Love To Run

Some of This and Some of That

2012-02-06T20:59:00.002-06:00

It has now been over 2 weeks since I last ran at the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon. I am taking about 6 weeks off to recover from an IT Band issue. It sucks, but I do put things in perspective. I will be able to run again. There are far more pressing issues that others face too. I could most likely go 5 miles right now and not feel any issues, but I need the time for the IT to fully recover, and to learn whatever stretches to help that I need to learn as well.

Here is a funny little story. I was watching the movie “Courageous” this weekend. It is a nice movie about Fathers stepping up and not just being Fathers that are good enough, but really being great Fathers to their children and teaching them all the life lessons they need to be taught. The movie takes place in Albany, Georgia which is where the Albany Marathon is located. I ran the Albany Marathon back in 2010 along with my friends Mike and Paul so we could cross off Georgia on our way to 50 states.

I went to the Albany Marathon website (albanymarathon.com) to look at the course map since I recognized a few sites in the movie from my 2 days there. As I was looking at the website, I glanced at the top banner of pictures and saw that one of the pictures was my friend Mike just before the finish line. It was pretty funny to see that. I texted Mike and told him that he looked pissed off in the picture. Turns out he was intensely sprinting to the finish in order to break 3:13. His gun time ended up at 3:12:59 (Chip time 3:12:43). There is a reason there is a photo release in the small print of your race waivers, and this is why. I have been kidding him today that he is now an International Internet Marathon Super Star, and now he won’t talk to me, says he is too good for me. LOL

Remember that Jennipede thing I ran in and wrote about a few time? It is official now. The Jenniepe is the official Guinness World Record Holder for the most people linked completing a marathon. 62 of us! Take that Mr. International Internet Marathon Super Star!!! LOL I can get a personalized copy of the World Record Certificate too, I just don’t know how it should be personalized. Any other Jennipede’s out there? How are you getting your certificate personalized?

This coming weekend is the Pinewood Derby my girls are entering. They did really good last year and hope to do well again. We don’t try for the fastest “cars,” we try to make fun “cars”. And when I say “we”, that means I try to help them with things I don’t feel they are old enough to do or not skilled yet to do (ie power tools). So I basically mold the “cars” to the design that we both came up with and they sand them down and paint them however they want to. And I put the word, cars, in parentheses for a reason. Last year, we made a pickup truck, a semi-truck, and an ocean liner boat. Are we making cars this year? Nope! This year we have a “Megan-mobile” which basically is the name Megan carved out with wheels on it painted in rainbow colors. There is also a red wagon and a platypus. A Platypus?? Yes, it is supposed to look like Perry the Platypus from Phineas & Ferb on the Disney Channel. I will post pictures when they are complete and you can judge if it actually does look like Perry.

Finally, registration is now open for the first annual Heatbreaker Half Marathon. I will write a post on that one real soon. It looks to be a really fun filled day of half marathon fun and even a half marathon relay.

Keep on Running!!!

Icebreaker Indoor Marathon & Half Marathon (In Pictures)

2012-01-26T19:19:00.020-06:00

Thank you to Bill Flaws from runningintheusa.com for all the pictures here. Please check out his website for icebreaker pictures as well as tons of race information all over the USA including running clubs and running forums. Bill ton thousands of pictures at the Icebreaker Marathon.

This is The Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, WI. This is where the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon takes place.

The Hall of Fame room overlooking the track and ice oval and where packet pickup was located. A great place to relax before the race and ofter the race.

The National Anthem was played by Olu Sijuwade who is a speedskater who trains at the Pettit Center. He has played the National Anthem at many national and international competitions held at Pettit.

The Start of the 5K race on Friday evening. Melissa is too short to be seen.

The start of the Full Marathon on Sunday morning. The race thins out considerably so it is not anywhere near that crowded on the track.

Half Marathoners run past the huge American Flag in Pettit.

Chris Ponteri, Icebreaker Marathon Race Director.

During the Full Marathon, a Zamboni cleans the ice for skaters. If you look closely, right below the small balcony, you can see a sign for runners saying "Watch for Zamboni Crossing"

The front stretch of the track with bleachers and timing clock.

View of the front stretch from the other side. You can see the large screen that shows spectators laps completed and current place.

The back stretch of the track. Pretty close to the wall, even closer to the ice.

The famous and super energetic water table volunteers right next to the track ready to hand off water or Powerade to any runner who need it.

The marathon relay is possibly the most exciting race of the entire event. Teams surround both ends of the track cheering on all the teams.

Banners hanging in the rafters of Pettit showing all the speedskaters who won Olympic Medals who have trained at Pettit (or at the outdoor ice oval that used to be located right where Pettit is now). Eric Heiden, Bonnie Blair, Dan Jansen, Chris Witty to name a few. Some of these champions grew up only a few miles from Pettit.

There was public ice skating allowed during some of the races. You could actually go ice skating while watching your friends run a marathon. Where else could you do that in the world?

Gold Medal Challenge Champions Mary Flaws and Mac McCulley.

Keep on Running!!!

Race/Weekend Report - 2012 Icebreaker Indoor Marathon & Half Marathon

2012-01-25T20:19:00.012-06:00

This past weekend was the 4th annual Icebreaker Indoor Marathon and Half Marathon at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, WI. Yes, a January Marathon in Milwaukee, but as the name indicates, an INDOOR marathon.

The Pettit National Ice Center is the place originally where Olympic Speedskaters train on the 400 meter Ice Oval (they also now train in Kearns, Utah as well). On the outside of the Ice Oval is a 2 lane running track. My friend, Chris Ponteri, decided this would be a great place to put on a Marathon and why not have it when it is traditionally the coldest and snowiest in Milwaukee, so the 3rd weekend in January was adopted. The running track is 443 meter long thus making a full marathon 95.4 laps and a half marathon 47.7 laps. This will be the flattest marathon you will ever find and quite possibly the best weather as well, a controlled 45 to 50 dry degrees, almost perfect for running and no wind. The surface is a bit hard, a thin piece of hard rubber on cement but that may be changing sometime soon.

Over the past 4 races, the Icebreaker has added races. The first year was just the full marathon. Year 2 added 2 half marathon races (only 130 can fit on the track at one time comfortably) and a marathon relay on Saturday. Year 3 added a 5K on Friday night and this year the 5K was expanded. This is a VERY popular event with runners from over 20 states and a few international runners over the years.

The weekend began on Thursday evening with packet stuffing. About 15 or so of us gathered to full over 1200 bags with sponsor’s information and get the track and packet pickup area ready.

Melissa running the 5K on Friday (Photo courtesy of runningintheusa.com)

Friday evening brought us snow and slippery roads, just what an indoor marathon needs. This meant that packet pickup for the Half Marathon and Marathon was slowed as runners decided to come day of race (a great feature this race offers). Packet Pickup is in a room overlooking the track and Ice Oval which is great for watching the race if you want to stay warm. My 10 year old daughter was in the 5K this year and 57 of the 75 runners were able to show up for the race. I played the part of coach again and encouraged her and timed her laps to see if she was on pace or not. She did really well and ran a time of 27:16, only 1 second slower than she ran at Disney 2 weeks earlier but without my help running next to her. She ended up in 1st place in the 19 and under age group beating out another 9 year old and an 18 year old. She was 22nd overall and the 5th female to finish. She was happy with her time and had fun beating all the other “older” runners in the race. Her age group award will be a special Icebreaker Pin she can wear anywhere.

Melissa in her last 100 meters of the 5K (Photo courtesy of runningintheusa.com)

Saturday morning saw me waking up at 4:30 AM so I could be to Pettit by 5:15 to help make sure everything was ready. By 6:15, my friends Jamie (Running Diva Mom) and Amy (Running -Reading- is Cheaper than Therapy) showed up as they were running the first half marathon race scheduled to begin at 7:00AM. It is always a festive atmosphere in the Hall of Fame room above the track before the race and everyone is getting ready for the race and picking up their packets. The first race is the “Fast” heat of the 2 half marathons with runners who should be able to break 2 hours. Right before the race, one of my duties is to make sure the runners have their timing chips attached to their ankles and Velcro’ed on. In past years, a runner or 2 did not heed the warnings and did not have laps counted as they crossed over the timing mats every lap. I also reminded runners to run in the outside lane and pass on the inside lane. Some of the runners in the race are VERY fast and there not always a lot of room so this is the rule and it works really well. Runners are supposed to call out “Track” when coming up on slower runners if they are in lane 1 but this doesn’t happen too often if everyone follows the rules. By running in lane 2, you do add distance to your race, approximately 200 meters for a half marathon and about a ¼ mile for a full but as with all marathons out there, it is almost certain you will run longer since almost everyone does not run the tangents. Not a big deal here.

Jamie and Amy before the Half Marathon

Race 1 started well and runners soon spread out enough for comfortable running after only a few laps. My friends Jamie and Amy started together for a few laps but then split to run their own races. I was able to cheer them both on and take a few pictures and videos as well.

Another friend of mine, Paul, was volunteering at the water table. I do have to say that this may be the best and most unique water table is all marathons. Runners are required to use water bottles with lids to prevent spilling since everyone needs to run past the same place over and over. Runners put their number on their bottle(s) and then ask for the bottle when they want them. The next lap, the volunteers will have their bottle ready for them and they can run with it and drop it off the next lap. Water and Powerade were supplies as well as Gu. Each runner has a specific volunteer they always went to which made it a more personal touch and a runners very own cheering section.

Amy somewhere in the middle oh the Half Marathon (photo courtesy of runningintheusa.com)

Icebreaker has an announcer who reads off sponsor information during the race as well as lap counts if a runner needs to know where they are. Then with about 5 laps to go, the announcer will mention your name and the number of laps you have left as well as saying when they begin their final lap. This is all done with monitors and chip timing. And when a runner is done, they are announced as an Icebreaker Finisher. Pretty cool if you ask me. The official announcer sometimes needed a break so I was able to take over which was quite fun. During the marathon relay, I announced toward the end and tried to jazz it up some and pump up some of the runners. I think it went over well???

Jamie during her Half Marathon (photo courtesy of runningintheusa.com)

Amy and Jamie ran very well. Amy finished in 1:48 (75 out of 223) and Jamie followed closely in 1:54 (103 out of 223). They did great. I was able to talk to them for a bit before the second race started and they seemed very happy with their times. I am hoping to get them to sign up for the full marathon next year! The winning time in the half marathon was 1:13 so pretty fast and the first place female was 1:26 (9th overall). The conditions allow for fast times at Pettit. The second half marathon is usually for the noncompetitive runners but a few fast runners sneak in and the winning time of race 2 was 1:35. You can read Amy Race Report [Here] and Jamie's Race Report [Here].

Quite possibly the most exciting race of the entire event is the Marathon Relay on Saturday afternoon. Teams of 2 to 4 runners complete the 95.4 laps but there is very interesting strategy involved. Rules allow teams to exchange as many times as they wish and wherever on the track they wish to do so. 99 teams were competing so it was very crowded especially considering this race had the biggest difference in paces. The winning team ran 2:12:44 for a pace of 5:04. HOLY CRAP is that fast! The second place team wasn’t much slower finishing in a time of 2:15:48. Both of these teams had runners from the college I ran for many years ago so I was able to talk to them and see their strategies. I wonder how fast they could have run if there wasn’t 99 teams on the track getting in the way? We are exploring this to see if we want to make a change next year. It sure looked like all the teams were having a blast cheering on not only their runners but also runners from other teams. People are all around the track so no lack of fans and cheering.

The Relay was the final event of the day and I was able to go home after 13 hours but I was able to sit for a lot of it so that helps. I was able to get some sleep on Saturday night and was back at the Pettit Center at about 6:45AM.

If you recall from my report on my Disney Marathon experience, you know that I had my IT band get very sore and had to walk almost 12 miles. I went to the doctor to confirm that it was in fact my IT band and see if I could run the Icebreaker Marathon. I did not want to miss it because I have run all the previous 3. I decided by Saturday evening that I would give it a try and hope for the best. I was ready for a lot of walking and hoped to get past half way before I needed to walk. A DNF was not an option unless the pain was too intense and too early.

One thing cool about running all of the Icebreaker Marathons and that the size rather small is that you get to know a lot of the runners that run every year. Robyn is one runner that has run every Icebreaker and I have gotten to know a little 1 year at a time. I have seen her at one other marathon besides Icebreaker but you get to recognize people and get to know them. Runners are such cool people that it is very easy to just talk and have fun. There are about 10 or so of us that have run every Icebreaker Marathon.

One other thing that the Icebreaker Marathon offers is the Gold Medal Challenge. I did this 2 years ago. The Gold Medal Challenge is just like the Goofy Challenge at Disney World where you run the Half Marathon on Saturday and follow that us with the Full Marathon on Sunday. Instead of just a Bronze Medal for running the Half Marathon and a Silver Medal for running the Full, you also get a Gold Medal. 40 runners get a chance to do this at Icebreaker and then there are results for just the Gold Medal being your combined time. The winner of the Gold Medal Challenge gets their name on a banner displayed in the rafters at Pettit along with all the Speedskating Olympians. Pretty Cool.

I started almost dead last in the Full Marathon (photo courtesy of runningintheusa.com)

Just as the countdown for the beginning of the marathon began, I found myself at the very back of the pack and started almost dead last. Only 3 other runners who were still getting ready on the other side of the track started after me. My goal was to maintain about a 4 hour marathon until the pain began and then adjust. I also changed strategy from last time and would take my usual 30 second breaks every 7 laps (just under 2 miles) instead of 10 laps like that last 3 years. As much as the water table is a ton of fun, I only use them to refill my water bottle if it empties; I bring a small TV tray like table and put all my stuff (Salt, Water, Gu, Vaseline, etc) for easy reach just off the track. My friend Paul was helping out at the water table so I was able to get cheers on most of my laps.

Mike keeps moving in the Full Marathon (photo courtesy of runningintheusa.com)

Also running the full marathon was my friend Mike, his first Icebreaker Marathon. Mike is faster than I am so I expected to see him every 6 or 7 laps as he passed me and sure enough he did. After 5 laps, I was feeling pretty good, my knee wasn’t an issue yet and my pace was close to 9:00 per mile. This stayed until about 18 laps in when knee started hurting and I was worried. I quickly took 4 Tylenol and kept going hoping it would work. It got a little worse but after half way, it started feeling a little better and I was able to keep running the entire race (except for planned breaks that is). I went through the half in about 2:01:50ish and my legs were tired so I figured Sub 4 was out of the question. My lap pace fell to about 10 to 20 seconds slower than needed but watching the speedskaters on the ice and watching the race leaders helped distract me.

Mike passing me in the Full Marathon down the back stretch (photo courtesy of runningintheusa.com)

The winner of the race, Mac McCulley, finished 32 laps ahead of me in a time of 2:39:27 but what was really cool about him and the other early finishers is that they stayed and cheered on the other runners after they were finished. What other marathon can you have the winner cheer you on long before you are done? So Cool. The winner of the women’s race was Mary Flaws, the 2 time defending Gold Medal Challenge winner in a time of 3:13:14 in 9th place overall and once again; she was the Gold Medal winner. Mac McCulley also won the Half Marathon the day before so he was the Gold Medal Men’s winner.

Another really cool feature of the Icebreaker Marathon is that spectators can sit in one place and see you 95 times if they so choose. It is a bit chilly for spectators but with a few layers, it is nice. There are plenty of bleacher seats for everyone and they can even go upstairs to the Hall of Fame Room and watch behind glass in heated comfort. Laps counts are displayed on a screen next to the track for spectators as well. Runners can see it to but it is not very handy as only 10 runners are listed at any time. Some fans bring signs. One even brought a bunch of printed notes and changed them every lap or so. S Some would say “Come this way often?” or “Left Turn Ahead”. They were quite clever. Another fan had a dry erase board and had it say “Free High 5’s” for a while and then his kids would give high 5’s. It was fun.

Another friend of mine that I was able to run with was Brandi who was on the Jennipede team with me. We just found out today that we have been certified Guinness Marathon World Record holders.

Somewhere around mile 21 or 22, I started feeling less tired and was able to pick the pace back up to 9:00 miles. My new goal was to try to beat my time from last year’s Icebreaker (4:08:32). I knew I had to keep it up to do it but I was feeling good. The music was upbeat and the track was clearing as more runners were finishing. Mike finished 9 ½ laps ahead of me in a time 3:42:28 good for 30th place. Not a good time for Mike but only his second time running at Pettit. I kept cranking it out and soon found myself as the fastest runner on the track with 5 or so laps to go. It was fun to be passing everyone and not being passed at all. Knowing that this would be my last run for a month or 2 (taking time off to rest the IT Band), I pounded the last 2 laps and finished in a time of 4:07:04. I was really happy with this time considering I had only run 1 time in the last 2 weeks and that I was really expecting to have to walk a ton due to my IT Band. I ended up in 52nd place overall out of 114 runner. Even though I ran a minute and a half faster this year, I was 2 places lower but still in the top half.

After the race, there was a separate room for runners to enjoy tons of good food and treats (cookies, doughnuts, bagels, bananas, crackers, etc). There was all the chocolate milk you could ever want to help recover. Mary Flaw, winner of the Marathon/Gold Medal Challenge, had also made 60 dozen of the best cookies for all the runners too. She happens to be married to Bill Flaws and they jointly run the website runningintheUSA.com. Bill was the photographer of the race as well. You can see a lot of his work in the pictures I am posting. He does a great job.

So now I am going to take a break from running for a while to heal up the IT Band. It sucks but is needed. I haven’t had a break from running in something like 6 years so my body will appreciate it. Hopefully I will come back stronger and faster and most importantly, healthier. I hope to learn some stretches to help my IT so this won’t happen again.

Soon I will write another post about the Icebreaker Marathon and Half Marathon. I want to share some more pictures as well as links to others reports and some links to some videos from this year’s race.

If you want in to next year’s Icebreaker Marathon, sign up early as it fills quickly. I think registration opens on August 1st.

Also new this year, we will be starting the 1st annual Heatbreaker Half Marathon and Half Marathon Relay to be held at the Pettit on Saturday, July 28th, traditionally the hottest weekend of the year in Milwaukee. I will write more about this race soon as well. Just think of how cool it is to run in 50 degree no humidity on the hottest day of the year.

Until the next marathon…

Keep on Running!!!

Race Report - Disney World Marathon (Goofy Challenge)

2012-01-18T20:19:00.009-06:00

I finished the Goofy Challenge at Disney World a week and a half ago. That is the good news about the race - that I finished, not much else to say good about my race as it was a disaster for me. Not a crash & burn disaster, no, it was an injury disaster. One that makes this the worst marathon (by far) that I ever ran - I take that back - that I ever completed, I didn't run a lot of it. Here is the story:

The race started awfully early in the morning once again. This time I was able to get about 6 hours of sleep before I woke us a little before 3AM. And after another day of walking the parks, I needed some rest. I was a little more awake this time and did not fall asleep on the bus like I did the day before. I got to the starting area a little earlier and after dropping off my bad at the bag check area, I took my time getting to the start area. I had plenty of time to get to my corral and settle in.

The start was pretty cool the same as the day before. It is really dark out still so they start with a lot of fireworks and flame balls over the start line for each corral start. It is really a cool site to see! Instead of going directly to the Magic Kingdom as the Half Marathon does, this race begins with a loop around the Epcot parking lot on the highway, then through the front of Epcot and leaving to go right past the start line again at about mile 4. This race isn't as crowded as the half marathon which is better. Instead of 22,000+ finishers, the full marathon had only 13,467 finishers, still way too many if you ask me, but 9000 less is better.

I start pretty slow as I knew I spent it all the day before in the half. I was just going to run and have fun along the way. I expected a time somewhere near 4:30 and my pace for the first 5 miles was right there. Legs were tired but loosening up and ready to go. By mile 7, my right knee was starting to hurt some. I have had tendinitis in that knee for quite some time so i decided at mile 8 to take some Tylenol supplied by the medical tent and expecting it to go away a mile or so later.

By mile 10, the race enters the Magic Kingdom and we run the same route we did in the half marathon the day before. This time though, it is lighter out and we can see better. My knee still hurts so I decide to take some pictures with some characters in the park. I stopped by Rapunzel and Flynn Rider (aka Eugene Fitzherbert) and also by Princess Tiana, Prince Naveen, and Louis (the alligator). Then out of the Magic Kingdom past the Grand Floridian and Polynesian Resort before turning off toward the Animal Kingdom. By the half marathon mark on the course, I knew it was going to be a very long day as the Tylenol was doing absolutely nothing to help my knee. It wasn't the tendinitis flaring up, I can run through that, it was something else this time and getting worse with each step. I went through the half around 2:23, much slower than i really wanted to.

In the Magic Kingdom, I stopped to see Rapunzel and Flynn Rider.

When I got to mile 14, I had to stop and walk. I decided to try to see if a half mile walk would maybe help the knee out. I tried running again only to find out a few hundered feet later that it was as painful as before, if not more. By this time, I knew I was in a ton of trouble for the race. It was sunny and warm out and walking was all I could do and DNF was not an option in my mind so walking was what I needed to do.

Near Mile 14 was Captain Jack Sparrow and Barbossa. Barbossa wanted to meet with me after the race for some Rum. At this point in time, I was all for that!

After walking through the Animal Kingdom and just past mile 18, I stopped at a Medical Tent and had them tape my knee up to see if maybe that would help. It actually did, at least for about a quarter mile. The problem was that the tape was way too tight on my tendons behind my knee so that didn't work. I resigned myself to the fact that if I was going to finish this thing, it would have to be with a ton more of walking, so walking I did.

I met these cemetery guys near mile 19. I felt like this so I thin the picture serves itself well.

Every once in awhile, I would try to run to see if by some miracle, my knee would let me. And each time I did, the same result, pain and deep pain. I felt odd while walking as I was beginning to be with more and more walkers as I stopped at a few more medical tents and more and more runners past me. The biggest issue with my mind was that I knew that I could probably run as fast as 9:00 pace if it weren't for my knee. After already walking 6 miles and 6 more to go, I felt great everywhere else.

At mile 23, the course enters Hollywood Studios and by this time of day, the park is already open so there are lots of people cheering us on. All I could do was walk. This continued part Hollywood Studios, through the Boardwalk/Yacht Club Resorts and into Epcot for the final mile of the race. Epcot was also open. People would say stuff like "You can do it" and "You are doing great". I appreciate all the cheering and I know a lot of the runners near me were doing really good, but I wasn't so it was kind of like a sting each time I heard it. I would just smile and maybe wave a bit and move along.

I made the decision somewhere along the way that I would do everything I could to "run" across the finish line so with 200 meters to go, I started running and was able to run/limp across the finish line and then lean against the fence and clutch my knee. I was able to get the the medical tent one more time and wrap my knee with ice.

Here I am running the last 200 meters of the race. You can see on my face how my knee really feels. I have horrible form and just want to stop.

I am so happy to finally be done. Now where is that ICE?

The funny thing is that as much as my knee hurt to run, it didn't hurt at all to walk. I did officially finish in a time of 5:44:35, only 13 seconds less that 4 hours more than my half marathon the day before. I did get my Mickey Medal and my Goofy Medal. In some aspects, I feel that I didn't deserve it as much as I thought I should and in other aspects, I felt I earned it more than before. I did finish 42.4 miles over the 3 days of races so that is cool.

I didn't feel like hanging around after the race. Besides not knowing anyone, I wasn't in much of a festive mood. So I ended up walking over to the entrance to Epcot with knee wrapped in ice and met my family inside who were already in line for pictures with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. I was in a better mood by this time and made sure I got my picture with Goofy still with my race number on.

This was my second Goofy Challenge that I completed and my third Disney Marathon. there are a lot of aspects to these races that are a lot of fun. The course entertainment is second to none of the previous 37 marathons I have completed. The Medals you receive are also second to none. the 3 I received for the Goof this year are even a ton better than the ones I received 5 years ago when i did my first Goof. But I will not be doing the Disney Marathon or Goofy Challenge again. Too many runners! Too early of a start time and even earlier wake up time to get there. Been there, Done that is my attitude for Disney now. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE DISNEY WORLD, I am a Disney freak for the parks and fun, i just don't want to do the marathons again. I would consider doing the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon or the Disneyland Half Marathon, but not this one (or the Princess Half Marathon either, see an earlier post for my reasons on that one).

About my knee 1 week and a half later. On Monday, I went on a run with Mike to see how it would feel. I made it 2 1/2 miles before the pain started to come back. I finished 3 miles and called it a day. Today I went to see my Doctor and have it check out. As I suspected (and most of you probably already suspected as well) it is my IT Band. Of course rest is the best thing I can do but I have a dilemma. The Icebreaker Marathon is this weekend and I have run everyone of them and REALLY want to run again. I have been given the OK to try to run if I want to and have started taking a lot of Ibuprofen at meals to try to get the inflammation down as much as possible in case I do decide to attempt the Icebreaker. My Doctor also said he would play the "Bad Guy" if I decided not to run and I could blame him. I have not made a decision yet and most likely won't until Saturday. I just plan on watching a few friends run the half marathons and the marathon relays on Saturday and see how I feel after that. The full marathon is Sunday morning and I know if I do run, I most likely can expect a lot of walking again, unless the Ibu does its job.

Either way, after the Icebreaker, I will be taking some time off of running which is going to totally SUCK!!! Perhaps this will be a good thing as I really haven't had a longer break from running in quite a few years. Maybe some recovery is needed in other parts of me and I can come back stronger. I will return to run again!

Keep on Running!!! (I will again soon!)

Race Report - Disney World Half Marathon

2012-01-16T20:36:00.006-06:00

Day 2 brought us the Disney World Half Marathon. After the 5K on Friday, we all went to the parks for the day and evening and got in late. When all was said and done, I think I got 4 hours sleep. I woke up a little before 3AM to get ready and was at the bus by 4. Once on the bus, I sat in the back and closed my eyes on the way to the starting area. Traffic was congested so it took awhile to get there.

Once we got there, a lady tapped me on the shoulder and said it was time to get off. The bus was already empty. Apparently I fell asleep on the bus. There was only 40 minutes until the start so I had to hurry to the bag check, get my shoes on, hit the portolets and then try to make it the 1 mile to the start line. I took this time 1 mile to try to warm up with some light jogging where I could. It was so crowded though that I could only go a little ways before I had to walk and go around people in the wet grass. I was a bit nervous that I wouldn't get to my starting corral on time but did find an open lane in the road median and got to my spot with about 5 minutes to spare.

I was in corral B so corral A and the Elites where ahead of me. The first wave set off and about 2 minutes later, our corral was moving to the start line. I am not sure how this happened, most likely since I was on the edge of the corral, but I found myself a head of the group before the line. I decided to take this opportunity and go a bit before the B corral started and I am glad I did. I had about a mile of open roads where there were stragglers from corral A until i met with the crowds from A.

By a mile and a half, the roads were narrow and the crowds were dense. I kept asking myself what these other runners were doing in corral A when they were doing a lot of walking and very slow running already. I found it very difficult to keep a pace that I wanted to run which was 8:00 even for the first 5 miles or so. There were times the road was wide enough to run smooth but all I could do was maintain about an 8:10 pace for the first 5 miles.

It was quite dark out for most of the race. Too dark in many places if you ask me. I almost tripped multiple times on other runners that were hard to see in the darkness. Disney needs to do a much better job in lighting some of the areas.

As I run through Cinderella Castle at about mile 5 or 6, you can see how dark it still is.

After I left the Magic Kingdom and was on the back roads near The Grand Floridian, I wanted to increase my pace to try for the best time I could get. This road was also very dark and crowded so it again was difficult. I was passing people from the very beginning of the race and all the way to the end as well. At mile 10, I was still only at 8:10 pace and knew I really needed to pick it up if I wanted to even break 1:45 even though I really wanted to run near 1:40. I guess 3 days in the parks and a 5K the day before wasn't going to allow me to get a fast time.

