Cliffords Running Together

As the NC24 Nears

2011-09-07T21:55:00.002-04:00

The big race of the year or 2nd big race of the year is just 9 days away and my training plan hasn't been what I thought it would be. Three plus weeks ago I pulled something in my lower back and it has been bothering me ever since although later that week I ran the Perfect Ten Miler in 1:10:15 or so and had some bad pain after, then 1 week later ran the Heart n Sole 1/2 marathon easier than I wanted in 1:39 but finished feeling better than the week before, then 1 week later ran the Moebius Green Monster 50k at a easier pace and felt pretty good after that. My weekly mileage isn't as high as it was last year but I still feel good about the 24 coming up with the last 2 weeks done. The day after the 50k I joined Jeannine and Phil for a 24 mile run on tired legs and ran the MStar 5k from miles 15-17.1 with a 21:54 which felt pretty good but the 7 miles after the race were tough. Then over the Labor day weekend I ran 20 on Saturday around Medina with Dan Daubner, Marsha and Jeannine and 20 on Sunday in Hinckley with Jeannine, Jack, Jack and Frank and on Labor Day ran 11.5 miles in the morning with Jeannine and 9 more miles that evening with Marsha, JN, Frank and Bob for a 3 day total of over 58 miles.
Now I only need a little magic along with a little luck and a nice taper to get me to at least a new pr, 120 is the goal, 130 would be magic.

GCM a new PR and a BQ for 2012

2011-04-25T21:54:00.002-04:00

I have a new PR in the Marathon after the Glass City Marathon In Toledo. I ran a 3:16 with the help of Connie as my pacer, one minute faster than I ran Cleveland last year. The training leading up to this marathon didn't seem as good as what I did to get ready for Cleveland but I was still going to try. I ran the same two 50k's I ran last year as extra long runs and beat both times from last year. I also ran the half at Last Chance at a better pace than I thought I was ready for. That was about most of my training for this mid April marathon til the week before the marathon when Connie says we should go run the Spring Classic 10 miler which I was not really planning to run. We (she) decided that we would do a 10 mile warm up and then run the race at around a 7:20 pace for a good 20 mile training run with 10 at a good pace. Things were going well til mile 8 when my calves started to hurt some and I slowed down and Connie continued on holding the pace. She finished in 1:10 and I at 1:11, Connie at a 7:00 minute pace and me at a 7:06 pace overall. April 17 was the big day, we had quite a few member there and it was a perfect day for a marathon EXCEPT for the 17 to 40 mph gusts of wind that seemed to make it a very hard run, We came through the half way point at 1:37 and right on track other than that didn't give hardly any cushion. We didn't talk much, not that I could have, and about mile 22 I was really wanting to slow down and was getting tire. Connie kept looking at her watch and I knew she knew we had to hold the pace or even speed up and she just kept pushing so I did too. I could hear the announcer in the stadium about a mile out and we had the wind at our back and I had a very small burst of energy left and got across the line about 1 minute faster than my best and in much tougher conditions. I gave Connie a hug and a thanks as she came across the finish line and told her my time and I was extremely pleased and happy with it and she say "we could have run a 3:12 with out the wind" and later says she failed as a pacer but she did not, I could not have done it without her. This was to be my only attempt at a fast marathon for now as I was planning to log some high miles around Cleveland and just do Cleveland for fun on tired legs but now Connie has me convinced we can get the 3:12 or so there so my plans have changed. One week after this marathon was the Hermes Cleveland 10 miler, again I wasn't planning to run this but my buddy Dan Daubner wanted to so the peer pressure was to much and I felt good which was also unusual the week after a marathon. I talked to Connie about this and she told me to run the first 5 miles at a 7:15 pace and drop it down the last 5 so that is what I did. I ran the first 5 miles with Brad H. and near Debbie at a 7:08 pace and then dropped it down to a 6:45 pace for the last 5 finishing with a 1:09:29 good for 57th place of nearly 2300 runners and just a bit faster than Connie and I ran the Spring Classic. Cleveland here we come.

Last Chance for Boston 2011

2011-03-06T12:52:00.002-05:00

The last Sunday in February is this race I've run now for three years. Marsha and I make it a one night getaway every year and head down to Dublin on Saturday for lunch, shopping and relaxing. We went to the mini expo and then I met Julie (the girl I helped carry across the finish line in Columbus for her bq) for a 3 mile run on the LCFB course. Saturday night we went out to dinner at a Italian restaurant where I got the all you can eat buffet and over ate a bit but it didn't seem to cause me any problems in the half. I went out at a 7 minute pace and just figured I'd try to hold on as long as I could. I ended up running a 1:31 half marathon (6:59 pace) coming in 19th of 195 and third in my age group even though they handed me the 2nd place award as I crossed the finish line. I finished the race then went and put on dry clothes and ran 8 more miles with Marsha as she was attempting to get her bq. I also ran the half at this race this year so I wouldn't be so sore going into the Green Jewel 50k 6 days later. 2011 MCRR LCFB attendees were Marsha, me, all 4 Elkins, Dan Daubner, Connie, Bob, Angie, Chris, Roberta and Jeannine as a pacer and cheerleader. Other friends, Mike Keller and Julie Whitis. Note for next year, we stayed at the Extended Stay of America right where the Marathon starts.

Medina Rec Center Frosty 5k

2011-02-14T18:02:00.002-05:00

My second race of the year was a little race our rec center puts on. It's not one of my favorites and it's little longer than a 5k and I'm not sure why I've run it 3 times now, but I did. I got there a little early and got a warm up with Bob P., Connie and Bob Jones. The race was minutes from starting and Connie says I should be able to win this thing as we were looking around and not seeing too many fast runners in the crowd of maybe 100. She's nice like that but Bob P. usually gets me other than last Labor Day when I got him. I stayed with Bob for about a mile but when we hit mile 1 and I was at 6:06 I knew that was too fast for me especially this early in the year with very little fast running done lately. Bob pulled away but I kept him in range thinking maybe he would walk or slow down a little since he said he was sick but he kept going and a fella I met on New Years eve ended up passing me about mile 2 and I came in third overall with Bob winning, Bob was around 20:20 and I was about 20:57 and Connie about 22:30. Dan Daubner ran this with his daughter Abbey for her first 5k ever and I ran back out and ran in with them while Dan and I tried to keep her moving and running while she was hurting. I kept telling her the old man behind her was closing in on her and that he was older than Dan and I together when she says to us, "my dads bad but you're even worse" I took it as a compliment. She came in at 42 minutes and will probably beat that in no time. It was near 38 degrees at race time and a very nice morning for a run, way better than the morning before when I ran 14 miles in Strongsville with Dan H, Dan De, Debbie S. and F., Wendy and Brad in inches of snow covering inches of ice causing us to run a 10:14 pace.

Landis Loonies Marathon 1/1/2011

2011-01-01T22:10:00.004-05:00

I ran the Landis Loonies Marathon FA today with my good friend Dan Horvath. I have to thank Dan for being committed to this today or I would most definitely stayed home and slept in. The weather report was calling for mid 40's and a 100% chance of rain while we would be running and it did rain but mostly a light drizzle other than the last few minutes of the first lap but it was warmer than it was supposed to be at around mid 50's. We had about 9 people start the marathon with a few others joining in for a few laps. We all stayed together for most of the 1st 2 laps but coming into the aid station after lap 2 I had an emergency bathroom break and was in the school for a few minutes and when I came out I figured I would never catch the group so I thought I may just be done but Keith Landis waited for me so off we went. He made it a couple miles but then he was getting some calf pain so he stopped and I went on alone. Again coming into the aid station with one lap to go I thought I would not run the last lap alone so I would just stop after 3 laps and 20 miles but I caught Kevin at the aid station and we went on to run the final loop together until mile 25 when he told me to go and quit waiting for him so I took off and ran my last mile at around a 7:30 pace finishing in 4:01. I had run the Great New Years Eve 5k the day before and was pretty sore after the marathon but I had a great time and got to run a marathon on the first day of 2011.

2010 Review

2011-01-01T20:27:00.006-05:00

I ran 2270 miles in 2010 and I ran 40 races without an injury, a pretty good year of running.
Jan. 1 Freedom Park 24 Hour Ultra 70.13 miles
Feb. 7 Frosty 5k 22:03
Feb.13 Chili Bowl Classic 19:46
Feb. 28 Last Chance for Boston 3:29
Mar. 6 Green Jewel 50k 5:03
Mar. 13 St. Malachi 2 mile 14:06 paced JN
Mar. 13 St. Malachi 5 mile 47:00 JN JS
Mar.27 Super Sat. 1/5k 5:33 20:58
Mar.28 Fools 50k 5:44
Apr. 10 Spring Classic 1/2 1:33:20 PR
Apr. 18 Union Hospital 1/2 1:34:02
Apr. 21 Victims Rights 5k 19:43
May 1 Illinois Marathon 3:59:40 paced JS
May 7 Run 4 Fun 20:12
May 16 Cleveland Marathon PR 3:17:45
May 23 Happy Trails 5k 19:42
May 29 Pegasus Farms 2.5 mile 16:07
June 5 Another Dam 50k 4:55 PR
June 12 Louisville 10k 42:24
June 20 Tow Path 10 miler 1:06 PR
June 25 Matchstick 4 mile 24:14 PR
June 26 Green YMCA 10k 42:23
July 4 Twin Sizzler 5k 18:53 PR
July 4 Twin Sizzler 10k 43:44
July 5 N. Canton 5 miler 33:58
July 10 Shot in the Dark 4 mile 25:10 PR
July 17 Summer of Love 10 mile 1:14
Aug. 14 Skypark Veterans 2 mile 12:54 won
Aug. 21 Heart n Sole 1/2 1:30
Aug.28 Valley City 5k 20:34
Sept. 6 Run for the Trails 19:19
Sept. 12 River Run 1/2 1:27 PR
Sept. 18-19 NC24 113.3 PR
Oct. 3 Michelle's Leading Star 5k 20ish
Oct. 17 Columbus Marathon 3:46 JN
Oct. 24 Inland Trail 1:48 paced JN 3:38
Nov. 6 Stomp the Grapes 1/2 1:36
Nov.13 Bill's Bad Ass 50k 5:29 paced JN
Nov. 25 Perry Turkey Trot 21:08 w/ KC
Dec. 5 Buckeye Woods 50k 5:07
Dec.31 New Years Eve 5k 20:40

Passing Out X 3 11/02/2010

2010-11-03T22:26:00.003-04:00

Where do I start this story? Let's go back about 14 months to the first time I ever passed out. I had just completed my first 24 hour run at the NorthCoast 24 hour ultra. I had made my goal of running 100 miles, 107.44 to be exact. Our friend Abra told Marsha before this race to be prepared to see me ill, dehydrated, sick, etc. to which I told Abra she would not see me once in 24 hours without a smile on my face. We made a friendly bet and around 23 hours into this race Abra finally conceded and I won the bet. Now to the passing out part. The race was coming down to the end and Abra had said to me that this is a race and I needed to run the last lap so when it came down to the last minutes of the race I decided to do what she said but being a bit emotionally off balance and really ready for it to be done I pretty much sprinted the last lap and after finishing walked back to the finish line sat down and passed out. I awoke to the medical team working on me but was pretty much ok except for the severely swollen ankle that I could no longer walk on and was on crutches for days after this race.
Now fast forward to almost a year later and the 2nd NC24 race. I had another friendly bet with Abra but the bet was I had to beat 110 miles, still keep that smile on my face but with one stipulation Abra added that I also could not pass out. I had a good race but had a few stomach issues for the first time and was thinking that with about 7 hours to go that there was no way I was going to make even my minimum goal or win my bet with Abra. My good friend Jeannine had run 20 miles with me in the morning and was on her way back to run the last 6 hours with me when I sent her a text and said "I'd love to have the company but I wouldn't blame you if you went back home and slept, running 4 miles an hour is hard and hurting" her reply made me laugh, she said "U will at the very least pr today, shut your mouth and keep movin! I'm on my way". I was struggling but after Jeannine got me drinking and eating again I felt a bit better and after stopping at the aid station to get my arch attended to I felt better than ever and was able t to run 15 miles in the last 3 hours and get a new pr of 113 miles in 24 hours. I ran a nice steady pace the last 40 minutes but no sprint and finished feeling pretty good. Kim Martin and I finished close to each other and headed back to the finish when she said she was going to take a walk into Lake Erie so I decided to join her. I took off my socks and shoes with a little help from JN who was already eating breakfast walked into the lake with Kim for maybe 4 minutes and came back to shore. I felt good and headed to breakfast but told Marsha I needed to go get on some warm clothes and as we headed to our aid station I told IT was happening again. I passed out again and was carried to the massage table and was again looked at by the same doctor as last year and he had walked most of the 24 race also. I awoke from this and the first words out of my mouth are "is Abra here cause if she is I owe her a buck" and of course I see her above me. I felt somewhat ok lying there but could not sit up or stand without feeling highly nauseous and told them I was not getting in my new Element and getting sick. Marsha pulled the car right up next to me so I could get in and off we went. Luckily I took Monday off work and got in a days rest but got a very bad cold for the next 7 to 10 days but worked every day.
Forward ahead another 5 weeks. We all ran the Columbus Marathon 4 weeks after the 24 and I paced Jeannine with the goal of getting her to a 3:40:59 or better and a BQ but that didn't happen so she decided to run the Inland Trail Marathon. She asked me to meet her at the half way point and run with her into the finish. I ran the very first mile with her then ran back to the start and waited for Marsha to arrive so we could go find her at the turn around. I ran towards her from there joining her at mile 11 and running the last 15 with her and this time things went as planned with Jeannine running a slightly negative split and a BQ time of 3:38 and placing 3rd woman overall and with Rachael placing first. We all went back to Jeannines dads house where I had a couple Mike's Hard Lemonades and a couple pieces of pizza. I got up to throw away some trash and got really dizzy so I got back to my chair quickly and the next thing I know I'm waking up and I hear an ambulance in the driveway and I am soaked in sweat and not feeling too good, Marsha is at my side and trying to take care of me but I could hardly move with my head hurting so much. I think Jeannine yelled open your eyes so I did and that was one of the scariest moments I have ever encountered. I was 100% in the dark when I opened my eyes and I told them all I could not see but the best way I can describe it is that it was like someone turning on the lights with a dimmer switch, in less than a minute I got my vision back. Now I was off in the back of a speeding ambulance but even before we had left the driveway I was feeling 95% better and did not really want to be taken to the ER but I didn't have alot of say at that point and was a little worried about the vision thing so I went. While we were getting there I asked the guy sitting next to me to tell Marsha I was doing very well and to please ask her for my cell phone. I figured if I was having to take this ride and having to pay for it I wanted a picture from where I was sitting. I snapped a picture of my feet and the doors and sent it to FACEBOOK where maybe I shook up a couple people but in my mind if I was capable of taking and posting the darn picture then I was OK. I spent 4.5 hours in the er getting 2 iv's, an MRI, cat scan, blood work and finally sent home but with a note to be released to work after 3 days. I call my family doctor on Monday but she can't get me in til Thursday so I go in then and she says my resting heart rate is way low and sends me down to a cardiologist and wants me to come back next week and gives me a return to work excuse that I didn't look at at first and as I'm making my appt. for the following week I find out she is not letting me go back to work til Nov. 8. So here I am 10 days later waiting to see what she says this Friday at 9:45 am. I have felt great and am sure that she won't have found anything wrong but I will still be in the dark as to why I passed out now for the 3rd time but I have a plan to avoid this and it's pretty simple. I will eat and hydrate better before I ever have another drink after a run and at the next 24 hour race I will plan to walk the last 30 minutes of the race unless I am very close to a new goal or pr and then I'll just have to take my chances. I will probably get reminded of this alot come the next 24 but hey it'll be worth it.

Ultra Runner = ME

2010-06-16T21:18:00.006-04:00

On June 6th I became an Ultra Runner by running my first 50k "Another Dam 50k".

Dan, Charles, Ladd, and I went to the Dayton area to run Another Dam 50k. Dan and Ladd had ran many other ultra events, but for Charles and I this would be our first. My goal was to "finish".

The day started out with rain, rain and more rain! All the way to Dayton it rained and poured. By the time we arrived in Englewood the rain stopped and it was humid as could be. The temps didn't go too high it was just very muggy all day! The course was a 7.8 mile loop that we were to run 4 times.

Off we went, Charles and I had decided we would run this together. The first part of the course was a mile or so in the sun with no wind or air movement as we ran on the side of the dam, then there was about a 1/2 mile of downhill on a curvy road, after that we were on dirt trails 4.5 miles a short grassy meadow run and more trails. The trails were nice except where they were very muddy, which about 1/2 of them were, during the muddy parts you had to be very careful not to slip (which I assumed by the end I would face plant in at one point or another).

Our first loop was our fastest at a 1:17. At the end of this loop we refilled our bottles and got back on the trail. We joined up with a few other guys in the 2nd loop and they let me lead through the trails (which made me feel really strong!) Charles started having stomach problems at this point, we saw Ladd and Dan starting their 3rd loop as we were finishing our 2nd, we refilled, sprayed for bugs and refueled (I should have used my inhaler but forgot...) back to running. Charles had some real struggles in the first 2 miles of this loop and asked me to leave him many times before I did. So at this point 18 miles into the 31 miles, I was all alone. I started taking pictures, texting and running, had a few short phone conversations with friends and when no one else was around I listened to music from my phone (because I had no headset, I turned it off each time I passed another runner) . Ran into Dan and Ladd at the midway aid station got a hug and a kiss. With about one mile left in lap 3 I had an asthma attack... a little scary as I was alone.... finally back to the start line and my inhaler. I felt better and quickly started my 4th lap, and asked a few volunteers to tell Charles that he was not allowed to quit. I was so excited to start this lap as I would soon hit my most miles run ever (up until this point 26.2 was the furthest). I was running across the dam when I saw Charles on the bottom path of the dam I yelled at him to not quit and keep trying hard, he yelled a few things back at me but I couldn't hear him. I then saw Ladd and Dan about 1/4 of a mile behind Charles, they were finishing their final lap (when Ladd found out that Charles was right in front of him he took off to catch him and did about 1/2 mile before the finish, Ladd and Dan gave Charles a little pep talk and he was back on his way). In the 4th loop I figured out that if I didn't walk up every hill I might be able to break 6 hours so I really pushed it and this was my second fastest loop with a 1:28.

I finished strong and in 5:55 (1 hour after Ladd and Dan). (Charles had a great 4th loop and finished strong also.) I never got to the point where I questioned my decision to do this event, I really enjoyed it and my body was no worse for the wear! It was an excellent experience and I am looking forward to my next one!

