Spirit of the Marathon Movie Recap

What a great, inspirational movie!  Carrie, Sonya, Ruth, Andrea, Linda, and I all were at Oakdale last night for the movie.  It was sold out all over the metro!  What a running community we have here in the Twin Cities!  It is exciting to be part of it!

The movie followed a bunch of runners (2 elites and 3-4 regular runners) through there preparation for the 2005 Chicago Marathon.  The footage of the Chicago Marathon was outstanding!  I have run the marathon twice and I have never seen an aerial shot of the start of the race with 40,000 participants!  One guy said it can take him (6 hour marathoner) 15-20 minutes just to get to the starting line!

I loved that they followed individual “Joe’s” through their preparation.  One women chose to train without a group, the others trained with CARA, Chicago Area Runners Association or Chicago Endurance which is headed by coach Jenny Hadfield and her husband, the “Penguin” John Bingham.  There was great footage of the elites training in their respective areas of the world.  

Their stories were full of hope and excitement leading up to the race.  Unfortunately some did not make their goals for that particular race but they have continued to run and set new goals. 

There will be an encore showing of the movie in the theatres on February 21st.  I highly recommend it even if you NEVER want to run a marathon.  It is inspirational for any level of runner.  The timing of the movie is perfect for Minnesota runners since we tend to suffer from the doldrums of winter at this point in the winter.  It will get your juices flowing to get out on the roads!

It will be out on DVD soon and I will be purchasing it so we can share around the club too if you can not make the movie on the 21st.

Enjoy!

Ruth’s Weekend Race – Freeze Your Gizzard 10K

Ruth was one of 13 women running in the 10K on Saturday up in International Falls.  There were 52 total but only 13 women.  The race began at 10:30am with a temperature of -24 and windchill -45!  Wow!  Ruth averaged a 10:16 minute/mile.  Way to go Ruth!  You seriously are tough and an inspiration to us all!  We can’t wait to hear more about the race!  Anyone for next year????  Hahahah, not sure I am serious about that offer!!!

Better than expected!

What a run Sonya, Vicki, and I had yesterday.  It was so unexpected given the temperatures.  I really dwelled over the run most of the morning.  I laid out my running clothes on my bed.  You could not even see my bedspread with all the clothes I had laid out!  I wondered how I was possibly going to be able to move let alone run with all the layers. 

We met at 2pm to run around Bald Eagle Lake.  The sun was shining and we were all ready to go.  8 miles was the goal since the three of us are running the Seattle Half in April. 

Sure enough, within a mile we were all complaining about how hot we were!  I had put 2 toe warmers in each shoe thinking my feet would go numb without them.  Boy was I wrong!  My feet ended up sweating!  I had 3 layers of tights on and I was sweating so much ice was forming on the outside of my tights.  Quite embarassing given the ice was forming between my thighs!  Of course Vicki piped up and said you are probably peeing your pants!!! Yeah, that is what I felt like but it was sweat! 

We all 3 had things to put over our faces which we did not need.  Poor Vicki did not feel well during the run and I chalk it up to overheating (which she was) and dehydration.  If you overdress you sweat a ton and without fluids to replace, you will feel depleted and tired.  One thing about Vicki that is so amazing, she had a bad run from mile 1 on but she mustered through without ever mentioning quitting and she never swore!  She was a trooper!

Sonya kept us company for the last 3 miles with stories about her warm race in Phoenix the weekend before!  We needed that distraction plus we all felt like it was 70 degrees with all our sweat so we could relate to Phoenix weather!

 During the run I think we saw 4 people out walking and another runner.  We weren’t the only crazy ones out and about! 

I will admit at mile 5 as we were looking across the lake to where we began that we, maybe it was just me, thought about running across the lake to get back.  That would make for an interesting story.  I think we need to try that some day.  There are all those fisherman out there that can save us if the ice cracks and we fall in!  Well, at least we would cool off!  I think my hot feet would have melted the ice so best we did not try!

Seriously, there was hardly any wind, the air was still and the sky was beautiful. We all agreed we were so happy we made it out. 

Happy running this week as the temperatures climb back up.  Remember when you are dressing for a run outdoors to dress as if it were 20 degrees warmer than the current temperature.  This helps you not overheat as much.  Yes the first part of your run will be cold but promise, you warm up quick!

Happy Trails,

Coach Kim

Great Start to the New Year!

Way to go to all who showed up for MSRC 2nd annual “Start Your Year Off On the Right Foot” run at Ramsey County Beach on New Years Day!  Members present were Carrie Veitch, Debbie McTaggart, Vicki Brewer, Sonya Stylos, Shelley Novonty, Robin Paurus, Roxanne Erickson, and me.  It was a chilly morning but I think I can speak for all of us, it warmed up quick.  The wind was not bad, it was the worst in the beginning and when we turned around at Kowalskis. 

I am so very excited for 2008!  Our club has so much potential and I believe we will have a lot of milestones this year!  There is so much to look forward to including:  new races, new training locations, better weather, good coffee, Seattle, and most important new friends and continued special relationships!  We have put together a wonderful group of women in the Twin Cities and I hope we can continue to touch more and more women in the surrounding area. 

I hope each of you will believe in yourself and your ability more so than last year.  I wish for each of you to stay healthy and uninjured.  I wish for the best of times in 2008!

Coach Kim