Gearing up for Maple Grove Half Marathon!

Many of you are running your last long run this weekend in preparation for the 2nd Annual Maple Grove Half Marathon on Saturday, May 16th.  I wanted to share some information about the event and the course (and the hills) with you in this post. 

Please practice your fueling on Saturday.  Look at the water stops on the race course and try to mimic that timing in your run on Saturday especially if you do not want to carry your water bottles. 

The logistics:  The races, both the half marathon and 5K are closed.

Race website:  www.maplegrovehalfmarathon.com

Start time is 7:30am for the half marathon and approx. 7:50am for the 5K.  Both races start on the high school stadium track in Maple Grove.  I ran the race last year and was impressed with the set up.  They had plenty of port-a-johns and parking officials.  It has the atmosphere of a small town race which I personally love.  They handed out wicking tech shirts at the finish line. 

Packet pick up is strongly encouraged on Friday, May 15th at the Maple Grove REI between 10am and 9pm.  There will be door prizes too!  I would be happy to help out with packet pickup if anyone can not make it to REI.  You can have others pick up for you.  Just ask ok!

You can pick up your packet race day morning at the track but you would really want to arrive early and the race already starts rather early (7:30am).  If you choose this route I would make sure to be at the track around 6:30am on race day morning.

The timing chips are disposable this year.  Half marathoners will have a timing tag to be exact and 5K runners will use the gun, no tag.  Check out the tag and instructions on how to attach it to your shoe (yes, it has to go on your shoe).  http://www.chronotrack.com/for-athletes/

There are 6 water stops for the half marathoners.  Sports drink will be available at the last 5 stops (not the first one at 2.5 miles, just water).  It is either Gatorade or Power Ade that they use.  I will try to find out.  The stops are spaces about 2-2.5 miles apart which is really nice.  I am afraid there are no water stops for the 5K runners.  The course map does not indicate that there is a stop.  Please be prepared for that all you 5K runners. 

Half Marathoners have a nice option this year, to register to run with a pace group.  There are 3 pace groups to choose from based on your goal finish time:  1:45 (8 min. pace), 2:00 (9:09 min. pace), and 2:15 (10:18 pace).  This is an exciting opportunity and I suggest you think through what your goal is for this race very thoroughly before signing up for a pace group that will challenge you.  Of course you can always drop back if they are going too fast for you but you will have used up a lot of energy early in the race. 

For example, if you train at 11 minute pace consistently please do NOT try to run with the 2:15 pace group, you will really pay the price.  You need to train at that race pace (10:18) some to be able to maintain for the 13 miles.  Now, if you have a dream race you just may catch up to them later in the race which would be exciting.  It has been known to happen!  Just conserve early, do not put undo pressure on yourself to run 45-60 seconds faster per mile for 13 miles if you have not been training for that pace. 

Now, let’s talk about the course!  I loved it last year.  There are rolling hills and 1 or 2 longer uphill climbs that I remember but they were not longer than 2 blocks or so (if I can remember).  It is a big loop (my favorite kind of course) and a mix of city streets which were closed off and bike trail.  You will run along a creek, around a lake, and through a few parks and neighborhoods.  Many people in the neighborhoods sat out on their lawns cheering us on and handing out water or spraying us down with hoses (it was  a relatively hot day last year). 

The race director, Paul, described the hills to me so here you go:  the toughest is going up to mile 6, I believe this is the one I remember, longer and gradual, there is a hill after you go under I-94 which is short and a little steep, a longer gradual hill going up to mile 8 (you are in a neighborhood at this point), longer gradual hill at mile 10 and again at mile 11, miles 11-13 are flat back to the high school track.  Note: you have to run 3/4 of the way around the track to the finish so prepare your brain for that!   I will have copies of the race map with the hills pointed out at training Thursday night and Saturday morning. 

I will be volunteering for the race as a course marshall.  I will be stationed before mile 10 where you exit the bike trail onto a neighborhood street.  If anyone spectating wants to join me here to create a cheering section that would be really great!  Mile 10 is a common place to need a pick me up!

I will probably have you all meet at 7am as a group.  I pray we have our Sport Science shirts (the blue ones with the new logo on the back) by then and ask you all to think about wearing something Moving Soles if you have it.  I did get the hats and visors in today so maybe we will have those in time too!

Hopefully this gives you some more information and that it is helpful. 

Cheers!

Get in Gear 2009 Race Recap!

