2012 Sweetheart Run 5K Photos

Here are some photos of myself, the Well Kept Wife, and the Boy from the 5K on 2/18. Race result summary can be read here. Photos from Minnefota Moments.

The Family Maas during warmups

One day, he'll be ahead of me for real

Shortly after the start. Look who is hanging in 2nd!

Go Boy, Go!

Out on the course



Boy still hanging tough. Not bad for zero training.

The Well Kept Wife distances from the wannabes.

The Old Geezer takes 1st overall.

The Boy nears the finish

The Well Kept Wife nears the finish

Race Result: 2012 Sweetheart Run 5K

Event: Sweetheart Runs (5K, 10K, 10 miler)
Weather: 24F, winds light out of NNW at 5mph
Goal: Just have a good speed workout
Actual: Officially 19:50 (6:23 per mile pace); Garmin 19:01 (for 2.93 miles).
Overall: 1st (54 total)
Age Group (50-59): 1st (7 total)
Results Link: 5K, 10K, 10-miler
Previous Results: First time at this event

This event was put on by FrontRunner and was a very organized event. Everything ran on time. Communication was great. Results were posted online by the time we returned home. It is so nice when you participate in an event when the race director knows what he/she is doing. There are some local race organizers that over a week later, still haven't posted results. Or check-in is a royal pain-in-the-ass. Not the case here. Only issue was measurement of the course, but we'll cover that later.

Like the Hamel 5K, I was using this event to simply have a nice speed workout as I work myself back into shape after a winter of limited training due to the recent osteoarthritis diagnosis in my left hip. Nothing more, nothing less. I was winding down my first solid week of training (11+ hours) and this was a nice way to cap it all off. Not to mention try and drop those extra 10-lbs I somehow gained over the holidays.

There were three events all told. Most of the Big Dawgs ran the 10K or 10-milers which lead the Boy to utter as we lined up for the 5K, "Dad, you're going to win this easy." My little Nostradamus.

The 5K started and I was left to myself almost immediately. The Boy indicated he tried to hang with me for "about 30-seconds" and then I heard no more footsteps. And if you look at the results, you'll see another young lad (of 12 years of age!!) took 2nd overall. So I had no one to pursue or to push me and was left to push myself into a good effort.

But the purpose was really just to try and get the legs back underneath me so I can be racing low 18's in the 5K by the time the multi-sport season opens. Unlike Hamel where I went out too fast for the shape I'm in, I tried to keep the per mile pace more consistent. And I think I did that. I didn't nearly have the fade I had two weeks prior. And the legs felt much more solid.

The course itself was short by about two tenths of a mile. My Garmin read 19:01 as I crossed the finish line. Once results were posted, I think the race director attempted to correct for the distance shortfall and so the result read 19:50 for me. Using the per mile pace, my time correction would be more accurate at 20:10, but who cares. Low key event. In talking with the 10K overall winner, their race was also a bit short and time corrections were also made.

More consistent splits were the goal

Fairly flat course with some mild rollers

The Well Kept Wife and Boy also had a good showing with each taking home 3rd place in their respective age groups. So the Maas family took home its fair share of winnings.

Nice sized age group medals

Overall win award, an oversized coffee mug

Next Event:

March 10: Becker Community Center Chase a Leprechaun 5K Fun Run/Walk, scene of the pelvic stress fracture from 2011. Lets hope there is no such injury this year.

Race Result: 2012 Hamel 5K

Event: Hamel 5K (Freeze Your Buns)
Goal: Just have a good speed workout
Actual: 20:06 (6:29 per mile pace)
Overall: Sixth (250+)
Previous Results: 2011 - 19:14 (2nd overall), 2010 - 20:14 (5th overall)

Lets come back up to speed (in more ways than one!). After the 200-mile run month in November, you might recall I started to have some issues with the left hip/pelvis in December. I scheduled a MRI and expected to be told I had yet another stress fracture after suffering the same fate in March of 2011. Instead, I was told I now have osteoarthritis in the left hip. A fracture heals. Arthritis you have to learn to live with.

So, I basically laid off training most of December. I put in a measly 35 miles of running in January and was just starting to get my running legs under me when I was waylaid by a nasty cold/sinus infection. So the week leading up to this 5K, I had a grand total of 1 workout. And that was the day before, a paltry 3.5 mile run.

So, I didn't have the best of confidence leading into the 5K. Which was fine. This event is hosted by the Hamel Lions and it is a very low key affair. No awards. No chip timing. You just run for the sheer joy of it. Or, as much as a Minnesota winter will allow one to enjoy. But it wasn't bad. It was 26F, cloudy, and a nominal wind out of the west at about 5 MPH.

I like this event because it is so low key. And with the simple route sprinkled with a few rollers it is a great event for getting in a nice tempo run with some fellow runners. Nothing like locking pace with a group of people and have that race pace settle right back in.

And I have raved about the race T-shirts for years now. Every year is a different color, and all the previous race day temperatures are shown on one sleeve. And old-fashioned cotton, which is good as I'm only four or five shirts away from having enough for finally making a queen sized quilt with my collected cotton race T-shirts.

Joining me at this 5K for the first time were the Boy® and Well Kept Wife™. Each has also been dealing with limited running this winter. My wife has sinus surgery not that long ago and the Boy® has been spending his time swimming on the Life Time Fitness swim team with State Finals coming up the last weekend of this month. But each did respectable with the Boy® running a 25:30 and the WKW™ running a 28:49. Not that far off their personal bests at this distance of 24:34 and 25:58 respectfully.

I was sort of targeting to go under 21-minutes knowing the shape I was in. Jump back to a 5K I did in Fargo in October where I ran a 18:03, and you get the picture where my confidence was.

I just floated thru the 1-mile mark right at 6 minutes and I was already breathing pretty hard. At that point it was more due to my sinus passages being still blocked up than the shape I was in, but I was with the leading pack of four runners at that point. From there, I simply faded.

Overall, with all things considered, I'm happy with the result. I know I can still run sub-6's, at least for one mile, and I just need to work back into shape so that I can get back to sub 6's for three miles. And I have all spring to get back into shape.

Next Event:

Not totally sure. I may try to find some other local events yet this month. But I'm planning on the St. Patrick's Day 5K in Fargo on March 17.