Cold, sleet, snow, heavy winds, and deer hits runner … what a race!

This morning I ran the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon, and it was a race to remember. I never thought I would be running in my full winter gear on May 1st, but this morning the temperature was 33F and the strong winds made it fell like mid winter. There were even a few snow flakes and/or sleet falling, but I was dressed with the right gear and was very comfortable. About three miles into the race I saw some deer run through the line of runners just ahead of me. I heard from bystanders that one of the runners was hit by a deer. My wife saw a runner just ahead of me at the finish line with a bloody mouth; maybe there was some deer fur in his teeth. You’ve got to love the tenacity of long distance runners.

My goal was to finish just under 2 hours. I didn’t care how much less than 2 hours, even one second under was good for me. My training this spring has been sporadic, and I didn’t have a lot of long runs under my belt. But I did run my last 10 mile training run at a pace close to what I needed to do at the 13.1 mile race. So I had confidence that 2 hours was possible, but wouldn’t be easy. I did something I’ve never done before in a race, follow a pacer.

A pacer is an experienced long distance runner who volunteers to run at a specified pace so others can follow. The pacer also provides words of encouragement and motivation. There are many pacers in a race, each running at a different pace. They carry a sign showing the pace they plan to run so you can easily spot them in the race. I picked the 8:47 min/mile pacer, which was a little faster than I planned to run. I needed to run at a 9:09 pace to finish under 2 hours. Through the entire race I made sure the pacer was just ahead of me at all times. I felt challenged, but never over my head. Then somewhere in the last mile I pushed it hard and passed him up. It worked, and I finished in 1:53:52.

Sometimes when we are going through a challenge in our life, we need a pacer to follow and motivate us to keep going. The trick is to find the right pacer, one who is not way beyond our abilities, but challenges us to go beyond our expectations.

A cold start at the starting line.

My pacer holding up his sign, he plans to finish in 1 hour and 55 minutues, a few minutes before my goal.

Several yards from the finish line.

Feeling pretty good after running 13.1 miles.

Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon 2011

This Sunday I will be running in the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon. I ran the race in 2009 and was planning to do so in 2010 but couldn’t due to Plantar Fasciitis. This year I’m totally free of Plantar Fasciitis and in good shape for the race. Last week I ran a half marathon distance for training and didn’t have any foot pain. This morning I ran 10 miles at a pretty good pace and afterwards my legs felt great. I won’t be setting any personal records, but I’m hoping to complete the race in just less than two hours.

The Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon is nearly in my backyard. The race starts in Wayzata Minnesota and ends in Excelsior. About the last 2.5 miles is the same beginning route of most of my training runs. The race runs through mostly residential neighborhoods of Lake Minnetonka and the scenery is absolutely beautiful. It’s been two years since I’ve ran a race longer than 10k. I am really looking forward to this race.