We lucked out on the weather!  The forecast was gloomy and I could not sleep Friday night thinking there would be a tornado and we would all be swept away while running!  Well, lack of sleep for not because it truly was near perfect running weather, a little chilly standing around but warm when the sun came out and the run started!

We met at Dairy Queen for a group photo and then we headed over for bag drop and the bathroom lines, holy cow those were long lines this year!  I lost a lot of you, sorry about that!  We have become such a big group it is really hard to keep track.  You were there one moment and gone the next!  Here is the group photo at 8:30am Saturday morning.

MSRC - GIG 2009

Anneke joined me (with coffee, awesome lady) to cheer you all on.  We stayed around at the start, did you know there were 5000 runners between the 10K and inaugural half marathon?  The corral took at least 5 minutes to empty!  We waited with Jacque, Jane, and Aleisha for the start of the 5K .  They were excited and ran with 1500 other 5K runners.  We then meandered over the Ford Bridge to the St. Paul side to cheer and I think we saw almost all of the 10K runners.  I have some photos to share at the end of this blog.  We got over there and Ruth and Renae were there too so it was a perfect little cheering section and I might add, a great location, no wind and no one else there to yell over! 

I should list out who I believe was running each race and who I think finished successfully.

5K – Jane Appold, Aleisha Kruck, Jacque Howard

10K – Rachel Franco, Linda Tally, Caitlin Halmrast, Jane Kline, Linda Jahnke, Jess Wolney, Alissa Garcia, Karey Mason, Cari Weber, Debbie McTaggart, Sarah Anderson, Steph Hartman, Nora Vernon, Monica Elliot, Sue Fite, Vicki Henderson, Elizabeth Weisberg

Half Marathon – Missy and Jane Hogan (on a side, Jane ran with her 2 daughters and Elle, her oldest daughter won the half marathon race AND big news, Jane got 2nd in her age group, way to go Jane!!!!) 

What a fantastic accomplishment for all of you!  Great run and way to work towards a goal and accomplish it!  I am so excited for you all!  The potential in our club is limitless! 

Special thanks goes out to Karey Mason, a new member and 10K runner, for helping at packet pick up on Friday.  Also, big thanks to Carrie, Stella, Robin, Dawn, Sarah, Anneke, Ruth, and anyone else I am missing for cheering on MSRC members even though they/you were not running the race that day!  I think the support is MUCHO important, having a cheering section is just a special feeling!  Thanks for making up the cheering section you all!

Here are some photos from the race (more will be posted on the website soon)!  All of these, except the one of Missy and Jane is at mile 5 or the Ford Bridge. 

Linda Tally

Jane Kline

Linda Jahnke

Jane & Missy nearing the finish GIG Half Marathon 2009

Get in Gear 2009

Get in Gear is THIS Saturday, April 25th!  The 10K and Half Marathon begin at 9am and the 5K begins at 9:20am.  Do not be confused, these are new start times posted on the GIG website.  The MDRA book has the old start times. 

I would like to first address the specifics and then address pre-race strategy and things to think about for all phases of the race.

Packet Pickup- Friday from Noon-8pm at the Minnehaha Pavilion, you can pick up for other people OR race day morning starting at 7am.  They are highly encouraging you to pick up your packets Friday.  Please try to make this work as it is SOOO much easier on race day morning if that is one less thing you have to worry about.  You will receive a race bag and shirt.  If you get it race day morning you have to head back to your car and then back, lots of unnecessary running around before the race!  Go to the website for Get in Gear to get directions and more information.

Team Meeting Location- We will meet at 8:30am at the Dairy Queen on Minnehaha Ave. and the roundabout, 4740 Minnehaha Ave., this is the same one we have met at for our runs lately.  We will have 30 minutes to get some group photos and hit the bathrooms and get to the start.  5K runners, I realize this is a bit early for you but I would argue it is better to be early than late!  You will have plenty of chances to get in line for the port-a-potties!  I should also add, you do not have to meet the team, you are not being held down at gunpoint!  I hope you do but if you do not want to, please don’t think twice about it and let me say now, good luck!!!!

Parking - visit the GIG website to read about their recommendations.  Since we are meeting at the DQ I would say try to find a spot along Minnehaha Ave.  I sometimes have parked down by the Minnehaha Coffee spot.  If you plan on 8:15am to get to the park to start looking for parking I can not imagine you will have problems.

