Mixing it Up (recap)

Distance: 5, 7, 10, and 12.6 miles (each participant varied)
Max personal HR: 178
Average personal HR: 146
Calories Burned: 1575

Outing Highlights:
Another nice night to be out on a run. All the Memorial day weekend rain and coolness evaporated and we had a sunny, relatively windless, warm (for Duluth) spring night. Bill S, Clint A, Eddie B, and I (Keven), started this night up at Enger Park. Since I had a little incline in our initial route plan, I had the group warm up with a fun stairs relay at Enger Tower. We paired off and had the brief competition. Eddie and Clint were the big winners and I would have to say that Bill was not the reason our team lost, as he and Clint were pretty much neck and neck. Eddie was a formidable opponent, so hats off to you Eddie!

The first loop went eastward along Skyline. We dipped down a few blocks and I had the group run a small portion of the old Incline route, where a concrete staircase still exists. There is an interesting story behind this piece of Duluth history, for those who like to dig up that kind of thing. I think I was a little off in the version I told the group. It was a serious huff fest up the several blocks back to Skyline.

Make sure that you run this segment of Skyline several times this summer. In addition to the unbelievable trail system throughout Duluth, the views all along Skyline Parkway are truly incredible and difficult to capture unless you take a bit of time to soak it in.

It was great to be out with these three guys, though the others were missed. Conversation topics included: City politics and budgetary woes, corporate healthcare & wellness, a motorcycle trip to Door County, healthy eating, a 5k run hosted by Mount of Olives Baptist Church, Grandma's marathon fliers, the tri-group starting up, and much more. I truly appreciate every person who came and has come in the past.

Next week we will likely phase into the Tri Group. Until Grandma's weekend, we'll make sure to include a running leg, but we will also be doing a bike leg. If you do not have a bike and would like to attend, please let us know and we'll bring an extra.

Mixing it Up

Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 (6:00PM)
Meet Location: Enger Park parking lot (map)
Activity: Road running with some extras
Weather: upper 50's and sunny (updated forecast)
Optional Gear: water bottle and some nutrition (Hammer's Heed, Ultima, etc.)

Anticipated Distance: 14 miles

Activity Details
We are still logging miles each week and, with the recent moisture, are heading back to the roads. I've broken this up into two running segments: a 5 mile loop and a 9 mile out & back as illustrated in the maps below.

We will start promptly at 6PM to avoid going too late. Initially, we'll head to the tower to do 5 to 10 minutes of warmups. If you arrive late, head to the tower...we'll make sure to give you a good reminder not to be late:) Next, we'll do an eastward skyline loop. Make sure to check in with me before we get started so we can make sure to match up runners of different levels and tailor routes accordingly to all end back at the parking lot at similar times. Last, for those interested in logging some extra miles, we'll head westward. We'll see, by participation, what distance the westward out & back route makes sense. I'm hoping for 9, which would bring us to the Superior Hiking Trail parking area as the turnaround point. Hope to see you tomorrow!

Route 1 (5 miles)



Route 2 (9 miles)

Time for Trails (recap)

Distance: 11.7 miles (may be understated due to elevation changes)
Max personal HR: 177
Average personal HR: 140
Calories Burned: 1685




A great turnout tonight. Six of us set out to take advantage of the dry conditions on the Superior Hiking Trail. Tonight's group consisted of Keven, Bill, Chris, Eddie, Clint, and me (Greg). As much as I love running on the road, there's simply no substitute for a good trail run. It's nights like this one that I'm reminded of just how much I love living in Duluth. We're fortunate to have so many trails right in the city. If you haven't explored the Superior Hiking Trail yet, I encourage you to do so soon. You won't regret it!

We did an out and back on each side of Haines Road and the trail was in fantastic shape. Plenty of sunsine and cool temps made for ideal running conditions as we weaved our way through the woods. I think it's safe to say that everyone in the group was out of their comfort zone for at least part of the evening. There's no shortage of hills on this trail! Hats off to Eddie, who continues to impress the group by his noticeable improvement each week and his willingness to keep coming back for more.

I hope that everyone enjoyed this run as much as I did! Please join us next week for what is sure to be another fun outing.

Time for Trails

Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 (6:00PM)
Meet Location: Greg's House - 4734 Mary Lane Drive (map)
Activity: Trail running
Weather: upper 50's and sunny (updated forecast)
Optional Gear: trail shoes, water bottle and some nutrition (Hammer's Heed, Ultima, etc.)

