Crazy Legs is a zoo.
There are tons of people running the 8k race, a good portion of them in costumes, a rocky theme at the 4 mile mark and beer handed out at the end. It's a race, but one that people seem to do just for the hell out of it. It was quite different from the Black Earth 10 mile race, which consisted of regular racers, only about 200 people, and minimal hoopla.
The weather sucked on Saturday. It was in the 30s with rain and biting wind. As I lined up waiting for my wave to start, I jumped up and down to stay warmed up and watched as the light rain wavered on the verge of becoming icy hail. I had zero motivation to run Saturday morning. I was certain that I'd run this 8k as slow as possible. I had registered as running it in 45 minutes, feeling that that's an optimistic estimate given my Black Earth performance at the turnaround. I was certain while stretching in the US Bank Plaza that I'd run it in about 55 minutes and thought about moving back in the wave. Who really wants to watch everybody else pass you anyway? But I didn't, mostly because the weather was so terrible just standing and waiting that I wanted to get running as quickly as possible. Truth be told though, I thought about just not running altogether. I swore up and down that this would be the last Crazy Legs.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Black Earth 10 mile race
This past Saturday, I ran the Black Earth 10 mile race with Jesse, Regina, and my friend Barry. This was my first race and I'm glad I did it. I haven't really been timing myself accurately for any of my training runs. I tend to forget to look at the clock before I leave the house. Plus, I walk about 3 blocks before I start my run, and walk 3 blocks afterward, and I have to estimate how much time that actually takes. The kitchen clock is also some number of minutes ahead of my computer clock. I look at the computer clock before I get ready for my run, the kitchen clock when I get back. It's all very non-scientific.
Anyway, I was guessing that I'm averaging about 10 minute/mile on these runs. That seemed to be on track despite the distance I was running. I was quite happy with this since I started last fall with the idea that I was probably going to run the half marathon at a pace of 12 min/mile. That is, I was happy with this pace until I ran Black Earth. The course for Black Earth is an out and back course. It kind of took the wind out of my sails when at about 3.5 miles, these elite runners were already on their way back. And then there was John Heim. At about 2.4 miles, a runner passes me with the sign "Blind Runner" running with someone else while holding onto a short rope. John Heim, who's blind and 52 years old finished at about 1 hour 27 min. I had a final time of 1:34:28.
Anyway, I was guessing that I'm averaging about 10 minute/mile on these runs. That seemed to be on track despite the distance I was running. I was quite happy with this since I started last fall with the idea that I was probably going to run the half marathon at a pace of 12 min/mile. That is, I was happy with this pace until I ran Black Earth. The course for Black Earth is an out and back course. It kind of took the wind out of my sails when at about 3.5 miles, these elite runners were already on their way back. And then there was John Heim. At about 2.4 miles, a runner passes me with the sign "Blind Runner" running with someone else while holding onto a short rope. John Heim, who's blind and 52 years old finished at about 1 hour 27 min. I had a final time of 1:34:28.
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