Bag Drop - There is a bag drop at the pavilion which is nice in case you have layers and do not want to tie things around your waist.  You can use your race bag or bring another bag.  They will tag your bag for you based on your race number.  I think you may need to plan on this service as it could be raining a bit Saturday morning and it may be slightly chilly.  You want to dress in layers and peel them off before the race. 

Race Strategies

Pre-Race (the day before) – take the day off of running, maybe an easy walk at the most and be good about stretching your legs through out the day.  Eat smart fat conscious foods all day and eat a higher carbmeal on Friday night.  Just be smart, no candy bars, ice cream, simple sugar crap basically!  Do not try anything new for dinner, that is a big NO!  Hydrate well throughout the day and evening.  Lay out your race clothes, think through what you would wear if it were raining.  I would highly recommend a baseball hat if that is the case and the rain will not hit your face with the cap.  Lay it all out the night before and also pick out your post race clothing so you can change, especially if it is raining.  There is nothing worse than sitting in wet clothes all the way home.  You will be so cold and could get sick! 

Plan your driving route and where you hope to park.  Plan on your departure time and stick to it!

Pre-race (the morning of) – eat a normal Saturday breakfast before a run, you should be used to this!  Nothing new.  Drink a full glass of water 2 hours prior and then sip water from then on.  Go to the bathroom before you leave home.  You should have everything ready as you laid it out the night before so get on the road at your predetermined time and sip water on your way.  Meet the group at 8:30am.  Not a bad idea to slowly jog around, shake your legs out, perform dynamic stretches, stay loose!  We will walk over as a group to the bathrooms and bag drop.

Lining up for the race and the start – line up in your appropriate area meaning if you are a 10 minute pace you may want to be mid pack or behind mid pack, if you plan on walking a lot of it, start in the back of the pack, if you plan on sprinting the whole way you line up in front!  It is better, in my opinion, to line up closer to the back and start slow and pass people during the race instead of lining up toward the front and being passed left and right! 

During the race- please start conservatively!  Resist the urge to go out like a cheetah with everyone else!  If you feel like the pace is too fast, slow down ok!  This is hard to do, I struggle with it but it is necessary if you want to have a strong second half of the race!  I like to coach on Negative Splits meaning you run the second half of the race faster than the first half.  I believe strongly this is smart racing!  The first mile is usually a warm up mile and the next mile or so (for the 10K or half) is a test to really get a feel for how you are doing that day.  I believe you know in those first few miles how it will play out that day, you either have it or you don’t!  For the 5K you do not have as much time so it is important to warm up a bit before the race.  Use that first mile to gauge then go if you think you are going to have a great race that day and hold back a little bit longer if you are not sure.  The overall plan is to conserve early so you are strong at the end!  Also, stop at the water stops!  Do not pass them up especially if you are a new runner.  Take it even if you do not think you need it.  Take a few sips.  Running is funny, you can be feeling well one minute and the next feeling terrible.  You need to be proactive in running and plan for things that may happen in the next mile.  One of those common problems is dehydration so plan to drink early to stave that off.  Stop and walk through the water stops too so you can get the water actually in your mouth!

After the race- Celebrate you are done and you accomplished a great goal!!  Walk around until your heart rate comes down.  Get food and get warm clothes and STRETCH out!  Try to do this before getting into your car to drive home.  At least stretch your calves, hamstrings, quads, piriformis, inner thighs, and IT bands.  We do not have a meeting place after the race.  It is really hard that is why we try to get photos beforehand.  I hope to run into you after the race but if not, I will be excited to hear all about it so please email me.  You now deserve ice cream too!!!

Have a great race ladies!  I will be out on the course cheering you all on and trying hard to take a few photos of you in action!  I will post everything I have later on Saturday.  Most of all, have fun and enjoy your freedom out there on the course!  We are so lucky to have such a beautiful riverfront to run on!

Great Weekend of Running!

Happy Monday MSRC! I just finished watching the Boston Marathon and it was really exciting!  Kara Goucher and Ryan Hall both took third which is awesome!  The best part is they are both young and will be back for many more NYC and Boston marathons!  I pray one of them chooses to run Chicago some year, my home town.  If one of them does, I hate to do this but I will miss the Twin Cities Marathon that year to cheer them on in Chicago!

Remember Thursday night and my rant about stronger hips, glutes, and core muscles?  I hope you heard me and are trying to fit in some exercises for each region at least 2x/week.  Here is a beauty of a picture, you all doing the plank with beautiful WBL in the background.