My BQ Cleveland Marathon, May 16, 2010

2010-05-23T00:19:00.002-04:00

The Cleveland Marathon is not my favorite marathon even after it was my pr last year and now again this year and also my Boston qualifying marathon. BUT this worked out perfect this year to run it again with my 2 50k's in March and my 2 half marathons in April and the Illinois marathon 2 weeks before. This is the best trained and prepared I have been for any marathon yet and I guess it showed.
I got my normal marathon amount of sleep the night before waking up about 2:45 am and finally getting out of bed about 3:45, I just can't sleep the night before. I got out of bed and did something I've never done on race morning, I went for a 1 mile run at 4am to get things moving, I also ran 4 miles with JN the day before. Note for next year, leave by 5:15 to get into parking at the Galleria.We arrived with less time than last year and got a group picture but missed quite a few people. My plan was to run with Dan H. for this marathon knowing that if I could stay with him I would be in great shape and it worked. We ran well into mile 21 together before I told him to go, we also ran most of it with a lady named Michele Sollenberger which stayed with me to about mile 24. I needed to run this at a 7:38 pace and we were running in the 7:20 range for a long time which built a nice little cushion, we crossed the half way point at 1:36 :05 and the 30k (18.6 miles) at 2:17, where I was starting to get a bit tired and a little soreness in the calf and hamstrings, but I still ran and felt good til about mile 24 + where I saw Marsha and I was getting slower but still moving decent. Jeannine was supposed to meet me at mile 24 but didn't meet me til mile 25 and of course there is when my hamstring started to act up when ever she tried to get me to speed up, it didn't work but having her there to run with kept me from walking longer than I would have, I walked through a water stop and she is trying to get me moving and tells me if I don't walk again til the finish that she will run any morning for the next month at 5 am. We'll see about that but I made it in at 3:17:45 with time to spare, Dan ended up with an incredible 3:13. It was a great day for all of us, Marsha ran the half just 1 minute shy of her pr and just 2 weeks after her 2nd best marathon, Charles finally broke the 4 hour mark with a 3:57, Tara had a pr in her half at 2:20, Dan Daubner ran his 1st marathon in 3:55, Janet pr'd by 10 minutes with a 4:12, Connie ran a 3:12, Debbie Sheel ran a pr at 3:31 and some others. Now I just need to get Marsha to qualify so we can run Boston together next year.

May 14, 2010, almost 2 months since my last post.

2010-05-14T22:35:00.003-04:00

Since my last post I have run a few races, ok maybe more than a few and I will regret not telling myself about each of them here but here are the races.
March 20 we did our annual Super Saturday in Strongsville with Marsha and I winning both 1 mile and 5k awards. I actually came in third overall in the 1 mile and Dan Daubner won our age group coming in 5th I believe.
One week later I ran the Fools 50k with Frank and Dan, 15 mile 1st loop mostly dry with the 2nd 15 mostly rain and the muddiest run I have ever done finishing in 5:44 as I recall. April brought my 2 HALF MARATHONS that I was to run around 20 seconds faster than my bq pace per Connie's instruction's. Chuck and I ran the Spring Classic together and I ended up with a 1:33:20 which was a new pr by 7 seconds then the following weekend I ran the Union Hospital half marathon for the 3rd time in 1:34:03 without my gps placing 2nd or 3rd in my age group. 3 days later we all ran the FREE Victims Right s 5k in the square. I ran most of this race with Connie and Frank placing 4th overall just behind Bob P. Now May has arrived and we are in Illinois to run the Illinois marathon where I was to pace Janet but things were not perfect. It was hot and humid and Janet cut off at the half so from mile 11 to 19 I ran hard to catch Marsha, from there we ran together until about mile 24.5 where I took off in hopes of breaking 4 hours which I just barely made it in 3:59:40. Janet, Phil, Charles, Marsha and I had a really nice get a way in Illinois. May 1 was Illinois now 6 days later we are running Medinas RUN 4 FUN 5k which is in our Subway series. I ran a 20:12 on a hot muggy evening and was the 1st subway male finisher which got me 315 max. points. All of this leads me into what I hope will be my best marathon to date and hopefully a bq to go with it this Sunday May 16, 2010.

St. Malachi 2 and 5 mile 3/13/2010

2010-03-15T21:41:00.002-04:00

I ran my PR marathon time 2 weeks ago and my second 50k also a PR a week ago and was a bit tired all week and wasn't going to make a decision on this last weekend til the Thursday. I knew racing would be hard after the previous 2 weekends but I felt pretty good after a pace run on Thursday night so I decided to run St. Malachi with Jeannine and Janet but when I went to sign up I missed the deadline for online registration by less than 12 hours so now the price goes from 17 to 25 race day, easy decision for me. I, in the back of my mind knew I should not race but I don't listen to that voice but this helped me come to decide I should not race but I still decided to go and pace Jeannine in the 2 mile and run the 5 mile for fun. We got a little lost and and thought we may miss the start of the race but we got there with time to spare. There were 1252 runners in the 2 mile race and we started near the front, hit mile 1 right about 7 minutes and I had told JN that she needed to break 14:30 before I decided to pace her so we were ahead of schedule and were passing people most of the race and coming into the finish we were chasing a guy that looked like a body builder with a long pony tail, I kept telling JN we couldn't let this guy beat us, he did but not by much, we finished in 14:05 with Jeannine coming in 26th overall out of the 1252 runners and 2nd in the 19 and over age group. Her award is being mailed to her as we didn't think to hang around for the awards plus there were over 3000 people at this race. Janet finished in just over 16 minutes. Then we were going to run the 5 mile for fun and JN was running it with a friend from school. We had to wait for her friend to get her bib from her brother in law and we missed the start of the race by 10 minutes and weren't even sure where to turn as we went out to run the course. Soon after we took off we caught the tail end of the race and passed many as we jogged the entire course in 47 minutes. Janet and I ran about 30 yds. behind Jn and her friend and during the race saw a few others running the race, saw Bob, Connie, Patrick and later found out Jean B. was there also. It was fun to run in a race as a bandit and pacer and not have to give it my all but still get a good run in.

7 weeks since my last post, wow where to start

2010-03-07T12:32:00.003-05:00

It's now March 7 and I have got a little lazy about our running blog. I took almost 2 weeks off after the New Years 24 hour race and haven't wrote anything since and have run 4 more races since then. Feb. 6 a small group of us ran the rec. centers Frosty 5k. Frank and I ran this race together pushing pretty hard and finishing in 22 minutes on a 3.3 mile 5k course that was snow and ice covered. Marsha had to skip this race because she was sick and Jeannine ran it with her hubby in 27 minutes. Dan Daubner ran his 1st 5k ever in 24+ which was impressive with the conditions being so bad. Later that day Dan and Jeannine both have this itch to do another 5k, I said I'm doing another in March, JN says too far away so the 3 of us sign up for the Chili Bowl Classic in Cleveland the very next weekend. 700 runners at the starting line so we start close to the front and I took off fast to avoid the crowd and 2 miles in look back and there is a huge gap behind me, slightly snow covered roads but the fist mile was downhill giving me a 6:03 first mile and a 22nd overall finish and third in my age group at 19:47, Dan Daubner does great also finishing in the top 60 or so and finishing with a 21+ minute new pr, Jeannine did great to finishing just over 23 and 116th of 700. Now 2 weeks later we were running the Last Chance for Boston Marathon/Half with a huge Medina turn out, 20 runners and quite a few spectators, 8 new pr's of the 20 and Matt young winning the whole darn thing in 2:46 I think. Having 2 weeks off in Jan. I felt that a cold winter bq was gonna be tough so I changed my goal to trying to pr and break 3:30. Frank, Roberta and I ran some of the first 6 miles together and Frank and I almost the first half together. I felt good all day hitting the first half in 1:43 and catching all my friends running the half before they were done, Jeannine pr'd the half with a 1:47 with Charles just 39 seconds in front of her and Dan Daubner hitting his debut half in 1:45. I finished just where I wanted in 3:29:12 with Charles and Jeannine each running a mile at the end with me and JN pushing me hard to break that 3:30 goal. Marsha also had a great new pr breaking her previous best my 12 minutes and running a fast 3:53 which by the way was my bib number for the marathon. Before the race started CE, MC and I set up a mcrr table and a sign for almost all the Medina runners out there on the course. I'll see if I can name all the Medina runners there, Ladd, Marsha, Charles, Jeannine, Janet, Lillian, Frank, Roberta, Connie, Bob, Suzanne, Dan Daubner, Dan and Heather DeRosha, Angie , Jan, Matt, Rachel, Coleen and Tim. We also had Chuck there crewing for Lillian and some help with the rest when needed and Angie's husband Christopher taking tons of pictures of us all and Phil too. It was a great time had by all getting to see everyone so often on that one mile loop. 6 DAYS AFTER THIS MARATHON I ran the Green Jewel 50k in 5 hours 3 minutes. While sitting at dinner Friday night with Chuck and Lillian I mention to Chuck that he should skip his idea of the Shamrock and his 21 mile plans and come run in Dan's place in the 50k since he was passing on this one because of his aches and pains. Dan still took us all and crewed us all day which was great and tons of help. We had a Medina car full with Dan D., myself, Chuck, Dan H. and Suzanne all going. It was probably the nicest day so far in March, starting in the low 20's but warming to near 40 by the end, another great race and another pr in 2010.

Monthly Mileage for 2009

2010-01-17T16:26:00.003-05:00

Jan. --------100

Feb. --------119

Mar. -------155

April -------126

May --------131

June --------145

July ---------162

Aug. --------209

Sept. --------165

Oct. ---------210

Nov. ---------230 most ever in a month

Dec. ---------295 most ever ever
_____
Total --------2047 miles in 2009

Ladds 2009 Year of Running Review

2010-01-17T15:28:00.008-05:00

I just read my 2008 review and it said I would like to run my second marathon this year and maybe an ultra and those things I did. 2009 was my second full year of running and so far my best, lots of new PR's and some new distances in the mix. The only bad part of the year was a few injuries that bugged me for awhile but none that kept me from running except the one after the NC 24 that kept me off for 10 days. I am hoping for another year of PR's in 2010 and less injuries also. 2010 is filling up with races already, 4 marathons, 3 50k's and my next 24 hour race are already paid for. In 2008 I ran 33 races and this year I ran 34. I ran less 5k's this year (14) but many more longer distances with the half and full marathon tying as my 2nd most ran races at 6 each. I also upped my yearly mileage from just over 1200 miles last year to 2047 miles this year. I ran 8 different distance races and PR'd in all except the 10k which is my least favorite of all distaces, and only ran 2 in 2009.

In 2009 I ran

13 - 5k's 19:08 PR

1 - 4 miler 26:12 PR

2 - 1ok's

2 - 10 milers 1:08:12 PR

6 - 1/2 marathons 1:33:27 PR

6 - marathons 3:31:48 PR

1 - 50K 6:46 PR

2 - 24 hour 107.44 PR

2009 is Coming to a Close with a 24 hour run

2009-12-29T00:01:00.002-05:00

Saturday Chuck, Lillian I met Dan D., Dan H., Dans friend, Debbie, Nancy and her friend and Dan B. at the tow path for one last long run before the 24. We did the same run as last weekend parking at the Station Road parking lot and running 7 miles to lock 29 and back for a nice 14 mile run in just over 2 hours. It was a nice run with lots of good company but it was not my best feeling run, meaning I didn't feel all that great because I have been eating so much junk during the holiday season. Arriving back in Medina Chuck and I sat down and came up with some ideas on pace and walk breaks to hit 120 to 130 miles. We'll see. I finally got home around noon and Marsha, Janet and Jeannine are getting ready for a 4 mile run so I was dressed and ready so I did 4 more with them.
Sunday morning Marsha had a 16 mile run planned but that was to far for but I had an old classmate from high school coming to run with us. Dan Daubner and I got in contact a couple weeks ago thanks to Facebook when he saw Marsha and I walk out of Ruby Tuesdays and he sent me a friend request the next day. We got to talking about running so this would be our first run and his longest run ever being 6 was his longest and I told him we could do the 8 lime loop. We went out with Charles, Janet, Jeannine, and Marsha but parted ways with them at Buckeye Woods. Dan had told me that he was only a treadmill runner til a week ago until his treadmill broke and that he ran 12 minute miles but after seeing him at Second Sole a week ago I knew he had to be faster than that and he was. We ran the longest run he had ever run non stop hitting 8 miles at a 9:09 pace, great when he thought he was a 12 minute mile runner. I went back out and ran 2 more miles with JN MC CE and JS and walked JS home for a cool down getting in 10 miles for my last run b4 the 24. Later that day I talk on FB with Dan and tell him he could easily be ready for a half marathon by the time we run Last Chance for Boston and he signed up with in minutes. We will have a nice crowd there and it continues to grow as tonight I ran into Tom Wolke at Sully's and gave him a race application and he says he will probably run the half.
We leave Medina less than 36 hours to head to North Carolina, I sure hope the weather cooperates.

No Work and Lots of Running

2009-12-24T23:16:00.002-05:00

I have to back up a little here, last Saturday I picked up Chuck and we met Debbie and all went to Penisula and met up with Dan H. and Dan D. to run 14 miles on the Tow Path. Sunday Chris Rolling calls me and wants to run the Reagan trail, probably not the best decision with 12 days til the 24 hour but we ran 7 miles on snow covered trail at about a 9:15 pace, it felt way faster. Monday was my 2nd annual Run to Marshas work half marathon. Jeannine met me here at 1:00 and we headed off to meet Janet at St. Francis, we arrived at 3:04 making it the 13.1 miles in just over 2 hours. Next year I think I will ride out to work with Marsha and run home. Tuesday Dan H. met me here at 5:30 and we ran to Robertas house then on to Debbies and ran 13 miles with them around Medina and back here for a total of 16 miles. This made 64 miles in the last 6 days and after that last one I have had a slight pain just under my hip that may be a IT issue but I'm not sure so I took yesterday off and then ran 6.4 miles with Jeannine this morning and felt pretty good. It's now Christmas Eve and I plan on taking tomorrow off and running the Tow Path again on Saturday and maybe part of Marshas run on Sunday. Then a 3 day taper with maybe a 3-4 run in there somewhere before we leave on Wednesday for North Carolina's Freedom Park 24 hour Ultra.

17 Days off Work, A Little Rest and a Lot of Running

2009-12-18T07:38:00.002-05:00

This morning starts one of the longest stretches off work I have ever had, 17 days off with my next day being Jan. 4, 2010 next year. I was up til after midnight last night after working til 7 pm then heading straight to the bar where all the runners were ending up after the beer run. I was awake before the alarm around 4 am and on the road running with Roberta by 5 am, a nice run, almost 8.5 miles at a 8:35 pace. A nap will need to happen sometime today so I can again rise early tomorrow to begin our run at 7 am in Peninsula with Chuck, Dan D., Dan H. and Dave. Sunday will be a low mile day so I can run the now annual half marathon out to Marsha's work on Monday with Jeannine and Janet.

24 Hour Training Week

2009-12-13T13:13:00.003-05:00

The Freedom Park New Year's Eve 24 hour ultra is less than 17 days away and this was my big training week to get ready for this run. I ran 75 miles this week, one of my top 5 highest weeks ever. Monday, Tuesday and Friday morning I ran at 5 am. We changed up the normal 5 am 6 mile route Monday and ran right down the center of town on 42 til Harding St. then back, then Tuesday Jeannine came to our house and we ran out the Chippewa trail and then over to Ryan and back which is a very hilly 3 miles back. Friday was the coldest day I ever ran, at 5 am it was maybe 14 degrees with a windchill below zero but we ran the normal 6 mile route and arriving back at Roberta's house I tell Jeannine I never put my key outside my truck on these morning runs, I WILL NOW, as when I went to get in I couldn't. My keys were locked inside the truck and I had to be at work in 45 minutes, Roberta was nice enough to run me to my house and back to hers giving just enough time to get to work. Saturday morning Dan DeRosha and I ran the big Chippewa loop arriving back here at 13 miles then ran a loop around Medina hitting 21 miles just before noon and Marsha, Jeannine, Janet and Charles were running at 12:30 so I then went to Jeannines with Marsha and we all ran back this way to pick up Janet with me hitting 26.2 miles for the day. Overall a pretty good running week in December with a record cold day in there but then today happened, Dan D. and I met Dan H. in Hinckley at 5 am and ran 31 miles, it was warmer than it was Friday and Saturday but it rained on us after mile 5 all the way through mile 31. It was a good training run, if we can run 10 loops around that lake with all those hills and in all that rain any other run is gonna seem easy and we did this in 5:59 with lots of breaks at the truck. Not a bad 50k time considering Dan and I did 6:46 and Bill's Bad Ass 50k just a few weeks ago.

Ashland Half Marathon 12/05/2009

2009-12-06T17:49:00.003-05:00

This race is not very big and is not very easy and is always very cold, so why did we do it again. It's a race of course. Nice people, a well run race for this time of year and for a good cause I believe it supports the high school and middle school cross country teams, maybe Medina should try some fundraisers instead of charging $660 to run cross country next year. We arrived a little later than I would have liked and by the time we checked in went back to the car and tried to stay warm it was close to starting time with no warm up, I need a warm up even more when it's this cold, it was maybe 28 degrees when we finished the race. Since my only goal for this race was to break 1:40 I just figured go out slow and and get warmed up then go, nothing ever works out right but at least I didn't hurt myself. I was talking to a few people I knew at the start and the start was late over 10 minutes so we were all shivering and moving around and waiting, finally they said on your mark and go. What was I doing, I was freezing so I went out of there like a rocket and when I hit the first half mile in about 3:10 I slowed way down but still hit mile one at 7:01 and mile three in 21:12, too fast for no warm up so I held back some more. I ended up running from mile 4 through mile 9 with Scott (an insurance guy from Ashland) he was 49 so no competition and we ran and talked quite a bit holding around a 7:30 pace for those miles then at mile 9 I decided to pick it up just a bit and caught the next guy and him and I pushed the pace down for a couple miles til I left him to. There were not to many people out there in my sight except a girl I had my sights on catching, I caught up with her around mile 11 and she says I will only be the second person to pass her since she jumped in at the relay point. She was looking to break 45 minutes for her leg which I'm not sure how long it was but I thought I'll just run her in from here and I stayed with her. She was a Ashland college runner and was holding near a 7:10 pace with me til the last 1/4 mile when my fellow MCRR friend came out to run me in. I intended on staying with her and pushing her to the finish but Steve and I took off and she stayed where she was maybe finishing only 15-20 seconds back and she thanked me afterwards for pushing her and helping her get her goal. I finished at 1:36:45 (seven minutes faster than last year) and came in third in my age group that won me my second winter hat prize in 2 years. We went from the race to Buehlers to change our clothes so we could attend the Subway Challenge Series Banquet where Marsha and I both placed 2nd in our age groups for the year. The price went up from 25 to 40 bucks for next years Subway Series but it's still a bargain. Marsha wasn't sure she wanted to sign up but for that money we get a very nice summer picnic after one race, this banquet and a embroidered shirt plus placing in our age groups every year we have received 30 bucks each in gift certificates.
Today I slept in and got up and had a planned 20 mile run, I left here at 10:25 and ran 4 miles to Jeannine's and Marsha, JN and I ran about 3 miles of trails then Janet joined us for the rest. I was planning on running home from Jeannine's but I was getting sore legs so I took Janet's offer and she brought me home, 15 today and 15 yesterday was good. Next weekend we are planning 20 for Saturday and looking at 30 for Sunday.

