Ethan Cannon

Ran east for the first time in a while. They are doing some crazy construction over by the st paul campus/the Bell. I wonder what its going to look like. I don't know my pace because something crazy happened: my watch died. Yep, my most consistent running partner of nearly 6 years is gone. Kind of sad. I hope that's how I die- one day I'm plugging along just fine, then the a few hours later, I'm gone. I realized I could probably just replace the battery for cheap. but I also have this other watch I got from the UMN team. Of course that was nearly 2 years ago and its battery is likely well through its life too. It's literally the same exact watch except with a different design and on a black background, which unfortunately makes it harder to see. 

East river road. 6:42 pace on the way back, and could have been even faster since I took all the side paths. Maybe it's part of my extreme temperature running phenomenon, where I run suprisingly fast cuz I'm uncomfortable when it's very cold or hot (it wasn't too bad today though).

Even though this was going to be a good opportunity to run the Gateway trail, and the first time I've done it in 2023 since the trees bloomed, I planned a shorter long run since I thought my effort would be best spent on something faster and quicker in preparation for my race. Also, the forecast called for hot weather by the time I left the temple. Thankfully there were some cool volunteers raising awareness of the Gateway trail so very conveniently I got to take a whole bottle of water right after finishing my workout when I had 3.5 miles to go. Then after that I enjoyed running back nice and slow and really taking in the beauty. And at the end, more volunteers gave me more water and transcribed my answers to a survey about the trail (I was lathered in sweat lol). It was cloudy at the end and smelled great so it was very enjoyable. 

However, the mile markers are really questionable. My warmup splits were 6:23, 5:55, 6:08, which felt amazing, really like a quick jog, even though the latter two miles have traditionlly been fast. Then I ran 5:20 for my first of alternating recovery-tempo miles. After that I felt like I gave appropriate efforts, but the splits were all over the map because of the trails weird markers. Overall miles were: 5:20, 5:07, 5:50, 4:32, 5:09, 5:23, 5:49, 5:10. Assumming that overall the mileage was correct, that's like 5:17 pace I think. The 4:32 mile was hilarous, that was where I had supposedly run a 4:55 during my longest long run. 

Another warm, buggy morning run. The heat didn't bother me though. 6:50 pace on the way back from east river flats. 

Also, I looked up my commute today. It looks like it is about 2.8 miles to bike the long way, and 2.6 miles when I bike the short way.

Today's workout wasn't anything crazy, but I think it is the biggest thing I'll do before my half marathon next Saturday. I felt tired and didn't really want to work out today, but it was kind of today or never. I'll probably do something small during my medium long run on saturday, and then limit it to strides after that. 

3 by mile with 75 seconds rest. I did a new loop around the fairgrounds. 4:49, 4:48, 4:48. Small hills are kind of nice because you can kind of separate out the workout. In this case, it was like the first half was downhill and you can kind of relax during that and get read for the uphill at the end. 

I kind of wound my way back home after running with the fam around Como lake. 6:50 pace for the latter part of the run. 

6:51 pace on west river. Felt tired but I went quickly ish anyway.

6:39 pace on the way back from east river road. Felt very tired today though. 

6:21 pace overall on resevoir woods. I did 3 pickups intended to be 5 minute mile pace on the way back. The idea was to get something fast but not something that would wear me out before the race. Felt tired today but I did have a great sleep. Some of that was just due to hypoglycemia at the beginning. 

Boom island, 6:53 pace. I didn't go the whole way, I'm trying to keep my mileage just a tad low the first few days of the week.

Starting to get nervous for the race this weekend, but I know i'll enjoy it the most and be the most successful if I can just relax and try to have fun this weekend. 

6:51 pace on the way back from east river flats. 

6:43 pace on the way back from east river road. It got really really smoky after my run today, I'm hoping things will be better tomorrow or i'll be making a surprise summer trip to the treadmills. 

Yuck. 8 miles in the smoke. I hate the smoke. I wore one of those nice masks. 

I didn't get to run until afternoon, so I decided to run even shorter than planned around Duluth

Two nights ago I was camping and barely slept at all. This morning I had to wake up at 4 am for the race but slept like a brick from 9:15 until then, so I actually woke up feeling ok, and I did not feel the negative effects of sleep deprivation during the race. The weather was great. Of course I got really sweaty but I never noticed the temperature during the race, and my warmup wasn't too cold either. I don't think we really had a tailwind but there was not a headwind either. It was fun being part of such a big deal race. I get excited when there is a pace bike, but this one had a pace car! The race itself went well. Although I had never run the course before, if you've driven through Duluth as I have, you know a lot of the course. The hills were present but moderate. There is a hill at mile 9 that I thought was way overhyped, but of course it depends on how fast you are going and whether you're doing the marathon or just 1/2. The worst part in my opinion, was that after going in a straight line for 12 miles, your last 1.25ish miles are in a loop around town. I kind of started to kick a bit with 2 miles to go, and so each turn we made I was expecting to see the finish line, but didn't. I seriously looked at my watch and was dismayed to see less than 1:30 had elapsed since mile 12, and I was thinking the end was about to come. Although that hurt, tbh I feel like this race was easier than the last one I did, for better or worse. 

