Thursday, March 3, 2011
Nike Women's Marathon Preview Party
It's a Girl Thing! A Nike Women's Marathon Preview Party for Women. Come with friends and family to learn more about the Nike Women's Marathon and Half Marathon. Enjoy an evening of relaxation and pampering as you are treated to mini spa services while you graze on light fare. Everyone will receive a goodie bag and if you register for an event you will be eligible for prize drawings including a Tiffany & Co. necklace. The event will take place Saturday April 9, 2011 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the reVamp! Salonspa, 2910 Hennepin Ave S., Menneapolis, MN 55408. Join the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's - Team in Training for this free event. Space is limited. RSVP by March 31, 2011 to Courtney at Courtney.klosner@lls.org
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Wanna Race?
The USATF Team Circuit is fast approaching, and MDRA is getting the band back together!!
A few years ago Kirk Walztoni put together theBad News Bears Racing Team MDRA Racing team. We did an admirable job of getting participation ribbons and we want to just that again this year. The mission of the team is for people who of all levels of speed and seriousness to feel welcome to particpate. If you think about the MDRA marathon training classes, we have marathoners running of all abilities, be it the first time marathoner who just wants to beat the sweeper bus to runners in the 2:40s. And all are welcome and equally important to our classes. Okay, fine, so the sub 2:40s runners tend to move on, but you know, Run N Fun and Collegeville are allowed to have some runners too.
But if you are not in the sub 15 minute 5k bracket or a sub 2:30 marathoner, than does MDRA have a race team for you. Our team! The team is open to anyone, but we really really would like you to be an MDRA member. That's pretty much all it takes.
We will have a men's open team, women's open team, men's masters team, and a women's masters team. The men's open team will be headed by Mike Nawrocki (hey that's me!), the open women's team by Lauren Shoup, the men's masters by Paul "The Professor" LaMere, and the women's masters have been running strong for years and will be headed by Kathryn Welo Benhardus.
Click here for a list of the USATF Team Circuit Races.
Requirements to be part of Team MDRA:
1. You need to buy your own USATF Membership. Begin the process by clicking here.
2. When you sign up for a USATF Team Circuit Race, there will be a box where you indicate which team you are on. You will indicate you are on Team MDRA.
3. E-mail the head of your team to let him or her know you have signed up will be there.
4. There is no age or speed requirement to be on the team. You are not obligated to run a specfic number of races, just show up when you can.
Benefits:
1. Friends and peers to run with and to encourage each other.
2. Post-race socializing at some establishment or another. Your team organizers will put that together.
3. All abilities are welcome. Anyone who has taken an MDRA training class knows that everyone is welcome and equally part of the group. We will have some runners who are fast and serious but also make those of us, including me, who not as fast and serious, feel welcome and part of the group.
What else do you need? Contact me at Michael.D.NawrockiATgmailDOTcom with any questions or to let me know you want to be part of the team.
And keep reading this blog to get to more about the team and I'll also introduce Paul, Kathryn, and Lauren.
First race will be the Human Race, but it's never going to be too late to join. See you at the races.
A few years ago Kirk Walztoni put together the
But if you are not in the sub 15 minute 5k bracket or a sub 2:30 marathoner, than does MDRA have a race team for you. Our team! The team is open to anyone, but we really really would like you to be an MDRA member. That's pretty much all it takes.
We will have a men's open team, women's open team, men's masters team, and a women's masters team. The men's open team will be headed by Mike Nawrocki (hey that's me!), the open women's team by Lauren Shoup, the men's masters by Paul "The Professor" LaMere, and the women's masters have been running strong for years and will be headed by Kathryn Welo Benhardus.
Click here for a list of the USATF Team Circuit Races.
Requirements to be part of Team MDRA:
1. You need to buy your own USATF Membership. Begin the process by clicking here.
2. When you sign up for a USATF Team Circuit Race, there will be a box where you indicate which team you are on. You will indicate you are on Team MDRA.
