So, this weekend we went back to Minnesota for my dad’s birthday, and for the relatives to meet our new son (well, at 10 months, he’s hardly new to us anymore). And during our visit, there was a race held nearby that I signed up for, the Fools Five, raising money for cancer patients. Like so many races, a nice course, good turnout, and great cause. This race was held in Lewiston, MN, and the number of registered runners (around 1800 between the two races they held) was greater than the population of this rural community.
I had been looking at the weather forecasts prior to flying back, and the weather during our stay looked like it would be GREAT, with the exception of race day, where it was likely to be in the 40’s and raining. EWWW, so I brought all kinds of cold weather gear with me, ready for whatever Mother Nature threw at us. As it turns out, it was cool, not quite cold, and while it rained all the way up to starting time, it did stop for the race - nice! The wind however did not!
I lined up and started out pretty strong, though this was helped by the slightly downhill, tailwind aided first half mile. Stopped for a quick sip of water (later wishing I had more than a sip) at the first mile marker. And then it got windy. From mile .75 to 2.5 it was rolling uphill into a serious head wind. I kept hitting the pavement, but was slowing the entire time. At the turnaround I took another sip of water and started off the downhill, tailwind aided return - ah nice. Then, what the heck is this!!! A cramp in my calves? At 3 miles? It turns out that drinking lots of wine and a shot of tequilla the night before, while celebrating papa’s birthday was not such a good idea afterall. I knew it would be a “hangover” event, and I wasn’t expecting a fantastic finish, but now I was paying for my miscalculations… Kept running, and at the 4 mile marker, I stopped for two FULL glasses of water, knowing I would appreciate the relief later, probably not during the final mile, but certainly after the race. I figured at that point that I was looking at a finish of about 43 minutes, which was fine by me - right around the 45 minutes I had told my family I would likely return at. As I rounded the corner for the final .5 miles, I realized I still had a lot in the tank, so I picked it up, and finished strong with a final time of 41:34. Not too bad for a hungover runner.
It was nice to be back, and kind of fun running out in the heart of this farmland, where the smell of cow manure was my biggest challenge. In the end, it was worth while, and at only $8 to register, it was a great training run with a thousand others by my side. Fools five - aptly named if you are foolish enough to imbibe the night before as I did.
Foolish, but not fooled,
Jamie, The Diabetic Runner
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I took my mountain bike on a trip from Denver to Flaming Gorge Reservoir. I tried for the local color on some mountain bike trails. I wanted to make sure that my bike was ready so I stopped at a bike shop. No sooner did I walk in when the tech looked at me and said, “I really charge a lot extra if I have to clean cow poop off of your bike!” Wow, I thought, How rude.
He tweaked the bike and I headed off for the Dowd Mountain loop (near Vernal, Utah). It was a great trail. Not too hard and very, very scenic. At the outside end you could see the cool, clear waters of the reservoir.
Returning to the RV, we came upon a herd of cow. We must have scared them as, all of a sudden and in extreme coordination, they all screamed and pooped at once! They didn’t move out of our way or even away from us. We had to ride or walk through that herd (and what was all around them).
Now, I know what that tech meant! I feel for you, Man! But I do know that smell!
Hey Jamie, great job on the 8K! Glad it wasn’t too cold and for only 8 bucks, heck, what’s a little cow manure?
BTW, I’m starting up a new online hangout spot end of next month, EnduranceSportsBar.com, and would love to feature some of your stuff there and include your podcasts in my vault collection. If you’re interested, please send me an email.
Keep running! — Shirley
you’ve gotta love MN racing this time of year… there is a trail 25k this Saturday and when we previewed the route a couple weeks ago we were running on a foot or so of snow/ice that still hadn’t melted. hoping the weather has cleaned that course up!!
Hey Scott,
Yeah, I got lucky. It was really nice while we were there, and there was little to no snow left anywhere on the ground. Though I heard that it did snow a bit after we left. I guess it helps that my race was on the road… I know how shaded trails can be, keeping their snow much longer than aywhere else.
Good luck with the 25K race, ice-pick in hand or not.