Anticipated Distance: 15 miles

Activity Details

We will run two separate out and backs on the Superior Hiking Trail followed by a road loop at the end. This format will give participants two opportunities to cut the run short if desired.

We will enter the Superior Hiking Trail at the Haines Road intersection and run both east and west to Skyline Parkway. We'll finish off the evening with 5 miles on the road which will include a scenic stretch on Skyline and a nice climb up Haines Road.

The trails should be in great shape. Hope you can make it!

Heart of the Heights (recap)

Distance: 12.1 miles
Max personal HR: 171
Average personal HR: 141
Calories Burned: 1526

Definitely a smaller group tonight with Bill on a business trip, Eddie celebrating his birthday, Kurt out on a job, and a few others unable to attend. We had our first girl attend, however. Laura, our sister, decided to join us for a loop and she was a welcome addition.

Weather was fair, with the rain thankfully letting up prior to our start. We explored some potential 5k routes for a race my church, Mount of Olives Baptist, would like me to coordinate as part of their Festival in the Heights in August. It seems like we have some good options.

Having grown up in the Heights, I was familiar with many of the streets, but had never run them. It is amazing to see them from this new perspective. We explored two trail systems I had not spent much or any time in previously. The first is located on the church property. The second is around Page St. The latter leads to a pond and has many wet sections, but would be very fun to explore in more depth when it hasn't recently rained.

Laura did an amazing job pushing herself generally and plowing up hills. I haven't run with her in a while and it is fun to see how she is getting ready for some upcoming races, including Grandma's Half.

Speaking of Grandma's, Greg will be charting our route for next week, so be prepared! He is getting us back on a marathon training schedule, so I expect that we'll be logging even more miles next Tuesday. Don't worry, however, I'm sure we'll try to incorporate a loop or two to allow participants to select a distance that aligns with their goals. I hope my legs are up for the challenge, because I felt pretty washed out last night.

Heart of the Heights

Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 (6:00PM)
Meet Location: 1500 Swan Lake Rd - Mount of Olives Baptist Church parking lot (map)
Activity: Road running
Weather: mid 50's with a chance of rain (updated forecast)
Optional Gear: water bottle and some nutrition (Hammer's Heed, Ultima, etc.)

Activity Details
Oakdale was a great race to kick off the multi-sport race season, but, with Grandma's on the horizon, we are going back to road running this week. On the agenda this week is a route with multiple loops, each returning to the parking lot, to hopefully total 14 or 15 miles. To be perfectly candid, I'm not sure where we should be on the full marathon training schedule, but this is realistically the most I think I can get in without really pushing my body to a potential injury.

We are going to start training nutritionally for Grandma's as well. If you intend to start logging the full set of miles with us, bring something for drinkable calories to start to acclimate your body now during training.

Again, there will be several opportunities to jump ship rather than doing the full route, so come out to join us no matter the distance you can handle!

Duathlon Practice (recap)

Distance: 5/9.25/3 = 17.25 miles
Max personal HR: 170
Average personal HR: 142
Calories Burned: 1352

Starting 24 hours prior to this, I kept wondering whether we'd be able have the activity outside with the threat of adverse weather looking like a strong possibility. In the end, it turned out to be a great night. Temperatures cooled off slightly, but not one drop of rain until well after we'd wrapped up. We have certainly been blessed with good weather.

A few of the regulars could not attend tonight, so there were four of us: Keven, Greg, Bill, and Eddie. Bill's wife was nice enough to take a picture of all of us. Bill was also gracious by allowing us to storm his yard to complete a mock-Duathlon. We didn't pull out bike racks, but bikes, helmets, shoes and the like were scattered in his yard.

The idea for the Duathlon was shamelessly selfish with the Oakdale Duathlon this upcoming weekend. Both Greg and I are participating in that race again this year and hadn't made time to get our bikes on the road yet this year, though we've each spent plenty of time through the winter riding our bikes indoors. As with a normal duathlon, we did a run leg, then a bike leg, and wrapped up with another run, which were 5 miles, 9.25 miles, and 3 miles respectively. Bill came up with a good route for each (thanks for that too!).

The first run went smoothly and everyone was strong. More kudos again this week to Eddie who continues to push hard every week and has improved significantly in the very few short weeks he has been a part of the group.

