I completed the adjusted Frozen Half Marathon in St. Paul MN with a time of 1:03:48. Total distance was 6.55 which works out to be a 1/4 marathon. My first quarter marathon so therefore I have a personal record (PR). It went relatively smooth.

As I was pulling into St. Paul I saw a flashing temperature sign indicating the temp to be -9 and that agreed with the temp displayed on my dashboard. There was a slight breeze so the wind-chill was maybe in the –teens somewhere. Overall I thought it wasn’t too bad.

The start was maybe just a minute behind the scheduled start of 9:00. To avoid being trampled I start near the back of the pack. It was kind of cool to see all the steam rising above the runners heads as we waited for the start. As usual it took awhile for the pack to get going. We were off and running the Frozen 1/4 marathon.

I felt like I had a nice comfortable pace at the start. I seemed to be moving along with the pack not getting to far ahead of me. As I approached the first mile I heard the volunteer shouting out the times and I was at 9:20. 9:20!! Dang that’s way too fast I am going to pay for this. Considering that was the gun time I figured I was under 9:00 for the first mile. Sure enough an 8:34 for my first mile. I even stopped for a few seconds because my shoe lace came untied. Oh boy was I going to pay.

From the first mile marker I tried to slow my pace just a bit and cruise along. I followed a couple of birthday girls for awhile; they had shirts pointing to one another indicating their birthdays Jan 25 & Jan 28. Pretty much stayed there till the turnaround. I was really beginning to feel the effects of the fast start at this point. I thought I was going to be able to skip the water but I needed it. I stopped and walked while I drank some water. I checked my Garmin and pace was about right at that point.

I was headed towards the finish line after the water stop. I pretty much had it in cruise control. I ran 10:08, 10:22 and 10:08 for miles 4, 5, and 6. Small hill in mile 5 therefore 10:22. Just prior to the finish there is this hill, no make that a steep hill, on 3^rd thought a very steep hill, I walked it. Once at the top I ran to the finish with a smile on my face.

As far as the conditions go I was quite comfortable. On the return side I took off my pull over hat/mask combo and my mittens. I was still protected by neck gaiter, gloves and a fleece hat. My feet were quite comfortable throughout. The conditions were not as bad as forecasted so I think we would have been fine doing the entire half but it is what it was. I feel great and look forward to the next one.

It’s been awhile since I posted here. I think I suffered a bit of the post marathon blues. Abandoned running for the most part. I was pretty lethargic.

I did run a couple of 5k’s. Nothing spectacular as far as time goes. Basically ran because both are more of a tradition. I ran the Gray Ghost 5k in Anoka. I ran again as the Man in the Yellow hat along with one grandson who was Curious George, other Grandson who was Curious George’s friend Bill and granddaughter who was a zebra. There were in a stroller that I pushed for the entire 5K. Than I did the Gobble Gallop there in Duluth just as I did last year.

I started running a bit more regularly Just before Thanksgiving. I am sort of training for the Frozen Half Marathon on January 24th in St. Paul. I say sort of because it’s basically pre-training for G’Mas marathon. I figure I need get the running legs going prior to starting my 18 week G’Mas training program. I ran a quick 3 miles yesterday while it was snowing. Sure missed out on some meditation time prior to getting going again.

I wish everyone a great holiday season. May there be lot’s of great stuff in your running socks. 

My first running of The Hamptons Bay Marathon is in the books. I say the first because there will be more. It was a great experience.

On Thursday my wife and I arrived in New York. My niece’s (Patti’s), husband (David) picked us up at the airport. He was doing the marathon with me. During the drive to my sister in law's (Pat) where we would be staying for the weekend we decided that we should drive the course.

We drove out to East Hampton with map in hand. Met up with sister in laws husband (Jim) right at the start line, he just happened to be working in that area and knew the area pretty good. Went over the map a bit and off we went. Pretty much from the get go I knew this was going to be a run that I would like. It was laid out through country roads carved through beautiful forests and a section that stretched out along the coast of Long Island. It was a delight to drive it and I was going to be able to run it.

The race started at 8:00 in the Morning and was about an hour’s drive. Jim, David and I left at 6:00 and we arrived at about 6:45. It’s still kind of dark at that time. I was quite excited. As people came towards us I would say "Good Morning" or some other type of friendly greeting. The response was kind of mixed. David said Tim people don’t do that here in New York. I paid no attention and continued on greeting people despite the advice from David. He commented “If you keep doing that I won’t walk with you”. Heck we were at the staging area anyways so I relented and just kept my giddiness to myself. It was now just a bit after 7:00 so we just moseyed about till 10 minutes before race time.

