Journey to My First Marathon....and beyond...

January Review

2012-02-01T16:09:00.000-08:00

I had a bit of a rough patch at the end of last year and the first couple of weeks this year, but I think I have turned it around. I have had some good runs and today was the 18th day of my streak. I have really tried to play it smart and not pile on a bunch of crazy miles to injure myself. My plantar fasciitis is still giving me some mild pains but lots of stretching throughout the day and especially after the run really has helped it significantly.

The weather has been incredible here for January, I think it has been in most places. Here is a shot of my run last Sunday.

Picture perfect day, 40 degrees and no wind!

Along with my 18 day streak I have been practicing the my 100ups before each run. I truly believe that this has helped improve my form, I do not do them barefoot...maybe I should be.

My store has partnered with the local gym and we are putting on a "Healthy Lifestyle Course". Part of the course is keeping a food log. I didn't do so well at logging my food the first week, but then I downloaded the app from www.myfitnesspal.com . It's easy to use, you just input what you eat, so far I haven't found anything that wasn't in the "food library", input any exercise that you do and it keeps track of calories and nutrients for you. It's a nice tool, here is a screen shot for what I have eaten so far today. Looks like I shouldn't have eaten that Wendy's breakfast sandwich this morning! I would like to lose about 7 - 8 lbs to get back to racing weight, but more importantly I want to be eating healthier.

As a wrap up...my miles have been good lately. In spite of a rough start to the month, I finished up running 115 miles for the month. Here is what my streak looks like. As you can see below, nothing crazy on any one day and the days where I only have 2 or 3 miles are pretty much my rest days.

I feel like I have a good base established now so the plan is to move on to some longer runs and add in some strength training. I would really like to keep the streak going for at least 30 days but I won't be so stubborn as to risk injury.

What has your longest running streak been?

Do you or have you ever used a food log?

Sunday Photo Run 1-22-12

2012-01-22T12:21:00.000-08:00

Any run in shorts in January is a great run. I ended up taking a short loop through the conservation area today. I love how quiet and peaceful it is out there.

Seven Days

2012-01-21T14:37:00.000-08:00

The streak has begun.

Not that kind of streak....this kind....

I have now run seven days in a row.

Not a big deal, but it's a start.

Pretty easy mileage, I am trying to build slowly and safely. So far I feel good.

My foot pain is mostly manageable.

It's only been a week now, running every day takes a little planning, but knowing that I can get by with a one mile run if necessary isn't so bad.

Most of my runs have been before 6am.

Running before sunrise when the windchill is in the single digits or even below zero is not my idea of fun.

But I still feel pretty awesome about getting it done.

Because of where I run,

sometimes,

it's

the

last

one

left

the

world.

What is the longest streak that you have run?
Do you mostly run alone or do you have running buddies?

Sunday Blog Time

2012-01-15T12:43:00.000-08:00

I had a little time to blog today.

2011 Mileage

I am very pleased with my miles last year leading up to the Hy-Vee Triathlon. July and August miles had a lot of cycling in them which I definitely plan on doing more of this year.

I was hit pretty hard this week with a combo sinus infection and a side order of strep throat. But I am just about through my antibiotics and managed to get a few miles in again this morning. I really have to get my training back on track. I am a little lost without a coach, I am not sure that I am disciplined enough to do a proper job of training for my first major event of the year, The Ice Age 50K, but we'll see how it all pans out.

The other event that I am signed up for is a century ride in LaCrosse Wisconsin. I completed this ride two years ago; it is a fundraiser to help find a cure for Juvenile Diabetes. I had the opportunity this year to help with a local fundraiser for a little girl in our community that has Juvenile Diabetes. It is a terrible disease that affects the entire family every day in many ways that you and I wouldn't even begin to think about. I am proud to be able to help with this. I will post a fundraising link when it is available, you can learn more about these events throughout the US here.

I would like to add in a marathon or half marathon during my training for the 50K but I haven't found one in the area yet. I would also be inclined to complete 50 miles sometime this fall if all goes well. For now, we'll just take it one event at a time and try to stay healthy and enjoy what I am doing.

I almost hate to admit it, but I am going to attempt a small running streak. My goal is to run every day the rest of January. My minimum mileage must be at least one mile per day. It doesn't sound like much, but if all goes well the next two weeks, then there is always February to consider. Yeah, it's a little unconventional and might sound a little crazy, but I look at it as a good way to get some base mileage and leg strength going again.

I am just glad that I am finally relaxed and feeling like a human again because most of last week.....I felt like a monster!

Do You Love Where You Run?

2012-01-03T15:36:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it get's a little lonely living out in the country and not having a running buddy. I have been pretty spoiled by having some great running buddies in the past. But I must say that I feel extremely lucky to have the opportunity to run in the area that I do. I gauge traffic by how many cars per mile I see, rarely is it even one.

I thought I would share a nice little 10K loop with you. Come run with me, I hope you don't mind a couple of hills, it's all part of the price you pay for the view.

This is the pavement after we get off a stretch of gravel about 6/10 of a mile.

After a short run on the blacktop we turn back onto the gravel.
There's a nice surprise at the top.

Pretty awesome view from here!
We are just about to start having some fun now.

No traffic light here!

This is looking back at where we just ran, it's almost a 2 mile stretch of gravel.

Back on the road again.
No ipods allowed, we have to be able to listen for traffic.

Uh oh...I think I see another hill around the corner.

Don't say that I didn't warn you!

We're havin' fun now!

Did I mention that there may be a couple of hills?

This pretty much sums up the views from my 10K route.

My friends and I want to thank you for visiting!

My audience

Looking Back to 2011

2012-01-01T08:09:00.000-08:00

It's been a great year and I feel like I took advantage of a good portion of the opportunities that I was offered. I didn't meet all of my goals, the big one was to qualify for Boston. But I still had a lot of fun, I trained hard, and had a few accomplishments and experiences that will change my life forever. I call that a win!

It's been an extremely mild winter to end the year, but looking back, we certainly didn't start off that way.

Snowed in! Feb. 2, 2011

Luckily, just a couple of weeks later the temperatures warmed up enough that I was able to run in shorts for the awesome Psycho Wyco Trail Run. The hills and trails for this run are pretty insane, you can read my race report here but this picture below pretty much sums up how I felt.

One of the most challenging yet fun races that I have done!

Looking back now, I had forgotten how strong I was running. In March I was able to sharpen my skills a bit at the Frisco High Line Half Marathon. It was a huge PR for me finishing in 1 hour and 34 minutes. The interesting thing about this race is that we ran it in the middle of a thunderstorm and I couldn't believe that they didn't postpone it or call it off. I also had the pleasure of meeting awesome Dailymilers David and Jon.

Next up was the the Fargo Marathon in May. I had really trained hard for this and should have crushed it. Going back through my training log it looks like I just didn't fuel properly. I really should have finished this one much faster than I did. I was really disappointed in my performance at the time but I really think I can make some improvements this year just by remembering to fuel properly through the race an not falling behind on hydration either.

My letdown in Fargo had me lost for a little while, not knowing what I wanted to do next. In June I decided that I would dip my toe into the triathlon end of the pool. I had considered the triathlon many times but swimming is what always held me back. Teaching myself to swim through YouTube videos and an online coach was not the greatest thing in the world. But it got me started. My first triathlon was the Crossroads Triathlon in Cameron, MO. I am not sure that you can really classify it as a Sprint Tri, maybe a mini sprint. It was a 200 meter swim, 8 mile bike, and 2.1 mile run. The swim was a joke, not at the time, but I can really laugh at it now. As embarrassing as the swim was, I still managed to finish first in my age group and 16th overall.

My next tri was the Panther Pride Tri in Iowa Falls, IA. I was a little smarter when I registered for this one and was right where I needed to be for the swim. It still wasn't easy, but I didn't get run over like I did in my first one. This time I finished 2nd in my age group and 8th overall.

Then came the big day, the Hy-Vee Tri. This is an olympic distance which means a 1500 meter open water swim, a 40K bike, and a 10K run. The swim was a long slow nightmare in which I was super thankful that God must have been watching over me because the water temperature had dropped enough overnight that I was able to wear a wet suit. The right and the run were pretty solid. No fancy pants age group awards on this one though.

Since the Hy-Vee Tri I really haven't done much. I ran a little local 2.1 mile race and then the Vets Day 4 mile trail run in Kansas City.

I finished 2011 off with an 11 mile run and I am hoping to start 2012 off with a 12 mile run. I am fighting some plantar fasciitis which left me hobbling after yesterday's run. I had 1,807 miles of training for the year with 1,337 of those being running. This was down 116 running miles from 2010.

My goals this year are to break into the ultra world and run the Ice Age 50K in May and if all goes well look at a 50 miler in the fall (I am open to suggestions on this one). I may even sprinkle a marathon or two somewhere in between just for fun.

With the new year upon us and all of those non-running types giving you grief over your love, just keep this in mind.

"To live is the rarest thing in the world.

Most people exist, that is all."

- Oscar Wilde

Ultra Madness

2011-12-11T05:56:00.000-08:00

It's official, I have caught the bug. 50K training started this week. Registration opens next week. The allure of running on challenging trails for 5 or more hours has proved to be irresistible. Care to join me?

How could you not want to run in a place that looks like this?

Photo Credit to dirtrunner100.blogspot

The Natural Running Store

2011-11-29T15:27:00.001-08:00

Please hear me out on this, I have a lot to say about this company, and I think that it's important to tell this story.

I have been on the search for better shoes. I have worn the same style Asics Gel Cumulus for several years now and they have served me well. But, I am a believer in natural running. I have personally seen my pace improve when I practice good form and can increase my cadence. I have dabbled with Newton Sir Isaacs with some success but find them a little hard on my feet for longer runs. Anyway, I have been a pretty loyal Road Runner Sports customer for at least a couple of years. I even pay to be a VIP member to save money on my purchases. I bought a pair of Saucony Kinvara's from RRS a little while back and after one very short run in them I knew that they were definitely not the shoe for me. Much too narrow for my wide duck-like feet.

Coach Jeff had been talking about the Altra Instinct zero drop shoes available from the Natural Running Store. I read up on them a little and I like that they spoke of a larger toe box so that your feet can spread out in them rather than having your toes crammed together. So...I pulled the trigger. I went online and was even able to get a little bit of a discount at the time. The Instincts retail for $99, really not out of the ball park for a good pair of shoes. As soon as I registered on their site and placed my order I received a video email from Patton Gleason, the President of Natural Running store, thanking me for my order. You may view the actual video here. You can learn more about Patton here.

You can click on image to see the actual video.

Later that same day, I received another video email from Patton telling me that my shoes were on their way.

It's pretty humorous, I suggest you listen to it here.

My shoes arrived in just a few days and here is what I found....

Inside the box of shoes was an additional pair of inserts, one is labeled support, the other strengthen, there was a tasty sample size LARABAR, and on the lid of the box are some brief notes about the Altra's describing The Technique, The Transition, and The Fit.

The box states that they should feel like you are wearing slippers, I will vouch for that!

Ok, so what, they have a couple of cheesy videos and they shipped my shoes pretty quickly.

Let me tell you.

Here, in my opinion is what sets them apart from the competition. There was one more item in my box, it was a hand written thank you note.

Really, a thank you note for buying a pair of shoes!

I was stunned and impressed that John at the Natural Running Store actually took the time to write me a personal thank you note for buying a pair of shoes. Very cool!

But wait...that's not it. The day after my shoes arrived I received a personal email from John asking about my training and goals.

I have to tell you that because of John and the service that I received from the Natural Running Store, I now know what it truly feels like to be a VIP. The best part, it didn't cost me any extra!

As a side note, I really don't have anything against RRS. They have always been pleasant on the phone, they have a huge selection of running shoes, clothing, and other accessories. But the personal service that I received from the Natural Running Store was second to none and if they start carrying clothing along with their shoes, I will be hard pressed to go anywhere else.

You can learn more about the Altra Instinct here.

Santa Returns!

2011-11-27T11:43:00.000-08:00

Friday night was the Jingle Bell Run in Sioux Falls. I was just lucky enough to be in town and find a Santa suit so we could pull off an even better version of our 2009 event.

Thanks to Joseph, we had a great team of reindeer this year! There really is not much to say about this event other than it was great fun running with friends, seeing the excitement in the kids' faces, and hearing their shouts of "Santa!". I got a couple of hugs and verbal Christmas lists from the kids, and we even made the Sioux Falls newspaper again this year.

With my grandson Elliot before the run.

Hangin' out before the run, check out the kids behind me

Santa with the coolest reindeer!

Santa fueling up the sleigh?

Vets Day Trail Race

2011-11-15T15:53:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to participate in the 4 mile Veterans Day Trail Race in Kansas City this weekend. I LOVE the challenge and variety that trail running and racing offers. Most of my training this year has been with longer more aerobic runs so a 4 mile trail race was quite the challenge for me. I was pretty much redlining most of the run, and after the first 2 miles I did walk some of the hills just to get my heart rate back under control.

It was a new course through the Wyandotte Lake area in Kansas, there were several areas of the trail that were cambered and leaf covered. I was one of the lucky few towards the front that did not take a wrong turn off of the path. As you can see, just by looking at the course here, it would not be difficult to do so.

The course is almost all single track which made it difficult to pass. But, being a fairly low key race, everyone moved when asked. There were no huge hills like Run Toto Run, but there were plenty of little ups and downs to keep a person challenged. Here is a snapshot of the elevation.

I started fairly close to the front because I knew it was going to be difficult to pass once we got into the trees. I let a few people jump out ahead of me knowing that some of them would fall back as we got into the race.

I was able to pass quite a few people but after mile 3, I was passed back by two of them. I kept right on the tail of one of the guys but just didn't have the strength to pass him back again. He didn't walk any of the hills but I was able to make up my ground on him on the flat and downhill sections. I was hoping that he was going to wear himself out running up the hills. He was pretty tough and was able to stay in front of me. I finished the race in 31:04 and 10th place overall. As you can see by the times here, it looks like pretty much everyone behind me took a wrong turn on the trail.

This was a fun race and also very difficult. I had the pleasure of introducing trail running to a friend from Bethany and also had the opportunity to meet fellow Dailymile badass Sherrie who recently ran 54 miles on 9/11.

It's Tuesday and I am still a little sore from the rocky and uneven terrain but I can't wait to get back out there again!

Attempting to smile for the camera.

Yeeehaww!

Excuses

2011-11-08T04:07:00.000-08:00

I thought about writing a lot of long winded excuse about how busy I have been at work and haven't had time to run or exercise much. This may be true...but, we are all busy, I am not the only one that works long hours. I just didn't have a plan or a goal in mind.

I changed that. I have a training plan and even a race or two up my sleeve.

