training workout at the hotel.  Later, I walked over to Caras Park to pick up my race packets for the marathon and the 5K race.

I went back to the hotel to drop off my race packets and change into my running clothes.  Then I went back to Caras Park for the start of the beer run.

The beer run isn’t a race.  It’s free, you don’t need to sign up, and no times are recorded.  It’s just a fun run with a free can of beer at the finish, courtesy of Big Sky Brewing.

The route for the beer run was mostly on sidewalks and side streets.  We followed the Clark Fork River for most of the first mile.  Then we crossed the river on a pedestrian bridge underneath the Madison Street Bridge.  After that, we made a big loop around the University of Montana before coming back to the bridge and retracing our route back to Caras Park.

Before the run, I was talking to a runner in his mid-70s.  We were lined up within 10 yards of the starting line.  I wasn’t planning to go fast, so I thought that was plenty close.  As it turns out, the runners in front of us were going so slow that it was difficult to run at all.

The older runner went around on the grass to get around the congestion.  I followed suit.  Once we had room to run, I found his pace to be faster than I would’ve started on my own.  I followed, but I didn’t try to keep up with him.

Soon, I found myself talking to a younger runner, who was one of the local guides.  His pace was comfortable enough at first, but after crossing the river we sped up.

Our pace for the first mile was a little faster than my training pace, but it wasn’t so fast as to be tiring for a distance that was this short.

I enjoyed our conversation, so I kept up with him even as we accelerated in the second mile.  That mile was about as fast as my marathon race pace.  It felt a bit tiring, but I kept up with him.

In the third mile, the pace felt easier.  I assumed we had slowed down, but we actually sped up.  Our last mile was 8:03.  It’s a good thing we only ran three miles.  Anything longer at that pace would’ve been overdoing it.

When I finished, I was handed a beer mug and a ticket for a free can of beer.  After finishing my beer, I walked back to the hotel and took a quick shower before dinner.  By the time I was ready for dinner, it was 7:15.  I didn’t want to be out late, because I had a 5K race the next morning, so I had dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.

The 5K race started at 8:00 Saturday morning.  The start was on Higgins Avenue, near the north end of the Beartracks Bridge.  This is the same place where the marathon finishes.  Our starting line was the marathon finish line.

I’m sure a lot of other people doing the 5K race were also doing the marathon or half marathon.  Most of them probably held back in the 5K race, so they could save their best effort for Sunday.  I took a different approach.  I went all-out in the 5K.

I run dozens of marathons every year, but I rarely run shorter distances.  I ran three 5K races last year, but before that I had not done one in 25 years.  I’ll have lots of opportunities to test myself at the marathon distance, but this was a rare opportunity to test myself in a 5K.  It was also an opportunity to use the race as speed work.  Running this race may slow me down in tomorrow’s marathon, but it’ll make me a better runner in the future.

Of the three 5K races I ran last year, this one was my fastest.  My goal this year was to beat my time from last year.

I started at a pace that had me out of breath before I was done crossing the bridge.  Last year, I accelerated until I was out of breath, and then I backed off a little.  This year, I didn’t back off, even though I was already in oxygen debt.

Another runner noticed my Comrades shirt and asked me if I’ve run Comrades.  I just said, “yup.”  Normally, this would’ve been the beginning of a conversation.  I love to tell people about Comrades.  At the pace I was running, one syllable was all I could manage.

We ran straight for about half a mile before making our first turn.  I felt like my pace was unsustainable, but I was determined to maintain the same effort until I finished the first mile.  After two more turns, I saw the banner for one mile.  I got there in 7:40.

Last year, my time for the first mile was 7:21.  I was 19 second slower, and it’s not as though I started too easy.  There was no way I could go any faster.  I was already at my limit.  If anything, I would struggle to maintain my current pace.

Halfway through the next mile, we left the streets to run on a sidewalk that took us through the University of Montana.  The sidewalk was paved with bricks, and I felt like I had to pay close attention to my footing.  Then I remembered what I did last year.  There was a narrow strip of smooth concrete on either edge of the sidewalk.  I moved over to run on the concrete strip.  Then I could focus more on my pace and effort, instead of being distracted by the bricks.

Before we were done crossing the university campus, I noticed I was no longer keeping up with all the runners ahead of me.  Just before we got back onto streets, we had to go up a small hill.  I knew I was slowing down there, but I tried to limit the damage.  When we turned onto a street again, we hit a section of road that was slightly downhill.  I used that to pick up my pace again.

My second mile was two seconds slower than the first one.  That was disappointing, but not surprising.  As I started the third mile, it was hard not to get discouraged.

We eventually turned onto a paved trail that would lead us to the Madison Avenue Bridge.  I was running behind a teenage boy who had a long, relaxed stride.  My cadence was much faster than his, but I could barely keep up with him.

We crossed the river on the pedestrian bridge underneath the Madison Avenue Bridge.  From there, the rest of the route was identical to the last part of the beer run.

After the bridge, several runners passed me.  I was fighting to hang on, knowing I wasn’t having a good race.

Familiarity with the course helped.  I fought hard and managed to speed up to 7:38 in the third mile.  By now, I should’ve been able to see the finish line, but there was a bridge blocking my view of the finish.  As I got closer to the bridge, I could see the finish line beyond it.  I got there in 24:05.

My time last year was 22:46.  I was more than a minute slower this year.  I feel like I’m in better shape now, but I’ve been training for longer distances.  I’m really lacking in speed work.

I stopped by the results tent to see how I did in my age group.  I was 4th.  I wasn’t expecting to win anything, but it never hurts to check.

After the race, I hurried back to the hotel, so I could shower and eat breakfast.  I won’t do anything else strenuous today.

Tomorrow, I’ll be running the marathon.  Stay tuned for my next race report.  It’ll be interesting to see how my marathon time compares with last year. 

Race statistics:

Distance:  5 kilometers

Time:  24:05

Average Pace:  7:46 per mile (4:49 per kilometer)