My Second 24 Hour Run 12/04/2009

2009-12-04T21:11:00.002-05:00

The Freedom Park 24 Hour Endurance Run is New Year's Eve in North Carolina. I only knew about this race because I must have heard Connie or Bob talk about it at Connie's b-day party. Tuesday morning Jeannine, Roberta and I were to do the usual early run and Dan H. set it up as a event run with Dan B. also attending. While we were running I casually mentioned it to Dan H. and told him to think about it, me being barely serious about it but by that afternoon I got a message from Dan, I'm in if you are. Woe, what did that say, I sent him back a message and said I better talk to Marsha first. Dan mentioned peer pressure I think he got it all wrong, he's in and now the pressure was on me. He was doing track work that night and I knew Dan D. was going so I asked Dan H. to talk to him about it but I couldn't wait so I texted him and told him about it and can you believe they were both signed up before me. Mike Keller is also sounding like he is going to go too. 4 weeks to go til my second 24 hour run , Kyle said I need to get my head looked at and my bowling friends will never understand why I would want to do this again and maybe even some running friends being I passed out at the end of the last one and was on crutches for four days. I plan to end this one a little different and get to enjoy breakfast after this one and of course walk away on my own two feet. Marsha and I will be spending our first New Year's apart since we met and probably the last but it should be a very memorable New Year's spent with some great running buddies. Look out North Carolina here comes the Medina County Road Runners. I ran every day in November and ended my streak after running Tuesday morning Dec. 1 where all this started. I took the last 3 days off just for some rest before the Ashland half tomorrow morning and to let my sore lower back heal up some more I hope.

OBX Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-29T21:01:00.002-05:00

We spent the entire Thanksgiving week in the Outer Banks at our resort Ocean Villas. We usually spend the whole week walking on the beach, running, movies and fires at night. On the second day there Marsha and I were getting ready to head out for a 13 mile run when I bent over to tie my second shoe when I pulled something in my back, run was cancelled for the time being. Later that day I did head out for a 3 mile run and surprisingly running didn't hurt if I went slow but sleeping in the extra soft bed was very hard on my back, tried a couple nights on a air mattress then another night on the floor which lasted til about 4 am when I finally went back to the super soft bed. I did go see a chiro in the Outer Banks but his adjustments didn't seem to help much. Thanksgiving morning we were to run the Outer Bans Gobbler 5k and that was supposed to be Kyle and I's big showdown but his knees were bugging him and I was in no shape to run fast so we paced Marsha for the first 2 miles then we took off to pass as many people as we could in the last miles finishing in 23:15 with a 6:45 last mile. Kyle was the 2nd under 18 year old across the line so he won a small apple pie. This was more of a fun run with no results and you got your own time when you passed the clock.I ran every day on this trip but only one 10 miler with Marsha and the 6 plus miles on Turkey day and all the others were quick 3 mile runs. The drive home was the toughest part of the whole trip, no matter how I sat my back was killing me, I drove for 3 hours but it was even worse in the drivers seat so Marsha drove for over 7 hours on the way home. Three hours after we got home we headed to the bowling alley where I had a hard time throwing the ball but I bowled anyways and shot 581. We then headed to Walmart to get some groceries and got home and being totally exhausted from our long day went to sleep. I got up Sunday morning and still was a little sore but just one night back in our sleep number bed and I was feeling better. 11:00 was our group run and this run felt better than any all week, Marsha, Charles Janet, Jeannine and I ran this run but Charles and Janet cut out at 7 miles as Charles is still having problems since Nashville and Janet was struggling a bit. We went on and hit 11 miles just before getting back home. Today was my 29th run of the month and after tomorrows run I will have run every day of November and if I get in my 6.5 miles tomorrow I will have 230 miles for the month and a new record for a single month. Then a couple days off with the Ashland Half marathon next weekend.

The Day Before Our OBX Vacation Marathon + 11/20/2009

2009-11-23T22:21:00.003-05:00

We were leaving for the Outer Banks on Saturday morning and I decided to take Friday off work. Chuck was also off on Friday so he asked me if I wanted to do a 20 miler on Friday morning. I was already running 6 miles with Jeannine, Roberta, Debbie and Dan B at 5 am but told Chuck I was in and that I was running a marathon on Friday morning then. I ran the first 6 miles between 5 and 6 then met Chuck at his house and we ran from there. We headed out on the same route I had run at 5 am but this time it seemed a little harder and a little windier. We headed down the Chippewa trails and down 162 where I ran up and surprised My Uncle Gary and talked to him for a minute or two. Then we headed out through Buckeye Woods and around the big open field then down towards Chippewa rd. and back towards my house but then we realized that we were gonna be a little long and ended our run just before we arrived back at Chucks house at 22 miles giving me 28 for the day. Friday night we made a stop at the Candlelight Walk and headed home to prepare for our long drive to the Outer Banks where we are now. It is now Nov. 23 and I have run every day this month with the intention of running every day but since arriving and sleeping on this super soft mattress I have been having back aches since yesterday when I tired to tie my shoes and had sudden pain that has not gone away yet. Thursday Marsha, Kyle and I will be running the OBX Turkey Trot 5k and I hope to give Kyle a hard time beating me but that may not be the case if the back ache doesn't go away by then. Only 3 days til Thanksgiving.

Bill's Bad Ass 50K Nov. 14, 2009

2009-11-18T21:58:00.003-05:00

About 6 -8 weeks ago Chef Bill posted to quite a few people "are you a bad ass" and that is how he announced the 50k they were planning. I put maybe on his site because I told Bill I was running Columbus and Niagara Marathons just 2 and 3 weeks before this race. I wanted to do this race but sort of set it aside and forgot about it til Dan saw it days before the race and I checked in with Chef Bill and he told us to come. The weather was unbelievable, a little chilly to start the day but it warmed up quick, shorts and a tee all day (gloves too for most of the day). There looked to be somewhere between 75 and a 100 people at the start but only 44 bad ass's finished by the results Bill posted, waiting to see the candy ass list to see total of all runners. This race was held entirely on the Perkins loop in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park not far from lock 29 where we run sometimes. The first 2 plus miles was a hilly gradual climb that we mostly walked the hills every loop and it was still tough, the last half was of course coming back down and much easier except the steep down hill that we also walked almost every lap. There were also several water crossing that were all easy due to no rain lately, not exactly what these ultra runners were hoping for, Bill wanted rain, mud, cold, wind and more horse do do on the trail but it was a beautiful day and dry so I can only imagine what this would have been like on a bad day. Marsha came out and joined us for the last 5 mile loop and the final mile up the stairs which was also a tough finish but I had a couple weeks of recovery from my last marathon and was feeling rather well. It was a fun day running with Dan as we always seem to get the nice weather when we head for the trails, our recent Facebook blog was funny as Dan wrote he was having an affair with trail running and I posted "oh you doing her too" and we had a bunch of funny comments from there with Dan's friend Dee making comments and she had me laughing alot. Novembers goal is to run every single day so the day after the 50k I ran 7 more miles and felt really good. It will be a record month and record weeks are coming too. 18 for 18 so far and we will be heading to the OBX soon for the big duel between Kyle and I.

Connie's 46th Birthday / Dick's Horse Radish 5K

2009-11-12T20:55:00.002-05:00

Marsha and I started our weekend off by going to Connie's birthday gathering at her house, it was open to most any runner that Connie knows so we got Jeannine to finally agree to go. Most there will not forget how sloshed and funny she was that night even though she forgot alot of that night, we stayed til midnight or later and we had a blast, runners are such a great group of people. I had plans to go run Dick's Horse Radish 5k in Canton Sunday , 1. because my friend Bill lives right on the course and he has driven here for many runs and 2. it was the second to last Subway race of the season and wanted to run one more. So being at a party with lots of runners I found a whole car load to go to Canton, Dan H., Connie, Chuck and I all went and had a pretty good showing. All four of us place in the top 25 with 312 runners. I followed Chuck off the line but we got split up in the crowd and he got by what Connie said about 20 seconds in front of me and that's where he stayed for over 2.5 miles, I was hoping to catch him but thought it wasn't gonna happen till the last half mile, he slowed just a bit and I was closing in but as the finish line neared I was almost right behind him and kinda tired and thought I'd wait til the end to try and make a move but in the last 30 yds. there was a 90 degree turn to the finish and I just couldn't get by then as Chuck sped up going in to the last turn, he knew someone was behind him he just didn't know it was me. Chuck was 15th, I was 16th with a 19:43, 1.5 seconds behind Chuck with Dan and Connie both less than 27 second back. I really think all the long runs, marathons, etc. have had a good effect on my speed as I hadn't done speed work in quite some time. Thanksgiving day I will need some speed as I will be racing Kyle in a 5K in the OBX.

November is Upon Us

2009-11-03T21:30:00.002-05:00

Why does winter have to come, I like running in the cold but I still hate winter. My quads were really sore after the last marathon just 9 days ago but how else to get over that but to run and get them stretched. Ran a few times after Niagara and really had some sore muscles but it's getting better quick, ran at 5 am with Jeannine, Roberta and Debbie last week and again today, 6 miles each time at just over an 8:30 pace. Last Saturday Dan D. and I went to Hinckley and ran just over 13 miles, at 6:45 I texted Dan and wanted to see if he was thinking we should cancel as there was a threat of rain all morning and it was raining at the time. Being that Dan has his second trail marathon in 2 weeks coming up he wanted to run rain or shine so off we went. It was a great run and no one else braved the weather with us, I had one new experience as a runner as Dan and I came to some high water and the river crossings, the first one I scaled a tree and crawled a little to get over to the other side as Dan waded through. On our way back maybe 3 miles from the truck we came to that crossing again and this time I followed Dan in and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be except the water was really cold, we both had clean clothes, socks and shoes so we were dry 25 minutes later. We have been very lucky more than once going out when the weather was supposed to be bad and getting a nice break when we have arrived. Sunday I ran 5 more miles with Marsha and Jeannine cutting off as we neared our house, ran the first 5 at about a 9:15 pace and the last one heading home in 7:20 averaging 8:57 for all 6. Overall feeling less sore and Monday night after mowing and raking I thought let's see if I can run a 5k for fun in a decent time, heading out near dark I ran my 3.1 mile loop in 21:55 at a decent pace and felt pretty good so I decided that I will run my last Subway race this weekend down by my buddy Bill's house on Cable Lake in Canton. I ran this morning with Jeannine, Roberta and Debbie and am thinking that I will run again tomorrow with Roberta and Debbie but running to her house and cutting off when we get near here. Also running at 5 am Thursday and Friday as a MCRR run but we'll see if anyone else shows, so far Dan B. and Chuck are the only takers besides JN and I.

Niagara Falls Marathon 10/25/2009

2009-10-29T20:46:00.003-04:00

This was my 6th marathon of the year not counting the 24 hour. Marsha, Charles and I decided to do this after talking the the Niagara rep at the Cleveland Marathon. This was going to be my attempt at a BQ but with the extreme miles I put in in the previous 30 days I had it in my mind that it may be unlikely but I was going and going to give it a shot. We left on Friday morning and were spending the whole weekend there, 3 nights and 4 days. I slept great on Friday night which was good as I never sleep good on the eve of a marathon. Saturday we spent the day with Charles and family and toured the expo. I like going to a marathon a day early but this was 2 days early and I was going crazy having all day Saturday with not much to do but wait for the next day to get there. When we got to Canada we were glad to find out we could text back to the U.S. for free and we did alot of texting. Sunday morning finally arrived, a little earlier than I would have liked though, got up for good about 3 am and headed down to the lobby with the laptop to let Marsha sleep. I went back up about 5 and got Marsha up and we tried to duplicate Columbus morning wearing mostly the same clothes and eating the exact same food for breakfast, a honey wheat oat bagel with peter pan peanut butter and a banana. Around 7 am we met Charles in the lobby and walked down the block to get on bus at 7 am for along trip through customs and to Buffalo where we then went into an art museum for the last hour plus til the start of the marathon. We had been in constant contact with Jeannine and she was going to be texting us during our 26.2 miles and had a message we had to decode after it was over, which was D D A L O G for me and to Marsha, I actually started writing it down til I saw what it said. I was wearing my Muddy Paws shirt on race day and at least 4 people running the marathon also ran this local race, one being the bearded guy Jeannine and I ran into during the Columbus Marathon a week earlier. The race started promptly at 10 am and off we went, said goodbye to Marsha and Charles and I was off, felt pretty good but nearing 7 miles my quads started to get sore and I knew that was gonna be a problem. I did get to see MC n CE right about mile 7 also as we passed on a turn around, I kept my pace hitting the half way point at 1:39:48 but was getting a little more sore all over as time went by, I ran with the couple guys from around here for the first 8 miles then another fella for a long ways parting ways in the last 3 miles. The wind was in our face most of the day which had slowed us all down plenty I would bet but I still would have struggled with or without it. The last 3 miles I was taking 25 second walk breaks at the water stops but was running slower and slower and had some calf cramping wanting to happen, quads wanting to cramp and once even my hamstring stopped me completely for a minute but I kept moving and running real slow til it mostly went away. My slowest mile was 9:38 and my fastest was 7:08 early in the race. The last mile was down hill so when I hit mile 25 I ran almost to the finish line when again the cramps made me walk just before the finish just like in Cleveland. I finished in 3:36:04 just 4 minutes and 16 seconds from my PR but overall was really happy with my time knowing that I was happy just to finish another marathon after all I had done recently. I was the 111 th finisher of 786 runners and Marsha was around 300th. Charles ran into a few problems and was done by mile 20 getting a ride in. Marsha's 4:05 was a 7 minute pr.

The Columbus Marathon 10/18/2009

2009-10-18T21:16:00.002-04:00

Marsha, Janet, Jeannine and I left for Columbus Marathon on Saturday afternoon and went to the expo then out to Olive Garden for dinner but they had a 1.5 hour wait so we went to Bob Evans and had a nice dinner with no wait. Then we went back to our hotel room and rested up , watched a little TV, did our Facebooking and went to sleep. Sunday morning we got our wake up call at 4:30 instead of 5:30 but we were all able to go back to sleep. We got up and headed to the Marathon, it was cold, maybe mid 30's so we were bundled up and ready to run. At 7:30 the race was on, Marsha ran with Jeannine Janet and I til mile 3 then we were on our own. This was such a great course and we had a large showing from the Medina area seeing quite a few people we knew either at the expo or during the run itself. I was pacing Jeannine for her second Marathon and was lucky to be able to, one week ago I was thinking it would be a miracle if I would be able but some how I have been able to get through these injuries and run the runs I wanted to do. We had a great run with no problems unlike the things that happened at Akron. We hit the half way point in 1:57 and we both felt great, the course was one of my favorites of the runs I have run so far. We had almost even splits coming across the finish line in 3:55:01 and 3:55:02. I tried to make sure Jeannine finished just in front of me but I must have crossed the start matt just before her cause the final time put me 1 second in front of her again. I'm starting to like being a pacer, it's so much fun to help someone to a goal and not feel the pain of running a hard marathon which is what I may be feeling next weekend in Niagara Falls.I"m hoping to get the chance again to pace Jeannine to her Boston Qualifier time sometime next year if she can wait that long. I'm looking forward to a nice long get a way in Niagara but not looking forward to marathon pain but it will be worth it if every things comes together

First Run Since the 24

2009-10-14T16:21:00.003-04:00

It's been more than 10 days since the NC 24 race ended and I've been healing and healing but not running other than a 1 mile test to see if I could Monday night. I went to see Joe Tuesday night and he said I was 90% healed and I said "think I could run this weekend" thinking he knew I meant the Columbus Marathon and he says yes I could maybe run 7 miles or so. NO I meant run the marathon, I may have to go against the doc.s advice if my 6 mile run goes well tonight. Marsha and Janet are out running right now and I will be meeting Jeannine at 5:30 to run 6 miles. I am hoping to have no problems after this run which will reinforce my decision to run this Sunday. My only left over problem is a very tight maybe achilles tendon running up the back of my foot and I have been stretching it as much and as lightly as I can hoping to get rid of the tightness I can feel, maybe it will be gone after tonight. While I was sitting in Joe's office getting therapy I glanced over and saw a Readers Digest with the title "Bounce Back From Anything" which is what I really want to do after being on crutches last week. I posted the front of that RD to facebook and hope to be back and ready to run Columbus and really hope to have at least a glimmer of hope with one more weeks rest to maybe go for a BQ at Niagara. Maybe that's a tall order to fill but what can I say, gotta at least try, right. If Terry Fox can do it so can I. :)

North Coast 24 Oct. 3-4, 2009

2009-10-06T16:44:00.002-04:00

This race was my first attempt at an ultra. The months leading up to this I spent many many runs running with all the guys and the ladies and doing speed work with them also because I was fighting an injury or two. The injury in my left leg cleared up just one week before Akron. Then 1 week before the 24 I ran the Akron Marathon with Jeannine and the next morning I ran 20 miles with Dan on the tow path and another 2 with Jeannine and Janet for a 48.2 mile total in 2 days and felt better than ever and very confident about this upcoming 24 hour run. I know it was alot of miles just 7 days before the big day but I planned on taking most of the week off. I was going to run just 5 miles on Thursday night and Jeannine was going to run to she ran here and we did 4 miles, my only miles in 5 days but now I was as ready as I could be. I took half the day off on Friday and got in 2-3 hours of sleep in the afternoon then got maybe 5-6 Friday night but that was the reason for the afternoon nap. I way over packed as advised by my many ultra friends but the weather turned out to be perfect with basically no rain for the whole 24 just a bit of wind at times. Frank and I spent about the first 10 hours together but parted ways about dark and I spent a lot of time talking to the runners. We had a nice set up with tables, chairs, our 9x9 canopy and Kim and Abra's tent to change in. Marsha and Charles spent alot of time volunteering and also ran there 20 plus miles during the day so Abra took care me quite a bit getting me drinks and food when ever I asked. I had a sore ankle 2 hours into the run so I loosened the velcro timing chip after 2 hours and then moved it to my other leg at 4 hours but had some pain in the right foot for 22 hours which was the worst part of this whole race. Jeannine came for a visit with Cliff and Ella in the late afternoon then she came back at around 3 am which was quite an amazing thing for anyone to do at that hour. Knowing I had a friend coming to visit helped me get through the night and she told me that this was a 24 hour race and not to quit early, easy for her to say but it did help, I was determined to hit that 100 mile mark. She had guessed I would do 96 miles and I hit that just as she was leaving around 5 am. So now 100 was in the bag and now I'm thinking 26.2 x 4 is 104.8 so if I do 105 miles I'll have 4 marathons in 24 hours. I walked most of the last 4 hours and was really wanting to hit my new magic number but wasn't sure where I was so with 10 minutes to go Marsha and I run the last lap together and I sped past the mat like it mattered after all that and got in maybe an extra 3rd of a mile and was going faster than I had all day and on this sore ankle, a very dumb decision looking back but I was about as out of it as I have ever been, on the verge of tears in the last half hour for some reason, Marsha was also which didn't help. So the whistle blows and the race is over, I drop my number marker on the path and walk back to our tent city and sit down and the rest was a little blurry as I passed out and woke up to a medical team working on me. All my vitals, heart rate, pulse, etc. were good so I was cleared to go but I couldn't walk because of the ankle hurting so bad, sort of funny since I was just on it for 24 straight hours. I was in no shape to help with anything so Marsha and Charles packed us all up and we headed home which I don't remember much of either but then as Marsha was trying to help me out of the truck I was having more than 1 problem and as I stepped out, the next thing I know I am laying in the cold wet grass, I look up almost laughing and say to Marsha, "did I do it again" I had to have had her more than scared a couples times in that last 90 minutes. Marsha and Cassie got me into the house and I spent some time in the middle of the living room floor before I had enough energy to crawl into the bath tub and get a shower / sponge bath from my dear wife. Other than that last 90 minutes after the race it was a great experience and I will most likely do it again next year or maybe a 100 miler instead of this. Quite a few of us are having right leg problems and are wondering if constantly going clockwise and mostly all right hand turns may have something to do with it. It was fun though.

