I did an easy 5 miler today and it felt good. The ankle issue still is there but not bad at all today.
The thing I wanted to write about today was something I saw on Runners World on line today. It was a video trailer call From Wisconsin to Worlds. Runner World is going to do a video series about the 3 of the runners representing the USA at the T&F World Championships in Berlin Germany later this year. They all happen to have run at the University of Wisconsin and all run now in Oregon for a new Nike team with their former Wisconsin coach Jerry Schumacher (who went to High School with my brother). The 3 guys are Matt Tegenkamp, Chris Solinsky, & Evan Jager. The video series will apparently follow their training getting ready for the World Championships. This should be interesting to watch.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
A Little Catch Up On A Lot Of Stuff
It has been a long time since my last post and I have no good excuse except that it is summer and it gets busy. In the fall, winter, and spring when the sun goes down earlier and I am inside sooner, there seems more time to blog. But I digress.
So I am sitting here watching the All Star Game and thought it was a good time to catch up. So I bring you a little of this and a little of that.
First the running. Last week I was off work which always throws off my running schedule since on a weekday, I usually run after work. I decided this would be an easier week and i was with only 3 runs all week. Tuesday was 7 in the morning. Thursday was 10 in the morning. Both of these were at or close to 8:30 pace and I did them on the track at the school 1/4 mile from home. Took the next few days off while I went camping but did get in 13 on Sunday evening. I ran the first 9 at 8:32 pace and then ran the next 4 with a teacher from my daughter school at 10:16 pace pushing my youngest in the jog stroller. 30 miles for the week.
Monday was the before Volleyball run or 8 miles and that run kinda sucked. I had to stop at 5 miles to hit the woods for a minute and almost got carried away from the mosquitoes. They are terrible this year. Today was an easy 5 after work at 8:20 pace.
Sunday's run proved to be quite interesting at just under 1 mile in. I was running on a path that goes between 2 yards to the next road and I was following a girl that I would guess was 10 years old as she was biking home from her friend's house. She was about 100 feet in front of me on the road when she dumped her bike onto the road and started crying. She was wearing sandals and when i got to her, she said she was hurting. That was obvious from the road abrasions I was on her foot in about 3 or 4 spots as well as on her knee and elbow. She was wearing a helmet so that was good. I ended up seeing a neighbor next to the trail and I loudly asked him if he had some ice. I carried her to that house and he got out a lawn chair for her to sit in and got a towel. We soaked it in the sprinkler and cleaned her some and wrapped her leg in it. I then asked for a phone to call her parents but he thought I was the Dad and was surprised I wasn't. She only lived 2 blocks away but was in no way ready to walk. Her parents came and then I left on my run. I never got her name but I feel good that I could help. I guess there was a reason I was at that point of my run at that time.
The rest of my my week off was fun. I took my oldest, Melissa, to Six Flags Great America on Monday. She LOVES roller coasters and I got her on as many as I could. She is only 7 y/o and was just too short for a few but loved the ones she got on. We did all sorts of other rides and I watched her on all the spinny or twisting rides. My head cannot handle that any more. She had a blast none-the-less. There was even a concert by Raven-Simone from Disney Channel there. We saw 2 songs and left as it was ungodly loud. There was no reason I could see that it needed to be that loud especially with so many kids there. We just left and did more rides.
Camping was fun. They had a nice pond with lots of fun water objects to climb on. It rained both nights but was sunny each day. This campground is hosting a duathlon in late August that I am considering entering. It is a 2 miles run, 20 mile bike, and finishes with another 2 mile run. Sounds like fun to me.
Finally, I got an email from my friend Chris who is the race director of the InStep Icebreaker Indoor Marathon. They have scheduled next years event and have new and exciting events to be included. Sunday, January 24th, will be the full marathon again but this year they have added a half marathon on Saturday. Actually they have added 2 half marathons anticipating a lot of interest. The field limit in each half marathon is 120 (due to the size and capacity of the track) so at 7AM will be the faster half marathoners, and at 10 Am will be the slower ones. How will they determine which one to be in? I am not sure. Then at 1PM, they will have a marathon relay. They Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon relay always sells out fast so they think this will bring some shorter distance runners into the mix.The final new thing they are adding is The Gold Medal Challenge. This is like the Goofy Challenge at Walt Disney World. Only 30 will get the chance to compete in this but is consists of running the half marathon on Saturday followed by the full marathon on Sunday. Count. Me. In. I would love to run a great marathon there but the appeal to the 1/2 & full challenge is more for me. If you are interested in a January marathon, you might want to consider this one. It is a real fun experience.