Another 30 seconds!! Hold it!! Breathe ladies, breathe!

Saturday was such a beautiful day!  I was not at the Gateway due to a race (next paragraph) but I have heard it was a great training session!  Thank you Laura for leading and thank you Tracy for bringing the treats and water!  Congratulations to Serena and Bonnie for their first ever 12 miler in preparation for the  Maple Grove Half Marathon.  Anyone else have a breakthrough run?  I can’t blog about it unless I know about it so please share with me/us!  Thank you to all who showed up on Saturday, hope you liked the trail!  Wait until the leaves are full strength and the grass is green, so beautiful out on that trail!

Saturday I was at the Trail Mix race in Bloomington at Hyland Park Preserve.  There were 8 of us:  Robin, Stella, Carrie, Dawn, Sarah, Kristin, Ruth, and Me.  The Trail Mix consists of 3 separate races:  a 50K (31.07 miles) ultra run, 25K (15.53 miles) run, and 50K 4 person team relay.  We all did the 50K Relay.  Robin, Stella, Carrie, and Dawn made up the Fab 4 team partly because they are fabulous and partly because they are all 40 or 40+ and that makes them mature!  Sarah, Kristin, Ruth, and I were not real creative, our name was, guess, Moving Soles!  The course is a 7.75 mile loop course all on wide grass trails, single track trails, and woodchips.  It is rather hilly too, quite tiring!  The 50K individuals had to run the same loop course 4 times!  I can not imagine!  The real kicker was the ski hill.  Not sure if you all know this but Hyland is known in the summer for their great ski hill training sessions for runners.  Tuesday nights are big hill repeat nights on those hills.  They announced that we would be running the ski hill this year (last year they had to take it out because of bad weather).  I was wondering if that meant up it or down it.  I was thinking up but I was wrong!  They made us run down it and wow was that tough on the knees!  I can not image the 50K runners, 4 times running down that hill, whew!  They must be so sore! 

The relay is fun as we all get to run together and they tally up our times for the overall team time.  The top 2 teams in each category win the awards!  I am so proud to announce that Fab 4 got 2nd place and Moving Soles got 5th place out of 14 women only teams!  Way to go!

Trail Mix 2009, after the race!

This is so funny!  They awarded the best name for a team this year and I am sorry to swear but there was a tie for winners; 3 Bitches and a Kickstand (co-ed team and we assume the man was the kickstand) and No Nuts (which was an all women’s team)!  Aren’t those way too funny?

I also want to congratulate Roxanne Erickson in her 1:58 finish at the Earth Day Half on Saturday in St. Cloud.  Roxanne is like an honorary member of MSRC.  She moved to Willmar for her job a while back but keeps in touch with the group.  Way to go Roxanne!

All in all, what a great weekend of running for everyone it sounds like!

Safety Always, Road Id Tags!

I have had a few comments about the tag that is attached to my shoe that has my identifacation on it.  That is called a Road ID tag.  It is like an identification bracelet that you can personalize.  I would highly recommend buying one and wearing it always.  I like it as a coach because if something were to happen to you I could quickly call the number on your tag to inform them about your condition.

There are different options for tags, there is a wrist tag, a necklace, the shoe tag, and I believe an ankle tag.   Check out all the options on the website.  They are well worth the money.  I have purchased one for my running shoes and another wrist one for when I am cycling or hiking.

Stillwater MSRC!

Just wanted to share a photo from the first group run in Stillwater Monday, March 30th.  We have some new faces this year which is so wonderful!

1st Training Stillwater Monday, March 30

Back Row (left to right):  Michelle, Amy, Jenna, Kathy, Kevalin, Tibbe, Monica

Front Row:  Sig, Elizabeth (red jacket), Jaime, Clarice, Anna, Patty (light blue jacket).

Injury Prevention Points

Last Wednesday night we held our first conference call on Injury Prevention and it really went well.  I will share a few highlights but before I do that, I want to remind you that there is a nice article on the Resources page on the website called The 10 Laws of Injury Prevention.  Here is the page on the website to find the article:  http://www.maxwellfitness.com/resources.shtml

I made 16 points on the conference call which I will list.  Please let me know if you have any questions about any of the items.

1.  Your running shoes are the most important piece of clothing on your body.  They last 300-500 miles, suggest change at least every 400 miles so you are being proactive.  Do not wear heels for extended periods of time if you can help it.  Be professionally fit for your shoes. 