I began pushing up the hills and running faster. Mile 11 was a bit uphill but I managed to run a 7:59. I saw a young lady in front of me that caught my eye as she has the same slight leg swing to the side that I had. I struck up a brief conversation with her and found out she was running a good time for her so I told her to keep with me as I pushed ahead. Amy gladly came along as we passed runner after runner. It was beginning to become a ton of fun passing so many runner yet frustrating having to weave in and out to do so.

Mile 12 was a 7:26 even with all the weaving and I was feeling pretty good. I knew I had to run pretty fast if I wanted to break 1:45 so I pushed it even harder hoping Amy was still there. We entered Epcot and made a short run to the beginning of World Showcase before turning around for the fine half mile to the finish line.

With a half mile to go, I kept the pace fast! Still not very light out.

I knew it would be close so I pushed harder. I kept looking down at my time to see if I would still make it. Mile 13 was 6:59 and I saw the finish line and took it as hard as I could. I ended up crossing the finish line in a net time of 1:44:48 and I was happy with that time. This was good for 988th place overall out of 22,421 finishers. Cool, top 1000. Not too bad for 22,000+ runners. Sure I could have run faster if I didn't go to the parks 3 straight days before hand, or if I didn't run the 5K the day before, or if I got a bit more sleep, but that wasn't the goal of the race. A good time was a goal, just not the ultimate goal.

Right as I am crossing the finish line, a high five from Goofy was a must.

So I got my Donald Duck medal and was done with 2 of the 3 races for the weekend. Only the Full Marathon to go the next morning. I knew by running hard in the half that the full would be a long day and I was OK with that. I did not expect a fast time at all for the full. But then again, I didn't expect what would eventually happen in the full either. More on that in the next post.

After the race, I was surprised to not see Donald Duck around for pictures. Pluto took up the slack for Donald Fauntleroy Duck.

After the race, I walked around, congratulated other runners, took some pictures with some characters, did a little dancing in the parking lot with other runners and then headed back to the room to clean up before heading out to Hollywood Studios for another day full of fun.

So what was good and what was bad. The good is that Disney puts on a very good course with a lot of entertainment along the way. The course is just challenging enough for a faster time without too many hills to kill you. The medal is very cool. The best half marathon medal I have ever seen. The bad is that you have to wake up way too early and it is way way way way WAY too crowded of a race. I mean 22,000+ runners for a half marathon!!!! Seriously??? Too many runners!!! Too dark in many spots to run comfortably. And too narrow in many spots for a good runner flow.

My next post will be my report on the marathon, the second and final race of the Goofy Challenge.

In the mean time...

Keep on Running!!!

Race Report - Disney World 5K

2012-01-15T19:28:00.008-06:00

I am back from the Happiest Place on Earth! And I have really had enough. 11 days is plenty and Disney is by no means a relaxing place to go, that is when you have 3 little girls that want to do EVERYTHING.

We arrived at Disney on Wednesday the 4th and went to parks right away. No need to rest before 3 races, is there? Thursday was again at the parks but when nap time came, Melissa (my then 9 year old, now 10) took the shuttle from our resort to the Marathon Expo held at Disney's Wide World of Sports. The expo was big and actually held in 2 different buildings. One building help the packet pick up and the official Disney Marathon store and the other where you picked up your shirt and all the other exhibits. We didn't stay too long as we did need to go to more parks in the evening.

One thing everyone that wants to run during the Disney World Marathon Weekend is that all the race start way way way way early and you need to get up even way way earlier to get there on time. The races are also way way way expensive too. The 5K costs $50 per person. I am not sure what the half marathon or the full marathon cost because I signed up for the Goofy Challenge (run both the half and the full) but that was $350!!!!!!

Melissa right before the start of the race.

Melissa and I woke up very early for the 6:30AM start to the 5K and took the complimentary transportation to EPCOT for the race. We got there plenty early since they told us we needed to be on the bus by 4:30AM. We walked around on the foggy morning in the cool air waiting for the race to begin. They did have tons of music playing and it was quite festive but the race was not chipped times. Seemed odd to me. $50 should at least get you an official time, shouldn't it?

Melissa happy to be running in the Disney World 5K

Melissa should be pretty close to me somewhere.

We did a little warm up and headed to the starting area. Melissa wanted to run as fast as she could so we lined up toward the front but not right up there. The gun sounded in the dark and the entire race was in the dark. The first mile was in parking lots and back roads of EPCOT before entering the back lots area of EPCOT near Test Track and then entering the public grounds near Norway section of World Showcase. I was pacing Melissa at close to 9:00 pace and we were doing well. By mile 2, Melissa was tiring so she was slowing down but kept up spirits and pushed on. By mile 3, she had picked it back up and pushed through her pain toward the finish line passing a few people along the way. The finish line is the same one that they use for the half marathon and the full marathon but much less crowded with people cheering for the 5K. We cross the finish line in a time of 27:15, not a PR for Melissa but within a minute and since she hasn't run but only 1 time since early December, I would say that is not too bad.

Melissa happy with her race and proud of her medal she earned.

After the race, we didn't stick around too long and headed back for yet another day of fun at the parks.

Race 1 of 3 done. 3.1 miles of 42.4 miles done. Some good to come, some bad.

Keep on Running!!!

2012 - Start Off Where I Left Off

2012-01-02T16:44:00.003-06:00

Hopes are that 2012 will be as exciting a year as 2011 was in terms of running. Last year, I started out the first weekend of the year running a double marathon in Mississippi and Alabama.

This year, I will run the Goofy Challenge in Disney World as well as the 5K the day before.I am not sure if there is an unofficial name for doing all 3 races, I call it the Goof Plus. So basically this is how it works, on Friday morning, I am running the Disney 5K with my daughter. Saturday morning, I will run the Disney Half Marathon, then on Sunday morning, I will run the Disney Marathon. Not quite as many miles as a double marathon, 10 miles short, but I will get 4 total medals, not 2.

I am lucky enough to have my brother and his wife in town while we are gone to watch the house and hopefully shovel any snow that may come. I won't get to see him long, maybe a half a day, but he saves on hotel for a week.

Only 2 weeks after the Goof Plus, I will be running the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon here in Milwaukee. It will be a long weekend working the race for 4 days and then running the full on Sunday. No expectations on any time there for sure, just run it and have fun.

As far as the rest of the year, here is what may happen. Mike, Paul and I are contemplating doing another Marathon double in March by running in Washington DC as well as Virginia Beach, VA. We only get to add 1 state (Virginia) but if you are going to do all 50 states, might as well do DC as well.

In late March/early April is the Trailbreaker Marathon in Waukesha, WI. It is close to home, relatively cheap and works well for a training run. I have run this one the past 4 years, it is not a very good marathon but like I said, close to home and cheap.

In May, I would like to get some friends and go to Door County, WI to run the Door County Half Marathon. I ran this once and it is such a beautiful place to run and a great course. Plus is makes for a perfect weekend getaway. If I don't run that one, I have wanted to run the Lake Geneva Euro Cross Race for years. This is a 21 miles run around Lake Geneva on the lakeshore path. Not easy but sounds fun.

In June, I think I have been invited to join a Ragnar Relay Ultra team. This race is a relay race from Madison, WI, through Milwaukee and then down to Chicago. I would be on a team of only 6 runners so we would average about 33 miles per runner in 3 separate double legs. Very tiring I hear but tons of fun. I have some other friends already on a team and it will be fun to track each other along the way with calls and texts.

There are a few smaller races I am sure I will do (Gary's Gallop 5K, The Great Milwaukee Race, etc) and will most likely add a state or 2 more to my list as there are still a few states close enough to drive to (Iowa, Ohio, Nebraska, South Dakota).

It is too early for me to really know if I will try to run more miles in 2012 than 2011 or if I will run another record number of miles in a month. But I will run many miles and try to enjoy as many of them as I can.

I am planning the 4th annual Kids Marathon (with a new name this year) and will most likely coach on my daughters Track team as well as her Cross Country team. I hope to run with a lot of friends again and hopefully run with a new friends as well. I hope to encourage you to run better this year and enjoy yourself while pounding out the miles. I even may organize a new 5K race with a friend of mine. We have a unique idea that I will share with you later.

So I raise a glass to 2011 and say good-bye and raise another to 2012 and hope for the best. I hope it is a great year for all of you. Here is to lots of PR's and lots of races completed. Here is to running with friends and running alone in peace and quiet.

It is off to The Happiest Place on Earth in a couple days.

Keep on Running!!!

2011 - A Good Year For the Most Part

2012-01-01T22:22:00.002-06:00

2011 was a pretty busy running year. As you can see above, I ran quite a few races and lots of marathons. I ran some pretty good marathons and I had a dud or 2 in there as well. I ran most of the year with some tendinitis in my right knee but my ankle issue from before is basically gone. I met some new running friends and some that have become more that just running friends. Runners are so cool. I participated in a committee to organize a full marathon and I continued to organize the kids marathon for the 3rd straight year. I coached some grade/middle school kids in Cross Country too. I also now am a Marathon World Record Holder! I did not run a marathon PR this year but did get sub 4 a total of 4 times as well. I also added 3 new states (MS, AL, KY) toward my goal of all 50. It was a pretty good year.

I ran a total of 10 full marathons in 2011, a record for me. Not all of them were full races, if you have read my blog for awhile, you will know that I do run full marathons as training runs at times. Those are usually local marathons that are pretty cheap. I did run a few shorter races this year as well, a few 5K's, some alone and some with my 9 year old daughter, and I did run a 1 mile race too.

I finished with 2 personal mileage records this year. For the year, I ran a total of 1634.2 miles, 33 more that last years record of 1601. I also broke my personal monthly mileage record by a whole 1.1 miles with a total of 211.8 in July.

Of all the running I did this year, I would say there were 4 things that were more rewarding than any of the other runs or totals. First was participating on the committee for the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon here in Milwaukee. It is a ton of fun trying to make the best possible running experience for all the marathoner, half marathoners, and relay runners out there.

Second would be organizing the 3rd annual WELS Kids Marathon. 433 kids joined in the running and reading program and a majority of them showed up at our final mile. Seeing them cross the finish line and giving them a high five before they receive their much earned finishers medal is so cool. The 4th annual will be coming again this summer!

Third would be that I started coaching Cross Country for my daughters grade/middle school team. I coached the boys as well and the girls and had some very successful runs for the team. It is great seeing the improvement these kids show through the short season and how they learn to work and run as a team and how that translates into winning the big meet. Many of these kids are so eager to learn more, very rewarding.

The last thing would be running as a part of the Jennipede team that raised over $100K for the rehabilitation cost for Jenny Crain, a multi time Olympic Trials qualifier from here in Milwaukee who's running career was cut short after being hit by a car on a training run before the Beijing Olympic Trials in 2007. 62 runners of all sorts of abilities joined together (figuratively AND literally) to run the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon linked together setting a Guinness World Record for the most runners linked running a marathon. Jenny was there in spirit on our training runs and was there with us for the final 0.2 miles and as we crossed the finish line. So Cool.

Instead of reviewing every marathon here, please click on the link to the following marathons if you would like to read my race reports on them:

Mississippi Blues Marathon

First Light Mobile Marathon

Icebreaker Indoor Marathon

Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon

Trailbreaker Marathon

Madison Marathon

Eisenbahn Marathon

Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon

Louisville Marathon

Haunted Hustle Marathon

So there is 2011 in a nutshell. It was pretty fun! The 2012 preview is coming up and it starts out just like 2011, with a bang!!!

Keep on Running!!!

Jennipede Victory Lap

2011-12-31T13:21:00.005-06:00

Today I was able to get together with a few of the World Record holding Jennipede team for what we called "A Victory Lap". We were invited to participate in a local 5K here on New Year's Eve called "Run into the New Year". About 15 or so of us Jenniepede showed up for the race.

Here is our fearless leader, Robin on the right and Craig on the left.

Before we lined up for the start, we were able to get a group picture with Jenny who was able tun run with us today. She was in her special made adult stroller so she could join us after being bundled up.

A group shot of most of us who ran today. A few of us missing. Jenny Crain with us of course!

My daughter, Melissa, was able to join us and for the day, was a honorary Jennipede. She ran the entire 5K with us. Bri lead us again but unfortunately Lieutenant Dan was not with us to lead us in some chants along the way. We were able to entertain ourselves anyways with whatever came to our minds. At points we were just yelling out food items like a vendor at a baseball game. Stupid? Yes. Entertaining? Yes.

Lined up before heading outside for the start of the 5K. There were about 5 or 6 more of us at the end of this group.

It is unusually warm for New Year's Eve here in Milwaukee so the temps were not a problem. I was actually surprised how many people were bundled up as much as they were. It was sunny and like 35 to 40 out. We didn't take any breaks this time, but no need for a 5K. We ended up running just under 36 minutes.

Amy is on the right here and sorry, but I didn't get the name of the lady on the left. My Bad.

I am hoping that we will be able to get a Jennipede reunion sometime in the future. Somewhere where we can talk and just have fun. I will get to see a few more Jennipedes in a couple weeks as I know some that are running at the Icebreaker Marathon Relay.

Keep on Running!!!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T22:33:00.002-06:00

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for me finishing cleaning the house and deciding to get a quick runner blog post in. All the children were snug in their beds with visions of DS games, digital cameras, Princess stuff, Wii games danced in their heads. And I in my PJ's just settled down for hopefully a not so long post.

Yes, it is Christmas Eve and I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Please keep Jesus in your Christmas celebrations and I wish you all only the best this Christmas season.

I did get in a long(ish) run this Christmas Eve very early in the morning so I could be done for festivities with my family. I was out the door dark and early at 5:57 this morning and it was the coldest run this new winter season. In fact, it was the first run for me in running tights as it was something like 16F out when I left. the first 5 miles were pretty dark out and right by mile 9, I was able to see the sun just coming over the horizon as I looked over near a clearing. It was beautiful. As far as the run, it wasn't exactly a good one, not horrible, but very sluggish and somewhat slow. I ended up going 11.8 miles and the average pace was 9:33. There were a few hills, but nothing really to complain about. I just wasn't on top of it this morning and that is OK. I have only 2 weeks until the Goof so better to get the sluggish run out of the way now instead of later.

The 11.8 miles this morning brings me to a total of just over 1620 miles for the year, a new record total for me. Not the only record for me this year, no Marathon PR though, but a high total of mile. Last year I just crept over the 1600 mile mark and with 1 more week to go this year, I should end up somewhere near 1640 would be my guess.

I won't put in too many more miles since I do have the Goof coming up and I am not fixated on a specific mileage goal now that I am over last year's total.

The return of the Jennipede!

There is a New Year's Eve race in Milwaukee called "Run into the New Year" held at Noon on New Year's Eve (don't you think midnight would be better?), and the entire Jennipede team has been invited to run compted. That would be a good final run of the year, at least I think so. I am not sure how many teammates we will have but it should be fun linking up again even if it is only for 3.1 miles. I am planning on bringing my oldest daughter along so she can run next to us. She needs a run in before the Disney 5K anyways. I hope we get a bunch of the team but time will tell.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas this year, or maybe a Happy Hanukkah. I hope Santa leaves you a new pair of running shoes under the tree, or maybe a new Garmin watch, or a running singlet and shorts? Either way, I wish you all the best!

Keep on Running!!!

Last Long Run of the Year

2011-12-17T22:25:00.002-06:00

I wanted to get in a final long run since the Goof is only 3 weeks away. I also wanted to get in one more long run at the Pettit Center as a tune up for the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon which is in only 5 weeks. So a Saturday morning run at Pettit would seem to have solved all of that . . . except that the running track was closed on Saturday morning due to a USA Speed Skating Championships going on. So I rescheduled my run on Friday evening instead.

My plan was to get in 20 miles and at least 73 laps. Mike was joining me a Pettit as well for his first ever run there as he prepared for his first Icebreaker Indoor Marathon. When I got there, he was already 7 laps in and was planning on running 50 laps but at a faster pace than me. We ran a few laps together before he ran his pace and I did mine.

I was taking my usual breaks of 30 seconds every 10 laps (~2.75 miles) and when Mike was finished, I was just coming up on 40 laps and stopped to talk a bit before continuing. By 50 laps in, my legs were starting to get tired and I was running a little faster than I wanted to (1:58 Half Marathon Pace). By this time, the open skating was done and they had turned the outside track lights off and only the hockey rink lights were on but still plenty light enough to run but I was the only one on the track as I got permission to keep running.

If I was feeling good, I was going to keep running to 80 laps which is just over 22 miles. I wasn't feeling all that good but I ran to 80 laps anyways and was beat by the end.

You might think it is easy to run on a track for 80 laps. It is completely flat after all, but it really wears on you. I also was taking my breaks a little less frequently that I am used to on a long run.

I am going to take the next few weeks to rest up a little. I would at least like to run the Disney Half Marathon somewhat fast but with the 5K and the half right before the Disney Full, I don't anticipate a fast time, in fact, I anticipate a very slow time. And with all the work on my feet the days before the Icebreaker, I think a sub 4 there is out of the questions as well. But I will go out, have fun and run the best I can.

Keep on Running!!!

Christmas Light Run

2011-12-12T21:21:00.002-06:00

I couldn't run right after work so I had to wait until about 7:30PM to leave. So I decided to run through the close neighborhood to my house and just look at all the houses decorated with wonderful Christmas lights. I had such a blast seeing all the designed and new features I had not seen before. I ended up going 6 miles at 8:39 pace and it felt really easy since I was distracted so much.

I am sure the drivers that passed me thought I was nuts but who cares as long as they don't hit me. I was in shorts (it was a warm 39F out) and made sure I wore my bright orange reflective vest

So it was a good run today, I really enjoyed it.

Keep on Running!!!

Good News / Bad News

2011-12-11T21:35:00.003-06:00

There was some good news and some bad news in the world of local sports here in the Milwaukee area.

First the good news. There is a local high school runner from University Lake School near Hartland, WI (about 25 miles from Milwaukee) named Molly Seidel. She just won her 4th straight State Cross Country Championship this year being only the second girl in the state to ever do so. The first was Suzy Favor Hamilton so she is is pretty good company. Just this Saturday, she won the Foot Locker National High School Cross Country Championship in California in a time of 17:22. That is pretty amazing. I haven't has a chance to see her run yet but maybe I can find a track meet this spring she will be in.

Not the bad news. Perhaps you have heard the news about Ryan Braun from the Milwaukee Brewers. He won the NL MVP award this past year leading the Brewers to the NL Central title and the playoffs. He is a real pleasure to watch. But the news is bad as he apparently tested positive for higher than normal levels of testosterone or some performance enhancing drug. It is a real shock since he didn't seem like the type to do so and even was very vocal against performance enhancing drugs. He is denying that he used drugs and says that there are extenuation circumstances that will clear his name which I really hope happens, that is if it is false. If it is true, I will have to not like him anymore.

I am against performance enhancing drugs big time. I think anyone who uses them intentionally is a cheater and really take away from those who do it legally. Suzy Favor Hamilton, whom I mentioned earlier, was screwed out of many National Championships when Regina Jacobs was using. Not only did she not win the Championships, but all the extra endorsements and prize money as well. This is why I am no fan of Barry Bonds, Marion Jones, and also Lance Armstrong.

Yeah, I know, I have heard it a hundred times, "Lance Armstrong never tested positive". Yeah, well neither did Barry Bonds or Marion Jones forever but we all knew. Lance does do some good things, that is for sure, but he is also a cheater. He 'stole' prize money and championships away from others as well.

Other good (and not exactly new) news, the UW-Whitewater football team will be playing in the Division 3 National Championship football game again this year for the 7th (YES 7) straight year. But the isn't the most amazing thing, the most amazing this is that they will be playing against Mount Union for the 7th straight year for the title. CRAZY!!! They both have 3 each the last 6 years, who will take the lead?

As far as my running, I did get in 51 laps (just over 14 miles) at the Pettit Center on Friday evening. My knee gave me trouble at about 44 laps but I finished and rested it the rest of the weekend. I plan on getting in 20 miles at Pettit next weekend. I want to get in one more long run at Pettit before the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon and with the Goof taking place 2 weeks before, I won't get another chance.

Keep on Running!!!

Miserable Out

2011-12-05T21:00:00.003-06:00

On Saturday, I had a planned long run with Mike out by his place. We had looked on line at some maps and decided to try a new road a little off a route we sometimes take. Explore some. We mapped out a good 20 mile route and planned to meet at 6:30AM.

I woke up and it was 39F out, raining a little and windy. I contemplated calling him up and telling him I was going to Pettit to run but decided to tough it out, that and I needed to borrow his ladder so why not go down there.

Mike ran with a poncho but I decided not to. Not sure if that was a good idea or not as it was raining when we started but not hard. We ran slow and talked most of the time as he slowed to my easy pace for the run. He would go ahead of me on the up hills and I would catch him on the downs and flats. By mile 6, I was soaked all the way and even my earmuff was soaked enough that it felt like I had swimmers ear plug.

On the second half, we were less running into the wind and we picked up the pace a bit but the rain was pretty steady most of the time. It would stop for a bit but it didn't matter with how wet I was. Like I said, Mike had on a poncho but it just rattle and was noisy in the wind. I think I would have preferred to not wear one.

Somewhere around 14 or 15, Mike was ahead of me by about 50 meters or so and he yelled back to me. I looked up into the wind and while being pelted in the eyes with rain, we saw 6 deer cross the road ahead of us. I commented on how they must have been the survivors as gun deer hunting season just ended. It was cool to see them.

We ran the last couple miles without slowing down but still as wet as all run and finished with some good chocolate milk at Mike's place before putting the ladder in the van for the drive home. Yeah, it was miserable weather to run in, but it just makes me stronger so I'll take it. I am used to it so when it happens in a race, I won't be affected as much.

Sunday the first annual Girls on the Run 5K here in Milwaukee at the comfortable confines of the Pettit Center. While I didn't run it, I did take my 9 year old daughter to run. Once again, she ran awesome and crushed her 5K PR with a time of 26:40. She had a ton of fun and loved all the cheerleaders and others cheering her on every lap. It might not be too long before she is beating me so I better . . .

Keep on Running!!!

Race Report - 2011 Talmer Turkey Trot

2011-11-28T19:54:00.008-06:00

Thanksgiving morning was the Talmer Turkey Trot in Burlington, WI. I went to this race not to "race" it, but rather run it and help my 9 year old daughter, Melissa, run her first ever 4 mile race.

It was a cloudy and cool morning in Wisconsin but a really good morning for racing. After a quick breakfast, Melissa and I picked up my friend Amy to give her a ride to the race. Amy was a teammate of mine on the Jennipede Marathon team back in October and we found out we live very close to each other. Now she is a new running partner of mine and also writes a blog Running (Reading) is cheaper than Therapy.

One really cool thing about this race is that they had an indoor packet pickup / post race /awards ceremony area. It wasn't exactly freezing outside but indoors definitely helped. After packet pickup, almost getting run over by a crazy old man driving his car, and a short warm up, the race started. Amy was running by herself way ahead of us but I was running with Melissa helping her pace. Our goal was to run an ever 9:00 pace and finish in 36:00. She had one time earlier run 4 miles but that was with a break or 2 along the way. She ran easy and we passed mile 1 in 8:53. Mile 2 was 9:02 and mile 3 was 9:01. Then in mile 4, she really wanted to run hard but was getting tired. With some encouragement, we were able to pass a lot of runners who were slowing down and sprinted to the finish for a time of 35:07. She finished in 110th place out of 245 and she ended up in 4th in her age group of 14 & under. Only two 13 year old girls and and a 12 year old beat her. I was so proud of how well she ran and was able to handle the pain that comes late in a race.

After the race, an older gentleman (maybe 50 to 60) complimented her and said she inspired him to run as fast as he did. We must have passed him later in the race.

We found Amy who was able to break 30 minutes and take 3rd in her age group and headed to the past race area (Indoors!) There they had cookies, pretzels, crackers, bananas and best of all, chocolate milk, lots of chocolate milk! We won a couple raffle prizes and then headed home for a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.

Here is Amy, Melissa, and I before the race!

After this weekends shorter run and today's easy run, I am up to 99.9 miles for the month. I hope I can squeeze in another 0.1 this month (LOL).

Keep on Running!!!

D3 Cross Country and a Monday Long Run

2011-11-21T21:11:00.004-06:00

It was a pretty busy week last week and weekend so I wasn't able to get in all the running I would have liked to. I did get in 2 different runs with my daughter and a run with Mike on the track, but the weekend was absent of running.

Well, absent of running by me. On Saturday, I did take my daughter and drive up to Oshkosh to watch the NCAA Division 3 National Cross Country Championships that was being hosted by my Alma Mater, UW-Oshkosh. She had never been to a top level Cross Country meet before and just loved watching all the really fast runners and teams competing. We cheered on UW-Oshkosh as much as we could where the Men finished in 5th place and the lone Oshkosh woman runner took 2nd place overall.

Since I did not get in a long run over the weekend and I am off of work this whole week, I decided to get in a longer run this morning. I traveled to the lakefront and ran a bike trail I like to run a few times a year. It was great weather for running this morning, overcast and about 40 with a bit of wind. It turned out to be a good 15 miles today averaging 8:38 pace with every mile under 9:00. I felt pretty good the entire way. I did get nervous a bit a few miles in when I realized I forgot to take a salt packet before I left. I kept going and made sure I took one when I finished so no cramping and the muscles still feel good.

Thursday is the Talmer Turkey Trot. I think Melissa is ready to run 4 miles without stopping, she is confident.

Also, congrats to the University of Wisconsin Badgers Cross Country team for winning the NCAA Division 1 Cross Country Championships today.

Keep on Running!!!

A Run in Chocolate City, USA

2011-11-13T21:25:00.004-06:00

After a weekend off of running, I was able to get back to it this weekend with a 17 mile run.

I have a friend who is starting a new Thanksgiving Day race in Burlington, WI, about 20 miles from my home, and I decided to look up the course on line to see what it was like. As I was looking at some satellite images of the area, I noticed a new trail I did not know existed. I followed it from the images and noticed it was a little over 6 1/2 miles long. So I thought to myself that this might be a good trail to run, to see what it had to offer, to see where and what I would see.

So I got up early Saturday morning and drove to Burlington and parked near where the Thanksgiving Day run would take place. Just as the sun rose, I started my run in the cool morning and did a close to 2 miles before I hit the trail.

The trail is called the White River Trail and it has the same name as a trail that goes west (this one goes east) from Burlington to Elkhorn. For some reason, the trail is not completed through the town which would have been really cool if it did but I understand that isn't always possible. This one is also very straight. The only turns on the entire 6 miles is when the trail needs to go under the newly constructed highway and the continues on it's straight course. Elevation doesn't change much at all and the trail is maintained nicely. The trail was also almost empty. I saw 1 runner at the start of the trail as I went out, 1 person at the turn around walking his dog, and another near the start again on my way back. The solitude was nice, just me and my thoughts on the trail.

I kept a very even pace almost the entire way. The average pace only fluctuated between 8:56 to 9:00 since mile 2. It felt good.

With 2 miles to go, right where the trail starts, I passed the Nestle Factory. Burlington is called Chocolate City, USA and if you have never lived or gone near a chocolate factory, it can be a real treat to the nose. The smell was wonderful for about a half mile. Brought back memories of going to Marquette U basketball games as a kid and passing the now gone Ambrosia Chocolate Factory in Milwaukee.

I finished strong and felt good afterwards.

Keep on Running!!!

Good-bye to Summer

2011-11-09T20:42:00.003-06:00

Summer is definitely over here in the upper Midwest. We enjoyed a very nice autumn and we are now getting closer and closer to winter. Today I saw the first snow of the year. It didn't accumulate on the ground but it was coming down fast for awhile. By the time I ran in the evening, the snow was gone and there was a light rain (maybe a touch of sleet). It was like 35F and windy so the 'wind chill' was said to be 22F. Yep, summer is gone.

