Tag: marathon

Other than taking a couple of recent runs in the middle of the day in recent weeks, I did not prepare much for the heat and humidity. By the day or two before last weekend’s race I was beginning to regret that. And even then, the actual conditions were worse than expected. Earlier the week the forecast called for race temperatures to be in the mid-high 60s with a dew point of 61. A day before they were saying 70 degrees and a dewpoint of 67. By 7 AM on race day it was already 72 degrees and sunny. Jogging to the start line on Saturday we knew we were in for a hot one.

Reluctant A Race

Over the past eight or nine years springtime has been my best running season. I tended to build a good aerobic and strength base over the winter, without much racing, and then by March I was ready to roll. This was my first year back in the Midwest after more than a decade in Colorado and like the slow slide into spring weather that we had, my fitness seemed to just lumber along at its own pace and not according to what I wanted. Add to that some spring travel delayed my racing season, which did not start until late April this year. I was left with a five race season with a good rust-buster 10K (90% age grade), the Bay to Breakers 12K last month in San Francisco that was more of a B race that I trained through and paced at threshold effort, and the following weekend I did a 5K that you might call A-/B+ both in priority and in outcome. The short on that is that I was aiming for a 91% age grade or so and to win my age class. I ended up matching my lower end goal of 18:57 and 90% age grade but ended up second in my age class. I was a tiny bit disappointed but not broken about that. It was all part of the process.

My A-level races for the spring of 2026 were the 4-mile last weekend and a half marathon in another two weeks. I do not consider the 4 mile to be a great distance to race do not even have an age group personal best for the distance–which I last raced, hmm maybe around 2000. Even though this was a championship race on the USATF circuit, it just did not seem like that big of a deal. Furthermore, I am now on a great masters racing team (not that the last one was bad–it was one of the best in the country for runners aged 50+) but was not expecting to be a scorer. The top three on our team are five or six years younger and a lot faster than have I been running in the past two years. So I would just be a filler, or maybe put on the B team.

In some ways, this felt more like a no-pressure situation, where I would travel, hang out with my teammates for a weekend, and maybe run well enough to also get an individual medal.

Training

I put in about 60 miles a week of training for the past eight weeks and it has been solid but not spectacular. The first five weeks or so included a double threshold day, another day with a moderate workout (easy tempo or fartlek), and a longer run. Over the past three weeks I did the Bay to Breakers in just under 50 minutes (which for me was pretty hard, but not quite race level). Recovery from that was slow. Then eight days later I did the 5K race, followed by my longest run of the block (15 miles) and three days later a Michigan workout (nearly 10K of work at threshold or faster effort). With three hard days in a five day span I was hoping for some supercompensation. My teammates exclaimed that such training might be considered crazy. I tapered over the last five days prior to the race, and hoped that would be enough of a recovery.

The Trip and the Race

Peoria is 7 hours away by car and almost the same by air because there are no direct flights. So we drove. It wasn’t too bad, although keeping our driver from getting distracted took some teamwork at times.

We took a short 25-30 minute shakeout run on Friday afternoon, surveying the course, which is out and back on parallel streets, but not quite a full loop. It only has one hill of note, from about 0.15 in to 0.5, and it features a nice long gradual downhill finish. They were expecting fast times and perhaps some American records.

The race also hosts the professional USATF championships for men and women, and has done so for decades. The pros were the headliners, the masters have been but a graying to gray sideshow over the past two seasons. As it should be.

At the start of race it was 77 degrees with a dew point of 71, a good deal warmer than forecast. I was not confident of doing well in this race. The masters runner who beat me by nearly a minute at last year’s Bix 7 was entered, and my teammate who had finished ahead of me in two of the previous three races was also racing. I figured first place was out of the question, especially seeing my opponent do some strides just before the race–he looked so smooth and fast! Like an elite runner. And in this heat and humidity, I thought I might be fighting for third or fourth. Or just to finish on my own two feet.

The elite women and men took off at 8:00 and 8:05. We, the masters runners aged 40-89, lined up with our own double traffic lane and the citizen runners had their lane next to ours. We’d merge at about 0.2, at bottom of the hill. It’s not a huge race (with some 1,400 participants overall), so things would sort out fairly quickly.

Last year I took the hill a little cautiously and never really got back into it. My time was okay and I did score an 89% age grade on a warm/humid morning (but about 10 or 12 degrees cooler than Saturday!). This time even though it was hot I wanted to engage a little earlier, while not trying to be too aggressive. I had three athletes I wanted to key off from, including my masters rival who is tall and wearing a light blue singlet–easy to pick out–and a couple other friendly competitors who I have raced against many times in previous years, and we are pretty even.

My age group rival already had 40 meters on me before we even crested the hill at 0.4 miles, and I figured he was gone. But I was right with the other two and actually not feeling too bad. The street has some big trees along it and the shade was ample. I felt in control and the heat was not bothering me.

By a half mile I could see that my age group rival was not pulling away, and if anything his cadence was slowing! At the mile he was 8 seconds ahead but was slowing. Maybe I had a chance, but I put that out of my head for the moment and just focused on running.

By about 2 km I caught him and passed him, and I just looked ahead trying to keep up with my other competitors as one by one we picked off some of the faster starters. Last year I really slowed down at the slight uphill just before the turn around and 2 mile marker. I stayed more focused this time and was 10 seconds faster than in 2025. It’s a long stretch, about 1.5 miles, on the same street and if not for the tall shade trees along the route you would be able to see the downtown buildings. I felt pretty strong through about 2.5 miles but some doubts the heat, my breathing, and ability to maintain this effort for another 8-9 minutes. I dropped off a little, my friend pulled away by about 5 seconds and I was kind of falling into survival mode. Fortunately, the blocks through the residential neighborhood went by quickly and we passed three miles. I was slower than last year but had not really lost much ground. I knew it was just a matter of holding on until that final 0.4 mile downhill. One km of grind as we approached the downtown area. The streets actually came up quickly and I could see where we would turn!

I was extremely surprised to see two of my teammates about ready to make the turn. They had been out of sight since the first half mile of the race and I figured the would be 60-90 seconds ahead (like they had been last year). But here they were, and slowing down. I passed them both just after the turn, gave some encouragement, and focused on striding out, accelerating each block, and getting to that finish line!