It took me like a couple minutes to pass the fastest woman out of the start, and I was thinking "what are you doing? You are getting way over your head!" Turns out she ran 69, a new CR and was being reasonable. The first pack I got into was a little hot for me, but I ran with someone the whole time. My roommate was actually the constant through that, we ran from miles 1-11 or so together. It really worked perfectly because for a while we were a group of 3, and it seems like one of us would lead while the others would hang on, then all of a sudden someone else would put in a burst and keep the pace going. Splits: 5:01, 9:58 (missed mile 2), 5:03, 5:04, 4:58, 5:09, 5:06, 5:04, 5:06, 5:08, 5:01, 5:40. My attitude most of the time was to try to stay under 5:06 pace to PR, and by mile 10, I think I knew I had one coming. 

Overall, I'm happy with it. It's nothing spectacular, as it is probably an equivalent performance to last year's given it is a better course with more competition, but I'm glad I get to head home with a PR. I had that thought that there will be very few days in the future when I will get to say I ran a lifetime best in an event that day, so I should be grateful. And I definitely plan to come back next year! I can take a bus again using the travel money and make is a quick, fun trip. 

Felt sore and fatigued but nothing to out of the ordinary. Just a hair over 7 minute pace on west river road. 

East river flats. 6:54 pace on the way back, I was going quicker for no reason in particular. I think I am slowly shagging off the post-race fatigue. It'll be interesting to see when I am up for a workout. It should be a good two weeks according to the equivalency rule, but I feel like it will be before then. 

6:43 pace on the way back from east river road. Surprised to have gone that fast, maybe its the warm weather. 

6:43 pace again apparently , this time coming back from boom island. I'm sure my overall pace was significantly slower. I just don't calculate it on days when we go for family runs anymore. 

I felt something bother me around my toe today, and now I have a sizeable blister. Idk what it was, but it didn't make me love the Hokas any more. 

Yet again, I felt tired. And my blister was very annoying, I could not figure out how to fix my shoe. And yet again, I went 6:43 pace, this time for the whole of farmer's fields. 

The plan was to not have a plan, but just to enjoy the gateway trail on a warm, overcast day. For mileage I was thinking 17-19. So the fact that I ran 5:46ish pace all the way to Pine Point and back should be a good thing, especially considering that I ran a half marathon last week, I forgot to bring my GU, and despite the clouds, it was humid and 77 degrees when I left, 84 degrees when I came back, so, very muggy. However, I actually came back from that feeling a little ominous. I enjoyed the run on the way out (beautiful day, the trees smelled great too haha), then during miles 12-15 I'd say there was a transition from rolling to pushing, and around the last 3 miles or so, the wheels really started coming off. This is concerning because I've never raced more than a half marathon, and I need to remember that nothing is guaranteed in marathons. Even if a marathon I run isn't as hot, the additional effort may expedite issues. Any race related fatigue I felt today is ammendable, but I know how I felt those last few miles, and that is probably due to my body heating up as I experienced dehydration, and potentially low fuel. These are things that need to be well planned and executed for a 26.2.

Here are the mile splits, although I think the overall pace is probably more useful: 6:20, 5:43, 5:48, 5:38, 5:43, 5:55, 5:06, 6:15, 5:19, 5:23, 6:02, 4:59, 5:44, 5:38, 5:43, 5:58, 5:34, 6:05. 3:06 and 2:43 for the first and last 1/2 mile, although they are probably less than that. 

6:51 pace on east river flats. It was a super beautiful wet, cool morning. Got just a little sprinkle during the run. The air felt really fresh and clean, which was nice in comparison to it being smoky again now. Felt tired as expected. Between Saturday morning and this morning, my blister got a lot better. Benefits of taking a day of rest I guess! I don't know what the future will hold for my toe. I definitely know to not get the wide version of the Clifton 9s, if I ever buy them again. #bringbackthe7s

I didn't mean to run that short. Oops. Bad air outside, but the mask I wore today was much more pleasant than the one I did last time. It's definitely construction season here. Como classic. 7:05 pace. 

6:47 pace on a modified farmers fields due to construction. Another smoky day to mask up. I'm surprised to see hardly any people wearing masks. People in the metro were very dedicated about doing that with COVID, I personally see the smoke as a much more immenent threat to my respiratory system. Oh well. 

7:00 pace on a humid day on west river road. Day 3 of masking while running; I was very dissapointed to see the air was still bad when it was supposed to improve. Oh well. Still felt tired, although the weather and mask may have played a role.  

There's nothing like a summer morning run on east river road. I really love that route, and am grateful that two years into living in MN, I really have not gotten tired of my routes the way I did in Mapleton. 6:46 pace somehow. I feel tired. By a huge surprise, I saw Aaron, who will be on the team this year.