It was great to get back on the bike on the road. The ride did help iron out a few items we'd like to address prior to Saturday plus it was a pleasure just to get out. 15 minutes out and 15 minutes back with a great choice for the primary road on Bill's part. The route was a good mix of hills and flats and the main road was very smooth and clean. I should note that Eddie was a great sport on this leg too, being the only one who hadn't really ever ridden a road bike previously.

Upon our return to the start, we dropped helmets and bike shoes to get back to the run. Two observations for those of you who haven't done multisports before and are contemplating doing so. First, one of the simplest and cheapest ways to save time (outside of training sufficiently) on a duathlon or triathlon is completed in the transition area by having a product like Yankz on your running shoes rather than laces. My helmet was off and running shoes were back on in a few seconds. Some of the others had to work at their laces and that consumed time that would be very valuable on race day. Second, I am always astounded by the feeling of running after biking. The pace nearly always feels snail-like. Don't panic, just run through it. The feeling eventually passes and you realize you are running at decent clip.

No other observations for this week. We'll be back to longer runs again next week. For those interested, we'd be open to doing another duathlon between now and when the Duluth Running Co starts their triathlon nights in a month or two. Make sure to let us know if you are interested.

Duathlon Practice

Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 (6:00PM)
Meet Location: 450 Hastings Dr, Duluth, MN 55803 (see map below)
Activity: Run/Bike/Run (see details below)
Weather: mid 40's (updated forecast)
Essential Gear: running shoes and a bike (see details below)

Activity Details
With the Oakdale Duathlon less than a week away for Greg & me, I selfishly put a plug in last week for a mock duathlon for this Tuesday's activity. Everyone verbally assented and has a bike save one, so we are on for the practice! If you weren't there last week and would like to come, but do not have a bike, please send us feedback and we'll bring an extra.

The objective of this activity is to truly simulate a duathlon, including transitions. Please arrive promptly at 6PM or even a few minutes early. Greg and I will spend a few minutes discussing transition techniques and describe how we'll simulate them. Second, we'll go for a 4mile run. Third, immediately upon our return, each individual will hop on their respective bikes and complete a 30 minute out & back ride (15 out, 15 back) so we can make a loose attempt to hit the next leg together. Last, we'll transition back to another run of 3 to 4 miles. In total, I expect the practice to take just under 1 hour and 45 minutes. Anyone that wants to skip or shorten the last run is certainly welcome. That being said, the second run leg is usually the most difficult get into in any duathlon and is worth trying.

Running routes are to be determined, but the bike out & back will go out to and along Martin Rd.

In the event of certain rain, we will meet at Miller Dwan's Center for Personal Fitness and complete a similar exercise indoors. If you are unsure, you can always check the blog immediately prior to the activity and we will make any last minute changes no later than 4PM.

Meet area map

View Larger Map

Woodland Hills (recap)

Distance: 11.25 miles
Max personal HR: 174
Average personal HR: 142
Calories Burned: 1350




Another great night for a run! The weather cooperated nicely and our group of six (Keven - not pictured, Bill, Jim, Eddie, Chris, and Greg) enjoyed one of the nicer days we've had this spring.

This week's plan was to increase the mileage from last week and add in a little hill work. Mission accomplished. We started with a few good efforts on the hill by Ridgeview golf course. I can't speak for the others, but my personal heart rate was about as high as it gets as we crested the top.

After Ridgeview, we ran several miles before looping back to Hartley to give people the option to drop out before embarking on the second half of the run. This seems to be working out well and we'll continue to do our best to cater these outings to runners with varying abilities and/or time constraints.

With the parking lot pit stop behind us, we pushed onward (and upward) for our ascent up Mt. Minneapolis Ave. Much to my surprise, climbing up Minneapolis wasn't as hard as I imagined it would be (although I did acheive my maximum heart rate at this point in the evening). I think I recall Keven inquiring as to whether or not we should climb it a couple of more times, but the rest of us pretended not to hear him and we kept on moving. In any event, it was a good climb and we were all glad that it was behind us. The rest of the run was smooth sailing on good roads with wide shoulders and minimal traffic.

My apologies to Eddie, who through miscommunication on my part got separated from the group early on in the evening. As someone who's just getting back into running, Eddie has been a welcome addition to the group and I was thoroughly impressed that he still ran close to 10 miles despite the fact that he was on his own for most of it. Good job, Eddie!

Good weather, good company, and a great run. What more could you ask for?

Thanks to everyone who showed up! It's great to see some larger turnouts lately. New participants are always welcome, so please spread the word if you know of anyone interested in joining us for future outings.

Next week... running + cycling = duathlon practice