3. E-mail the head of your team to let him or her know you have signed up will be there.
4. There is no age or speed requirement to be on the team. You are not obligated to run a specfic number of races, just show up when you can.
Benefits:
1. Friends and peers to run with and to encourage each other.
2. Post-race socializing at some establishment or another. Your team organizers will put that together.
3. All abilities are welcome. Anyone who has taken an MDRA training class knows that everyone is welcome and equally part of the group. We will have some runners who are fast and serious but also make those of us, including me, who not as fast and serious, feel welcome and part of the group.
What else do you need? Contact me at Michael.D.NawrockiATgmailDOTcom with any questions or to let me know you want to be part of the team.
And keep reading this blog to get to more about the team and I'll also introduce Paul, Kathryn, and Lauren.
First race will be the Human Race, but it's never going to be too late to join. See you at the races.
Monday, February 21, 2011
My Run
MY RUN
03/31/2011
| The award-winning and critically acclaimed documentary MY RUN is coming to movie theaters nationwide for an exclusive one night premiere event on Thursday, March 31st at 7:00pm (Local Time). Narrated by Academy Award winner Billy Bob Thornton, MY RUN is the inspirational story of real life superhero Terry Hitchcock, the 57 year old man who ran 75 consecutive marathons in 75 consecutive days. This powerful and uplifting documentary exemplifies a commitment to something greater than yourself and achieving something deemed impossible. Following the feature, audiences will take a deeper look into the story through Q&A and interviews with the star Terry Hitchcock and his son, support team member Chris Hitchcock. A portion of proceeds from the MY RUN Premiere event will benefit the Livestrong Foundation. |
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Wednesday, February 16, 2011
MDRA Spring Marathon and Half Marathon Training Program Kicks Off This Weekend
Whether you’re new to running or an experienced old louse, feel free to join the MDRA SMTP if you’re training for a half or full marathon this Spring, of if you’re just looking for an excuse to get out of the house. While we’re targeting Grandma’s weekend in June, the course is great for everyone, especially if you detest the loneliness of long distance running. Three coaches compliment many more team leaders to help you reach your goals! For more information, check out the following link: http://www.runmdra.org/index.php/programs/9-mdra-spring-marathon-training-program You can register online and everything.
While you may have missed the informational meeting held last night you can still sign up and join us for the first run this Saturday, Feb. 19th. Registration begins at 8:00am and the run starts promptly at 8:30. We’ll be meeting at the gymnasium end of the Edina Community Center. Come run with us!
For questions on the class please contact Heidi at 
952 927-0983
or email heidi@runmdra.org
Upcoming Free Clinics at Bloomington REI
2/23/11 Snowshoeing Basics
6:30-7:30 PM
3/2/11 Your First Tri: Triathalon Basics (Women Specific)
7:00-8:00 PM
Check for more information at www.rei.com
6:30-7:30 PM
3/2/11 Your First Tri: Triathalon Basics (Women Specific)
7:00-8:00 PM
Check for more information at www.rei.com
Four Keys to Cross-Training for Runners
Must Know tips to keep you in your best running shape
By Ed Eyestone (Runners World 11/9/2006)
1. Choose workouts that are closest to running in terms of muscles used and aerobic systems taxed. Good options include elliptical trainers, cross-country ski machines, stationary bikes and water running.
2. When cross-training, keep your heart rate at or above 70 percent of your maximum heart rate (220-minus your age) most of the time. In other words, you should be working hard and sweating a lot.
3. Check your morning heart rate regularly. An elevated morning heart rate is a sign over over training, which can occur if you add too much cross-training too soon.
4. Combine cross-training with running to maximize running fitness with actual lower mileage. You can substitute 25 to 30 percent of your weekly "mileage" with cross-training.
By Ed Eyestone (Runners World 11/9/2006)
1. Choose workouts that are closest to running in terms of muscles used and aerobic systems taxed. Good options include elliptical trainers, cross-country ski machines, stationary bikes and water running.
