As the NC24 Nears

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.