Fits Do Race Reviews: Securian Winter Run

By Jess in Minneapolis

Last Saturday, I ran the Securian Winter Run Half Marathon, formerly known as the Frozen Half Marathon. There is also a 5k and a 10k option on race day.

I ran this race as part of a bachelorette party (read all about it HERE). The bride-to-be had said we should all run it together as a "fun run." Now, I should mention that the bride-to-be's marathon PR is somewhere around 3:15, and she regularly throws down half marathons in the 1:30's...so I was a little worried that her "fun run" pace could be my hardest run ever! But fortunately, she was content as long as we kept it under two hours. She just wanted us all to have a good time!

And a good time, we had! It was nice to not be too stressed about a race ahead of time. We didn't do a warm-up before the race, and we just treated the 13.1 miles as a long run with good company. I think my official time was 1:56, which was about right for the effort for the day. Well...the "effort" did feel harder than the time showed, as the footing was a challenge, and the wind and cold made things a little tougher! I was sore afterwards, but I think that was because of my fall and the change in my running form due to the icy roads.

The race started at 9 am, and we were able to stay warm within the Securian building until right before the gun went off. We headed to the start line around 8:55, and before we knew it, we were off. There were pacers available, and I think there were some really competitive runners out there as well. I believe the official cutoff time on the other end for the half marathon was three hours. That would be long time to be out in those types of conditions!

The course first curves around the ice sculptures in Rice Park, before heading out and back on Shepherd road, which is a busy thoroughfare in St. Paul. There is a killer hill right at mile 12 or so, where plenty of people actually decided to walk (I was very tempted to join them!) The rest of the course is rolling hills on a concrete road. Its not very scenic, but it was a change of scenery from the rest of my long runs, and there were plenty of water stops (though the water was frozen at some stops!) There was no Gatorade though, only water in small bottles at 3-4 points along the course.

I am so grateful for those volunteers who stood out there in the freezing cold to give us water- THANK YOU!

course map

The Securian Winter Run is a "runner's" race. There's no swag, no medals, no fanfare. There were some shirts available for purchase, and the first 1,000 registrants did receive a pair of fit-socks, which was nice, but none of the swag of a Team Ortho race. Instead, its a cold winter run for tough runners who are willing to brave the elements without all the "glory."

shirts available for purchase

I did the race last year (read that recap HERE). It was cold then as well, but the difference this year was that the roads were really, really slippery. I actually wiped out once around mile 10, and became really paranoid after that about falling again. I backed off a bit and ended up getting separated from the rest of the girls, though we all finished within minutes of each other.

After the race, there was chili and hot coffee available as well as your standard post-race goodies like bananas, chips, bread, and salted nut rolls (or maybe that's only standard in Minnesota?) We were all freezing, so there wasn't a lot of stretching before we headed to the free showers at the St. Paul YMCA to warm up and change into dry clothes for the rest of the bachelorette festivities.

Even though the weather is guaranteed to be cold, I still like this race. It keeps you in shape over the winter, and I enjoy running in St. Paul for a change. Parking is free for the race. Its just an easy and affordable half marathon option that I recommend for anyone wiling to run outside in the winter. It probably isn't a PR course, nor PR weather, but for $35, you can't beat it.

....I just had to get a picture of this guy. You know I love a bright outfit, but this guy made my running gear look dull. Nice work buddy!

A Wintry Half Marathon and a Bachelorette Party!

Hey, 30 day plank challenge participants: today is a rest day, and tomorrow we do four minutes!

I actually missed planking yesterday, so I needed to make it up today. I was able to do my 3.5 minutes with no break to the knees. I did rotate a few times to a side plank, but I kept working the whole 3.5 minutes. It was a challenge, but I think I am stronger than I was on 1/1/14.

How do you feel? Stronger? We are almost to five minutes!

You can also still enter into the drawing for the $50 gift card to Gear Running store. Just comment and answer four questions on THIS POST. I'm leaving the giveaway open for one week, so you have until next Wednesday to enter. The winner will be announced Thursday, January 30th on the blog!

Yesterday was a crazy fun but full day for my friend Jen's bachelorette party. We started out with a freezing cold half marathon, the Securian Winter Run in St. Paul.

We tried to stick together in a group, and do the run for fun, but around mile 10, I actually wiped out on the icy roads! I got a little nervous at that point, and the rest of the girls got ahead of me, but we all finished under two hours. I was happy with that time for a "fun run" in such tough conditions! I will post a full race review later this week.

Then, after a quick shower at the St. Paul YMCA (free for runners post-race), we headed to Phresh for manicures and pedicures. We had a lovely private room for all twelve or so ladies to get pampered, while sipping on champagne and enjoying some tasty snacks.