Well, there is the update. I hope not to be gone this long again.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
River City Fourth Fest 5K
I ran a 5K on the 4th of July, but not before Paul and I ran and easy 10 milers on Friday morning. We headed to the trail starting at the Old Penny Bar and went to Waterford and back. We kept it easy and ended up running just faster than 8:30 pace. Paul said he was going to run the 5K the next day but he ended up not showing.
The evening of the 3rd, we went to Muskego Beach for their annual Waterbugs Water ski Show and Firework Display. The picture is on their final pyramid of the show and is almost completed when I took this picture. The fireworks were very well done and the late afternoon and evening was very fun. The beach was full of people and the atmosphere was festive. They even pointed out that Chelsie Memmel was in the crowd. She was one of the Olympic Gymnasts in Beijing and lives not too far away from Muskego.
I got up a little after 6 on the 4th of July to head out to Waterford for the River City Fourth Fest 5K. My goal was still to break 20 minutes. The weather was overcast and mid 70's. It was humid but not too bad for racing. I found Mike and Chaz for a good 2 mile warm up. We also found Chris but he ran 7 miles from home for his warm up. The race starts and off we go. There are about 300 or so in the race so the start is crowded and as always, lots go out too fast. I go out at what I feel is a good pace but as I find out at the 1 mile mark, I am too slow.
Mile 1 - 6:45, 18 seconds slower than I need to average. Now it is going to be hard to make tat up but I try to pick up the pace and begin to pass many runners. Mile 2 - 6:34, still not fast enough and now I feel like I don't have a shot at sub 20 and now it is racing to pass who is in front of me and get the best time I still can. I do pick up the pace a little though Mile 3 - 6: 29, only 3 seconds off the pace I needed to be running from the start. I pass 1 more person down the stretch and cross the line in 20:38. Could I have run faster? Yes, I think so. The first mile killed me though. 10 miles on Friday probably didn't help either but I am OK with the time.
Usually I end up placing in the top 5 in my age group in this race and get a small plaque, but this year I was 6th so nothing. I was 23 seconds out of the awards. Mike, Chaz, and another guy names Bill run 4 1/2 miles for a cool down so I got in an additional 9.5 miles for the day and I think that put me at 42.5 miles for the week.
This next week will be an easier one for me. I am off from work all week and I plan on taking the family camping on Thursday and Friday nights. And tomorrow, i am taking Melissa (my 7 y/o) to 6 Flags Great America. She absolutely loves roller coasters so I am treating her to a day of fun. One problem is that she is 53.25 inches tall in her shoes and you must be 54 inches tall to ride the biggest coasters so today we went and bought some new shoes that when she wears them and stands up really straight, is exactly 54 inches tall. I hope it works as she would be disappointed if she couldn't ride all the coasters. This is my princess who on her 4th birthday while we were at Disney World, rode the Tower of Terror 13 times.
I hope you all had a great Independence Day and your summer is off to a wonderful start.
The evening of the 3rd, we went to Muskego Beach for their annual Waterbugs Water ski Show and Firework Display. The picture is on their final pyramid of the show and is almost completed when I took this picture. The fireworks were very well done and the late afternoon and evening was very fun. The beach was full of people and the atmosphere was festive. They even pointed out that Chelsie Memmel was in the crowd. She was one of the Olympic Gymnasts in Beijing and lives not too far away from Muskego.
I got up a little after 6 on the 4th of July to head out to Waterford for the River City Fourth Fest 5K. My goal was still to break 20 minutes. The weather was overcast and mid 70's. It was humid but not too bad for racing. I found Mike and Chaz for a good 2 mile warm up. We also found Chris but he ran 7 miles from home for his warm up. The race starts and off we go. There are about 300 or so in the race so the start is crowded and as always, lots go out too fast. I go out at what I feel is a good pace but as I find out at the 1 mile mark, I am too slow.
