2011 Wildlife Marathon. Concord, MI

We (Rob and myself) chose this weekend for the second straight year to travel a farther distance, since we had Columbus Day off.  Rob picked me up from work on Friday afternoon and we picked up Robin at work and headed toward Chicago. Traffic was decent and we got to our hosts (Brett and Carla Saffron) around 11:30. Brett and I were pretty excited because the Cardinals had won the NLDS against the Phillies. Brett is one of the only Cardinal fans that loves the birds more than I. The next day we took our time in the morning and drove 4 hours to Concord, MI. A funny thing happened to our Maniac flag. I was trying to be courteous and roll down the window after some flatulence. I completely forgot about the flag being on the window.  We were being put up by Mark "Doc" Ott. A marathon maniac in his own right. Mark was celebrating the beginning of his 50th state weekend which commences coming up next weekend. We visited during the afternoon and had a large pasta dinner that evening. I met John ( a barefoot runner) and Joel (a CC athlete from Jackson Community College, competing in his first marathon). We had a good dinner and running related conversation. I was a little nervous about the event since I hadn't had a 20+ mile run since the marathon in July. I knew I could do the distance, but wasn't sure how I would feel in the end. I planned on doing a 3 min run to 1 minute walk mix. The weather would have been ideal if the temp had stayed the same all day, but alas it was going to warm up. Prior to starting the event a runner came up to us to express her excitement about soon joining the Marathon Maniacs. April had confessed to Rob that she usually starts out fast and falls apart and walks it in. The event started and we were off and running. By the time I had hit 4 miles, I was starting to get bored. I missed having someone to chat with as Rob and I usually do our long runs together on the weekend. I had been passing April and she would pass me back when I would walk. About mile 4 I offered to help her complete her goal of a sub 5 hour marathon. I encouraged her to try the run/walk method and she said sure but she wanted to change it to 4:1. I agreed as I love to help other marathoners achieve their goals. At around mile 7 or 8 another runner (James Bowers) began doing our intervals with us and the next 45-1 hour passed quickly. We talked about world events, the economy, etc. It was awesome. Pretty soon, the gravel country roads came and it started to get tough. The temperature was beginning to rise and I could tell April was beginning to get tired. James let us go at this point, he was beginning to feel the hills I think. April was being a trooper, but I started to get the feeling that she wasn't going to make it. She told me at mile 17 that I should go on without her. I argued with her a little, but she convinced me to go on. The next 3-4 miles, I dropped it into a faster gear to make up for some time that we had lost. I think this section really took it out of me. By the time I hit 21 miles, I was starting to question my motivation for running. I had developed a large blister on my pinky toe on my right foot and it had been screaming for the past 4 miles.  I took a gel at mile 22 and by mile 23 my mental state was better. I passed 4 runners within the last two miles and I was pretty convinced that the heat played a major factor in many of our demise this day. Rob called me as I was approaching mile 23 and told me that the clock time was around 4:19. I knew that I had time to still make it in under 5 hours. Rob encouraged me to use 2:1 intervals. I came in at 4:55:55 and went straight for the shade and some water to drink. I experimented with Pickle Juice Sport to prevent leg cramps. I used it before, during and after the marathon. I went inside the school to take a shower and by the time I got outside after the shower I was feeling very nauseous.

Border crossing picture

Me, Mark "Doc" Ott,  Joel Medina, and John Yohe

Rob had left to go get us some Coca Colas. I crawled in the car when he came back  hoping that I wouldn't have to vomit anytime soon. After a few sips of Coke and 15 minutes of cool air, I was feeling a little better. Rob and I headed south (accidentally, Rob put his home address in the GPS). We stopped at a rest stop McDonalds and had our traditional post marathon burger. When we got back to Chicago, we celebrated with a large "Chicago style " pizza from Ray Malnatis. It was my 19th marathon and my 17th state.

Ravished after a run.

Went for a little run with Rob today after work. The temp at start was about 43. I decided to run the first mile at a pretty fast pace and wound up running 7:19 for the first mile. Rob and I ran together on a course that he had been telling me about and it wound up being the exact same way I had been running during the summer. After we got back to his house I had run 5 miles, so I decided to take it up a notch for the way home. I pushed it very hard and finished the last mile in 7:15 which leads me to wonder if I am going to be able to break 23 minutes in the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. I haven't used my inhaler in over a year, but the air was cold today and I almost went for it, but decided against it.  We had supper shortly after I got back to the house and I felt like my body absorbed every calorie in about ten minutes, which left me very hungry and searching for calories. I went to Wal-Mart after I took the girls to dance and I bought a box of Snyder's of Hanover Bavarian Pretzels, ate three of them and had a Diet Mt. Dew. I realize it wasn't necessarily the best choice considering I had candy already today and I am trying to lose 10 pounds. I know that I need to drink more water. I am really enjoying my training and can truly envision one day completing a triathlon.  I have increased my swimming to three days a week and can swim a half mile without stopping. 