Also, not that daylight savings time has ended, now my after work runs are mostly in the dark, which changes the options that I have. I can still run on the bike trail, but I risk tripping or turning an ankle on the uneven ground or unseen object on the trail. So I am back to some routes I run in the winter months along roads that are less travelled but have much bigger hills.

The colder and darker months are here, but as always, I ...

Keep on Running!!!

A Weekend Off?

2011-11-07T20:24:00.002-06:00

Well, almost off.

I figured after 3 marathons in October, each 2 weeks apart, I deserved a weekend off. I went into the weekend thinking I was going to run, but each morning I woke up and decided not to. I had a couple friends who were running a half marathon somewhat close by, but when I looked into it late in the week, it was already full so I couldn't sign up. So (almost) no running.

I say almost because I did go running with my 9 year old daughter. She finished her Cross Country season a few weeks ago and now there are a few races coming up that we may sign her up for. So to keep her 'in shape', we went on a 3.4 mile run. We were going to take a small break half way but I convinced her to keep going. Soon enough, i convinced her to try to make it all the way to a 5K without stopping, then we just ran the rest of the way non stop. In the last 100 meters, she kicked it in and I had a hard time keeping up with her.

Her PR for a 5K is 28:41 and during this training run, she went through the 5K mark at 29:07 so I think she is ready to break that PR. The next race for her will be on Thanksgiving morning where we will run a 4 mile race. It will be her longest race ever. then on December 4th, we are looking to sign her up for a "Girls on the Run" 5K. I will cheer her on and do my best to keep her on pace. That one is held at The Pettit Center in Milwaukee where the Icebreaker Marathon is held. Then in early January is the Disney World Marathon Weekend 5K (she doesn't know about this one yet) and then in Mid January is the Icebreaker 5K.

We ran another 2 miles tonight during my 5 mile run. She is having fun running with Dad.

Keep on Running!!!

A Couple Haunted Hustle Pictures

2011-11-03T21:21:00.007-05:00

Jamie is a friend of mine I met last year right after the Haunted Hustle Marathon. She writes a runners blog names Running Diva Mom. Check her out. We met before the race for a little bit. With her was her cute kids and her parents supporting her on her 26.2 mile journey.

Dan and I ran the first 6 or so miles together. Dan was in the Jennipede Team with me so we both wore out Make It Happen Jennipede Shirts for the race. I think there were at least 5 Jennipede runners in this race. Maybe more that I did not know of. This picture was about 4 and a half miles into the race.

Here I am somewhere near 17 or 18 (I think). It was around here I had my on point where I did not feel so good. I was happy that it only lasted a mile or so and then I felt strong again.

Jamie (or should I say Dorothy) ran her first marathon since last fall. She ran awesome! Maybe there were some flying monkeys from Nashville chasing her. Maybe it was that she wasn't in her Ruby Slippers. Either way, she ran really fast. And she will run a half marathon this weekend, one 1 week rest. She takes after me, Crazy Jamie!!!

Halloween night was only 2 nights later. It was chilly here in Wisconsin, maybe the mid 40's for Trick or Treat so I decided to set up a fire on the driveway while I gave candy to all the kids dressed up. I even gave a few "warm me up" shots of Rum Chata out to some of the parents.

Keep on Running!!!

Race Report - 2011 Haunted Hustle Marathon

2011-10-31T21:09:00.006-05:00

Last Saturday was the Haunted Hustle Marathon in Middleton, WI. This was my 10th marathon of the year and my fastest! We had almost perfect weather and a very well run marathon.

This was the second year of the Haunted Hustle Marathon and the second time I have run it. Last year, they did a good job but had a few problems, not unexpected for an inaugural year. this year, they fixed a few of the problems but had a couple new ones. But each problem was really minor in the whole picture.

First the Pros: The course was quite nice and not necessarily easy. It wasn't the toughest course I have ever run (I did run the Flying Monkey last year) but it is not easy. There are hills the first 3 miles and the last 3 miles, just when you DO NOT want hills anymore. There are also a few bigger hills from miles 10 to 13 that can cause some issues, but the course is quite beautiful with running through some residential areas, some shaded bike paths, some country roads, and a very nice crushed limestone path through the Pheasant Branch Conservancy.

There is wonderful volunteers along the course, very friendly and very helpful. There were plenty of aid stations along the way, in fact, probably too many. I found myself passing a few of them up since I had just gone through the previous one less than a mile earlier. I would much rather have too many aid stations as opposed to too few.

New this year, they started the full marathon 30 minutes before the half marathon. This was a welcome change which made the course much less crowded. The size of the full marathon was just over 500 (almost perfect) and with the half over twice the size, it made it much easier on the course. The first 9 miles of the half and the full were the same and only 2 or 3 half marathon runners actually passed me before we separated.

I did not attend the Expo because I had a friend pick up my packet for me so I did not have to stay overnight in a hotel but for the dinner speaker, they had Suzy Favor Hamilton speak. I almost wish I would have had to be there. Suzy is a multi-time US Olympic 1500 meter runner from Wisconsin and I grew up watching her career (she was only 3 or so year a head of me in school) and I would have loved to hear her speak. I hear she is a great motivational speaker so I missed that but it sure sounded like a great addition to the dinner.

Parking for the event was awesome. I got there just under 1 hour before the race and was able to park less that 100 meters away from the start/finish line. Even closer than last year.

The race encourages runners to wear costumes which is pretty fun to see. Each race even had prizes for the top 3 costumes. I saw a ton of fun costumes along the way and a few very disturbing ones as well. I did not wear a costume this year but may consider it for next year. And I did not have to pick it up at the end just to beat a bumble bee.

Now for some of the Cons: No race day packet pick up. I understand that they want runners to use the local hotels and to attend the expo, but for us who live only an hour and a half away, it seems pointless. They did let others pick up your packet but they needed a signed waiver and copy of an ID to get it. How many people really take other people's packets? Maybe more that I realize but it seemed like a lot for someone else to get.

At mile 14 1/2 of the marathon, the full marathoners met up with the half marathoners at mile 9 1/2. Not a big issue expect for my pace was much faster than the half marathoners at this point. We ran about a mile and a half on a together on a bike path and in reality, I did not have big issues passing the other runners, but I could see it being a problem.

What should have been a Pro for the race turned out to be a Con. At the end of the race, they had beer for the runners even with a beer coupon on out race bibs so everyone could get their 1 free beer. I finished in under 4 hours and the beer was gone!!! WHAT!?!?! I am not a big beer drinker, not at all, but if you promise a beer for a runner, then have some. I heard they did not control the beer distribution after the half well and many spectators were taking advantage of it. They also did not have ANY chocolate milk after the race. I thought all races knew this was mandatory now. Guess not. They did have hot chocolate, oh wait, they HAD hot chocolate, it was also gone, like the beer.

All in all, not a big deal on these Cons for the race, more like annoyances. It would not stop me from running this race again or recommending it either.

Now for my experience.

Like I mentioned earlier, I was able to get my friend Jamie (Running Diva Mom) to pick up my race packet for me so I did not have to stay overnight in a hotel, saved a few bucks which will help on the Disney trip in January. Jamie is a good friend of mine I met last year because of this exact race when we found each others blog reports on the race. We have been friends ever since and even been able to see each other at a few races here and there. I don't get to see her enough, so it was great to catch up, even if it was for only 15 or so minutes before and after the race. So I woke up a little before 4:00AM and left the house a little after 4:30 to head to Middleton, just west of Madison, WI.

I arrived and it was cold and dark, it was breezier that I had hoped for but I like the cold. By 6:45, I found Jamie along with her 2 adorable kids and her parents. Jamie was dressed in a Dorothy costume that she was going to run in. Her daughter was also dressed in a Dorothy costume so that was very cute. After catching up with her, I found Dan. Dan is a guy who I met because he was on the Jennipede team with me. He was running his first 'real' marathon (I said the Jennipede counted) and we were going to pace together.

The race started at 7:30AM, right at sunrise and it was cold (33F), I loved it. Dan and I started at an easy pace and were basically easing into the race for the first 3 miles over rolling hills. After the hills, we picked it up a bit and headed into the bike trail feeling really good. After 5 or 6 miles and a quick stop in the bushes, I caught up to Dan and passed him thinking he was keeping with me. A little later, after I passed a big group of runners, I looked back and did not see him. I knew he was feeling good so I assume he would catch me sooner or later. Interestingly enough, the group I passed the 3:50 pace group which was way slower than the needed pace. I felt bad for the group that wanted to run 3:50 since the pace leader basically screwed them out of a good chance of running a 3:50.

At mile 10, I entered the middle of the course hills and found myself running with Elvis. I ended up running on and off with Elvis for about 4 miles over the hills. At a little after 11, I was able to see Jamie's family and got some encouragement from them which is always nice. Right before the half way point is a large hill that slowed us all down some. I reached the top of the hill and the half way point at 1:58:09 and I felt good. I did not realize Dan was only 34 seconds behind me. He said he could see me most of the race so I was still sort of helping him. Now that the large uphills were done until the last 3 miles, I decided to pick up the pace. I was running with the half marathoners for a bit and passing them a lot. This was fun but hard to pace yourself passing so many. I also lost Elvis at this point.

Once the half marathoners turned off around mile 16, I found myself running a lot more by myself but still passing a few runners here and there. At a little past mile 17, we enter an out and back portion of the course that is about a mile and a half long. After I turn around, I see Dan not too far back and encourage him to start to catch up to me. Then just before I turn onto the new part, I see Jamie. To be honest, I was surprised to see her as she was aiming to run a 4:30 and I was under 4:00 pace so I knew she was having a great race so far.

Mile 19 to 20 are the most boring part of the course as we run through an industrial park with very little spectators. I wasn't feeling very good from 18 to 20 and was a bit worried, but at 20, I was feeling good and strong again and my average pace on the Garmin was 8:55 and I really wanted to try to finish at an average pace of under 9:00. I took a small break at mile 21 and then began to try to pick it up some more. At mile 22, I found myself feeling very strong for 22 miles into a marathon so I tried my best to keep it up and attack the hills over the last 3 miles.

Right before 23, there is a steep hill that I ran up and was passed at the top by a lady I had passed somewhere around 15 or 16. She wasn't running a lot faster than me so I decided she was going to be my goal, keep with her. There was some more hills ahead of us so I kept behind her by about 25 meters for a long time as we passed quite a few runners. At 24, there is a long hill that isn't very steep, just long. After that, a downhill and an uphill until we reach the 25 mile mark. I always seem to give myself a break at about mile 25 as a reward for running hard before that, but this time, I kept going as not only did I feel pretty good (well, pretty good for 15 miles that is), but I also still wanted to catch that lady ahead of me, not about 50 meters ahead.

With a half mile to go, we head onto a bike path and wit only 150 meters to go, a small uphill where I passed a few runners who walked up or slowed a ton. I knew we were so close to I actually pumped the arms and started my finishing kick there. A short downhill and 2 turns and the finish line was there. I felt great coming down the final stretch and heard my name loudly yelled by Robin who was watching from the side lines. I crossed the finish line in a time of 3:52:30 for a pace of 8:52 for the race.

Only 5 minutes later, Dan crossed the line in a time of 3:57:49, a 2:21 PR for him. No, not 2 minutes and 21 seconds, 2 HOURS and 21 MINUTE PR. His only other marathon was the Jennipede so a huge PR for him. I bet not many people in this world have PR'ed in a marathon by over 2 hours.

I then head to the top of the hill with only 150 meters to go and find Jamie running great. She finishes with a smile of her face (as always) in a time of 4:09:16. (sure Jamie, going to run a 4:30?!?!). I was able to talk with Jamie for a bit after the race before she headed home for a well deserved break. I head over to talk with Dan and Robin for a bit before I decide to head to the food tent to see if anything appeals to me. Most of the time, I can't eat anything after a race as my stomach is usually queasy for a while. No exception this time. They did have some food that looked like it could be good maybe a hour later but I didn't want to wait around.

I don't have a picture of this year's medal but it is bigger that last years and the lanyard is really cool. The design of the medal is OK, not as cool as last year. The shirt was a long sleeve technical short in orange (Halloween Orange). I wish it was a short sleeve shirt like last year, but, oh well.

All in all, a pretty good race for me. I was happy with the time of 3:52 considering it was only 13 days since my last marathon. It is also my 4th fastest marathon to date. I negative split the course as well which was fun (1:58:09 to 1:54:21), and I passed a total of 58 runners since the half way point finishing in 161st place out of 511.

I think I am done with marathons for 2011. 10 is enough, right? Though I am sure I could be convinced to do another is close enough. But then again, the Goof is right away in early January and the Icebreaker right after that. It has been a fun year.

Did you run the Haunted Hustle this year? Tell me all about it.

Keep on Running!!!

Recovery Taper

2011-10-23T20:52:00.002-05:00

I am in that recovery taper mode again. Recovering from the marathon a week ago and tapering for the marathon 1 week from now. I didn't get int too many miles this week. 2 runs of 4 and 5 miles each earlier mid last week to just get the legs moving. The runs felt good, very easy and just loosening up. They did their job.

Saturday was my "long" run of the week. Well not really long at all, only 8 miles easy, but it was the longest of the week. I woke up early on Saturday at it was almost perfect outside. Well, almost perfect for me. Finally a cold day outside. The sun had just rose and it was like 33F out so running felt very easy and no real chance of overheating. I love it when it is cool out!

I ended up running with a new friend of mine named Amy. She lives about a mile and half away and was on the Jennipede team with me. She is also very close pace to me so I was really looking forward to it. It is always good to find another running partner. I ended up running a little over a mile and a half to meet her on a crushed limestone bike path we live both near. We then ran the next 6 miles together at an easy 9+ pace just talking and getting to know each other better. Amy is a really cool lady, we had a lot of fun on the run. I am sure we will run again sometime soon. She is signed up for the Icebreaker Half Marathon so I will get to see her run there.

This coming Saturday is the Haunted Hustle Marathon and I am not sure how I want to run it. Since I was disappointed in my time from Louisville somewhat to blame on the heat later in the race, I really still feel I can run a good time. Right now almost a week out, the weather looks to really be in my favor though. A low of the mid 30's the night before and a high of the low 50's. It is way too far out to be reliable but I can hope. If the weather is nice like that, I may try to go for a fast time again. Maybe not, we will see how I feel later in the week.

Keep on Running!!!

Race Report - Louisville Marathon

2011-10-18T21:58:00.005-05:00

There are well organized small marathon races and there are not so good organized small marathons. Some have great locations and great amenities, while others do not. I would put this one toward the lower half. Not the worst marathon I have run but below average.

Last Sunday was the Louisville Marathon in Louisville, Kentucky. I decided to run this race because of a few reasons. First off, I could then scratch Kentucky off my list of states. I now have 14 states completed. I also wanted a smaller marathon because I generally enjoy them, maybe not this small (only 113 finishers), but better than the huge marathons like Chicago or New York. Third, the course looked to be a good one, mostly flat and suited for a faster time. No disappointment here. My friends Mike and Paul ran this one a few years ago so I didn't go into it blindly.

Before I go into detail on how I ran, let me go over some of the Pros and Cons of this race. Here are some of the Pros: The course was good for a fast time. A little tight in some locations, especially in the first 6 1/2 miles when the half marathoners were running as well, but clear after that. A few small inclines to work the muscles differently but nothing steep or big. Besides the first and last 100 meters, the road and paths was in good condition except for a few points through the wooded areas where there were a lot of leaves and other items that have fallen off trees that were slight hazards. Some shade on the course but not at the end. Another Pro is hotel location to the start/finish. I stayed at a Ramada that was only 1/3 of a mile to the start/finish paid under $70 per night. The medal was also mostly cool. No mention of the year on it, but cool. They also had a free post race massage which came in handy before my 6+ hour drive home. The volunteers at the aid stations were great and even gave out smaller bottles of water which made it easier to still run and drink.

Cons are the city of Louisville. You would think that a race called the Louisville Marathon would bring out a few spectators. Nope, hardly anyone along the course. The Expo was . . . wait, there was no expo, only a packet pickup that was extremely hard to find. Nothing to look at there, just pick up your bag and shirt and go. the first and last 100 meters were basically a joke for a marathon. It was down a sort of gravel driveway going right into what looked like an older apartment building or hotel next to a baseball field. There was an open covered shelter afterwards but besides bananas, a rice and bean mix, and water / heed, I didn't see anything. Another Con would be help on the course direction you were to go. Later in the race at about mile 21, I didn't know if I was on the course or not. The mile markers were only spray painted on the road and easily missed as well as course marking. If there wasn't anyone close in front of you, you could get lost easily. There were great volunteers at the water stops but they could have used maybe 2 more to make them closer. No water stops in the last 2 1/2 miles. The website is also a joke. No info at all on the Louisvillemarathon.org site at all and the other site has limited info at best. There is no course map on the site and the only course map I found was on MarathonGuide.com and it was outdated and had a different start and finish location. It really isn't hard to get a website with basic information so there is no real excuse for this.

Not a Pro or a Con would be the shirt. It is a cotton T which I like, but unless you really knew what it was, you wouldn't guess it is a marathon shirt. No advertisements which is nice but they gave me the wrong size at packet pickup. No frills with this race. There was also a chicken (Rooster actually) that was roaming around near the start/finish line. It must have wondered what was going on as everyone passed by at the start.

So how did I run? OK, not bad but not good. The weather played a role in that as it was pretty hot by the end and sunny the entire race. I did break 4 hours (my 10th time) and finished in 3:57:23 but struggled near the end. I did finish with the highest overall placement in a marathon I have ever had, 23rd place out of 113. I also was in 5th out of 16 in my age group. Funny thing is that I looked at all the other age groups and I would have placed in the top 3 in all the others. Oh well.

Temps at the start were about 55F so I started with just my singlet. Slightly chilled but running soon gave to sweat. I started easy and did the first 2 miles in 8:53 pace. I was in a crowd of runners as the half marathoners were running at the same time. The first 3 miles are down an open road which I wanted to name "Roadkill Road" as I saw quite a few squirrels (Doug from 'Up' would be so happy!). After 3 miles, we went through the downtown area along the Ohio River. Louisville really screwed up when planning the city because the put a Freeway right along the banks of the river so we basically ran under it. We ran right though and outdoor Church service going on at about mile 4 which was interesting.

About mile 4 I was running with a guy named Scott for awhile. Scott was running his 5th marathon and trying to break 4 hours for the first time. He did it with less than a minute to spare. Good Job, Scott!

We ran along a bike path near the river for awhile and all I could think of is how Louisville is really messing up by not making this a place to be. It was an over grown mess of weeds with graffiti and a beautiful view of the river. After passing 6 1/2 miles, the half marathoners turned around and it was only us full runners left. I picked it up a bit as I really wanted to try to get down to a time of 3:45 if possible. By mile 9, I began passing people as I dropped the pace to closer to 8:30 per mile. I found myself running with Christopher for about 5 miles. We chatted and I found out this was his 50th State! How cool is that.

We passed the half way point (Not marked out) at about 1:55. The average pace for me got down to as low at 8:43 per mile. Near 14, someone was calling off the unofficial place we were in. He said I was in 34th place at the time. I ran well through 16 passing a few people.

Miles 16 to 19 were a little struggle. It was getting pretty warm now and the winds had picked up pretty good. I didn't feel the best but hoped it would go away and it basically did. In miles 19 and 20, I passed a few more runners and I knew I was somewhere near 25th place. I felt better too though my pace does not show it. My miles were closer to 9:15 to 9:30 now. At just passed mile 20, I passed someone and then ran by myself for a long time. I got to about miles 22 (under the freeway again) and thought I was lost or possibly off course. there was no one directing the runners and I had to look for duct tape markers on cement, not easy to see. I finally recognized something and then knew I was still on course. Not a good feeling not knowing though.

After mile 23, I really began to struggle as we were directly in the sun and it was probably in the low to mid 70's. My pace dropped to just over 10:00 and I couldn't wait for the next aid station. the last one was 2 1/2 miles from the finish so I made a deal with myself to go to mile 25 and then take a short break. I was running by myself from mile 20 on with no one in sight in front of me or behind me (though I didn't look back). I suddenly saw someone walking way in front of me and thought maybe I could pass them. I caught him by mile 25 and took my short break a little passed him. Suddenly I was passed by someone and I tried to keep with her but couldn't. So much for no one passing me from mile 10 on!

I made it in with 2 1/2 minutes to spare under 4 but still disappointed it wasn't faster. I struggle in the heat and I had bad luck with the weather. Nothing I can do about it though so I just dealt with it. I was happy though that it was under 4 hours.

After the race, I walked around for a bit before sitting down in the shade and deciding I would like to free post race massage being offered. I was next in line when I started to feel really bad. At first I thought I was going to throw up but then I just felt really pale. I was on the ground and I am sure I looked really white in the face. Some people were asking if I needed Medical so I must have looked bad. But a couple minutes later, it came back. I think my blood pressure must have just dropped suddenly, it has happened to me before after a marathon. the post race massage got the blood flowing and it felt back to just after marathon shape. The massage on the legs did feel really good.

I took a couple bananas and headed back to my room for a late checkout shower before getting in the car for the 6 1/2 hour drive home. And now 2 days later, I am still a little sore. more sore than I usually am 2 days after a marathon but not too bad. I will try an easy run tomorrow.

Not much time to recover as my next marathon is in 1 1/2 weeks in Middleton, WI. The Haunted Hustle Marathon. I ran this one last year and it was pretty good. Plus I hope I can run some of it with my friend Jamie who lives near Middleton. I am not sure if I will try for a fast one or not. We will see how the recovery goes and if the weather cooperates. Last year it was great weather.

So Marathon 36 is in the bank now and State 14. I am not sure what the next new state will be but the next few marathons are already on the schedule. Should be a fun next couple of months coming up.

Keep on Running!!!

Right Said Who???

2011-10-13T18:32:00.003-05:00

I am leaving tomorrow to drive down to Louisville, Kentucky for the Louisville Marathon that takes place on Sunday. I am pumped. I am ready (I hope). I am concerned (WHAT?) I looked at the weather forecast for Louisville on Sunday at it calls for Sunny and a high of the low 80's. OK, at race start time, it won't be 80, but toward the end, it could be in the mid 70's already. I am not a good runner in the heat so I am concerned. I will take it as it is and run the best I can.

I guess my ultimate goal would be to run about 8:30's and finish close to 3:45. With the heat? Maybe not. We will see how I feel on race day. I do have another marathon planned for 2 weeks later (The Haunted Hustle Marathon in Middleton, WI) if this one doesn't work out and hopefully it will be cool . . .I take that back . . .cold for that one. I like my marathon temperatures to start in the upper 30's and end in only the upper 40's tops.

Here is something I thought was pretty funny. 2 weeks ago was the Lakefront Marathon in Milwaukee where I was part of the Jennipede Tethered Run. When we came toward the finish line, the sides of the finishing chute were packed with people for at least 150 meters. They were all clapping and giving us High-5's and just showing us support. It was one of the coolest things I have even experienced. One thing I did not notice but I was able to notice upon watching a video of us finishing (Watch a short video here from YouTube). You can see how crowded it was for us even over 6 hours after the start.

The song that is playing for us when we finished has become sort of a "Theme Song" for the Jennipede and is titled "Stand Up (for the Champions)" It is a pretty cool song for a sports themed song and I may use it next year for the Kids Marathon. The funny thing is that is is performed by a group named "Right Said Fred". Perhaps the younger readers here may not remember who Right Said Fred is, but some of you may remember Right Said Fred for them being a One Hit Wonder in 1991 with the song "I'm Too Sexy", a pretty funny song from back then.

Anyways, that made me laugh that our theme song is sung by a group who also sings "I'm too Sexy".

I kind of wish I was going on the trip with my friends Mike and Paul. They are headed out to Connecticut and Rhode Island for another Double Marathon Weekend. 2 more states for them, 1 more for me. I will still have fun and hopefully run faster than they do (at least faster than day 2 for them).

So off to Louisville and hopefully a good time. We will see.

Keep on Running!!!

Between Marathons

2011-10-08T23:07:00.002-05:00

I am now in the middle of the 2 weeks between marathons. OK, the first one didn't really tax me too much. It was the Jennipede Run at the Lakefront Marathon where we ran a time of 6:18 with a ton of walking at then end. Still, it was 26.2 miles long and my legs were sore because of the different pace than I am used to.

Monday was the last Cross Country practice with the kids I coach followed on Wednesday with the final meet. I got in something like 4 miles sprinting all over the park for the 4 races cheering on the kids and giving splits. It was a very great day for the team too. My daughters goal all year was to win a medal in this meet. Top 20 get a medal and she finished in 20th place. Her team (JV) won the JV meet so they received a rather large team trophy. She was actually the 6th finisher on her team so they ran very well as a team. I was so proud of each and every one of them.

I did get a few more small runs in and this morning I got in an easy 10 miler at about 9:00 pace. I will be travelling to Louisville, Kentucky next weekend for the Louisville Marathon. I am hoping for cold weather though it doesn't seem that way. Here in Milwaukee it is in the mid 70's today. I like my marathon weather in the 40's.

On a side note, I am excited for Monday to come as I have tickets to the Milwaukee Brewers game against the Cardinals in the National League Championships. I was able to go to Game 1 of the series versus the Diamondbacks and what a great atmosphere. Hopefully the Brew Crew can pull off another series win.

Keep on Running!!!

Race Report - Jennipede World Record

2011-10-02T21:08:00.013-05:00

Let me start by saying it was a true pleasure and honor to run for a woman who has meant so much to the running community, not only in Milwaukee, but all over the country. Jenny Crain is a true inspiration more now than ever. She fights harder now more than when she was a World Class Runner. I am going to use this race report to explain what happened all day not only from me, but from the Jennipede Team, at least from what I could see from 57 runner back in line.

I also want to say Thank you to all my teammates on Team Jennipede for such a wonderful, life changing, never forgetting day. You guys all Rock! I may not have gotten a chance to meet all of you, but we are all family now and we made history together. 62 of us ran the entire marathon linked together, so cool.

Team Jennipede was created to raise funds for Jenny's rehabilitation which cost close to $85,000 per year. I am proud to say that Team Jennipede raised close to $110,000 toward that amount.

The day started a little before 4:00AM as I picked up my friend Chris at 4:45AM for the ride to downtown Milwaukee so we could hop on a bus and ride 26 miles north to Grafton, WI for the start. I was able to easily find Team Jennipede as we prepared ourselves for our world record quest. We made sure our race belts were zip tied closed to there was no chance of them popping open, a requirement from the people at Guinness for the world record. About a half hour before the start, we all headed outside to line up, take last minute restroom breaks, and sign a sheet recording that we started the race in order. We secured out carabiners as well so they would not open right after we lined up, but not before the "Running Reverend" led us all in a quick prayer and a pep talk from our leader (our caboose) Robin.

The "Running Reverend" leads us all in prayer before we head out on our 26.2 mile run. You can see the cool shirts we all got to wear.

Right ahead of me in line were the last 3 ladies in the group. I couldn't have asked for for a better group of ladies to follow for 26.2 miles. Tammy, right in front of me, is an alum of my college 1 year ahead of me. We wonder if we took any classes together as we graduated with the same degree. Jess was 2 ahead of me and is a very dedicated and fast marathoner. She ran the Green Bay Marathon earlier this year in super windy conditions in about 3:35. Amy is almost my neighbor. While we have never met in person before, knew of each other from a joint blog friend. She lives only about a mile from me in my hometown and runs about the same pace I do for a half marathon/marathon. We are planning on scheduling some runs together sometime in the future.

Jess, Amy, Tammy and I right before we head to the start line. You can see that we are already roped in.

It was a cool morning in Grafton, maybe upper 30's in the shade behind the school. Once we headed to the start line, we got the sun and it warmed a bit but still cool. Great temperatures for running, at least at 7:30 in the morning. The temps rose all day and peaked near the finish in the lower 60's.