I crossed 18 seconds slower than last year, but was elated to win my age group, as unexpected as that may have seemed only 15 or 20 minutes prior. My two teammates rolled in within 15 or 20 seconds, but with me the back up as second runner it was obvious that we would not win the team title. My age group competitors whom I thought I would be either behind or battling to the finish would finish 1.5 and 2 minutes later.

A lot of runners really struggled in the heat, and for injury or health reasons, but I only slowed 4.5 seconds per mile compared to last year. I’ll take that as a win, and will go so far as to say that this was my best result since the USATF 10K in Massachusetts back in April 2025.

2025 was a year with a couple of major life transitions in our family. Although these events did not upend running, they certainly had an effect.

We spent last week of 2024 and celebrated New Year’s in Spokane, Washington, where were planning to move before this summer. We met with a realtor, looked at neighborhoods, and had our family stay with us while we scouted the area. We got in some nice runs along the Spokane River and had some very interesting cross country skiing outings on the snowy trails of Mt. Spokane.

We were looking forward to the move.

Things did not turn out that way, in fact they changed rather quickly. Before dawn on New Year’s day I took my son and his new wife (their wedding was in August) to the airport and sent them off. They piled out of the car with their gear, I gave them a hug and she said goodbye. At that moment I did not realize that goodbye meant just that. Not see you later as you would expect.

We wrapped up our trip on January 2nd and headed back to Colorado. A week later the daughter-in-law informed our son that even though they had been together for more than eight years and had gotten along quite well she did not want to be married. She had to find herself. That was an utter shock to him and to us when he broke the news about a week later. Our family was reeling with shock for weeks and months. And the big question even though they had a two year engagement why did she even go through with the marriage? We do no have that answer and maybe they don’t either.

That surprising revelation early in the year did not affect my day-to-day running that much–other than my thoughts, which for months and sometimes even to now, have been what the heck was all that about?

Nevertheless, we have moved on figuratively and literally. Our ex-daughter in law had grown up in the region a few hours away from Spokane and we had thought that living in that area would be a good change from an overcrowded, increasingly expensive Colorado. We made plans and put our condo on the market.

However, in mid-March and on the same day, Tamara and I separately realized that eastern Washington might not be the place for us to move. Our son had set up his life in Wisconsin. He had finished his residency and fellowship at the university, and was now working two jobs.

Why then would we want to go to Spokane, which was already remote from everyone in our family? On that day we decided to move to the Midwest. I had wanted a place with a decent airport nearby, and with reliable cross country skiing. Running won’t last forever, but hopefully I can ski into old age after my legs have given out. A couple years ago we had considered places Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota but leaned to the West. Within a day of reconsidering our plans, we decided on the Twin Cities in Minnesota. And here were are!

I do miss Colorado, the mountains and our friends, and Spokane had a fair amount to offer. However, six months after making the move this was a great choice and a better location for skiing, for running, and actually for quality of life.

Highlights of 2025

This was my third year and in the age group, and once you get into your 50s and 60s you can usually each year you can expect a drop off in performance level and placings in competitive races and championships. Some masters athletes only compete in their first or second year of a five year age group. As long as I’m healthy, I like to keep going.

The First Half of 2025

At the beginning of the year I had pegged three key races/race weeks plus I decided to keep going with the USATF Masters Grand Prix, which scores your best five races on an eight race circuit. In that series I knew I would have greater competition this year, with younger athletes moving into the age group in particular Dan King the ace middle distance runner from Boulder, CO. The Grand Prix events would include 8K cross country in January, 10K road race in April, as well as the World Championship races, which would provide Grand Prix points depending on how you finished with the US runners.

I do like to fill the year with about 15 races on the schedule. Some I just work through them as a training or hard run, others I might go for a fast time and include a taper. Longer races require some recovery time. At the beginning of the year I placed the local BolderBoulder 10K and the Lilac Bloomsday 12K back in Spokane on the schedule. Those would follow the USATF/World Masters winter-spring races and would be more for fun.

The first half of the year could hardly gone better, I took a 2nd to King at the US Nationals Cross Country championships in January. By the time of the World Masters championships arrive in late March we had already decided to to move to Minnesota, and the house was on the market. I cut that trip short because I was needed back home for showings and packing. Woah, the move was getting real!

For World Masters, I put all my all my effort into one basket the 8K XC. That race was heated and close! On a hot morning I was within 3 or 4 seconds behind the leader, Jukka Kaupila of Finland with 2K to go, but I could not close that gap and finished with silver medal just 5 seconds back. However, the US dominated as a team and we won Gold, as we had in Sweden the previous year. You cannot beat a team victory at a world championship!

Meanwhile, in late winter the World Athletics canceled the World Road Racing championships altogether, and there went the half marathon which is my best distance. I would have to find another race (shorter) on to fill the calendar.

I think I peaked for the year in March-April. A month later after World Masters we had the US 10K road championship in Dedham, MA. I did not have a club team this time, and ran unattached. This was a hard fought win, but I ran 38:17 to win the age group and place second overall in age grading (91%).

Three days later we moved out of our foothills condo and had to spend two months in an AirBnb, while we wrapped things up and prepared for our move.

The May-June races were solid, but I did not feel at my best. I was first in the age group at the Bloomsday and BoulderBoulder. And was a late entry to the US masters 4 mile championship in Peoria, IL, where I placed 2nd to King again. However, this time he was a full minute ahead. And I was only 7th in the age grade ranking. That wrapped up a long spring campaign.

2025 the Second Half

We settled into our temporary apartment in the suburbs of St. Paul on July 1st. Settle is an understatement. We had no furniture. We bought a couple of office chairs and a table to get buy for the first couple of weeks, and a friend lent his air mattress after learning that we had been sleeping on the floor. That’s not too bad when you’re in your 20s, but in your mid-late 60s? uh uh. No good.

The best thing about being here has been finding a great group of masters running friends. What a team! They were very welcoming and we had a large gathering on our first weekend. I have been running with them every week and look forward to future races, workouts, and adventures.

First run in July with the new Twin Cities club.

July was just getting adapted to the hot and humid climate and to get in miles. By August I was was getting used to being here.

My friends from my club in Colorado had asked me to do the Hood to Coast Relay in late August, so while building for the November marathon, I worked toward that as well. Doing a number of threshold and double threshold sessions. Hood to Coast was a great trip and experience, truly one of the highlights of my running career, and it was great to know that I still have so many friends in Colorado.