5 Day Taper before the NorthCoast 24

2009-10-01T22:23:00.002-04:00

Having run the Akron Marathon last Saturday and 22 miles on Sunday I was more than ready for a nice slow week. It's now Thursday and I have not run for 3 days and was planning on running just a few miles today only before the big race day Saturday morning. I was planning on running 5 miles but was talked into running just 3-4 miles by Jeannine as she ran to my house and added a little on her way having 5 in by the time she arrived. She wanted to run 8 miles but we ended up running 4 together giving her 9 miles for the night and me 4. It seemed a little weird cause I am the one usually adding the miles by running to a run but she was the one running more. Now less than 24 hours til the NorthCoast 24.

Other big news, Jeannine who on last Saturday couldn't wait to end her marathon and was by far not happy at 3 hours into it and was retired as she told me later that day has now officially signed up for the Columbus Marathon. I asked her if she would like a pacer for her 2nd marathon and I officially signed up last night just before the price increase today.

The 2009 Akron Marathon

2009-09-27T22:02:00.004-04:00

The weekend began Friday when Marsha, Janet, Jeannine and I went to the Spagetti Warehouse for lunch and then to the Expo to get our race packets. I was hoping to try and get a good nights sleep as it hasn't been happening lately, I closed my eyes at 10pm and was wide awake and up for good by 2:30 am. Out of bed and dressed before 3 and on Facebook posting a picture of my bib 4 hours before the start, what is wrong with that. Jeannine arrives by 5 and we pick Janet up and arrive nice and early and get a good parking spot. We were meeting at 6:30 for a group picture but had time on our hands so we got to visit the Polski building which is a nice little secret we know about thanks to the blue line training run, it is a building very close that has nice bathrooms and is open really early and none of us had to use those port-a-potties. We met at the Home of the Akron Marathon sign and had a nice group picture with 14 of us there and a few missing that didn't make it. 7:00 am the race begins, Rachel and I were pacing Jeannine for her 1st marathon. Frank and Dan ran with us til mile 3 where Frank turned off to hit the relay shuttle and Dan took off to run marathon pace for the last 10 miles off the half. It was pretty crowded so the first few miles were pretty slow but we were right on pace through the most of the first half. I think we had some bad water on the course as later we found out many people had issues including Marsha that ran the half in 1:55 but got very sick in the middle. Jeannine ended up getting a bad stomach ache and was in some pain for alot of the 2nd half but she toughed it out. As we approached Stan Hewitt we walked the hill and while in Stan Hewitt saw Janet and Roseann. As we were leaving the road right in front of Stan Hewitt I dug out a piece of the wall (it was the Niagara wall, a very thoughtful gift Jeannine gave me to help out at my next marathon)and gave it to Jeannine to leave as were we on our home stretch and some nice downhill on the way. We ran into Marsha about mile 24 and Cliff somewhere after mile 25. It was not where we expected to be but still an excellent 1st time marathon time of 4:22. Later that evening a bunch of us met up at Legends and had a nice evening, it was a great day overall and I hated to see it end. While eating dinner Dan D. tells me he is running 20 miles in the morning and the thoughts ran through my head." I could do that if we go easy, then no that's to many miles after a marathon, then wait that would be a good training run for next weekend" I went and we ran 20 miles in 2:48 at a 8:38 pace then I went home for a short time and then ran 2 more with Jeannine and Janet for a total of 22 today and 26.2 yesterday and somehow I'm feeling pretty good for a 48.2 mile two day total. It makes me think I may have a good first attempt at an ultra next weekend at the NorthCoast 24. Then what could be next, could be interesting

Akron Marathon Taper Week

2009-09-25T19:26:00.003-04:00

The time has arrived, 1 year ago today I had never run a marathon and tomorrow I will run number 5. Again I fought an injury almost right up to the week before this race, last year the nagging IT injury and this year the tendon in my left leg but my ever so helpful running Doc. Joe has come through again and I feel 100% as of 1 week ago. What timing, I feel so lucky. My taper was of a bit lower mileage than normal but at a higher intensity than of late because of the injury. I ran to Jeannines Monday night at a pretty good pace then did 3 more miles with them. I was working 12 hour shifts most of the week so I was forced to run a couple times after 7 in the dark. I like running in the dark and was more energized than I thought I would be after a long day at work. Wednesday evening I ran 4 miles in 28:50 which was a bit fast but I felt so good at a 7:11 pace then Thursday night ran3 more miles and tried to run at mine and Jeannines scheduled marathon pace but ended up a little fast on that also at 24:53 (8:17 Pace). Today Jeannine , Janet, Marsha and I went to the Spaghetti Warehouse and had a nice luch then to the Expo where we ran into quite a few runners we knew. Now my biggest goal is to get to bed soon so I can possibly get 6 hours of sleep cause I know I will be up for good most likely before by 3 am with all the anticipation of a big run not letting me sleep these days. 3:59 is the goal for tomorrow and next Saturday is the Northcoast 24.

Great Weekend for Running

2009-09-22T16:42:00.007-04:00

I know Ladd already talked about the race he ran so I want to talk about other running in the Clifford family....

Saturday, September 19th Kyle ran in a cross country meet in Galion Ohio. He did so great! His PR before this was 21:40+-. He was told that he would most likely PR at this race and most of the boys did, but I would bet none PR'd by as much as Kyle. Kyle passed the 1 mile mark at 6:28, then 2 miles at 13:00 so he was definately holding his pace.... but wait... he actually went faster in the last 1.1 miles with a final time of 19:33! WOW Kyle Great going!! You should have seen his face! He really couldn't believe he did it! I was crying, he just amazed me so much!!! I am so proud of him!

On Sunday Charles Elkins and I ran 22 miles on the Tow Path. This is the first time I have done a run like this. Ladd dropped us off in Akron at Sand Run and we ran on the path all the way to Independence where Tara picked us up after 22 miles of running! It was great! Just a different experience to run Point to Point! My Garmin link for the run is attached. We did not stop our garmins at all during the run (ooh except when we had to wait for a large group of horses to pass us) counted all our breaks in the time and got a 9:26 pace overall which makes me think we will be able to achieve our goal in Niagara Falls on October 25th of running the marathon in under 4 hours (barring any extreme wind or stomach ailments (which we are both prone to). We will make our goals!

Akron Marathon Countdown

2009-09-20T22:22:00.002-04:00

I have been fighting this leg problem for over a month but this weekend I think I finally kicked it. I ran 11 miles Saturday morning. 10 of it with Jeannine, Janet and Roseann at 5:30 am again. This time though I finished and no leg pain. Sunday was the Race for Grace 5k that is part of the Subway Challenge series that Marsha and I signed up for a month ago and Marsha ended up doing a 22 miler instead but I went to run. I promised to take it easy because I still had this worry that the leg thing would come right back like it did last weekend. BUT it didn't. I got to the race about 45 minutes before the start so Frank, Dan H., Bob, Connie and I could run the course as our warm up. I was well warmed up and Dan and I went out and a nice pace and hit mile 1 right at 7 minutes and mile 2 at 13:30, finishing this race in 20:38 on a hilly course but feeling better than I normally do. Explain that and with a good time, finished in 20th out of well more than 400 runners and 3rd in my age group. We all ran the course for a 3rd time for our cool down and people just seemed amazed that we would do that, it's nice to have made all these great friends through running and it seems that their bug has infected me. 9.3 miles in the morning then another 4 in the afternoon, 1/2 with Jeannine and Janet again for a total of 13.3 for the day with 5 + days til the Akron Marathon where I will be pacing Jeannine for the whole 26.2 miles in under 4:11. Then 1 week to go til the Biggest running event for me so far. One other quick note, Saturday night was the first night of our mixed couples bowling league and Frank and Jill Dwyer have joined our team this year and what a show off I got to be. Game one of the season turned out to be almost perfection with a 299 to start and a 770 series and a unmakeable average of 257 in 2 weeks.

2 Weeks to Go

2009-09-13T12:44:00.003-04:00

The Akron Marathon is less than 2 weeks out and it's time for lots of people to start tapering. This has been my favorite training for any marathon yet as we have been running with a great group of people and many are doing their first marathon at Akron. It's been great to be some help in getting someone to be ready for their first marathon. Yesterday I met Jeannine, Janet and Roseann at 5:30 am to go for a 13 mile run. Marsha was planning on a long run Sunday with Charles so she declined but also would never want to start that early given a choice. I did my normal and woke up about 3 and just couldn't sleep so I got up and got ready. The 4 of us ran 13 miles on the south side of Medina and I thought my leg pain was finally gone but minutes after Jeannine left Janet's house it began to get sore just like after the last half marathon. I had a visit with Joe later that morning and he got to see how it's been after my runs. He worked on it for a bit and said to keep running easy on it and come back next week. It was a bit sore but I had the chance to go to the last training run at the site of the NorthCoast 24 so I was going, even if I only did a few miles I wanted to see the course once before October 3. I got up again at 3 am , picked up Frank and Dan and arrived at Edgewater at 5. Frank and I did 15 miles and Dan 17. It was a cool 53 degrees and a great morning for a run til the sun came out and we were bombarded with millions of insect for about an hour and had thousands of birds flocking to our path when someone fed them bags of bread. I finished this run with no problem but still the same soreness that keeps coming back after running, hopefully I can get this taken care of before Akron and the other 2 big events coming up. Saturday Marsha and I spent the afternoon at Kyle's cross country meet in Tiffin where he had another great PR of 21:15.

The Blue Line Training Run 9/05/09

2009-09-06T10:24:00.002-04:00

It felt like a race morning, maybe knowing I was going to try for 31 miles didn't help, we were to meet and leave Medina at 5:30 am, so I could get up just before 5 but I was up around 3, then 3:30 and finally up for good around 4. We had quite a large turn out from the Medina area, maybe somewhere in the range of 15 people, our group picture did not include everyone as some people arrived later. We took off just a little after 6:30 in a group of I'd say well over 100 people. One minute into this run someone says my name and I don't recognize her with her hat and sunglasses but it was Marshas friend from work Jen. I ran with her the first 2 miles then pulled ahead to catch up with Frank, then ended up talking to a guy that remembered following Dan H, Rachel and I at the Heart and Sole 2 weeks earlier and he was telling me how he stayed with us for quite awhile but then we disappeared around mile 6, I thought that was quite funny because that is right about where Rachel turned on the speed in that race. Then I left to try and catch up with Frank again, we ended up fight behind Marsha and group and she was quite surprised that I was still behind her as she thought I was way out in front. We ran ahead and Chuck had dropped back to find me as we were to pick up the pace a little after 4-5 miles. Our groups were spread out pretty good, Chuck, Tom Wolke, Frank and I ran together mostly after mile 4 splitting for a short while then Frank and Tom caught back up. We were nearing the last 2 miles and it was somewhat down hill so Tom and I picked up the pace considerably nearing 7 minute miles the last 2 which I now regret as the leg got sore right after heading back out to attempt our 31 for the day. Nearing the very end of the 19+ miles I see Dan H. and Dan D. so I kept speeding ahead to catch them right near the end of the run. We took a 5-10 minute break for fluids and a quick shoe change and we (Frank, Chuck and I) headed back out going through a bad section of town looking for the new bridge over water that I had seen in the Beacon Journal last week. We found it, took a few pictures and headed back but my leg was very sore so I decided to end my run with Frank and let Chuck go on for our goal of 31 w/o me. Frank and I kept going all the way down to the end of the Blue line right at the back door of Canal Park and then back up the hill to hit our full 26.2 miles for the day. Chuck made it to 31. Good job on the longest training run ever Chuck.

August Ends with a Chill and A New Record

2009-08-30T19:20:00.007-04:00

My leg injury kept me off for a couple extra days this week, ran 6 miles on the Reagan trails Monday night with Jeannine, Charles and Marsha. Tuesday was my first night of bowling so no running and I went to see Doc Joe about the leg issue right after work. He said it would be ok to run on so Thursday I ran the Reagan trails again with Chris and Dan, hit 11 with the last 2 starting to hurt just a little. I took Friday off because of the high mileage planned for the weekend. We started the weekend by going to Kyles First Cross Country meet of the season in Wadsworth, where he did great!!! 21:59. Later that day Marsha and I ran our annual anniversary run at the Valley City Street fair. It was in the mid to high 70's, much cooler than the last 3 years but still pretty hot & humid, I ran a 20:32 coming in 8th overall of nearly 100 runners and Marsha ran 24:17 with both of us winning first in our age groups. Sunday morning we had a long run scheduled to start at 6 am at McDonalds on Rt. 3. It was 52 degrees at starting time and I had a long sleeve shirt on and my running gloves, peeled the long sleeve and dropped it just over one mile into the run but didn't drop the gloves til around mile 12 as we passed the house again. It was a great run with unusually cool temps for August, now if we can just get that lucky one month from now for the Akron Marathon. Our group of 8 was Ladd, Marsha, Dan, Frank, Charles, Jeannine, Janet and Debbie. Jeaninne started at 5:30 and got 19 in, Marsha, Charles and Janet had 18 and Dan, Debbie and I hit 20 just before we arrived back at McDonalds. I finished strong but the leg was hurting worse than before so I will take the next 3 days off and am going back to see Joe on Tuesday again and hoping this thing can get healed and gone soon as we have the Blue Line training run next weekend with 11 more after, that will be our longest run ever and a training run 50K.

The record was set by me with a total of 209 miles for the month.

Heart and Sole Half Marathon 8/22/2009

2009-08-26T21:43:00.002-04:00

A quick review of last week : Wednesday night I was doing speedwork with Marsha, Jeannine, Charles, Janet and Dan D. late. I was trying to push Jeannine a little on her last 800 when I turned around and ran backwards, big mistake I guess as after that I had a weird feeling in my lower left leg. Thursday I went to see doc. Joe and he did his thing and said I could run on it so Dan D. and I ran 9 miles of trails in Reagan that night, again it hurt at the end mostly when we hit the pavement. I took Friday off with Saturday being the Heart and Sole 1/2. A big group of us went down together and I decided I was not going to push the pace, Rachel was also there and was going for a 1:45 half marathon so I ran up behind her and we ended up running ALMOST the the entire race together. We caught up with Dan Horvath and the 3 of us were together for quite some time. If you want to run a 1:45 half marathon you run an 8 minute pace so in miles 2, 3, 4 and 5 Rachel tells me we are going a little fast and we were just under a 8 minute pace through those miles then things changed, all of a sudden we start going faster and faster and passing lots of people. I think Rachel must have slipped a few energy gels in when I wasn't watching. At mile 10 I remember Rachel saying if we can run a 30 minute 5k we'd be at her time (yeah right) the last few miles were down hill and we were running near my 5k pace it seemed, around mile 11 we pass a girl I've seen at a lot of races and she looks up and sees Rachel and about lets out a gasp. This girl attempts to keep up for a brief second but soon realizes we were going to fast for her. Nearing mile 12 I tell Rachel to keep it up and I fall back, she tried to coax me to keep up but I was starting to feel the leg and had a small side stitch. I relied on Rachels watch most of the day and was now thinking I would really like to break 1:40 but wasn't sure where I was coming into the finish line, as I get close enough to see the clock I was a little surpised to see my time at 1:35 and change and Rachel finished almost a minute before me with a great new pr of 1:34. Her 1:45 half had disappeared in the second half of the race. I was 2 minutes from my pr and we ran easy the 1st half but it sure was nice to feel so strong in the last half and do so well. After I was done I drank a water and ate a bagel then went out to run Marsha and Charles in but the short break made my leg hurt even more and I was pretty much done for the day. The rest of the Medina group was going out for 8 more miles but I decided to stay at the truck and rest while they ran. A good decision but I should have gone because they lost Roseanne, Charles finally found her and we were on our way home. One more funny moment was the girl we passed late in the race came up to Rachel afterwards and says "where did you come from" , it was funny because she was so shocked when we passed her.