As we headed to the start line, we got our first taste of major cheering as the crowd cheered loud as we walked to the start line. Everyone in the race knew about our quest as it was not only on the local news, it was also listed in the race brochure every runner received. It felt so cool for people to cheer us on not only at the start, but the entire course long.

Lined up at the start (the arch in the distance), we are all ready to go and ready to warm up too!

The race officials have a little humor at the start line. In the picture above, you can see signs telling runners where to line up. The last sign said "Same Day". We were even behind that line. The other sign I saw that was just funny was the sign right in front of the 3 hour sign, it said "Under 2:02:00". Was there someone in race that wanted to crush the World Record Marathon time?!?!?

Under 2:02:00? I think the winner was 2:22, not quite fast enough.

We started cheering loudly and made sure we crossed the timing mats in single file as required for the world record. Then we were off at about 11:30 pace toward Milwaukee. The group was lively and festive, at least the people in the back were. I can't answer for the people in front as they were a good 50 to 100 feet ahead of me. We stuck to the plan of taking a 1 minute break at every mile. We did have quite a few first time marathoners on the team and runners of all abilities. It was going to be a long day and we were prepared.

By close to mile 2, Dan (#61) started a great and long Army Style Marching chant. There weren't too many runners around us as we started at the back of the pack, but the ones around us either thought we were nuts, or just had fun along with us. This was a ton of fun. All of us in the back had no problem with the pace so talking, chanting, and just good goofing off was all fun for the day.

At about mile 7, we hit Concordia College and our first major restroom break. The rules of the Record Breaking attempt are that you have to stay in the same order and you cannot detach from the line for ANY REASON. This makes the restroom breaks a challenge. This stop did not have any tree or bush coverage so guys had to use the portolets as well. Slack in the rope was given so whomever was in the portolet would still be attached and hopefully not yanked out. We wasted a lot of time at this stop and you can imagine it took a long time for most of the 62 runners used the 8 portolets.

We must have been there for close to 15 minutes before starting again so sore muscles from too long of a break were there when we started. Not long after Concordia College, we had our first of 3 almost major catastrophes. Luai was 4 runners ahead of me and didn't see a pot hole in the road and turned his ankle while tumbling to the pavement. He was hurting for a bit but was a real trooper and after some quick stretching, was able to continue with the aid of some Ibuprofen. Even through the tumble, the rope stayed put and we stayed within the rules. The Ibu took awhile to kick in but after awhile, Luai was back to a good gait and kept going. I hope it is not a major issue for him as he plans on running the Chicago Marathon next weekend.

It wasn't but a couple miles later when a lady up near the front of the group took a tumble on a high drop off to the gravel shoulder. She seemed to be good. And then a few miles after that, my running mate next to me, Tammy, did her best Chellsie Memmel keeping her balance as she tripped over a traffic cone. It was quite a site to see her do it.

If you ask me, this course needs some help as there were WAY too many pot holes or missing pavement along the course. It would be easier not being roped in as your line of site is less, but still a few too many potential problems. I wonder if other runners had any issues.

He is the Jennipede past the halfway point. We are still feeling good at this point.

At about mile 16 or 17, Team Jennipede had our first major problem that would affect us the rest of the race. One of our members suddenly had major cramping in his legs. He was way ahead of my position so I didn't even know who it was. They worked on his leg and gave him salt/electrolytes, but I think once it was cramped, it wasn't going to be the same. We began running for 2 minutes then walking 2 minutes and after mile 17, it turned into a power walk. Let me tell you, 9 miles of power walking is really hard to do. The pace was too fast for me to walk but too slow to run. We would end up walking a bit and then jogging back to close up the slack. We kept trying to send up positive MoJo in hopes we could run again soon.

It was also getting warm out as the sun was beating down on us. The crowds were small but many people waiting for the Jennipede to show us were not disappointed when we passed by. I even found a few videos posted on YouTube already. Here are 4 links to videos I found so far: Jennipede Video #1, Jennipede Video #2, Jennipede Video #3, Jennipede Video #4.

As we closed in on the finish line, the excitement grew more and more. We were able to break into a run for the last 1/4 mile as we passed mile 26 and entered the finishing chute. For a good 100 metres on both sides, the chute was lined with people cheering very loudly holding up there hands for high fives. Kids and adults a like! It was awesome to run through this but better yet, we met up with Jenny who did the last 200 meters with us. Bart Yasso from Runner's World Magazine was there pushing Jenny in her wheel chair as we all passed her until she was with Robin at the end of the rope for the finish line. She held each of our hands as we passed her and we gave her our love as we passed.

Passing Mile 26, we are ALMOST there!

Once we crossed the finish line, we were not done. As required, we had to stay tethered until we signed the same sheet of paper we signed before the race began. We had members of the team being congratulated by family and friends and the post race refreshment tent even sent over some food and water for us since we couldn't get over there. Some of the runners were even interviewed by the local media. Once the Guinness World Record was officially declared, we could finally cut the rope. Some of us cut off pieces of the rope for a souvenir. I took a longer piece and used it as a second lanyard for my Lakefront Marathon Medal.

Here I am with the "Back of the Pack Guys". Next to me is Craig (#58), Jim (#59), Our helper (Sorry, I forgot your name, forgive me please), Chad (#60) and Dan (#61) and also known as our Chant Leader! Last, and #62, Robin was being interviewed at this time. We are still roped in.

Honorary Team Captain was Bart Yasso from Runner's World. He did not run the marathon but did help Jenny cross the finish line with us.

Here I am with Bart Yasso from Runner's World.

After all of Team Jennipede broke free, we headed over for a group photo and the reading of some proclamations. I wish I had a picture of the entire team, but it was too crowded to get that. It was officially "Jenny Crain Day" in Milwaukee as declared by the mayor as well as "Jenny Crain Day" all over Milwaukee County as well. Bart Yasso even declared it "Jenny Crain Day" for the entire running community over the entire world. I hope you celebrated!

Jenny Crain Day in Milwaukee and the entire Running World!

After all the proclamations have been read, Jenny was presented with a check for $100,000 for the Make It Happen Fund. Then a nice banner marking our new World Record was presented as well.

After all this, Peter Crain (Jenny's Brother) stepped forward and gave the team a very heartfelt Thank You from himself and his whole family. I can't even imagine what it must have felt like for him at that time. He was also a part of the team and finished his very first marathon. I was able to meet him afterwards and have a brief conversation with him. I also was able to talk with Jenny's Mother, Donna, for a bit. She was able to bring Jenny to the Kids Marathon I organize a month ago so I wanted to catch up with her.

After this, Robin got up and as our official team captain, gave a talk thanking us for our efforts. He then pulled out a very cool surprise. Every member of the team was presented with a second personalized medal proclaiming our new Guinness Book of World Records accomplishment. This was so cool. He called up each member of the team and put the medal of each of our necks personally.

Here is the medal we all got from Robin for our New World Record.

This was no ordinary marathon, it was an adventure. 62 runners from all around the area and some close states met up without even knowing each other with one common goal, raise a few bucks for someone in need. We wanted to give a little hope to a person who gave us all hope for years. We were not fast, we finished in a time of 6:18:32, but what we lacked in speed, we overcame in spirit and enthusiasm. We had our problems on the course, we had our tumbles, trips and cramps, nothing I have not experienced in the past, but nothing dampened our spirits and NOTHING was going to stop us.

Thank You Team Jennipede and Thank You Jenny Crain.

Keep on Running!!!

#57

2011-10-01T19:54:00.003-05:00

No, the Lakefront Marathon this weekend is not my 57th marathon, instead 57 means the number I am in the order for the Jennipede.

Yes, it is finally time for the Jennipede World Record Marathon attempt tomorrow morning. There are 62 of us ready to link it up run all 26.2 miles for Jenny Crain. As a team, we have raised over $100,000 to help pay for Jenny's daily care and rehabilitation. It is truly special to be a part of this team and an honor to be able ti run for Jenny. Even if something happens and we do not get the world record, it will still be worth all the effort everyone put into this adventure. I believe everyone on the team feels the same as I do.

Yesterday I went down to the Expo to pick up all my gear and race uniform that all of us Jennipedes will be wearing. the Expo at the Lakefront Marathon has a relatively small expo if you compare it to like Chicago or Disney, but enough booths to get what you need. I picked up a white and pink Christmas Ornament for my daughter that says "Runner Girl" and also the Bart Yasso book "My Life of the Run". Bart Yasso is the honorary captain of the Jennipede team and will be running the final bit of the marathon pushing Jenny across the finish line with the team. He will also give the team an inspirational talk right before the start. He had a small booth at the Expo selling his book with $5 from each sale going to the Make It Happen Fund for Jenny.

I had gone to the Expo when it wasn't too busy so I was able talk to Bart for about 10 minutes or so uninterrupted. That was cool as he gave me some advise to help me in my training. I used to run Yasso 800's in my training but since I am a middle distance runner from my past, they are really easy for me to do a lot faster than they claim I can run a marathon at. He suggested less rest (which I am already doing) and also to add some longer runs at a little faster than marathon pace. He suggested a 2 mile warm up followed by 10 to 12 miles at a little faster than my marathon pace and then a 2 mile cool down. I will have to add this to my training schedule in the next sequence.

It was a little fun at the Expo as I felt a little like a celebrity. I had a lot of people asking me about being on the Jennipede Team and wishing the team luck. There is also a lot of local news coverage about us as well. The local NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox stations have all done some coverage on us. the local paper has written a few stories and even Runner's World is covering us. This is all great as the more people that see us, the more that will donate to the Make It Happen Fund.

Other than all that, it was an exciting day as I went to the Milwaukee Brewers playoff game at Miller Park. Great Game! Brewers Won! Now I am watching college football as #7 Wisconsin is playing #8 Nebraska in their Big 10 debut. Cornhuskers are up by 1 right now, hope that changes as I will most likely not be able to see the second half as it is time to go to sleep as I am picking up my friend Chris at 4:40AM to head down to the marathon.

I also had one of the last Cross Country practices for the team I coach. The final big meet is on Wednesday, sort of like a conference meet for middle schoolers.

Keep on Running!!! I will for all 26.2 mile tomorrow.

Women Only?

2011-09-28T21:26:00.003-05:00

I was reading Runner's World Online today, as I do most days, and came across a very interesting article linked from Running Times. It was titles "Why do Men Run Women's Races?" Check out the link if you care to read it yourself.

The article basically was about how there are men that join races that were intended for women but no rules prevent men from running. These races would include the Nike Women's Marathon and the Disney Princess Half Marathon among others. In both races, a certain small percentage of the runners are men. Should men be allowed to run these races? It definitely got me thinking. Here are a few thoughts of mine. First of all, I like the idea of the women's only races. It doesn't bother me in the slightest. Sort of like Curves gyms. No issue there. I, personally, would not join one of these races. As I read about the Disney Princess Half Marathon, the article talks about a guy who won the race one year but was entered in the Coed Marathon Relay Division. COED?? In the Disney Princess? Yes, according to the article, they have a coed division. The relay consists of 2 runners running the entire half marathon and then combining the times for the team's final time.

So what is the deal here Disney? Why have a "women's race" but allow men in a competitive division? Here is more about it. This guy, who's team won the Coed Relay Division, had to start 8 minutes AFTER the race because he was a man. He then ran that much faster than the top female passing her with somewhere around a mile to go. I assume most of the women int he race didn't know there was a Coed Relay because he was subject to insults along the way like "He is no Princess" and even as he passed the leading female, she says she called him a "tool". Then Disney screwed up big time in my opinion. As he came down the final stretch, the announcer told the crown to be quiet and made him run off to the side across the finish line. There is a picture with the article. That was really crappy Disney!

I say, have the women only race, make it a rule though that men are not allowed. Can you do this in a PC world we live in? Not sure. Would women be upset if there was a Men's Only race? Yeah, I know that is the way it used to be, but that was way long ago. Would you be upset? I don't see the point of it but it would be equal.

In other "Women Running" News, the International something or another (not sure exactly who it is) is apparently changing the rules for what would be considered as World Record for women in road races. The new rule says that the record need to happen in a women's only race or a race where the women start early. What the heck? Is it because women can then have men pace them? SO WHAT!! Men get paced in races all the time. They are even going to retroactively change some of the world records back to the races that were women only. What a crappy, stupid rule. If you can explain it to me so I can understand this rule, I would love to hear it. Have you run either of these races and if so, did you mind seeing men in the race?

As for you women out there, keep on running, I shall stay out of 'your' races and cheer you on from the sidelines.

Keep on Running!!!

Little Injuries

2011-09-25T16:09:00.004-05:00

Maybe it is just me, but do you notice little injuries more the closer you get to your races? I am noticing a few more little injuries that could explode into large ones if I don't be careful. I have my knee problem that has been there for about a year and half now. It comes and goes in severity but not a large issue. I have an issue with the middle of my left foot now. It usually goes away when I run but comes back afterwards. I was at the Chiropractor last week and he checked it out. Good news is that he does not think it is a stress fracture. He something that it could be but I can't remember what it was.

The biggest possible issue is with a tendon on my upper leg. I have to be careful stretching it and when pushing it while running. This one concerns me, especially with all the marathons I have planned over the next month as well as in January and February. I will be careful and hope for the best.

I was able to get a nice 15 miler in yesterday at just under 9:00 pace in light rain. The first long sleeve run of the fall. I needed a long run at a good pace since the last long run was quite slow running with the Jennipede. This will be my last good long run before the potentially 3 marathons I am doing in October.

The first one in next weekend and will be the long slow run marathon. It is the Jennipede World Record Attempt marathon in Milwaukee. The team is planning on running a 5:45 for a time so it won't hurt me too much for the next marathon as long as I am careful with the little injuries.

The second one is 2 weeks later. I plan on going to Louisville, Kentucky and running the Louisville Marathon. It is a small race, maybe 250 in the full and another 600 in the half. A size I like. I will sign up for that one after the Lakefront Marathon and I determine no escalation of the injuries.

The third one on the plan is the Haunted Hustle Marathon in Middleton, Wisconsin (Madison). I ran this one last year and it was pretty good for an inaugural marathon. I hope they get the mile markers right this time. It is fun to see all the runners in costumes here as well, at least as long as I finish ahead of them. LOL

Keep on Running!!!

Jennipede Training Run #2

2011-09-20T19:57:00.000-05:00

Sunday morning, the Jennipede Nation, as our team captain Robin calls us, met for the 2nd and final training run for our World Record attempt in less than 2 weeks. This time, we had an amazing 39 (I think) runners linked together for a 13 ½ mile run/jog. I have never had more fun running so slow.

We met at the Lake Park Pavilion and queued up right before 8:00AM. I was queued toward the back of the group, maybe only 6 runners behind me. This is where I want to be. I don’t know what the runners up front are like, but us in the back have a blast telling stories, jokes, and whatever comes to mind. We even had a few Combat Ranger chants along the way. All of us in the back are pretty veteran runners so the pace was quite easy for all of us.

While running, we go around 11:30 pace and stop every mile for a 1 minute walk break. This is necessary for some of the runners in the group who have never run a marathon before. (What a way to break into the marathon world!) We did practice restroom breaks again, this is very slow. I think we were there for over 10 minutes. I say the guys, if possible, just go on the side of the road. I mean, in a marathon, who really cares? I think in the race we will plan a couple early stops and then maybe one later on if necessary. Personally, I only seem to need them in the first 5 miles then I am good. I may try to under hydrate just to make it easier on myself and just hydrate during the race.

In front of me on the run was Mary. Mary is not going to be running the marathon as she was just trying to see if she could do this. It is not because Mary can’t run a marathon, quite the opposite as she has run over 160 marathons/ultras in her life, the issue is that Mary is blind and has been since birth. Seems running attached to a rope was a little too nerve racking for her and I completely understand. Her guide, Brandi, tried her best but it was a challenge. My job was to control the slack in the rope as we ran for Mary. I would wind it up in my hand as it loosened up and let it out when needed to. That was a challenge enough to help make sure Mary didn’t trip on the rope. Mary was a great sport about it and I actually hope she decides to run and I would be more than happy to be the “slackman” again.

Another lady a few in front of me was getting married later that afternoon. Nothing like running 13 ½ miles tied up before some nuptuals. I guess I’ll hear how the wedding went in a week.

So the Jennipede training run was a success again. Now we will increase the number to over 60 for race day. The plan is to run a 5:45 marathon, maybe a little slower. The best part is that we will all have raised over $75,000 for Jenny’s care.

Keep on Running!!!

Disc Golf Running

2011-09-20T19:56:00.000-05:00

The Cross Country Meet last Saturday for the team I coach was cancelled only 3 days before the race. Instead of the race, I took some of the older kids took a local park for a 2 mile run and then a game Disc Golf. If you don’t know what disc golf is, it is Golf but using special Frisbees. The only difference was that since this was still Cross Country practice, I required them all the run as we played. It was a ton of fun even dodging discs as they were flying all over toward the “hole”. Most of these kids have never played disc gold before and they seemed to have a blast. No score was taken, only fun and running.

Later that afternoon, I had to be in the same city for a party so I took my girls to play another round. The 2 youngest only play a little but my oldest likes to play all the “holes”. Turns out I had about the best round I have ever had (I don’t play that often so I guess that isn’t so impressive). But I did get my first ever Hole-In-One on a 170 foot hole through tons of trees. Somehow the disc managed to avoid all the trees and crash into the chains of the hole. I was pumped! It was fun.

Tomorrow is the second CC meet for my team. They are a bit tired but are eager to run fast.

Keep on Running!!!

A Hazy Shade of Intervals

2011-09-13T20:54:00.003-05:00

There is a very large forest fire in Northern Minnesota, almost 400 miles away from where I am. How would this affect me. Well, suddenly in the mid morning, everyone in the area could smell smoke and there was a haze in the air. Seems the smoke from the fires have moved all the way down here. Kind of weird.

After work was a scheduled interval workout at the local track and I was hoping the smoke wouldn't affect me. It was not very heavy at all, just a light hazer and a slight odor, nothing like running in the autumn when neighbors are burning their leaves, but I was still hoping for no issues. Good new, no problems at all. I was able to get in 4 sets of 800's with 1:30 jog rest between intervals. It felt good.

The haze should continue tomorrow but sounds like it will be less. Good thing since it s my daughters first Cross Country race of the season.

Keep on Running!!!

Inconsistency

2011-09-12T21:45:00.002-05:00

Since I started coaching my daughters Cross Country team, my running workouts have been inconsistent. I try to get my runs in with the team but they are not my normal runs as sometimes I am coordinating the workout instead of running in. Today we did a 3 mile Fartlek run. The kids are liking doing not the usual just go out for a run workouts. I work them hard and have had a few rewarding moments already. The first meet in Wednesday.

I did get in a good 3 by 1 mile workout with mike last week. My splits were 6:46, 6:53, and 6:15, each with about 4 1/2 minutes rest. Then on Saturday, I got in 14 miles in a Jeckly & Hyde workout. I started the first 8 miles at an average pace of 9:27 feeling sluggish. Then the last 6 miles were all under 9:00 and I finished with an average pace of 9:07. I wanted to get under that 9:09 (4 hour marathon) average pace.

Tomorrow, Mike and I will hit the track for a few 800 repeats. This weekend is the second of the "Jennipede" training runs. Only 2 1/2 weeks until the World record attempt. It will be a blast.

As inconsistent as I have been, I continue to train and hope for the best. A little problem with my left foot right now. As I get older, I seem to keep getting these little problems that don't seem so little at the time, then they go away only to be replaced by a different little problem. Some last a few days or weeks, some last months upon months. Life goes on though, pain free or not.

Keep on Running!!!

Report - WELS Kids Marathon

2011-09-05T21:25:00.007-05:00

A week ago Saturday was the Final Mile of the WELS Kids Marathon, a program that I began in the Milwaukee area. If you recall, kids (grades K to 8) who join the WELS Kids Marathon run 26.2 miles over the summer while also reading for 26 hours or 26 books. All the kids have been running and reading since the end of the school year and have worked hard to finish their marathon. This year, we had over 430 kids participate including some from up to 2 hours outside Milwaukee.

Earlier that morning, I had run the Eisenbahn Marathon and after laying down for about an hour, I was up loading the van with all the supplies I needed to bring. By 4:15, I was a Wisconsin Lutheran College's Raabe Stadium where we were having the final mile. The committee and volunteers began to set up the registration area and the post race food area.

Suddenly I realized I had made a huge mistake, I had forgotten to bring the master list of participants which was in alphabetical order, something that would have made the packet pick up about 1000 times easier than it ended up being. By 5:30, kids and parents were showing up and the volunteers of the registration table were struggling without my list. AARRGGHH!!!! The line got considerably long and I am sure some in the line were frustrated. I apologized to as many of them as I could until we came up with a plan to move the line faster. The plan worked and we were able to get everyone through the line in time for the first of 2 final mile races. This was the only major hiccup of the evening.

Before the races, we had a guest warm up leader. A lot of the kids gathered on the track and Tracy lead them through all sorts of exercises to be ready to run the mile.

Tracy Falkner, in the blue shirt on the ground facing the kids, lead a warm up for the kids.

After the warm up, we were able to introduce our 2 special guest for the evening. The first guest was Jenny Crain. Jenny is a local runner who had qualified for 4 different Olympic Trials in the Marathon and on the track in the 10K and 5K. 4 years ago, she was on a run in Milwaukee when she was hit by a car and barely survived. The Make It Happen Fund was set up to help Jenny pay for help huge medical bills. The Make It Happen Fund is the charity the WELS Kids Marathon chose to make a donation to. Jenny was our official starter of the race and gave lots of the kids high-fives along the way. She seemed to really enjoy watching the kids run and we made her an honorary WELS Kids Marathon Finisher complete with Finisher's Medal.

Jenny Crain, honorary WELS Kids Marathon Finisher along with myself and my youngest daughter Katelynn

The other special guest was Trevor Marsicano. Trevor is a current speedskater living in the area and training at the Pettit Center. Trevor in a World Champion speedskater and former World Record holder in the 1000 Meter Long Track event. Trevor also won a silver medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and brought along his medal to show everyone. Trevor is a really nice guy and after giving the kids an inspirational talk before the race, also handed out finisher medals to the kids as the finished.

Trevor Marsicano handed out finisher medals to the kids. I think he held on to his Olympic Silver Medal.

2010 Vancouver Olympics Silver Medal. It was really heavy!

The music was playing and the kids and parents were having fun as the first race took off. I was running all over the place getting things done and giving high fives at the finish line that I didn't even get to see some of my friends who's kids were in the race. Our announcer did a great job once again even interviewing some of the kids after their races.

The younger kids ran in the first race. They took off in almost a complete sprint. Pace yourselves!

After the races, the kids were given Chocolate and white milk to drink along with spring water. Bananas and cookies were also their to refuel the kids.

A little later, we had awards and door prizes for the kids. By this time, it was getting pretty dark out and the lights of the stadium were on which made it really cool for the kids. They all sat on the football field hoping their name would be called for prizes ranging from Water Bottles or books to large gift certificates for local stores and even Milwaukee Bucks tickets. Some of the kids received a special award for completing our "Ultimate Challenge", these kids did double the work, 52.4 miles and 54 hours or books worth of reading.

Katelynn running the last few yards of her marathon!

The 2011 WELS Kids Marathon was a great success once again this year. We look forward to planning the 4th annual WELS Kids Marathon next year and inviting many more kids to participate and earn their finisher's medals.

I love this picture. Before the race, someone laid out all the finisher's medals on a table by the finish line. I may use this picture to advertise next year.

Keep on Running!!!

"Jennipede" Training and Other Things

2011-09-03T21:46:00.004-05:00

This morning was the first "official" training run for the Jenny Crain Make It Happen Tethered Marathon World Record Attempt. We met at Lake Park in the lower East Side of Milwaukee where there was a scheduled marathon build up run sponsored by the Badgerland Striders, a local running club. On the schedule was a 20 mile run, something I wasn't exactly looking forward to having run the Eisenbahn Marathon just last weekend. But we needed to practice running all tethered together.

I woke up to a thunderstorm rolling in but we were fortunate enough to have it pass by only 30 minutes before we were to start. I find the group and introduce myself to a few of the runners huddled together. We only had about half of the team there but we all got on our race belts and carabineers and latch ourselves onto the rope. I situated myself toward the back to the rope which ended up being a good idea. Not only was I near other runners who usually run close to my pace, but we had a blast cracking jokes and telling stories. About 30 of us were on hand for the training run. We will need at least 55 runners to break the World Record.

We took off at a slow pace and took a 1 minute walk break every mile. Our pace was starting at 11:30 and slowing to 12:00. Let me tell you, it is not easy running 2 1/2 to 3 minutes slower than usual pace. I only wonder how hard it was for the fast runners on the team. It was very humid and our shirts were soaked only a couple miles in. We circled around and were back at the starting point at 13 miles for an extended break. The long breaks really suck when we start up again. I was ready to stop at 13 but was a trooper for the day. Toward the last 2 miles, we slowed some more as a few runners were struggling but we all finished.

Along the way we practiced a few things we will need to do on race day. We usually ran next to the runners near us in line but we needed to practice getting into a single file line for when we go over the timing mats (a requirement). We also practices restroom breaks in the port-o-let. Not as easy as one would think. During the race, no one is allowed to disconnect from the line until the race is over so if you need to use a restroom, you will need to go in with extra rope so slack is built into the plan. This is more an issue for the ladies of the team, but could rear it ugly head for us guys too. Some of the ladies on the team just suggested the guys face one way and the ladies the other and just go. I don't think that will fly, but an interesting strategy.

It was fun today. We ran 20.1 miles and took us somewhere over 4 hour and 30 minutes. Almost 30 minutes slower than I ran the full marathon last weekend. I was sore after the run today. Running a different pace does different things to your muscles. It was fun though and will be a blast on race day 4 weeks from now.

Have you been keeping up with the World Track & Field Championships in Daegu, South Korea? I would wish I could keep up with it more but it is quite difficult with the coverage offered. I suppose I could pay for Universal Sports and watch there, but I prefer good old free (or paid cable) TV. I did get to see a few races today and even a few I didn't know the results of before hand, something that makes watching races more exciting.

I did get to watch Jenny Barringer-Simpson win the gold in the 1500. She ran such a smart race and kicked at the exact right time. I did know the result of that ahead of time. But I did not know that Matthew Centrowitz had won the bronze. That was exciting to see from such a young American. Lots of potential for him. Of course it is always fun to watch Usain Bolt.

The US has never hosted the World Track & Field Championships. I hope someday they will. That would be one fun week watching track! Tomorrow is the last day of the Championships, should be on NBC for a little bit and now that they have Ato Boldon and a commentator instead of Carol Lewis, the coverage and comments are much better.

Keep on Running!!!

Race Report - Eisenbahn Marathon

2011-08-30T21:10:00.010-05:00

Saturday was the Eisenbahn Marathon that took place from Eden, WI to West Bend, WI along the Eisnebahn State Trail. I had a few friends that were running the race so I decided to join them and treat it as a faster training run.

I woke up early in the morning, 2:30AM as Chris and Paul were meeting me at my house at 3:15AM and then I was driving to the race. Along the way, we picked up Dana before driving the rest of the way to West Bend and the finish line. Since this was a point to point course, they supplied school buses for us to ride to the start line.

Paul was only running the half marathon, so his bus wasn't leaving for an hour but Dana, Chris, and I took the 30 minute ride to the start area. 2 of the buses took a wrong turn and headed toward the Half Marathon start line but luckily our bus driver was smart enough to go the correct way. We arrived and scooted out the back door and were first in line for the 5 port-o-lets. Good thing as the line got long very fast.

Paul running toward the end of the Half Marathon. Thanks to Bill Flaws from RunningInTheUSA.com for the pictures.

It was cool, mid 60's and the sun wasn't out yet and we were in a park surrounded by either fields and a few houses. The lines of the port-o-let never seemed to be getting shorter and it was apparent that everyone would not be done before the 6:00AM start. They then announced that they would be delaying the start until everyone was able to use the port-o-lets. This delayed the start about 20 minutes. This upset us, especially Dana who was planning on running a 2:42 time and was ready to go at 6.

