Saturday, September 11, 2010

Get Ready to Rock - 2:58:49

Today was great for a run, overcast with perfect temperatures.  Lucky for me I was signed up for a race around Bald Eagle Lake in White Bear Lake, MN (link).  This was a 20 mile race, and my previous farthest run was only 18.  This was going to be a real test.  Lucky for me Pacer Sam from the Minnesota Pacers was leading the 3 hour group (9 min miles) and that is exactly what I wanted to do. 

This was also the first race that I was going all out on Hammer Nutrition products.  No details, but to summarize I skipped solid food for breakfast and only took Hammer supplements.  At the 1 hour and the 2 hour marks I took more Hammer Supplements, and along the way I drank Hammer Perpetuem

So how was the race?  Awesome.  Unknown to me, my alarm clock was set 10 min behind, so I was running late from the start.  Then construction on the drive blocked the road (yes, the ENTIRE road was blocked with no detour signs).  The internal compass worked fine and I was back on track in a few minutes to arrive at the parking lot.  And it was EMPTY!!  Most people parked on the other side of the school, so I had plenty of spots to choose from.  The T-shirt was very nice, in a light blue color.  I took care of business and was in my car resting in no time.  But first I ran into Blogger Julie and had to say hi.

I lined up with Pacer Sam and what would turn into a group of about 15 runners, all going for 3 hrs.  It seemed most people lined up by pace as only a few times did we need to pass or be passed by other runners.  The course is fairly flat with about 5 miles in neighborhoods before the two loops around Bald Eagle Lake.  I was excited as mile 10 grew close because just after the mile marker my wife and kids were waiting.  They all yelled when they saw me and I swapped my Fuel Belt bottles for new ones.  The rest of the race was good till about mile 16.  Then it became a real challenge to stay with Pacer Sam.  He was very good a motivating everyone to pick up the pace till it was just Sam and I at mile 18.  I stuck with him till mile 19 when he all but pushed me to finish strong.  Over that last mile I had spurts of strong running but was able to really dig in as the finishers shoot appeared.  That last mile was 8:16.  It helped that my wife and kids were all yelling for me. 

Official Results:
88 out of 210
Time 2:58:49
Pace 8:57

4 comments:

  1. Way to go, Mark! You're just about ready to do the full marathon. You're farther along than you think! Congratulations on a significant milestone today.

    Tom P.

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  2. It was good to see you again Mark! You did awesome today:) Good luck with your future races!

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  3. Great job, I got to agree with Tom, you are Marathon ready. Keep up the great running and best of luck with your next race.

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  4. Hey, great race on Saturday! I was a part of the 9:00 Pacer Sam pack at the Get Ready to Rock race, too. I'm aiming for the full marathon at Mankato, and may have to try to run with Pacer Sam again, as he was great.

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