Back and Grandmas

With motivation from Taylor starting his running blog, it will probably keep me more accountable to post things back here. Didnt really last so long the first time.

What better way to start off than with a Grandmas (Garry Bjorklund) Half Marathon race report!

PRERACE:

So...the parents drove and Amanda and I flew to meet in Minneapolis and then drive up to Duluth. Saw quite a few runners at the rest stops as we were getting close. Once we were in the city, it was running crazy. A 5k started just as we got to packet pickup so we watched the leaders come in from that. Pickup was uneventful except for seeing Bart Yasso. I really should have ran back to the car and got my book for him to autograph. Dinner at the relatives house was lasagna. Went to bed fairly early at 10PM

Got up at 4:30AM. Ouch. Managed to get dressed and make a PB sandwich. Mom, Dad, Amanda, and I boarded a bus picking up runners at a nearbye mall and took it to the start. The ride took a pretty long time but pretty much followed the course the whole way. The portapotty situation when we got there was bad. There were enough but the logistics made no sense because they were shaped like a long hallway with only 1 exit. Caused alot of cramming. Couldve used a civil engineer on that one. Mom, Dad and, Amanda left me to potty since they were going to start together. Amanda and Mom planned to run the whole race together. I did my business and headed towards the start. We were so late and the whole corral was packed. I caught up to the family at about the 10mpm pace section. Unable to push very well, I jumped over the corral fence and run up to the front. Surprisingly there was a lot of room. I guess people were intimidated by the professional elites. I stood close to 7mpm until people started moving up. There was a moment of silence for last years champion who was killed in Kenya by a poisoned arrow in the violence there. Then there was no national anthem or any indication that we should get ready but a cannon fired and people took off. Kind of reminded me of the 5k that I ran in Champaign where they were testing out the starting horn and people just started. Anyways....

RACE

....14 seconds later I was accross the start line. The plan was to break 1:36 so I could be in Corral B at Chicago (roughly 7:15mpm) I wanted to start at this pace and then just go from there. First mile had a few wannabes in it who got in the way but not too much dodging and I came in at 7:04, the only above 7 minute mile I had. For the entire race I could see the Duluth lift bridge which would be the finish line. It slowly and steadily got closer. There was water pretty frequently, probably 8-9 stops. I got em all but the last one. A few people in costume along the run (Shrek and Elvis), a bunch of cheerleaders, and overall pretty good crowd support. A bunch of early morning drunkards came out with some beer bongs for the runners. I didnt get one but Amanda said she thought about me doing it. Came in at 5 miles at 34:30. I guess this is my official 5 mile PR. I should do a race sometime. Andrea was supposed to be at mile 9 which was named Lemondrop hill because she made a sign that said "4 miles left". She wasnt. It was a pretty steep grade up that hill but I pounded up it. Definately passed 4-5 people on the way up. After that I had to just stride out and try and let my quads relax. I felt like I run a very smart race through the hillier section. I only got passed once and probably caught about 30 people over the last 4 miles. I was through 10 miles in 1:08:21. My 10 mile race PR was 1:12:42 so my fitness has definately improved. About here is where I knew I would break 1:30. Andrea was at mile 11 and she snapped a few pics of us. (next post) The last mile was exeptionally downhill and I cramped up a bit in my calves but finished with my half PR of 1:28:54, good enough for 173/5407.

POSTRACE

After getting my medal and shirt, I snagged some ice cream and a sandwich and watched everyone else finished. Dad PR'd in 1:52 and Mom and Amanda did well in there debut. The announcer even said Mom's name as she was coming in. She finished 22/61 in her age group.

We came back and crashed a little bit. A few hours later Amanda and I went back downtown and did some touristy things, including riding bikes on the lakefront and visiting the lighthouses. Also went to Dairy Queen! Ate at this awesome pizza place. There were marathoners everywhere. I was surprised at the amount of people in party clothes still wearing their medals. We didnt stay out late (lot of cops) and just headed back to play cards with the fam.

Overall a pretty successful weekend.