2. When cross-training, keep your heart rate at or above 70 percent of your maximum heart rate (220-minus your age) most of the time. In other words, you should be working hard and sweating a lot.
3. Check your morning heart rate regularly. An elevated morning heart rate is a sign over over training, which can occur if you add too much cross-training too soon.
4. Combine cross-training with running to maximize running fitness with actual lower mileage. You can substitute 25 to 30 percent of your weekly "mileage" with cross-training.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Winter Indoor Running to make you faster!
This article on indoor winter running options was written for MDRA by George Fulp.
It is a good overview on how you can stay in shape and even get faster over the winter months.
Let’s face it. Running and racing outdoors in the Minnesota Winter is tough. Putting on two layers of pants and three layers on the upper body, plus two pair of socks, hat, gloves, face mask etc. just to run outside is never fun. For the first five minutes you are cold, and after that overheating. Racing? Five pounds of snow and ice stuck to your shoes, it feels like your running in molasses. What’s a poor runner to do?
There are some options.
Indoors. I’m not talking treadmill (or dreadmill, as some refer to it). I’m talking running in shorts, singlet and racing flats. You’re running all out, nothing but your own training and limitations.
When I show up at the first big race of the season in March…The Human Race 8k…the first comment I usually hear is “I haven’t raced since October”. Why?
There are places to run where you can get in a quality race or workout.
(PLEASE NOTE – THE DOME IS UNAVAILABLE FOR RUNNING AT THE TIME THIS STORY
WAS PUBLISHED, STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER UPDATES!)
1. The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. 600 Meter to a lap upper concourse. Show up and pay your $1.00. Okay, it is concrete, it can be hard on the legs. The price is right. Lots of familiar faces. Best of all you can run your slow laps on the outside lane, then jump to the inside lane to run your pickups. My favorite: 2 laps hard on the inside (where very few run), then do my recovery lap on the outside. Bring water (it’s dry and warm in there) and a towel to wipe the perspiration. Every Tuesday and Thursday during the Winter.
2. The Meet of the Miles, January 10, 2011. University of Minnesota Fieldhouse. Okay, it’s only one mile. Few are in shape to run a hard mile in January. In 2010, 109 men and 28 women toed the line. Fears? What if I finish last? What if I get lapped?
Number One. It’s run in heats. If you feel you are in shape to run a 6:00 minute mile, you can run in a heat with others of the same ability. I remember distinctly in past years jumping into the 6 minute heat. For the first two laps, I was dead last. I’m a slow starter, by lap 3 I caught a few runners, and I actually finished 2nd or 3rd in my heat. Nobody expects you run fast in January, so there is no pressure.
A good suggestion. Use your Meet of the Miles as a base time. See how much you can improve between your January indoor mile and your “Twin Cites One Mile” outdoors in early May.
3. Challenge Races at Bethel College. Not just one race, not just one day, but a series of 5 races. It’s the closest thing we have to a indoor racing season. Starting on Dec. 5 and ending in February, you can race every other weekend for 5 solid weeks. 1500 Meters, 1 Mile, 5k, 3000 meters, 5k. Best of all, the track at Bethel College is awesome!!! They also have 200, 400 and 800 events if you really want to work on your turnover.
The field house on the Bethel Campus where these events are run is opened for an hour before the first event. You can get there early, run some nice warm-up miles, run your event, and do a leisurely cool-down, all while dressed in singlet and shorts.
Competition? Plenty of it. Watching 70 year old Rick Kleyman dueling with 72 year old Thom Weddle on the back-stretch of lap 5 proves that the competitive spirit never dies, no matter what the age.
Two years ago, I ran one of these events, and 8 year old Benjamin Olson was in front of me for 6 of the 8 laps in the one mile. This year, he show up and ran a 5:07 1500 meters. “I’m glad I didn’t run in his heat”, I thought to myself, as I watched him speed around the track. The little prodigy finished 5th in the heat of 12 runners.