Dana in the lead of the Marathon in the first 25 yards.

I tried turned on my Garmin, but nothing happened. I knew I charged it up but something just wasn't letting it start. ugh! I left my other watch in the car so now I was going to have to run the race without a watch for the first time ever, run on feel alone. Oh well, go with the flow.

I started slow and easy. It was a long training run after all. The race is mostly on a crushed limestone bike trail and was flat, at least until it left the trail 2 times for smaller 3 mile jaunts. At mile 5, we left the trail for the first time and hit some hills. Not too bad, the worst part, in my opinion, we the downhills which were too steep to really run down. You really had to hold back and work the quads.

Here I am at about Mile 9. As you can see, it was sunny and pretty warm already.

At mile 11, we left the trail again for some hills and the start of the half marathon. As I passed the half mark, I asked another runner what tour time was (there were NO CLOCKS on the entire course). She said 2:01 so I guess I was running well. I felt like I was running really easy so I decided to pick it up a little to maybe try to break 4 hours. I began passing runners every once in awhile and I knew I was cruising pretty good.

It was a sunny day out and the temps were rising. By mile 20, it was kind of hot out, at least it was hot for running 20 miles already. I was getting blinded by my sweat as I stopped at aid stations with sweat going in my eyes. At mile 20, there was a good 4 mile stretch of trail that had no relief from the sun. By mile 22, my legs were getting heavy and I knew I was slowing. At the aid station at mile 24, I asked what the race time was and one guy was able to tell me about 3:42. I did some quick math and determined I needed to run 8:00 miles to to break 4 and I knew that was not going to happen. I decided to just run as easy as I could and try to enjoy what I could.

Near the finish line, I was ready to stop and drink some Chocolate Milk.

With 1 mile to go, I saw someone closing in on me. I didn't want them to pass me as no one had passed me since the half mark. I was able to keep my place and cross in 4:05:40, not bad for a 26.2 mile training run. I ended up in 64th place out of 172 runners, passing 25 since the half marathon point.

Dana didn't have a great race as he wished. He was disappointed with a time of 2:56:40 (it is all relative, isn't it) but he did take 2nd place overall. Chris ran pretty good and finished in 3:21:34 and in 20th place but he did win his age group. Paul ran the half marathon in 1:55:00 and in 49th place. He took it easy as he was also doing a triathlon the next day.

With 100 meters to go, Dana shows how he really feels about his performance.

Chris ran OK for the day. I would take his time any day.

Here are my thoughts on the race:

They didn't have nearly enough port-o-lets at the start line. There is no reason they should have started the race late. Paul told me that this happened in the half marathon as well.

The volunteers were excellent and very friendly. The aid stations were easy to navigate and we were taken care of great.

I can't say anything about the packet pick up or expo because Dana picked up our stuff the day earlier.

The course was OK. Many times I had small gravel in my shoes from the trail but never stopped to clear them out. It never became and major issue. The hills helped mix up the course from all flat and were not too bad.

No clocks on the course. Why??? At a minimum, they should have had them at the half and at mile 20.

The shirt design kinda sucked. While it is a short sleeve which I like, it has a big iron on like patch on the front that will not breath.

The medal baffles me. At first glance, it looks kind of cool until you realize the name of the race is not on the front. You have to turn it over to see the race name on a plate. The front looks like an advertisement to me.

Aid stations were very well placed. Maybe they needed them a little closer toward the end, but the rest of the course, they were a really good distance apart.

Kudos to the race for having tons of Chocolate Milk at the finish line.

All in all it was a good long run. Will I run this one again, not as a race, but maybe as a training run.

The day wasn't over. I had the Final Mile of the Kids Marathon that evening. I will write about that in its own post.

34 Marathons complete.

Keep on Running!!!

Big Weekend Coming

2011-08-25T12:16:00.003-05:00

Wow, I didn't realize that it has been a long time since my last post.

The busy-ness continues in full force as the final mile of the WELS Kids Marathon is set for this Saturday evening. 431 kids signed up this year and we anticipate about 300 showing up for the final event. There is sooooooo much that needs to happen in such a small amount of time. The bags are all packed. The shirts are all rolled (a cool look I saw in a race this year). The medals are delivered and so are the water bottles for everyone. I ran all over town last night picking up supplies and prizes and tying to make sure I have all my ducks in a row.

I went to the stadium last night and noticed they put up some bleachers right where I was going to have my registration tables. Just need to redesign is all.

The music CDs are burned and ready to be played. Let me tell you, this is not as easy as it sounds. I try to get some newer music that kids like and I am just not that familiar with. Taylor Swift always makes the list but I have to make sure all the other songs are "Safe" for kids ears. I don't need complaints about the music being not appropriate. Sorry Katy Perry, you are out! I was complimented the last 2 years on the music selection so I hope it continues.

We have a ton of cool door prizes for the kids. Barnes & Noble Gift Cards, Milwaukee Bucks Tickets, Ice Skating Passes for the Pettit Center, Green Bay Packers Books and Water Bottles, and a few of the local running stores have donated gift certificates. I can't wait until Saturday evening, it is so cool seeing the kids finish their marathon.

But before that on Saturday morning, I am my own marathon. My friends Dana and Chris are running the full marathon with me (or more specifically, ahead of me), and Paul is running the half marathon (He is doing a triathlon on Sunday). We are running the Eisnebahn Marathon just north west of Milwaukee by 45 minutes. It is in its second year so I don't know what to expect except that it is a relatively small marathon (last year just under 200 runners in the full) and it is run 80% on a crushed limestone bike path. Not any big hills and a net down hill of a bit. It travels mostly South so it is good that the forecast calls for winds from the North. I do not plan on running this one hard, more like a good, long training run. I hope Chris and Dana don't leave without me.

So a VERY busy weekend up ahead. It should be a blast though.

Keep on Running!!!

Busy Week

2011-08-14T22:25:00.005-05:00

It has been a busy week. Lots of work on planning and organizing the final mile of the WELS Kids Marathon that takes place in just under 2 weeks. A few good runs including a long one on Saturday morning. Cross Country practice has now begun. And 2 of my girls were in a play this Saturday.

Saturday morning, I picked up Mike at 6:30 for a run along the White River Trail near Lake Geneva. It was cloudy and not too hot but we were soaked from sweat as it was very humid out. Mike wanted to run faster than me so after 2 miles, he was gone. I wasn't feeling good at this point. After 4 miles, my pace was averaging 9:21 and I just wanted to stop. As with a lot of my runs, things can change quickly. Suddenly my average pace started dropping. My new goal was to drop the pace to under 9:09 (or 2 hour half marathon pace) by 13.1 miles. Then my goal was to drop the average pace to sub 9:00. With 2 miles to go, the average pace was 9:04. I pick it up and run the next 2 miles at 8:08 and 7:39. Where did that energy come from?!?!?

So a run that started bad ended well, 8:55 average pace well for 15 miles.

Later that afternoon was the play my 2 youngest girls were in. It is a play were auditions were only last Monday. They only 5 days later is the play. Last year, Megan made it, and this year bot Megan and Katelynn made it. It was a play for kids grades 1 to 8 and they did King Arther's Quest. It was so cute! The girls learned a few easy songs and had a few lines. Megan played the Mini Blue Knight and Katelynn the Mini Raven. Her line was "Caw, caw, Nevermore".

Megan as the Mini Blue Knight

Katelynn as the Mini Raven

This coming Thursday is the first of 2 Final Miles for the WELS Kids Marathon. I will be taking Melissa up to Green Bay (2 hours north) to have a mile for the kids up there. Then a little over a week later is the Official Final Mile. Lots of work to still do!

By the way, on my run last week in Madison, I passed 1000 miles for the year. This is about 2 1/2 weeks earlier than last year. I sure hope it helps this fall

Keep on Running!!!

Jenny Crain - Make It Happen!

2011-08-08T22:11:00.005-05:00

Quite a while ago, I wrote a post about a local runner named Jenny Crain. Jenny was an excellent runner. She had qualified for 4 different US Olympic Marathon Trials and represented the United States in the 2005 World Track and Field Championships in the Marathon. That year she ran a time of 2:39:02.

I had written before about how she would run locally and join the local races and was a very visible part of the Milwaukee Running Community. She is also a very friendly, down to earth runner, very approachable. There were many races in which I was able to see her, well, at least the back of her for a half mile or so until she was out of sight.

In August of 2007, Jenny was on a training run getting ready for the Olympic Trials for a chance to run in the 2008 Beijing Olympics when tragedy struck. She was hit by a car on the East Side of Milwaukee and severely injured, she was lucky to live. With an Olympic spirit in her heart that would win gold a thousand times over, she began the biggest training of her life, recovery. Over the last 4 years, she has worked her way up to being able to walk with the aid of a walker. Last month, she walked 1 mile at a local charity run on her behalf. She has a long way to go.

Many local runners have now supported Jenny the way she supported them over the years. The Make it Happen Fund was set up to help Jenny with her massive medical bills. As the director of the WELS Kids Marathon in Milwaukee, myself, along with my committee, have chosen the Make It Happen Fund as the 2011 charitable contribution. With this contribution, they have invited me to join “Team Jenny” for a special fund raising event in October.

The Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon will take place on Sunday, October 2nd and “Team Jenny” will be attempting to break the World Record for most runners tethered together running a marathon. The current World Record is 47 runners which was set in London (I think). We are attempting to have over 75 runners roped together for this event. The “Jennipede” will not be a fast team as there are runners of all levels joining the team but we are all there with the sole purpose of supporting Jenny! As a part of the team, I am also raising more funds to help Jenny.

If you feel inspired to make a personal donation to the Jenny Crain Make it Happen Fund, please follow this link.

If you would like to learn more about the Jenny Crain Story, here is a link to a wonderful story published in Runner’s World Magazine. Well worth the read.

I will let you all know more about the run and the world record attempt as we get closer to the race. We have a couple scheduled training runs where we will learn how to run tethered together and get some of the logistics figured out (like how does one use the restroom during the race?, What if I need to tie my shoe?) Once attached to the “Jennipede” rope, there is no unhitching until the race is over!

Thank you for your support and as always:

Keep on Running!!! . . . and Make It Happen

A Little Break

2011-08-08T16:39:00.000-05:00

I took the entire weekend off! 3 straight days of no running. This was supposed to be my recovery and rest after close to 250 miles in just over a month. My legs feel rested but was it enough?

I ended up going up to Door County for the weekend and camped a little. The girls got to swim a lot (the 2 youngest can now swim on their own!) and we had lots of Ice Cream. Friday night we even went to the Drive In Theater and saw Cars 2. It was a beautiful night outside watching the movie.

While in Door County, I did see a running camping going on. Sure, I wanted to run, but I rested. What a cool camp for these High Schoolers. I was talking to their coach and they did some team building exercises along with mostly 2 a day runs. Games and fun as well. I wish I could have done that in High School.

I did get a long run in on Thursday as I took that day off of work. I went to Madison and put in 17.75 miles along some of the best running routes around. I ran though the Arboretum and along lake Mendota to Picnic point and also along Lame Monona. I forgot my Garmin at home so had to wing it on pace and distance. Turns out I ran faster than normal this summer averaging somewhere near 8:45. It was humid and warm but not hot. I ran easy and it felt as such. It was a good run. I ended up walking into lake Wingra afterwards to cool the legs down afterwards.

Time to get back at it.

Keep on Running!!!

Passing 200

2011-07-31T20:11:00.003-05:00

I made it! I made it to 200 miles for July. Actually, I made it to 212 miles, 2 more than last year July. My body is sore now and needs a little break. I plan on running this week early but then will take off at least 3 straight days over the weekend. I hope that will help the muscles recover.

I passed 200 on my long run on Saturday. I decided the day before that I would try a new route and run around Pewaukee Lake. You can get around the lake in 13.2 miles but I started a little farther out so it would have been longer, even with the extra miles I put on. Before the run, I was thinking that 13.2 miles was too coincidental that they should have a half marathon race around the lake. Some of the route would be on country highways so maybe not as safe as it could be.

I started my run early before the sunrise at 5:00AM. Not even a half mile into my run, a deer jumped out in front of me about 30 feet across the trail. Scared the crap out of me (and it as well).

I got to just before mile 5 when the sun finally rose. There were no clouds in the sky so I was hoping for shade. I did get quite a bit. Suddenly I notice a sign that said "Mile 2". As I pasted the beach area, I noticed they were going to be having a festival so I thought maybe they were having a race. After a large hill, I saw a sign that said "Mile 3.1" Perhaps they were having a 10k? Over the next few miles and up and down quite a few big hills, I saw "Mile 5, 6, 7 & 8" I also saw table set up for water stops. Could they be?!?!?

I turned down a bike trail away from where my car was because I wanted to add miles to the run. I was already 3/4 of the way around the lake but they ran to the town of Delafield where I was able to refill my water bottles with a lot of ice and fresh water. A salt packet too and I was turned around back toward the car. I was feeling pretty good still at mile 13 when I got the water and I was able to keep feeling good the next bunch of miles.

I got to the part of the trail where I turned and resumed my trek around the lake. Only 4 more miles to go and I see the signs again. This one said "Mile 8.3" and was at a water stop that had volunteers at. I asked what the race was and sure enough, it was a race around the lake. So much for my cool idea, already done. They told me the race had started 30 minutes ago but no way they would be to 8.3 already. I knew on the route I was taking that I would not see anyone on my run. They were too far back.

I was able to finish 20.24 miles for the day and it was starting to get very warm. So glad I was done.

I saw something I have never seen before too. There was a guy on the trail running in a with his left arm in a sling. That had to hurt. He finished at the same place I did not long after me so I had to ask. He was training for an Ironman when he got tore up his shoulder some. He said he didn't want to waste 9 months of training for his first Ironman. What dedication.

The day of running was not over. After taking the girls to the county fair, I had a planned group fun run for the kids of the Kids Marathon I organize. We met at a park in Sussex and I was able to get in another 2.5 miles with my daughter, Melissa. So I ended up with 22.75 miles for the day and 212 miles for the month. A new record high for me for a month. I could have run today to add to it but I decided I had too many other chores to do. It has been a good (and hot) month, I hope it has been good for you as well.

Keep on Running!!!

2 Extra Miles

2011-07-27T22:06:00.001-05:00

I am closing on on 200 for July. 200 miles that is. Last July I ran 210 miles and this year, once again my goal is to run 200 miles in July. The idea is to build up endurance over the summer and since there are 5 full weekend this year in July, why not try it again. I should be able to do it barring some unforeseen issue. I am at 182 so far with a long run planned this Saturday.

Today was a run at Pettit before a meeting I had there. I was going to meet Dana as well but wanted to get in a couple more so I started early. I ran inside Pettit for the first 4 miles. While it is not as cool in there as in the winter since the ice on the oval is gone, it felt REALLY good to run in nice cool and dry air. I think it was close to 50 to 55F in there and I was able to cruise without much effort.

Dana showed up after 15 laps and we headed outside for 5 more miles before the meeting. Tons more humid out there and probably 20 or so more degree higher in Temps. Since Dana is a much faster runner than I am, he had to slow down to my pace but I kept it faster than usual and we had good conversation along the way. I was planning on only doing 7 miles so I guess I ran the extra 2 miles.

By the way, Icebreaker Indoor Marathon registration opens on August 1st. That is for both Milwaukee and Utah!

I will give an update on the WELS Kids Marathon real soon. It is going to be so cool this year.

Keep on Running!!!

Week in Review

2011-07-23T12:31:00.002-05:00

I have been a horrible blogger recently. I have been (mostly) keeping up on my reading of blogs, but I haven't written a post in a week now. I have been so busy with work and Kids Marathon stuff, time just gets away.

So here is my week in review quickly.

I have been working a lot on the WELS Kids Marathon that I direct. This week I finalized the design ordered shirts, I finalized the design and ordered medals, submitted the insurance, and completed a few sponsors. Others on my committee have been really busy with other sponsors and letting me know their opinions of the shirt and medals. We also planned and scheduled 3 group fun runs for the kids who still need to get in some miles before the final mile on August 27th. It is going to be such a cool final event, I can't wait!

I ran everyday this past week. While I am not a "streaker" by any means, I am up to 8 straight days. Sunday was the Challenge Nation Race. I will post my report on that one soon.

If you haven't heard, we have had a real heat wave in the upper Midwest as well as other parts of the country. I know you guys in the south must be thinking "Hey, that is every day for us all summer", but we are not as used to it as you guys. Kind of like you in the winter when it gets a little cold and snowy. Temps here have been between 90to 100 everyday with the dew point near 80 so super humid. Heat indexes everyday from 100 to 115. Didn't stop me from running. If you run carefully, it will make you a stronger runner.

Monday was the hardest day. 5 miles after work and it was about 96 with a heat index at about 110. I took it very slow. A few coworkers of mine saw me and said I looked terrible. I have news for them, I felt terrible too!

Tuesday was a 6 miler on the track while my daughter had practice. Wednesday was the hottest day here and I ran before work. Not as hot (maybe 80) but I was soaked a half mile into the run from sweat. Thursday another 7 miler, Friday and easy 5 1/2 and Saturday was an early morning 13.2 miler. Still humid!

Why so many miles? July is my big month to work on endurance. My goal is 200 miles for the month and I am at 158.4 so far. It is already my largest mileage month of the year and I have a week to go.

I know it is hot almost everywhere so do you best to stay hydrated and get out and do a few easy miles. Have fun and jump in a pool after your run if possible. Wish I had one!

Keep on Running!!!

The Long Run - In Pictures

2011-07-16T21:55:00.011-05:00

This morning, I ran one of my longest training runs of the year. I ran 24 miles and it felt surprisingly well.

Last night, I parked my car just past Lapham Peak State Park and planned on waking up early and running to the car, a one way trip. On a map, it looks really far, and it is. It always seems like a longer run when you go one way instead of a loop.

I decided to take a camera phone alone to see if I could get any good pictures. No real wildlife pictures but I snapped a few along the way to share. The pictures are really grainy, the camera doesn't take good pics.

I woke up very early this morning and was out of my house by 4:45AM, before the sunrise. As you can see from the picture, only a little light was coming from the horizon at the time. I took off quite slow as it was very humid out and I didn't want to push it and feel the way I did the last few long runs.

At about 4 1/2 miles, the sun wasn't quite up yet but the sunrise was very beautiful. This picture doesn't do it justice. My shirt was soaked already at 2 miles in but the slow pace was helpful. I think I was at about 9:40 pace at this time. Turning to the west, there were quite a few darker clouds which were a welcome relief from the possibility of running in the sun.

Finally at mile 9, I saw my first person who was not in a car a little after 8 miles. My first runner I saw was after 11 miles. The course I took was planned with 3 different water fountains along the way to refill by bottles. That came it very handy. The first one was at mile 11. I took a small break before heading on the Glacier-Drumlin Trail for 8 miles.

I took another break at the next water fountain where I surprisingly bumped in to Mary Flaws, who I had run a lot of races with. She and her husband run the website Runningintheusa.com. Really cool running website.

A couple miles later, I bumped into yet another local runner I see quite often, He used to work with my brother so I see him often a parties, etc.

By mile 19, I had picked up the pace and my average pace was down to about 9:27 where I took my last water fountain break. 5 miles to go, but the toughest 5 miles were still to come. I hit Hwy C and the hills began. I was on Hwy C for about a mile and it is up then down the up a big hill. Then right at mile 21 was Government Hill Road. Yeah, even the name makes it sound bad! 0.4 of a mile and 180 feet up. uugghh. Then at the end of the road, a grass trail up another 35 feet to the observation tower.

What a great view from the top of the tower though. And a nice breeze. I talked with a couple ladies up there for a few minutes before heading out on the final 2 miles to my car. At least the first one was all downhill. Not easy though as it is 250 feet down in 1 mile. Quad and toe buster. I kicked it in the final mile and that was my fastest mile of the day around 8:30 and was able to finish with an average pace of 9:24.

Once done, I walked around and met a couple from Switzerland who has slept in their van for the night. They are travelling across the country visiting all sorts of place along the way, Today happen to be Milwaukee. Very nice people, I hope they enjoy the rest of their trip.

I have a "race" planned for Sunday. It is the Challenge Nation Urban Adventure Race. We are beginning a heat wave here in the upper Midwest so water will be a key. Not really racing it, just out there to have some fun. I'll tell you all about it soon.

Keep on Running!!!

Runner's Rambling

2011-07-12T00:07:00.004-05:00

I have had a pretty good yet slow July so far. The weather here in Wisconsin has been great for outdoor activities, just not of the running sort. I am up to 68.7 miles for the month so far with my goal being to reach 200 like last July. Will I be able to do it? Not sure at this point in time. But the fact that July has 5 weekends in it certainly helps with the ability for 5 long runs.

I did another long run this past weekend. I drove down to the lakefront in hopes of some relief of cooler air but no such luck. I started a little later than I wanted to (about 6:15AM) and it was already warm, but not as warm and humid as the run the previous weekend where Mike and I ran around Lake Geneva for just over 20 miles. This run was only going to be 18 mile at an easy pace again.

It didn't start too good as in the first half mile, one of those darn red-winged black birds attacked me by swooping in and grabbing my hair as I passed somewhere near it's nest. Scared the crap out of me since I didn't hear it coming. Then about 1.3 miles in, I realized I didn't put the glide on my inner thighs so I returned to the car to put that on, again passing the bird who was hovering and squawking at me. I returned to the trail (and the bird) and ran a nice easy out and back with good views of the lake along the way, just no cooler temps. 18.15 miles later, I was done and ready to go home to welcome 3 different 7 year old girls coming over for my daughter's 7 year old birthday slumber party.

My last post was about Summerfest here in Milwaukee. They had their inaugural RocknSole Half Marathon & 10K this weekend and things didn't go too well for some of the over 6000 runners. From the beginning, this race seemed to be put on by amateurs for a few reasons. First, the originally wanted the race to start at 10:00AM. WHAT? 10AM in Milwaukee in July for a half marathon? Are they nuts? Well, they did (smartly) change it to an 8:00AM start which is still too late if you ask me. Second, they chose the name Rock n' Sole Half Marathon. You might be thinking that this race is associated with the Rock n' Roll Marathon Series. Well, you would be wrong. To me, it just sounds like they stole the name. Yeah, I can see the difference, but too close if you ask me. (McDonald's & McDowell's comes to mind from the movie Coming to America). And then to even make it more similar, the logo's are a bit too similar in font and name. You be the judge:

To make things worse for the organizers, they had to deal with quite hot temperatures at race time and the half marathoners who started earlier than the 10K runners, used up most of the water leaving a lot of the 10K runner with no water. Many runners were taken to the hospital and many more needed medical assistance on the course. Poor contingency planning on the part of the race organizers. To the credit of the race director, he was on all the news stations taking responsibility for the errors and promising a better race next year. He has a lot of work to do so I wish him the best of luck for next year.

To be completely fair, I was not at the race so do not know what fully went on. But I was at the Chicago Marathon a few years back when it was even more hot and humid so I know what it is like to run in poor running conditions when race organizers screw up. I think this race is a good thing for Milwaukee and will improve a lot next year. Will I run it? Not sure, depends on my training schedule. There are a lot of pissed off runners out there this part weekend and some have a legitimate gripe while others are just taking it to an obscene extreme. Take this post for example of a lady who didn't even train for the race and then complains like it was the end of the world. She is one of those "blame others first and it's never my fault" types, at least that is the way it seems from this post.

Enough for now, many more miles to run in July.

Keep on Running!!!

A Funny Story

2011-07-04T22:30:00.003-05:00

We have a thing in Milwaukee called Summerfest. Summerfest is the World's Largest Music Festival and is a little secret not too many people outside of music circles know about Milwaukee. It is truly one of the gems of Milwaukee and actually has been confirmed as the World's Largest Music Festival. There are 8 large stages of music across the grounds, a few smaller stages, and one 25,000+ seat amphitheater for the very large acts. This year that would include the likes of Toby Kieth, Kid Rock, Katy Perry, Britney Spears and Sugarland. The smaller stages still hold well over a few thousand a them and attract acts like Meat Loaf, REO Speedwagon, Jackyl, Third Eye Blind, Maroon 5, Peter Frampton, Goo Goo Dolls, and one of my favorite local bands, The BoDeans. Plus tons of other nationally known acts.

Typically a stage will have 5 acts on each day with some up and coming acts just hitting the national scene and some local bands as well. Every year I love to look at all the band names as some are really funny (The Bare Naked Ladies played on year before they were known, that caught my attention). Some great names from this year that I liked was:
Rabid Aardvarks
100 Monkeys
h2-oh
Screamin' Cucumbers
Me Talk Pretty

And many, many more great names!

Here is the funny story that happened last Friday evening right outside Summerfest. I was going for a small bike ride with the girls along the lake near the Summerfest Grounds. You can bike along the lake right between the festival grounds and Lake Michigan on a path and island. You can also bike behind the Marcus Amphitheater and behind the Classic Rock Stage. It was about 7:45PM when we went back there and there are not too many people except for a few road crews for some of the bands. On this particular night, Styx was the main act on the Classic Rock stage. Outside throwing a football around was Tommy Shaw of Styx. We ended up biking past him and stopping to talk for a bit. He was very gracious to talk to us for a few minutes. As we talked, my youngest daughter, Katelynn, asked him "Are you a ROCK star?" She said it in such a cute way. He replied with "Well, some might think so" (nice to hear a guy like him not taking himself too seriously). Katelynn the asked him if she sang any songs she knew (Katelynn is only 5 so she would exactly know Styx music). He the started singing a few lines from the song "Renegade" for her. She smiled and then suddenly lunged at him giving him a huge hug around his legs. She was surprised but didn't seem to mind. I had to almost pry her off him and she held on so long.

We wished him well in his show that night and finished our bike ride and was able to find the Styx CD in the van so I could play the songs for the girls.

If you are ever in Milwaukee during Summerfest (last week of June/first week of July), I suggest making a stop in. I will be there tomorrow with the girls for a few hours.

Keep on Running!!!

Independence Day 5K

2011-07-04T22:01:00.003-05:00

This morning was the annual Independence Day 5K race in Waterford, WI that I have run quite a few time over the past years. In the past, I would try to tun this one for a fast time since it is a very flat course with few turns so made for fast running. But last year I began running this race with my oldest daughter, Melissa, who has been bitten by the running bug.

Once again this year, Melissa and I travelled to Waterford for the 5K with goal of breaking 30 minutes and maybe placing in the top 5 of the 10 and under age group and win a small wood carved plague. It was a nice day, no sun, a little warm, maybe mid 70's by race time at 8:00AM. The humidity from the previous days was mostly gone so good running weather.

The race started and we were off. I had on my Garmin so I could pace us properly from the start. I had to remind her many times in the first half mile that lots of runners would be going faster than us but not to worry as we would be passing them toward the end. We took 2 breaks during the race for small walks, once at about 0.8 miles and the 2nd at about 2.1 miles on the way back. Mile 1 was at 9:24 so we were right on pace to break 30 minutes but the complaining began.

Melissa is a pretty good runner for a 9 year old, but her mind is very weak as a runner. She is only 9 so I give her a break on this but I have to really encourage her to get past the "cramps" and "breathing problems" that she would make you feel is killing her, but in reality, she just doesn't know how to run through a little pain yet. The complaining wasn't too bad as I encouraged her to have controlled and relaxed breathing and to stay at my side instead of behind me.

For just under 2 miles, there was a cute little girl running just ahead of us all by herself. I found out later she was ONLY 5 years old. She was so well composed as a runner, pacer, and being by herself out there. Her Mom and Dad were also running and I believe her Mom won the Masters Division. We didn't see her after we passed her but I think she did really good.

In the last mile, I kept telling Melissa she was doing good and telling her where some of her "competition" was ahead of us as we passed some of them along the way. She was struggling a bit with about a 1/3 mile to go since she could not see the finish line yet and wanted to walk so bad. I got her to keep going and she finished with a great sprint with a time of 28:41, a pace of 9:12.