Mile 1 - 6:45, 18 seconds slower than I need to average. Now it is going to be hard to make tat up but I try to pick up the pace and begin to pass many runners. Mile 2 - 6:34, still not fast enough and now I feel like I don't have a shot at sub 20 and now it is racing to pass who is in front of me and get the best time I still can. I do pick up the pace a little though Mile 3 - 6: 29, only 3 seconds off the pace I needed to be running from the start. I pass 1 more person down the stretch and cross the line in 20:38. Could I have run faster? Yes, I think so. The first mile killed me though. 10 miles on Friday probably didn't help either but I am OK with the time.
Usually I end up placing in the top 5 in my age group in this race and get a small plaque, but this year I was 6th so nothing. I was 23 seconds out of the awards. Mike, Chaz, and another guy names Bill run 4 1/2 miles for a cool down so I got in an additional 9.5 miles for the day and I think that put me at 42.5 miles for the week.
This next week will be an easier one for me. I am off from work all week and I plan on taking the family camping on Thursday and Friday nights. And tomorrow, i am taking Melissa (my 7 y/o) to 6 Flags Great America. She absolutely loves roller coasters so I am treating her to a day of fun. One problem is that she is 53.25 inches tall in her shoes and you must be 54 inches tall to ride the biggest coasters so today we went and bought some new shoes that when she wears them and stands up really straight, is exactly 54 inches tall. I hope it works as she would be disappointed if she couldn't ride all the coasters. This is my princess who on her 4th birthday while we were at Disney World, rode the Tower of Terror 13 times.
I hope you all had a great Independence Day and your summer is off to a wonderful start.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Today I Did A Guest Post
Hello Everyone. For those of you who ventured my way from Melanie’s Blog at Life is a Marathon, welcome to my blog. For those of you who did not, I did a Guest Post there today while Melanie is over the Pond in Europe. I posted about my experiences of running marathons at different paces and what it is like to run with the fast runners, mid-packers, and slower runners.
So for those of you who came from Melanie’s blog, my name is Bill and I run marathons and everything shorter. I have not ventured over 26.2 miles yet and really don’t have a desire to right now. I have completed 17 marathons to date and my next planned marathon is the Whistle Stop Marathon in Ashland, WI in October. I am currently a slightly faster than Mid-Pack runner with aspirations of qualifying for Boston someday. My goal this fall is to run a 3:45 like I did in October 2007.
I didn’t start out being a marathoner. In High School and College, I ran the 800M or half mile if you prefer. I was good in HS and OK in college with a PR of 1:56. I ran my first marathon on 1993 just after college and then took 11 years off before my next one. My PR is 3:40 from my first one but in 2007, I ran a 3:43 so I am closing on that PR.
I do run with those faster runners often as I have friends like Chaz, Mike, and Chris that have all qualified and run Boston a few times and run either sub 3 hours or close to it. I also run often with Paul who is on the verge of qualifying, only 3 minutes shy in his last marathon. Art & Larry also run marathons with us but are 4:00 to 4:30 marathoners and don’t run them too often.
I write this blog so those that want to follow my progress may and that maybe they can pick up a few tips from my running experience. And I read other running blogs to get the same. I don’t always write about running, there is a lot of other stuff that goes on as well.
One interesting thing I have started is I am the Race Director for a Kid’s Marathon at my daughter’s school and other schools in the Milwaukee area. If you would like to check out the official website, check it out here. The kids have already started logging miles and books (It is a reading & running marathon) and the final mile is scheduled for September 12th in the morning. All kids receive a T-Shirt and when they finish, they receive a Finishers Medal & an inspirational book. My plan is to have the final mile have the same feeling like a real marathon with music, food, excitement, giveaways, etc. So far things are coming together great. We have 195 kids signed up! I hope I don’t disappoint.
Anyways, thanks for reading. Please drop a comment and tell me who you are and what you think. I would love to hear from you.
So for those of you who came from Melanie’s blog, my name is Bill and I run marathons and everything shorter. I have not ventured over 26.2 miles yet and really don’t have a desire to right now. I have completed 17 marathons to date and my next planned marathon is the Whistle Stop Marathon in Ashland, WI in October. I am currently a slightly faster than Mid-Pack runner with aspirations of qualifying for Boston someday. My goal this fall is to run a 3:45 like I did in October 2007.