Age group 1st place team at the Hood to Coast Relay.

The downside of running three legs totaling 16 miles in the heat, on top of my weekly long runs, was that my knees started to ache with some tendinitis which I wouldn’t shake until after the marathon. It didn’t really set me back much, but most of my runs were uncomfortable.

In September-October I had two big local races, a half marathon and a 10 miler. I managed to set the state record in the half (as well as the 10 mile split that day) run an age grade 90%, and win the age group at the Twin Cities 10 miler on an unseasonably warm morning (it was near 70 at the 6:55 AM start). To cap off the Grand Prix I traveled to Atlanta for the 5K road race with the new team, where we wrapped up the team championship for 2025. I placed 2nd for the age group and locked up a 2nd place for the Grand Prix with 485 points, with King winning it with 495 points.

The finale would be the NYC Marathon/World Marathon Majors masters championships. I put in about 62 miles a week from July 1 through the end of October and had some decent long runs but nothing out of the park. Although I wanted to break 3 I wasn’t confident I had the fitness to hold a 6:52 pace. 7:00 or so, maybe. New York was an experience of a lifetime, although I was a good 3 minutes off from my goal time and did slow down over the second half, I closed better than my competitors (having the 3rd fastest final 13.1 miles in my age group) to finish 3rd in the championship with a 3:06:17. That was huge! Two world medals in one year.

Celebrating a bronze medal at the World Marathon Majors masters championships!

Challenges and Disappointments

Sure it would have been nice to win everything and score above 90% age grade four or five times instead of twice. However, I have nothing to complain about in 2025 and feel blessed to have held onto my fitness through a year that had huge disappointment and a major life transition. I’m glad that my achy knees held out through the end of 2025. Although the late spring races were not as strong as I would like I do not believe I had a single disappointing race.

Lessons Learned

I’m not superman, I’m in my late 60s and feeling my age creeping up every year. It gets harder each season, but this is what I do and what I love to do. I think an outsider would say maybe I had too many “big” races, with four Grand Prix races, a World Championship cross country race, a grueling 20 hour relay, a smattering of fairly big “A” (or at least A- races) along the way, and a championship marathon. That’s an ambitious schedule for anyone, let alone one into their golden years. I could learn from a less is more philosophy with the racing.

Next Year, 2026

I have not picked all of my races but have a pretty good plan. I do not think I will do a full USATF Grand Prix in 2026. The schedule is never perfect and this year is worse than most, with the first three of eight races occurring by January 11! And six in the first half of the year. I’ll do a perfunctory two or three with my team for team points and that will be enough.

There will be no World Masters for me in 2026. The championships are in South Korea in early September. I was quite intrigued by the prospect, but it would require a two week trip away from home (and leaving my wife behind), and a lot of money for some races in what promises to be very hot conditions (typically 90s and humid). Instead I have opted to do the Amsterdam Marathon in October. Tamara will travel with me, it’s a flat and fast course, and one more chance for a sub 3 marathon in my 60s.

In between I have a number of great local events and regional events (5K, 10K, 7 mile, and half marathon) and a bucket lister, the Bay to Breakers 12K in San Francisco next May. It’s a great schedule for me, maybe a little less ambitious than 2023-2025! The Amsterdam Marathon is my main goal, everything else just fits in as training, polishing, and fun.

Extensions of Gratitude

My wife Tamara, who can no longer run and race, has been my number 1 fan and supporter for years. I wish she could still participate, even at a casual level but her health does not allow it. I also wish she could travel to more of my races, but maybe that’s for the better–she might get bored–and the events that she does attend are special occasions.

My Colorado teammates. They were a great group. A half dozen showed up for a send off run and brunch last June at Barr Lake, east of Denver. That was a bittersweet parting. I do miss them and appreciate the nearly 10 years of partnership with the Boulder Road Runners. The long weekend in Portland for the Hood to Coast Relay was one of the highlights of my running life. We had so much fun and so many laughs. Thanks to the BRR 50s+ team for bringing an old 60s guy along with them for the running and van ride. I miss you guys too.

The new teammates in Minnesota have been outstanding. What a fun and focused group. They are so accomplished as runners as well as in life. The welcomed me onto their team as soon as we arrived and I look forward to future races, weekly runs, and weekend outings.

And I would like to shout out to my online friends at ARTC and the Moose Refuge. Small groups but they are passionate about running and racing while being supportive and kind.

Final Note and Update

Our son’s divorce was finalize last summer, the entire thing probably should have been annulled. Nevertheless, it was a No Fault divorce with no financial obligations to the runaway bride, and the only downside was that he had to wait six months for it to be finalized. In the meantime, we were happy to learn that he met a young woman who seems more compatible. When he told us about her he said that she’s a medical student who is very intelligent and organized and that she understands him and his life and ambitions as a doctor. He also ran a personal best at the half marathon with a 1:14, off of just 35 miles a week.

We are looking forward to a family gathering over New Years, with both sons.

This was my fifth race on the USATF masters national points circuit this year, following the 8K XC championships in Lubbock, TX in January (2nd), World Masters 8K XC in Gainesville, FL (1st American), 10K road race in Dedham, MA (1st), and the 4 mile road race in Peoria, IL (2nd). Note, there was no 12K, 15K/10 mile, or half marathon this year, but that’s different story.

I came in with 390 points and was second in the standings. I needed to show up in Atlanta to secure second (maybe first if DanK does not race the 5K XC race in San Francisco next month) in the best of five series.

I’m at the end of a marathon block and have averaged about 60 miles a week since July 1, with some peak weeks in the mid-70s. I had no injury setbacks along the way. In August I decided not to give the New York City (NYC) Marathon top priority. That would require training through the fall races, and I decided those would be just as important as the marathon. With that in mind, I ran the half marathon my new city this September and the 10 mile road race in October. Both went well, in course record time and I was happy to check those boxes and to establish some local street credibility.

Regarding last weekend’s 5K in Atlanta, I don’t like approaching a championship race with a heavy training week so cut back after Wednesday, with some easy runs. This meant that I would be starting marathon my taper a little early.

Did You Bring Your Singlet?

