Med-City Marathon in Rochester

May 29th - Med City Marathon Rochester.

I got to the Mayo Civic Center for the Expo at 3pm.  For 2 hours, I greeted runners as they came to pick up their registration and seek advice and tips from us. I recalled a young man who said that this would be his first marathon, and his goal was to finish, but if he could do it in less than 5 hours, it would be excellent.  I gave him some advice and motivation.  For the rest of the time, I talked to Matt and other pacers. 

Afterwards, I toured the city and explored downtown, trying to find some tasty foods.  I loaded myself with tons of carbohydrates from the delicious pizza and pasta in my hotel room. Then I headed for bed, but I was woken up by the whistle of the train at 4:30 am.  So, the rest of the time, I laid there for awhile before I had to get ready.  At 5:40, I caught the bus out to Byron, where we were going to start the race.  It was only about 20 minutes before I met the rest of the pacers.  A few minutes prior to the race, I headed for the restroom since it was on pavement instead of trail. 

7:00 sharp, we all started screaming with excitement.  The runners, as usual, moved along slowly with me; as a pacer, you just want to maintain your pace, so it didn't matter to be first at the finish line.  At the moment, the weather was nice even though there was a threat of rain in the morning, it soon cleared away.  Around the first mile mark, I looked at my watch to check my pace, and I noticed that it was 25 seconds faster.  I quickly corrected it.  Alongside, there was a girl whom I was quite worried about since her breathing apparatus sounded very agitated; I told her to slow down and breathe through her nose.  Meanwhile, other runners began to go faster than me; however, I didn't say anything because in the last race, I was lacking behind by some 15 miles due to the restroom episode. 

The atmosphere became lively when I caught up to them.  We saw a lot of people cheering and clapping their hands, as we got closer to the finish line.  I passed a runner by the 24-mile mark, and she asked me why I was not tired because I going faster than she was.  I told her that I am, but I had to finish on time.  When I breezed by the 26 mile, I saw the US flag.  I was pretty sure that I was 30 seconds ahead of my time, but when I saw the clock, I ran as fast as I could.  However, the timer won, and I crossed the line a minute after my 3:50 goal time.  What a disgrace...but I still carried on cause I have my 100-mile race in Wisconsin waiting for me. 










  

Updates since Arrowhead...

After the Arrowhead race, I took a long break from running; as we know here in Minnesota, the winters are long, so I decided to do some ice climbing with some local friends.

                                                             

April 16, 2011 -
It was time to train and be back on the trail again.  I received an invite on Facebook to run 50K with other ultrarunners, all of whom are very talented like John Taylor who finished 32 races of 100 miles each, and yet he's so humble.  I had a good time after 7 hours and some minutes with them and came home satisfied that I had resumed my training with 50K.

At Chippewa Visitor Center

April 23, 2011 - Initially, my intention was to run the 100K in Kansas City, but a week before the race I felt pain in my legs, so I decided to go slow at the 50K in Chippewa.  It was about 2 hours from where I live, and I brought along a rain jacket since it rained the night before.  It didn't rain too long, and after 20 minutes, I saw some familiar faces - Misty, John Taylor,Helen and Chris.  The trail is 100 % single track with some climbs and mud puddles, which really makes you run cautiously to avoid falling.  Gradually, I felt tired and ran slower, but then when my right foot suddenly hit a rock, I kinda "woke up" cause I felt some pain.  I thought I was going to lose my toenail again , but after 6:23, I finally saw the finish line - how pleasant.

