August 27, 2007 by jon.

  As you may or may not know, I’m doing an abreviated training for the Appleton Fox Cities 1/2 Marathon.  That means I really need to get my long runs in so that I am as ready as possible.

  Well this weekend I had a dilema.  I was scheduled to run 10 miles but I also told a friend that I would run the Windrunner’s 10K.  Also, the local flooding of my favorite route made it a little difficult to get some runs in.

  I didn’t want to run 10 on Saturday and be completely worn out for the race Sunday.  It’s been a long time since I’ve run a race to see what I can do.  I’ve run relay’s and a few races with my kids and wasn’t really pushing hard to see what I can do.

  So what did I do?  I ran the 10K Sunday morning then came home and ran another 4 miles. 

  The Windrunner 10K was a nice, smaller race with about 350 runner.  It was in the Danada Forest Preserve and was completely on a crushed gravel trail that 4 runners could run abrest.  Also relatively flat.  The weather was almost perfect.  In the 70’s with a lot of sun.  There was some humidity, but it wasn’t oppressive.

  The first mile and a half or so was fully in the sun before we hit some shade.  Since it was an out and back, that meant the last bit was in the sun as well.  I started out strong, almost too strong and had to hold back a bit.  My goal was to run the race at a 8:30 pace.  At the start I wanted to go a little slower just to get acclimated.  When I looked at my watch and saw 7:45 and 8:00 I had to reign myself in.  By around mile 2 I had settled into a pretty good pace.

  There was a girl who passed me around a mile and I caught up to her again around mile 3.  About that time we were running roughly the same pace so we stuck together.  It’s always better for me to run with someone because it helps to push me.

  As we were coming up to mile 5, we met up with another runner who was slowing down a bit.  (Remember there were only 350 in the race so there was quite a bit of distance between runners at times)My partner tried to encourage him to keep going saying that I was pulling her along and he should join us.  He hung with us for a half mile or so but finally had to drop back.   

  We passed the 6 mile mark and I looked at her (Never got her name) and asked if she was ready to finish strong.  She said to go ahead but I told her to keep up with me.  We ended up finishing together and both slowed down to let the other finish first.  Probably just to thank each other for the challenge.  I finally crossed first and then we high fived each other and we went through the chute.

  I finished at 52:16.  A 8:25 pace.  11 out of 25 in my age group.  Not too bad.  Like I said, I like running with someone because it pushes me harder.  I enjoyed the race and at the end I felt like I actually ran a race!  I was tired.

  So what did I do?  On the way home, I stressed about getting in my 10 miles so I ended up changing clothes and going out again.  This time I stayed around a 10:00 mile with walk breaks every mile.  I figured I earned it.

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August 14, 2007 by jon.

This blog posting from Kristin Armstrong (Ex-wife of Lance) sums it up nicely why I run.  I run to be a better person, I run because I enjoy it, I run because God gave me that ability.

I’ve been thinking lately that I would like to find a running coach to improve my running and my overall health.  Do I want to do this to increase my time in a race?  No.  Times are great and I’m sure I would get better with proper training, but I want to do it to be better overall.  To be healthy.

Why do I run?  Why not?
Mile Markers: Spot on, Bertha

If you get a chance, read some of Kristin’s other blog postings.  They are quite good.

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August 9, 2007 by jon.

Here are the legs that I ran for the WWR.  These were downloaded from my GPS and then uploaded to the Motionbased system.

• Leg 8
• Leg 20
• Leg 32

Just to show that I actually ran some before the race to acclimate to the altitude, here are 2 runs I did earlier in the week.  a 5 mile run and a 3 mile run.

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August 6, 2007 by jon.

  Our HRH team finished the Wild West Relay this past weekend.  This was the fourth time any of us have done a relay and the first for the WWR.  We all were impressed with the race organization and the course.  The course basically followed roads throughout so it was difficult to get lost.  The only course related complaint was that in some places the shoulder on the road was not that wide and we were nervouse when trucks passed by.

  So how did I do?  Not too bad I guess.  I’m always think I can do better after a race and this one was no different.  I was in Van 2 so we didn’t begin our running until after Noon on Friday.  I was runner 8 (Second runner in Van 2).  One of these races I’m going to have to be in the first van just to see what it’s like.  It is difficult to get up and get ready for a race, have the race start, then have 3-4 hours before your first run.  I was full of nervous energy and only running would help that.

  Oh and I was full of something else.  We had stopped at a little country store while waiting for our turn.  Most of those in our van had breakfast buritto’s with sausauge and then had upset stomachs.  Of course I had more than just the upset stomach so I was visiting a port a potty at every stop. :-(  It was only later that we pieced together that the common denominator was the buritto’s.  We all thought it was just nerves.  So keep this in mind as you read on.