We arrived in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon, only to find out that one of the guys forgot his singlet. We had to have matching singlets to compete as a team, so we spent the remainder of the afternoon hunting down a set of jerseys. Traffic in the city was bad, but we got it done in time to do a 25 minute shakeout run in the evening to preview most of the course. The course would have a lot of sharp turns and two big hills.

Race Day

A front moved through on Sunday morning, and it was blustery and cloudy during the warm up. Rain started falling about a half hour before the start and it was a downpour as we did final stride outs and started lining up.

I lined up on the 4th row of the narrow start, which had a right-turn within the first 30 meters. Great. Why do they do this?

The horn sounded and we crossed and I was immediately met with a few elbows as runners got past me before the turn, which I took fairly easily. Within the first 400 m I noticed that my mesh shoes were already saturated and holding water. It was going to to be a squishy 5K.

Splish splash it was a bath.

The goal was to run about 6:00 for the mostly flat (but with many turns) first mile and then handle the hilly second and third miles the best I could. My watch had me right at 6:00 (maybe 6:03 to cross the mile marker), and I was situated in a fairly tight pack with runners from our rival team, plus several more from younger age groups. My chief competition in the individual age group was about 30 meters up. I was right about where I need to be.

As expected the climb was arduous. About 600 meters of steady climb at 4-6%. I did what I could do to hold with the group of five or six other runners, and crested the hill in reasonable condition. We made a right onto a side street and had another short incline. There my arms got a little numb there and I was feeling near the edge. However, breathing was decent and I wasn’t slowing down.

One of the rivals from the other team surged ahead. I crossed the half way timing mat in 9:12. The guy who surged suddenly slowed up and now we were in a pack of four as we made some winding turns and sharp downhills. The course hits a low point at 2, which I crossed in 12:09 on my watch (12:17 by the marker). Les, my rival from Atlanta pulled away as we turned into the wind and up another 600 m (but less steep at 2-4%) hill and I fell back 20 meters. I pulled away from a guy in a younger age group but did not like running into the headwind so eased up slightly and he and another guy went around. I tucked in and saved my energy for the final kilometer or so. We got to the top of that grinding hill and I worked on catching up to Les.

I felt pretty good on the long gentle downhill, and it seemed that Les might be struggling a bit. In hindsight maybe I should have gone all in then, with some 800 meters to go, and tried to get a gap on him. That hesitation may have had some implications in the team race.

Making the penultimate turn.

Instead I just maintained the gap of a few meters back, and decided to wait until the final few hundred meters. We turned past the start line and the course marshal said “400 meters to go!” Les surged a few times and I matched his pace, but did not pass. Instead, I kept a meter or two behind. With about 120 m to go we had a sharp right and then a left to the final 80 or so meters to the finish line. I was a step behind on the turns and then threw in what I had left. I pulled slightly ahead for a moment. But he surged back and half a half a step. One more push to the line! We finished in a dead heat.

Lean baby lean!

So team scoring would come down to how our other runners did.

Results came out, and they determined that I had outleaned Les by less than 0.1 of a second. I finished 2nd in the age class, and he would be fifth in his. The team score came out at the awards and it turns out we were second by just a handful of seconds. Each of us kicked ourselves a little, I think you can always find a place or two where you maybe could have made up a couple of seconds. For me it was on that stretch with 600 or 800 to go. But you also never know, I might have flamed out and lost more time there.

It was all in good fun. We may be rivals on the course, but when the race is over we’re friends. Less and I have raced many times over the years and this year I beat him in cross country, while he was ahead in the 10K and 4 mile road races. So we’re even in this head to head. Kudos to Les. And I was happy to contribute to my new team after a summer of running unattached. We locked up the age group title with our showing, and that was really the main mission.

Post Race

After a rather chilly awards ceremony, in front of a Victoria’s Secret store of all places, we got a good meal in the shopping area and then spent the afternoon touring the city, seeing some historic sites like the Martin Luther King National Park, Carter Library, and many sports and cultural venues. Also took in a tour of the College Football Hall of Fame. We had a late flight and I did not get home until nearly 2 AM, about 20 hours after I had got up on Sunday. Phew. Glad that is behind.

Next up, NYC Marathon in just a week and a half.

September: A Half Marathon Around the Lakes

20225 has been a long year for us, with many months in limbo due to the move. After two months we were still not yet settling into Minnesota, still living out of boxes while living in temporary quarters. Truthfully, I had not felt quite “on” since mid-spring this year.

After moving to sea level from altitude I thought I might experience an aerobic boost, but the humidity was so high and sleep so poor that I never felt that strong in July when I had a couple of okay but not great races. In early August the blood test from my annual physical revealed that my red blood cell count, hemoglobin, and hematocrit were already back to levels indicative of an athlete from lower elevations. So much for the past 11 years (and nearly 40 years in my life) of altitude benefits! It goes away quickly.

With a quick turn-around from the Hood to Coast Relay in late August, I didn’t know how I would feel for the half marathon. After returning I recovered for a few days then got in 70 miles from Thursday to Wednesday before cutting back to recover for the race. Fortunately, I felt pretty good over those two weeks.

Last year I hit 1:24 three times for the half marathon, and arguably four if you count Canyonlands Half at altitude (1:26). But based on mid-year 2025 results and how I was feeling over most of the first two months here I was thinking a mid to low 1:25 might be more likely.

The Race

Although the race is limited to only 2,000, for the local competitive runner this is one of the bigger races of the year for competitive runners around here and the fields are pretty deep. However, the event is also preparatory race for most, not really the main goal race.

The course is pretty narrow in parts (start in particular) and that is why the fields are limited. Some races sell out in minutes or days, the half marathon did not sell out this year.

I got to the race about an hour before the start and started my 2 mile warmup 40 minutes before the gun would go off.

Warmup up just before the start of the race.

The course is a figure 8 that has a long neck between two lakes. Each lake is about 3 miles around and the connecting segment between them is about 0.4 of a mile. It only has a few hills, four per lap, but they can take a toll on the second lap. Otherwise, the course is quite flat and fast. It was unseasonably cool and a perfect day for racing, with temperatures mid-40s at the start and little to no wind. We also had a good field and a fast course.

I lined up in about the 4th row (which was probably too far up considering how many people passed me) and everyone rocketed off the line. I settled into a less frantic pace after about a half mile, just before a couple short hills. Visibility was poor in the shady sections, with the bright sun reaching through the shadows while it reflected off of the puddles on the road in a strobe light effect. Nevertheless, I navigated early miles without mishap.