Then the second heat lined up, and his younger sister, 9 year old Sarah, took off as soon as the gun sounded. She was in front of me for the first few laps. Remember these two names, if they keep improving the way they are, they will be forces to reckon with as soon as they hit their teen years.
The link to find these races: http://www.charitieschallenge.org
Okay, you’re probably saying to yourself “1500 meters…one mile…5k indoors? It takes me 7-8 miles to warm up, my race would be over before I got going”
Welcome to option 4: Indoor marathons, the latest craze to hit the Midwest. On Jan. 9, there is the Zoom! Yah! Yah! Indoor marathon in Northfield, Minnesota. This is run on 282 meter second level jogging track in the field house at St. Olaf College. If you were hoping to run it this year, you are out of luck. It’s a lottery now to enter, it has gotten so popular Put it on your schedule for next year and make the attempt.
If you don’t mind traveling a bit, the 443 meter Pettit National Ice Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has a whole series of races in late January, 2010. Jan. 21 (Friday) there is a 5k (11 laps), a half-marathon on Saturday (48 laps) and a full marathon on Sunday (96) laps. Again, due to popularity, this race is sold out, so put it on your MDRA race calendar for next year, and sign up early.
I ran the half-marathon/marathon last year. You receive one finishing medal for completing the half-marathon, another medal for finishing the full marathon, and a 3rd medal for doing both. The best part is, you don’t have to count your laps; every time you cross the time mat, a chip around your ankle records your current lap and cumulative time and are projected onto a screen. All you have to do is run. With a water stop available on every lap, comfortable air temp (about 50 degrees), you never have to worry about getting too hot or too cold.
Finally, a new contender is entering the fray in February of 2011. The Sandbox Indoor Marathon, taking place in New Richmond, WI Feb. 11-13. According the race website “We have designed a 1/4 mile running surface in the arena which will require marathon participants to run about 110 laps, half-marathon 55 laps, etc.” It will be a chip timed race, run on a facility that is normally used for motorcross.
When the Twin Cities marathon or 10 mile is finish in early October, it doesn’t mean my desire to compete is finished. My dream is for some day there is a true indoor racing season in the Twin Cities: two races in November, two in December, two and January and two in February. That would transition nicely from the Twin Cities marathon week in October to the Human Race 5k/8k in March. Until that comes to pass, I guess we can only dream.
It is a good overview on how you can stay in shape and even get faster over the winter months.
Let’s face it. Running and racing outdoors in the Minnesota Winter is tough. Putting on two layers of pants and three layers on the upper body, plus two pair of socks, hat, gloves, face mask etc. just to run outside is never fun. For the first five minutes you are cold, and after that overheating. Racing? Five pounds of snow and ice stuck to your shoes, it feels like your running in molasses. What’s a poor runner to do?
There are some options.
Indoors. I’m not talking treadmill (or dreadmill, as some refer to it). I’m talking running in shorts, singlet and racing flats. You’re running all out, nothing but your own training and limitations.
When I show up at the first big race of the season in March…The Human Race 8k…the first comment I usually hear is “I haven’t raced since October”. Why?
There are places to run where you can get in a quality race or workout.
(PLEASE NOTE – THE DOME IS UNAVAILABLE FOR RUNNING AT THE TIME THIS STORY
WAS PUBLISHED, STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER UPDATES!)
1. The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. 600 Meter to a lap upper concourse. Show up and pay your $1.00. Okay, it is concrete, it can be hard on the legs. The price is right. Lots of familiar faces. Best of all you can run your slow laps on the outside lane, then jump to the inside lane to run your pickups. My favorite: 2 laps hard on the inside (where very few run), then do my recovery lap on the outside. Bring water (it’s dry and warm in there) and a towel to wipe the perspiration. Every Tuesday and Thursday during the Winter.
2. The Meet of the Miles, January 10, 2011. University of Minnesota Fieldhouse. Okay, it’s only one mile. Few are in shape to run a hard mile in January. In 2010, 109 men and 28 women toed the line. Fears? What if I finish last? What if I get lapped?