Perfect 10 Miler 8/16/09

2009-08-16T13:01:00.002-04:00

The Perfect 10 Miler was this morning at 7:30 am with the temps over 70 at 6 am but it was still a very good race me, the heat never helps but never seems to cause me much of a problem so far. There were 1o people from the Medina area with most being MCRR members and over half of us placing in our age groups. I ran the first mile with Debbie then took the next 2 miles trying to catch up with Dan H., Dan was running a really good pace so we ran together for at least 6 or more miles, around mile 6 we made the turn around and Dan says "this is where the race begins" and we take off. We both ran a negative split, I was 36 seconds faster in the second 5 miles and Dan was 8 seconds faster. A new distance race and a new pr of 1:08:12 which may stand for some time. I came in 52 nd overall of 458 runners and 3rd in my age group which got me a nice new hot chocolate mug. After our race ended Dan and I went out and found Marsha and ran her in and she finished strong passing a few people in the last 1/4 mile for a 1:24:56 and finished 209 th of 458 coming well in in the top 50% of runners. Then 4-5 of us went out for a cool down run of 2 more miles for a total of about 14 for the day so far and a planned evening run at 6pm of 10 more miles. We'll see how that goes. Thanks for the race strategy Dan.

Longest Traing run ever 08/09/2009

2009-08-12T21:22:00.002-04:00

I was on vacation all last week and ran 53 miles while at Carolina Beach but because of the heat and humidity Marsha decided to do our long run back in Cool Medina. We arrived back in Medina Saturday afternoon to a rainy cool 65 degree day but of course Sundays high was calling for hot and humid and high 80's, felt like we had something to do with that (it was hot and humid for us all week in Carolina Beach). Dan Horvath met me in the driveway a little after 6 and we were on our way bye 6:15 to meet Chuck at 6:30 at Root and from there we hit 5 miles by 7am at Panera. We had a nice size group from there for a 16 mile run and we arrived back at Panera about 20 miles into our run. After a short break to wait for everyone else to get there we head out for the final 5 miles home and I was getting a little tired and sore. Chuck and I later argue about who was picking up the pace slightly in that last 5 miles as I say it was him and he says it was me, Dan fell back less than 15 seconds at the very end but he had run 17 miles the day before and been up late for the North Coast 24 training run. Great run Dan. We hit 25 about a 1/4 mile before we got back and got a short cool down walk coming in. 3 hours 48 minutes or so total running time and a 9:08 pace. I spent quite a while after that run walking laps in the pool while trying to clean it at the same time then later went to the fair. It was a good run and we are planning a couple more in the near future.

Carolina Beach August 2009

2009-08-04T16:08:00.003-04:00

We arrived here at the beach on August 1, Marsha and I did our long run of the week the next morning. We have been a little spoiled having such a cool summer in Ohio, we took off at 6:30 in the morning and bye the time we had 7 miles in we were soaked to the bone and Marsha was having revisit to the Nashville Marathon. We got our 18 miles in in close to 3 hours, then we arrived back at the beach house and I took off my socks and shoes and ran the next 2 miles on the beach in 14:41, a strong finish and near heat stroke, got a little dizzy in the last 1/2 mile. Monday evening I ran 6 miles on my own and 3 miles away thought I should have a phone or id on me as I was again soaked to the bone and had 3 miles to get home. This morning (Tuesday) Marsha and I got up at 6 and ran 4 miles together at a 9:15 pace before she had to stop as the heat and humidity was bad again, I kept going for 4 more miles around a 3/4 mile track and averaged a 7:30 pace then walked the half mile home because I was out of liquids. Thursday night I hope to join the Wilmington Road Runners for their speedwork and do some 1/2 mile and/or mile repeats with them but I'm pretty sure I won't be able to talk Marsha into going.

Long Runs Getting Longer

2009-07-26T20:34:00.002-04:00

This weekend was our 17 mile long run in preparation for upcoming marathons. Dan, Charles Chuck and I left Medina at 7 am and went to Lock 29 and found Frank in the parking lot with 9 miles in already. We all take off and Frank leaves us at about 5 and sends us off into the rain which he avoided for the day. Our 17 went smooth with Dan and I kicking out a couple low 7 minute miles in the last 2 miles. Later that day we went the Elkins BBQ and spent 7 hours there eating talking and playing corn hole. Then after 5 1/2 hours of sleep we got up and arrived at Second Sole at 6 am for the 2nd annual Double Trouble 10k. Marsha and I directed people at the 1.5 mile turn around and got to see most people twice as it was a double loop for the 10k runners and a single loop for the 5k relay.

Where to start

2009-07-23T21:24:00.004-04:00

I have not wrote in here in almost a month, so here's a quick review of the last 4 weeks. The Twin Sizzler was on the 4th of July here in Medina. This race was my pr from a year ago with a 19:12 and again a pr in 2009 with a PR of 19: 08, must be the home town race for me to shine in. Then 45 minutes later I again ran the 10k pacing Debbie Scheel for most of the 1st 5 then taking off in the lat mile for a 45:30 something. The following weekend 07/11/09 Marsha and I ran our first 10 mile trail run called Muddy Paws, a tough 5 mile loop course that we ran the Thursday before the race. I placed 25th overall of 144 runners but didn't place in my age group. 1 hour 26 minutes for a 8:45 pace on trails, felt a lot faster but there were places you had to walk.
Now we are gearing up the marathon training and have done a few longer runs, I did 14 with the ladies last Saturday during which I sprinted downhill heading to the Port-a-john and messed something up in my right lower leg. The next morning I ran 15 miles with Chuck and the last 3 miles started to cause a little pain in the leg again. A rest day on Monday and then a visit to Doc. Joe on Tuesday to get it looked at, not a shin splint was good news, he worked it out a bit and said if I wasn't a 100% on Thursday to give him a call. I did speed work right after my appointment with the ladies instead of regular guys and it felt ok. I rested the leg on Wednesday then Chuck and I ran a pretty hard hilly 7.5 miles tonight and it seems to be almost gone as I am icing it right now so hopefully it won't bother me for our 17 mile run this Saturday morning on the tow path.
This Sunday is the MCRR race Double Trouble that we will be volunteering at and then we will be taking almost 5 weeks off of racing with our next race scheduled for August 16, The Perfect 10 Miler.

1 - 2 - 3 in row, 3 Races in 3 Days for Dan H. and I

2009-06-28T21:21:00.004-04:00

As per my previous post we ran the Matchstick 4 miler Friday night. Dan ran the other Subway race in Green Saturday. Last year this weekend I ran the Black River Buzz Anderson Memorial 5k and the next day the Columbia Station 1/2 where Pete Mycek and I met, but I had decided that I would not run the memorial 5k as 2 races in one weekend was plenty if not too much. So I woke up Saturday morning about 6:30 and couldn't sleep so I decided to get up and put down weed n feed on the entire yard and in the back of my mind thought if I get this done in time I could make it to the race in Spencer. I finished the yard before 7:30 so I decided to go. I changed and Marsha which by choice would sleep in decided to ride out there with me and cheer me on even though I would not be pressing for anything better than around 22 minutes I told her. We arrive with time to spare, did a mile warm up and got in line and talked to a guy in my age group that planned on doing under 22 minutes, great, but I let him go and hit mile 1 at a somewhat comfortable 6:48 and coming back past Marsha and the park entrance I told her the guy way out in front of me in the orange was in my age group and she says " go get him" so I speed up a little and catch him by mile 2 and talk to him for a second then go by and pick off a few more people and get back to the park with maybe a 1/4 mile to go and Pete meets me at the road and says come on pick it up so he pushes me hard coming in to the finish and my easy 5k ends up at 20:55 and 3rd in my age group.
Sunday morning arrives and again I don't get a very good nights sleep, I picked Dan H up at 6:45 and we head out to Columbia Station. Pete was there hoping to beat his PR of 1:39 and Dan was saying 8 minute miles was his pace for the day and the other of 4 MCRR members was Steve Combs going at a 6:30 pace.I was planning on helping Debbie Sheel to break 1:40 so I set my gps for a 1:39 1/2 which was a 7:28 pace and off we went. ZOOM, Debbie takes off and is pulling away fast so Pete and I ran together hitting almost every mile split for the first 4 at 7:25 to 7:30. Finally at 4.5 miles we catch Debbie and take a small lead on her, at mile 6 I slowed down to let her and Dan catch up and Pete pulled a bit ahead then. During those 1st 6 miles we noticed by our gps that the miles were to far apart and by mile 6 we had about 6.4, the rest later. I told Debbie she was still on target but we had 7 miles to go and I took off to try and catch up with Pete. It took me a 1/2 mile or so to do it but I got up next to him and and we looked out ahead and said let's catch the girl in the red before the race is over, somewhere between 10 and 11 we pass her and couple other fellas and come upon the guy I followed quite a bit last weekend. Pete and I ran with him til about 12.5 miles when he started to pull away and I had a tiny bit of leg calf cramp coming on so I told Pete to go get him and wow did he have alot left, Pete goes by him fast and beats him and finishes about 12 seconds in front of me, he took 2nd in our age group and I took 3rd. Dan and Debbie also both won their age groups. The down side of this race was it was 13.67 by my Gps and my time showed it. Everyone that had a gps agreed and had already told the race director. Debbie couldn't believe when she saw the clock at 1:48 but I told her to knock off 4 minutes for the over extra half mile still not putting her where she wanted to be. I crossed the finish line in 1:41 almost to the second the same time I crossed last year and I forgot to say this was a totally new course this year and a little easier than the old, I think I did around a 1:38 today at the 13.1 mark and Dan running those 8 minute miles finished just 30-40 seconds behind me if I recall right, no results up yet. I averaged 7:28 minute miles today. Time for a little rest on Monday and see how I feel about speed work on Tuesday

Matchstick 4-Mile 06/26/09

2009-06-26T22:13:00.002-04:00

This evening Marsha, Kyle and I ran the Matchstick in Wadsworth. It 's race directors are MCRR members and friends we have made running, Kim, Randy and Bob. It was 79 degrees when we arrived about an hour before the race. We are still waiting for results to be posted but I PR'd with a 26:07, Marsha was close with a 31:25 and Kyle was, well he took the week off and he didn't do well, walking alot of the last mile he says, came in a little over 37 minutes just as I was headed out to look for him. I warmed up with Marsha , Kyle, Rachel and Dan H. and got some good news from Dan, he will be going with me Sunday morning to the Columbia Station Half. Rachel told me at speed work Tuesday night that she would be around 30 minutes in the 4 mile which sort of made me laugh as she keeps up with us during speed work and I told her she would beat 30 easy and she did coming in less than 20 seconds behind me. I also need to thank Denise Young for a great race, she passed me around the 2 mile mark and I hung with her to the end, Matt met her in the last 1/4 mile and was encouraging her to pick it up and beat her time from 2 years ago and it was down to the last 50 yds. when I gave it all I had left to get past her by a single second, without her push that last mile I'm sure I would have been a bit slower the last mile. I placed 2nd in my age group and 32nd overall of maybe 300 people.

Mohican cancelled, got to run Park to Park

2009-06-24T22:18:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday I was about 1 hour away from leaving for the Mohican 100 where I was to run the last 25 miles as Bob Pokorny's pacer when his daughter called and said he had to drop out. The day started here in Medina pouring all morning then it got hot and humid, Bob made it 37 miles or so but ran into a few issues with dehydration and heat. Now with no plans for Sunday I tried to register for the Park to Park half marathon that Marsha, Jeanine and Janet were running the next morning. It was to late to register so I called the guy in charge and left him a message that I would like to sign up for the next 2 half marathons, one tomorrow and one next Sunday, and on their web site if you sign up for 2 as a package you get a discount. He called back and told me to sign up for both at the race and I would get the discount, $55 for both races, pretty cheap for 2 halves. I went out without a warm up due to a long line at the port a potty and planned to run a slow mile to get started but ended up with a 7:15 first mile and running with Tim in my age group, he had run Cleveland in 1:35 and we both said our goals were to break 1:40 today so we ran about 9-10 miles together before I lost track of him on the woozy bridges. Forgot to say that for a mid June race the temps were in the low 60's at start time and it was a bit chilly. I ran most of the last couple miles with next to no one around me and got to mile 12 which sent us back into the park we started at and on a gravel trail. It was cooler in the woods so I picked up the pace to see if I could catch anyone before the finish but didn't see a soul and couldn't believe when I finished in 1:36:11 that there were only 8 people in front of me. The race started with a bunch of half marathoners and a bunch of 5k ers in the twisty woods and I never knew where all the people went in front of me and had no idea how many were in front of me. My running buddy Tim ended up 3 minutes behind me but we took 1st and 2nd in our age group. After a short breather I ran back out to run Marsha in for a 1:53 then ran back out again to run Janet in for a 2:02. I placed 9th of 90 and Marsha was in the top half as I recall.

Ran an easy 4 miles before the MCRR meeting Monday night and listened to Milt Place talk about his running and training, a very interesting talk. Then went to speed work Tuesday but took it pretty easy with about 4 800's in the 3:20's. Taking the next couple days off for rest with the Matchstick 4 miler coming up Friday night and then the Columbia Station half Sunday morning. Running this one with Pete and Debbie Sheel, most likely trying to just break 1:40 on this hilly course.

Weekend on the Move.....

2009-06-19T22:04:00.007-04:00

Ladd will have a tiring day tomorrow, helping out Bob Pokorny who is running the Mohican 100. Ladd will be meeting him after he has ran 75 miles to run the last 25 with him.... in the dark... wow sounds like fun! Wish I could be there! NOT!

Picture: Janet, Marsha, Jeannine

I will be running with a new friend Jeannine for her first 1/2 marathon on Sunday. I know she will do great and I am really looking forward to it! Our other friend Janet is coming too.... may I predict? Jeannine 1:54, Marsha 1:56, Janet 1:57....... hmmm we'll just have to see!

Running is great we have met so many new and wonderful people! Thanks to all my new running buddies!

Louisville YMCA 10k Saturday June 13, 2009

2009-06-16T22:21:00.002-04:00

I'm not a fan of 10k's but the Subway series picnic was right after the race so we ran it. Kyle was not ready for a 10k but they also had a 2 mile race so he went with us. There were 144 runners in the 2 mile race and I decided I would run Kyle in the last 1/2 mile or so for a warm up before our race. I ran out and was happily surprised that Kyle was the 6th runner I came to going out on the course, I turned around and he had 2 people just in front of him, we passed the first one with ease but the end was nearing and we didn't quite catch the other guy but were gaining til the end with Kyle finishing 5th of the 144 in 13:55. 2nd in his age group. Our race was about to begin and I see a guy in my age group that I beat by 1 second a week earlier and we get to talking and have the same goal in mind for today so we paced off each other the whole race with him beating me by a single second this week in 43:40 or so. I placed 3rd in our age group right behind him. Kyle and I ran Marsha in and she placed 2nd in her age group with a 51:59. I was 21st across the line and Marsha was about mid 60's out of a 185 runners. A note for next year, skip this race, to many turns and hills plus an hour drive.
Sunday we had a group run planned at McDonalds at 10:00. 4-6 ladies and Pete, me and a new MCRR member for the guys, we ran 8.4 miles at an 8:05 pace which was a little faster than I would have liked but Pete led the way as the new guy and I talked behind him most of the 8 miles.
Rest day on Monday and Speedwork Tuesday. Tonight we did 6 800's at 2:56 to 3:20 with the majority at 3:08. Dan H., Frank and I did this while Marsha, Kyle and Janet did 4 400's and Kyle added an 800 also. Patrick and buddy doing way faster laps but at least we weren't puking at the end Patrick. Bob and Suzanne there also but Bob is tapering for the up coming Mochican 100 this weekend that I will be joining him in for the last 25 miles. He'll have run 75 MILES when I join him and he stills plans to be running a 9 minute pace the last 25. WOW. I hope I can be some help to him on those last 25 as half of it will be in the dark.

A New Record High Week

2009-06-07T14:50:00.002-04:00

Starting this month I will be counting my mileage starting on Monday and ending on Sunday so I won't get 2 long runs in a week as before I was going Sunday thru Saturday and could get 2 long runs in during that week. This week just happened to set a new record with 7 on Tues., 5 Wed., 15 Thurs., 5 Sat., and 15.5 today = 47.5 miles for the week. 50 will come but I'm not trying to break this record quite yet. We ran the Relay for Life 5k in Brunswick yesterday and it was pushing 70 at race time. I finished in the top 10 with a 20:17 but have not seen any results yet to verify and Marsha finished in 24 flat and won her age group, I was second. Then there's Kyle, I helped him to a great new pr last weekend and he takes almost the entire week off and comes out this week and Mom passes him in mile 2 and beats him. Sure heat was a factor cause he has run very little in the warmth but now he better get out and run some more so he can beat his mom again next time. We stayed up a bit late last night with our bonfire and didn't get to bed til 1:00 but managed to get up and out the door by 9:30 and ran 13.5 miles together then I ran a couple more to go see Jim A. for a total of 15.5 miles.

It's June but feeling like March

2009-06-05T23:01:00.003-04:00

It is finally June but the nights have been down in the 40's and it's very cool for our evening runs. Tuesday nights speedwork was tough but was nice being as cool as it was. We did 5 1000's at all around 4 minutes and I did a final 800 in 3:05. 7 miles total for the night, then Wednesday night Marsha and I did a easy 5 miles at a 8:53 pace around town. Thursday night Dan and I met the Hinckley group for a tough 15 mile run in 2 hours 45 minutes finishing just before dark. Today was a much needed rest day so we can get up and run a small race in Brunswick that we ran last year. This week may come close to a record week, after tomorrows warm up and cool down plus the 5k I'll have 45 miles in this week. Not sure what my most is for a week but that's got to be close.

Where'd the Weekend Go

2009-06-01T16:14:00.002-04:00

I got off work Friday and it's Monday already. Marsha had a doctors appointment Friday and got the ok to race so she decides she really wants to go to Brewster, Ohio and run the Shearer's Chip Chase that we ran last year. I was kind of against going for a couple reasons, one being we were not pre-registered which means it cost us an extra $10 to sign up at the race and it's almost an hour drive. We pack up and go and get there about 6:15 and it's sunny and hot, about 72 degrees. The race starts at 7 but hardly cools down by then. Lots of friends were at this race so it was nice to see everyone. Bill, Marsha, Don and I go out for a warm up run and are getting ready for the race and I felt overheated before the race and didn't feel like a good time was gonna happen but that race adrenaline always seems to kick in and help. I ran most of the race with a guy in my age group and as we got towards the final 1/2 mile I see another guy in our age group and as we near the finish line I give my best kick to edge him out at the line by less than a single second. My time was 20:38 which I'm pretty happy with except for the little extra bit I had to run in this race, the lead bike took us off course and added 2/10ths of mile to the course and it ended up being 3.28 miles long, finished 25th overall out of 338 but 5th in my age group. Marsha had her worst time in awhile, just over 25 minutes but managed to place 3rd in her age group. We got home after 10 pm and went to bed so we could get up and go to the Livestrong 5k at AI Root that Kyle and I were running and Marsha was volunteering at. Kyle was looking to break 22 minutes for the first time so I told him I would run with him the first 2 miles and keep him on pace and then I'd take off. We hit mile one where Marsha was standing at 6:45 and Kyle says we're going to fast so we lay back a little and go down a hill for a slight rest and hit mile 2 at exactly 14 minutes but Kyle is telling me his legs and chest hurt so I decide to stay with him til the end. We hit a second water stop after the second mile and I tell him to keep going and I grab 2 waters and ask him "do you want to drink it or wear it" and he says wear it, I throw one glass down his back and one in his chest and I'd swear I threw gas in his tank as he seemed to pick up the pace just then. He was hurting but we were getting close, as we neared the school he says he can't breathe but I'm telling him we will be done in less than 3 or 4 minutes. We hit the track and I sprint away to the finish and he stays right on my tail as we cross the line in 21:40 and 21:42, over a minute off his best time ever. We finished 13th and 14th overall of 130 runners.