It's times like this that remember just how much I need running. I am a much calmer and nicer person when I run. It helps take the edge off. I hit the road at 5am Monday morning. It was just a little 40 minute run, but it made the entire day oh so much better.

Racing Reminiscing

2011-10-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

Do you remember your first time?

I hadn't really thought about it recently, until today. A Daily Mile friend posted a picture of her and her daughter from the Halloween Trick or Treat Trail Run in Sioux Falls and the memories all came flooding in.

I remember how new I was to running. Back in 1999 I was running in cotton shorts and t-shirts. No Garmin or Timex watch, just me looking at the clock on the wall as I headed out the door. I remember that a long run back then was 5 miles. Running has been quite the journey for me. I have saved most of my racing bibs and I generally write the race results, date, my age, finish time, average pace, and placing on the back of most of them. Here are what I would today consider my top ten for various reasons.

1. The Trick or Treat Trail Run in Sioux Falls. Of course number one has to be my first race, it was back in 1999. I remember several runners wearing costumes, in particular a group of guys taking turns pushing each other in a wheel chair. This was a 4 mile race, I still have the newspaper results, I finished in 31:03, not too shabby for my first! My most memorable moment of this race is coming around the last turn before the finish, I was giving it all I had just to make it to the finish line when all of the sudden....a speed walker passed me. Pretty damn funny if you ask me!

1999 Trick or Treat Trail Run - Sioux Falls, SD

2. I moved to Illinois shortly after my first race. I found a strong running group in Illinois, the Illinois Valley Striders (IVS). The great thing about IVS is that there were 5K or 10K races within about an hours drive almost every weekend. I really "cut me teeth" for running with 5K's. My first 5K was on July 1, 2000, I finished in 24:16. It was ok, the most memorable part was finishing up at the Peoria Chiefs Ballpark by running across home plate.

2000 Peoria Chiefs 5K - Peoria, IL

3. Race number three is my 5K personal best.This took place on June 15, 2002 in the Prostate 5K. I finished in 19:11 and was also first in my age group at that race! I don't remember a whole lot about that race other than seeing 18 minutes slip away on the clock. Still a great race and a PR to this day.

June 2002/ 5K personal best of 19:11 - Peoria, IL

4. Race number 4 is my first half marathon. This took place in Delavan, Illinois. We had a bus take us out into the middle of the country. We ran two 6 mile loops and finished up by running into town and finishing at a school. This was in March, I remember it was cold and there was really nothing to see but miles of blacktop roads and empty corn fields. I finished in 1:50:29 and was 3rd in my age group. They did a great job of using up old leftover racing bibs as this one was 3 years old when it got to me!

May 2001 Delavan Half Marathon - Delavan, IL

5.First Marathon. Throughout most of my running and racing history I had no desire to run a marathon. A good friend of mine in Sioux Falls talked me into it. We decided that we would train together and run it together. About halfway through the training he became injured, so I had to go solo. I made a lot of rookie mistakes, went out too fast, bloody nipples, didn't drink enough fluids. It was a tough go but very emotional at the finish. There is nothing like finishing your first marathon. Finishing time was 4:10:12, I haven't improved a whole lot from the first.

October 2009 First Marathon - Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

6. Frisco High Line Run for Scouting Half Marathon, Springfield, MO. This is my half marathon personal best and I got it this year! I must say that I was in pretty damn good shape coming out of the winter. I did this race in preparation for a Fargo Marathon BQ (that never happened). It was a nice little race. I remember it that it was extremely flat and we ran it in the middle of a thunderstorm. I was surprised that they didn't call it because there was lightening and thunder going off all around us. I finished in 1:33:45, I was 10th overall and 3rd in my age group. I was also lucky enough to meet Jon and David of Daily Mile fame!

March 2011 Frisco Half Marathon - Springfield, MO

7. Hy-Vee Triathlon. This was my first Olympic distance triathlon. I did run two sprint triathlons prior to this but I am not quite sure what I did with the bib numbers.The triathlon is a whole other beast. The training takes a lot of time and dedication while the actual race itself requires patience and discipline in order to make it through all three events. I am probably more proud of this than any of my other accomplishments because of the training and logistics involved. If you are a triathlete or considering becoming one, I highly recommend the Hy-Vee Triathlon. It is well organized and a first class event all the way! (I may be a little biased because I work for Hy-Vee so do your homework first)

September 2011 First OD Triathlon - Des Moines, IA

8. Dam to Dam. I ran this race back in June of 2002, that was a really strong year of running for me. If you recall from # 3, this was my year of the 5K PR. The Dam to Dam was the first time that I had met up with people from a running social networking site. I can't remember the name of the site but I believe that Josh Cox ran it before it was turned over to Cool Running. I remember running near a barefoot guy for awhile, I thought he was crazy. It was a great race, I finished in 1:28:01 (7:05 pace) and was 135th overall out of 2,500. I was pretty proud of myself!

June 2002 Dam to Dam - Des Moines, IA

9. Lake Run - Best Darn Race By a Dam Site. This also was in my 2002 breakout year. Interesting note about this race is that it is a 12K and a 4.37 mile run. The 12K runs around the lake and the 4.37 mile is an out and back course. They start at the same time in opposite directions but finish at the same place. I do remember that there were some ladies walking 3 abreast for the 4.37 mile run taking up half of the road. I was pretty mad that I had to run around them because they were inconsiderate and didn't even think to move. Yeah...you would have thought I was trying out for the Olympics or something. Still a great race, my 12K PR with a finishing time of 49:12 (6:37 pace).

2002 Lake Run - Normal, IL

10. Polka Pace Race. Really nothing special about this 5K, I just thought you might find the name amusing like I did. I ran this back in 2000, two moths after I had run my first 5K. I lowered my time to 21:55 by the time I ran this race in September. I was a 5K machine back then! My fan club (my daughter) decided to write a little note on this one. :-)

2000 Polka Pace Race - Havana, IL

As I finish writing this there are a lot of other races I could have included. Running and racing has allowed me to have a healthy hobby and meet a ton of awesome like-minded people. It has been an awesome journey and I look forward to the future!

Do you remember your first time? Any interesting racing stories from the past?

I have completed race distances of 2.5 mile, 5k, 4 mile, 4.37 mile, 10K, 12K, 10 miles, 15K, 20K, Half Marathon, and Marathon. I am working on a possible 50K for 2012. What unusual race distances have you run?

Running Safety

2011-10-23T17:25:00.000-07:00

We are in the middle of bow hunting season for deer here in Missouri, rifle season is just around the corner. Things get a little crazy out here in the country. I can remember one Sunday morning last fall being able to hear gunshots going off around me and a hunter with a blaze orange vest and a rifle slung over his shoulder walking down the road. For those of us that do a lot of running on the rural roads, I would like to send out a friendly reminder of the proper way to dress for this time of year.

First of all, you never want anyone to mistake you for a deer. Although it may seem funny at the time, you certainly don't want to run through the countryside dressed like this!

WRONG!

If you must insist on running outdoors during the prime deer hunting season, I recommend incorporating bright colors such as blaze orange into your running wardrobe. A good headlamp is a great investment too. I wear the Tikka X2 headlamp that has modes including a flashing white or red light. This may help keep the rednecks from using you for target practice. Here is an example of what a person might wear.

CORRECT

Thanks for stopping by, have fun and be safe out there!

Bucolic and Heterogeneous

2011-10-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

Somebody left me a comment on Daily Mile about my run being bucolic. I learned a new word that day. If you are like me and didn't know the meaning, Merriam-Webster states that it is an adjective "relating to or typical of rural life". I noted in my Daily Mile post that I had seen pigs, chickens, goats, sheep, and cows. With that being said...it was quite the bucolic run.

Today's post will be a bit heterogeneous. It's always important to learn new things!

You can be anything you want to be, if only you believe with sufficient conviction and act in accordance with your faith; for whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.

Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.

Look for the opportunity in everything.

When you choose to keep moving toward a glimmer of hope, focusing on any minute possibility of success-rather than focusing on the obstacles in the way-you succeed simply in the trying.

2011-10-02T17:01:00.000-07:00

I have had a tough time with the life balance lately. Training for the Hy-Vee Tri took a lot of planning and commitment, but it also caused me to put off a few things at work. Since the tri I have been working quite a bit more; it's a good thing I love my job and the people that I work with. The thing that I have found out about myself though, is that I have to have a fitness goal, or at least a plan of some type. I parted with my coach after the triathlon and have been taking it pretty easy for the last couple of weeks. In fact, I didn't run a single mile this last week. I have become very good friends with the snooze button on my alarm. I still think about running and enjoy running, but actually doing it hasn't really been happening.

Corrin and I went to the Chiefs vs. Vikings game today to cheer on the beloved purple!

Beautiful day at the game!

Unfortunately our cheering didn't help and the Vikings are now 0-4. We had a great time though! On the drive home, I made up my mind that I would write up a running schedule for myself. I have my eye on a couple of different runs, but nothing concrete. My goal is to simply get some time on the road, build some mileage and have fun with it. The real test will be Monday morning when the alarm goes off. I know right now that it's going to be a real battle to see who wins. I will have all of my clothes laid out and ready to go tonight. With a little luck and a lotta will power I will be back on the road tomorrow morning. This really is some of the best running weather and it would be a shame to miss out on any more of it.

Wandering Sunday

2011-09-25T07:04:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Day

Cows in the mist.

Starting the morning run. (Notice the freshly mowed lawn!)

Miniature horses

The traffic is light today...and every other day.

Sunday Run

2011-09-18T13:01:00.000-07:00

Took a nice Sunday drive in the Asics today. I had a new route in mind that I figured would take close to 2 hours to complete. I cruised through some nice rolling hills this morning, none of them real massive but as you can see, they just never stop around here.

Surprisingly, I realized after I was done that this was the longest distance that I have run since April. Now that I am falling back in love with running, it's time to see if I can spend some more quality time with her. :-)

Being able to check out the elevation profile after a run is pretty cool if you ask me!

Sights on today's run included:

Miniature horses (they ran with me)
Cows (they ran from me)
Amish family walking down the road to church
goat
flock of sheep
field of mums
pig
Chickens
8 vehicles in 13.1 miles

Running out here can be an adventure, I will try to take the camera with me next time.

I do have my next race in mind. I am looking at the Fall Fell Trail Race in Olathe Kansas on October 16th, or maybe, (probably not though) the Lake Perry 50K on October 22. This would be my first attempt on the 50K distance. We'll see how it all pans out with the short training window, it may be biting off a little more than I can chew, but that wouldn't be anything new for me.

Hy-Vee Triathlon Recap

2011-09-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

My Hy-Vee Triathlon Adventure.

Exciting coming into town!

Cool back pack received at check in. Part of the race swag!

When I arrived in Des Moines, I immediately hit up the expo and got registered. We had to sit through a 15 minute briefing that really didn't tell me much. Then we completed registration and picked up some cool stuff!

Upon registering we received a backpack, choice of hat or visor, and a nice bike jersey.

I dropped my bike of at the transition area. It was huge! This picture was taken from the entrance, see the little white tent in the back? That's where my bike went. Row 32 of 35! It made for a long way out to the bike course, but the run went out the back side, so I was in a good spot for it.

This is a good shot of the starting area. I won't lie, it was intimidating looking out at the swim buoys and seeing how far we would be swimming. All I can say is thank God for cooling the water down enough for it to be wet suit legal!

The swim went ok. I made it. I was happy to be out of the water!

It really startles you when you touch someone else in the water. It was difficult for me to site the buoys, especially when we headed into the sun and my goggles were fogging.

I was 944 / 991 in the swim. That's ok because I finished!

Getting ready to roll out on the bike! I was VERY thankful to be out of the water and into my comfort zone.

I was having fun and feeling good on the ride. I probably could have pushed it a little harder in retrospect, but I averaged 18.8 mph after swimming a mile. I can accept that.

Off of the bike and into the run! I maintained a solid pace on the run. I felt like I was consistent and was able to pass several people. I had some cramping issues a couple of times but I made sure that I drank plenty of Gatorade and water at the stops. Luckily it didn't get too bad. I was able to maintain a 7:23 average pace on the run. A little faster than I expected!

Finally finished!

So to wrap things up, my finishing results are as follows:

1500 meter swim 40:14 944 / 991

T1 4:17

40 K bike 1:19:16 565/991

T2 3:23

10K run 45:56 206/991

Overall finish time was 2:53:14 429 / 991

Age group (40-44) 60/96

I am happy with the results. I had predicted that it would take me about 3 hours to finish. The swim was actually 5 minutes faster that I had guessed.

I don't plan on doing any more triathlons this year. It is way too difficult to get any swimming in around here and that's where I need the most work. The last few weeks of my training I was driving an hour each way to get to a pool. It's really not feasible to continue to do that.

It was a great experience and I am happy to have completed it.

One of best parts of this entire experience was that I had a great support crew of family there to watch and cheer me on. It was a pretty awesome day!

Panther Pride Triathlon Recap

2011-08-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

The Panther Pride Triathlon, located in Iowa Falls, Iowa, was my second and final "trial run" before the Hy-Vee Tri. My goals for this triathlon were to increase my comfort zone and efficiency throughout, but most of all I wanted to be able to relax and complete the swim in good form.

Saturday morning was a cool 59 degrees, I was thankful for the indoor pool swim. I had the usual case of pre-race nerves, but nothing serious. I was just looking to have some fun today, no pressure. After a small breakfast of oatmeal and a waffle with peanut butter, I loaded up the truck and headed to to the tri. I wasn't excited about the 9am start but it actually gave me plenty of time to think things through and be prepared in every way.

I set up my transition space and then went to check out the pool. It's a nice indoor pool; we were going to be swimming down and back in each of the 6 lanes for a total of 300 yards.

I went back to look over my transition set up one more time and found that the person next to me had moved my stuff back behind my rear tire and put his stuff where mine was! His bike was facing the other way on the rack and he had his items behind his tire. He had a nice tri bike so I figured that his wasn't his first tri but I didn't want to assume so. I suggested we move things around a bit and told him that it would make his transition easier. He was actually very nice about it and accepted my suggestion. I'm glad he was easy to work with because and any confrontation was avoided. I really think that his transition likely went better for him with this arrangement also.

After that little crises it was getting closer to start time. I went back to the pool and got in to warm up a bit and get acquainted with the water temperature. I took a lap of the pool and then got out and watched some of the other swimmers warming up. I have really become a bit of a study on swim strokes and noticed a wide variety of them, very interesting and some quite humorous. I am definitely nobody to judge on swim stroke but I can now see some big differences.

Enough of the fluff, it's go time!