Eventually, we made our way to the historic Saint Paul Hotel to get dolled up before the bachelorette opened her gifts, while we enjoyed more snacks and more champagne!

We had dinner reservations at 8 pm at Pazzaluna, which was right across the street from the Saint Paul Hotel  I had never eaten there before, but I think most everyone enjoyed their meals. It was in the perfect location too, as by that time of night it was really snowing (which, I should mention was very pretty by Rice Park, with all the decorations for the Winter Carnival. St. Paul can be quite charming!).

After dinner, we went back to the hotel lobby bar for a bit, before taking the hotel's van out to a few drinking establishments in the lowertown neighborhood of St. Paul:

(said hotel van)

We found our way to Barrio St. Paul for some dancing, as well as the Bulldog before cabbing it back to the hotel for the night.

It was a very busy day, but we all had such a great time celebrating the bride-to-be, with what she described as "the perfect day"- running, mani/pedis, dinner, and lots of girl time!

Only Minnesota girls run half marathons in sub-zero temps for a bachelorette party, right? 

We say brrring it on!

Fit Fanatic: The McMillan Running Calculator

By Cool J in Minneapolis

In my post on the Securian Winter Run, I mentioned the McMillan Running Calculator

http://www.mcmillanrunning.com

After that post, we received a nice message via facebook from a reader. (FYI, be sure to "like" The Right Fits on Facebook, and we welcome comments and messages!) The reader asked us about this calculator and whether we feel that it's accurate.

The McMillan running calculator is one of many that exist, though generally this seems to be considered one of the "best" ones.

This calculator doesn't just double your time from a half-marathon, and assume that's your full marathon time. Instead, it uses years of history from runners and race data to help determine training paces and races paces. To be honest, when I first started long-distance running, I thought I could just double my time; I thought if I could run a 2 hour half marathon, that meant I was on track to run a 4 hour full marathon.

But unfortunately, that's not true. Your half marathon race pace should be significantly faster than your full marathon pace. According to the McMillan calculator, a 2 hour half marathon (9:10 min/mile pace) should indicate that you'd be able to run a 4:15 full marathon (9:38 min/mile pace).

But there are no true predictors of your full marathon time. There are so many factors that go into each race- the weather, how rested you are, the course, your mental state, what you ate the days before, how your training went, etc. etc. However, I do think that these types of calculators are helpful for training. They are helpful for setting personal goals, and reassessing them if necessary. For example, I know that my goal for a half marathon is 1:46 (8:10 min/mile), knowing that my goal for a full marathon is 3:45 (8:35 min/mile).

But if my next half marathon day is extremely hot, or I am recovering from a cold that day, or I just have a bad day, and end up with a 1:55 time, does that mean my goal of 3:45 in Newport is no longer achievable? Of course not.  Again, these calculators are training tools, not psychics!

In my limited research, I came across this forum on Runner's World with lots of discussions on success stories with this calculator:
http://forums.runnersworld.com/forums/training/5k-10k-half-marathon-race-training/re-mcmillan-running-calculator-success-stories

One commentor provided these caveats for using the McMillan calculator:
1 - The closer in length the "predicted" race is to the "predictor" race, the better the accuracy of the McMillan prediction. (A 5K time predicts an 8K time better than a 5K time predicts a half marathon or marathon time.)

2 - The closer in time the "predicted" race to the "predictor" race, the better the accuracy. (A January 2012 race time predicts a February 2012 time better than January 2006 race time would.)

3 - If you are stepping way up in distance, you have to modify your training so that what you do for the "predicted" race is as appropriate as what you did for the "predictor" race. For instance, you might have run fast 5K off 30 quality miles a week. That won't, however, produce the fast marathon your 5K time predicts without a big bump in mileage and deemphasis of speed work.

4 - It helps to know yourself. You may have greater physical/psychological aptitude for races at the short (or long) end of the spectrum. 

How does McMillan's calculator work? 
I wasn't really sure, but I found this explanation on Runner's World's website:

"All the running calculators use the same basic relational associations between various race distances and between race performances and training paces. McMillan hasn't "discovered" anything new. However, he did quantify training pace ranges, as opposed to single training paces as most of the others do. I like the approach of pace ranges because not every training day is the same as all others.

All of the race "predictors" are reasonably accurate for distances up to half marathon, as long as one trains properly for the distance being "predicted". Where many people have difficulty achieving the predicted time is in the marathon. Many, if not most, fall short of the prediction due to inadequate training base (mileage) or poor race execution (bad race pacing).The "secret" to achieving race time predictions isn't so much in the training paces specified by a calculator as in the balance and appropriateness of the composite training program one is using for the distance for which one is training."