The first 5K split was just at 20:00 but it felt fast. A couple dozen runners had passed me, but I didn’t fight it. Some local women in the group that I was in were getting lots and lots of cheers from their clubmates and friends. I was Mr. Incognito.

Mid-way through the first lap, Mr. Incognito into the scream tunnel as hundreds of bystanders cheer the runners on.

I was a little over 40 at 10K (40:05 if the marker was accurate). Things got harder on the second (of two) circuits but I was clicking off most miles in the 6:27-6:33 range, so hanging in there. The official 10-mile split was in 1:04:35, and I had promised myself to hold that effort through 11 or 11.2 miles before trying to run hard to the finish. I don’t think that really happened because the early miles had taken enough out of my legs that all I could do was hold on and not lose too much ground.

The finish stretch has a hill just before 13 and then you can sprint the final 0.1 or 0.15, which is downhill. I wanted to break 90% age grade and knew that it’d be close so gave it all I had to finish in 1:24:38 (final 5K in about 20:08), which was enough to achieve that goal. So time-wise I was happy.

This was my best race since April.

I think I could have gone out a little easier over the first 5K and would have spent less time in the pain cave (most of the second lap), but didn’t lose a whole lot of time. It was a great event and I look forward to returning in the future.

October: Across Two Cities for 10 Miles

After recovering from the half I got in another solid mini-block of training through the rest of September. That included my first 20 miler of the year with a friend and that went well. I did a couple tempo workouts at race pace and hilly runs to get ready for the more challenging TC 10 mile course. I was hoping for cool weather and a faster time than I split for the half.

The weather did not cooperate. We hit a bit of a heat spell on the weekend of the race, with highs reaching the upper 80s and low 90s that weekend. At the start of the race it was about 69 degrees. Fortunately, the humidity was not bad and the stiff 10-15 mph (with higher gusts) from the south cooled things down a bit. Still, just warming up it felt uncomfortable.

In the half I lined up a bit too far, this time I was too far back, but after waiting in the porta potty line for 15 minutes I barely had minute to spare the start and no time to move up. I lost 13 seconds just getting across the line.

The first mile was a little crowded as I made my way up the field, not weaving too much and not making any crazy accelerations. Several teammates had lined up more favorably and I caught a couple by a mile or mile and a half.

With the heat and wind the running never felt comfortable on Sunday, and then we had the hills. On this course you are running mostly uphill from mile 2.4 to 7.

The 5K split was 20:15, so already a decent amount off from my split last month. That included the steepest hill of the day, where you climb 80 feet in about 0.4 mile. We had a bit of a respite after crossing the bridge and for a few minutes after before making the turn onto the long grind up Summit. It’s not steep at 1-2 percent most of the time, but it is relentless. My 5 mile split was about 32:20, 6:28 per mile. A few runners passed here and there but I just focused on trying to stay with the group and maintaining the effort. We were passing at least as many runners as were passing us, and were not slowing down.

I was relieved to reach the high point on Summit Avenue at about 7 miles into the race. After that grind it was easy street. I remember running a personal best 5 mile on this route, way back in the early 1980s and how happy I felt that day.

The last 3 miles felt comparatively easy and I was able to enjoy the morning, with splits of 6:28, 6:34, and closing at 6:15 made up a little time to finish in 1:05:29. Although that was short of my goal (to finish under the time I split at the half marathon the previous month, I was still happy with the result and do not think I could have run much faster on the day.

Twin Cities 10 mile and marathon have an epic finish.

The City of Lakes and TC 10 mile were two great race experience and while I do miss aspects of living in Colorado, I’m really glad that we moved here.

Upcoming are the USATF 5K this weekend and NYC marathon two weeks later. These should be a good way to wrap up racing in 2025, which has been a busy and eventful year.

This was my fourth Bix 7 road race, third in four years after a 42-year hiatus from this historic mid-summer road race in the heartland. After a rather inauspicious debut as a 22 year old in 1980, when I sort of tempoed the effort in about 40 minutes. I was nursing a hip injury that knocked me out of summer training that year and opted to run 5:40-5:45 pace instead of going all out. That was an epic year in Bix history, as legendary marathoner Bill Rodgers raced it for the first time and it transformed from a fairly sleepy local/regional race to the big time national scene.

My return races in 2022 (44:07 1st in my age group) and 45:15 (again first in a new age group) were good. The 2023 effort should have been noted as an age group record, but in 2019 a runner seemed to have cut the course short and walk-jogged his way to a 44:52. Never did actually get to the bottom of that issue, but I think that’s the story. In previous years he had either walked the entire course in about 2 hours or had done the short course at about 22-23 minutes a mile. Maybe 2019 was inadvertent or maybe on purpose.

Build-up and training

I was a little flat this June after a long winter-spring of training and racing. My last two races, the Bolder Boulder 10K in Colorado and Steamboat 4-miler in Peoria, IL were decent but I could tell I was at the end of a long block. I took a few days off following the 4-mile and just ran easy-unstructured through the rest of June. We moved out from Colorado on the 29th and arrived in our new home (house yet to be determined) in Minnesota on the next day.

July was a build-back month and I got in three solid weeks of 63, 67, 68 miles leading into last week. I didn’t do any fast workouts, but ran a weekly double threshold of repeat 4-6 minutes on Tuesday mornings, followed by hill reps of 1.5 – 2 minutes in the afternoon. A couple of days later I would do a fartlek, tempo, or strides, and on the weekends a long run of 15-17 miles.

So far have really enjoyed being in Minnesota and meeting people, and I have joined a new club team that is stacked with very good masters runners. It’s the deepest in the country and they have a good team spirit and sense of community.

Running at sea level has felt pretty good so far, although the transition has been slowed somewhat by warm-hot and humid weather. In a land of some 20,000 lakes (and three major rivers converging within 10 miles from here) there is a lot of moisture in the air. Almost all of my runs have been at a dew point of 68 to 72, with temperatures ranging from the high 60s to 90 degrees. By last week I was feeling pretty well adapted but also hoped that I retained some residual red blood cells and hemoglobin from nearly 11 years of living and training at altitude.