The Swim
I was athlete number 54 which meant that I was the 54th swimmer to start based upon my estimated swim time (pretty close to the middle of the pack). This gave me a great opportunity to watch several people swim and even some struggle through the water. Good or bad, watching a few other people struggle made me feel a lot less self conscious and more relaxed. It was all good, I wasn't going to be the only one that had some trouble. Again, my goal for this swim was to focus and staying relaxed and keeping good form.
I was calm and ready at the start with very little to no anxiety. The starter counted down and I was off! I did my best not to be aggressive and just swim, telling myself the entire way to relax and glide. The first lap went great, I made it down and back without any trouble and felt good. Towards the end of the second lap I actually caught up with the person in front of me. I was in my own little zone and it surprised me when I reached out and touched her feet in front of me. It threw me off a little but she paused and let me pass by her. Yes, I actually passed someone in the water! Then very shortly after that I was passed by the person behind me. I don't feel so bad about this because she had told me earlier that she had been a lifeguard when she was younger. I did have to breaststroke a few times to get my breath during this swim but the thing that I noticed is that it is a lot of work to get going again once you slow down like that. I also grabbed the side about 3 times to catch my breath. I know...not good if I am going to be lake swimming in two weeks. Regardless, I was out of the water in 8 minutes 54 seconds and the same position in which I had started. Progress!!

The Bike
So I was out of the water and ran to the transition area. My plan was to attempt to get my Garmin on for the ride and run but it was being uncooperative and taking too much time, so I just left it there. I was out of T1 in 1:06 and onto the bike. The bike was fairly uneventful, I was able to pass several people and never got passed back. There were a few hills and once we were out on the countryside it seemed like we had all headwind and no tailwind. I just focused on keeping a good fast cadence and finished well. It was supposed to be a 15 mile ride but we rode at least a good half mile past the 15 mile marker. My finish time on the bike was 51:26 which translates to about an average of 18mph.

The Run
Into T2 to prepare for the run. I have been practicing running without any socks in my Newtons. So far my runs have all gone well without any blisters or rubbing. T2 transition was 1:10 (I need to get speed laces) and I was off and running. We started up a slight incline and then quickly had a very steep decline. It was actually one of the more difficult hills that I have run down, that pounding is really hard on the body. I quickly found my groove after that hill and the 5K run was on! It was a challenging rolling course, lucky for me there is nothing but hills in my training area. I started picking off several runners and the first mile went by quickly. After the first mile they actually had a 1.5 mile marker, this is pretty unusual and I really didn't like it. In my opinion it just seemed to make those miles longer. After 2.5 though I figured that I could finish the last .6 with a good kick. But...that wacky course director had to throw in another big hill just before the finish. You know, one of those hills that makes you feel like your heart could explode as you run up it. Nice touch. I finally sprinted into the finish with a 5K time of 22:26 (7:14 pace). A little slower than I had expected but I will chalk that time up to the hills (not to mention the swim and bike prior to running).
My overall finish time was 1:25:04 which placed me second in my age group and 8th overall. Not bad for a rookie if I do say so myself!
View results here.

This was a difficult race, it definitely tested my abilities throughout. My strategy for the Hy-Vee Tri, which is an Olympic Distance tri, will be to just get through it. I don't feel like I will be quite strong enough or seasoned enough yet to "race" this one.

What I Learned

I am going to have to fuel better before and during the Hy-Vee tri.
I have two weeks to be able to relax on my swim. I estimate it will take me a good 45 minutes to complete it. (yeah, that's a long swim)
My heels rubbed in my shoes this time. I will either need to wear socks or get my shoes laced tighter before the run.
The weather is cooling down fast, I will have to purchase a wet suit and learn to swim in it within the next two weeks.

Things are coming down to the wire. I fear that I may have bitten off a little more than I can chew this time but there is no backing out now. I am going to do my best to be prepared and make it through this event. I know I can do it, it's just going to be one of the bigger challenges that I have faced. Ready or not, Hy-Vee Tri, here I come!

Swimming Anxiety

2011-08-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

I am not typically a worrier, in fact I generally use stress as a motivator. I am all about pushing myself and testing my limits but currently, I seem to have a real battle going on in my mind. There are less than 3 weeks until the Hy-Vee Triathlon and my swimming confidence is far from where it should be. It seemed to be getting better, I had a nice couple of swims last week then I sent a video to the coach and he gave me some pointers to improve my technique. I am going to be honest and tell you that this really 'effed up my swim this morning. I had an extremely difficult time trying to relax, which is a huge part of swimming. When you are running or biking, you don't have to think about much, it's pretty automatic. Being a new swimmer I have to try to think about hand position, body position, arm position throughout the stroke, how and when to kick, when to breath and how to breath without sucking in a gallon of water.It's all pretty damn overwhelming, mostly because I have signed up to swim 1500 meters in a lake in less than 3 weeks.

I am not defeated!
My plan is to battle those little negative thoughts that keep creeping into my head, you know the ones that say, "will I have to have a boat pull me out?" and "can I stay relaxed and not panic in the water?". There is extra pressure because I will have several family members there to watch and the company I work for is sponsoring the event. How's that going to look if I drown in front of my family or have to get pulled out of the water in front of coworkers? The mind can be cruel.

My plan is to watch a YouTube videos on swimming techniques daily hoping to train my mind what good technique looks like. There are some great Total Immersion videos that teach you the little intricacies of swimming easier and more relaxed. I have written some positive affirmations to help build my confidence and force out the negative thoughts, and I will continue to work on relaxation, confidence, and skills in the few training swims that I have remaining. I know that I can do this, I just have to relax in the water and take my time getting through the swim one stroke at a time.

The start of my swimming affirmations

If you are really bored, this is my swim intervals video that I sent into the coach.

This is what swimming is supposed to look like.

Home made breakfast / energy bars

2011-08-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

It can be tough to find something quick, easy, and nutritious for breakfast. Most of the time I am in the habit of not eating much of anything before a morning run, it just doesn't seem like there is enough time to digest anything from the time you wake up until the time you hit the pavement.

I think I have found a solution! I stumbled across this recipe on one of my favorite recipe sites, allrecipes.com. This is a great place to see how other people rate, prepare, and tweak recipes submitted by others. The recipe I found is called Jo-Ann's Power Bars. You can check it out here and see what other people thought about it too. These bars taste awesome, digest easily, and are a great natural energy boost. My wife and I ate the first batch in about two days. She liked them so much she made a second batch and added some coconut. The other nice thing about these bars is that you can easily add, substitute, or change just about any one of the ingredients. I suggest you try the original recipe first and then tweak it to your liking.

Good luck and let me know what you think!

Jo-Ann's Power Bars

Ingredients

1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat and barley nugget cereal (e.g. Grape-Nuts™)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 (7 ounce) bag chopped dried mixed fruit

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a 9 inch square baking pan with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, stir together the oats, flour, cereal, and cinnamon. Add the egg, applesauce, honey, brown sugar, and oil. Mix well. Stir in the sunflower seeds, walnuts, and dried fruit. Spread mixture evenly in the prepared pan.
Bake 30 minutes, or until firm and lightly browned around the edges. Let cool. Use the foil to lift from the pan. Cut into bars or squares, and store in the refrigerator.

Nutritional Information

Serving Size

1/12 of a recipe

Servings Per Recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories

197

Calories from Fat

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 6.6g

10 %

Saturated Fat 0.9g

4 %

Cholesterol 18mg

6 %

Sodium 40mg

2 %

Potassium 239mg

7 %

Total Carbohydrates 33.4g

11 %

** Dietary Fiber 2.3g

9 %

Protein 4.1g

8 %

** Sugars 10.4g

Vitamin A

10 %

Vitamin C

1 %

Calcium

3 %

Iron

26 %

** Thiamin

18 %

Niacin

18 %

Vitamin B6

10 %

Magnesium

15 %

Folate

14 %


*	Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

My First Triathlon

2011-07-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

So now this is where my running journey has taken me. After finishing four marathons I needed something new. Running 5 days a week according to a strict schedule just wasn't cutting it anymore. Enter the triathlon.

As I stated in a previous posting I am signed up for the Hy-Vee Triathlon in Des Moines on September 4th. I stumbled across the Crossroads Triathlon in the mean time and thought it would be a perfect way to break the ice and see what it's all about. Crossroads is a great beginners tri, it is a 200 meter swim, 8 mile bike, and 2.1 mile run. I knew the bike and run would go well, it's the swim that I was worried about...and rightly so.

The triathlon is located about an hour away and started at 7am. We were up and going at 4am, on the road by 5, and we arrived at the park by 6. I picked up my race packet, took my bike to the transition area and got everything set up.

My transition set up. Feel free to critique.

Ok, I made my first mistake when I registered for the race. They asked for an approximate time on the swim and I must have put in a pretty fast time because they had me starting SECOND! It is a pool swim where the fastest swimmers go first, they started us all off one at a time every 10 seconds. It is a 50 meter pool so we swam down and back twice. Sounds pretty easy right? Well let me tell you...when it's your first triathlon and you are the SECOND person in the water, not knowing what the hell you are doing...it's not so easy.

The calm before the storm...GULP!

Nerves and anxiety got the better of me and I was struggling before I ever got to the end of the first 50 meters. People were passing me like crazy, I even stopped at the wall to let a couple of swimmers go by me. My anxiety elevated with every lap, I just wanted to be done! I finally finished the last lap mostly with a breast stroke so that I could breathe. I was 2nd to start and from what I could tell, I was 14th out of the water. That 200 meters was about the toughest swim of my life and I was never so excited to hop out of the pool and make for the transition area!

Blazing through the first transition.

The transition went smoothly, I wasn't rushed and everything came together just fine, I was on the bike and into my element fairly quickly. Once on the bike I was able to calm down and take control of things. I focused on keeping a high cadence and keeping things moving at a decent pace. The second mistake I made with this triathlon is that I forgot my water bottles. What?! Yes, I had everything set out except for the water bottle I was taking. I was trying to be smart and had it in the freezer. Lucky for me, it was a short bike and I had a bottle of Gatorade that fit into my bottle cage. I passed 3-4 people on the bike but had 2 pass me, not a big deal because I knew I would be strong on the run. Surprisingly the bike portion was over pretty quickly (maybe because it was only 8 miles).

Finishing up the bike portion.

I transitioned to the run without any problems. The nice part of the transitions is that I found that I don't have to wear socks with the Newtons, this kept me from having to fight with putting socks on my wet feet. Once I started the run my legs were a little wonky but not bad. I think I was just running with my pedaling cadence (which is not a bad thing). During the run I tried to keep a smooth even effort. I was able to pick off 3-4 more people over the 2.1 miles.

Start of the run.

Cruising downhill.

Finishing strong.

This was the first year that they had chip timing at this event and something went wrong. We waited for quite some time to see results and when they started reading them off they realized that it wasn't right. So the only time I can go by for now is the time I saw on the clock minus my 10 second start delay, which would give me about a 47:10 finish.

EDITED: RESULTS ARE IN!

I finished 1st in my age group and 16th overall. I am pretty psyched about this I just need some improvements in my swimming. You can check out the results here.

I definitely felt strong on the bike and the run but the swim about killed me. To give you an even better idea of how the swim went, my wife was embarrassed for me! That's ok, I really can laugh about it. This just means that I need some more swim training before September.

My triathlon hobby is certainly not over. I am thankful that I was able to get in a good practice tri before my the big show in September. In spite of the swim, it was a great day!

The End

Camelbak 2011 Fairfax Review

2011-07-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Back in June, after a lot of research, I finally pulled the trigger and purchased my first Camelbak. I don't really enjoy carrying a bottle with me. I have a couple of versions that fit on a belt that work ok but still bounce around when full and at times have not been enough to get me through the run.
I had a lot of reservations about running with a Camelbak, I just knew it was going to bounce around and annoy me. I selected the 2011 Fairfax because of its smaller reservoir (50oz), it is listed as a minimalist pack for cross-training or cycling, and it came in a highly visible and cool looking green.

Right out of the box the Fairfax seemed to fit me perfectly.

It is a small pack but has been great for hands free hydration!

My first trial run went off without a hitch, I was impressed! There is not any significant bouncing while running with this pack. I did learn right away to tuck the bite valve out of the way under the front strap while running. It flops around quite a bit which gets annoying but is easily fixed.

Note the hose and bite valve.

This pack has plenty of storage room for me also. I can easily keep my cell phone and much more in the upper center pocket that also has a handy key fob. I am a sweaty beast when I run, many times I have to put my cell phone into a sealed baggy to keep it dry. This pocket eliminates the need and keeps everything in good shape.

If you need more storage, the bottom pocket is quite generous too. You could likely fit an ultralight rain jacket, or other items in this pocket.

I have used the Camelbak on several runs now and on the bike. Sure I have bottles for my bike but it's pretty handy drinking from the bite valve.
The reservoir has a wide and easy to use fill opening that allows me to dump ice cubes into it and also helps facilitate the cleaning.

The only downside that I can see from using a Camelbak is that it takes a little extra time to clean it out. I don't do anything special other than rinse it well, run plenty of warm water through the hose and the bite valve, and hang it to dry. Not quite as handy as a water bottle, but very manageable. On one of my cycling adventures in the rain the Camelbak had muddy tires streaks up the back of it. I pulled out the bladder and washed the shell on gentle cycle. It came out as good as new.

The 2011 Fairfax has been a great pack for me so far. It has put to rest my negative assumptions about wearing a Camelbak while running. The 50oz capacity is more than anything else in my hydration line up and I can safely carry my cell phone, energy bars, keys, and more. The minor inconvenience of cleaning it is really nothing when you consider everything else. This pack definitely gets my recommendation!

Tri - Update

2011-07-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

Triathlon training update.

The Swim
I have to say that I am actually enjoying the swimming. It's not easy, but I am making a little progress each time I go out. Today I swam a total of 1,000 meters which included a couple of straight 200 meter swims. I still can't swim freestyle all the way but getting closer. I have learned to mostly stay relaxed in the water and not fight it which makes things much better.
I will say that I am still not 100% comfortable walking around in my tri shorts but they are pretty awesome while swimming.

The Bike
Being a runner, I never really thought much of biking, but since I started my training I enjoy it and it can be a nice workout too. One thing about biking is all of the cool stuff you can buy, or somebody with lots of money (not me). But...I did make a new purchase this week which should be arriving by Monday and they were really fairly inexpensive thanks to Amazon!

The Garmin Forerunner bike mount kit.

The Garmin Speed and Cadence Sensor

The Run

Actually now that I am only running 3 times a week instead of 5, I am enjoying it a lot more. I even had one of those dream runs where everything is just awesome earlier this week.

So....I know have 8 weeks to go before the Hy-Vee Triathlon.