2.  Work on your posture constantly, strengthen your core, hips, and glutes.  Need to be consistent to see a difference.  Run tall!

3.  Work constantly on flexibility/stretching, can be in the form of yoga.  A flexible body is a mobile body and body void of stress!

4.  Progress slowly as you build up mileage each week, do not increase your total weekly mileage by more than 10%.  Do not run faster than your comfortable pace if you are starting out.  If anything run slower.  This is hard with a group, you want to go with a particular group because you made some friends but if they are too fast for you, you need to drop back.  Listen to your gut, if you are going too fast, slow down.  Enjoy the experience!

5.  Warm up thoroughly, especially if you are a morning runner.  Take the first 5-10 minutes of every run and run/walk slowly to warm the body up.  I promise you will feel a lot better during the run if you take this time.

6. Build a solid base of pure conversational paced mileage for ideally 3 months before training for a significant race, 10K and up. 

7.  Plan on just 1 hill or speed workout per week, not one of each, just one, you can alternate weeks.

8.  Vary the terrain, try some trail running to give your joints a break once in awhile, do not always pick the same flat course as that will lead to an overuse injury, ideally you find rolling hill courses and more than one you like.

9.  Take at least 2 full days of rest if you are a beginner.  Experienced athletes should take at least 1 full day off.  We do not give rest and recovery enough respect.  Your body needs to time to build back stronger.  You are breaking your body down on your runs and it is during the rest days it builds back up.  Give it a chance to do that!

10.  Cross training is so good for runners.  Choose sports like swimming and cycling since they are non weight bearing and non pounding. 

11.  If you feel an uncomfortable pain or feeling crop up during a run, walk and get back home or to your car and take a few days off.  Ice and take it easy.  If you have to miss an important training run, you have to.  Be smart as a full blown injury can set you back months and you will miss many important runs!

12.  If you miss training runs while injured you can NOT just jump back in where you left off when you return from the injury.  You must work with a coach to slowly build back up.  You may need to miss that race you had already signed up for.  Again, it is being smart.    We need to always plan your training well in advance to make room for possible setbacks even illnesses.

13.  If you have a cold and it is above your chest, you can run easy for 20-30 minutes if you feel like it.  If it is below the neck and in the chest take the day off.  Take those days off when you have the flu.

14.  As we get into warmer temperatures we have to worry about heat injuries, specifically heat exhaustion.  You need to be smart and drink fluids, push them all day long before your runs and during your runs.  Wear light colored clothing, wear a hat, sunscreen, and run only when it feels tolerable.  Take it much slower in the humidity. 

15.  Vary your workouts, in an ideal training world you would run a different workout/run each day to keep your body guessing and to alternate what particular muscles are being stressed each day.  You can input different courses into your plan, some hill repeats, fartleks, tempo runs, etc.  Just try to stay away from 3 miles every other day.  That is not bad but I promise you will plateau and get frustrated.

That is my list for now.  I hope it helped a little.  I will take each one over time and discuss them further in newsletters.  Please ask more specific questions now though as you do not want to wait until you get the injury!!  Be proactive!

Happy Trails,

Kim

Running Technique Tips

I want to share 2 basic form/technique tips that I talked about this week in practice.  Runners tend to tense up their shoulders a lot while running whcih can be the cause of many form/technique maladies.  I have 2 basic tips to share to help you loosen your tension in your upper body.  

Tip 1:  pretend you are holding a potato chip between your thumb and forefinger and you do not want to crack it.  This tip forces you to keep your hands loose and not in a fist.  Usually we hold our fist so tight we tense our shoulders.  Not good! 

Tip 2:  Pretend you are putting your hands in your pants pocket each arm swing.  This forces you to lower your arms so you are not holding them so high and tensing up your shoulders.  Your elbows generally should be at a 90 degree angle as you swing your arms forward and back. 

Try these 2 tips on your next run and I promise you will feel a difference in your run.  You will feel smoother and much more relaxed.  It is important to check in with your form/technique many times during your run to remind yourself to hold your potato chips and put your hands in your pockets!

Don’t be surprised if I one day show up at training with a bag of potato chips for you to run with!

Enjoy your run!

Recommended Book

There is a great book to read for all you new runners!  John “The Penguin” Bingham is a columnist for Runner’s World, an author, and a public speaker.  He has become the face of adult onset athletes and teaches on the basics of running.  Check out his books, in particular, No Need for Speed, A Beginner’s Guide to the Joy of Running.  I think you will really enjoy it!

Great read!