  My first run sucked was difficult.  I should put that a little different but I don’t really know how.  I ran it all wrong.  Remember I had my nerves running as well as other stuff so I went out too fast.  I looked at my Garmin after a 1/2 mile and realized I was running a 7:30 mile!  Way too fast.  I tried to slow myself down, but for some reason my body just wanted to run.  You see,the reason I wanted to slow down was so I could save some energy for the upcoming hills.

  When I started the inclines I just melted.  They were hard!  I ended up walking about 5 times in 3.2 miles.  I was pretty annoyed with myself.  It was weird because my mind kept saying lets go but my body stopped.  It’s hard to keep running like that.

  My first leg was again 3.2 miles.  I started at 5900 feet and gained a total of 402 feet in elevation.  My miles were run at 8:08 first mile, 9:37 second, and 11:14 for the third.  See how I killed my self by starting fast?  Total time for the leg was 31:39 for an average of 9:45 per mile.  Some of the factors that detracted from the run were my stomach, running into the wind, the heat (Close to 90), I didn’t bring water and the hills.  I just did not run it well but I finished.

  One thing that I liked about this relay was that they provided a pretty detailed time spreadsheet where they would take a runners 10k time and using a formula, predict how long it would take that runner to finish a leg.  Our team was trying to stay ahead of “Schedule” throughout the race and for the most part we did…except my first run.  I was 2 minutes behind schedule.

  After our van finished we had a beautiful drive up the Poudre Canyon and through a large valley to get to Wood’s Landing in Wyoming.  We had about 5-6 hours to wait until it was our turn again.  Wood’s Landing is a little hole in the wall town with one bar/restraurant and gas station.  The store stayed open late for the runners and the bar served up lasagna and spagetti for $10 per plate.  It was a nice break from the race. 

  Since we had so long to wait we all settled down to try and get some sleep.  Try finding places for 7 people to sleep in a 15 person van.  Not easy.  Matt actually took his sleepling bag outside and slept on the ground.  As for me, I didn’t get any sleep.  It wasn’t comfortable and was loud (About 50 vans there) and my stomach was still unsettled.

  We started running again around midnight.  Matt took off on a uphill course and we drove to the next point so I could get ready.

  My second run was better.  Matt came in a little early so I started at 1:42 am.  I can’t tell you how weird it is to run in the middle of the night with absolutely no one around.  Every other relay that I ran, my night runs were through a town (Vail) so there were at least lights.  Nothing like that on this run.  This was Wyoming and it was desolate quiet.  I did from time to time see the blinking light of a runner ahead of me so at least I knew I was going the right way.  I kept waiting for the light to sink into the ground because it meant that we had reached the downhill portion of the run.  (About 1.5 miles into the run)

  I ran this one smarter.  I started slower and then just kept chugging.  I kept telling myself that this would be my best leg and that I couldn’t let my teammates down.  The air was cooler but not cold.  It was about perfect for running in.  I had on a long sleeve tek shirt and shorts and it was enough.  Oh and I also carried water.  I learned from my first disaster leg.

  My times?  First mile was 8:59 (Going uphill), second was 8:45, third was 8:12 and fourth as 8:10.  Total mileage was 4.3 miles and I ran it in 36:52, an average of 8:28 per mile.  Much better.  I started at 9100 feet and gained 172 feet in elevation before dropping down to finish at 8774 feet.  Basically an uphill run then a long downhill.

  Better yet, I gained back the 2 minutes that I lost compared to the schedule from my first run.  So overall, I was even verses my predicted time.

  I did get about an hour nap while Elke was running (Runner 11) so that helped me a bit.  We traded with the other van in Walden and went looking for food.  We found a little cafe that had just opened for breakfast (It was just after 6:00 am) so we stopped in.  Even though my stomach was queasy (STILL!) I had some eggs, bacon & toast.  It felt pretty good to get some food down the hatch.

  Our van’s last legs started just before Rabbit Ears Pass.  So we drove to the next van exchange and parked for the next 3 hours.  Again, I couldn’t sleep so I read a bit.  Some others slept, but the sun was up and it was getting warm.  Not too comfortable to sleep in.

  Matt (First in our van) started running up the pass around 11:00.  He had a steep uphill climb to get to the top.  My run started at the top of the pass.  Well Matt surprised us all by getting ther 10  minutes early.  He just was a machine running up the hill and did a great job.

  So my last leg started at 11:51 am.  Luckily I was ready to go when Matt came in.  My stomach was settling down (Finally!) and I had my gear ready and a plan.  This was supposed to be my easiest leg according to the schedule but looking at it, I saw a number of inclines that I would have to tackle…at elevation.  I was a little concerned about that so my plan was to start slow to save energy for the hills.