I am seriously looking into a sprint tri coming up on July 23 to test the waters a bit ahead of time. I still have some serious swim work to do, but with 8 weeks to go I think I can get in another 16-18 practices including some open water swims.

It's a lot to bite off in that time but screw it, I will float on my back if I have to.

I must be crazy...

2011-07-04T15:42:00.000-07:00

I have started and deleted several posts since my last one...but here it goes.
I was a little lost after Fargo. I had a lot of ideas about how I was going to proceed this year. I tossed around several thoughts including a revenge marathon, or doing something amazing like trying to run a marathon per month for a year. Lucky for me, I came down with a nasty case of bronchitis which definitely kept me from any revenge thoughts. But being sick also allowed me to do some deeper thinking. I am not convinced that the marathon is for me. Yeah maybe I am a little slow coming to that conclusion, I have already run four of them. Seriously though, in all of my running, I just don't get much enjoyment from any runs over 2 hours. I have not totally sworn off marathons or anything crazy like that, but for now, I am going to keep the runs shorter and mix up my training between swimming, biking, and running.

With this being said, I have now officially signed up for my first triathlon!
Yes, this runner is now in training to become a triathlete. I waited until the last possible minute and then I did it, I will be doing the Hy-Vee Triathlon on September 4th.

As a runner, at least recently, I never really gave the triathlon much thought. This was mostly because I am not much of a swimmer. To put things into perspective, I am lucky to swim from one end of the pool and back without gasping for air, and no...it's not a long pool at all. I can bike and I can run, but I have some serious work to do in order to be able to swim in open water for one mile by September 4th. I might be the guy doing a back float and doggie paddling just to finish. I am currently taking some swimming lessons and watching YouTube Videos, we'll see how that all shakes out. Wish me luck!

Looks interesting doesn't it?

Recovery

2011-05-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

This is my post-marathon recovery week. I have been scheming like a mad scientist, planning out what and where my next adventure will be. However it all pans out, it will be challenging, but fun! That doesn't necessarily mean that it will be just some leisurely through a field of daisies either.

In the mean time...I love to share pictures of my running routes. I haven't found anyone to run with around here and the scenery is too cool to keep to myself. Here is a little video that I whipped up from pictures during today's run.

The Aftermath

2011-05-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

Marathon # 4 is officially in the books, there were no unicorns or glitter in this thing, only sweat and pain. Ok, maybe that's a little dramatic but it was pretty damn tough. The Coach and several others asked what I thought went wrong. Great question.
I worked my ass off training for this thing and had at least a couple of training runs where I managed to run 24 miles in 3:15 running in zone 2 heart rate or less (that means I was running at an easy pace). Maybe it was partially mental, maybe it just wasn't my day. I don't recall doing anything different or out of the ordinary that would have caused the meltdown.

Quick Race Summary.
Felt great at the start, it wasn't raining as had been forecast. Temperature was in the mid to high 50's and felt good. I never once felt like I was overheated or dehydrated, in fact I was trucking right along but when I checked my heart rate at the 10K split it was a little higher than I thought it should have been. I didn't panic but I was a little concerned because we still had 20 miles to go. I focused on being relaxed, face, shoulders, arms, breathing....nice and easy. This worked for a little while but it still continued to creep up and by the time I hit mile 12 I was into zone 4 and I knew I couldn't maintain the pace for another 14 miles. I kept it going until mile 15 and then it was all down hill from there, mentally and physically. My back and my feet started hurting (this is not typical at all for me), and then after 20 I was pretty much done. My calves and feet were cramping and it was a miserable slog to the end.

I was pretty mad about the whole thing for awhile during and after the race but I am over it now. I know I did the work, I ran a fair race, and I do see another marathon or more in my future.

For now...I am going to focus on recovery and getting back to the basics...enjoying running. I feel my strength is in the half marathon or less, I want to get better, stronger, and smarter at the marathon plus.

I know this still doesn't answer the question....what went wrong? Here are possibly a few reasons, no excuses, it's all water under the bridge now but these are some things that I will change.

Sleep number bed at the Radisson - I didn't like it the night before my half mary in Springfield and had it again in Fargo. That's the only thing I can think of that caused my back pain. Sleep number beds are out of the race plan.
Mental - this whole BQ thing seems a little heavy. I like to set and reach goals, but I am not sure that this one is for me. I don't mean to sound like a whiny giver-upper because I am not. But I am not going to hang my entire reason for running on a BQ, it's not worth it. I run for me.
Tactical - Next marathon will be on my time at my pace. No pacers, no pressure, just a nice relaxed pace with the goal of finishing with a negative split and not wanting to die afterwards.

If you would like to know more about the Fargo Marathon, Jim Weatherly gives a pretty spot on review on his blog 50 after 40.

Here's the rest of the story.

Mental Preparations

2011-05-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

This is my visualization....thanks to Photoshop!

The Fargo Marathon is now just a few days away. The marathon is not a task to be taken lightly. Not only is running 26.2 miles a challenge within itself, but now I will be trying to do it in less than 3 hours and 20 minutes. There will not be anything easy about it. It's interesting how distorted the perception of time can be. Spending 3 hours relaxing with loved ones can go by in a flash while the same 3 hours while running a moderate pace can seem like an eternity. The physical work is done, it's mostly mental now.

You always reap what you sow.
I have put in well over 700 miles of training so far this year. I have worked hard to get to my current level of fitness. I am stronger than I have ever been as a runner.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not and act, but a habit. - Aristotle
Long runs, intervals, hard tempo runs, speed work. Sometimes it sucks but the fact is, you have to run faster to get faster....and that's not easy.

Happiness - the fruit of the desire and ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want eventually.
As one of my Dailymile friends once said "Training isn't all unicorns and glitter". It's easy as hell to find excuses not to get in a run, but it feels ten times better afterwards when you do it anyway.

You can do anything you want to do, if only you believe with sufficient conviction and act in accordance with your faith; for whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.
7:30 - 7:38 average pace - 26.2 miles - I am ready, it will happen.

Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.
I know I can.

You have to believe in yourself when no one else does, that's what makes you a winner.
I believe.

A huge thank you to Coaches Jeff and Diane at PRSFit for kicking my butt into shape, and all of my Dailymile friends for the daily confidence and support throughout. It just wouldn't be the same without you.

My post race visualization. Ahhhhhh!

Countdown to Fargo

2011-05-04T09:36:00.000-07:00

The taper is on! There are now 17 days until the Fargo Marathon and there has been a lot of hard work and sweat created along the way. I am feeling good mentally and physically. There have been many ups and downs while training for this marathon and it's been a long tough winter / spring of training. I am ready to roll!

So, what have I done to train for my fourth marathon and what have I learned?

My training officially began on January 3rd. Coach had me on a plan of three build weeks followed by a week of recovery. My three build weeks consisted of hard tempo runs, hill repeats, and a long run to finish of the week, not to mention two days of strength training that includes lots of ab and core work. The recovery weeks are not necessarily easy, but they are not quite as intense as the build weeks and he encourages a race at the end of the week.
My first race of the year (which was not on a recovery week) was a trail run that I could not resist. Run Toto Run is a 10 mile, 20 mile, 50K race through Wyandotte Park in the Kansas City area. I ran the 10 mile race, it was very difficult but it was amazing! Snow, mud, hills, creeks, hills! It was all a pretty awesome experience and seemed to go by quickly. More trail running is definitely in my future!

Living in rural Missouri and having a job that requires a lot of hours does not make it easy to find "local" races. So my next race didn't happen until March 26 where I ran the Frisco High Line Trail run in Springfield, MO. Springfield is a 4 hour drive, so I made a quick trip up the night before, raced hard, and drove home. The High Line Trail is a former railway bed that has been paved. It is flat and fast! I smoked my half marathon PR finishing in 1:33:45 and ended up placing tenth overall!

There were many times throughout my training that I became frustrated about the difficult runs and trying to juggle my training and my work schedule. I have missed some runs and workouts throughout this period but with a lot of careful and creative planning I was able to get most of them done. There were a lot of days when I seriously asked myself why I was doing this. People think we are crazy for what we do let along getting up at 4am some days just to get in a planned run.

So, with all of this hard work and the mental and physical struggles that I have put myself through, I have to stop and ask myself why. Why do we run and train and suffer like this? Is it some form of addiction or insanity?

Yeah, it's probably a little of both. But I can tell you that the sense of accomplishment after completing a tough workout or obtaining a PR in a race is fantastic.

I am pressed for time, as usual, as I am writing this and I realize that I didn't really give any great tips or advice on how to train for a marathon. It doesn't take any more than the usual things that anything worth doing takes. It's about commitment, dedication, hard work, sweat, and being humble but confident in your ability for growth.

With this being said, Fargo will be my fourth marathon.

My goal is to qualify to run the Boston Marathon next spring.

My goal time to finish in Fargo is 3 hours and 15 minutes.

This is a little better than 7:30 / mile pace. It may be a little aggressive, but I do think that it is possible to finish in 3:15 or very close to it. My Boston qualifying time is 3:20 so I have to give myself a little cushion. You never know what will happen over the course of 26.2 miles.

Frisco High Line Half Marathon Report

2011-03-27T14:43:00.000-07:00

My training plan called for a half marathon on this particular weekend and the closest thing that I could find was the Frisco High Line Run for Scouting half marathon in Springfield Missouri. A nice little 4 and one half hour drive from home...road trip!

While checking the weather for Springfield it looked like it would be between 34 and 46 degrees with some rain in the late morning or early afternoon, a little cooler than I would like it to be, but very doable. Saturday morning, this is what I woke up to. A beautiful 36 degrees and a steady rain!

When I arrived at the race start I was able to meet up with fellow Daily Mile friends David M. and Jon W. David just finished the Rocky Racoon 100 and Jon was there as not only part of the support crew but helped pace David for 20 miles in the event, very cool! They are a couple of great guys and some serious running machines!

Luckily before the race start we were able to hang out inside of a warm building while we hoped that the rain would stop. At one point shortly before the start, somebody announced that they would delay the race while a storm cell passed by. At this time there was a some thunder and lightening. About one minute later, the same guy came out and announced that we were going to start soon and needed to head to the start line, so much for waiting out the storm. At the start line, there was a small group of us up front and most everyone else was huddled under a tent about 100 feet behind the start line. (hello - you are running 13.1 miles, you WILL get wet!)

We were started off with a train whistle in honor of the Frisco High Line Trail, the rails to trails path where we were running.

OK - too much fluff detail going on in the post so here is the breakdown.

My goal for this race was to run even 7 minute splits or even a hair under. Like a rookie, I cruised through the first mile at 6:35, much faster than I intended. I wasn't too upset though because it felt good and I was able to slow down and relax a little while keeping a solid pace. My second mile was spot on 7:00, perfect! I felt like I was locked in at a good steady effort at this point. After mile 2 I didn't hear my watch sound off the splits and I didn't see any mile markers again until mile 6. I went through miles 3 - 6 in 6:57, 6:47 and 7:03 - things were looking good and I was just about half way through the race. Because this is an out and back course I was able to count that there were 8 or 9 people ahead of me and when I hit the turn around I noticed that there was not really anyone close enough behind me that would present a challenge.

All through the race we could see and hear the lightening and thunder as it continued to rain. The wind and rain were at our back on the way out, so when we turned around it was right in our faces. I think it hailed a little too because at various times it had a nice sting to it as it hit my face.

Whether it was knowing that I was really not going to gain or lose a position or that fact that we were now running into the wind my pace slowed on the back half. I ran miles 7 and 8 in 7:07 and 7:18 respectively, then by mile nine my feet were cold, soaking wet, and felt like bricks. I slogged through mile 9 in 7:23, then I think my mind drifted off in mile 10 because I dilly-dallied through it with a 7:33 pace so I had to kick it back into gear and ended up finishing with 7:14, 7:28, 7:24 and final push of 50 seconds at the end.

Race stats copied from Training Peaks log.

I was cold, soaking wet, and my face was frozen, but I finished with a nice PR,10th overall and 3rd in my age group! In retrospect, not bad for such crappy conditions, i'll take it! I even scored an extra medal for my age group award!

Looking back at my Garmin stats, my heart rate didn't make it into zone 4 which tells me that I could have run this a little faster. I know that if I would have had a someone closer to me either in front or behind it would have helped push me to a faster finish.

I am in no way unhappy with this race, but I am also not completely satisfied with the result. The great thing is that I know I can run it faster next time, especially if I have some competition to push me.

Finally, a quick but important plug for my motivators.

First of all, Jeff and Diane at PRS FIT have helped to keep me motivated and educated along this journey. They have helped my train smarter and harder while staying pretty much injury free the entire time. I have been working hard this year in preparation for the Fargo Marathon. My goal is to qualify for Boston there. With a lot of hard work and a little luck I will do just that. Qualifying or not, it's pretty much guaranteed that I will have a PR there. If you are serious about putting in the time and effort to improve your running, I would encourage runners at any level to contact them for assistance.

Second, and no less important, the great Daily Mile friends who continue to inspire and and bring positive thoughts to every workout. I feel lucky knowing that it has reached the point where I can participate in almost any race across the U.S. and even internationally, and find a friendly Daily Miler. I even moved from a city of well over 100,000 people to one of 3,000 people in an entirely different state and was able to connect with local Daily Miler Sara D. in my new town. Pretty awesome stuff in my book!

Running Exposed!

2011-03-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful 75 degrees for today's run, actually a little warmer than I would have liked, but I am not complaining, spring is officially here! As runners we can finally begin to shed the many layers of sub zero clothing that we have had to endure through the long winter. Finally getting to run in shorts and a tank top or a short sleeve top is a great boost to the spirit! This is also a great time to start protecting yourself again too.

According to the American Cancer Society, skin cancer is the most common type of cancer. Because of the long periods of time that we spend out in the sun, we are definitely more at risk of skin cancer than most other people. We spend a lot of time thinking about what we eat and how we train, working hard to be stronger and healthier. Taking the time to protect our eyes and our skin should be a natural part of our regimen.

Protect yourself!

Please take the time to cover yourself well with a good sunscreen and protect your eyes while you are at it with a good pair of sunglasses. I challenge you to make it your mission this year to wear sunscreen for every run this season. A little protection now, may save you later.

Happy Running!

Random Update for March.

2011-03-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

I haven't had much time to post lately, it's been tough just getting my workouts done because of the J-O-B. It's a good thing that I love what I do because I spend a lot of time doing it.

Anyway, I wanted to drop by and update the status of my training. Things seem to be going very well, I have really been nailing my workouts. I feel like my running has recently advanced to the next level. My speed and strength have increased and I really like the results. My 1:30 tempo runs have been consistently well under an 8 minute pace on challenging terrain but the bonus is that I feel there is also still room for improvement.