April 30, 2011 -
The marathon in Brainerd was my first debut as a pacer, leading the 4:15 group.  The morning was pouring, which I was fine since I had my rain jacket to test out.  I know that for some runners, it was probably uncomfortable to run in the rain, but for me I enjoy running in any condition.  At the start line with my sign and 18 runners ready to go, the buzzer went off exactly at 8 AM.  We started out at a slow pace during the first 2 miles as a warm-up, then I began to keep my pace of 9:43 m/m, which made some of my runners linger until the last of them encouraged me to slow down my pace a bit.  It wasn't enough to keep my runners, and there were just a few left, one of which was a woman - numbered 24.  She told me 20 days before the race, she suffered a tear in her left knee.  At some point during the race, she felt pain again, and it was uncomfortable for her to continue without aid.  So I tore a strip off my t-shirt and wrapped it around her knee for support until we reached the aid station.  Consequently, this cost me some time, and I was about 9 minutes behind my time, but I was happy to cross the finish line, knowing that I had done my part and contributed to the MN Pacers.

May 1, 2011 -
After a cold bath with ice (and calves compression), once again I declared myself ready for the Minnetonka Half Marathon with now 1:50 as my goal time.  For some reason, it didn't start out well; I had a bad stomachache, and 10 minutes before the race I was still in the bathroom.  The weather was cold and windy, the course had some ups around the lake, and at the end of the goal was a bit muddy.  MN Pacer Tim and I crossed  the line at 10 seconds before our target time, which was very good.  With a medal around my neck, I retired for the day and came home to rest after 2 races in 2 days. 

May 7, 2011 -
New Prague Half Marathon took place south of Minneapolis.  I had a companion with me to our target, Russell, who was as usual 1:45, starting at an easy pace and after the first 1.5 miles, began to maintain a steady rate.  Some runners suddenly started to lag; we just carried on.  When we crossed the 13.1 mile, we checked our watch and noticed we were 5 seconds faster than our target.  The most interesting thing I saw along the way was a runner pushing a child in a wheelchair.  Perhaps a mile before we finally reached the line, we reduced our speed to wait for some runners to cross together the final 14 seconds before our time.  This time without a medal, as they did not expect to meet their goal time.  Then came Leah B., another MN pacer with much more experience than me.  Thanks to everyone who has been following my blog.

Pacing and Me?

I remember when I was 16 years old, I would run with my friend, Carlos, on the beach of La Paz, Mexico.  Carlos was  a good runner, and I was no where near that.  I had no knowledge of nutrition, hydration, clothing, among other elements within the world of ultrarunning.  At the time, I didn't care about that stuff since I was only trying to stay healthy and fit.  Then one day Carlos and I had a dare to try for the 8K, and I
immediately took it without thinking twice.  There was nothing to lose, I thought.  After I ran my first 8K, I continued running, but I was never in any official races until I was 19.  I was in the Army and was signed up for the 10K (only available one at the time).  I ended up in 14th place with 28:00 out of 700 participants.  And now, I find myself competing in all categories from 5K to 150 Mile, as well as moutain biking and adventure races.  In spite of all this, I'm still learning from other runners, just never get tired of asking questions.  Even though I have been in several races, I still get anxious (excited, too) every time I record a race, seeing myself at full speed and getting in touch with Mother Nature.  By the way, I'd recommend cross-country running since there will be less injuries, more fresh air, and less worries about the cars.
Recently, I've been in contact with Sam, leader of the MN pacers.  As a matter of fact, there will be a get-together meeting where pacers and runners will meet and get to know one another a bit.  I'll probably give a little speech about why I am interested in becoming a pacer; this will be my first experience as a pacer.  I hope to do a great job supporting my group of marathoners.  This marathon will be in Brainerd toward the end of April, where I will lead a 4:00 group.  In the meantime, I'm still searching for other pacing opportunities.  For those of you who have had experiences in being  a pacer, please give me some tips and whatnot, so I can prepare myself.
Having said all ths, I'm working on recovering from Arrowhead.  It was definitely a bummer for me, but I'm training myself for next year.  There's about 6 weeks before I see some action again on the trail, but the weather in MN is so unpredictable.  Despite the storm we had last weekend, it's good news for those who ski or ice climb.  Speaking of ice climbing, I will do this for a couple days this week.  I'm looking forward to it!  I will keep you posted for sure and, as always, thanks for being a fan.  Remember - live your life to the fullest and do what you are most passionate about.