Loop The Lake: A Love Story
"Loop The Lake" is my favorite race that I never get to run. This 8K is typically scheduled the same weekend as one of our annual work events or too close to the Drake Half Marathon. Which is a shame. It’s a well-organized event on a gorgeous course, circling Gray’s Lake in Des Moines. The tech t-shirts never fail to impress. And the awards presentation takes place at nearby Confluence Brewery where tasty beverages flow like a frothy river.
This race stands out to me for another reason.
A Love Story
First time I ran "Loop The Lake" was the same day I proposed to my wife.
Back in 2018, with unseasonably cold winds keeping us bundled as though it were February instead of April, I squeezed this race in between work obligations. I’d also made dinner reservations for that evening at Amy's favorite restaurant. My cover story for that dinner had been to celebrate her birthday, which had occurred a few days earlier. However, my actual intent had been to show her a beautiful diamond ring and pop the question.
This would have been nerve-wracking enough under normal circumstances. Unfortunately, fate presented other obstacles. Amy had just been informed that the program she taught would be cut at the end of that school year. As if that wasn't enough, she also had a sinus infection and pink eye. Even getting her to go out to dinner would be a struggle. Undeterred, I maintained my talking points. "This would just be a relaxing meal", I repeated again and again.
What does this have to with "Loop The Lake"? Given everything going on, I knew that my proposal needed to be perfect. As a result, I devoted a considerable portion of that race to mentally rehearsing what I would say to Amy that evening.
Fortunately, everything went exactly according to plan. Amy had no idea of my true motivation for her birthday dinner. Best of all, she accepted my proposal on the spot - tying her future to me, the three miniature dachshunds I had at the time and all my Nikes.
Needless to say, that’s always added a strong sentimental touch to "Loop the Lake." Let me also add that Amy landed another teaching job less than three weeks later and much closer to home. So it all did work out!
As for this year's race? No proposal. But I did go into it with outside motivation.
How to Train Through a Race
Having been pleased with my 10K time at the "Red Flannel Run" in February, I felt reasonably confident going into an 8K race. But the outcome of this race was not a priority for me. My focus remains fixed on the "Drake Half Marathon" taking place fifteen days later. It's the first major race in the area for 2023 as well as one where my IT band has flared up in each of the past two years.
With the intent of being fully prepared for Drake and the two prominent races following it, I've treated these early races as more of a "preseason." My plan going in was to use "Loop the Lake" as a good speed workout with some additional miles.
How I would accomplish that demonstrates one of the many advantages of having an excellent coach in Tim Ives from The Body Project. He suggested a four-mile warm up prior to the race. I would then start the race at my 10K pace, picking it up for the final two miles if I felt strong enough to do so. The workout would end with an easy one-mile cool down - giving me ten miles for the day and leaving me more than ample time to join everyone inside Confluence for the awards celebration.
With that sage guidance, I developed the following set of goals:
Run 6:50 or faster pace.
Win my age group.
Avoid hamstring or IT band issues.
The Race Itself
The ever-fickle weather gods smirked upon us, bestowing temps in the high forties under beautiful blue skies, while cursing us with stubborn 15 mph winds.
With my God-given ability to overanalyze anything, I devoted far too much time into debating between shorts or tights, long-sleeves or short ones and one-layer or two. After the frigid debacle of my previous race, being over-dressed won out with me selecting tights with a long-sleeved top and a sleeveless top underneath. I also brought light gloves and a stocking cap as a backup. A bright morning sun provided the perfect excuse to wear my sunglasses. As a final component for the race, my old iPod was tucked into the back pocket of my tights, armed with a rousing collection of "post punk revival" songs.
It's my normal practice to run no more than a mile thirty minutes before the start of a race. Knowing that the four-mile run was not intended to exhaust me for the race, I repeatedly checked my Garmin watch to be certain that my pace remained slow and comfortable. I finished the warmup run with almost exactly thirty minutes until the start of the 8K.
That allowed me time to socialize and maintain my normal race routine before joining the other hundred plus runners at the starting line.
The effects of that four-mile run became immediately apparent at the start. I knew better than to get caught up with those who took off too fast. But I found myself being passed by dozens of runners as my legs struggled to move beyond a jog. Over half a mile passed before I finally eased into my 10K pace. Once there, I began passing many of the runners who had dashed around me early on.
At that point, we started the first of two 2.2-mile loops around Gray's Lake, running directly into that annoying wind. Nonetheless, with Franz Ferdinand's "Love Illumination" and The Futurehead's cover of Kate Bush's "Hounds Of Love" offering musical encouragement, I moved ahead of another pack. Following the trail around the lake, the wind eased off, letting me pick up the pace slightly, easing past more runners.
The Stroke's urgent "Juicebox" took over my earbuds as I moved around another group of runners at the three-mile mark. I'd wanted to dig a bit deeper at this point, but the energy needed to do that had gone into my four-mile run earlier. Which was part of the plan. Added to that, I could not see any other runners to target. The racers in front of me were clearly out of my range with less than two miles to go.
I had one other runner pull ahead of me with about a half mile to go. Other than that, I held on to finish 16th out of 112 overall, with a pace of 6:49 - just two seconds over my 10K pace back in February - and place first in my age group. Since my IT band remained silent the entire race, I achieved each of my three goals.
Final Thoughts
Looking back, while I kept a slower pace than I'd have likely had if not for the four-mile run, the fatigue I experienced in the race seemed very much like that I have in other races. This allowed me to be competitive in the race as well as put in the miles I wanted for the upcoming half marathon. Recovery since then has been smooth, putting in my normal mileage without any issues or soreness in my legs. The key will be when I run the "Drake Half Marathon" on April 23. But that will be the subject of another post.
Let me also express my appreciation to Paul Grinvalds as Race Director and everyone else involved for a wonderful event!
What are your thoughts on this strategy? Have you tried something similar? Or any other recommendations? Let me know in the comments section below or on Facebook.
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