Last week I ran “through” to Wednesday, keeping my daily mileage up to 9 or 10 (70-80 minutes of running) on those first three days. On Thursday I rested, and we drove to Iowa. We first stopped in Iowa City, where I met three of my high school friends. I did a 4 mile shakeout run on Friday morning with another friend, and Tamara and I ventured the hour to Davenport under hot and humid conditions. Bib pick up was a breeze and we checked into the (first) hotel at 3 PM.

Injecting a rival into the mix

As far as competition goes, my return in 2022 and 2023 were a breeze for the age group and won those by 2 or 3 minutes, while also beating almost everyone else in their 50s. However, this spring I had a couple of the Quad City locals tell me that they had a friend who wanted to take me down and set a new course record. A bit of trash talk I figured, but it seemed like this runner had some solid credentials (recent 5Ks in the low to mid 18s), so I knew I’d have to be ready. I figured that three and a half weeks of solid base training should be enough to hold off almost anyone. I didn’t try to engage in any one upmanship with my friends and at the same time, wanted to keep the race as a fun event where the main competition was me vs. the course and conditions.

Nevertheless, the race was on my mind for much of the week as I focused on what I could do for my own race and to let others do what they will. This was not a championship event and the only thing on the line was a little blue Iowa-shaped ceramic plaque and some pride.

And then the rains came down

Friday afternoon was hot and muggy. We went out to dinner a little early (5:30) and got there just in time to beat the pre-race rush! It started to rain as soon as we got to the restaurant.

After dinner we settled back into our hotel, an older place about 10 or 12 minutes from downtown and the race. At 8:30 we noticed a fire engine in the parking lot, and moments later the fire alarm went off! We grabbed the dog and a few items (including my race gear of course) and headed out the door. A fireman was right there and he told us to stay put.

So we did. We waited about 10-15 minutes in an empty and eerily silent hotel, while the firefighters worked upstairs, and mulled our next steps. Earlier I noticed that our lamp and clock were flashing on and off due to electrical surges and moments before all of the commotion I heard scratching and crackling in the walls and ceiling–this ended up being an electrical fire. We decided to bug out and made new reservation at a nearby hotel.

Despite the turmoil and some extra expense we were in bed by 10. Sleep was a little restless but not bad. I woke up just befor 5:00 AM to a sharp thunder clap. Rain was coming down hard and it would not relent for hours. We wanted to get to a parking ramp near the start early and had just packed the car, ready to go, when I got the delay of race text. We wouldn’t be starting until 9 AM a delay of one hour. Back to the room. It was still pouring rain when we headed to the race but there had not been any lightning that we could see. However, we did have to change our parking plans, and avoided the downtown area. We parked along the Mississippi River, about 3/4 of a mile from the downtown and I waited until 30 minutes before the start to head out into the rain and begin my warm-up.

It was pouring.

I did just a short warm-up of about 1.3 miles with some drills and strides. I’m not sure if that was not sufficient for the day. It was still fairly warm at 73 degrees, and I didn’t want to overheat once we started racing. The rain helped everything feel cooler.

I got to the Orange corral (2nd) about 16 minutes before the start of the race. I think I have been in Orange every year I have run it. The White corral is for the elite and next fastest couple hundred runners. After the race I found out from a local that you have to request an elite/sub-elite start position in the White corral.

This did make a difference on Saturday. In my previous outings I had lined up fairly near the front of the Orange corral, and was able to run up Brady Street hill without much interference. In 2022 I probably took it out a little fast and was struggling for breath the rest of the way. I ran an 18 second positive split and moved up 22 spots from half-way. That was solid for first time back in 42 years. The next year in 2023 I started out a little easier on the first mile and ran a 10 second negative split. Tha.t felt better

My goal was to run a bit faster than 2023, under 45 minutes and to have a shot at the existing (what I think was false) record of 44:52. To do that I wanted to get out in about 6:40 for the first mile and run 6:20s for most of the rest of the way.

The race

The Orange corral had filled up fast (and early) and I lined up towards the front. Ultimately it was not far enough and I should have found a way to the very front. Once they dropped the ropes and we made the final approach I was about 10 or 12 meters back from the start line. The gun went off and it took about 10 seconds to cross the start line. I figured I’d be fine because everything is by chip time based on when you cross the start; however it soon became apparent that there were many many of runners ahead, going out at variable speeds.

I was boxed in.

The first half mile up Brady Street is a straight climb at a 7-8% grade. The trick is that you don’t want to go out too fast and then suffer the rest of the way, but you also don’t want to go out slow and fall behind. I got trapped behind clumps of runners a few times and had to do some weaving around and stutter stepping to get through. By the time we reached the top of the hill I had found some better navigation. But the going was still choppy.

The split for the first mile was 6:55, and that was too slow. On the good side, I wasn’t breathing hard as I picked it up on the downhill second mile but it was still quite crowded and had to slow and weave several times to get around slowing runners.

One of the highlights of the day was when a youngster ran by and said “hey, you’re a good runner!” I thought that was funny and asked him how old he was. He said 12! My second mile was in 6:10. The street was crowded but I stayed pretty close to my young friend through the turn-around.

I hit the half-way split in just under 23 minutes. My goal to run under 45 minutes and the opportunity to set a new record appeared to be slipping. Saturday would not be a record breaker for me. I wanted at least to hold 6:30/mile pace throughout (45:30) and I reminded myself to hang on for that.

My 12 year old friend dropped off soon after the half-way point.

Miles 4, 5, 6 on this course are a grind. After you crest that first hill at about half a mile, you have just over miles 2 miles of flat downhill, mostly on Kirkwood Avenue. That’s the best part of the race. However, at 2.6 miles you hit another big uphill on Middle Road, it’s about a quarter mile of 5-8% grade and it’s a gut punch. You then drop down to the turn around and have to do it again but in reverse (longer but not quite as steep on the return). The respite on the leeward side of Middle Road feels too short. My 3rd and 4th miles were 6:35 and 6:36, slower than I had wanted but it would have to do.

Tamara was there to cheer at about 4.2 miles, just before we started the long gradual ascent to Brady Street.

From 4.2 to 6.2 it’s almost all uphill with a couple steep pitches and here is where the course really gets tough. You are getting fatigued but still far from the finish. My splits for mile 5 and 6 were 6:39 and 6:41. At about 4.5 miles I had caught up to another masters runner that I know and we went back and forth to the finish. He kept me going, and I think I kept him going.