Prior to getting into the race I need to digress just a bit and get into the weather details. When we got that there it wasn’t raining which was better than we expected. However our expectations did come to fruition about 20 minutes prior to the start time. It rained, not hard but steady for about the first 3 miles or so I think. Then it stopped. Not bad one would think. But then it started up again at about mile 16 to 17. A steady and just a bit harder rain than earlier. The rain continued on pretty much until mile 20 I think. From there it was pretty much rain free. Of course along with the rain it was a bit humid. The temp was in the low sixties and the wind was pretty much a non factor except for one small stretch. David said most New Yorkers would say it was miserable, my thought hey no big deal just run. 

We started pretty much right on time. The beginning was downhill for a little bit. Just a bit before mile 2 we started to go up significantly. Once we hit the crest of that hill the course terrain was gently rolling hills for about 5 miles or so. Between mile 7 and 8 we descended down to the flat part of the course. It stayed flat for the next 9 miles. Starting right at about 17 we encountered the second significant incline of the route. This incline was also followed by some gentle rolling hills before descending at about mile 21. From there it was predominantly flat with an occasional bump here and there. It was a nice way to finish a long run.  

I was able to run more during this marathon than my previous 6. I basically ran at a pace that felt very comfortable. I think for 95% of the race I felt in total control and mentally I was doing quite well. There was one small section in the flats when I was heading directly into the wind that I felt oh oh I am going to be able to get through this in under 5:00. Once I turned the corner and had the wind at my back it was nothing but positive. At mile 16 I checked my time and I was in much better shape than I thought. I had a chance at finishing in under 4:40. It was a slim chance but a chance. It gave me a big boost. At this point I did start a run/walk routine. I ran for about 9 minutes and than walked for a minute. I also walked the water stations. At mile 25 I still had a shot at finishing in under 4:40 but it would have required a pace of under 10:00 and I as hard as I could try that was not going to happen. What was going to happen was that this marathon would be my second best finish. I walked for 30 seconds and than put into the highest gear I could, managed a 10:35 pace, to finish at 4:41:04.

It was an awesome run. I had help in making this marathon a wonderful experience. David ran with me and that was a great motivator. I had family there to cheer me on. And boy did they cheer. They not only gave me a big boost, they gave another runner a boost too. They were screaming, hollering and shaking cow bells like there was no tomorrow. A guy next to me said “wow thanks I needed that, I am pumped too”. The second time around my wonderful wife had a dry shirt ready for me. A quick change and I was on my way. Too bad the rain started up again about 10 minutes after that. And of course I knew my entourage would be there at the finish line to cheer me on home. 

This marathon was without a doubt a very special moment. Between mile 25 and 26 it wasn’t raining from the sky but it was a bit watery if you know what I mean. In addition to my family there have been so many people who have supported me along the way. That’s all of you who have followed my blog and chatted with me on running threads. I thank you and I used you along the way as well. I look forward to the next time.

I feel like I am ready. I have run short, medium and long. I have run flats, hills, in the wind, in the heat and occasionally in the rain. Now it’s pretty down to waiting for the gun to go off at 8:00 am on Saturday the 27^th of September.

I ran my last long run for this marathon training. Probably one of the toughest if not the toughest LSD I have done. I checked the elevations again on the race and there are two good sized hills to climb. Each followed by some rolling hills for a couple of miles. Therefore I chose to run the hilly part of my town tonight. With only a small section of about a mile it was 12 miles of pretty much nothing but ups and downs. So the long runs are in the book which only leaves some short runs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday to complete my training for Saturday’s marathon.

All in all I think it has gone pretty good. It took awhile for me to handle training in the heat. That was probably the toughest part of getting ready for the fall marathon. It is most likely why I doubt I will do another fall marathon. There werr a few aches and pains too. None of the aches and pains ever caused me to be concerned as I knew they were minor. The step back weeks allowed me to recover nicely after those tough long mileage weeks. So yes I am ready.

The early forecast doesn’t look to be too bad. Looking at temps in the 50’s most likely at the start. Later the temps should not be much more than the mid 60’s by the time I cross the line. No predictions on humidity or wind as of yet. The weather is pretty much out of my control so I plan on showing up and I will deal with whatever it is.

There is no online tracking available for the event. From what I was told is that cell phone coverage is spotty so the splits cannot be tracked. The final results I guess will be posted a short time after the race is complete which should be about 2:00. www.hamptonsmarathon.com

Stay tuned for a race report