Snowflake Shuffle (5K)

December 8, 2007
St. Joseph, Minnesota

Minnesota winters are rarely for the faint of heart. The past few winters haven't been too bad really, and while I've no clue what'll happen in January, I can say that we are off to a good start as far as having a real, genuine, Minnesota winter with lots of snow and bone chilling temperatures. With that in mind, I am now starting to regret my plan to race at least once a month through the off season. One of my friends and I had planned to run a long session this week (50K run) but when the snow came early, and heavy, we were not in a position to undertake that journey. Plan B was this 5K.

Race morning dawned sunny and very cold. When I left my house it was -10 F and race time temperatures were predicted to be a bit below zero. With much clothing, in a series of layers, I was as ready to go as I might be given it all.

I warmed up by running outside for a while. I didn't have huge goals for the race but I figured it would be all the more painful if I didn't get in at least 15 minutes of easy jogging to get my body ready for the fun to come. This all went fine, though I noticed that the footing was rather poor. The snow had been plowed off the ground, but that left a thin layer of ice in a number of places. I knew this could be an issue but I really didn't want to do a race in super heavy shoes. All my lighter models lacked traction but I'd made that choice already and now that I was warming up, there was nothing to do except deal with it.

I finished my warm up right as everyone was lining up for the start of the race. That was the plan as any significant standing around was not going to be fun. I didn't really have much of a plan for the race. I knew I was going to run hard, the question was really how hard. I knew I would be relatively slow, not only in terms of the competition but also just with myself. As the race started, I realized that I did not have a lot of time to contemplate a race strategy, this was a 5K after all. After a few minutes I knew I was going reasonably fast and I decided that it seemed like appropriate effort for a hard 5K. I opted to stay with that kind of effort.

I don't really have a whole lot to say about the race aside from the fact that 5Ks are often really quite alike. They start, you run hard, the effort starts to get real painful and then it ends. While they might go through interesting surroundings, I rarely notice as I'm running too hard. That was pretty much the story here with a few cold weather extras, the most notable being that my sunglasses kept fogging up as my exhalations were freezing to the glasses. After a while of looking through this, I opted to take the glasses off.

I finished the race and realized that I'd done a consistent pace. I hit 2 miles just under 14 minutes and my finish time was the same pace. One of my main tenets for a successful race is that I don't slow down in the last section of an event. If so I know I haven't paced as well as I'd like. So, on the day, I did an appropriate effort. It might not have gotten me a PR but that's okay. I had fun and got to cross another month off the race calendar. January's looking up now as it will be snowshoe season.

Here I am right after the race, gotta love the ice frozen to my facial hair. See you at the races.

November 9

The Dig It crew is a hearty one and Michael was our latest example. He did his first cross race on a cold for Minnesota day today. Not only did he race well, he had fun too.

Nice job Michael!

October 25-26

Jason was in New Jersey for the PhysFarm Level II seminar on Training Plan Design and Periodization. Jason learned a lot to pass onto his athletes.

October 19

RuthAnn and Beth kick it at the Duke City Half Marathon in Albuquerque. Beth won her age group and RuthAnn came in 3rd, both with PR performances. Impressive runs for sure!

October 12

Dig It's Jill shows she's one tough cookie as she runs a PR at the Chicago Marathon just 5 weeks after IM Wisconsin. Nice run Jill.

October 11

Justin Hurd, who Coach Jason advises, shows shows his strength at IM Hawaii. On a challenging day, for the big island no less, Justin did great in his first attempt at the World Championships as a pro.

October 5

The Team Dig It at the Twin Cities Marathon. We setup and monitored the 5K pace clock on a rainy and chilly day. Nice job to all finishers. Dig It's Clifford showed great form in the 10 Mile race and took minutes off his time from the year before. Nice run Clifford.

September 28

Jason in racing mode at the ITU World Duathlon Championships in Italy. It was a fun day of action.

Here the bike awaiting its trusted rider.

More Information

September 27

Jason serves as Assistant Coach with the elite athletes of Team USA at the ITU World Duathlon Championships in Rimini, Italy. It was a fun day filled with great competition for Team USA.

Here is the women's team poses for photos immediately after their finish.

More Information

September 7

Dig It athlete Jill has a great day at Ironman Wisconsin. Jill exceeded all her goals and finished strong and could smile too. Hard work and dedication sure paid off, nice job Jill!

More Information

August 31

At Ironman Louisville, Noelle does a great job on a hot and windy day in Kentucky. Noelle backed up a good swim and bike with solid run. Crossing the finish line with a smile on her face, Noelle showed how to get it done. Nice job, Noelle.

August 10

At the ITU Long Course Duathlon World Championships in Geel, Belgium, pro Justin Hurd, who Jason consults with on training, put in a great performance to finish 5th overall. In a perfect job of pacing, Justin ran, biked and ran with the best in the world. Way to go Justin!

Coach Jason was in action at the Town Hall Team Time Trial with 3 others from his bike racing club. The Birchwood Aged team might not have won, but we had fun.

August 2

At the Full Vineman in California, Dig It athlete Scott completes his Ironman dream with a solid debut race on a hot day. Awesome performance Scott!

July 6

At the Lake Steven's 70.3, Jill continued her great long course progress with a PR. Way to go Jill!

Dig It was a sponsor of the Duluth Duathlon. Coach Jason was there along with Todd enjoying a steamy day of running, biking and running again on the shores of Lake Superior. Here Team Dig It poses for a picture at the official Dig It Triathlon water station.

June 14

A great day at the Liberty Triathlon today as Noelle, Jill, Scott and Josh show their on track for long course success later this summer. Way to go guys!

Here Coach Jason and Jill hang out after the race.

More Information

April 27

At the US National Duathlon Champs, Francois culminated his spring campaign with a 3rd place in the 35-39 age group. On a rainy and tough day in Richmond, Francois was solid across the board, yeah baby!

The 35-39 podium, with Francois on the right.

More Information

April 5

Coach Jason joins the USA Triathlon National Duathlon Committee.

January 1

Coach Jason joins the PhysFarm coaching consortium. This group is dedicated to applying cutting edge exercise physiology and training software to use for all athletes. The newest software developed by PhysFarm, RaceDay, proves itself as a great tool for multisport athletes.

More Information

December 12

Coach Jason now a USA Cycling Level 2 coach. Clinic in November was great and Jason learned some cool stuff and is ready to bring it to use with you.

November 25

Check out the newest edition of Midwest Events magazine for Coach Jason's article, "Spending for Speed."

More Information

October 6

Coach Jason wins the inaugural Kickin' Leaves Duathlon in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The new race had a small field but a great course. Hope everyone can make it there next year.

Jason poses with bike and trophy at home after the race.

More Information

2007 Dig It News

A full account of Dig It news from 2007 and early 2008 can be accessed on our latest news page, with archived links at the bottom.

More Information