Now there was almost a big mess up. When the results were finally posted, it showed that she took 8th place in the 30 to 34 year age group. WHAT!?!?! I had filled out her registration so I was wondering if I had put some bad information on the form but with an age of 34 listed, that made no sense on any level. It could be that they entered her info wrong in the data base too, but instead, I just spoke to the guy about to give out awards and was able to get her name place in the proper place, 4th in her age group!

Afterwards, she was very happy and was showing everyone her award, even at her cousin's Birthday Party. She was so proud! And she said she was happy that I pushed her during the race too.

So did you run a 4th of July race today?

Keep on Running!!!

Not My Best Week of Running

2011-06-28T21:23:00.002-05:00

This week hasn't been the best running week for me. Not horrible, just not great.

It started on Saturday, I joined Chris for a long run in the morning. Chris is the Race Director for the Icebreaker Indoor Marathons (Milwaukee & Salt Lake City) and the Great Milwaukee Race. He ran up toward my house and I met him about a half mile into my run. We ran 15 miles together before he urned for home and I had 5 miles to go. Those first 15 miles were really good and fun. We ran really slow and talked the entire time about all sorts of things. It was sunny out and getting warmer as he left for home. That is when I started to struggle. You see, I was starting to run out of water and I also made a big mistake before I started running. I forgot to bring along any GU's or food at all. I was hungry and out of energy. I ended up doing the last 3 miles 1 mile at a time with a longer(ish) walk between miles. I did finish though and downs a ton of Chocolate Milk when I was done. I felt better that afternoon.

Monday I ran with Mike for 5 miles. I still felt tired from Saturday so I wasn't too happy about my recovery. My knee is getting a little more sore so that bothered me and I also has a new toe issue that just come up. It was pushing up against the front of my shoe and causing some discomfort. Turns out it was a blister completely UNDER my toe nail. Never had that happen before. I was able to get to it with a needle and drain it this afternoon for some relief so that was good.

I did run today at my daughters Track Camp. I started running on the track so I wouldn't be too far away in case I needed to stop. But Paul showed up and we ended up running on some grass trails around the school. This actually helped somehow. I was able to get in 5 miles with only a little discomfort on the toe so hopefully that was the entire problem. The knee is a different story. I just need to keep icing it after workouts I think, at least I hope that will do it.

Tomorrow is a day off from running. I am taking the girls to Six Flags for some Roller coaster fun. They LOVE roller coasters (my kind of girls!) including the 5 year old. The weather looks great so a day of fun should be a welcome break. Then it is on the a hopefully big mileage July.

Keep on Running!!!

Another Running First

2011-06-27T22:04:00.004-05:00

The funny thing about this new Running First is that is actually happened almost 4 years ago. Well sort of.

Here is the picture of what I am talking about:

As you can see, it is an entry form for the 2011 Lake Country Half Marathon that takes place on Labor Day weekend here in the Milwaukee area. It is actually a very beautiful half marathon course that I ran 2 years ago. But is you look closely, you will see a guy on the right side of the sheet pushing a jog stroller. That guy happens to be me.

This would be the first time I have ever (at least knowingly) been pictured on the cover of an entry form/advertising form for a race. I didn't even get this in the mail, a friend of mine saw it and saved it for me. Another friend saw it too and mentioned it to me.

Here is another funny thing, the picture is of me pushing my youngest daughter, Katelynn, who is now almost 6 years old. She barely fits in the jog stiller anymore. She was just under 2 years old when that picture was taken. And I wasn't running the half marathon that day, I was running the 5K since I had done a long run the day before. it worked well for me though, it was a Jog Stroller 5K PR for me that day and I took 10th place overall, 2nd in my age group. And she loved running with me, she still does even as little as we still go out.

Keep on Running!!!

Race Report - Great Milwaukee Race

2011-06-23T21:13:00.007-05:00

Last Saturday was the Great Milwaukee Race held in downtown Milwaukee. I participated on a team along with my friends Mike & Paul. We were team "Mothball, Pinto, and Flounder. Why Not?" (If you don't know the name reference, watch Animal House). Funny enough, a friend told me they saw Mark Metcalf down at the race. He was the actor who played Niedermeyer in the movie Animal House and lives in the area. Wonder if he saw our team name?

I am going to only tell you what I thought of the race and how we did overall and not get into our strategy. I know a lot of the racers read my race report from last year and I don't want to give away any strategies we may have (strategy is a big part of this race). Actually, they didn't work out too well this year anyways. Last year we took 5th place out of 50 teams and this year we took 14th. We were so bummed!

Overall, this race is a very fun and exciting race to be a part of. You never really know what place you are in because there is no set course so you keep racing all the way to the end. Not all teams race, some just participate for fun and to see the city a little.

Here are the basics. At the beginning of the race, each team is given a folder with 10 clues, a crude map of the city, a passport, and a sheet explaining some bonuses you can earn. You then solve the clues and go to each destination that the clues says to go to. At each destination, there is a challenge to take part in. Once your team completes the challenge, you earn a sticker for your "Passport" that indicates you have completed that challenge. You are only allowed to walk, run, or use city buses to get around though city buses would only slow you down. If you run the most efficient route possible, you can do the entire race in 7 miles. If you screw up a clue or go a wrong direction, the race could be any longer distance. Challenge destinations are open for 4 hours.

The race started and ended at a bar called AJ Bombers and that is where awards were handed out to the top 10 teams plus a few other awards, one being Best Team Name. We did not win that, a team called "The Knights of the Mars Cheese Castle" won that. If you are from the Milwaukee area, that is pretty funny since there is a Mars Cheese Castle just off the Interstate just south of Milwaukee.

The clues this year were far more difficult than last year and some you actually needed some "Milwaukee Knowledge" to complete. Smart Phones or using the Internet was completely allowed and encourage. You could call friends too, they just couldn't give you a ride. Here is a couple of the clues from this year:

"Clue #7 Just to make sure no teams decide to cheat and use vehicles to take them around, we include this location. It's been known to swallow vehicles" This clues references an incident from last summer during a high rain storm that caused some flooding and actually created a sink hole in the middle of the city and took an SUV down in it. It was actually on the National News too.

"Clue #6 Complete the following equation to get the address of this establishment on North Farwell Avenue: 5,060 minus 3,216 plus 4,724 divided by 8 multiplied by 3 minus 507 plus 2,244 divided by 3 plus 566 = _____ North Farwell Avenue" Not exactly a tough clue, but you still needed to do all the math. Good thing most phones these days have calculators on them. It definitely saved time.

Some of the other clues were far more obscure and definitely needed Internet search help unless you are a complete Milwaukee History geek, which I am not.

Once you arrive at each destination, you have to do a challenge before you earn your sticker. Here are some of the challenges we had to do. There was a putting mat that you had to put the gold ball into a matchbox car and make the car go into the hole. There was a full size game of Jacks where once teammate bounced a large rubber ball and the other picked up "jacks" that were about 10 inches large each. One challenge had us throwing bags into the holes of a corn holing game (big game played at tailgating parties in Wisconsin). One challenge has us walking around a dried up ice rink with a large marshmallow at the end of a plastic spoon held in our mouths. Another had us looking over a blurry picture of Veterans to find a specific blurry veteran. This was held a the War Memorial Building. The challenge I liked the best was where we had to walk up a long ramp looking in the trees around the ramp for a very small sign tacked to a tree. We then had to say the secret phrase to a volunteer at the top of the ramp. the challenge I disliked the most was when we had to go into the Wisconsin Athletic Club (A sponsor of the race) and do lunge walking for an entire lap around their indoor track. This really did a number on my knee that has some bad tendinitis.

There was also things your team could do to take time off your final score. I am not a fan of these Bonuses as it kind of takes you away from the racing aspect to this event. I can see why they like to have them, just not a fan. Unfortunately, they did not tell us how much each bonus was worth ahead of time so you could not easily determine if they were worth while. In my opinion, they were worth WAY too much time off. But here is what you could do to earn time off. Take a photo of your team next to 5 separate statues that are not a part of your clue list. Get a photo of 5 strangers (who are not a part of this race) to form a human pyramid. Get a photo of 5 strangers (who are not a part of this race) joining your entire team in a kick like. Find a monument (pictured on the clue sheet) and take a picture of your team next to it. It is on the route you will take to complete the race. Funny thing about this one was that when I heard where this monument was, we didn't even go past it on the route our team took. there was also a hidden Easter Egg at each challenge that held a time off ticket in it.

It took our team a total of 2 hours to complete the entire race and with time off, we were somewhere near 1:45.

This is one heck of a fun race to do though. It is similar to The Amazing Race on TV but more condensed and with all clues right away. After your team is done, there is the bar to hang out in and have a bite to eat waiting for the final results to come it. You then get to see the teams you saw along the course and talk all about how everyone did and the routes they took. We had a blast doing this race again this year and will definitely be doing it again next year, hopefully with better results. The only drawback I encountered was at the first challenge. When we arrived, there were about 7 teams already there so we had to wait about 10 minutes to take the challenge. I know, I know, why didn't we just get there faster. But it did suck having to wait. We didn't have to wait at any other challenge.

Great job Great Milwaukee Race.

Keep on Running!!!

Exactly 1 Hour

2011-06-15T22:46:00.002-05:00

I have been going on easy runs all week, Monday was a little over 5 miles and today was 5 miles. But on Tuesday, I ran 7 miles with Paul. My daughter and his son are in a Track & Field 'camp' that is 2 days per week for an hour and 15 minutes. This is a good time for us to go running. So yesterday, we ran 7 miles around the trails near the high school where the camp was. As I finished 7 miles, my clock said 1 hour, 0 minutes and 0 seconds. Not exactly a fast pace or a slow pace but it was just weird it was exactly 1 hour. So I ran 7 MPH.

This Saturday is the Great Milwaukee Race. I will be competing with Paul and Mike on my team. We are hoping to do well again this year but there is not much you can do to prepare for this race. It is not just a running race, it is sort of like the Amazing Race from TV. At the start of the race, we will receive 10 clues to different locations around the downtown Milwaukee area. Once we figure out the clue, we need to run to the location and to a challenge before we go to the next location. Teams can do the clues in any order they want to so that makes it fun. Last year, you could see teams running all over the downtown area in all directions. We will need to run a minimum of 7 miles, but that is if we run the most efficient route possible. Could be 8 miles, 9 miles, more? Depends on if we figure out the clues correctly too.

This is a really fun race to do and I am looking forward to it. I heard the clues will be harder this year. I hope not too hard.

Checking Out a New Race

2011-06-12T20:59:00.004-05:00

While I took the weekend mostly off from running, I did do a double run on Friday including one somewhat long.

After work on Friday, I took a nice 4 mile run on a gravel trail near where I work. It was cool out, a lot cooler than it was earlier in the week so I was able to run fast yet it felt easy. Sort of like the way a nice fall day feels after running all summer in hot weather.

I did decide to do a long run that night, much later that night though. I didn't know how far I was going to run for a few reasons.

The main reason has to do with the Ragnar Relay. What?? Well, the Ragnar Relay was in town on Friday evening, and pretty late at that. The Ragnar Relay is something I have wanted to do for a few years now but have never been able to find a team or have enough people crazy enough to make a team. This particular relay was a race from Madison, WI, through Milwaukee all the way to Chicago. 197 mile total. Teams of 4 to 12 runners (usually 12) take turns, in relay, fashion running all 197 miles and it takes anywhere between 20 to over 30 hours to complete. Each runner usually runs 3 times (more if there are less than 12 on the team). The teams each have vans that carry the other runners from exchange points to the next and all get very little sleep. Sound crazy? Sounds like my kind of race.

This year, I happen to know a few people in the race. A friend of mine John was running as well as my Blog friend Melanie. John told me about when his team was going to be running through Milwaukee so I was planning on meeting his team for a little pick me up surprise. I had a pan of brownies, some Gatorade, and some fruit all ready for his team when I found them. The problem was that John forgot his cell phone and I was unable to get a hold of him. I found this out after he called when the race was over. Well, his teams loss is my girl's gain.

Even though I couldn't get a hold of him, that didn't mean I wasn't going to check out what the race was like and run some of the course. I ended up getting to the Rawson Street exchange point a little after 11 PM. This was the closest point the course came to my home. I then began to run the course backwards hoping to run into him and I thought that was the part he was running. It was misty rain out and a little foggy but I had run this area before so I knew where I was going. It was really cool seeing all the runners coming toward me with their head lamps on glowing off in the distance getting closer.

As I was running, I would cheer the runners on even though I could not see a single persons pace as it was really dark and the light from their head lamps made it virtually impossible for me to see. At one point in time, I did run into someone I did know. Skip was running and I didn't even know it. I recognized me as I was cheering him on. We talked for about 30 seconds and then I was back looking for John. I ran to the next exchange which I learned was a "major" exchange with tons of vans and people having lots of fun. I kept running in case I was on the wrong section. I kept going until I almost got to the next exchange before I turned around and ran back.

I stopped at the Martin Luther High School exchange for a while talking with a few of the runners before I ran the last leg back to where I parked. I ended up talking to a few runners on the course giving as much encouragement as I could and then finished with just under 14 miles in.

I don't know what this event is like at the beginning nor do I know what it is like toward the end. I don't know what it is like to run on barely any sleep or running 3different relay legs in under 24 hours. But I do know that it sounds crazy enough for me. I can only hope I get enough runners to join me next year or find a team that.

Keep on Running!!!

Race Report - The Wisco Mile

2011-06-08T22:05:00.002-05:00

If you had asked me yesterday after my run if I would be running The Wisco Mile on Wednesday, I would have said "no way". I was dead from the heat and super tired. It was very hot yesterday and today was only slightly cooler.

But then I woke up this morning and thought that maybe I would run. I was still planning on running after work but then after checking the weather forecast hour by hour, I decided to give it a try. It should be cooler by the 8:00 start and maybe even raining.

What is The Wisco Mile? It is a bunch of 1 mile races held at Wisconsin Lutheran High School here in Milwaukee. This is the 4th year and the idea was born with the thought of getting in one last 1 mile race for the high school kids after the State High School Track Meet the weekend before. It has now grown to 10 different 1 mile races under the lights on the track. And let me tell you, this is one cool event, not only to run in, but also to watch. Here are the different races that they had:

Girls Grade School Mile (Grades 6 to 8)
Boys Grade School Mile (Grades 6 to 8)
Boys Freshman (High School) Mile
Girls Open High School Mile
Boys Open High School Mile
Coed Community Mile (All comers race no matter age)
Men's Masters Mile (35+)
Men's Super Mile (The really fast post college runners)
Girls Elite High School Mile
Boys High School Mile

Some of these races were REALLY fast. The grade school boys mile was won in 4:43!!! The High School Boys Elite Mile was won by a a guy who just won the D1 High School Sate Championship in 4:21 (slow time for him) and 3nd place was the D3 State Champion. They really bring in some fast guys. The Men's Super Mile was the fastest with the winner in 4:08 with 4 guys under 4:20.

I entered the Men's Masters Mile. The race started a little after 8:00 and they try to make everyone feel really special. Before the race starts, the announce all the entrants as we job the straight away to the start line. There is music playing throughout the race and the announcer keep the crowd aware of who is in the lead and some split times.

Since I had just run a marathon a week and a half ago, I knew I wasn't going to be in top shape to run a mile. So I knew to take it out comfortably. I did want to at least break 6:00 if possible and at best go 5:30. The gun goes off and I immediately go to the back of the pack of 12. I knew the fast guys would be running sub 5 so I had no intention of running with them. My first 200 was a little slow so I pull ahead of the guy in front of me. It is fast but I try to keep it relaxed. I think I went through the first quarter in 1:25.

The second lap was about the same and I think I went through the half in 2:55. Lap 3 in a 1 mile race is always a mentally tough lap. I did pretty good keeping pace but I could hear the guy behind me and I knew he was the only guy back there. With 1 lap to go, I needed to run a 1:35 final lap to break 6:00. The guy behind me was breathing down my back and I could tell he was right behind me. I bid my time and with about 150 meters to go, I poured on the sprint and pulled away from him and finished 4 second ahead of him assuring a last place finish was not for me. My final time was 5:49.

I know I can run a mile faster than 5:49, but I don't know about a lot faster. The marathon was still in my legs and the heat was a factor. In fact a storm was moving in and during the race, I could see cool lightning in the distance. No rain during the races but a ton on the drive home.

While this is a great meet for the high school kids, it is also cool for the average Joe runner wanting to know how fast they can run a mile and also for the running fan who just wants to watch a few fast and competitive 1 mile races.

Next race is the Great Milwaukee Race in a week and a half.

Keep on Running!!!

Being Goofy Again

2011-06-07T22:15:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, I signed up for the 2012 Walt Disney World Goofy Challenge (aka The Goof). I know most of you know what the Goofy Challenge is, but for those of you who do not here is what it is. On Saturday, January 7, I will be running the Disney World Half Marathon. Then on Sunday, January 8th, I will be running the Disney World Marathon. Crazy? Maybe. Nutty? Possibly. Goofy? Absolutely!

I ran this race(s) back in 2007 so I am not a Goofy virgin. I have also run quite a few "double races" over the past few years so I am not worried about finishing though I know fast times are just not going to happen.

I saw this picture on the net and had to share it. Why? Because as of right now, the Goofy Challenge is not the only running I plan on doing down at Disney World. Even though my oldest daughter has no idea we are planning to go to Disney World (Don't tell her, it is a secret), I know she will want to run the Disney World 5K that takes place the day before the Half Marathon. I will run this one with her and I know she will have a blast.

So that will make it 42.4 miles at Disney World. Sounds like a good plan to me. Goofy? Absolutely!!!

Keep on Running!!!

A Scorcher Today

2011-06-07T21:51:00.009-05:00

It was hot and sunny here today in Wisconsin. Mark, you would have loved it! Most of the Milwaukee was in the upper 90's with a few communities hitting 100 and it was humid. So it looks like we have joined a lot of the rest of the country where it is hot.

Mike and I did decide to run after work anyways. A lot of our co-workers thought we were nuts but we wanted to get out there. So we got in a slow 5 miles. I didn't wear a watch so I don't know how slow it was but it felt very slow.

It will be hot again tomorrow but the good news for those of you running the Ragnar Relay from Madison to Milwaukee to Chicago, the temps will drop dramatically on Thursday. Right now it looks like temps in the upper 60's to low 70's for that all day and night race. I know Melanie is coming to run that race, so Good Luck to her.

Here are a few pictures of Paul and I from the Madison Marathon a week and a half ago.

Keep on Running!!!

Race Report - Madison Marathon

2011-05-31T19:13:00.011-05:00

Sunday was the Madison Marathon in Madison, Wisconsin, the capital of Wisconsin. In fact, the race started and ended right in front of the Capital building, one of the most beautiful capital buildings in the country. In is modeled after the National Capital Building in Washington, D.C.

Last year, the Madison Marathon took a lot of "heat" for some of its decisions regarding the weather. In fact, I think the cancelled the race at some point during the race due to extremely hot conditions. I was not there to know whether is was warranted or not but I presume they did it for safety reasons. The weather this year was much better.

I woke up very early on Sunday to pick up Paul at his house and then drive the hour and half to Madison. It was very foggy in the morning so the drive to Madison was quite slow at times, even slowing to 35 MPH at times because I couldn't see far at all. We ended up getting to Madison plenty early and was able to snag a free street parking spot only a block from the finish line, very convenient. I called up Jamie (Running Diva Mom) to coordinate meeting her as she was gracious enough to pick up our packets the day before so we didn't have to stay overnight. She met us not long after that and we got our chips on and were ready to go to the starting line.

By the way, Jamie is a good friend of mine I met last year at the Haunted Hustle Marathon in the Madison area. She has a VERY popular blog about running and being a single Mom. She had TONS of giveaways and product reviews so if you want some free stuff or know about new running items, check out her site. Jamie was running the half marathon this day and as I spoke to her after the race, I learned she had run a 3 minute personal record time of 1:51. Way to go, Jamie!!!

Jamie and I before the race. You can see the fog is still in the air.

The start area was only about 3 blocks from where we parked so Paul and I headed there and learned it was VERY crowded. Even though the entire street was blocked off, only about half of it was used for the runners corral. Seemed like they could have used more area so Paul and I ended up starting with the 4:30 pace group as we could not get any further ahead. This was not a bad idea since it would slow us a bit at the start. It was about 55F at the start and still slightly foggy out so very humid. The race started at 7:00AM and pretty much right on time.

My goal going into the race was to run easy for the first 16 or some miles, right at about 9:00 pace and they see how it goes from there. I was not in great race shape so I didn't expect a PR or anything like that. Plus I knew the course had some challenging hills so going easy was the game plan.

One thing that is really nice about the Madison Marathon is the beauty of the city and the course. It is a University city and has nice lakes and scenery. If it were me, I would make a few changes to the course but it still was very nice.

Paul ran with me for about a mile before he took off and ran his own pace. About 2 miles into the race, we enter the UW Arboretum. This is a very beautiful road though a wooded and park area. We ran about 3 miles through here. This is one part I would change on the course though. We ran it at the start when the course was still very crowded. If it were me, I would put this part near the end of the race so runners could enjoy it more instead of making sure they didn't trip on the runner in front of them. None-the-less, it was till a beautiful run through "The Arb". At this point in time I found myself running near the 4 hour pace group. It was a big group so I made sure I was either behind it or in front of it. They were going a little fast so my pace was right near 9:00 still and feeling good.

About 7 miles in, the fog had burned off and the sun was starting to come out. Fortunately, we lucked out and some clouds moved in and the temps stayed in the 60's. At mile 8, we passed right next to Camp Randall Stadium, where the University of Wisconsin Badger football team plays. Ironically, someone waving an Iowa Hawkeye flag outside it. I think he got some good flack for it.

At 8 1/2 to 9 1/2 is the largest and most challenging hill on the course as we run up Observatory Drive. Here is where I would have changed the course again. It wasn't because we had to go up the hill, that was OK, it was because the did not run along the path that follows Lake Mendota. The race used to go on that path and I have run it tons of time when I lived in Madison eons ago. It is a shame the skipped this part and also State Street, but maybe next year.

The next 5 miles we the "boring" part of the course but not nearly as boring as most marathons. The city is very nice so boring means about 5 miles on only 2 different roads, quite straight. After mile 15, we run through a park and head back toward Lake Mendota and some more hills await in the Maple Bluff section of Madison, a very upscale area. I had gone through the half in close to 1:59 and still feeling good. the 4 hour group was still right behind me but I didn't want to make any moves until after the Maple Bluff hills. At about 18 1/2 miles, we pass the Governor's Mansion which is a beautiful mansion overlooking Lake Mendota but most people don't even know it is the Governors house as it is surrounded by other very nice houses.

The race has plenty of aid stations along the way. In fact, many of them I don't even stop at or get any water as they are close enough to the next one. They must have one every mile and the volunteers are very friendly and helpful. This is a major Pro for this marathon.

After mile 19, I decide to give more effort and make sure I break 4 hours. So far my first 3 10K's are all 56 and change so now I begun to pick off runners. The race now heads a little under 1 mile across the isthmus to the Lake Monona side and we turn toward the capital. At mile 22, I am still passing runners as I feel like I am picking up the pace. I see my average mile pace on my garmin drop from 9:03 to 8:59 and I now have a new goal of keeping it under 9:00 average.

The race moves along a path right aside Lake Monona and is a very scenic part of the course. From mile 22 to 23.75, we run right next to the lake and a little welcome breeze. I also felt a rain drop at 22 and by 23, it turned into a heavy drizzle (if there is such a thing). As for me, I liked this as it helped cool me off. By mile 23, I was very confident I had a sub 4 and now concentrated on keeping the pace under 9:00. The course goes under a busy road and then we go around Monona Bay, another scenic area.

By mile 25, we head to the final long stretch up to the capital building. It may seem like a cruel and dirty trick, but a half mile to go, we have to climb a hill about 75 feet to get to the capital square and then a short 2 turns to the finish. I push as hard as I can up the hill and still pass runners all the way to the finish line. I end up finishing in a time of 3:55:42, an 8:59 pace.

The finishing chute for the Madison Marathon with a bit of rain.

I never did catch Paul, he finished in a time of 3:49. You may think I am crazy with all the marathons I run (this being my 6th of 2011), but Paul is way more nuttier than I. This was his 4th marathon of May!!!

Paul after the race with a dry shirt and some fashionable head wear.

A dry shirt felt good and warm after the race.

It is raining at the finish so after I get some ice for my aching knee, I find Paul and the car and we change into drier shirts and head back for some beverages and food. They had a ton of Chocolate Milk at the finish area for the runners so that is a major bonus for this race. They also had plenty of water bottles, sandwiches, cookies, bananas, etc. A nice supply for runners. They also had a free beer for runners so Paul and I took a seat at a table in the middle of the road on the square and enjoyed a relaxing beer while light rain fell.

The capital building was a nice backdrop to the finish area of the Madison Marathon. This is the last turn of the course in the background.

It was getting a little chilly so Paul and I headed back to the car for the ride home. It was a good day and I was happy with my time.

The Madison Marathon is definitely a fun race to run. Great volunteers and a very beautiful yet challenging course. A good short sleeve technical shirt (finally, not a long sleeve, I have to many long sleeve tech shirts) and a much improved medal from previous years.

I have now run 6 marathons this year and 33 overall. Next up, maybe one in late August. The summer will be used for training and a few fun races.

A nice technical short sleeve shirt. Good for summer wearing.

A much improved medal over past years of the race and an really cool lanyard.

Reading The Fine Print

2011-05-22T21:45:00.003-05:00

Paul and I are planning on running a marathon next weekend. We were planning on running 1 of 2 different marathons both about an hour away from our homes. One was the Madison Marathon and the other was the Great Midwest Marathon.

Paul and I went over the Pros and Cons of each race. Pros of Madison is that is it a well organized marathon that we are both familiar with (I have run the full marathon once, the 2 person relay twice, and the 4 person relay once). There are a lot of runners to keep you going and quite a fans plus the course is very beautiful for an Urban marathon. The cons are that is is a larger marathon (1800 in the full and 4500 in the half) and that I have already run this one.

The Pros for The Great Midwest Marathon is that is is very small (we like small) with only a little of 20 finishers last year. It is also a race we did not run before as last year was the first year. A possibility for a high placement sounded good too. The cons were that is is so small and new that is could be a major disappointment and the course seemed on the map to be kind of boring.

Mike said we should do the Great Midwest Marathon since we had not done it before. I have now done 9 different marathons in Wisconsin so a 10th sounded like a good idea so we decided to do the Great Midwest Marathon. Then something didn't seem right.

Marathon Guide has the Great Midwest Marathon listed as coming up next weekend and we have been checking out the website looking at the course maps, race times, etc. Then I saw the date and it still listed 2010 on the website. More checking showed old info as well. I emailed the race with an email listed on the site with no reply. Oops, guess the race doesn't exist anymore.

So now we are going to Madison which I actually wanted to do more that Paul did but he wanted the other so I went along with him this time. I am getting excited though. The race begins and ends now at the Capital Square which is really cool. I also get to see a good friend of mine I haven't seen in awhile. Jamie is running the half marathon so I will get to see her for a bit before the race. Jamie has graciously offered to pick up our race packets the day before so we don't have to drive all the way to Madison to get them only to drive all the way home or stay over night. Jamie lives right outside Madison so very convenient for her. Paul and I will leave early Sunday morning for the 7:00AM start.

I am not into full marathon race shape but that hasn't stopped me in the past. I will go out and just have fun, enjoy the scenery, and finish #33.

Glad I read the fine print!

Keep on Running!!!

A Friends First Try at a 50K

2011-05-17T21:40:00.003-05:00

I thought I would share something with you all. My friend Chris just ran his first Ultra Marathon this past weekend here in Wisconsin. He ran the Ice Age 50K which is a 50K trail run. Lucky for Chris, it was cold, windy, and rainy on Saturday for his first Ultra.