It is difficult to judge how my Boston Qualifying attempt will go in Fargo. I have been running on some major hills the last 5 months that continue to challenge me on every run. They are definitely getting easier, but they are still a real bugger towards the end of my long runs.

As I write this there are about 10 weeks until Fargo. With lots of hard work and a little luck it will be a great race. Even better yet, I will be surrounded by several friends that will also be running, it will be an awesome reunion!

Elevation profile from my March 6th run.

Here are some random pictures from some of my recent runs.

Sometimes running through the countryside can be confusing!

View from the top of a long hill

Some runs have started out like this.

While others have ended like this.

Race Report: 2011 RunTotoRun 10 miler

2011-02-13T08:18:00.000-08:00

The variety and unique challenges of trail running has appealed to me for quite some time. When I stumbled across the Kansas City Trail Nerds site I knew I was going to have to attempt one of their runs. I chose the 2011 RunTotoRun.

Because I have only done one other trail run and I was not familiar with the course, I had decided ahead of time that I was going to just go out and have fun with this trail run. No pressure to run fast or compete, besides, I am at the beginning of my Fargo Marathon training plan, I didn't need to take any chances on getting hurt. In fact, I really did not do much of any trail running preparation before this race other than to buy some new bad ass trail running shoes.

Fast forward to race day! It was 24F when we arrived at Wyandotte Park for the race, not quite shorts weather yet but it was going to be by the starting time. Because the trail was snow and ice covered, at the registration area they were offering runners an opportunity to "screw their shoes" for added traction. Basically they put several 1/4" sheet metal screws into the bottom of your shoes for added traction on the icy surfaces. I really hesitated at first because I didn't want to ruin my new shoes, but I gave it a shot and was very glad that I did so, it was slick out there!

At 8 am we watched the real bad ass runners, the 50K and 20 milers, get their start. Seeing them run up the first hill was exciting and also a little unnerving as they disappeared into the woods.

With PRS FIT teammate Ryan

Finally, at 9am, it was our turn! The ground was covered in about 6 inches of snow throughout the park which made for a few extra challenges because it was hiding many of the rocks and fallen trees all throughout the trail. Ryan, a fellow PRS FIT teammate and I started together towards the front of the pack. I don't like to start too close to the middle or at the back because there are too many people to pass, but I rarely start at the front because I don't want to get in the way of the faster runners and there are always what I call "rabbits" that start out way too fast and then fade after a couple of miles. It's always fun and motivating to pass them throughout the race.

After the first quarter mile or so it was mostly single track trails. It was very difficult to pass anyone and when you did have room you were high stepping through the snow which was a little hairy because you didn't know what kind of branches or rocks might be under there. Within the first mile I lost my balance and took a header into the snow. I did a little bit of a tuck and roll, luckily I was able to pop right up and keep going without anyone passing me.

My early race strategy was just to take it easy and have fun but I found myself behind some slower runners that were pretty easy pickings, so I changed it up a bit. I started passing people, and then, when I caught up to the next runner I tucked in behind them for a bit to recover while also looking for a good place to pass again. After about 6 miles or so things thinned out considerably and I was finding fewer and fewer runners to pass. But passing people was only one part of the challenge. This course was amazing! We were running through the woods making left and right turns all over the place so that you never knew which way you were going. You had to constantly pay attention to where you were stepping and what was in front of you because there were icy, slippery rocks, trees and tree limbs that you had to jump over, duck under, or maneuver around throughout the entire course. In addition to these hazards, it was pretty much all up and down hills, there was even one section where they had tied a rope to a tree if you needed help to pull yourself up.
My miles were ticking off at what I thought was a pretty slow pace. My slowest mile throughout was 10:47 and my quickest was about 9 minutes. It was all I could do to get up the hills quickly and efficiently without getting my heart rate up too high and then speed through the downhill sections without losing control and crashing. I found it interesting that by the time you reached the top of the hill your legs were starting to burn and fatigue but you really couldn't relax because you headed right back down a hill and had to keep it under control. My heart rate was actually highest while walking up a couple of the hills during the last mile, after all of the previous hills, you really earned your keep in that last mile.

This is an old picture one of the hills we climbed.
This year it was covered in snow!

I finally blazed across the finish line with a time of 1:36:41, 12th place overall and the 11th male to finish! It was a great time, I am pretty sure that I had a smile on my face for at least the first 5 miles.

Someday I will have the guts to do a longer trail run, for now I loved the variety of challenges that this race presented. I give it a huge thumbs up. It's a great course for either the competitive or the casual trail runner. I would not want to do my first 50K on this course but the 10 mile distance was a perfect trial for the newbie like me!

Not really sure why my mouth is open in this picture.

Team PRS FIT !

2010 in Review

2011-01-02T06:17:00.000-08:00

It's a new year with new opportunities.

Looking back, here is the wrap up of 2010.

I finished the year with 1,453 miles of running. I ran the Fargo Marathon in the spring and the Mankato Marathon in the fall with a PR of 3:44. I ran my first trail run in Aberdeen, SD, a 20 mile race in St. Cloud, Mn, a 10K and a half marathon in Sioux Falls and a 5K here in Bethany, Mo. Not to mention cycling 100 miles through Wisconsin and Iowa as a fundraiser for JDRF.

I have been blessed to meet a lot of amazing people through running. Here is a video collage that I made up to celebrate 2010. Looking forward to an even better 2011!

Running Through 2010 from Jeff Thompson on Vimeo.

My Running Secret

2010-12-19T12:14:00.000-08:00

I have a secret side to me, a side that only a select few people know about, mostly because they wouldn't understand.

I am a runner. Sure, a lot of people know that I run, they just don't know how much. I plan vacations around running, read about running, day dream about running. It is my passion, maybe even an obsession some might say. It is something that non-runners just don't understand. I love the challenges and rewards of running, the cold early mornings that reward you with a beautiful sunrise. Seeing the world in a fresh way, from a slower perspective than a speeding vehicle.
I have learned not to talk much about my running to non-runners. Sometimes I find myself telling little lies or half truths about my running habits to non-runners. When I sneak out for long lunch breaks to get in a quick five miler, I might say that I have some errands to run. When getting up at 4am to get a run in before work it's like I have a dirty little secret that I don't dare tell due to the the "are you crazy?" looks that I would get. It's that same shocked look that they have after they ask you how far your marathon was and you politely tell them, 26.2 miles. Sometimes that's part of the fun too.

I often get the feeling that non-runners think that running is just a hobby for me. Something that I do in my spare time, an extra-curricular activity that is not necessary. Sometimes these non-runners will look at you funny or think that you are being foolish for trying to arrange your schedule to fit in a run for the day. Some of these same people don't think twice about watching TV for hours every evening or taking 10 smoke breaks throughout the day.

I don't always enjoy running. Sometimes I have great runs where I feel light as a feather and I think that I could run forever. Other times I may have to battle with my mind and body to coax myself along every mile just to finish.
Despite how I may feel during the run, I am always satisfied and feel great afterwards. It is what keeps me calm yet energized. Running gives me strength and confidence to do things that I might not otherwise think that I could do.

There has been pain and suffering caused by running.

Lost toenails

Bloody nipples

But there have been many more great people and experiences!

The Sioux Falls Area Dailymile Crew. I really miss you all!

Great Hy-Vee Runners! (Sioux Falls Half Marathon)

After the Mankato Marathon with Tom.

St. Cloud Earth Day run with the coolest ladies!
Megan, Jenn, and Jenessa.

Exploring your area

2010-12-06T03:26:00.000-08:00

Grand Trace Conservation Area

When is the last time that you looked for someplace different to run? Because I have a coach, most of my runs have specific goals which does not leave much room for many "fun runs". It's not that I don't enjoy the challenge of these runs, but it's nice to be a little spontaneous once in awhile.

I run for several reasons, obviously health, fitness, competition, etc. But another reason I run is to explore the area around me in a way that many people don't do anymore, on foot. It is interesting how different the world looks when you are out on a run as opposed to driving the same area. Even beyond that, there are several places that a run can take you that you would never see in a vehicle.

I have been planning for a couple of trail races in 2011 which inspired me to change up my scheduled workout a bit today. It is about four miles to the Grand Trace Conservation Area from my house. I decided that I would check out the trails a bit in the middle part of my scheduled 10 miles today. It was a chilly 18F with a windchill of about 3F this morning. As cold as that sounds, the temperature really wasn't bad other than running into the wind.

Entrance to Grand Trace

Grand Trace has a gravel entrance off of the paved road. As I was entering the area a truck with a couple of hunters happened to drive by. It is a short road to the start of the trail so I followed them in and flagged them down. After speaking with them a moment I learned that it was the last day of rifle hunting season so I told them to keep an eye out for me because I would be running on the trails. Luckily I never saw a hunter or heard a shot while I was out there! It was a great area to run through, quite the mix of hills and trails. It is all fairly wide open with a couple of stream crossings. Other than scaring up some wild turkeys I didn't see much wildlife.

Trail running is no joke. The terrain is uneven and the hills are challenging.Today's test run was a bit of a wake up call for me. It was very humbling to have to walk up some of the steeper hills after finishing a hilly 10 miler just under 8 minute pace on the road earlier in the week.

My first test will be at the 10 mile distance with the Run Toto Run trail race in Kansas City. My first thought was to run the 50K at this event, luckily my coach advised against using this as my first 50K. After today's run, I am glad because it wouldn't have been real pretty.

I do have my sights set on the Greenland Trail 50K in Colorado this spring. It appears to be about an 8 mile loop that is run 4 times with a maximum elevation of 7,400 ft. It will be interesting to see how the elevation affects my running, not to mention the 31 miles of trails!

Running a 50K or even a 10 mile trail run may seem a little extreme to some. Nevertheless, I want to encourage you to get out of your comfort zone, and run somewhere that you have never run before. Explore your area. You may even have to drive a few miles to find a place like I did, but for me, it has always been well worth it. Most people won't find a view like this on any of their running routes.

Turkey Trot 5K

2010-11-25T19:18:00.000-08:00

It was a blustery cold November morning. A morning that most people would have preferred to stay under cover in their warm beds. Only the brave or crazy would subject themselves to these frigid temperatures to test their running speed and skills against others.

I had lowered my finishing time expectations for this race because of the cold temperatures. I have not done many cold air runs yet this year and if I am not acclimated in tends to really bother my lungs. I set my original goal at 22 minutes, then adjusted it to 22:30 after I had seen the weather report.

On the morning of race day I felt great. We were to start in front of the high school, luckily we could stay inside before the race to keep warm. 10 minutes before race start I stepped outside to warm up a bit and get the blood flowing. It was COLD! I was really hoping that my body would warm up as I ran. Anyway - let's just skip ahead to the start.

Nobody seemed to want to toe the front line, I figured what the hell and got up there. When they started the race of course a huge group of young kids took off like they were running the 100 yard dash, and that's about as far as they led the race. I quickly found a good solid pace behind some young crazy kid in front that was only wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I was cold in my layers and gloves, I cannot imagine how cold he had to be! Running a 5K is such a beast because it is almost like running all out for 20 minutes. It hurts and you don't have a lot of room for error. I felt like I kept a solid pace right behind the race leader for most of the way. He was not pulling away and I had no desire to try to push the pace with him. At the first turnaround we both had a pretty decent lead on the pack behind us but there was a lot of race left at that point. At about the halfway point I started hearing some footsteps behind me and was passed by another guy but nobody else was even close. I kept the two leaders close but knew that I didn't have enough to take them. The distance actually seemed to go by quickly and we were soon on the last stretch. We all poured it on to the end and I finished 3rd overall finishing in 20:46. I was very pleased with my race performance. I didn't feel like I had gone out too fast and considering the weather conditions, I felt like I gave it what I had on this particular day. It was a pretty cool feeling for me to finish 7 seconds behind the winner, not bad for a 41 year old!

Here is a short video of the finish taken by professional videographer and wife Corrin. This will give you an idea of how close I was to finishing first. I will be back for revenge!

On a side note, this race was a great community event and I was also able to meet fellow Daily Mile runner Sara and her husband. Yes, it is true, I was not the first DM'er in Bethany Missouri. Daily Mile is everywhere!

Marathon # 3 - Mankato

2010-10-25T19:31:00.000-07:00

Marathon number 3 is in the books. It was much more difficult than I anticipated, I did not reach either of the goals that I was aiming for...but it was still a rewarding experience and my best effort on that day. Sometimes that is all that you can ask for.

Fellow Daily Miler Tom and I after the race.

Before I start rambling about my marathon experience I would like to recognize some people. First, congratulations to my sister-in-law Kari who rocked the half marathon! And a huge thank you to the rest of the family, including my wife, that raced around to cheer us on throughout the run and put up with my whining about my performance after the race. It wouldn't have been the same without them there!

My coach and I had been talking about the possibility of a Boston qualifying run at this marathon. My training had gone very well this summer and I had a strong PR at the Sioux Falls Half Marathon. If you have been keeping up with my blog you will know that the thought of running an entire marathon in the 7:30's was all a bit overwhelming to me. Additionally, my last month of training had not really gone well due to my relocation and starting a new job. After talking it over with the coach, we decided that 3:30 pace (8:01) was completely obtainable and would not be out of reach by any means. This really helped take the pressure off, but in the back of my mind, I was still considering the 3:20 finish. I would wait and see how I felt on race morning, but I didn't tell of any of this to the coach.

Along comes race day! The weather forecast leading up to the race was for a 60% chance of rain all morning. It was cloudy and sprinkling on and off before the race. I ran in to fellow DM'ers Tom and Sara before the race and we had to get under a tent for a little while to stay dry. Luckily the rain stopped before the race started and never became a factor. In fact the weather was almost perfect. It was nice cool and cloudy morning, great weather for a long run!

Back to the race. I was excited and feeling good. I had decided that I was going to see how it felt to hang with the 3:20 group, I decided to go for it. Part of me said that if it was too much I would just drop back with the 3:30 group while another part of me knew that it doesn't usually work that way. After a brief pep talk from Dick Beardsley to start the race, we were off!

The pace was great, I had no trouble keeping up and felt very comfortable. At about mile 5 we approached the first of two large hills. Instead of trying to keep up with the pacer I ran my own pace up the hill and then picked it up to catch back up. I stuck with the pacer until around mile 11, then I let him go and decided that I had better run my own race.

I get pretty focused on what I am doing when racing. I really don't know what is going on so much around me because I am thinking about pace and running form and constantly evaluating my exertion level. My wife told me that I ran right by her at mile 10 while she was shouting and clanging the cowbells, I never heard her or saw her. Fellow DM'er, Jeri, told me the same thing, she was screaming at me and taking pictures, I ran right by her, didn't see or hear a thing.

