What a great weekend of running despite the warm temperatures! Check out this good looking group below. The warm weather conditions didn’t stop them from setting a few personal records; and I believe everyone in this photo finished in sub 1:25!

It’s hard not to mention the leader of the pack. Jesse Davis won the Carmel Marathon two weeks ago in a course record time of 2:22:05. He came back this weekend with a 6th place Mini Marathon time of 1:08:58! This is a pretty incredible performance on post marathon legs. He’s amazing!

I should also mention that I had the pleasure to host Elkanah Kipchumba Kibet of Kenya. He is one of the kindest young men I have ever met. This was also clear to my 3 year old son Reid who wanted to play (and even nap) with him every second he was here. Elkanah was more than a good sport in entertaining Reid.

He earned a 4th place finish with a time of 1:06:23.

You may wonder, “What did Elkanah want for his pre-race dinner meal?” He requested the same as many of us. It’s actually darn close to the very same dinner I had before the Mini last year. He wanted, “fried noodles with chicken, cheese, and vegetables.”

So I prepared spaghetti tossed in olive oil and sautéed chicken, spinach, mushrooms, tomato, garlic, and parmesan cheese. On the side I made a loaf of homemade white whole wheat bread.

There are far too many great performances from the weekend to name them all. It was exciting to watch everyone gut it out to the end.

Congratulations to all finishers!

Even though I’m not running quite yet, I celebrated the Mini Marathon weekend with a wonderful 3-4 mile family hike in Brown County. It feels so good to be off crutches, walking, and enjoying family time like this. I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

This weekend is the local Indianapolis Mini Marathon as well as my hometown marathon, The Flying Pig. The spring has brought some early season warm temperatures. It looks like Mid-west racing this weekend will offer fairly warm race day conditions for the early May race date. If I were racing this weekend I know there are a few things I would personally do in an effort to avoid something like this…

Or, heaven forbid even this…

Hopefully it’s easy to appreciate the importance of going into the race well hydrated. I drink before the race until my urine color is very light. On warm days I make a bulk of my pre-race hydration from drinking cold, electrolyte-rich beverages with my pre-race meal. I even do this for my final pre-race hydration shortly before the race. I like the additional race day electrolytes.

When taking water from the aid stations I make sure to drink it versus dumping most of it on my head. I definitely don’t shy away from sports drink during the race. I like the presence of electrolytes, and the flavored beverage supports my desire to keep drinking.

To ensure I have plenty of fluids on hand I always take 2 cups at aid stations. I do this even if I don’t think I will drink all of the fluids. I would rather have too much fluid on hand than too little. I can always toss a half full cup, but I know that I’m less likely to turn around and run back for more. I find if I pinch one cup completely shut while I drink from the other half pinched cup, I lose the least amount of fluid while running.

I like to judge how much I’m drinking by how many swallows I take. I consider just under a mouthful to be about one ounce. I will count 1, 2, 3, 4… and so on as I drink from the cup. If one of the swallows ends up more like a sip, I will take an extra swallow or two. This helps me better gauge how much I’m drinking at each aid station.

It’s true; after some races a cold beer (because I’m old enough to have one…just barely though – ha!) sounds wonderful! Before I enjoy a post-race celebratory drink, I make sure I have urinated. If it takes me hours to urinate for the first time after a race I feel it’s a sign I’m fairly dehydrated. When I do use the restroom, I can take a peak back and notice the color of the urine. If it’s fairly dark, I feel the alcohol may enhance my dehydrated state and slow the recovery process. When I establish that I’m rehydrated with sufficient fluids I’m much more likely to enjoy a cold beer.

Most importantly on warm weather days, I know I need to relax and have fun. Despite the great satisfaction that comes with a solid personal record performance, warm and humid days really aren’t the time to expect a big drop in race time. However, smart early pacing can lead to a just as satisfying rockstar place.