I didn’t start out being a marathoner. In High School and College, I ran the 800M or half mile if you prefer. I was good in HS and OK in college with a PR of 1:56. I ran my first marathon on 1993 just after college and then took 11 years off before my next one. My PR is 3:40 from my first one but in 2007, I ran a 3:43 so I am closing on that PR.
I do run with those faster runners often as I have friends like Chaz, Mike, and Chris that have all qualified and run Boston a few times and run either sub 3 hours or close to it. I also run often with Paul who is on the verge of qualifying, only 3 minutes shy in his last marathon. Art & Larry also run marathons with us but are 4:00 to 4:30 marathoners and don’t run them too often.
I write this blog so those that want to follow my progress may and that maybe they can pick up a few tips from my running experience. And I read other running blogs to get the same. I don’t always write about running, there is a lot of other stuff that goes on as well.
One interesting thing I have started is I am the Race Director for a Kid’s Marathon at my daughter’s school and other schools in the Milwaukee area. If you would like to check out the official website, check it out here. The kids have already started logging miles and books (It is a reading & running marathon) and the final mile is scheduled for September 12th in the morning. All kids receive a T-Shirt and when they finish, they receive a Finishers Medal & an inspirational book. My plan is to have the final mile have the same feeling like a real marathon with music, food, excitement, giveaways, etc. So far things are coming together great. We have 195 kids signed up! I hope I don’t disappoint.Anyways, thanks for reading. Please drop a comment and tell me who you are and what you think. I would love to hear from you.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Double Day
Today is a planned double workout for me. Both will be easy 5 mile runs so I am half done. I woke up early this morning and did 5 miles on the track. It was an easy pace and a bit misty out and cool. Today the forecast calls for only a high of 60, frigid compared to the 90’s we had last week.
I also ran 5 miles yesterday after work but I decided to run it completely on the bike trail which is crushed limestone. I wanted a softer surface to give my ankle any bit of help I could. It was still sore on yesterday’s and today’s run so I am still concerned.
I plan on taking tomorrow off so maybe that will give the ankle the rest it needs. The plan for Friday is an easy 10 miler with Paul. I think I will suggest another limestone path. Then on Saturday the 4th, I will run the Waterford 5K. I know 10 miles isn’t the best thing to do the day before a 5K but I am not too concerned with my time. The goal again will be to break 20. The course is almost completely flat so times can be good. In the past I have won age group awards and they go 5 deep to maybe again this year, maybe not. I will also plan on doing a 2 mile warm up and the 5 after the race to make it an even 10 for the day. This would give me 43 for the week, slightly more than last week and within an acceptable increase percentage.
I also ran 5 miles yesterday after work but I decided to run it completely on the bike trail which is crushed limestone. I wanted a softer surface to give my ankle any bit of help I could. It was still sore on yesterday’s and today’s run so I am still concerned.
I plan on taking tomorrow off so maybe that will give the ankle the rest it needs. The plan for Friday is an easy 10 miler with Paul. I think I will suggest another limestone path. Then on Saturday the 4th, I will run the Waterford 5K. I know 10 miles isn’t the best thing to do the day before a 5K but I am not too concerned with my time. The goal again will be to break 20. The course is almost completely flat so times can be good. In the past I have won age group awards and they go 5 deep to maybe again this year, maybe not. I will also plan on doing a 2 mile warm up and the 5 after the race to make it an even 10 for the day. This would give me 43 for the week, slightly more than last week and within an acceptable increase percentage.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Good Month, New Injury?
I am having a really good month of running this June so what better way to ruin it that worry about a possible new issue with my body. I ran 8 miles today before my volleyball match. I did it at a good pace of an average of 8:25. But now I am experiencing some new pain. Well, actually I have felt it for about a month but today it was its worse. It is my right ankle. Over the last month, it sort of felt like I has twisted or sprained it and it is now recovering type feeling. I feel it when I start running and it goes away and then I feel it after I am done. At first I contributed this to my old running shoes. I thought that after a new pair of non worn out shoes would do the trick and at first I thought it worked, but after this weekends 17 miler it felt sore again. Then today it was sore the entire 8 miles. It didn't help playing sand volleyball afterwards but I had to play for the team. I am hoping this is temporary and will go away real soon as I want to still increase my mileage to close to 50 miles per week but I am beginning to worry about this. I am due for a physical so maybe I will make an appointment and have this checked out as well. I have an ice pack on it now so maybe that will help. I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV so I think I will leave this one up to the experts.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Cooler by the Lake
It has been hot here in Wisconsin this week so for my weekend log run, I wanted to go somewhere where it was a little cooler. Well, when you live by a lake as large as Lake Michigan, you learn that during the summertime, it can be cooler near the lake. Sometimes by as much as 10 to 15 degrees if the wind is right. So Paul I met Paul early this morning for our run right along the lake.