Here is a link to his post about the race. He writes about the need for experience when running a race like this but how much fun it can be running with like minded people.

A Week Like A Roller Coaster

2011-05-15T12:28:00.003-05:00

This past week started out with OK weather. Then Mid week it got into the upper 80's and the by the weekend, crappy windy and rain. That made it interesting for the track team I coach. Thursday was a meet during the day. IT was sunny and 88F out. The kids were hot and did they best they could under the circumstances. It was the first real hot day of the summer. Then summer was over. Saturday was the last meet of the year for them (yes, a very short season). This time is was cloudy, windy, upper 40's and to make it even more perfect, it was drizzling. And with the way the track was set up, they had to run into the wind for the final straight away. The kids were really tough though and not overly complaining.

Today it is VERY windy and cool but no rain. I assume the weather is about the same 2 hours north of here where Paul is running the Green Bay Marathon today. Tough marathon conditions.

My running was like a roller coaster this week as well. Monday I got in a really good 7 mile tempo run. I didn't go out thinking I would tempo it, but I came in at about 8:10 pace. Then Tuesday I ran with the kids an felt really tired for 2 miles and then did 3 more slow miles. Wednesday it was starting to get hot. Mid 80's. I struggled again this time feeling a bit dizzy on the 5 miles run. All I could muster was 9:20 pace and that was a struggle. On my log, I even rated it only a 1 on quality.

I took Thursday off to rest some, plus I was in the sun all day at the track meet. Friday I bounced back somehow and did 5 at 8:23 pace and it felt easy. Weird.

Before the track meet on Saturday, I decided to get in a long run. I did 16 miles. The first 8 at 9:05 pace. and the last 8 around 8:32 pace. It was one of those runs where I felt like I could have kept the pace going for many more miles. I'll take that as good news.

So now the week is over and this roller caster may finally end. I hope so. Paul and I are planning on running a marathon in 2 weeks. We are not sure which one as there are 2 very close that we can drive to the morning of the race.

Race Report - Nicolet Bay 5K

2011-05-09T23:27:00.012-05:00

I was able to race pain free last Saturday in the Nicolet Bay 5K that was apart of the Door County Half Marathon. These people sure know how to put on a nice race.

We arrived in Door County and Peninsula State Park on Friday evening for a quick drive in the park and to drive the course for Melissa to see what she would be running the next day. Peninsula State Park is a little over 3 hours drive from my home and in case you are wondering where Door County is, it is the "thumb" of Wisconsin. It is the peninsula that jets out into Lake Michigan about half way up the east side of Wisconsin. It is an absolutely beautiful place to visit and explore. It is also a very big touristy place in Wisconsin because of this but not usually in the Winter and Spring. The Door County Half Marathon is basically the kick off to the tourist season.

Packet pickup in the town of Ephraim was no problem at all and they had a small expo in case you needed any last minute things. The race offered shuttles from a lot of the hotels in the area because parking was limited in the park but I had already chosen to drive. There are no big name hotels, restaurants, etc in Door Country. They keep it this way to make it quaint and still have the small town feel. It really works up here so a lot of the local hotels scheduled shuttles which helped a lot of people since there were 1500 runner signed up in the half marathon and 500 in the 5K.

Race day come and the weather is almost perfect. Sunny and about 50F with little wind. I almost wished I was running the half marathon but Melissa wanted to run the 5K and since this would be her first "Solo" 5K, I said I would be there for her near the end. She is only 9 year old after all. The half marathon started at 10:00AM and I joined them for a bit for my warm up for the 5K. After about 2 miles warm up, I headed with Melissa to the starting area where we were told the race would be delayed 5 minutes to make sure the half marathoners were clear of the course.

I wish Melissa good luck and toward the front area. I knew this race didn't call for much in the line of competition and I didn't want to be stuck behind too many walkers and slower runners. I wanted to try to run a fast time if possible.

The horn sounds and we are off. As usual in a 5K race, about 5 to 10 little kids sprint off to the front only to be passed by about 1/4 to a half mile into the race. I try to keep my pace fast yet comfortable and by about 3/4 of a mile in, I was running alone with 8 runner ahead of me and no one near me. I hit mile 1 in 6:27, exactly the pace to reach 20:00. Mile 2 had a hill in it but not too bad and I just kept the same level of effort. There were a couple runners a bit ahead of me but not really in striking distance until I caught one of them at the mile 2 marker.

Maybe it is just me, but I found it funny to see this guy all decked out in Triathlon gear for a 5K. The whole tight bike shirt and bike shorts thing. I thought that is couldn't be the most comfortable thing for a 5K but what do I know?!?! I passed him and he stayed with me for about 10 seconds and then faded. Now there was no one close enough ahead of me to realistically catch unless they had a major meltdown. Mile 2 split was 6:50.

The last mile I ran all by myself and it show in the final results. I run the mile 3 in 6:42 and end up finishing in 7th place overall in a time of 20:46. A little slower than I would have liked, but a good time considering the week off I has for the hurt back.

Like I said before, there was little competition in this race and it shows since I took 7th out of 483 runners in a time of 20:46, not exactly a stellar 5K time for placing that high. But I was happy anyways. After a quick breather, I head back onto the course running against traffic trying to find Melissa. I see her and she is running really fast! Turns out she was walking and saw me first and didn't want to be seen walking. She runs the last 1/2 mile of her race very fast passing close to 50 runners and finishes in a time of 33:38. This is a lot slower than she is capable of running but this was her first solo 5K race and she had no one to help her pace or push her to a faster time. She will learn over time what she is capable of doing.

After a 2 mile cool down, we all head to the 5K awards and find out that I was the First Place Masters Runner! My old age got me a nice plaque and a medal for first in my age group. I wish they would have given the medal to the next runner in the age group thus allowing more runners to receive awards. I will have to suggest that to them in the future. Is it just me or do you think that is the way it should be? Top overall award winners and Masters winner should be taken out of age group awards. Makes sense to me. But is is a nice little plaque.

After a nice swim int he indoor pool at the hotel, we had to go to Wilson's, and institution in Door County and my absolute favorite Ice Cream Shop. The girls love it too! We only made it there 2 times on this trip but we are planning a return trip in early August.

If you are from Wisconsin and you have never been to Door County, you are missing out on one of the Gems of the state. It is such a beautiful place to visit and stay a few few days. There is also a lot of small (and big) races for all you runners / triathletes out there. I have now done 3 different races and maybe will do another later this year. They have the small race suck as the 5K I did or the 4th of July 5K as well. Also longer like the Door County Half Marathon and the Fall 50 in October (a 50 mile race with relays too). There is the Door County Tiathlon with sprint and half Ironman distance too. And quite a few other races. And even if you are just visiting and not wanting to race, the roads as runner friendly in the towns and very friendly in Peninsula State Park. No, I am not to the tourism board of Door County even it it sounds like it, I just enjoy the area a lot.

Across the street from Wilson's has gorgeous views of Eagle Harbor and the town of Ephraim.

The road hugs the shore line of Ephraim allowing a wonderful drive.

Ephraim is a small quaint town in Door County. Lots of shops and art galleries.

I forgot to mention one of the most astonishing things about the 5K. The over all winners! In a time of 18:44, the winner was a 10 year old kid! Holy Crap!!! He was good! And not to be outdone by a lot, the overall female winner (6th place overall) in a time of 19:44 was a 12 year old girl!!! Both of these kids ran extremely well, not just for their age, but for any age. Both were very gracious in accepting their awards. Let's hope they continue to use the running gifts they have been given.

I am Back to Running . . . almost 100%

2011-05-02T20:38:00.003-05:00

I ran again! Yipee!!! I woke up early this morning and headed to the High School track for 4 miles of laps. My back was tight but I did not have the a single "twinge" the entire run. It went well. I ended up running 8:35 pace for the 4 miles and it was a little harder than 8:35 pace should feel for me. I guess that is what I get for a week off of running.

I will get in a few miles tomorrow. I am coaching the kids again and I think I will be taking them on a Fartlek run for 3 to 4 miles. They have their first track meet this Friday. I think they are having fun, i know I am.

In other running stuff, I am working on a big surprise for the 2011 WELS Kids Marathon. I don't want to jinks myself and say what it is but I think it will be really cool for the kids if it come to fruition. We are still working hard on the Kids Marathon and sign up has begun. I think we have about 30 schools participating this year! Lots of work but so rewarding!

Keep on Running!!!

Father - Daughter Dance

2011-04-30T22:35:00.005-05:00

After another Chiro appointment yesterday, I was given the OK for an easy run today. I waited until mid morning and Melissa & I headed out for an easy 4 miles. She just started running again since track practices began and I worked her and her teammates pretty hard on Thursday but she was feeling OK today. It was good to run with her since I needed to take it slow.

We started out with a first mile of 9:20 and my back was twinging some. After a small walk break at mile 1, mile 2 was slightly slower and my back was still a bit sore but not too bad. Melissa was getting tired for the last 2 miles and walked a bit more but she was a trooper and finished with a pace of a little over 10:15 per mile. Not too bad for 9 years old. I did pick up the pace a lot for the last 1/3 of a mile. I wanted to see how the back would feel going fast since I really want to run the 5K I am signed up for next Saturday. It did OK, not good, not bad.

The special part of the day today was the Father - Daughter Dance at the girl's school. This year I had the pleasure of taking all 3 princesses with me. They sure had fun running all around and dancing with their friends and having a few with me too. It is true, they grow up so fast!

Katelynn is on the left, Melissa in the middle, and Megan on the right.

The theme of the dance was Candyland. Megan had a lot fo fun.

Temporarily Out of Commission

2011-04-26T21:51:00.003-05:00

Yep, I am out, but hopefully just for a few days. My back has been pretty bad since I reached for air off the grocery store shelf and has spasmed quite a bit almost flooring me a few times.

I went to the Chiropractor on Monday afternoon and had a good adjustment but today, it was very stiff and I still had problems with the muscle spasms. So I am going back for another adjustment Wednesday morning. I am hoping this will put it all back into place and I can get back to running in a couple days. I may need to go back again before I get the OK to run again. If things go according to the way they did in the past, I should be able to run on Thursday but will need to go a few more times for adjustments. It is absolutely amazing how just a little reach for nothing can mess me up so much.

I am a bit concerned about the 5K I am signed up for on May 7th but if I am back running soon, it should not be a problem. My goal is to run faster than the 20:59 I ran a little over a week ago. I will most likely miss my hard interval workout this week but maybe rest is better.

Today was the first time I was able to do any coaching of the kids at my daughter's school. The last practice was pouring rain and the kids just did a circuit around the gym. Today it was raining pretty hard and was windy but slowed enough to go outside to finally run. the first meet in a week and a half away so not much time left. I had the boys today, 8 of them. So I marked off a 200 meter sort of oval in the parking lot (no track available) and I had them do some 400 meter intervals. I paired them up into teams of 2 and had them run 5x400 each as a a person relay. After a water break, they did 3 more 400 meter intervals all together. Most of them seemed to enjoy it (as much as one can enjoy intervals) and some surprised me at how well they did. It was definitely a rewarding day for coaching.

Keep on Running!!!

A New Trail to Run

2011-04-24T20:36:00.004-05:00

This weekend was a planned long run. Since I had decided to go long on Saturday, I skipped my run on Friday. Well, not because of that, but because I was waiting at home for the new refrigerator to show up. The delivery crew gave me a window of between 4 and 7 but 7 came and went. Finally about 9:15PM, they arrived (long day for them). After getting it in the door and all hooked up, I was able to get to bed closer to 10:30 to 11. Oh well, up by 5:30 to run.

I decided to try a new bike trail run that starts in Pewaukee and goes out toward Delafield. I saw in on some mapping websites I go to and just was curious how it was. It is called the Lake Country Recreational Trail. I got to the trail head at about 6:30 and was surprised to see that is was paved. Nice for bikers but disappointing for a runner but it will do. I took off toward Delafield at an easy pace and enjoyed the new scenery.

After 4 miles, the trail went to crushed limestone for awhile and it went through NAG-Waukee Golf Course. Up until this point, I thought this would be a good trail to bike on with my girls but along the edge of the golf course, the trail was just gravel and seemed poor for biking and just OK for running. A large hill was through the gold course to add to the challenge.

After NAGA-Waukee Park, the trail was paved again all the way to Delafield. I got to the end of the trail at 7.3 miles in. I didn't want to run only 14.6 miles so I had planned more miles. I ran to Genessee St. and across I-94 toward Lapham Peak Park. This is the park where the Trailbreaker Marathon turns around right at the top of the observation tower. Sounds like a good place for me to turn around this time so up the road I ran and climbed the 250 feet to the tower and then the 40 feet to the top. It was just over 10 miles to the tower.

After a minute of looking at the views from the highest point in the area and the local lakes all around, I was off back to my car. I was at 9:16 average pace at the tower, most gained in the last 250 feet climb in the last mile but I picked it up a little on the way back. It was cloudy so the temps stayed around 45 to 50 without the sun. With 4 miles to go, i picked it up more and was able to end the run at an average of 9:03, an under 4 hour marathon pace for just over 20 miles. I was good with this.

So the morning was good and the run was good. The afternoon was not as good. I was grocery shopping when I reached for something on the shelf. I hadn't even touched it yet when my back twinged and tightened up. UUGGHH!!! For no reason (that I know of) my back just goes out. I wasn't even lifting anything, just reaching a little over and BAM! Since this was Saturday, my Chiropractor was not in. I stretched and iced but still no luck. What a pain in the . . . well . . .back side.

Funny how someone can run 20 miles in the morning and then simply reach for something and that is what takes him out.

No improvement this Sunday morning or evening so I will call early Monday for an appointment, hopefully the Dr. is in. Most likely a couple days off of running for this but I have gone through it before and after a couple adjustments and I will be fine.

I also passed 500 miles for the year during the run, coincidentally right about half way in the run near the tower.

Keep on Running!!!

Improvised Intervals

2011-04-21T21:35:00.003-05:00

I had planned on running intervals of 6x800 after work today on the track in town. Only problem was that when I got there, a track meet was going on. Time for plan B. I had mapped out a 1/2 mile route next to the track along the road so I could do my intervals. this may have made them better as one way was into the wind and both ways had a downhill portion and an uphill portion. It was like running into a valley and ending back up a hill to finish. It is only about 35 feet of total elevation change per interval but it sure made a difference.

The first, third, and fifth intervals were with the wind and the second, fourth, and sixth were into the wind for an added challenge. All were pretty close in time to each other and I only took between 1:05 and 1:20 rest between each one. I left the watch going the whole time and with warm up, cool down, intervals, and jogs between intervals, I ended up with 5.75 miles for the workout and averaged 7:50 pace. It sure felt good to get some more speed in again. I have another 5K in a little over 2 weeks so the more speed, the better.

Now a change of subject. Did you see the Boston Marathon? I was trying to keep track of it from my desk at work but only could read twitter updates from Runner's World. I sure wish I could have watched in online or maybe heard someone giving a play by play (run by run, step by step) of the race. I was rooting for Desi Devila to pull it off. So close! Ans then the Men's race ending with a World's Best Marathon time and Ryan Hall with an American Best time too! Amazing!

A lot of people are wondering why it isn't a World Record or an American Record. Well, it doesn't qualify for either of those for 2 main reasons and I agree with those. The first reason is that the course drops 3.1 meters per Kilometer. the larges allowable elevation change from start to finish is 1 meter per Kilometer. This is to make sure they don't stage races on big time downhill course with the sole purpose of breaking world records.

The second reason the Boston Marathon course does not qualify for a world record is that the straight line distance from the start line to the finish line is something close to 25 miles. The largest allowable distance is half of the race distance, in this case 13.1 miles. This is to not create a race that predominantly run with the wind, thus giving it a wind aided time. Similar to a 100 meter race where there is a 2.0 meters per second allowable wind. I read that the wind at Boston was at the runner's back at 16 MPH. I think that would qualify as wind aided. So that is the reason, in case you were interested.

This doesn't mean I don't want to run Boston someday. I would love to qualify someday. Time will tell, I still need to drop a ton of time. Close to 25 minutes and maybe even more with the new qualifying rules starting next year. Perhaps I will just have to get older without slowing.

By the way, I did wake up early the other day and ran 4 miles before work.

I hope you all have a very Happy Easter.

Keep on Running!!!

More Snow?

2011-04-18T20:49:00.003-05:00

This is what I woke up to this morning. We only got about an inch or 2 but I've had about enough of snow for the year. It was over 80F just a little over a week ago, but that is Wisconsin weather for ya!

By the time work was done, the snow was completely gone. I went for a 7 mile run along a bike trail and felt very good. I ended up running it in 59 minutes and could have gone for many more miles at that pace. I have to coach after work tomorrow so I am going to attempt to get up before work and get a few in. Chances of me getting up? Probably slim but I will still set the alarm and hope for the best.

The last 2 weeks or so have been a little problematic when it comes to unplanned purchases. First it was the van and overheating problems. That was about $700 I didn't need to fork over. The very next weekend the battery in the car died. Doesn't sound too bad until you find out that the only way to get to the battery is to take the driver front wheel off and take off a panel in the wheel well just to access it. Not to mention how on earth you get it out then. I wasn't about to attempt it myself. Another $200 I didn't plan for. Then this week, my refrigerator decided to slowly warm up. It is sort of cold in there but it is suppose to be colder than 45F and 20F. So now another crap load of $$ needs to be spent. Uuugghh. I needed to go into the Disney Fund to help pay for these things. Oh well, just going to have to start to save more (if possible).

Good thing I run to keep the stress down.

Keep on Running!!!

Race Report - Gary's Gallop 5K

2011-04-18T07:42:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning was the Gary's Gallop 5K held at Wisconsin Lutheran College's Raabe Stadium. I have run this race 3 years in a row now and really like the small race feel and how well it is organized. My friend and fellow Icebreaker Indoor Marathon committee member Brian Volkman is the race director and even with a few unexpected snags this year, did an excellent job for a 5K race.

One thing Brian could not control was the weather. It as in the mid to upper 30's and it was misting rain along with some wind. Sound like good weather? It didn't seem to dampen spirits though as there were still 252 finishers in the 5K along with 63 walkers. Another thing Brian could not control was the construction crew. Seems that the construction crew beginning to build new stadium seating and locker facilities cut power to the sound system to all announcement were made by yelling (no bullhorn was available either as the sound system was expected to be used). The national anthem was sung by a member of the recording group Koine` but turns out we all sang together. That was a nice touch.

As with past years, we were all given a nice cotton long sleeve shirt. Same design as previous years, just a different color. I now have Green, Orange and now, Red!

The race started right on time and we headed for the parkway and down a hill toward the 1st mile mark. I was trying to relax as much as I could but it felt a little fast and I hoped to maintain knowing we would have to run back up the hill. Mile 1 was 6:34 which is about where I wanted to be. About a quarter mile later was the turn around and we headed back. I was somewhere near 30th place but at least in or near quite a few other guys which helped going up the hill. My mile 2 split was 7:08 as the hill took its toll on me. I was able to pass a few guys as we headed back to the stadium and past it before entering the baseball field area. About a half mile to go and I saw a few more guys ahead of me that I thought I could catch so I kept the pressure up. This race ends with a full lap on the track and then running to the 50 yard line of the football field. Again I was able to pass 2 guys on the track and 1 more right as we hit the football field for the final 50 yards. My finishing time was 20:59 and 23rd place overall.

I am not unhappy with my time and also not ecstatic. Considering the weather and the course, it was about where I expected. It was only 20 to 30 seconds slower than the last 2 years. After the race, I ran an additional 5 miles while the kids race was going on. The kids race it so much fun to watch. About 20 kids between 2 and 10 ran 1 lap around the track and all received a ribbon. That is pretty cool for a race to do, make the kids feel a part of the fun.

As I finished the 5 mile 'cool down', the awards were being given out and I was surprised to learn that I took 2nd in my age group. I received a medal for my efforts. In a nice gesture, as I went up to get my medal, Brian told all the other runners about the WELS Kids Marathon that I organize and hold the final mile at the same location. That was really cool.

Even on my cool down, a lady stopped me and asked if she could get her school involved in the Kids Marathon. I will have to tell you more about that as we are beginning our 3rd year.

Thumbs up to Brian on putting on another great race and I plan on running this one yet again next year. Now 3 weeks more and I will try a 5K once again up in Door County.

I Wanted to Run but ...

2011-04-12T21:55:00.003-05:00

I had planned on running today but I only was able to get a half mile in. You see, today was the first day of track practice at my daughters school. I volunteered this year to be the distance coach for the boys and girls. I was going to run with the kids but today they were doing time trials so all of them did a 1 mile trial and I timed them. My half mile came during the warm up. After practice, there was no more time to get any miles in and I needed to get my daughter home.

Practices are Tuesdays and Thursdays so I think I will just have to run before work on those days. No worries, the track is close and the port-o-lets are out for the summer. The biggest problem will be getting my butt out of bed early enough to get 5 miles in before work.

I was able to get 5 miles in yesterday and have a special 45 minutes with my youngest daughter. I was able to push her in the jog stroller for what may be one of the last time. She is now 5 years old and getting pretty big and heavy for the stroller. She is much more active than in the past when she used to either go to sleep during the run or just be quiet and look around. We talked most of the run pointing out what we saw and what we did all day. She even sang a few songs for me along the way. After 5 miles, I could tell she had about enough and was ready to get out. Won't be too many more of these runs so I will cherish the times we still have.

Keep on Running!!!

Now Some Rest

2011-04-08T22:04:00.004-05:00

A couple more good runs and now a little needed rest. On Wednesday, I ran on the track with Melissa. She ran on and off while I ran 4x800 with 200 meter jog between. I was happy that my times for the first 2 were at 3:20 and the second 2 were at about 3:10 all with only 1:20 jog rest. I had to dodge a few middle school kids as there were 2 different schools on the track practicing. I was able to talk to each of the head coaches though and invite their schools to the WELS Kids Marathon. I have not heard yet if they do want in though I have emailed them.

I didn't run yesterday as 2 of my daughters were Munchkins. Yes, their school was producing the musical The Wizard of Oz and their classes were all cast as Munchkins. They were so cute and sang really well. And as usual, I forgot the camera, GGRRRRrrrrrrrr.

I don't have a chance on Saturday to run so I decided to do my long run today after work. I ended up running 14 miles and surprised myself by doing it at 8:53 pace. I wanted to take it easy and for the most part, it was. But my right knee was really acting up some and my left was a little sore. Now I plan on taking the weekend off and really resting the legs. After last weekends marathon and the good workouts this week, I am going to try hard to not do much. Not sure it will happen.

The weather is starting to get warmer here and more and more runners are venturing out. Welcome Back!

Keep on Running!!!

A Little Help Please

2011-04-05T22:10:00.002-05:00

If you have seen my last couple blog posts, you may have noticed I am having a little trouble. Seems that every paragraph I write is all mashed up into one large paragraph. Same thing happened to the right of the screen when I updated Races List. I didn't do anything different (at least I don't think I did) with the way I post or any settings so if you know what I may have done, please drop me a note. (NEW PARAGRAPH) Another thing I need help with is my new Garmin 305. I have it set to record and alarm at every mile split. It does do this just fine but it does not show the split on the screen at all. My old Garmin showed the split for a few seconds before it went back to the timer. Anyone know how to set this? (NEW PARAGRAPH) I was able to get on the roads right away after this past weekend's training marathon. Monday I ran 4 miles and today I ran 5 miles and both felt good and easy at an under 9:00 pace. I may hit the track tomorrow for a few 800 repeats as I am thinking of running a 5K in 10 days and haven't run any speed in a long time. We'll see. (NEW PARAGRAPH) Keep on Running!!!

Race Report - Trailbreaker Marathon

2011-04-03T21:37:00.014-05:00

Yesterday was the Trailbreaker Marathon in Waukesha, WI, about 12 miles from my house. This isn't one of your huge or glamorous marathons, it is a low key, no frills marathon. It is also a tough marathon as far as a course. It is for this reason that I like to run it as a trailing run, and not as a race.

Here are some of the Pros from this years race: The registration fee is quite small. I signed up the morning of the race and it was only $55. By signing up the day of, I also saved on the Active fees. The race is quite small with only 120 finishers this year. The staff is very friendly and helpful. Again this year, they had the "Bag Drop" option which allowed you to fill a bag with whatever you wanted to have and they would bring to the 11 & 16 mile mark of the race. This came in handy this year for me. Also, they again had a medal for marathon finishers, something they just started last year. The return of the bell as well.

The Cons were that while the mile markers were accurate for the first 11 miles, after that, they were off about 1/4 mile each. They used a come to mark the miles on the way out and on the opposite side of the cone was suppose to be the mile marker for the way back, but it was off 1/4 mile. Another con is that they have too few mater stops. In the entire race, there are only 7 and some about 3 1/2 miles apart. Quite a few years ago, this race was ranked in the top 25 of the toughest marathons in North America. While it is a tough race, I am not sure it is a top 25. The course is actually not hard at all for 21 of the miles, it is the middle 5 that are quite tough, especially if you are not a trail runner as it is off road, on grass and wet slippery rocks, and this year, a ton of mud. Also unique to this marathon, at 13.5 miles, you climb a 40 foot observation tower at the top of a hill that is the highest elevation in the entire county. That is where you ring a bell and head back the way you came, more mud!

This year, I had a few friends joining me in running. Mike, Paul, and Chris came out for good training runs. The weather turned out to be really good as it was in the mid 30's for the start, overcast, and a touch of wind, but not too bad. I knew Mike and Chris would be running faster so Paul and I stayed together for the first 2 miles until he took off. I would be able to see these guys again on the off road trail since the course is almost a complete out and back.

Paul running along the bike trail. As you can see some snow is still around.

A mile in the race, suddenly I realized I forgot to put on my band aids to protect my nips. I was suddenly worried and hoping there would not be a problem. Luckily I did not have any issues.

Chris is in his final few miles of the race.

Paul took off at mile 2 just when I was joined by a guy named Jay who just wanted someone to run with. He was on a training run as well and we paced good together. I found out he was a principal of a local school and even invited his school to join the WELS Kids Marathon. He said to email him after the race and he would see what he could do but was interested. We clipped mile after mile off at an easy pace. Experience of running this race told me to take it easy until after the off road trail as that can really zap all your energy if you run it wrong or too fast.

Jay and I ran about 15 miles of the race together talking and helping each other out.

Before the off road trail, the course climbs a little more than 200 feet in a 2 1/2 mile stretch on the bike trail that used to be a rail bed so it was gradual but your legs start to notice. By the time Jay and I got the the start of the off road portion, we were averaging just over 9:15 per mile. We hit the grass and the first part feels OK. There is a notorious spot early on the trail that is always muddy and you can't go around it was it is surrounded by thorny bushes. This year, it wasn't too bad here so the shoes were not too heavy yet. Once in the woods, the trail gets very hard to run. Not only do you have to watch for rocks that are wet, but this year, the course was super muddy with a couple spots where snow/ice were still on the trail. Also, the trail is very narrow so single file is the only way to run and now other runners were on their way back from the tower going the other way.

This is where I saw that Mike was in 3rd place over all. After a high five, he was on his way back. The trail slows us down A LOT as not only our shoes are full of heavy mud now, but we begin to climb in elevation toward the tower. I get to see Chris and Paul and high fives again and I finally see the tower. But before we get the privilege of running up the tower, the trail climbs about 75 feet of steps first. Once up those, you have to climb the 40 foot tower to ring the bell before heading back to Waukesha.

Mike was running extremely well the entire race.

Jay and I are still running together pointing out muddy areas and trying to avoid the pitfalls of the dangerous course. The tower is at about 13 1/2 miles into the race and since I had my new garmin on, I was able to see my 13 to 14 mile split. This mile 14 split was a whopping 15:25! That as the mud, hills, and tons of steps and that back down all that. By this time, it was extremely difficult to run the steps so in order to conserve energy, most walk them. And then it is wet and slippery, so most end up walking down them too. The trail is just as hard on the way back to the bike trail.

