The Northwoods Smell

It has been a week...exactly...since I last posted. I don't know what kept me from posting this past week. I must have just plum forgot.

A quick re-cap of running this week:

Mon 6/15: 10 miles - my legs still felt beat-up from the run in the Alps on Sunday

Tues 6/16: 12 miles (roughly) with the group from the store. I felt old with this group, the only person older than me, was Kelly. Quite a few recent college grads on this run in the rain. The pace was quick at times.

Wed 6/17: 14 miles after work. The same route I run nearly every Wednesday, but after running much faster the week before with Mike there is now a new standard for this course. But it took me what it normally takes me to run this route. Maybe next week??

Fri 6/19: 10 miles with strides. Nothing of note about this run. Morning run, a few strides, some exercises after. Pretty typical.

Sat 6/20: 6 miles from hotel by the Miller Hill Mall in Duluth to the Grandma's Marathon course, via Chester Bowl. I started this run at 6am, and by the time I reached mile 22/9 I was sweating. Not a good sign for the marathoners and half-marathoners.

Sun 6/21: Chad Greenway/MN Vikings Gridiron Gallop 5k at Lake Nokomis - 15:45, 1st place. 13 miles total for the day. Making 65 miles for the week.

Now for discussion:

I had two feelings watching Grandma's Marathon on Saturday. The first feeling was sympathy for what the runners/racers were experiencing with the weather. It was brutally warm when the lead marathoners reached London Road/Superior Street. Very few people looked like they were enjoying themselves or running with comfort. It was difficult to watch at times. The second feeling was relief and satisfaction on my decision to run Green Bay Marathon a month ago. My decision was based mostly on weather. I didn't want to experience another hot marathon. Green Bay was not warm, it was sunny, but not warm...I wore gloves the entire race. Grandma's was hot and sunny and humid. If I do run anything at Grandma's next year it will be the half-marathon.

The Greenway/Vikings 5k around Lake Nokomis this morning was a tune-up race for next weekend. I wanted to red-line it a bit to remember what it feels like to really hurt, since the last time I have raced hard was Get in Gear. I ran 15:45, and won by a minute or so. But I found it difficult to push myself to that red-line point. I felt within myself and composed the entire way, which is a strange feeling for a 5k. It was fairly humid, and a bit warm, but there was no sun shining, and that made a big difference. This race was great though! What a great event. Especially if you have kids who happen to be Vikings fans. Maybe it is just the Vikings fan in me, but I thought it was a great low-key event. A few Vikings players were on hand to put on the race, and hang-out with the kids. The door prizes are pretty darn good too. The gave away 4 sets of Vikings tickets. Didn't win any of those, but I was hoping! They gave away a bunch of signed jerseys and balls, and even Vikings ties. Below is a photo of the award. Probably the greatest race award I have won.
Song of the Day: Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot