Back to Duluth ...

... but first a little this 'n that. Tomorrow, Thursday, Team R.E.D. is going to be running from my house at 6 PM. Anyone and everyone is welcome to join us. No membership required!! I'll provide the fluids and food. If you'd like something stronger than water/pop/Gatorade, you are welcome to bring it. I'll have running walking routes from 1 to 6 miles. Please join us! 2026 Kal Lane SW, Rochester.

Laura Lenz asked me to advertise for some more volunteers for the remaining 4 All Comers' meets. They're held on Tuesday evenings at 6:00 PM. Volunteers need to be there by 5:45. She needs help in the long jump pits and handing out ribbons at the finish line. If you can help out, please email Laura.

248 blog hits on Monday. Yee ha!! I can't remember if that's a record or not, but it's a pretty good showing. Thanks for stopping by.

The training runs from the R.A.C. begin on Saturday at 7:00 AM. All you have to do is show up with your $1 (for fluids, bananas, maps) and you're good to go. It looks like 5 and 8 miles will be the course lengths for this week. Dan Strain and Randy McKeeman are now in charge. Also, Lin needs volunteers to staff the water stops. If you can help out on a given Saturday, please email Lin. Thanks so much.

And now, back to Duluth.

When I last left you, we had just checked into our roomy apartment. Paul then debuted his new "nipple shirt". What a stitch! It does eliminate the need for Nip Guards or bandaids though. :-)

After chilling for a while, it was back to the DECC to watch the 5K and attend the pasta dinner. On the bridge, I ran into Ron and Kenny.

And then it was Dan Strain.

Then we found a good spot from which to watch the 5K.

Andy showed us his new Newton shoes that he picked up at the expo.

Then we were off to the pasta feed ...

to fuel us for the next morning's races. I think it's one of the better pre-race pasta meals I've had. It actually had quite a bit of flavor. Then it was back to our temporary weekend home for some shut-eye.

The morning dawned bright (? Well, actually the sun wasn't up yet) and early for me. My phone was set to ring at 3:45 in order to get down to the DECC to catch the shuttles which ran from 4:45 to 5:15 to take me out to the half marathon start. The ride was uneventful. My warm-up was uneventful. The only person I saw that I knew was Kelly Keeler Ramacier. We exchanged hellos and that was that.

The morning was warm and windy. About 68 degrees and a headwind of 17 mph. Yikes. Not idea. And eventually, the sun came out. I felt good for about 8.5 miles and then those nasty leg cramps bit me AGAIN. They are the bane of my running existence I tell you. Argh!! I wish I knew what I could do to mitigate them. I've tried virtually everything. Mostly, the run was uneventful save for the stops to stretch out my cramps. My mile splits: 6:48  6:53  6:58  7:07  7:05  7:05  7:24  7:24  7:30  7:51  8:19  8:41  8:49.  You can see where the wheels started falling off. Big time. But it was what it was.

After my finish, I waited for the first 6 or 7 runners to finish the full marathon and then made my way back onto the course to cheer on my friends, and I saw a lot of them. Tom Woo, Molly B, Monty S, Jodi N-R, Andy, Tom O, Jay, Dan S, Eric W, Noah R, Chris G, Dan T, Tim W, ... Then I ran Randy in to the finish.

There's that EXTREMELY white belly making an appearance again!! After finishing, a few of us chilled out in Lake Superior. Wayne Kryduba got a shot of Tom O, myself and Paul.

Then we piled into Randy's truck ...

for the trek back to St. Scholastica to clean up. And get the party started. :-)

I think I'll pick up there next post. The beer tent at Canal Park.

Thought for the day: When is the last time you did something for the first time??

And so it goes ...