  I did walk 3 times the whole leg but each time it was at the top of a hill and not while running up.  Something my cross country coach told me a long time ago.  “Never walk while running up a hill, only when going down because you don’t lose as much time.”  I tried to follow that and did ok. 

  There was a girl who passed me about half way and then we leapfrogged a bit because she kept stopping to stretch.  I finally came up to her when we approached the last hill and told her to just keep pace with me and we’ll tackle the hill together.  I think she appreciated it because she was then able to run the rest of the way without stopping and we finished the leg together.

  I finished feeling too strong.  I could have left more on the course.  The hills weren’t as bad as I thought they would be so saving energy for them wasn’t a good plan.  Oh well, I finished and didn’t do too bad.

  Leg distance was 3.8 miles.  I did the first mile in 9:43, second in 11:04 and third in 10:04 for an average of 10:10 for the leg.  I started at 9432 feet, gained 390 feet and lost 302 feet to finish at 9520 feet.  Basically rolling hills at high elevation.

  It was probably my second best run out of the three but I was dissappointed because I could have run it better.  I ended up losing about 4 minutes verses the schedule, but our team was still 18 minutes ahead. 

  I won’t go into much else because this is already too long.  Suffice it to say that I had a great time running with my friends.  We all enjoyed the race and probably would consider this relay again.  The timing in the year is much better for me due to school and vacations.  (The Outward Bound Relay is run in September)

  Overall, we finished 72nd out of 128 teams.  It took us 29:51 with an average pace of 9:14 per mile.  (The top team finished at 20:33 with a 6:21 pace!)

  We seem to be getting better each race.  Everyone on the team ran some strong legs.  I was impressed and honored to run with them again.

  If you haven’t run a relay before, give it a try.  It is a great experience.

Final tally for me:

• 11.3 miles
• 10 Pepto chewable tablets
• 2 Imodium AD pills
• 1 Tums
• 1 Breakfast Buritto that started it all (So to speak)
• Over $200 in new running clothes (See Vacation Log Day 2)
• 40 hours with one pair of contacts in
• No showers over that same 40 hours…
• One fun race with friends

  BTW - I purchased the below poster because it shows the course in great detail and it’s easier to explain to others what the race was like.  Again I did legs 8, 20 & 32 (Ended at exchange 8, 20 & 32)

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July 31, 2007 by jon.

What a wonderful day.  First off I got up and ran about 3 miles.  Wasn’t quite as easy as yesterday, but it was still nice to get out.  Oh, I didn’t tell you.  I went 5 miles in Colorado’s rarefied air yesterday and it was great.  I spent about $230 in running clothes and accessories earlier in the day due to the issue I mentioned in the Day 2 post.  I was annoyed and I just had to get out.  I did and it was fun with no problems from the altitude.  Today I felt it a little more, but I still enjoyed the run.

After that was done we had plans to go with Jodi and John and family to the mountains.  We did the Georgetown Loop, stopped off at a silver mine and then did some rafting down Clear Creek. This was all put together in the Rail N Raft Package from Mile Hi Rafting.
What a blast!  And only $50 a person.
The train ride was something different to do and we enjoyed just relaxing a bit.  The silver mine tour was a stop off of the mine.  Anyone who knows me knows that I get a kick out of history.  So riding a historical railroad and then touring a silver mine was about the best thing I could do.  Photos will follow soon.
Then we went rafting.  Jodi & John’s family went in one boat and we went in the other with the “Rookie” guide.  Eva was in her first year of guiding and did a great job.  I’ve had a few rafting guides and I thought Eva did well making it fun and tried her best to get us wet (Which is what Robyn wanted).
The best part was watching the kids.  Brad was in the front with me.  He was nervous when we first talked about it weeks ago in Illinois.  To see him take a leadership role just made me proud.  Robyn also joined us in the front and just held on.  She screamed a lot but it was screams of joy.  She kept asking Eva if she could go swimming.  So when we were all done, I grabbed her and dunked her about 1/2 way down.  She loved it.

Take a look at some of the photos that the rafting company took.  We’re the first 12 photos or so in the group.
Rapid Image Photo Aboutus Page

Our friends on the other hand weren’t as comfortable.  John and his son Drew couldn’t get in synch when paddling which wasn’t a problem….until the end.

At the last rapid (The Twister) our boat went first.  These are the photos on the site.  This was the biggest rapid on this stretch and was challenging.  Eva guided us well and I think we responded quickly to her directions.

Then the other boat went through and we could tell they were in trouble.  They were too far to the other side of the river and heading to some big rocks.  To make a long story short, they got stuck sideways against the rocks and had to bail out….notice the last three photos in the slideshow.
BTW - We all had a good laugh when viewing the photos from a safe and dry living room.  Something to be said about looking back on something and laughing.