So, it's true that even if I can achieve a 1:46 half marathon, I may not be able to do a 3:45 full marathon. But it does help me to have that goal in mind for the shorter distance races, and to have an idea of just how hard to push myself. Even if the calculator isn't perfect, it does offer some insight of value.


McMillan's website also offers a paid service with recommended workouts, heat adjusted calculators (this would have been super helpful at the Iowa marathon which was in the 90s...)

MCMILLAN FEATURES

	Free	McMillan PRO
Race Times
Training Paces
Recommended Workouts
Race Pace Workouts
Treadmill Workouts
Heat Adjusted Calculator
Nutrition Calculator
Running Form Videos

Check out this video from the McMillan website for more information on their customized training programs.

(Future) Fits Do Race Reviews

By Jess

Those of you who know me, know that I'm a planner. I like to have everything sorted out on an agenda.  And this includes planning out my future runs as well!

Here's what I have on the calendar for the remainder of 2012 and 2013. I'm sure plans could change, and maybe additional races will be added, but these are the ones I have marked on my planner.

November:
5th Annual Family Turkey Trot!
LL wrote about it last year (read about it here and here)
Granted, this is not a sanctioned race per say, but it sure is a fun one! LL and I have been directing this race for 5 years now. We have a blast half-pretending/half-serious that this is a real Thanksgiving 5k! Well, I guess it is a real 5k in that we run 3.1 miles, but the only participants are my family.

January:
The Securian Run
When: Saturday, January 26
Where: St. Paul, MN
Website: http://www.securian.com/Securian/Securian+Winter+Run/
This half marathon has a rocky history. The first time I registered, it was so cold that the race directors shortened it to a 1/4 marathon. The second time I ran it, the turn around point was set too early, and the race only ended up being 11 miles! Needless to say, I set quite a PR at that one! However, this is one of few long distance races in the area in the cold months of winter, so it's definitely on my radar.

April:
Goldy's 10 mile
When: Saturday, April 14
Where: University of Minnesota campus
Website: http://www.goldysrun.com
I ran this last year, and thought it was a lot of fun. Read about it here

May:
Borgess Run for the Health of It Half Marathon
Website: http://borgessrun.com
When: Sunday May 5th at 8 am
Where: Kalamazoo, Michigan

I'll be running this race with a few of my sisters, and even my dad! It will be his first half marathon.
This does mean I'll miss the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon that I ran last year (read about it here) but it will be worth it to share the half marathon experience with my family. Not to mention, I haven't been to Kalamazoo in ages! Fits on the Road- Family Style!

TC 1 Mile
Website: https://www.tcmevents.org/events/medtronic_tc_1_mile/
When: Mid-may- the date has not yet been finalized
Where: Downtown Minneapolis
Last year's review here
It's fun to do such a short race, and it's unique to run down Nicollet mall on a Thursday night. And it's over before you know it! After all, it's only a mile...

June
Newport Marathon
In my post Steamtown marathon haze, I did write about the Newport marathon. We have registered for this one for our spring race. Check out that post here
Website: http://www.newportmarathon.org
When: Saturday, June 1

I'm really looking forward to this marathon! It sounds like such a charming location, and I can't wait to spend some time exploring Oregon. The timing of this marathon works out well, as we will be able to piggyback off the Grandma's and Minneapolis marathon training schedule with the Calhoun Beach Running Club.

July:
Firecracker 10k
Website: http://www.active.com/running/excelsior-mn/firecracker-runs-2012-pl222
When: the 4th of July
I backed out last year, because it was crazy hot, and the race was shortened to a 5k. But I did participate the year before, and it was a blast!

Torchlight 5k
Website: http://www.torchlight5k.com
Last year's review here
I love this fun 5k! It runs before the Torchlight Parade downtown on a Wednesday night, with a great post-race party.

September
And the big finale for 2013....the Berlin Marathon!

"Pre-registration" opened today, and it filled up in 3.5 hours. Dusters and I both logged on this morning over breakfast and signed up. This is a huge marathon, with 40,000 runners. I'm guessing it might be similar to Chicago, where you feel crowded the whole way. This type of marathon probably isn't my favorite, and running an international marathon doesn't really fit into our 50 state goal, but we both think this will be a really cool experience. It's the 40th year for the Berlin Marathon, and some of the world's fastest times have been recorded here.

Well, that's it for today. There are few other races that might fit in: the Polar Dash (depending on the weather), the Get Ready to Rock 20 miler again, and maybe the Urban Wildlands half marathon. TBD folks, TBD!