With about 0.7 to go, the long downhill down Brady Street and past the start is usually a lot of fun. But unlike the early miles running down Kirkwood, it’s a hurting sort of fun. You know that you are almost done, but the fatigue, leg aches, and hypoxia have taken their toll. I just wanted to keep up with my masters compatriot, knowing that if I did I’d finish ahead in the standings because he was in the White corral at the start and had a gap off the bat.

We hammered that last mile! I hit that last split in 5:46 my fastest split of the day and faster than in 2022 and 2023!

My final time was 16 seconds slower than in 2023, and 32 seconds from my pre-race goal time (and 40 seconds shy of the old “record”).

And what of my age group rival, whom my friends had touted? I had crossed and initially thought I had finished ahead, because I had passed a couple of other 60-something runners along the way.

Moments later, however, I saw him with a group of his “Faster Masters” team. He had finished a minute ahead and had broken the previous mark by 20 seconds. Although I would have liked to have been on top (he ran the time that I had dreamed of in an A++ scenario) I’m glad that had set a legitimate mark for our age group. But dang! Where did he come from? Prior to this year I think I was ahead of his performance level, and we had faced off head-to-head a couple of times and I had triumphed. Not this year.

Post hoc shakeout

For age grade, I have been consistent. I ran 86.7% in 2022, 85.6% in 2023, and this year it was 86.5%. I’m not unhappy with my age grade score, my competitor at two years younger was less than 0.2% ahead in age grading, and we ended up finishing 1-2 in overall in age grading for masters men (unofficially).

Looking at it a few days later I had a good but not great race and I should be proud of the effort even though I did not win the age group or set the record. That would have required an extraordinary effort and I simply do not have the fitness right now to run minute faster than I did.

That said, I have a couple muses. Primarily, I need to find a way to get into that White elite/sub elite corral. In my three recent outings I have beaten many runners who have had the opportunity to line up ahead of me. I could also keep my warm up going a little longer and confidently line up and run my pace up that hill and over the first couple miles with less interference. I think that cost me 20 seconds.

Second, my new age group rival, what the heck kind of community effort was that to get him on top? He had a lot of encouragement and maybe some intel from his running mates (some of whom I share Strava accounts, so they could see what types of workouts I was running).

Finally, the fields at many races are getting stronger and deeper in our age group. It is rather remarkable. I can’t just try to maintain age grade points (and slow down a bit each year) and expect to win every time. And this is especially the case as you get up in your age category. That means going forward I have to be better prepared for big races.

A weekend of fire and rain that ended up going pretty well. Bix is a great event. Usually with 12,000-15,000 runners these days, and a quality professional field. I’ll be back, especially now that it’s only a half day’s drive to get there.

I first did this race in 2022, more than 40 years after thinking that I had to run it someday. Getting to Spokane and running the race was a huge bucket list race event for me. We liked it so much we thought about moving to Spokane, and by 2024 those thoughts became a plan.

We planned the Bloomsday weekend back in January, thinking that this would be a pre-move scouting trip, or we would already have a bid on a house by then. However, things changed, and that was discussed in last week’s post and we decided not to move to Spokane after all.

Despite that, I still wanted to make the trip and run the race in 2025. Although I have only raced to it twice now, the Bloomsday 12K is one of my favorites.

Quick Turn-Around From The 10K

I only had a week to recover from the USATF Masters 10K, which was on the East Coast. In-between the travel and these races we had to move out of our condo on Wednesday, with closing on Thursday before Bloomsday. Not to mention flying out Friday night. The week was a bit of a blur. I had couple of easy running days, but put in 21,000 steps on a 14-hour moving day. The last three days of the week were just easy runs with a few strides thrown in.

Returning to Spokane after thinking-expecting to move there this year was a bits strange. Let’s just call it bittersweet.

On Saturday morning I ran about 4 miles along the course, including the top half of Doomsday Hill, and we drove around the town some after bib pick up. Otherwise, we took a restful day which was nice after such a busy week.

Doomsday Hill a 5% climb over a half mile in the background.

Race Day

Race day dawned rather cool, at 39 degrees. We made our way downtown early to ensure that we had good parking (that wasn’t a problem) and waited in the car for 40 minutes before making our way to the Riverfront Park area and race hub.

Took some pictures of the falls, but just doing that was chilling so we found a coffee shop and warmed up there until I was ready to start my jog.

I got in just 2K for a warm up, dropped off my bag and lined up in the second seed wave, about 30 meters behind the elite runners. It had warmed up significantly, to about 48 degrees with just a slight breeze. These were perfect race conditions.

The first half mile or so of this race is a little sketchy compared to other big races. There are several slight turns with curb jumps and the streets are narrow in spots. Plus, there are potholes. However, I managed to avoid any mishaps.

The plan was to run the first two miles a little slower than goal pace, which was about 47:00 (6:18/mile). My secondary goal was to break my time of 47:32 from 2022.

The first mile is relatively flat and the second mile has a half mile descent (dropping 140 feet) and sharp uphill. My splits were 6:18 and 6:18. Just a few seconds faster than I had planned but it seemed within reason, my breathing was good and I felt in control.

Mile 3 had another big uphill and it was a net climb of about 80 feet, so my split was a bit slower at 6:34 (but the grade adjusted pace was another 6:18). Through mile 3 my effort was fairly even and I felt good. So I pushed it some in mile 4. Maybe that was my mistake. With a drop of about 30 feet I ran about 6:08, my fastest split of the day. At this point I was ahead of my 2022 time and I was feeling good about that as we crossed the Meenach Bridge over the Spokane River. This, the low point of the course at 1740 feet, would be the highlight of my race.

Onto Pettit Drive and the start of Doomsday Hill, I eased up a little and let the pack just ahead pull away from me. I figured I could make up some time once we summited (which I knew was nearly a mile ahead). The course climbs over 100 feet in that initial half mile, at a grade of 4-5 percent. Just get through that part I thought, and I could grind out a good finish. My 5 mile split was 32:00, almost exactly what it was in 2022.

Course profile and pace, along with some stats.