Through the first 15 miles I had an average pace of 7:38, right on target for BQ, but that was all that I had. It seems that after 15 - 17 miles life gets much more difficult for me. Between 15 and 19 miles my average pace dropped a full minute to 8:37. After 19 it was pretty much a battle for survival. I finished off the race with a walk run strategy and my spirits were crushed. I was really hoping that I wouldn't have to walk any parts of the race but my calves were cramping up and my right knee was really starting to hurt. Finishing the race was painful, I had to talk myself into running any way that I could. I ran with a guy that was struggling like me for awhile for inspiration, but it wasn't enough. I even had to walk some during the last mile of the race, it wasn't until 25.5 on the Garmin that I decided one way or another that I was going to run it in the rest of the way.....and I did.

Dragging my sorry ass to the finish.
Photo courtesy of Jeri !

I heard and saw my family cheering me in just before the finish, it was a great ending to the race! It's funny how the first hour or so the pain and fatigue are so great that I tell myself I will never run another stupid marathon. What's the point of putting yourself through weeks of training for this torture called a marathon? I couldn't even remember why I had decided to attempt such a thing.

Then the pain begins to fade and the mind clears. I am starting to think about how it all played out and what I could have done differently. Hmmm....could there be a # 4?

Technical Stuff (sort of)

My fuel plan worked well for this run. I took a Hammer Gel about every 5 miles. I also took 3 Endurolyte capsules each at miles 9 and 18. I drank either water or Gatorade at every water stop sometimes even 2 cups to stay hydrated because I sweat like a man!

I likely would have finished a little sooner had I followed the plan and went with the 3:30 group, but I will never know. Besides, I would probably be kicking myself for not doing it had the 3:30 run gone well.

I am not sure what's going on with the knee, but I will be doing some spinning and very little running this week to recover. I am definitely looking forward to some cross country running on tap for this fall!

Mankato really shined when putting on this race. There was fantastic support along the route and the water stops were great. Because it was the first year for this marathon and a limit of 2,000 runners the expo was small but still offered a nice variety. I would recommend this marathon to anyone considering it but I would also encourage you to be ready for some hills. You can't run in Mankato without running some hills!

Attitude Adjustment with the Altitude

2010-10-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

The taper has been good to me.
I have for the most part quit worrying and thinking about the BQ.
I have quit whining and whimpering about the Missouri hills.
I have readjusted my attitude.

I am typically a very positive person. My glass is usually half full, I work hard to anticipate and prepare for the worst and work to improve on it. I generally see adversity and problems as opportunities to learn and grow stronger for the future. But, I am human. Even I have a bad day or two where the attitude stinks and life doesn't seem fair. Luckily for me, I have a great support crew within my running world which has helped me claw my way back to the top of the attitude chart.

I am back.I don't mind the hills now.I am getting stronger.They are getting easier.They will make me better.

Less than one week now until the Mankato Marathon!

If you are truly bored, here is a 52 second video of me running up one of the hills on my route. This will give you an idea of the terrain in the area.

Motivation

2010-10-11T21:06:00.000-07:00

As I write this update, there are only 11 days until the Mankato Marathon. My training has been fantastic. I have had great improvement and even surprised my coach with my progress. I ran my fastest half marathon ever a day after turning 41. There is a chance that I may even qualify for the Boston Marathon while in Mankato. Sounds exciting...but I don't feel it.

I have trained hard all summer for this marathon; I have logged over 1,200 miles so far this year. But I seem to have lost my motivation. Maybe it is because there are too many other things going on in my life outside of running right now. Moving to a new state and starting a new job are certainly a part of it. Maybe it's the challenges of my new running path. Running in the dark isn't quite the option it used to be. We are living in the country now, when it gets dark, it's black. Also, after being used to the relatively flat plains of South Dakota, the Missouri hills are really kicking my ass.

A couple of the "rolling" hills on my runs.

I know that distance running is hugely mental.
I know that running these hills will make me stronger.
I know how good it feels to finish a great race or run.
I know the rewards of perseverance.
I know that I can run 26.2 miles.
But I have my doubts. There is a part of me that wants to give up and quit. Looking at the map of the marathon, makes me question what the hell I am doing.

I have just begun my taper. I am physically and mentally ready for this break and to have the marathon behind me. I am ready to have fun with my running again.

Maybe I just need a little inspiration.

Sioux Falls Half Race Report

2010-09-14T06:45:00.000-07:00

Sprinting to the finish!

While training for the marathon, every fourth week coach gives me an easier mileage week with a race at the end of it. It's a great test to see where I am at in training. Last weeks race was the Sioux Falls Half Marathon. With my heart rate training zones adjusted and the recent progress that I have been making I really felt like I had a solid chance of running my fastest race ever at this distance. Discussing my race goal with Coach the day before, I had told him that I wanted to finish under 1:38 which was my previous PR (personal record) at this distance. Coach agreed and thought I could pull it off, then he used one of his motivational tricks and tried planting a seed in my mind. He told me that one of the people he coaches (who shall remain nameless) had just finished a half the week before in 1:36, I thought that would be pushing my luck and pretty much blew off that competitive jab he gave me. So here is how it all unfolded.

The Race

With my goal time set, coach had me break down the race by 5K times. He told me that it was much easier to break the race up into 5K goals than to think about how many more miles there were. I took his advice and the morning of the race I wrote on my hand where I needed to be for every 3 miles. My goal was to average 7:25 per mile or better so my 3 mile goals were 3(22:15), 6(44:30), 9(1:06:45), 12(1:29:00). When my first 3 mile split came in at 21:24, I didn't feel like I was pushing the pace too much and was happy that I had banked a little time in case I started slowing down a little. As I write this, I see that I ran the second 3 at exactly the same pace 21:24. This put me almost 2 minutes ahead of my goal pace at 6 miles, I has banked a little more time, I was still feeling good, things were going great! I did my best to focus on keeping my arms and shoulders relaxed and trying to keep a good running form. At mile 9 my time was 1:05:03, I had run the last 3 miles at 22:15 (goal pace) and had not lost any of the time I had banked. This meant that I had to just hang on for another 4.1 miles and I even had a little wiggle room. I was still feeling good but I also knew that could change at any moment. Upon reaching the 12 mile mark I was still running some strong miles. I reached 12 at 1:27:16 which meant that I was still running fairly consistent splits and had run the last three in 22:13, pretty much goal pace. At this point I knew that I was going to decimate my goal of coming in under 1:38! My plan was to try and kick hard the last 1.1 miles but I didn't know how much kick I had remaining and I was not sure exactly where the finish line was. Mentally, I really like to know where the finish is so that I can gauge just how hard to kick to the end. I completed mile 13 in 7:25, right at goal pace, and then kicked it down for the final sprint to the finish. My final time was 1:36:18, I smoked my previous best by over 2 minutes! This was one of the better races ever for me. I felt good the entire run and I really believe that breaking the race down into 3 mile segments helped too.

I finished 67th overall out of 1137, 10th in my age group, and the 51st male.

Tech notes:

I chose not to wear the compression leggings on for this race. I had only worn them once during a training run and wasn't ready to try them on race day yet.

I did not use any gels or other fuel options for this race. It was a cool morning, the weather was perfect and I was pretty sure that I could run my goal time without needing to take anything considering the conditions and actual running time. I did take a little water and Powerade throughout the run but not much. I had made sure to drink lots of fluids the day before and the morning of the race so that I was well hydrated. Other than being slightly cramped in the calves, I felt great after the race. I was planning on taking some Endurolytes before the race but I didn't get them set out the night before and forgot to take them.

Once again for you runners, I highly recommend breaking your next race up into 3 mile or 5K splits. It is so much more mentally manageable for long runs. This was great advice from the Coach.

Daily Mile

Daily Mile is a social media network for athletes. The greater portion of athletes are runners but there are a good variety of other endurance athletes on this site as well. It is an extremely supportive online community where I post my workouts. We comment on each other's workouts, share triumphs and tribulations, and can ask or answer a variety of training related questions. Here are some great Daily Mile members that I have had the pleasure of meeting from the Sioux Falls area. It is such a great thing it is to spend time with like minded people that understand the allure of running as you I do. Non-runners just don't understand why we would torture ourselves with chaffing, cramps, muscle soreness, and running through the various crazy weather conditions.

Awesome group of Daily Mile friends!

Me with Angela and Matt. This was their first half and they both ran a fantastic race!

Trying to finish strong!

47 to 3

2010-09-06T06:51:00.000-07:00

It's been just over a month since I have updated the blog and a lot has happened since then.As I write this, there are 47 days until the Mankato Marathon, which will be my third marathon. I am at the point in my training that running a fourth does not sound very appealing. It's been a lot of hard work to get to here and I still have just over a month of training to go. Here is my long winded story of what has happened within the last month.

Century Ride for JDRF
What an amazing event! Because of my limited cycling training, I was very concerned about being able to ride then entire 100 miles. My longest ride prior to La Crosse was only 50 miles and when I told some of the other riders this, I could see them trying to mask a look of concern on their faces. My Coach had assured me that this would not be a problem, but I was not 100% sold on it. When race day came, it was not nearly as difficult as I had feared. The last 15-20 miles my feet started to get a couple of hot spots on them, but overall I was feeling good. With stops along the way for food and stretching, it took about 7.5 hours to finish. More importantly, it made me realize what a fantastic event this was. JDRF is a great organization that is funding research throughout the world to not only find a cure for Juvenile Diabetes but make lives easier for those that have it. The Wisconsin ride raised over $600,000 for JDRF and all rides combined last year raised over $4 million. It's a great feeling for me to be a part of this; helping someone with their fight against diabetes. Throughout the weekend I was able to meet many people who had children or siblings with Type I diabetes, it was truly inspiring to hear their stories and to know how thankful they were for us being there for them. I will definitely be participating in this event again!

About 60 miles into the ride at a rest stop right by the Mississippi river.

Marathon Training Update
Yesterday I told my good friend Jeff Pickett that I wasn't very happy with him for getting me started on these stupid marathons. Just over one year ago he suggested that we train together for the Twin Cities Marathon. Half way through the training he developed an injury that kept him from running it, for some crazy reason, I keep doing them.
Maybe it's knowing that they were not perfectly executed and with a little work I can finish faster and with less pain. Maybe it's just that I need to have a goal ahead of me in order to keep running and challenging myself. Nevertheless, marathon training is no cake walk. There is a huge time commitment and many sacrifices along the way.In a nutshell, 18 - 20 weeks of training, all for three and a half hours of running your ass off.

Enough bitching already...

My training is actually going very well. I have been putting in some solid weeks of training. I finished the month of July with 150 miles and August with 143 miles of running.

I am still struggling with my endurance on the long runs. After 2 - 2.5 hours I really start to go downhill. My calves get cramped, I begin to run out of energy, and at times I struggle keeping hydrated enough because I sweat like like a beast. I have been experimenting with my hydration and electrolyte replacement on these runs and I feel like I have made some improvements, but still feel like I am not 100% there yet.
First, I have been using Endurolyte capsules for about 3 months now. These are electrolyte replacement capsules. They are easy to swallow and seem to help reduce my calf cramping. I generally take 3 capsules before running, then about 3 every hour during my run.
For yesterday's run I tried two new items in addition to the Endurolytes. I finally broke down and purchased a pair of Zensah compression leg sleeves. I have been wearing some cheapo compression tights from Walgreen's for several months now for recovery after runs. I finally splurged and purchased the Zensah's and I am glad I did. I hardly noticed that I was wearing them and I have absolutely no calf soreness after yesterday's long run. They may not be the sexiest things in the world, but my calves were happy!

Zensah compression leg sleeves.

The second thing I tried out for my long run was a new fuel replacement. I have been using gels for quite some time and really don't mind them; but I don't believe that I have been getting everything from them that I need for endurance, so I tried another Hammer Nutrition product, Perpetuem. I was a little concerned about the flavor and consistency of this product prior to trying it, but it is actually very good. For my first trial I mixed it a little light, I made up a 2 hour bottle using 3 scoops in an 8 oz bottle for my fuel belt. I premixed it in a measuring cup before pouring it into the bottle. It had some lumps when I poured it into the bottle but they disappeared after I shook it up. The flavor was great, not too strong, and the consistency was similar to that of a thin protein shake. For this run I took a mouthful every 20 minutes and followed it up with some water. The early consensus, I like it! It is much easier to use than trying to tear open a gel and get it swallowed down and I didn't feel hungry during my run either.

Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem

Last but not least is my coaching. I must say, Coach Kline from PRSfit really knows what he is doing. He gives me my weekly workouts, answers my annoying questions, and gives great feedback from the workouts. He is definitely a teaching coach who along with his wife Diane, are very supportive of their team and others. It is obvious that they love to see others grow and succeed.
When teamed up with the coach he had me run a lactate threshold test. This is a test to determine your anaerobic threshold and help set heart rate training zones. Coach had me run this test again on Monday and my LT was much lower than the initial test back at the beginning of June. This means I have made some progress! Because of this test, Coach set up new training zones for me that kicked my butt this week. Aerobically, they were not too bad to run, but physically, my legs have some work to do. I had a difficult time running a fast pace to get to and stay in zone 4 or even the top of zone 3 during my last two runs. I am sure it will come in time, but it is currently quite a challenge. I am sure that the cooler weather helped, but yesterday's long run was scheduled for 2 hours and 15 minutes. I completed 17 miles in this time which is just a hair under 8 minute miles for the duration. This has been my strongest long run to date and I was not completely wiped out when I finished either. I love seeing progress like this! I have my first half marathon in quite some time scheduled for this coming weekend and I am excited to see how it will turn out!

If you actually made it this far reading through my blog without falling asleep, I thank you. When I look at the road ahead and behind me, my training it seems a little daunting at times, hence the whining at the beginning of the post. I do love running and the challenge of the training and the races. In life, seeing progress and growth is a great motivator for all of the hard work we do whether it be running, working, or raising a family. The fight is the journey, the results are our rewards...never stop fighting.

Picking the right races

2010-08-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a great start to the year for my running. In May I PR'd at the Fargo Marathon finishing in 3:56 and some change.

My first 10K of the year, early in July, I outright won the entire race. Not because I am anything close to being a fast or elite runner, but because there were only 20 people running in it.

My very first Overall Win!

My second 10K of the year was tough to find. There are not many Sunday races in the area and I had to work on Saturday. I happened to stumble across a 10K trail race in Aberdeen, SD. It's about a 3 hour drive from Sioux Falls but I have been wanting to do some sort of a trail race for quite some time now and this was my opportunity!