Paul was only going 10 miles and I wanted to go 15 to 17 so we parked his car where mile 10 would be and I drove us to where we would start. While is was cooler, about 65 to 70F at the start, it was still humid. We started out a little slower and by mile 5 we were averaging 8:46 but i was starting to feel good so we picked it up to close to 8:15 to 8:20 pace. At about 7.5 miles, we turned around and headed back and Paul picked it up more and I tried to hang on. He only had less than 3 miles to go and I had 9 or so but I kept with him anyways as we clipped off 2 miles at 7:38 & 7:49.
After Paul stopped and I continued on after a brief walk break, my goal was to finish the final 6.5 miles to average the entire run at 8:30. I felt sluggish for 2 or so miles and I was thinking maybe those 2 miles fast were a bad idea. I did recover though and dropped it back to 8:30's. By mile 13, I noticed a problem with my sweat soaked shirt. I had not put on band aid and now I had a red mark on my shirt from a bloody nipple. I know that may sound gross to a non runner, but most of you runner understand this if not having experienced it once in your lives. I really wanted to take my shirt off and run to stop further chaffing but I was wearing my fuel belt and without a shirt, that would have caused more problems on my back and sides. Just gut it out until mile 15!
At mile 14, a passed another runner who stopped me to ask if there was any water on the trail as he hasn't ever run here before. I said I hadn't seen any fountains (bubblers here in WI) but offered him some of mine since I had some extra. He took some and off we both continued in different directions.
I arrived back at my car at 15.3 miles but wanted to continue for a full 17 miles. I dropped the fuel belt at the car which allowed me to take my shirt off. That helped a lot plus suddenly I felt a little lighter. I finished to run still feeling like I could have kept up that pace for a least a few more miles. So all in all, it was a good run this morning. I wouldn't give it an A+, but maybe an A- or B+. I got in an ever 40 miles now for the week and maybe I will get a few more in at the Family Fun Run tomorrow evening.
Paul was only going 10 miles and I wanted to go 15 to 17 so we parked his car where mile 10 would be and I drove us to where we would start. While is was cooler, about 65 to 70F at the start, it was still humid. We started out a little slower and by mile 5 we were averaging 8:46 but i was starting to feel good so we picked it up to close to 8:15 to 8:20 pace. At about 7.5 miles, we turned around and headed back and Paul picked it up more and I tried to hang on. He only had less than 3 miles to go and I had 9 or so but I kept with him anyways as we clipped off 2 miles at 7:38 & 7:49.
After Paul stopped and I continued on after a brief walk break, my goal was to finish the final 6.5 miles to average the entire run at 8:30. I felt sluggish for 2 or so miles and I was thinking maybe those 2 miles fast were a bad idea. I did recover though and dropped it back to 8:30's. By mile 13, I noticed a problem with my sweat soaked shirt. I had not put on band aid and now I had a red mark on my shirt from a bloody nipple. I know that may sound gross to a non runner, but most of you runner understand this if not having experienced it once in your lives. I really wanted to take my shirt off and run to stop further chaffing but I was wearing my fuel belt and without a shirt, that would have caused more problems on my back and sides. Just gut it out until mile 15!
At mile 14, a passed another runner who stopped me to ask if there was any water on the trail as he hasn't ever run here before. I said I hadn't seen any fountains (bubblers here in WI) but offered him some of mine since I had some extra. He took some and off we both continued in different directions.
I arrived back at my car at 15.3 miles but wanted to continue for a full 17 miles. I dropped the fuel belt at the car which allowed me to take my shirt off. That helped a lot plus suddenly I felt a little lighter. I finished to run still feeling like I could have kept up that pace for a least a few more miles. So all in all, it was a good run this morning. I wouldn't give it an A+, but maybe an A- or B+. I got in an ever 40 miles now for the week and maybe I will get a few more in at the Family Fun Run tomorrow evening.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