Number One. It’s run in heats. If you feel you are in shape to run a 6:00 minute mile, you can run in a heat with others of the same ability. I remember distinctly in past years jumping into the 6 minute heat. For the first two laps, I was dead last. I’m a slow starter, by lap 3 I caught a few runners, and I actually finished 2nd or 3rd in my heat. Nobody expects you run fast in January, so there is no pressure.
A good suggestion. Use your Meet of the Miles as a base time. See how much you can improve between your January indoor mile and your “Twin Cites One Mile” outdoors in early May.
3. Challenge Races at Bethel College. Not just one race, not just one day, but a series of 5 races. It’s the closest thing we have to a indoor racing season. Starting on Dec. 5 and ending in February, you can race every other weekend for 5 solid weeks. 1500 Meters, 1 Mile, 5k, 3000 meters, 5k. Best of all, the track at Bethel College is awesome!!! They also have 200, 400 and 800 events if you really want to work on your turnover.
The field house on the Bethel Campus where these events are run is opened for an hour before the first event. You can get there early, run some nice warm-up miles, run your event, and do a leisurely cool-down, all while dressed in singlet and shorts.
Competition? Plenty of it. Watching 70 year old Rick Kleyman dueling with 72 year old Thom Weddle on the back-stretch of lap 5 proves that the competitive spirit never dies, no matter what the age.
Two years ago, I ran one of these events, and 8 year old Benjamin Olson was in front of me for 6 of the 8 laps in the one mile. This year, he show up and ran a 5:07 1500 meters. “I’m glad I didn’t run in his heat”, I thought to myself, as I watched him speed around the track. The little prodigy finished 5th in the heat of 12 runners.
Then the second heat lined up, and his younger sister, 9 year old Sarah, took off as soon as the gun sounded. She was in front of me for the first few laps. Remember these two names, if they keep improving the way they are, they will be forces to reckon with as soon as they hit their teen years.
The link to find these races: http://www.charitieschallenge.org
Okay, you’re probably saying to yourself “1500 meters…one mile…5k indoors? It takes me 7-8 miles to warm up, my race would be over before I got going”
Welcome to option 4: Indoor marathons, the latest craze to hit the Midwest. On Jan. 9, there is the Zoom! Yah! Yah! Indoor marathon in Northfield, Minnesota. This is run on 282 meter second level jogging track in the field house at St. Olaf College. If you were hoping to run it this year, you are out of luck. It’s a lottery now to enter, it has gotten so popular Put it on your schedule for next year and make the attempt.
If you don’t mind traveling a bit, the 443 meter Pettit National Ice Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has a whole series of races in late January, 2010. Jan. 21 (Friday) there is a 5k (11 laps), a half-marathon on Saturday (48 laps) and a full marathon on Sunday (96) laps. Again, due to popularity, this race is sold out, so put it on your MDRA race calendar for next year, and sign up early.
I ran the half-marathon/marathon last year. You receive one finishing medal for completing the half-marathon, another medal for finishing the full marathon, and a 3rd medal for doing both. The best part is, you don’t have to count your laps; every time you cross the time mat, a chip around your ankle records your current lap and cumulative time and are projected onto a screen. All you have to do is run. With a water stop available on every lap, comfortable air temp (about 50 degrees), you never have to worry about getting too hot or too cold.
Finally, a new contender is entering the fray in February of 2011. The Sandbox Indoor Marathon, taking place in New Richmond, WI Feb. 11-13. According the race website “We have designed a 1/4 mile running surface in the arena which will require marathon participants to run about 110 laps, half-marathon 55 laps, etc.” It will be a chip timed race, run on a facility that is normally used for motorcross.
When the Twin Cities marathon or 10 mile is finish in early October, it doesn’t mean my desire to compete is finished. My dream is for some day there is a true indoor racing season in the Twin Cities: two races in November, two in December, two and January and two in February. That would transition nicely from the Twin Cities marathon week in October to the Human Race 5k/8k in March. Until that comes to pass, I guess we can only dream.
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