A couple hours later I was teeing off at Blue Heron for a very long 5 hour round of golf, shot 97 which was the low in our foursome but not a great score for me but ok since I have only played 4 times this year.
Sunday morning comes around and we have a group run planned starting at 8:30. I got to run 11 miles with 6 ladies at a slower pace than I usually run but it was a nice run and probably good for me after the 2 back to back 5k's and a good pace to try for the 24 hour run. This weekend just seemed to pass me by. Tomorrow I hope to do speedwork and then Thursday hopefully some hills in Hinckley and another 5k next weekend.

A break from work for some Speedwork

2009-05-28T22:04:00.002-04:00

I have missed speedwork for about 6 straight weeks due to 12 hour shifts at work always scheduled on Tuesdays but this week with Memorial Day on Monday, Tuesday was the first day of the week and they could hardly tell us to work 12 with no notice, so we worked our 12 today instead. 8 of us showed up for speedwork (Ladd, Marsha, Kyle, Dan H., Connie, Bob P., Frank, and Denise) Marsha and Denise did their thing and Connie and Bob planned our torture. I had to read Dan's blog to get an idea how many 200's we did, he says we did 24 and I'll go with that as I lost count by mid way. We did 1/2 of them and then jogged one lap. We did every 200 somewhere between 47 and 43 second with the last 5 progressively faster by a second or two at least until the last one when Bob says now 42 seconds and I had to let him go ahead of me. The distance and time were not a problem but the "BREAK" in between was, we would finish a 200 and maybe 2-4 seconds later we were off again. It was a tough workout and it would have been easy to drop off earlier except after listening to Connie and Bob say they ran 4 hours Sunday and 4 hours Monday I was not about to stop. I ran maybe 2 hours over the weekend to their 8 not that I'm even in the same category as them but I still wasn't stopping if I could help it.

May 25, 2009 Memorial Day (Our 18th Anniversary)

2009-05-25T20:21:00.002-04:00

Marsha and I got up this morning on our 18th anniversary and went for a run with Janet. Last year we went for a 17 mile run on our 17th anniversary but it helped that we were in marathon training. Marsha and Janet were going for a 5 mile run so I parted ways with them around 3 miles and ended up getting to the Memorial day parade just as it was entering the cemetery so I walked from there til after the square as I kept running into people I knew. I ran 8 miles at a 8:30 pace and felt a little better than I did Saturday morning. Hoping to do speed work tomorrow night if all feels well. Spent the rest of the afternoon doing a little yard work and power washing the whole deck til it was time to get cleaned up and have a nice picnic with the family. What a beautiful Memorial Day weekend, sunny and warm every day.

Group Run, May 24, 2009

2009-05-23T17:41:00.002-04:00

Almost 1 week since the Cleveland Marathon and only one 3 mile run and a group run scheduled for this morning. 8 or 9 people in attendance and all were there for the 5 mile run except Bill and I, I may have opted to do just the 5 but Bill drove all the way up from Canton and I thought no way would I drive that far for a fun/training run and only run 5 miles so we kept going on the Chippewa route after everyone else turned around. It was a nice morning and almost no air movement so it got a little warm in the direct sun but was nice and cool when there was shade. I felt pretty good til about mile 8 or 9 and then those fatigued muscles started getting that feeling coming on. We finished in 1 hour and 31 minutes for exactly 10 miles and averaged just over 9 minute miles which would normally be slower than I would go but it felt like a work out just to get to 10. Marsha ran back out and found us and ran back in with us and she got in 7 for the day. Looks like I'll run every other day for another week and just keep the miles low til this soreness goes away and stays away.

The Cleveland Marathon

2009-05-17T21:52:00.002-04:00

What a weekend, I took off early from work Friday and we went to the Cleveland Expo with Charles and Tara. We went to the Great Laked Brewing company for lunch and guess what I had Dan, the pretzel crusted chicken, how funny, I also tested 3 beers and then ordered a pale ale but I still just like light beer. The expo was ok but smaller than the couple we've been to. We then had to rush home to get to the Road Runners meeting. We had 5 runners before the meeting, me, Dan H., Marsha, Janet and Michele,we did 4 miles then listened to Bart Yasso from Runners World talk about some of his adventures. It was a very interesting meeting and I talked to Bart about facebook and he remembered me and some of my posts, amazing since he has 2000 FB friends.
Saturday we spent the entire day resting,eating and drinking to get ready for Sundays marathon.
Today was the big day, we went to bed a little late but I did get a nap in the middle of the day to help,went to bed at 11:30 and awoke at 2:00 unable to get back to sleep, so we got up and got ready. Dan and Heather drove us and we arrived nice and early and parked in the Galleria parking garage which was about 65 heated degrees while it was 45 outside. A large group of Medina County Road Runners met at the FREE stamp and got our group picture. The weather was pretty nice for a marathon but I didn't really enjoy the course and the wind seemed to be always in our face or at our side, never at our back. It was also smaller than I expected, the 1/2 sold out at 4500 runners and the full had just less than 1300 runners. We went out like normal, just a little fast after the 1st mile and were ahead of Dans bq for quite some time, we crossed the 1/2 marathon line in just over 1:36, then around mile 18 I said goodbye to Dan as I was getting a little slower, then bye mile 20 I was getting my usual calf cramps and was slowing even more.
The last miles were tough but I still thought I could break into the 3:20's but I walked a bit and just couldn't hold a good pace for long. At almost 26 miles Pete Mycek passes me and yells but I could hardly move as the cramps had stopped me entirely right there so close to the finish but I was able to take off one last time and cross the finish line somewhat strong at 3:31:49 but the official time on the Cleveland site was 3:30:45. Dan finished 10 minutes in front of me with a great new PR of 3:21:46. I could go on and on with all that went on and all the people that were there but I'll cut it short, Marsha was unable to run because of the high blood pressure problem we just found out about this week, Charles couldn't run due to IT problems and Joe H. may have a fractured bone in his foot that caused him to finish his race at the half way point still with a great time of around 1:37 I think. I hope everyone gets over all these injuries really quick.

Cleveland Taper

2009-05-15T22:45:00.002-04:00

My plan for this week was to run 2 or 3 days all easy to be ready for a PR Sunday. I ended up working a couple 12 hours days and a 10 so it was easy to not run much this week, so it worked out well. Marsha and I ran 4 easy miles Wednesday after work and tonight we ran another easy 4 before our runners meeting with Bart Yasso. It was a good talk by Bart and at the end I talked to him about Facebook and he remembered my name and a couple posts I made which was pretty neat as he has 2000 friends on FB as of today. He answered my post just in the last day or so. Marsha will post the picture of us with him later. I took off today at 11 and we followed Charles and Tara to Cleveland and had lunch at the Great Lakes Brewing Company. I tested 3 of their beers but didn't like any of them and then ordered a Pale Ale that was pretty good but I stick to light beer still. We then went to the expo and spent a couple hours there and got a couple good deals on shirts and gu's and a nice new pair of winter gloves and I try out on the next cold morning. Sadly, Marsha cannot run the half due to her very high blood pressure but Charles found someone that wanted to run and paid us the full price for her entry since they are sold out. Chuck waited to long and now can't run either as they closed the half but there is going to be a waiting list if you spend the day at the expo to try and get in. It's looking to be a perfect day for a marathon now we just need a perfect run on that perfect day. 1 day and 8 hours to go.

An Easy Run ?

2009-05-10T21:24:00.004-04:00

As per my last post we were to do a 8-10 mile easy run this weekend but like normal we didn't quite do that. That is one reason I thought that we should run with the ladies and be forced to run at a slower pace. Dan and I ended up running at 11:00 and going out into a wind advisory, the 1st 6 miles seemed like we were being greatly slowed by the wind then the last couple miles heading back towards home we went alot faster than we thought and at one point felt like we were running faster than 5K pace as the wind threw us forward. We got back and I still thought that the 7:55 pace on my GPS had to be wrong as I was thinking we ran about a 8:30 pace but both our GPS's confirmed we did sub 8 minute miles.
Today, Mothers Day, we slept in and then got up for that easy run I was supposed to do and we ran 6 miles at a 8:38, must have been tired from yesterday cause it still felt like a workout.
Now for a taper week, I'm planning on running Tuesday and Thursday for 3 miles and resting til the big day. Just looked at the weather and Saturdays nights low is 58 and race days high is 68.

Run for Fun , Panera run, Hinckley Run

2009-05-07T22:49:00.002-04:00

A quick run down of my last couple runs. Last Thursday we ran the annual Medina prosecutors victims awareness run, my first run since Nashville. I was sick but this race is free and I needed to get a run in with 4 days off so we went out hard for a mile then eased up for 2 and 3 with Frank coming in second with a 19+ minute PR and Dan and I tying for 3rd in 21:38. Then we attended the after run drawing and we won a 1 hour Massage that Marsha will get as Mothers day is this weekend.
Friday night was the Medina Run 4 Fun, wasn't feeling great yet but went out with a small bunch of Medina people and sped out to get in front of the 574 runner crowd. Stayed with Dan for about a mile or so but couldn't keep up so I fell back and ended up running most of the last 2 miles with Connie with her telling me to GO as we neared the track finish so I sprinted ahead to finish at 20:40 by my clock but 20:29 by official results. Connie told me to go at the end cause she thought I could PR but I told her later that it was not happening tonight as I was still sick. Dan PR'd in 19:44 and did great. I finished 29th of 574 with Kyle Finishing in 22:55 (65th) and Marsha finishing in 23:59 (90th).
Then Sunday we met at Panera for a group run, Dan,Chuck and I and 5 ladies. The guys met early to get some extra miles in, Dan 15.5, me 14 on the nose and C.D. around 9 or 10.
Today Dan and I were planning a Hinckley run but at 5:30 it was pouring and I was changing my mind about going but Dan was going anyways so I looked at the radar and it looked like it would clear up so I decided to risk it and go and it turned out to be a beautiful evening. We ran for 1 hour 36 minutes and guessed it to be around 11 miles. What a good workout that place is.
Now a easy long run of 8 -10 miles this weekend and then a taper week of maybe 2 or 3 slow runs and off to Cleveland to attempt a BQ. 3:30 was our original goal but now were looking at going out at a 1:37 1st half and hoping to keep it up for the whole thing so Dan and I can both qualify for Boston. Even if this doesn't happen I think we'll both be happy as long as we break that original goal which would be a new PR for both of us.

Union Hospital Half Marathon 6 days before Nashville

2009-04-28T21:58:00.004-04:00

I haven't wrote here in over 2 weeks, probably the longest gap since we started this thing, just got busy and forgot I guess. I ran the Union Hospital half again this year mostly because it was my very first half 1 year ago and I wanted to run it again. I had my second thoughts about it being only 6 days before Nashville but figured I just run it easy as I was pacing Marsha at the marathon so I thought I'd go ahead and do it. It was a great morning, maybe a little warm by the end but very nice starting in the low 60's. I decided to pace my running buddy Bill Henry for the first few miles and then take off and try to break 1:40. We did a mile or so warm up just before the start of the race and took off a little to fast for Bill hitting the 1st mile in 7:20 then easing up a bit just under 8 the next few miles, later Bill told me I was killing him but I was trying to let him set our pace but I guess I was making him go to fast. I stayed with Bill til we hit the split mats at mile 6 at about 47:25 and said goodbye. Marsha found me a couple times out on the course and ran with me which was very nice and told me at one point Beth Woodward was right in front of me, which I thought was very odd since I ran so easy the first half and she is such a great runner. I pulled up next to Beth about mile 11 and really expected to have to pick it up to go in with her but later found out she was sick. She said she tried to stay with me but just couldn't. I ended up placing 33rd out of 277 runners with a finishing time of 1:40:09.
I did make one mistake here and it could have been bad, I decided to wear my asics trainers that I had only worn for a few 5k's mostly because my chip was already laced on these shoes and we got to the race and they are using the D TAG and I didn't need my chip, so somewhere around mile 10 or 11 I feel a hot spot under my big toe on my left foot and low and behold I have the biggest blister I have ever had with 6 days til a Marathon. I let it go til Tuesday but felt it while out for my last run before Nashville so I cut off the loose skin about the size of a quarter and got it some air and it healed pretty good by Saturday because it didn't bother me a bit. Lucky for me.

Country Music Marathon - Nashville, TN - April 25, 2009

2009-04-27T20:32:00.006-04:00

Well, to say the least I didn't accomplish what I wanted to. But, we had a wonderful weekend! Ladd and I got to spend lots of time together, celebrating our anniversary a month early. A highlight of the weekend was when I got to meet Denise Austin at the Expo.

The temps skyrocketed to near 90 on race day and that really took a toll on me. My heart started palpitating at around 18 miles, and the chest pains were intense! I tried walking it off, but couldn't get it to stop. We walked and ran the last 6-8 miles (15 minutes each for miles 24 & 25....) I ran the last 1/2 mile to the finish line where Ladd led me accross the finish line and into the medical tent where they worked hard to get my core temp and heart rate (pulse was at 120) down, I was out of it, but Ladd says it was quite a scary site, people icing and sponging me down, dumping salt in my mouth, etc. I was fine after 30 minutes in the tent.

I am fine! I had no leg pains, and will try again soon, maybe June in Minnesota at Grandmas with Abra. . .

Ladd was such a wonderful guy! He really tried to keep me on pace, but realized when to quit trying, he tried to get me to follow him into the medical tent at 25, but I was finishing!

Just to let you know, I am sane, I would have gone to the medical tent at 20 if I hadn't been with Ladd, I only continued on because I knew he was there. Final Time 4:40 (mile 20 split was 3:18)

There were 4 Medina County Road Runners at the Nashville Marathon: Lisa Grafton - 1st Full 5:19, Charles Elkins - 1/2 marathon - 2:03, everyone struggled!

Group Run, April 11, 2009

2009-04-12T19:35:00.003-04:00

We planned a group run starting at our house and doing the Chippewa route. Dan was doing a 20 miler today so he ran 4.5 miles to our house before the run so he could get his 20 in when he got home. We had a total of 9 runners, 6 guys and 3 gals. Ladd, Dan, Pete, Chris, Randy and his friend Tim, Marsha, Kim and Lisa. It was about 35 degrees and windy but a pretty nice run. We ended up doing almost 12 miles and while we were down in Chippewa we ran down to the old park entrance to catch a glimpse of the roller coaster and the ferris wheel. We averaged 8:09 per mile, a little fast for a long run and now for a couple days off, ok maybe 1 then an easy speedwork session on Wednesday to get ready for the 1st anniversary of my 1st half marathon next weekend, Union Hospital. I can't run this one to hard so my plan is to pace Bill H. for the 1st couple miles then ease into a comfortable pace and maybe just break 1:40 so I will be ready for Nashville 6 days later.

Spring Classic Half Marathon 4/04/09

2009-04-04T13:33:00.004-04:00

I was a little concerned about this race a day or two ago, we decided to take it easy at speedwork Wednesday evening but it didn't work out to be easy. We ran a ladder up and down with a timed mile in the middle, with a 400 cool down after every fast lap, 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400 that all got faster than the first half. Then I thought I would take 2 days off before the half but it was a beautiful 70 degree day Thursday so Marsha and I ran 5.75 miles and I felt terrible with tight calves, sore knees and other minor things, then I woke up Friday morning with a sore throat. All the negative thoughts started running through my head, how could I PR with all this going on. Went to bed a little early knowing I never sleep well the night before a big event and nothing changed, woke up at 5:00 while the alarm was set for 6:00. We picked up Charles and arrived about 7:25 with a 9:00 start time. And what a nice showing from the MCRR group with 10 members present : Ladd, Marsha, Charles, Dan, Heather, Bailey, Debbie, Nancy, Jean and Phil. Dan and I set the Garmins and we were off, we decided to start off with a slow mile and started near the middle of the pack but ended up having to run out in the gravel and grass to get around everyone but then we settled in at right around a 7:00 minute pace. Still not crazy about double loops and windy days but we had a great race with Dan and I running the first 10 miles together til he picked it up. We both finished with new PR's with unofficial times of 1:32:15 and 1:33:15. I placed third in the 40-44 age group. Now for a few rest days and easy days to fully recover from a good effort.

New Mileage Records in March

2009-03-31T22:42:00.004-04:00

I have always counted my weekly mileage from Sunday to Saturday just because it's straight across one line on the calendar but maybe I should do Monday to Sunday so I don't get 2 long runs in one week. But last week I just happened to do a long one on Sunday one week and Saturday this week with a couple 9 mile days in between and skipped right over the 50 mile mark and hit 60 last week, previous best was in the 40's. I also hit 155 miles for the month of March and that has to be well over any other month.
Saturdays long run at Hinckley was one of the harder long runs I've ever done, but those hills will make us stronger when the Akron Marathon comes around again. Dan and I met Chuck and Charles at 8am and we all ran some miles together, C and C ran about 11 I'm guessing and we ran 21-22 or more but not sure exactly cause Mr. Garmins were not catching a great signal on all those hills and it will only get worse when the leaves fill in soon.
April will be here in just one hour and it should be a good running month with a couple half marathons and the Nashville Country Music Marathon near the end of the month.

Lots of Miles and Rest Days, Last Week of March 2009

2009-03-25T20:43:00.005-04:00

Sunday afternoon we had a group run starting at our house with 9 people in attendance running anywhere between 10 and 21 miles. Marsha's group of 5 ran 10 miles while my group of 4 ran varying distances. Dan and I had planned on doing 19 but talked and decided that maybe we would do a bit more. Our 4 some was me, Dan, Chuck and Charles. Charles ran our Chippewa loop of 11.7 miles and left when we arrived back at my house, Chuck ran that loop plus the almost 2.7 miles back to his house (14.4 total miles) because when he got to my house he locked his keys in his car. Dan and I kept going from Chucks house circling the hilly south side of town and reached 21 miles before we got back to my house in about 3 hours averaging somewhere around a 8:38 pace for the entire run. It's fun to tell non running friends we did this because they think it is insane as my old high school friend told me. I took the next 2 days off to recoup as I knew we would be doing speedwork again on Wednesday evening. We had a nice turn out tonight with Chris Rolling making his speedwork debut along with Charles Elkins, Chuck Damman, Frank Dywer, Dan DeRosha and myself. We did almost 9.5 miles while doing 7 800's averaging I'd say about 3:07 per 800. Now it's time for another one of those rest days but I will be running Friday with Marsha for her marathon pace run and probably Saturday morning. With 2 runs this week and 2 coming up it could be a record week with 30 miles already racked up. A record week possible with 3 rest days in there.