It had been raining off and on in the Aberdeen area and they were predicting rain for Saturday night. When I woke up on Sunday there were puddles in the parking lot and the Weather Channel was flashing severe thunderstorm warnings. Ugh, it was really going to suck if I drove all that way to have the race cancelled due to lightening! As I drove out to the sight of the race though the clouds started breaking up, in fact we had a brief shower about 5 minutes before the race and that was it for the morning. I was excited and apprehensive both about the trail being muddy, especially since I had no idea how difficult it would be.

Bring on the mud!

Getting to the starting line, I lined up in the second row. I was not so bold to even think that I would finish near the front but nobody else seemed to want to be up there. The 5K and 10K runners started at the same place and time. I was quickly grateful that I did start at the front because the first two miles were all single track trail with lots of twists and turns and very few places to pass anyone. I tucked behind a group of ladies that were mostly running the 5K and just worked on maintaining my pace and control of my feet on the slippery turns. I think I probably ran with a smile on my face at least the first mile or two. It is such a fun adventure ducking under branches, jumping over tree roots, dodging the mud puddles while running as fast as you can without ending up on your ass.

The trail wandered in and out of the trees which made it very difficult to judge how far you had traveled. The tree canopy was very dense so I really couldn't trust that my Garmin was measuring distances accurately either. Quickly into the first mile I had a guy right on my heels, I offered a couple of times to let him pass me, but he waited until we reached a clearing somewhere around the end of the first mile. I let him by and focused on running my own race. Not long after, I was caught behind somebody that had gone out too fast. She was really breathing heavy and slowing down but there was just no room to go around her for awhile. In the meantime the person I was pacing myself behind was pulling away. We came out of the trees and into a field at one point where there was just enough room to pass so I did. For awhile when we ran back into the trees it seemed like I was running all by myself. I couldn't see anyone in front of me and I certainly wasn't going to risk looking behind me. Before long I caught the lady that I had been following, she offered to let me pass but I just wasn't ready. She really started to slow, so I took the pass. When we came out on to the road again, I realized that I had also just caught up with the guy that passed me at the end of the first mile. It felt good when I was able to recover a little on the road but had plenty of speed to still pass him. Back into the trees, and I was alone again. I had no idea how many people were ahead of me or how close anyone was behind me so I just continued to run my own race. Once again we came out of the trees and they had us running in a grassy ditch. One of the volunteers yelled to me, "just a quarter mile to go!", but I couldn't believe it because my Garmin had just turned over to 5 miles. Instead of putting the hammer down and finishing hard, I just continued on until I was sure that the finish was close. I finished in 54:05 which is a 10K PR for me. I am pretty sure that this race was about a mile short of a 10K, but I'll take it.

I finished second place overall and second place in my age group, winning $50 and a medal!

Second place spoils, not so bad!

I cannot remember a race where I have had so much fun. I will definitely be doing another trail race someday soon!

Pre race shoes

Post race shoes

Healthy, Beautiful, Deadly?

2010-07-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

Running is healthy and beautiful for sure.

Last week I completed a three week buildup in my training. It's been a challenging three weeks, not only to complete my workouts but to find the time to do so. In those 3 weeks I ran 131 miles and biked 137, not to mention the strength workouts. To the non-runners this probably sounds crazy, but I have goals in front of me and I enjoy my activities. Workouts may seem like a hassle before you begin them and then there are bad workouts where a run just doesn't go well and you can't wait to be done, but I ALWAYS feel better and have a great sense of accomplishment when I am done. It's like a drug. It makes you feel better, it makes you look better and it gives you more energy, how can you lose?
Working out and training is obviously not all roses and rainbows. There are time conflicts with work and family. It takes careful planning and time management to get these things done. Secondly, there are generally some aches and pains that go along with training. Sore muscles, bruises, and a variety of other minor maladies are all part of the amateur and professional athlete's life. This year I made a couple of visits to the physical therapist, mostly due to over-training and not really knowing what I was doing. Other minor injuries this year have included ...

Bloody Shin from biking

The infamous 'bloody nipples" from shirt chaffing.

Losing a toenail.

...all minor, laughable injuries. It's just a part of the journey. As athletes we can easily be our own worst enemies while training and competing. It's all about pushing yourself to the next level. Going farther, going faster and getting leaner, meaner, and stronger. But there is a line. We have to be smart about it. Do you have a plan? Do you follow it or overdo it? We must learn to listen to our bodies, knowing when it is time to push and when it is time to recover, heal, and regroup. Backing off is no easy task. Do you know when to do it? Can you do it?
My two trips to the physical therapist were due to lack of a balance in my training. I was running harder, farther, and longer than I should have been. I was not taking proper time for recovery and I was neglecting proper strength training. Again all of this resulted in minor inconveniences for me with fairly quick and easy solutions to my injuries. I was lucky.
This last weekend somebody I went to high school with wasn't so lucky. I was on the high school wrestling team for a couple of years and the coach's son was a year ahead of me. He was an all star on the team. He went on to be a very good wrestler in college, then he went back and took over for his father, coaching at the same high school from where he graduated. His name was John Chapman. His wife is the track and cross country coach at the same high school. They were running the Bix 7 together for the second year in a row. Unfortunately at about mile 6, John, 41 years young, had a heart attack and passed away. I never really knew John very well, but it sure hits close to home. I will be 41 in September, it's scary. As an athlete you don't expect these things to happen to us because we eat well and we exercise; we are healthy. You can read about John here and here. It's a terrible tragedy.
It's been a hot and humid summer. It's easy to feel a little invincible after a good hard workout. We are not invincible, in any way.
Please, listen to your body, train smart, and be careful out there.

RIP John

Training Update

2010-07-04T15:05:00.000-07:00

I have not posted since the Fargo Marathon back in May, mostly because there hasn't been anything too exciting to post and I have been super busy. Since finishing Fargo I have enlisted a coach to help me with my training. Not because I have any hopes of becoming an elite athlete but because I was feeling overwhelmed with my summer training. As I have mentioned before, I am signed up to do a century ride as a fundraiser for JDRF and have plans to run the Mankato Marathon in October. I am a runner at heart but was talked into doing the ride because it is for a great cause, it is for one of the major charities that my company supports, and of course....I love a challenge. I did not even own a road bike until May so I had not clue as to how to train for a 100 mile ride while also maintain my marathon training.

The Coach
I found Coach Jeff from PRS Fit through my running buddy Jenn. Jeff trains his athletes mainly through heart rate training. I am just over one month into my training with Jeff and I can tell you that it has been a positive experience so far. He gives me enough workouts to keep me busy but not so much to cause injury. Jeff provides me with running, cycling, and strength training work outs. An interesting fact is that in the five weeks that I have been training with Jeff, I have had two complete rest days, one was during week one which was more of an evaluation week, and the second rest day was because I just could not fit a strength training workout into my day due to job responsibilities. This busy schedule fits right in with my restless personality, but it is also tempered with enough variety through the week to keep me injury free.

The Ride

Currently most of my weeks consist of 3 days running, 2 days cycling, and 2 days of strength training. Although it's not my favorite thing to do, I am enjoying the cycling. What a great way to cover much more ground than running, and it presents a unique set of challenges. My rides so far have been 1-3 hours in duration with my farthest ride being right at 40 miles and my average pace is typically about 15.5 mph. I still have a long way to go though because I am anticipating my century ride to take about 9 hours. Luckily I will have some other people to share it with. By the way, I have now raised just over $1,000 for the ride. I still have at least $2,000 to go. Thank you so much if you are one of the people that have helped donate towards my ride. If you have not yet but would like to, it is super easy, quick, safe, tax deductible, and can even be anonymous if you prefer. Just go here to donate to my ride, thank you so much for your generosity!

The Run
It has been difficult to figure out where my running performance had progressed. At this point in my training it is mostly building and maintaining a strong base. It has been a little different because the coach has us mostly run in prescribed heart rate zones for a certain duration of time. This means that you don't always know exactly how far your run will take you. Terrain, weather, and general overall well being can cause some fluctuation in distance. This is the first time in all of my years running that I really have not paid any attention and up until today, could not tell you how many miles I ran this week or last.

Last week was my first performance test since employing a coach. I ran the "Salute the Troops" 10K race. I can only remember running one other 10K, so I was a little worried about race strategy. How fast to go out, and what kind of pace that I could maintain. I was fairly confident that I could hold 7:30 for the 6.2 miles and if things were really clicking along, I might even be able to run it a bit faster. Unfortunately 80 degrees and 90% humidity do not make for ideal race conditions. I won't get into too many details other than I went out way to fast which is a common mistake. I just had a tough time judging my speed for the first mile or so. My splits were 6:55(whoa hoss!), 7:25, 7:23, 7:46, 7:53, 8:05, 1:10. Yep, that's pretty much what you would call a regressive run.

Despite the fact that I didn't run the smartest race, I did finish in 46:36 (goal time was 46 or faster), which was good enough to be the overall winner of the race! It pays to pick the right race I guess, but it was particularly sweet because my father was there to see it. There may have only been 20 people in this race, but you know what, it still counts!!

In summary, my training seems to be going well so far. Next week will be interesting because we start to step up the mileage. As always it will be challenging trying to fit my training in while working 11-12 hour days, but, I am not sure that I would have it any other way either!

Special thank you to my wife and daughter for putting up with and supporting my passion / hobby and listening to me talk about all sorts of weird running things. And to my running / fitness friends for being just as crazy about running or working out as I can be at times.

Fargo Marathon Recap

2010-05-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

8am on 5/22/10 was the beginning of the Fargo Marathon, my second marathon.
Here is the short and long of it all.

Summary (for those of you that don't care about the technical stuff)

Starting weather: pleasantly cool with a light rain (perfect)
Finishing weather: warm, sunny, and strong gusting winds (not perfect)
Goal time: 3:50
Actual finish time : 3:55:43
Overall place: 308 / 1878
Gender place: 471 / 1124
Age group place: 89 / 182

My goal for this race was to finish in 3 hours 50 minutes. After mile 22 I "hit the wall". My quads started to ache, my calves were cramping, and my right knee had a little bit of a twinge. At this point I believe all but the knee can be attributed to not taking in enough sodium. The knee I blame on not doing enough running specific strength training.

Overall, I felt great throughout the run until after mile 22, then it felt like the longest 4.2 miles of my life.

A marathon is such an interesting beast. You train 18-20 weeks for (in this case) 4 hours of running. Certainly there is much more to it than that, there are many mental and physical challenges along the journey. But the rewards are well worth it as well as the camaraderie of other marathoners.

The Details

Now for the good stuff!

I really feel like I learned some good information from my first marathon, and I am almost certain that # 3 will be even better. Here is what I have learned, the mistakes I made, and where things went well.

The Friendships
Before I talk about the actual marathon and training details I have to give a plug to the great DailyMile people that were at Fargo, I know there were more, but these are the ones I know and had contact with.
Jenn - I have spent many hours running with Jenn here in Sioux Falls. She has dramatically improved her running skills within the last year and will continue to grow. She's a great friend, keep your eye on her training, she will likely be qualifying for Boston this fall in Chicago.
Jenessa - This was Jenessa's first marathon. I had the great opportunity of first meeting her in St. Cloud for the Earth Day run where she PR'd her half marathon. She finished strong in Fargo and will also only get better. Way to go Jenessa!
Rob (aka Rob the Runner) - If your are on DailyMile you have got to check out his mileage. Rob is such a great spirit and inspiration on DM. In celebration of running Fargo, Rob was sporting the "mara-hawk" hairdo, check it out!
Emily A. - What a sweetheart! Emily and I had the same race goal and I had the pleasure of running with her for almost the first half of the race. She wasn't feeling it and eased off of the pace after awhile but she still had strong performance for the day.

The Training
When I first started training for Fargo, my intention was to use Higdon's Intermediate II plan. I quickly figured out that this plan was a little too aggressive for me and backed down the the Intermediate I plan. Not a huge difference but it did not have the 50 mile weeks. My running is a great mental release for me and I found myself overtraining and becoming injured three different times throughout my training. Between a hamstring problem, a knee problem, and tendonitis I guess that I am lucky to have even completed this marathon let alone PR it.

I am my worst enemy with my training and created my problems by not allowing my body proper rest among other things. I am going to use a well respected coach this time and see if I can have a more successful training period.

A lot of equipment for such a minimalist sport!

Fuel and Nutrition
During the Twin Cities marathon in October I made the mistake of not taking my gels or drinking enough water because I didn't feel like I needed it. At that time I was also hung up on using one type of gel, which was the orange GU with caffeine (another mistake). This time, after some experimentation, I switched to the Hammer Gels. So far I love them. They are the best tasting and easiest to consume gels that I have tried. What seems to work for me is to consume one gel every 4 miles (or about every 35 minutes). I also drank water at every water stop to keep hydrated and help break down the gels. The one thing that I will change on my next marathon is to take in some electrolytes. Once again Hammer Nutrition offers Endurolytes, an electrolyte replacement. I actually purchased these before Fargo, but had not trained with them and was not comfortable using them. Side note: For the second time, I also consumed a 5 hour energy drink moments before the start of the race. Does it help? I like to think so, but it's difficult to say for sure at this point.

The Weather
Really nothing we can do about the weather. It's always the luck of the draw. Spring marathons are tough because you train through the snow and cold of winter, the nice cool spring days and then you hope it stays cool for your race. Leading up to Fargo it looked like it was going to be much warmer than what I had been training in. Luckily we caught a break on race day and had cool temps with a light rain, at least for the first hour. The clouds stayed out for the next couple of hours, then the last hour the sun and the wind showed up to add an extra challenge. I am glad that I was able to get a couple of warmer weather runs in pre-marathon so that I was somewhat acclimated to it.

The race actually finishes inside of the Fargodome, it's a great experience!

The Marathon
My game plan was to stick with the 3:50 pacer up until mile 23, then if I had anything left in the tank to give it some gas and finish strong. Throughout the race we were right on pace, even a minute or so ahead of goal pace at around mile 14. I kept falling behind the group at the water stops until somewhere around mile 16 when I actually found myself ahead of the pacer. This was not intentional but I went with it and did a decent job of maintaining about an 8:45 pace, at least until I finished mile 22. The pace group caught and passed me right after the mile 23 marker and I just didn't have it in me to keep up. My quads were aching and the last two miles my right calf started to badly cramp. I had to walk it off, I was afraid that if I kept running while it was cramping that it would get so bad that I might not be able to finish. I did a combination of running and walking to the finish. That last mile seemed like the longest mile ever.

In reflection, with better training and continuing to dial in my nutrition, I can realistically see taking another ten minutes off my PR for the Mankato marathon.

After the marathon with my running buddy Jenn.

The Technical Stuff

I have to say that I am very happy with my splits, they were pretty consistent until the bonk at 23.

