This morning I rand the 10 Kato with my dad, Joel Erickson, and my wife, Jen Vogt-Erickson. The night before the three of us with my mom, Pembie Erickson, got into my parents’ minivan and drove the course…or at least an approximation of what we thought was the course based on the course description at www.raceberryjam.com.

Anyone familiar with the Mankato area knows it is, like, way hilly. The 10 kato isn’t extremely hilly, but the later part of the course contains a steep decline followed by a less steep and more gradual incline. Good thing we drove the course before we ran it otherwise I would have run the first half much faster than I did. This way I was able to save a little energy for the incline portion. On the whole, after seeing the course, I knew my time would probably be slower than it usually is.

As it turned out, I ran a fairly solid pace, slightly faster than I ran a couple races last year. My first two miles came in at 13:32, the next two 13:12, the next two 13:39, and the last 2 tenths were at 1:13. My total time was 41:36, with an average mile pace of 6:43 per mile. The reason my middle two miles were faster than my last two miles was obviously the sudden change of terrain, which makes for measurably less efficient running.

The 10 Kato was a well-organized race. And everyone who registered early got a sweet t-shirt and a nice pair of running socks…along with a bag of miscellaneous goodies. My only suggestions for next year is that they make their first mile marker more accurate. Nearly every runner I talked to thought they were doggin’ the first mile. Luckily someone told me about the poorly measured first mile before the race and I wasn’t shocked when I came it at 7:19 for the first mile and then 6:12 for the second mile. I guarantee 100% that those two splits are not accurate. If you add them together, they are, which means the first mile is wrong and the second mile is right because there is no way on earth I ran a 7:19 first mile.

Finally, I hope they publish an accurate map of the course for next year. This link will take you to a map that I drew at USTAF.org. I drew it from memory, the course description, and the map on the back of the t-shirt.

Below is an elevation profile based on the map I drew at USTAF.org.

Anyway, great race! Certainly one I’ll put on my calendar for next summer!

I’ve decided to log this summer’s workouts and races on my blog. It’s a great way for me to keep track of my efforts and for others to read if they have any interest in such things.

If all goes according to plan, I’ll be racing the “10 Kato” in Mankato, Minnesota, tomorrow morning at 9am. I’ve been running fairly consistently since earlier this spring when I started by training for the “Fountain Lake Five” here in Albert Lea. The weather has become considerably more runner-friendly since then. The “Fountain Lake Five” was cold, windy, and parts of the route were slightly iced over. The first mile and a half was something of a balancing act.

For tomorrow’s race, I hope to have a reprieve from treacherous racing conditions. Not having run the “10 Kato” before, the only obstacle I’m aware of is a long gradual hill in the second half of the course. This tells me I should make sure not to take out the first two miles too fast. I’m aiming for a 13:20 at the two-mile mark. My ultimate goal, however, is to run fairly even splits. The majority of my races last summer were simply too fast at the start, which resulted in my holding on for dear life in the last two or three miles of the race, whether it be an 8k or a 10k.

This morning I ran a short and sweet workout in preparation for tomorrow. After a five minute warm-up, I ran two 800’s at 10k race pace, just to get a sense of how I should feel in the first 800 Meters of my race tomorrow. Of course, all gets distorted with a little adrenalin thrown into the mix, but at least I now have a rough approximation of how I should feel.

In all, I’m feeling quite good. This week I got some great workouts in, with slightly reduced mileage overall. My favorite workout was earlier in the week when I ran 6 800’s at about 3:12 pace (6:24 mile pace, of course). After I got done with the sixth I felt just fine, which tells me I’m actually getting into shape. I’ll be able to tell where I’m really at tomorrow after my race.