MCRR Group Meeting

2009-03-24T21:06:00.002-04:00

Tonight we had a great meeting. Joanie from Half Moon Yoga came and did a yoga session with us. I came to find out that we are a bunch of whiners! First we had a group run and ran 5 miles at a 9:12 pace, Joanie led most of the run. Then we changed clothes, spread out yoga matts and got to work. Wow what a workout, I had forgotten how hard yoga is! I hope that I am not too sore tomorrow!

Strongsville Super Saturday

2009-03-21T21:54:00.002-04:00

Marsha and I ran this race this morning Saturday March 21. They have a 1 mile race and a 5k race and we ran both last year and won some really nice trophies so we decided to run both again this year. We arrived early and ran the 1 mile course for a warm up and then ran a fast 1 mile. I ran it in 5:47 last year and ran it in 5:33 this year and won my age group for the second time 2 years and was 6th overall out of 90 runners, Marsha ran 6:44 last year and knocked 16 seconds off her time with a 6:28 and won her age group also. Now this race is over and we have less than 20 minutes til the 5K begins so we hang around outside and talk to friends til we line up again. I lined up in the front to avoid the large crowd of 364 runners and went off faster than I should and hit the 1 mile mark at 5:55, too fast with the LARGE hill coming up in mile 2 but headed up that darn hill nice and steady with some company. I end up following the guy I beat last week by 2 seconds up the hill until he slows to a walk and I pass him, knowing that he would be coming I kept pushing and not long after there he is again. He (V.R.) passes me when we get to Rt. 82 and picks up the pace which I then have to to keep up with him, as we get down to the last 1/4 mile I pull up next to him and we both begin a sprint to the finish and again I just make it to the finish line 2 seconds in front of him with a 20:21. (19 seconds slower than last week but great for this hillier course and 2 minutes 6 seconds better than last year). I finished in 36th place overall and Marsha finished in 23:41 in 112th overall and beating last years time by 54 seconds. This is a very well run race and has the nicest wicking t-shirt of any 5K we have ever ran, some of the nicest trophies also.

REST NEEDED

2009-03-18T22:00:00.002-04:00

This is my 5th consecutive day in a row to run, Saturday's 5K with a 2 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down for a total of 6 then Sunday's hilly run with Connie's group (8 miles) then Monday nights 6 fast tempo run miles with Chuck then speedwork tonight that has my calves feeling a bit tight (almost 9 miles). Now I'm thinking I need a couple days off but Marsha needs to run 7 miles at her tempo pace tomorrow and I may have to let her down unless I feel really good tomorrow. I think I need the next 2 days off to rest the calves and the rest of my body so I can start all over again with Super Saturday's 5k and a 19 mile run planned for this Sunday.

21 miles

2009-03-15T21:16:00.002-04:00

Last REALLY long run before Nashville. This was my third longest run ever. Sharon and Nancy joined Lisa and I for the first 11 miles, which was very nice as the conversations made the run fly by! Lisa and I then ran 10 miles. The whole run was ran at a pace of 10:30.

The New Season Has Begun

2009-03-15T19:52:00.005-04:00

This week was a week of firsts for the season, 1. did speedwork for the first time this season on Wednesday evening, Ladd, Marsha, Chuck, Dan D. and Frank atending. It was a good work out for my 1st outing, probably a little to fast being we did a 200 to start then 400's with 200 recoveries and 800's with 400 recoveries. Our first 800 at 2:59 then 3:00 and 3:23 and I don't think I ever ran an 800 under 3:00. Now I just have to keep doing our weekly speedwork and hopefully we'll have some new PR's for 2009.
2. Saturday was our first Subway Challenge series race in Louisville, the Louisville Leoprachaun 5K. Their biggest race yet with 323 entrants, I tried to sprint to the finish line when I saw the clock but missd breaking 20 minutes by seconds with a time of 20:02 finishing 33rd overall and 2nd in my age group, Marsha finished in 22:59 in 93rd overall and 2nd in her age group and also breaking 23 minutes for only the second time ever. I now owe her a backrub due to a bet I made her, I told her I would beat her by 1 minute for every mile we ran ( 3 minutes ) and I guess I lost being I only beat her by 2 minutes 57 seconds. Next up Super Saturday in Strongsville.
Today I picked up Charles, Chris R. and Chuck and we ran almost 8 miles in Peninsula with Connie's group. The hills we ran up were enormous. Glad I had a tee time that I had to get back to because the 4 of us left after the 1st loop and Connie's group went back out for another pass.

Lots of March Miles (10 Friday, 17 Sunday)

2009-03-08T20:18:00.002-04:00

Friday I got off work and Dan D. and I ran 10 miles in 1 hour 22 minutes at around a 8:15 pace, it was a perfect afternoon with the temps in the lower 60's, perfect for shorts and a t-shirt. We took a little different route than normal, we ran from Ryan to the black Chippewa Rail Trail to 162 to Deerpath into Buckeye Woods and out into the large field near 42 and then onto a trail that takes you towards the other park down the road (where we came upon a young couple making out, talking as we were approaching them they didn't hear us til they were somewhat surprised to see us), from there we were already at 6 or more miles so we ran back up 162 and home for a perfect 10 miler just past my house. This now stands as the longest after work run I have ever done. Saturday was to be the first Subway race but Marsha was sick all week and didn't want to run it which was a pretty good idea since we had a 17 mile run planned for today. So this morning we get up and it was pouring and the forecast showed a 90% chance of rain all day and temps in the lower 40's. The first cancellation call was at 7:45 then another at 8:15 and another forgot to change the clock, another passed yesterday due to the forecast and one no show but we did have 5 brave people for this group run. Marsha, Lisa G. and Sharon S. all ran 10 miles and Dan D. and I ran 17 miles. Over 10 miles down to Chippewa and back then 7 more over towards Lexington Ridge and back. It was dry for about the first 7 miles then the rain picked up and we got soaked head to toe but I still enjoyed it a lot. A run like this makes every other run seem like a piece of cake!

Training and the weather

2009-03-08T14:20:00.002-04:00

What a great day for a run..... 40's and rain, constant rain. Woke up to the sound of pouring rain, we weren't sure anyone would show up for the scheduled group run. We were expecting to have 10 runners, but 4 men and 1 woman cancelled this morning, which looked like the smart thing to do. The run consisted of Lisa, Sharon and I running 10 miles at a 10:40 pace and Ladd and Dan running 17 at an 8:15 pace. To be honest there was no rain during 4 miles of the run, but the last 4 miles were so bad that I forgot the good miles....

March Has Arrived

2009-03-04T20:32:00.002-05:00

Monday was March 2 and I don't like to take 2 days in a row off so I decided to go for a run even though it was pretty cold, so what I ran a half marathon in the mid teens but this was cold. When I left it was maybe 18 out but the windchill I later found out was below ZERO, the first 5 miles out really weren't to bad but the last 3 heading home were insanely cold. Ran the 8 mile loop on the Chippewa trails in 1hour and 2 min. (7:50 pace), when I walked in the door I could barely untie my shoe laces. After getting the shoes off and looking for volunteers to help me warm my hands, Kyle said my hands were colder than ice, I called the dog and the cat over and and petted them til I could feel my fingers again. Off Tuesday, and today, Wednesday I ran 4 miles in 30 min. 44 seconds (7:44 pace) and it was about 38 degrees but it was amazingly warm compared to Monday and the forecast is looking up. Friday I have plans to run 10 miles with a 5k possible on Sat. but not looking good unless Marsha gets better soon and a group run early Sunday morning for ten miles with the group with a couple of us going on to get in 17 for the day. How many people will do the 17 with us Dan D.?

Can't even think.... Sinuses blocked

2009-03-03T15:34:00.003-05:00

Had my highest mileage week to date last week. I ran 43.5 miles: 10 on Sunday (our group run), 4.5 on Monday (MCRR group run), Tuesday-rest day, Wednesday 4 mile pace run (8:20)with Ladd with a 1 mile w/u / c/d (5 total), Thursday strength training, Friday, 5 miles with Abra and Ladd, and lastly 19 miles on Saturday with Lisa as part of our training for Nashville. Then on Sunday, I started feeling sick. Today I came home from work, as my head feels detached and I was having a hard time focusing on anything! Hoping it will pass quick with rest and relaxation. No running yet this week, did strength training this morning, no plans for any running for a couple days.

40 Mile Week

2009-02-28T17:44:00.003-05:00

This week, the last week of Feburary is the 2nd highest mileage week I've ever had. Last Sunday the 10 mile group run, then Monday the 4.5 mile group run before the Road Runners meeting. Rest day Tuesday,then Wednesday a 5 mile tempo run with/for Marsha, 1/2 mile warm up and a 1/2 mile cool down ended up at 44 minutes and a 8:45 pace. Thursday off and another 5 miles Friday morning with Abra and Marsha, 9:19 pace and 50+ degrees when we ran and 30's by afternoon. Then to top off my running week, Dan D. arrived here this morning at 8:00 a.m. and we took off to meet Chuck 1.5 miles later and run a nice long COLD loop around Medina in 2 hours and 20 minutes, we dropped Chuck off when he was around 12 miles and we continued on to get to 16 miles on the nose averaging a 8:47 pace for the day, of course bringing that average pace down by running the last mile in around 7:30. A nice finish for a cold, windy barely 20 degree day.

After Marathon Recovery/Rest Week

2009-02-22T20:28:00.003-05:00

UNTIL TODAY, I took 3 days off after the marathon and ran for the first time on Thursday, just a real easy 3 miles at about a 10 minute pace. I never run that slow but was a little cautious and a little sore. Then took Friday off and went out to dinner with Mike and Jane. We went to Ruby Tuesday and I had ribs and chicken for the 2nd time there and can't wait til I can have them again, some of the best ribs I've ever had. The group run was scheduled for Sunday at 11:00 and we wanted to check out the Chippewa intlet trail and see if it was passable. So Saturday Marsha and I drove down to Buckeye Woods and parked and ran the trail only, the first 2 miles were directly into the strongest wind we could remember running in, about 19.5 minutes and then 2 miles back with a huge push on the back in about 16 minutes. A little wet and muddy but ok for Sunday's run. We had a nice showing again for our group run with 9 people running, it was 22 degree's but after the first mile I warmed up quick, we ran almost 10 miles with the last 2 around a 7:40 pace (Dan D. and I were doing our best to catch Bill H.) and it felt good to feel almost back to normal just one week after the marathon. Attendees today: Left to right Back Row: Dan D., Bill H., Ladd, Denise Y., Lisa G., Front Row: Marsha, Pete M., Don G., and Chuck D.

16 x 400 - - - SNOW - - - NOT

2009-02-19T18:07:00.003-05:00

The plan was to do our last set of 400's for our training for the Nashville Marathon, we will start doing pace runs next week. We got about an inch of snow last night, which wasn't so bad, as the track was pretty clear, the temp was 19 and 4 with the windchill brrr. The problem was the wind and continuing snow. Half of the track was clear, and half was under a 1/2 inch of ice. We ran a 1 mile warm up (nothing warm about it), then started doing our 400's using half of the track so we had to do a U turn right in the middle. First 2 went ok then it started snowing so hard that you could hardly see the otherside of the track. By lap 4 we were white, covered in snow and at that point it started to get very slippery. By lap 5 you couldn't see the track and you couldn't see the foot prints from our last lap, needless to say it was coming down very hard! We finished a very tough 8 x 400's, did a 1 mile cool down and called it a day. It was a good workout, 8 x 400 1:45-1:50 each (with a u-turn...)

Last Chance for Boston, Ladd's 2nd marathon

2009-02-15T19:41:00.009-05:00

Did my final prep run Friday morning with Chuck, 4 miles in exactly 32 minutes. Took my final rest day Saturday and ran the LCFB marathon today. Marsha and I made a nice getaway weekend out of this and went down early Saturday and spent the night. The host hotel for the marathon was a bit expensive so we didn't plan on spending the night but a week before the marathon Marsha called a hotel nearby and found a nice room for over 50 bucks cheaper than the host hotel. We had a nice evening out and got a pretty good nights sleep that I wouldn't have got had we drove there really early this morning. The funny thing was we left the room about 15 minutes before the start of the marathon this morning and to make up the point two of the 26.2 they backed up the start line from the finishing mats and the start of the race was about 20 feet from where my truck was parked and maybe a 1/2 minute walk to our room. How convenient, Marsha parked her chair right by our hotel and had quick access to all our stuff. The plan for this run was I'd run the first half and Marsha would join me at some point near the middle but she was a little concerned about running my pace for half a marathon. I thought of a strategy or a few but just didn't know what to do, thought originally that I'd do 8 minute miles til Marsha joined me and then slow down to 8:15 to 8:45 and hope to break 3:50. So the race begins and I go out a little fast but felt so good, as the miles passed I thought boy am I gonna pay for this pace later but kept going. It was almost 30 degrees at the start so I wore my cw-x tights and my Under Armour cold gear shirt and at 5 miles was getting a little warm so I yelled to Marsha to please go grab a thin long sleeve tech shirt and I'd change at mile 6. I get to mile 6 and just stop to change but had to peel gloves, gps, hat, shirt, glasses and shirt that was stuck to my skin, after wasting almost a full minute I take back off and notice about a half mile later that the gps was off and changed to a custom set up screen and I had lost my pace screen, I handed it off to Marsha and she got it back but now I don't have my exact time or distance. In the marathon they were supposed to tell the runners after 1 hour what mile you were at as you crossed the mat as it was a 1 mile loop we had to run 26 times. Sure there were times that a lot of runners were crossing together but they never called my laps as I went thru, finally at mile 21 Marsha ran up to them and said what mile for bib 97 and they announced it that one and only time. My 5k split was just under 23 minutes, 10 k split was 47:07 and my first half was just under 1:40. I knew this was too fast for a full marathon but knew that I had built a pretty good cushion for my new PR. Marsha did some warm up laps without me and joined me a little here and there til she jumped in to run the last 6 miles with me. She says to me "don't let me slow you down" and I try to not laugh. I still felt good but was starting to slow a bit, with 4 miles to go I was starting to get some calf cramps and a little cramping inside the knees like I did in Akron, the last 3 were getting tough and with 2 to go I started getting shooting pain that caused a little more walking than I liked but I had no choice, would have walked more but was getting pushed (thank you, Marsha) to get back to jogging and hit 3:35 and that's exactly where I finished at 3:35:34, 17 minutes off my Akron time. I was 38th person across the mat of 137 runners (500 runners in all at the beginning with the 5k, 10k, and 1/2 marathon runners) and 13th in my 10 year age group of 31, I hate 10 year age groups, 95% of races are 5 year age groups. I had fun except for those last 3 painful miles.
Here are my mile splits:
1 -8:50
2- 7:19
3- 7:27
4- 7:35
5- 7:27
6- 8:31 shirt change
7- 7:32
8- 7:33
9- 8:15
10-7:23
11-7:11
12-7:56
13-7:54
14-7:51
15-8:06
16-8:01
17-8:03
18-8:30
19-8:23
20-8:39
21-8:50
22-9:12
23-9:17
24-9:37
25-10:39 ouch
26-9:46

What a taper week in mid February

2009-02-11T19:48:00.002-05:00

This is my taper week before the Last Chance for Boston Marathon this Sunday. Marsha and I ran 4 miles Monday at around a 9:30 pace, then according to her book I was supposed to do 4 miles at marathon pace Tuesday so I put on shorts and a long sleeve shirt and ran 4.5 miles a tad to fast. 1-7:44 2-7:45 3-7:58 4-7:20 , I hope to try for a 8:15 to 8:30 pace in this marathon but of course it's been in the 50's and 60's today and Sundays high is supposed to be in the mid 30's but I can't complain about that really for this time of year. Today I should have taken a rest day but it was just to warm, I did 3 easy miles in just over 25 minutes. Tried to get Marsha to go and even waited for her to get home but she wasn't feeling up to it after her long run this weekend and her many 400's in speedwork last night. I'll take tomorrow and Saturday off with just a few slow miles on Friday and hopefully be ready for a new PR on Sunday. My only goal in this weather for now is to try and beat my only marathon time of 3:52, then again if I can beat that then I really would want to break into the 3:40's, so my official goal is 3:49:59 0r better.

February 10, 2009 - speed work

2009-02-10T20:21:00.002-05:00

Lisa and I did 16 400's tonight. This was a pretty tough workout, we worked really hard! We were supposed to do each 400 at a 2 - 2:10 pace. I did every one between 1:54-1:59, I was amazed that I was able to stay so consistent. Lisa did exactly what she was supposed to do all of them at 2-2:07 pace. It was a great accomplishment!

My Nieces

2009-02-08T17:35:00.010-05:00

These are my nieces, Samantha, Allyssa and McKayla, my mom, Grandma Gilly and my kids, Kyle and Cassie.

15 miler

2009-02-08T17:14:00.002-05:00

Lisa and I have been doing most of our long runs and speed work together training for Nashville. Today was 15 which is the furthest she has ever gone (before today, the furthest was 13.1). We had wonderful weather 36 degrees and overcast (who else but a northerner would call that great weather). We met at Bonnie Park in Strongsville and headed north on the path. We made it 2.5 miles then had to turn around because the road was flooded (over a foot of thawing snow will do that), that was about the only problem we ran into. Lisa did great. She was a real trooper, ran into some leg cramping problems at around mile 12 (yes, Lisa I did hear you, I was just "ignoring" you... sort of, just didn't want to make it worse by talking about it!). It was great!

Today, Ladd did 10 miles with Chuck as he is tapering for his marathon next week. After today's run he feels more than ready for it! Good Luck Ladd!!

The plan is that I will run 12 miles of the marathon with him next Sunday. Guess I will count it as a tempo run.