Looking at my heart rate, it took a pretty good jump about 1:45 into the race and continued a steady climb afterwards. This is where I believe that electrolyte replacement would have greatly helped.

Lots of details, but to me that's part of the fun. Knowing that there is room for improvement is a great motivator!

Biking for a Cause

2010-05-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

After much debate, procrastination, and sweet-talking my wife, I have finally decided to enter the world of cycling. I have thought about cycling on and off throughout the years but until now I have never been interested enough to part with the money required to purchase a bike and the necessary gear to go with it. Sure you can spend some money on running shoes and clothing, but getting started in cycling is a whole new ballgame. I did a lot of shopping around and asking questions before I bought my bike, I even pitted a couple of bike shops against each other to get the bike I wanted at the best possible price.

So here it is, the Giant Defy 3, so far it has been a great bike for me.

Other than the obvious fitness reasons for purchasing a bike, I have also signed up for a fundraising ride in August. I am riding 100 miles through Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa in order to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation ( JDRF). This is a great organization that is working towards a cure for Juvenile Diabetes. My goal is to raise $3,000 or more for this ride. So here's my pitch -

If you can afford to donate even $5 towards this cause it would be greatly appreciated. You can quickly and easily donate here on my fundraising website. It's safe, secure website and you will absolutely not be spammed with emails, you can even donate anonymously if you like!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I know many of you have families and other financial responsibilities. This is why I am only asking for a $5 donation. If you can and would like to donate more that would be awesome.

Thanks again, I will keep you updated on my training!

St. Cloud Earth Day 20

2010-04-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday April 17th was the Earth Day Run in St. Cloud, MN. It was a somewhat unique event in that they ran both a half marathon and new this year, a 20 mile run. I had great company at this race with Daily Mile friends Jenn B., Megan N., and Jenessa. Each of them ran well, both Jenn and Jenessa obtained half marathon PR's and Megan ran a very solid 20 miles. They are a great bunch, if you are on Daily Mile and you don't follow them already, you should, I expect each of them to have some great race results this year.

Obviously running is a physical sport, but I would say it is equally and many times more so a mental sport. Preparation, attitude, and determination are major factors in the result of any distance run. It is easy to be intimidated by a race or a long run. But if you have trained properly, and have the right mindset your results will generally be positive. I found a great quote on Twitter from EnMotivate : If you truly expect something to be difficult, it will be. ~ Pete Cohen. I went into this run with expectations of having fun, maintaining a responsible pace,and working on fine tuning my fuel plan for Fargo.

The Fun Part
An amazing thing happened on this day. I woke up in a great mood (not that amazing), and I was really looking forward to this run. I have been training hard through some really crappy weather and was looking forward to see how things would shake out. I have started to develop a new attitude towards running this year and it is all about enjoying the runs. I don't know that I have too many more PR's left in me and frankly I am not too worried about it. It is all to easy to obsess about training and racing, but my eyes have been opened to the joy of running. Throughout this race I made it a point to thank as many volunteers as possible and talk to and encourage other runners along the way. I hope I made some people feel a little better about there run, even if for only a few moments. I was running well and felt good most of the way, so why not try to spread a little love?

Maintaining Pace
Yep, I am very much a typical runner, I go out too fast at the start, and have nothing left at the end. I proved it in my first marathon and I still do it much too often in my training runs. This time it was different, but I did have a little help. My goal was to finish with a 9:00 - 9:30 pace without wiping myself out in the end. Luckily there were pacers at this race, so I found the 9:33 pacer and stuck with him. My plan was to run faster the last part of the race if I felt well enough to do so. 9:33 seemed a little too easy the first few miles, but I stuck to the plan like a champ, for the most part. I did pass the pacer and pick things up at miles 6 - 10 knowing that I was going to have to make a bathroom stop. When I stepped out of the port a potty I had to pick my speed back up to catch back up to the pacer which I finally did somewhere close to mile 12. I kept a pretty steady pace through the next 4 miles and then started to push the it a little at mile 16, simply because I felt like I could. I feel good that I was able to finish strong and run my last two miles at close to 8 minute pace, my pacing plan worked well!

The Fuel Plan
This is where I have the most anxiety about my long runs and the marathon. Mostly because I did such a poor job of it during my first marathon that I really don't want to make the same mistake twice. I have asked questions on Daily Mile and done a little experimenting on my own. I have not come to a complete resolution yet but here is what I have so far.

5-hour Energy - yeah, don't freak out. I am typically not a big believer in these things and I am not sure how much it has actually helped. But, the two times that I have tried it, I had solid results. I will give credit where credit is due, I borrowed this idea from Rob-The-Runner on Daily Mile.
Hammer Gels - I have tried Honey Stingers and Hammer Gels on my long runs. I like the flavors and the ease of consuming the Hammer Gels. I use the non-caffeinated gels simply because I don't feel like I need any more caffeine than what is in the energy shot. I consumed one gel for every four miles. This seemed to work out well, but I may try every 30 minutes on my next long run.
Water - I still have some work to do in this area but I drank from every water stop and walked through most of them to drink. I was still a little dehydrated at the end of the run but it was much better than my first marathon experience.

Here are some pictures of me and the great DM runners that I mentioned earlier

Finding hills in Eastern South Dakota

2010-04-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

Living in the eastern part of South Dakota limits the opportunity to run many hills. They really are far and few, especially if you are looking for trail running. Most people don't go looking for hills, in fact they avoid and despise them. I am not sure that I actually enjoy running up a hill, but the challenge and the feeling of accomplishment is like a drug. I get an incredible high after ripping my lungs out on a challenging hill run.(sounds fun right?)

Running up a steep hill on pavement is one thing, but blasting up a single track trail is much more fun. Here are some of my favorite hills.

Big Sioux State Park
Elevation profile (hmmm... should I say this park is the tits!?)

View from the bottom of one of the hills. Doesn't seem like much.

But from the top, it's a little more daunting.

Beaver Creek Park
Elevation Profile

Beaver Creek- Spring Run

2010-04-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

I was looking for a little variety this week, so I conned Jeff P. into running the trails of Beaver Creek with me today. I knew it would be muddy, but to add to the excitement it rained for most of our 5.35 miles too. It was just a nice casually paced run with lots of hills and mud. Here are a few pictures that I took along the way.
For me, this is the cream of the crop, this is what makes it all worthwhile, being able to find places like this to run.

Here is the Garmin upload of our run. It's not a very long trail so we had to make several loops to complete 5 miles.

March-ing on...

2010-04-02T18:15:00.000-07:00

March has been a roller coaster of a month for my running. I jumped into the first week with a 40 mile week and discovered once again that I am not invincible. I have been adding some core work to my routine for a few months now but I was not incorporating enough "easy" days into my running routine. The lack of easy days seemed to lead to some nasty knee pain that kept me from running for 11 days. I did go to a physical therapist and she told me that the pain was from weak glutes. So I kept myself busy by going to Power Pump classes and spin classes and did some extra stationary biking on my own to try and keep my fitness in line. I was finally able to run again on March 21st. For you non-runners, when you cannot run due to an injury you truly appreciate being able to run when you can. For awhile it seemed like everyone but me could run and was doing so. It was a little disheartening for the duration but I am past that now.
As I write this, it is now less than 50 days until my next marathon which is in Fargo, ND. My goals for this marathon are to run it without hitting the wall, and finish faster than I did in the Twin Cities. I learned a lot from my first marathon and will go back and review my posting of that run as a refresher. I felt that my two largest mistakes were that I did not fuel enough or properly during the race and I definitely ran too fast starting out. After 17 strong miles the wheels fell off and it was a struggle for me to finish, mile 17 is also where the hills started. Most of my splits up to that point were well under 9 minute miles which is not crazy out of my league, in fact I felt great until around miles 16-17. This picture reminds me of how I felt immediately after the marathon.

I have had some beautiful runs through the winter and I am now enjoying the awesome spring weather. My next race will be in St. Cloud, MN on Saturday April 17th, which will actually just be a 20 mile training run for me with some friends. Hopefully all will go well and I will stay healthy and continue to enjoy my runs!

The Endless Winter Continues

2010-02-28T07:45:00.000-08:00

Today's run concludes week 6 of my marathon training plan. It has already been an interesting and rewarding journey of extreme temperatures and creative time management to get to this point. So here are my random updates.

WINTER RUNNING
This winter has been especially harsh. We have had a total snowfall this year of about 58 inches and way too many days below zero. My coldest run to date that I can remember was -15 with the windchill and -11 without wind. As I noted in an earlier posting, I invested in some winter running gear so that I wouldn't have to be a slave to the treadmill all season. Three layers on top have kept me plenty warm including a basic Under Armour long sleeve base layer, a Mizuno Breath Thermo Running Crew, and a RRS Jacket. To keep the legs warm I have a pair of Adidas tights and a pair of Under Armour wind stopping pants that I alternate. I keep my feet warm with Mizuno Breath Thermo socks, and stay sure footed on the icy days with Yaktrax. Next winter I will invest in better gloves, my hands stay warm most of the time, but I struggle on the really cold days.

LOGGING THE MILES
Sticking to my training plan has not been too bad so far. I just have to do some planning ahead to get the miles done. I have only been running 30-35 miles a week so far but next week it jumps up to 40 and will increase to 50 miles for some weeks. I will have to do some creative scheduling to get these future runs accomplished, but it will happen.

RUNNING BUDDIES
I have been very fortunate to have some great running buddies the last year or so. I started out with Jeff who talked me into signing up for my first marathon. After he was injured I started running with Jenn who has become an insane future triathlete who is logging miles on her new bike and quickly learning how to swim. She now has a coach that has her using heart rate training. Both of them have gone in a different direction with their training so I have been forced to look for someone else that I can train with. Today I met up with a small group of people that belong to the Sioux Falls Area Run Club. It wasn't easy getting up at 5am on a Sunday to run, especially since it was going to be 20 degrees warmer in just a few short hours, but I am glad I did it. I met four great people and had a nice time. That is certainly one of the side benefits of running, meeting new people that share a similar passion. I am lucky to have great friends like Jeff and Jenn and looking forward to meeting more people through the club.

MISC. TRAINING NOTES
This year I have been focusing on adding cross-training to my regimen. That's cross-training, NOT cross-dressing. Anyway, I joined the Y last fall so that I could participate in some of the classes. Being able to work out with other people really helps keep me motivated. I have been taking a class called Power Pump which typically consists of low weight high rep weight lifting including squats, push-ups, lunges, and more. It was a little tough to get used to at first, but I really enjoy it now. The other class that I occasionally attend is Sports Conditioning on Sunday. This class kicks my ass every time. I only go after I forget how painful it can be. It is a constant hour of marching in place, squats, lunges, push-ups, jumping, and more at a high intensity. It's a great workout but can be quite humbling. Both of these classes have definitely increased my upper body strength and I like to think that they have made me a better runner.

I am now a third of the way through my training plan and as of today's writing have 82 days until the Fargo Marathon. It's nice that I keep hearing positive comments about what a great marathon it is and how well it is organized. I am looking forward to this and hope to have a better experience and outcome.

Training Update

2010-02-08T19:12:00.000-08:00

This week starts week # 4 of 18 for Fargo Marathon training. I had a great week of running, logging 31 miles including a 4 mile race on Saturday and a little over 11 miles through some beautiful snowy paths on Sunday.

Saturday's race was the Frostbite Four in Beresford, SD. My running buddy Jenn, wanted to run this for her birthday, and my wife Corrin came along as our cheer section. It was a well organized race and we had pretty decent weather for February. My goal pace for this race was to finish in 30 minutes. I did it in just a hair under 29, mission accomplished!

According to the Hal Higdon Intermediate II training plan, I was scheduled to run an easy 8 miles on Sunday. Jenn and I had planned to meet up Sunday morning and run this together. We had received about 4 inches of snow overnight and there were no parking lots cleared yet in the area where we had planned to run. I suggested we leave from my house and we could run a random route through the streets to get in our miles.

A couple of times this year I have gone out on some winter trail runs and Jenn had expressed interest in going sometime. So, I took her through a hilly little side road not far from our house. This path has some pretty serious hills, and to make matters worse, most of it was covered in snow that ranged from ankle to almost knee deep. There is no question, this was a challenging run, but it was a beautiful one also. So much for a scheduled easy run, Jenn was not very happy with me for taking her over the hills. When we finally finished, I just had to grab my camera and run back through there to get some shots of the scenery in that area. No, the hills were not easy by any measure, but the view was more than worth the hard work it took to run through them.

Had the opportunity to spot a deer up ahead on the path!

Can you spot the deer on the right side of the path?

This, is the beauty of running!

One of the monster hills along our Sunday run!

Let the Training Begin!

2010-01-17T16:38:00.000-08:00

Monday January 18th 2010 marks the start of my Fargo Marathon training!

The Fargo Marathon is on May 22, 2010. This is a bittersweet moment for me as I have found some things out about myself. It has been nice to be able to run when I want and as far as I want without any specific goal in mind other than racking up mileage and having some fun doing so. I find that I am really enjoying some of my longer runs which leads me to believe that I may try to fit in a 50K run sometime between marathons this year. But, I do look forward to having some discipline and structure to my workouts. It will be 18 weeks of running when and how far I am told to do so by Hal. Irregardless of how I feel about the training, I am excited to see if I can run a smarter race this time and finish in under 4 hours.

I chose the Fargo Marathon for two reasons, it's close, and it's flat. I have also selected a different training plan this time around. I am using Hal Higdon's Intermediate II plan. I think that the nice thing about Higdon's plan is that he explains how and why you are doing what he has you do every day.

It was an awesome feeling to complete my first marathon and I have no doubt that this one will be great too. An added bonus will be that my good friend and sometimes training partner Jenn is planning on running this marathon also. She is one tough chick. Her first marathon was in Philly, she ended up running and puking for 16 miles of it, but she didn't quit. I don't know how many people could pull off an accomplishment like that. She is now working on becoming an Ironman triathlete in the next few years. You can check out her blog here.

Let the training begin!!

Beaver Creek Trail Run

2010-01-14T20:15:00.000-08:00

On a cold Sunday morning I decided at the spur of the moment to check out a state park that I had never visited, Beaver Creek.
I did not have to forge my own trail but I was did have to follow the trail left by deer and a lone snowshoer. It was a short trail, but it was hilly and the snow was almost knee deep in some places so it turned out to be a great cardio workout in a beautiful area.

Some days, winter isn't so bad.

2010 Running

2010-01-01T19:16:00.000-08:00

Life goals for 2010

Be a good husband and father.
Move to the next level with my career.
Be a better teacher and mentor to those that I work with.
Read more books.

Running goals for 2010

Enjoy every run
Stay healthy and injury free
Run 2 marathons
Run a total of 2,010 miles