Bass Pro Half Marathon

The temperature at the start was about 60 degrees. If you look at the data below you will see that I went out too fast. I have got to learn to be a better overall pacer. I was starting to get a little dehydrated by the end of the race, but I felt like I finished strong. However, I finished under my goal time of 1 hour and 50 minutes. All of the miles are accurate except the last 0.1 because I forgot to hit the stop button on my GPS watch. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 0 ft Location: Springfield, MO Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 11/02/08 Up/Downhill: [+0/-0] Time: 06:02 AM Difficulty: 0 / 5.0   Weather: Fair   60 F temp; 89% humidity   60 F heat index; winds S 10 Performance Distance: 13.14 miles Time: 1:49:45 Speed: 7.1 mph Pace: 8' 25 /mi Calories: 2489 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 7' 39 -0' 51 7.8 +0.8 -- ft 2 8' 01 -0' 29 7.5 +0.4 -- ft 3 7' 56 -0' 34 7.6 +0.5 -- ft 4 7' 55 -0' 35 7.6 +0.5 -- ft 5 8' 23 -0' 07 7.2 +0.1 -- ft 6 8' 29 -0' 01 7.1 +0.0 -- ft 7 8' 17 -0' 13 7.2 +0.2 -- ft 8 8' 47 +0' 17 6.8 -0.2 -- ft 9 8' 21 -0' 09 7.2 +0.1 -- ft 10 8' 46 +0' 16 6.8 -0.2 -- ft 11 8' 47 +0' 17 6.8 -0.2 -- ft 12 8' 52 +0' 22 6.8 -0.3 -- ft 13 8' 34 +0' 04 7.0 -0.1 -- ft end 19' 10 +10' 40 3.1 -3.9 -- ft Versus average of 8' 25 min/mile

Posted from runtracker.runnersworld.com

2008 Wildcat Duathlon

This morning, I participated in the Wildcat Duathlon. This was a real fun event and one that I knew that I wouldn't be competitive in, but I ran and biked as hard as I could. I finished the first two miles in 15:58, took about a minute at the transition point and headed out for the bike ride. The bike course was hilly (in my opinion). I was riding a Trek 7.3 Fx. which is not geared like a road bike. I started out strong but many people passed me on the bike ride. It took me 52 minutes to ride 12 miles. By the time we got to the last leg, I was fairly far back. My legs felt like bricks and jello but I was able to pass about 10 people on the second two mile run and finished at 1:26:12. I feel pretty good for that time, considering it was my first race.

Head games in the morning

It's amazing to me how much running is controlled by your mind. I woke up this morning at 5 and made a pot of coffee.  When I first got up I stood there for a few minutes contemplating skipping the run and sitting in the hot tub. I'm getting tired of running with temps in the 80's so  I decided to go ahead and go for it. I drank a cup threw on my running clothes and headed out the door. I headed out down my usual route. The air was foggy and it was still dark outside. The temp was about 60, so it was perfect. I'm always concerned about dogs and other animals on the loose so I try to keep my wits about me. Initially I was going to run 30 minutes. However, I decided on a specific route without knowing the exact mileage and I wound up running 39 minutes and was able to run 4.75 miles. I was so glad I ran after I was done. With the fall coming on, I am feeling stronger and stronger. 

I'm glad I still did it

This morning I was supposed to meet Patrick for a 12 mile run at about 5:45 a.m. at Sequiota Park. But at 4:35 Pat called me to tell me the wind and rain was too much to run in this morning. I went back to sleep and was woke up at 7 by my mother calling me to tell me she was in the hospital with complaints of chest pain. Susan and I got up and went to Cox South to visit with mom. Her EKG and bloodwork had been negative and she was waiting to a treadmill stress test. She was basically in for a long day because waiting for the results of the test is usually the long part. She eventually had the test and found it to be negative and got to go home from the hospital. When we got back from the hospital, it was clear outside and I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to go for a run by myself. It was extremely windy but I relaxed and took it very easy. I was able to run 7 miles and I felt really good the rest of the day. 

Running after meals

I took the Brittany and Courtney to dance class tonight. While we were waiting for them to finish, Emily and I went down to the track at the Nixa High School and ran a little while. I ran about 2 miles then we did some intervals.  The bad part about tonight's run was that I ate  dinner about an hour before the run and I didn't run quite as fast as I would have hoped to. Emily and I both ran a 400m for time. She ran it in 1 min 37 seconds and I ran it in 1 min 29 seconds. She did really well for a 10 year old girl. 

Running with bricks on my feet

This afternoon, after work I went for a run here in Republic. As I was running, I felt very tired from the start. I was able to run over 3 miles, but I had to stop and walk several times. The temperature was about 73 at my run time. I literally felt like I was running with bricks tied to my shoes. My ipod battery was too low to use, so I carried my cellphone and played the mp3s on it.

Run to the battlefield

After not running Thursday, I decided that I better get a long run in today. I have been enjoying running with someone for the long ones, but today no one else was available. So I headed off around 9 and ran out to Wilson's Creek Battlefield entrance and back. There was a pretty strong wind out of the North which made it chilly when I first started. The sky was very overcast and at times I wondered if it was going to start raining. It never did, however.

Sunday long run

Sunday morning I slept a little later and met Patrick at Panera Bread on South Campbell and we headed out for an 8 mile run. I was a great time for conversation as we kept a very comfortable pace. After the run, we had some coffee and breakfast at Panera. We decided that next week I will run 8 with him and then ride 12 miles while he does his long run in preparation for his marathon. The above picture is from the 2007 Sunshine run last October.