One Week Into February

2009-02-07T23:07:00.004-05:00

Spring is inching closer and it's feeling like it in early February, it was almost 50 today. After our group run last Sunday Marsha and I ran 4 miles Monday night before we picked up pizza and Tuesday afternoon I did my test run for the Prediction run that we ran this morning. On Tuesday I headed out and did a mile warm up and then cleared the gps and ran 3.1 miles in 22:49. Not to bad for being in a situation that there is no reason to push myself. My prediction for todays 5k was 21:55 but after we arrived in Cuyahoga Falls and found out that the course was full of ice/snow/water and lots of turns I knew that my time would be hard to hit. The race had 270 people (largest crowd ever for this race) and we ended up starting in the middle of the pack which was way to slow for the first half mile, after the starting pack broke up a little I was able to pick up the pace quite a bit but still had lots of slow downs with all the turns.
I ended up finishing in 22:48 and finishing in 72nd place of the 270. Marsha predicted 24:44 and finished in 26:37 and 141st place. After the race we headed to Rochne's for breakfast and the awards. We had a good showing from the Medina County Road Runners today with 6 of us in all showing up today. Bill Henry also attended (my subway running buddy) and Dan S. from work and his brother also ran.

SuperBowl Sunday Group Run

2009-02-01T20:56:00.002-05:00

MEDINA COUNTY ROAD RUNNERS

8 MILE - GROUP RUN

02-01-09

This group run started at the McDonald’s just south of Medina, the weather was perfect and we had a great group. Let me explain GREAT weather, earlier this week we had a foot of snow in a very short period of time, so the roads have been very difficult to maneuver, look at the large pile of snow behind us! Temperatures have been very cold! Today we got into the 40's felt like Spring. We did this run as 2 pace groups, one at 10:30 and one at 9, from what I understand both went about 30 seconds faster than their expected pace, which is pretty good, can't always be right on. Left to Right: Janet Sproat, Sharon Sibilski, John Gorsek, Frank Dwyer, Dan DeRosha, Ladd Clifford, Kim Albright, Marsha Clifford, Shelby Buell, Don Gaither, Randy Albright, Debbie Scheel, Not Pictured: Lisa Grafton and another gentleman, who I am so sorry I can’t remember his name. Also, 2 people joined the men en route.

Medina County Road Runners Meeting/Group Run

2009-01-27T18:48:00.010-05:00

Monday, January 26th

We were meeting for a group run at 5:30 at Highland library. I was a little leary about running on the country roads in the dark, but it ended up being pretty good, it didn't get dark until the last 15 minutes or so. 11 people arrived, Pictured Left to right:

Frank, Roy, Ladd, Joe, Darren, Dan (another guy behind Dan I don't remember his name...) and me (three more arrived after the picture, Shannon, Patrick and Lisa). We did five miles the first three around 9:30 pace mile 4 at 8:30 and mile 5 at 7:45. OOPS.... I took the lead at 2.5 miles with Joe, and at that point I was the only lady still with the group..... As I always say "don't let it be said I held up the run...." but I guess I pushed it a bit fast. Oh well, good pick-up run! It was a great run, I got a chance to talk to almost everyone who ran, which I always enjoy! Catching up with everyone is great!

After the run was our monthly meeting, we had another 8 or 9 people show up for that. I know that Lisa and I aren't in the picture and 3 or 4 people arrived after I took the picture. We had a great speaker on how to run your first marathon. Lots of discussion on the 5k/10k this summer and on the new Logo for the club of which Dan came up with many great ideas some of the discussion got the logo options down to 5 of which Dan is going to Dr. up a little, then we will put them in our newsletter and have a vote. I hope that we can all get new shirts for this years race season, and maybe a banner for when we are at local races, to get new people interested in the group! It was great to talk to two new ladies I hadn't met before and one lady who has been a member for a long time I just hadn't met (Kim). It was great to congratulate Jade and find out she is 4 months along! What a great group we have!

COLDEST RUN TO DATE . . . .

2009-01-25T13:38:00.002-05:00

It was 11 degrees when we started our run with about 7 degrees windchill, it warmed up to maybe 14 while we ran our 13/18 miles. Lisa met Ladd and I at our house at 8:55 we ran to town and around to Chucks house to drop Ladd off. Lisa and I continued on for the rest of our 13 mile run and Ladd and Chuck did another 10 miles together then Ladd ran his last 3 miles home by himself for a total of 18 (his last long run before his next marathon in 3 weeks). It worked out very well. Lisa and I run a little slow for Ladd so it was a good warm up for him. And this way we didn't push Lisa for too long, only first 5 miles. Really never felt too cold other than my cheeks.

Last night we had 12 people over for dinner to celebrate our daughter Cassies' birthday. She will be 13 next weekend. The picture above is of our son Kyle (14), Cassie and one (of our 3) nieces Sammy (4).

A Rough Week

2009-01-22T22:11:00.002-05:00

I ran on the treadmill for the first time this season on Monday, it was to cold outside for me. So I figured I'd run til Marsha got home with our Monday night dinner. I warmed up then did something Chuck and I have done a time or 2 on the road, I ran 1 minute at a 6 minute pace, as fast as our machine will go and then 1 minute at around a 9 min. pace then fast again and felt pretty good. I did this 4 times til I got too sweaty and did my cool down til I saw Marsha pull in. So I hopped off and grabbed 2 pieces of Geppetto's pizza, ate'm and went to take a shower but felt a little funny. A slight stomach discomfort until after I showered then I was almost ill. I would have thought food poisoning but noone else got sick. I woke up at 6:15 to get ready for work and could hardly keep on my feet. I would have called off sick but really didn't want to miss the meeting scheduled for the end of the day so I went to work and it was a bad day all around. I felt like I was going to throw up all day, then came the meeting where 15 more co-workers got the news of their lay-offs. A really bad day. I ended up sleeping almost 12 hours after work on Tuesday, had to skip bowling too. No running Tuesday or Wednesday then Marsha asked me if I wanted to run speed work with her and Lisa in the back rec. center parking lot, so I ran from our house to the rec. , exactly 4 miles and felt my stomach beginning to rumble, I then ran 12 400's with the girls, 10 of them around 1:52 - 2:00 minutes and 2 middle ones at 1:21 and 1:27. Ended up with a little over 7 miles and still a little bothered with this stomach thing. Hopefully it will be better by the weekend when the cold weather makes it return after a couple nice days in the 30's. It's funny, before I was a runner 30's was cold and now it's warm.

Re-Cap of My 2008 Running Year - Ladd

2009-01-18T20:07:00.005-05:00

I started running in July 2007 because Marsha's twin brother made it his goal to beat her in a 5k and he ended up getting hurt and not being able to run anymore and never did beat her in a 5k. In July of 2007 I took it upon myself for Mark that I would train for 6 weeks and beat her in a 5k for him. That first race in Valley City I came in 5 seconds behind her, the very next weekend I got her by exactly 1 minute. I really never expected to keep up the running at that point but look what happened. I ran 4 5k's and 1 10k in 2007. Then came 2008.

I ended up really enjoying running and in Jan. 2008 we set a goal of running a half marathon in April 2008. That race went well (1:43) and then soon after that we set a new goal, the Akron Road Runner Marathon. From not ever running to running a marathon in less than 14 months, I'd have to thank my wife Marsha and my friend Chuck for this. Now what is my next goal, ??? what's left maybe an ultra sometime this year, Frank would love to get me into one of these but I think I'll try another marathon or 2 before I think of anything like that. My first full year of running in 2008 was a great year and I look forward hopefully to a new year of PR's in 2009.

In 2008 I ran:

22 - 5K's - 19:12 PR

1 - 4 miler - 26:46 PR

3 - 10K's - 42:16 PR

6 - 1/2 marathons - 1:37:59 PR

1 - marathon - 3:52:23 PR

Oh what a beautiful day . . .

2009-01-18T16:54:00.002-05:00

Today was an eleven mile training day. We had 4-5 inches of snow overnight, which made for an interesting run today, the temperature was 24 with a wind chill of around 11! We ran on the city streets, which was fine, had to jump in a few driveways to get out of the way, but we were dressed in bright colors so people would see us too. All but about 1/4 of the roads were snow covered and slick. It was a great run! It is nice to spend the time with my husband, doing something that is good for us! Makes for a great weekend when we get to spend all this time together!

Beautiful Sunrise

2009-01-17T15:23:00.002-05:00

As you can see it was a beautiful sunrise this morning.... unfortunately I had to watch it from inside as the temperature outside was 1 with a windchill around 10 below. So another day of cross training inside! Outside tomorrow for 11 miles (high to be 22 with a windchill around 10), I am looking forward to it!

The Coldest Week in recent history

2009-01-16T15:06:00.002-05:00

Marsha and I did a long run last Sunday, 9 for her 16 for me. I almost never take more than 2 days in row off but it was very cold this week so I just put it off day after day, then it was Friday and no running for 4 days in a row. It was -9 when we left the house this morning and headed out for the Medina Rec Center. I do have a treadmill in the living room but I don't like it much so we figured we'd run laps at the rec. We did 3 miles at about a 8:30 - 9:00 minute pace but I didn't like that either, 10 laps per mile, too many people and to warm. We stopped 2 times to get a drink and I drank all 20 ounces of water I brought and got overheated and slightly dizzy. We then went for a swim in the pool, did some laps in the mini pool with a strong current and sat in the hot tub for a few. Total time at the rec, 1 hour 30 minutes. Not worth the 14 bucks it would cost for 2 non members but Marsha won a 10 dollar gift certificate that was going to expire in Feb. so it was quite a deal for 4 bucks. We may go back someday if we have another really long stretch of cold weather but I would rather run outside in the mid teens than run inside again. It's still single digits today but going up to 19 and 23 Sunday. We'll do another long run on Sunday. Made my final decision last night and signed up for the Last Chance for Boston Marathon last night. It's Feb. 15 in Dublin. That week is Marsha's 11 mile run week and she will be joining me in the marathon for the last 10-11 miles to keep me going strong. A new friend may also be joining us so she can help us both. 6 weeks til March..................................................

COLD COLD COLD . . .

2009-01-13T20:00:00.002-05:00

Tonight a cold front is supposed to come through the area, and stick around until Saturday. So instead of resting yesterday like my schedule said I was supposed to, Lisa and I ran 4 miles, and today we did our speed work. Yesterday, the run was fine, we ran on back streets in the city and just jumped off when a car came, which wasn't very often. Today, we had another 2 inches of snow this morning, and it was 20 degrees (10 w/ windchill) when we did our speedwork. We met at the back parking lot of the highschool and did 10 400's no problem, only one car entered the parking lot the entire time we were there. It was cold, but not too cold. I feel great that we got the run in! I wasn't sure the weather would hold off long enough, but it did, thank you Mother Nature! Tonight, the low is very low, with windchills as low as -15..... This is officially winter!

9 miles accomplished

2009-01-11T13:32:00.004-05:00

Well the Storm hit!! We were hit with about a foot of snow yesterday. It was a great relaxing day! had to do cross training for my training schedule, which worked out well, can you say Shoveling? it was a good workout and I sure feel it in my arms today!

Got the 9 miles in today on snow covered roads, some were better than others, but all in all it was a great run! Ran with Lisa and Ladd, Ladd continued on to do . . . . I don't know yet as he hasn't returned (16 miles).

It is very beautiful outside! Perfect sled riding day if I still had kids who enjoyed that kind of thing but they are too old, how sad!

This is going to be a trying week for my training schedule as over the next 6 days we are expecting highs in the teens 2 days and highs in the single digits 2 days. BRRRRR! Oh well! Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day, but I do believe I will get out and run a few miles before the snowstorm hits that is supposed to hit tomorrow evening, and rest one of the really cold days, later in the week!

A Snowy Run . . .

2009-01-09T18:42:00.003-05:00

I left work at 11:30 in order to be home by the time Ladd was supposed to get home at 12..... At 12 it was really nice out, sun was shining and roads were clear. Ladd's replacement didn't show up for work so he had to work until 3. By three the weather had changed DRASTICALLY. We had a fresh inch of snow on the roads and they were slippery. We left our house at 3:30 (after shoveling the driveway). Ladd's thought was that the trail would be the best place to run as the roads had gotten slippery and the snow was coming down pretty hard. We headed to the Chippewa Trail. It was nice, no ice, BUT 4 inches of snow. I felt like a plow.... I need to get nine miles in sometime this weekend. Didn't happen today, we did 4 slow, difficult, beautiful miles. Then shoveled the driveway again upon arriving home (another 1/2-1 inch had fallen).

Tomorrow I had a group run scheduled and we were expecting 10-15 people. I cancelled that via email this morning at 7. Very disappointing... I planned this run a month ago, and was expecting some possible new members, guess I will just plan another.

Sunday, Ladd and I will head out for my 9 mile run. Ladd will probably do 6 more, for a total of 15, as he is preparing for the "Last Chance for Boston" in Dublin next month.

We're supposed to have another 10-12 inches by tomorrow at this time. So no running tomorrow, movies, games, hot chocolate and relaxation! Sounds good to me!

OH AND MORE SHOVELING!~! :)

Speed Work Accomplished

2009-01-08T19:03:00.003-05:00

After being ICED out on Tuesday evening Lisa and I met at Claggett Track on Wednesday afternoon. The track was snow covered but not slippery. It was a great workout! Nashville Marathon, here we come....

Old Man Winter Dumped the ICE!

2009-01-06T19:58:00.004-05:00

Lisa and I planned to do speed work tonight. I headed to Marcs to get salad at 5:30, got there no problem, in out and off to Claggett. On the way to Claggett I noticed it was getting a little slippery. I pulled in right behind Dan DeRosha, and started running with him after his first lap. He and I did two laps before Lisa got there, when she got there she noted that it was getting worse on the roads. After a couple laps Lisa decided to go home. After 2 more laps so did I (and Dan left one lap after me). Leaving was difficult, just walking to my car was a chore!!! I backed out of the parking lot and slid down the road a few feet, when I finally got to go forward, it was like driving on glass, sliding right, left, all over, took me over 20 minutes to go the 4+ miles to get home, slow and steady. Lisa got home safe and I hope Dan did too!

I did 30 minutes of aerobics, and will try for speed work again tomorrow afternoon.

Kids are rooting for no school!!! wow, guess I am too! If they don't have school, I won't go to work!

So going to bed with a spoon under my pillow and my pjs on backwards, we'll see if it works!

Ashland Blizzard Busters 5k

2009-01-03T12:07:00.006-05:00

Great day for a race! This is my third time to run this race and the first two times the route was very icy, today, no ice, it was great! The temperature.... was 18 degrees..... Brrrr, but a-okay once we started running! My goal today was to break 24 minutes (I was over 25 on this course in 2007 and 2008), which I did with a 23:56 and won first in my age group! YEH!! Kyle struggled a bit today, because he hasn't ran since Thanksgiving. Ladd did well with a 21:11 (21st overall) coming in right behind his friend Pete. He took 2nd in his age group behind Pete (way to go Pete!). This race is always ran well, very smoothly. It was the first year they didn't have chip timing, but they had the results very quickly, still amongst the best ran races! Great venue. Held at a church, with plenty of room to stay warm before and warm up after the race. They have nice door prizes, which I have never won.... but today all three of us won one. Kyle won 2 orders of wings at BW3, I won a box of 8 plain Gu's, and Ladd (lucky, lucky Ladd) won 4 rounds of golf at The Westfield Country Club, this is a great gift for him, he is very excited! All in all a great way to start the new year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009

2009-01-01T18:12:00.002-05:00

We started our new year off with imagine that, a run. Marsha was to meet Lisa G. this morning and do 40 minutes of running according to her 4 months to a 4 hour marathon book. I wanted to do a little more than that and at a little faster pace so Marsha drove to the rec. center to meet Lisa and I left from home to meet them near Claggett. We joined up right near Claggett and they got their 4.2 miles in 41 minutes and I got 6 miles in, in 54:30. 3 with them at just under a 10 minute pace and 3 without them at around a 8:15 pace. That was more than enough for me, normally the cold doesn't bother me but it was 23 degrees with a windchill in the teens and it just cut thru me today.
Other than that it was a pretty lazy day, we slept in til 10:00 but we didn't go to bed til 2am. It will be about 364 more days til we stay up that late again.

Goodbye 2008

2008-12-31T14:11:00.004-05:00

Well here we are, the last day of 2008. We thought it would be a good way to end the year with a group run and what do we get, about 4 inches of snow that didn't start falling til after midnight. Marsha and I still planned on going but Lisa and Joe's sitter freaked out about the snow so we decided to skip it.
We took the Christmas tree down this morning and dragged it out to the backyard and Marsha got the house back in order (the scrooge that I am, I always love when Christmas is over) while I shoveled 2 driveways, the deck and a big pile for the tree to sit up in for now. When I get back into the house Marsha wants to go for a run, normally I never say no { =) } but I was a little sore and tired from all that lifting so we decided we'd start the new year off tomorrow with a run.
I last worked on Dec. 19th and on that day I needed to run about 60 miles before the end of the year to hit my last minute goal for the year of 1200 miles for the 12 months of 2008. After my half marathon run to Marsha's work on Monday I had 129 for the month and 1213 for the year. Not to bad for my first complete year or running. I averaged 101 miles per month and about 23.5 miles per week. Had we done our run today Dec. would have been my highest mileage month of the year but July was it at 134 miles.
1st quarter=258 miles 2nd quarter=300 3rd quarter=322 4th quarter=333
We're gonna do our normal New Years Eve with our bowling friends at the Simmon's house.
GOODBYE 2008!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nashville Marathon here we come . . .

2008-12-30T22:07:00.003-05:00

Today was the start of my training program for the Nashville Marathon. Lisa and I are doing the 4 months to a 4 hour marathon training program. (Ladd is doing a different training program....) Today we did our first speed work, 6 x 400 at a 2 min pace. It seemed very easy, but I am sure by week 8 when we are doing 16 x 400 it won't seem so easy!

Still having foot pain. I have been going to see Drs' Joe and Lisa for 4 weeks now for the problem. it always feels better after the appointment, lasts for 3-4 runs, then starts hurting again. Dr. Joe says it will take puting the bone back in place a few times before it stays.

Ryan Road to DOMOKUR Architects 13.1 miles

2008-12-29T22:30:00.002-05:00

Marsha was ending her work day at 3:00. I left our house at 1:00 and headed to Fairlawn. It was a pretty good run but once I hit Rt. 18 I never noticed how many long and gradual hills there are going out there. I saw the big water tower and saw it and saw it. Next time I drive that way I'm gonna check when I first see it and for how many miles til I get to it, seemed like 5 miles til I finally passed it. I arrived at 2:48 it time to change and get Marsha off work in time. 1:48:30
I looked back at the gps and my fastest 2 miles were mile 12 and 13 (long downhill) at 7:37 and 7:19. first half 55:48 second half 52:37 I couldn't believe that the mileage to Marsha's work was 13.1 and about a 2 minute walk to get to her parking lot.