Although I had run up the steep part of the hill, the run out was another half mile at about 1% incline. Small but I was just zapped at this point, and I ran a 6:30 for the 6th mile. Fortunately, I regrouped by 10K and got my rhythm back, knowing that it would be a net downhill to the finish. This stretch along Broadway is more than a mile long with no turns. However, it’s easy going and there were some crowds along the way cheering us on. That mile was a 6:20, again a little slower than 2022. We made the turn on to Monroe and I threw all I could into it for a strong finish in 47:42. Short of my goals, but I’m still happy with the effort and to take home another age group win.

I’ll reiterate that this is one of my favorite races. It’s huge, with 30,000 runners, but everything is well managed. They have an exciting elite race up front and those in the mid pack and back are out there on a Sunday morning having some fun running or walking with friends and family on the scenic yet challenging course.

We did not move to Spokane in 2025, but I will return for this race!

I lined up for Saturday’s Sharin’ O’ The Green 5K hoping not to have a blow out. Not my shoes, and not folding in the stretch, I was concerned about holding my breakfast and yesterday’s meals in my intestine. This was my first bicarb (sodium bicarbonate) race experiment and I lived to tell the tale.

Other than some casual ski races in January and February, on the schedule for fitness more than competition, I had only raced once since November and that was 9 weeks ago. However, I needed a rust buster and test effort for the upcoming WMA cross country event this month. I also got my hands on some Maurten bicarb, which is all the rage this year, but like anything new in running that shows success it’s hard to get. Fortunately, one of my friends knows people in the company and was able to get package with four treatments.

Last week I listened to the Physiology of Endurance Running Podcast (they’re nerdy but it’s really good), and their recent interview with Dr. Andy Sparks a researcher who did much of the work on sodium bicarbonate in sport over the past decade. He’s now a research manager with Maurten. In that interview he told tales of their earlier research where athletes had massive diarrheal outbursts or upset stomachs after taking bicarb. But that was before they developed an encapsulated formula that releases the bicarbonate in your intestine, and at a slower rate, rather than your stomach. The issue is the acids in the stomach don’t mix well with the base in the bicarbonate, and that often leads to an upset digestive system.

For years researchers athletes and coaches have recognized the sodium bicarbonate can buffer the exercise induced acidosis in blood and muscles, but the trick was to find a way to get enough into an athlete’s system while not causing digestive upset. However, recently Dr. Sparks and others have shown that encapsulating the bicarbonate and taking it with a carbohydrate gel product, it can be consumed by athletes while not resulting in digestive issues. Indeed it appears to allow greater endurance by buffering the blood.

The trick is that you need to follow the protocol. It’s pretty simple. Eat a light meal a few hours ahead of your exercise (or race), two hours before mix the gel caplets into 200 ml of water, and then a couple of minutes later add in the encapsulated bicarb, mix and then slurp down the tasteless gel in one bout but without chewing the bicarb.

How did it go?

Saturday’s Race

We decided to drive the 80-90 minutes to Fort Collins on Saturday morning, rather than stay in a hotel overnight. I was a little nervous about the bicarb protocol and timing it right while we were enroute, but decided to go ahead with the idea that we would stop about half way there, 2 hours ahead of the race.

After 45 minutes of driving we pulled off and stopped at a service station where I mixed the goop, waited 5 minutes and gulped it down without gagging anything and spilling only a half teaspoon. Two hours to race time.

We arrived in Fort Collins about an hour ahead of the race where I picked up my bib and set about with the warm up. I had planned on 3 miles, but with porta john lines (especially important on this day!) I got in 2 miles with some drills, a short tempo, and some strides. We lined up and everyone one seemed to converge at once, and I could only get as far up as the 4th row, with 30 or 40 people ahead of me in a field that did not look deep.

The plan was to run about 6:08-6:10 over the first mile and then see how it would go on the bike path over the final two miles. My goal was run about 19:00 for the 5K, which age grades to about 88 %.

We blasted out of the start and some from behind shot ahead. The pace over the first few hundred meters was faster than I had wanted (sub 6) so I eased up a little. I split the mile in about 6:02, which was a little fast. My breathing was okay.

We had a bit of a headwind as we turned onto the bike path just after one mile. I tucked into a large pack of about 10 runners and found myself near the front of the group. It was a little unnerving to hear so many footsteps right on my heals. I braked a few times because the leaders of the group slowed a bit, and also eased up once, at about half way because a guy was breathing so heavily, practically in my ear. That was a distraction and either I could pick it up and get a gap or slow a bit and run behind him for a bit.

I fell back to about 4th or 5th in that pack, trying to keep focused and in contact. By 2 miles I had moved back up some and the pack was dissipating by then. We split in about 12:10, so a 6:08 second mile. That felt about right and it felt like I could run about 19-flat or under if I could hang on.

However, I started to get the feeling that I might need to go to the bathroom. Hold on! Less than a mile to go. I got gassed (tired) at 2.5 and slowed down for a few hundred meters. Two runners went by quickly. They were younger and closed under 6:00 for the last mile. Then two more went by, but they were not moving as fast and I was able to maintain a better pace, about 5 meters behind them. We popped off the river and over a bridge at about 2.8 miles, and I was back onto 6:00-6:10 pace for the stretch. Over the last 200 or 250 m, just before the 3 mile marker (3 miles in 18:28), I threw down all I could and had a strong kick (5:40 pace). I passed those two and pulled away by 4 or 5 seconds. Officially finishing 19:17, but I think that was a little long. And my watch had me closer to 19:05+/-.

My intestines were okay, but I did seek the nearest bathroom within 2-3 minutes after crossing the line. No upsets or accidents. All was good.

Post-Hoc

This is why we do rust busters. I think my fitness is there, but the pacing was not perfect (see pace chart). The finish was crazy fast, however, and that’s encouraging.

I finished top 20 and won my age group, and pretty much achieved my pre-race goals.

Age grade was 87% for the full time for 5K, if you consider that the course seemed long (3.16 miles) it was over 88%. I probably hit that first mile a bit too fast, maybe 5 or 6 seconds, and that’s why struggled some over the 3rd mile.

What about the bicarb? I think there is something there, that was my best kick in a 5K in a long time. Usually I drop a few seconds in pace, maybe 10-15 seconds per mile under the overall pace, but this was 30+ seconds, and I felt I could have gone another 100-150 meters at this sprint effort, instead of feeling utterly spent when crossing the line. So I am encouraged.