Jay and I get back to the bike trail and 1/4 mile later, we were at the bag drop. I planned ahead and had a fresh pair of shoes in my bag so I stopped and changed into clean, light, non muddy shoes. Jay's parents were there cheering him on so he talked to them some as I said he could catch up to me. By this time, I looked at the garmin and the average pace went from 9:15 going into the mud, to 10:20 when back on dry pavement.

With new shoes on foot and a portion of a PB & J sandwich in me, I am able to really pick up my pace. It helps that now I get to run the 2 1/2 miles of railroad grade downhill to get me moving. It feels fast as I clip off an 8:37 & 8:48. I finish the gradual downhill with an 8:15 and know that my legs are tired but not enough for me to slow down. I look back and see Jay behind me by not too much and gradually catching up. He has changed to a 5 minute run/1 minute walk but he is running 7:30 pace when running. I am also passing a few runners who are now struggling from the muddy trail & hills. This is where I like to see a few runners ahead of me that I can use as goals to try to pass. I am also passing a few half marathon walkers who are still on the course as their race started a hour later.

A Gu or 2 keeps me going as I continue with an 8:46 & 8:17. I am trying to calculate what I would need to run to beat my time from last year which was a 4:16. I think I need to run 9:00's the rest of the way so I try to keep the pace. Jay now has caught up to me for a bit but takes his break and I don't see him again.

With only 2 miles to go, I was still feeling strong.

I keep the pressure on my pace and while tired, feel like this can only help me in later races giving me confidence later in future races. Mile 25 was a 8:19 and mile 26 was 8:08. the final 0.2 at a 7:30 pace and I finish the fasted I have ever run the last 9 miles of a marathon averaging an 8:30. My finishing time was 4:13:37 good for 57th out of 120. Considering this was only a training run and the course was extremely muddy in spots, I am very happy with that time. It was a great training run!

I feel like I could have kept going another few miles, but I didn't.

Shortly after I finish and see Jay finish, I find Paul and Mike. Turns out Mike ended up in 4th overall and was the first Master Finisher. He somehow ran 3:24:45 even after running 20 miles with me last weekend and doing a good hill workout on Tuesday. He was extremely please with his race. Paul ran pretty good finishing is 3:55:13. We found Chris who also ran this as a training run in 3:35:46. In a month, he will be running his first trail 50K.

Paul ran pretty well as well.

After the race, Mike, Paul, and I partake in another big Pro for this race. The free beer for runner! We watch the awards for the half marathon and hope that the full marathon awards are right after so Mike can pick up his Masters Winner award. Now a Con, we waited and waited and waited and finally, 6 hours after the start, the give out the awards. Why did they have to wait so long???? In fact, they gave out awards for the top 3 in all age groups and the only female still there, was the overall winner. Now they will have to mail out all the certificates, they could have saved close to $20 in postage if they just had done the awards earlier plus made the winners more appreciative.

All in all, this race has improved over the years (I have run the full 4 times, and the half and 5K once each) but there are still some simple improvements that can be done. But for only $55, I can't complain too much and do like the race. I'll probably run this again, but only as a training run.

Keep on Running!!!

Back to Running?

2011-04-01T16:59:00.004-05:00

My oldest daughter, Melissa, is back in the running game! Yesterday, we took her to InStep Running and Walking Center to buy her a new pair of running shoes. She still had a $50 gift certificate that she won at the WELS Kids Marathon so with that and the 30% off the shoes were discounted at, the price came to just under $30. Yeah, this place is pretty expensive but they have great service in getting the right shoe. Later that day, we ran over to the high school track about a 1/4 mile away and did some laps. She ended up doing a little over 2 miles. Not bad since this was her first run since last fall. There are a few 5K's she wants to do this spring so she is going to try to get back in shape. As for me, I didn't run today. Tomorrow I will be running the Trailbreaker Marathon in Waukesha, WI. As I said before, I am only running this as a training run. It rained a little today which means the off road portion of the race will be wet, and in some areas, muddy. uugghh. And since it is an out and back, we will run past it twice. So, nothing like a good long run to start the weekend tomorrow morning. Keep on Running!!!

Another "Training Run" Marathon

2011-03-29T21:22:00.008-05:00

Another 2 days of good runs. Monday was 7 miles and today was hills again with Mike. This time 6 reps. Not exactly the type of training runs you do the week before a marathon, is it? Saturday is the Trailbreaker Marathon that I plan on running. I plan on running the same as I have the last 3 times, strictly as a long training run. The course doesn't lend itself to a fast time but I like the course for a training run. The first 11 and final 9 miles are all on a paved bike trail with little, gradual elevation gain/loss, but the middle 6 miles is on a grass trail, over some muddy area, through some woods on a skinny dirt trail fill of large wet stones and a gain of about 250 feet. Oh, did I forget that when you get to the top of the hill, you have a 40 foot observation tower to climb? It is definitely a unique race. My friends Mike, Paul, and Chris also plan on running so I will have a few people to see as I pass them on their way back. The course is almost a perfect out and back except for the first mile so I will see all of them somewhere. I don't plan on running fast as these middle miles can take a lot out of you. Maybe between 9:00 to 9:30 pace on the way out. Super easy on the trails to the tower and back and then see how I feel after I get back on the paved trail. The past 2 years I have run 4:16 each year so I assume I will be somewhere near there again. Sounds like a good training run to me. Keep on Running!!!

Cold and Snowy Long Run

2011-03-26T21:15:00.003-05:00

I woke up at about 5AM this morning to get ready for my long run planned with Mike. After some quick oatmeal, I was on the road to pick up Mike. We were planning on going to the White River Trail that we have never ran on before about 10 miles from Mike's home. We arrived as it was starting to get light out.

It was cold, Mike was in some running tights but I opted to stay in shorts which at first I didn't know if it was wise or not. I think it was 22F out and it was lightly snowing with huge snowflakes. It was serene running through the large flakes falling as we headed out.

The trail is a former rail bed so it it pretty flat but i really didn't want to run fast so I kept it easy and Mike actually stayed with me for most of the time. Guess he wanted to go really slow (for his usual pace).

The decision on wearing shorts ended up being a good idea. I am sure the tights would have been OK, but after 2 miles, I was warm enough in shorts. The only time I had an issue with the shorts was about 5 1/2 miles in when we ran up on a guy walking his unleashed dog. The dog ended up half jumping up on my legs and came quite close to scratching. I felt the claws but luckily no penetration. I get nervous when dogs jump or run up on me. The owners always say the same thing like "oh, he is playful" or "He wouldn't hurt a fly". Well, I don't know that, especially when the dog aggressively comes toward me.

We turned around just after 6 miles and headed back but we were at a very slow pace. At times the snow was coming down harder but always large flakes that didn't accumulate much, maybe a 1/2 inch on the trail which just added to the cushioning. It never stopped snowing the entire run.

We had planned to keep going after we got to the car but not after I ate a quick PB & J sandwich since I was out of GU. So we headed the other way on the trail about 3 or so miles. As we turned back toward the car again, my legs were felling very tired so Mike went a little faster as I just kept it slow and easy. I could always see him ahead of me so when we got back to the car at 18.6 miles, I could see that he had kept going. Ugh, so I kept going too. I was so ready to be done. He wanted to go 19 miles but I said, as long as we were still going, let's make it an even 20, so we did.

I had stashed some Chocolate Milk in the trunk for a nice after run treat and then we headed home. This was a nice trail and kept up pretty good so we plan on heading back. I think the trail is a total of 12 miles long so a good 24 miler would be easy to do. Nice views along the way of creeks and valleys and some farmland. No really hill except for the little railroad grade hills. A few quaint very small towns along the way too. I bet this trail is used a lot during the summer by bikers.

All in all, I was not please with my run since I tired so early but I got it done and can relax the rest of the weekend now. A little over 40 miles for the week too. I guess it wasn't too bad.

Keep on Running!!!

Best Basketball Game I Have Ever Seen

2011-03-20T21:26:00.002-05:00

I have been watching a lot of basketball the last few days. Hey, we all know I like the NCAA Tourney. So with Wisconsin AND Marquette both making the sweet 16, things couldn't be better for the Wisconsin teams in the tourney. But that is not the game I am talking about that was the best one I have ever seen.

Greg (my coworker and WELS Kids Marathon committee member), his son, and I went to Madison to watch the Division 1 & 2 High School Boys State Championship games on Saturday. The first game was OK but the second game, the D1 Championship was unbelievable. Back and forth the entire game with crisp well executed playing. A last second 3 pointer to send it to overtime. A good 1st overtime still tied to send it to a 2nd overtime. A timeout called with 4 seconds left up by 2 when the team had no timeouts remaining thus a Technical Foul called and the kid made both to send the game to a THIRD overtime. In the third overtime, a 3 pointer with 10 seconds left to ties the game but a tough shot to win the game with 2 seconds left. We weren't cheering for any specific team so it was awesome just watching it all unfold. Neither team deserved to lose that game. Great, great game!

This all on a weekend that I intended on running, but lack of sleep and rain convinced me that maybe I needed a rest. Did I? No, but I am going to use that excuse. I will be back at it again this coming week.

I did see something in Madison that made me wish I had my camera. I saw a sign that said "Kill the Bill" (Imagine it in your mind). I think I should be quite offended by that. What did I ever do to that person I have never met? Naw, it has everything to do with the protests and controversy here in Wisconsin and specifically Madison. Perhaps you have seen it all over the national news since Mid February. I am not going to get into politics here or go on a diatribe as to which side I support. I just thought the sign was humorous.

Keep on Running!!!

Spring Training & The NCAA

2011-03-17T18:44:00.003-05:00

I did my first hill workout of the year today. Mike and I headed to Mountain Road (yeah that is it's real name) for a few hill reps. We only did 3 reps and it sure felt like I hadn't done hills in awhile. So I am calling this a spring training workout, just getting back into it. They weren't too bad.

Right now I am watching the Wisconsin Badgers play Belmont in the NCAA Tournament. I love the NCAA Tournament. I love the upsets (unless it is my team) and all the close games, buzzer beaters, etc. One and done! Don't have an off day or you will be out.

I also like joining bracket pools. I never win them, but I still like them. The last couple years, I have had my girls do 'brackets' too. It is always fun to see who they pick. Usually it is a team they have recognized (Wisconsin) or the team sounds cool (Butler because "But" is in their name, they are all still under 10 after all). For those of you who are into college basketball, you may get a kick out of who that have going far so I thought I would share.

Katelynn's final 4 is Kentucky, Temple, Kansas, & Wisconsin with Kentucky winning it all, or as she calls them, Kentuckyburgie. Katelynn is 5

Megan's final 4 is Marquette, Temple, Kansas, & Old Dominion with Temple winning it all. Megan is 6.

Melissa's final 4 is Georgia, Connecticut, Louisville, & Wisconsin with Wisconsin willing it all. Guess she is a 'homer'. Melissa is 9.

And for the record, I didn't pick too many upsets and have Ohio State, Duke, Kansas, & Pittsburgh in the final 4 with Ohio State winning.

Share you final 4 if you would like.

Keep on Running!!!

First Great Day of Weather of the Year

2011-03-16T20:49:00.004-05:00

I had our wrap up meeting for the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon today after work. I had planned on meeting Dana before the meeting for a nice run but when he didn't show up on time, so I went out myself. It was gorgeous outside today for March in Wisconsin. It was sunny, a small breeze and maybe in the mid 50's, just great for a run. I ran in a short sleeve shirt outside for the first time of 2011. I ended up running a 10K on the roads near the Pettit Center.

I was using my new Garmin for the first time so I had the average pace feature on like the old one. Before the run, I thought I was going to have to run pretty fast since I was going to be running with Dana but since he didn't show, I could run easier. Do you think I would take advantage of this? Noooooo!!! I ended up running the first mile in just over 8:00 and felt really good. After mile 2 being close to the same pace, I decided to turn the run into a Tempo Run instead of an Easy Run. I picked it up some and ended up running a 10K at Tempo Pace finishing in 48:37. I was quite happy about the run...and the weather.

After a short walk to cool off, I went into Pettit and into the cool ice oval area and found Dana running laps. We missed each other by a few minutes and instead of guessing which direction I went, he just went to the track. He had 3 laps to go so I ran an additional 3 laps to make it a full 7 miles for the day.

The Icebreaker wrap up meeting went well. We looked at all the reviews on Active and Marathon Guide and will try to make the changes to make as many people happy as possible. We know 100% is impossible, but there were quite a few good ideas in the reviews we will try to make happen.

Keep on Running!!!

A New Toy

2011-03-15T20:46:00.002-05:00

Last May I ran the Fargo Marathon and that was the last run my Garmin Forerunner 201 was usable. I was able to see my final time but not able to see my mile splits. Since then, the only time I have been able to use a Garmin on a run was the couple times I borrowed Mike's for a few races.

Do I need a Garmin to run with? No, but I certainly like some of the features they provide. So I finally broke down, went to Amazon, and bought the Garmin Forerunner 305. I haven't even used it yet. I put in some of the setting but haven't even synced up with the satellites yet. This Garmin has a few more features that my last one didn't. Not sure if I will use them, but it has them. This one has a heart rate monitor and software, my last one didn't. This one has mapping capability and elevation, my last one didn't. I am sure I will play with those but will I use them? Time will tell. I hope to start using it tomorrow.

I think I got a pretty good deal on it too. It was $127.99 with free shipping. It says it's usually price is $299, but I know better.

Funny thing about Amazon. I have bought a few things from there and something seems to happen often. The box that was sent to me was so incredibly larger than was needed it was funny. The Garmin box was about 5" x 5" x 5". The box that was sent to my was something like 8" x 10" x 18", it was huge! You would think they would have a smaller box than that. Lots of air pillows inside. I guess I can't complain though, it does look intact.

A Good Finish to a Good Week

2011-03-13T21:35:00.004-05:00

This past week, I ran on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. That may be one of the longest running streaks I had in quite some time. I usually take at least 2 days off per week and since I am not training for anything specific, I didn't think I would be running that often. But it turns out I did. Most of them were easy runs between 4 and 7 miles but they were all pretty good runs.

I had every intention of waking up on Saturday morning doing something running wise. I didn't. I had every intention of waking up before church on Sunday and running as well. I didn't again (stayed up too late plus lost an hour for Daylight Savings). Once church was over and I ate some lunch, I then decided to get out there. It was nice out, maybe mid 30's and mostly sunny.

I started out pretty slow and easy as the 2 PB & J sandwiches in my stomach were still thick. But I gradually picked up the pace. At close to mile 5, I had to run over some snow and ice on a sidewalk and ended up going through and got a complete soaker! It was cold but didn't last too long and I was still feeling better as time went on. I ended up running a little over a half marathon and was did it at a pretty easy feeling sub 8:30 pace. Another good run.

A little over 42 miles for the week without a "big long" run. I am happy about that.

On another running (or I should say walking) note, I was reading the Sunday paper and read that the 50,000 meter race walking world record was broken in France. Care to guess what the new world record is? 3:35:27!!!! HOLY CRAP! That is a little over 31 miles too! I can't even RUN 26.2 miles in that time yet this guy is walking 5 more miles in less time. Shows you how good these guys really are. Congrats to you Yohann Diniz!

Keep on Running!!! (or Walking)

A Good Finish to a Good Week

2011-03-13T21:35:00.001-05:00

One of My Favorite Running Links

2011-03-09T20:34:00.005-06:00

Do you have a runners website that you always go to? Maybe it is a Blog Site (I have quite a few I visit regularly). Maybe it is Runner World? I go there almost everyday and read what is up in the world of running. Maybe it is something else all together.

One site I go to ALL. THE. TIME. is http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/. What is so great about this site? Here, you can see how far you ran, plan a running route, check the elevation differences of your run, see satellite images of the area you are going to or have run in, and a whole bunch of other stuff. If I am planning a run later in the day, I may go here and plot out where I want to go to see how far it is. If I am in a new area, I go here to see what routes may be possible and what hills I may encounter. If I have already run, I track the route I ran to see how far it was that I ran.

I assume most of you already know about this site. It is not exactly a secret. But for those of you who haven't, here is a quick view of what you get.

I know the picture is small, but you can see I mapped out a possible run that I could have done. You click on "Start Recording" button and then double click on the map where you want to start. An upside-down teardrop will appear. Then, as you click along the route you ran, the route will fill in with a red line marking the shortest distance between the previous mark and the next mark. This is if you have the "automatically (runners)" tab checked. It will follow along roads and bike trails if they are marked on the map. As you go along, it will put another teardrop at each mile (or kilometer if you choose Metric). If you make a mistake, simply click on the "Undo Last Point" button. You can zoom in and out a lot to make the map the size you want it to be.

Sometimes the map isn't up to date and a trail or road you run on is not on the map. What I do when this happens is click on the "Satellite" or "Hybrid" tabs on the top of the map and you can see a visual image of the area and maybe see that trail you are running on. Then change the Draw Route option to "Manually (straight lines)" and simply click along the same way but know this will only make straight lines and not follow any route.

Once you are done with your route, if you want to see the elevation change to your route, click on the Elevation Small or Large links and the site will go out and figure the elevation level of your entire run.

Like I said, I go here a lot. It is easy to use and seems quite accurate. I know there are other sites like Map My Run, etc. but I have always like this one.

Just thought I would share in case you were interested.

Keep on Running!!!

Good Days

2011-03-07T20:21:00.002-06:00

Today's run was one of the runs. I ran a little over 7 miles over some hills and after 2, I felt like I was almost floating. It felt like I could run at that faster pace forever. It just felt really good. I ended up averaging 8:15 per mile and wasn't all that tired when I was done. So it was good!

No new blisters either. The other ones are almost gone (as well as a few toenails) so I guess I won't be wearing any sandals anytime soon.

So that is about it. You have some bad days when running and you have some good days. Today was a great day!

Keep on Running!!!

Ice for Skating and Ice for Knees

2011-03-04T21:41:00.003-06:00

I am feeling good but I am feeling beat up. Does that make sense?

I have run 4 times this week since the Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon last weekend. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I went on some easy 4 milers. Twice I ran with Mike for good conversation, the other by myself, all after work. Tuesday I could still feel the marathon (duh), but Wednesday and Thursday were very easy so I felt pretty good.

But then there was today. As I write this, I am sitting on the lounge chair in my family room with an ice pack on my right knee, 2 quite large blisters on my left foot toes and a bloody broken blister on my right foot toes. I feel like the walking wounded but I feel good. Make sense? I didn't think so.

You see, tonight I decided to take Melissa (my oldest daughter) to the Pettit Center for some Ice Skating. She got some new (used) Ice Skates for Christmas and likes to skate. We went skating together last Sunday (Yes, I can Ice Skate ... sort of ... and I can do it the day after a marathon ... sort of). She wanted to go again but I really didn't. Sounded like a perfect opportunity for her to skate while I ran laps. So that is what we did. She had a blast going around the Olympic Oval, that is until her skates laces loosened up too much and she didn't know how to retie them properly. I ended up running 40 laps which is just over 11 miles. She thinks she did 12 laps, maybe 3 miles.

I felt pretty good most of the laps, that is until the last few when I picked it up. My knee got pretty sore the final 3 or so laps, reason for the ice on my knee right now. I didn't even realize I broke a blister until the socks cam off so that doesn't hurt at all. The other blisters are annoying, but maybe a weekend of no more running will help.

I don't think that this week was the recommended workouts for the week following a marathon, but then again, when have I ever done the sane thing. I hope you all had a great week.

Keep on Running!!!

Race Report - Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon

2011-02-27T20:38:00.018-06:00

Let me start out by saying I had a lot of fun in the Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon but I had a really bad race. I ended up crashing big time and finished in 4:23:32.

The Roman Gingerich Recreation-Fitness Center on the Campus of Goshen College

I left for Goshen, Indiana Friday afternoon around lunch time arriving in enough time to check out the Roman Gingerich Recreation-Fitness Center where the race was held before dinner. I picked up my packet which had my shirt in it and then ventured upstairs to check out the track and see how hard the surface was and how tight the turns were. There were a few runner/walkers on the track but I was able to get around without any problems. I was happy to notice that the turns were not too tight though I wouldn't want to be sprinting on them. The track is 208 meters long with 4 turns on each lap. Each turn is about 10 meters long with 2 very short straight-aways of about 10 meters each and 2 long straight-aways of about 80 meters long. Right away I knew this race was going to be harder then the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon, but I like a good challenge. At least the surface was a touch softer.

The curves were tight, but not too tight to run on.

Long straight-aways of about 80 meters.

After leaving, I let my car GPS lead me to a nice restaurant near Elkhart, IN where I sat at the bar and enjoyed a large pile of Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken. On the way back to the hotel, I noticed yet another Marathon Gas Station along the way. Maybe it is just me, but I seem to notice these more often when I am away at a marathon than normal. They do have these in Wisconsin, maybe my mind is on something?

Marathon Gas Station, I like the name.

After a good nights sleep, I wake early and head over to Goshen College, a small Mennonite College names after the town. I arrive and see a lot of the runner already assembled upstairs staking out a spot along the track for their stuff and also putting their water bottle on 1 of the 4 tables in each of the 4 corners of the track. I decide to take a spot on a table away from the scorers/lap counters end of the track so I can easily get my stuff when needed. I found a runner named Yoshiko Jo who had run the Icebreaker Marathon as well and was able to present her with the award she won in Milwaukee a few weeks earlier. Next to her was a guy named Scott Dahl who mentioned that he had run the Icebreaker last year. He noticed the Mississippi Blues Marathon shirt I was wearing and said he was a pacer there. Ends up we discovered that we had actually talked to each other in the middle of that race. I was passing the 4 hour pace group making conversation and he was there. Small world! Ends up there was even another person in the race that ran the Icebreaker.

This year, the race decided to institute a chip for lap counting. Good Idea! If there were 30 lap counters along the route, that could have gotten confusing. Every lap we would have to run over 3 timing mats, an official one, a backup, and a battery powered backup too. There was a small problem with the timing mats as in the early parts of the race, 2 laps seemed to not have registered. I noticed this as I hit the lap counter on my watch every lap and knew it was off. They knew they were off as well, but they thought it was only 1 lap (this will come into play later).

Before the race, I am ready to go, even with a little sweat already.

Everyone before the race is in a good mood and ready to run. I knew from before the horn this was going to be a hard one. I was sweating before we even started. It was Hot! We were on the second floor of a gymnasium and as we all know, heat rising. And with over 30 runners, we were generating a lot of heat on our own. They did have a fan on one end of the track, but it really didn't do any good. I wish they could have opened some windows but I think they were not able to open. With snow lightly falling outside, it would have been nice to have some of that cool air inside. The race starts and off we go.

My goal was to try to break 4 hours again so I knew I had to run an average of 70 seconds per lap and for the most part, that wasn't too hard. One issue was that runners were running in every lane (there were 4) so I felt bad for the faster runners as they had to do a lot of weaving and running long on the turns. I tried to stay in lane 1 for the shortest way around the curves but had to pass a lot of runners myself.

After 30 minutes (and every 30 minutes after that), a traffic cone was placed at the halfway point of a lap and we all turned around and went to opposite direction. I think this helped as the turns could sure take a toll on you. Everyone knew that when it was direction change time, you ran in the first 2 lanes until you passed the cone and then the outside lane until everyone was going the new direction. This went really smooth.

They were playing music from 2 large speakers set on one of the straight-aways. Some of it was good and some was way too slow for running to. And some was down right annoying. Toward the end of my race, they started playing polka music. I can handle the Pennsylvania Polka, but it ended up being close to an entire CDs worth of Polka music. Uuugghhhh. Idea to the race staff, when runners register, ask them to name a few songs they like and then incorporate them into the music mix. Not every one will like all songs, but you will hear a few you like that way.

For the first half of the race, I was banging out laps right at 67 to 69 seconds and then a longer lap every 15 for a small walk break. I pass lap 102 (Half Way) at 1:58:55, PERFECT! But I knew the second half was going to be very hard already. The legs were a starting to tire too soon but I tried to maintain in hopes it would go away.

By lap 130, I was starting to go downhill. By lap 153 (3/4 done) I was already 3:43 off 4 hour pace and slowing. My laps were hovering around 1:30 give or take a few seconds which is 11:00 to 12:00 pace. I was TOAST! I just took it lap by lap and took my walk breaks every 10 laps and mentally struggled to not stop before that. My walk breaks ended up now being a full lap walk. I was ready to finish. I knew with 10 laps to go, I would be able to summon some sort of energy to pick it up but I just needed to get there.

I get to 6 laps to go and some confusion starts. I knew I only had 6 laps to go but the officials were saying I had 7. I made sure but stuck with what they said and ran until they said I was done. I was able to get back to my original pace for the last 4 laps and when they said I had 1 to go, I ran my fastest lap of the race, 1:00 flat. I even leaded on one turn too much and banged my shoulder into one of the support cables helping hold up the track. I hit those cables a few times during the race too. I was so glad to be finally done.

I am still standing glad to be done.

Turns out, I did run 205 laps. The race was 204 laps so I am very glad they didn't charge me extra for the extra lap I ran. I know one guy who will be glad after he finds out about the mistake. The winner. I was talking to him after the race and while he was happy to have won the race, we was bummer at his time of 3:00:22. He really wanted to break 3 hours. Now his official time (minus the extra lap) is 2:59:32.

It is a hard race to figure out. Of the 30 runners who ran on Saturday, I think only 1 negative split the race. And there were quite a few who crashed like I did. I think it had a lot to do with the heat but maybe it was different for them.

The post race food seemed good to me. I can never eat right after a race so I don't know if it tasted good or not, but I do know they hit a home run with having chocolate milk there. I don't understand why more races don't have chocolate milk, most of us runners love it and it is such a good recovery drink. Showers were available at no charge and if I wanted to, I could have used to pool or hot tube. If only I had more time! I ended up hitting the road for the 4 hour drive home getting there just in time to shovel the 2 inches of snow on the driveway.

There is something about an indoor marathon that you don't get from other marathons, something really cool! You get to know the runners around you and even some of the people watching. Even though there were runners 30 laps ahead of me and 30 laps behind me, we all cheered each other on. The camaraderie of a small mulitlap race like this is really awesome. If you have never tried an indoor marathon (or half marathon), give it a try. They can be hard, but a ton of fun. The Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon is a hard one for sure, but definitely a fun one. They put on a good race there. Is there room for improvement, of course, but show me a race that doesn't have that. This is only their 3rd year and this is the first year it is as big as it is. They will have it a ton better next year for sure.

Thanks to Doug Yoder for putting on such a fun event. Keep up the good work! I know I am not the only one who liked it and I am sure you heard that as well.

The finishers medal was quite unique, it is made of wood. Very similar to the one I received at the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon.

Technical shirt was given to all participants.

This is a shot of the short straight-away.

I saw this guy after the race. He was here for at least 10 minutes standing on his head. He must have been 80 years old and came prepared, check out the gloves he is wearing. I wonder what benefits he gets out of it?

NASCAR and Running

2011-02-24T20:50:00.004-06:00

I am not really a NASCAR fan but I was watching the final laps of the Daytona 500 the other day. (Amazing how that 20 year old won the race.) But it made me think abut my upcoming race, the Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon.

The Daytona 500 is a race that takes 200 laps to complete. The Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon takes 204 laps to complete. Hmmm 4 extra laps for me. Wonder what it would be like if the drivers in the Daytona 500 had to switch directions every 30 minutes? Anyways, it made me think about both races.

I will be leaving tomorrow to drive the 4 or so hours to Goshen, Indiana. I add "or so" because you never know what Chicago traffic will be like. I plan on getting down there a little after noon so maybe it will be somewhat lighter than hell. Also, Chicago is forecasted for some snow, but it should end by mid morning. We will see.

Keep on Running!