Sunday Photo-fest

It was a cool foggy morning on the trails. 

I ran across a couple of bow hunters, this means it's time to start wearing my blaze orange running shirts for safety. The funny thing about this... it was the first time that I can remember not seeing any deer or turkey at all on the trails.

The fog made for some interesting navigation, the trails looked different, there were a couple of times that I wasn't sure where I was and then was totally 

surprised about where I ended up.

I love the variety that this trail had to offer.

Shameless self-portrait

It's not mountain climbing, but there are some great rolling hills

In some places you really have to pick your way through the trail

The fog made for some interesting navigation

Dry stream bed

Tribute to a Hero

Today, soon to be 63 year old Diana Nyad ended her quest to be the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage. This was her 4th attempt. According to her website, she was in the water for 41 hours and 45 minutes. She swam over 60 miles before being pulled from the water because of sharks, storms, multiple jellyfish stings, and severe sunburn.

Did I mention that Diana turns 63 tomorrow?

Simply amazing

You can read about her adventure here.

Here is a news clip about her adventure.

On another note....

I had an awesome weekend in La Crosse Wisconsin. I participated in a 100 mile bike ride as a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). JDRF holds about 5 of these rides a year throughout the United States and this has become the largest. There were a record 425 riders and we were able to raise well over $1 million on this ride alone. It was a great feeling to be able to participate in this event.

My 100 mile ride went fine, we had a great time. But it was nothing compared to what Diana Nyad has accomplished.

Support sign from a T1D child, very inspiring.

This was a stop at mile 40, still feeling good.

Going for the balding mowhawk look :-/

After the ride, we found a place famous for their bloody mary's.
For the record, it was awesome!

Trail Porn

Beautiful morning for a run!

Here are some pictures from Grand Trace Conservation Area today.

See the moon in the middle?

Mother Nature added some obstacles today.

Gorgeous Day!

How much for this ride? Two Bucks!

Hills!

No shortage of hills!

The grass (weeds) in some areas was waist deep.

Breaking the Slump

My first order of business....
It's crunch time for me. On August 18 I will  be cycling 100 miles in order to help raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. My goal is to raise at least $3,000. I am close but I need some help. Please consider a donation. Click here to donate!


On another Note:

Training for your "A" race is a huge commitment. It means early bed times on at least one weekend night due to a long run the next morning, juggling work and family commitments in order to get in that crucial mid-week tempo run, and of course, the forces of nature battling against you.

For me, once the big race finally comes and goes, I have found that I go through a cycle. My first instinct is to find another big race in which to participate. I am fired up and energized from my accomplishment. Then I figure why not, I am already in great shape. No sense in wasting all that hard work.

Then comes the downhill slide. I find that I don't want to work so hard anymore. I need a break, I need to have some fun and not feel obligated to run.

After my 50K back in May, I still enjoyed running. I managed to fit in a half marathon and a 5K within a little over a month after. Then came the crash. I didn't feel very good and really didn't feel like running.

So I didn't.

Except for an occasional run here and there, I pretty much stopped running and working out for about  3 weeks.

The good thing is that never once was I afraid that I wouldn't get back into running. I knew I would when I was ready. I am easing back into it now. I even started a couple of my runs this week before 5am. Once I can get out of bed, the morning runs are nice.

They help keep me balanced, take the edge off.

I am back, and I have a plan.

Fall Plans

I have found myself in a bit of a funk lately. I've been a little tired and worn down. Much of this has probably come from work stress, mostly self-induced. It's funny how society has taught us, (or maybe just me), that it's valiant to work hard, and put in extra hours to succeed; but if you take a long lunch or adjust your schedule for some fitness time, then maybe you are not as committed to you work as you should be.

I know that this is an internal struggle that I deal with quite often.

Because of this recent slump, I have decided not to take on any major fall races this year. I had a couple of them that I thought I might do. I considered the Hawk Marathon / 50 mile trail race but the date just doesn't fit well into my schedule. Then I came close to signing up for the Kansas City Marathon just to see how that would go, but have not pulled the trigger. Mostly because my running has not been going very well lately.

For almost three years now I have been running and training for a fall and then a spring event. It has been a great adventure but I think that I may need a little time off from serious training. The work-life balance has been tilted out of balance and really heavily leans towards work these days. That probably isn't going to change for awhile.

Currently on the radar, I am hoping to run the 50 mile distance at the Ice Age 50 next year.

Of course...I could change my mind on all of this tomorrow.

Good news...I noticed that they have mowed the trails at Grand Trace, one of my favorite places to run. Looks like I will be running there again soon.

It may be just what I need.

Gravel Sunday

I started to write this post on Sunday, but I wore myself out by the end of the day.

I ran10 miles and then biked 30.

I don't think exercise is an addiction for me, but it certainly takes the edge off and makes me a more patient and understanding person.

I ran the gravel on Sunday. I saw several deer but was not quick enough to get any pictures of them.

Here is what I did see though...

I ran another one of my famous "in the middle of nowhere" roads

These line our gravel road for almost half a mile.

Black eyed Susans

Queen Anne's Lace

Sunflowers

Storm off to the south, we could have used that rain.

My running philosophy has changed drastically this last year. I am not so competitive on my runs, but much more meditative. 

I like it.

Stormy Run

I finally got fed up with putting off my runs due to the heat today. I stepped outside and realized that we had just received a little sprinkling of rain but the clouds were off to the north east and I assumed that the storm had all but missed us.

It was 102 degrees when I headed out, my plan was to just run an easy 4 miles and take some walk breaks if I started to get too hot. I felt a few sprinkles here and there but assumed that that was all I would get. About mile two the weather changed quickly. The rain started coming down harder and the wind started blowing. It was actually quite refreshing. Then somewhere around the 2 to 2.5 mile mark, a huge crack of thunder went over my head and the skies opened up. It was pretty exhilarating! It felt great to have the cool rain coming down. I was really grateful for the shower because like many areas in the Midwest, it has been dry as a desert around here.

The rain was coming down in sheets and the wind was blowing at my face, it reminded me of the part in the movie Caddyshack when the Bishop was having the game of his life during the middle of a major storm.

If you don't know or don't remember what I am talking about here is a great clip of the scene.

Scene from Caddyshack, one of my all-time favorite movies.

Although it was a little scary at times because the rain was so heavy, I managed to actually run back out of the storm and made it home safely. 

Crazy runners....