We finished the day by taking in some Mountain Pies from Beau Jo’s.  If you haven’t been to Beau Jo’s yet, you’re missing something.  Excellent pizza.

I must say this day probably is pretty high on my all time list of fun days.  It was just a kick to do the different activities and to do them with good friends.

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July 30, 2007 by jon.

You thought I would forget about posting today so you didn’t have to read about the on-going saga of our vacation.  Not a chance.  I just had to update you on what happened Sunday.

Started out with rain.  Lot’s of it.  Nebraska got hit pretty good overnight and it was still sprinkling when we left around 8:30.  The van’s wipers were kind of old so we thought we’d stop and get some new ones.  Who would have thought that gas stations no longer carry windshield wipers?  We stopped at two different ones and both said no.  When we asked them where we could find some wipers we were told Wal-Mart.  Of course.

So we ended up getting underway a little later than we hoped, but in the scheme of things, not a problem.

In an effort to not bore you any more, I won’t post a mile-by-mile account of our trip.  Nebraska is pretty boring and even the eastern part of Colorado all looks the same.  We did cross in to Colorado around 12:30 local time (Having just crossed the time zone line about 5 minutes before crossing into Colorado).

We pulled into our friends house around 3:30 or so.  About a 7 1/2 hour trip.  Not bad.  We continued with Prisoner of Azkaban (7 more chapters!), did a few more ad libs and the kids still got in a movie (Chicken Little).

No, the real story starts here.  Remember that one of the main reasons we came to Colorado was so I could run in the Wild West Relay with the HRH Denver office.  We timed our vacation around this race and I’ve been working up to it in training over the last few months.

Well after arriving at our friend’s house and relaxing for a bit I thought I’d get an easy run in.  You know, something at elevation just so my body can get used to it a bit.  I went in the car looking for my running bag and it wasn’t there.  Panic!  I tore apart the car but it’s hard to hide duffel bag full of running clothes.  It just wasn’t there.  Later, when piecing things together with Kala,  I figured out I left it in our bedroom.  You see I had two running bags.  One with my shoes and clothes and the other with my “Gear”.  Hats, GPS watch, first aid kit and so on.  I had grabbed the gear bag and I’m missing the clothes one.

Now I am in Colorado with no running clothes.  I do have my old pair of running shoes because I thought I would bring them along “Just in case”.  But…No orthotics.  What a mess.  I’m missing my primary shoes, running shorts, shirts, underwear, socks, running pants and some long sleeve shirts and a sweatshirt for after my night runs.  I’m also missing my “Stick” a sort of stick with rollers that I use to loosen up my calves before and after running.

I left a panic stricken call with our neighbor last night.  I asked if he could possibly break into our house and mail me the bag.  He called back today.  He tried, but no luck.  See we got in through our window well a few months ago when we were locked out.  After that event, I moved the lock a bit on the window so it couldn’t be jimmied.  Guess I did a good job because actually two of our neighbors tried but couldn’t get in.  I guess that’s good, except it doesn’t solve my current problem.

It looks like I get to go shopping soon….

BTW - If you read our Vacation Log Day 1, you’ll realized that I knew I had forgotten my warm up pants as we were pulling out of our street.  If I had just decided to go back to get them I probably would have tripped over the duffel bag and all this would have been avoided.  Ugh!

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July 27, 2007 by jon.

  Yesterday I thought I would get in a run since I have yet to complete one this week.  I traveled to Richmond and tried to get one in on Wednesday but bowel problems cut that one short (nuff said).

  So when I got home from work yesterday I thought I would get out even though it was almost 80/80.  (Eighty temp and humidity)  Not too smart.

  The first half went ok even though I was going slow.  The second half of the out and back sucked!  I stopped probably every 4 or 5 minutes and had to walk.  It just seems like I had no energy and my clothes were wringing wet.  I can’t tell you how much I hate to run in humidity.  It always seems to slow me down.

  I’m glad next week’s race is in Colorado where it is dry.  Bring on the elevation any time but no humidity.  I don’t know.  I’m a little worried about the race.  I don’t feel like I got enough workouts in but too late for that.  Due to travel timing in in a forced taper which is probably good anyway.  When I arrive on Sunday I’ll probably do an easy run as well as one more before Friday and the race.

  Still, I hate humidity and can’t wait to run in the dry elements again.

  BTW - My new shoes did better yesterday.  I’ve been wearing them around to break them in and it’s seeming to help.  It’s the little things that make me happy.

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July 22, 2007 by jon.

  Well I did it again with different results this time.

  I ran three times within 24 hours to again train for the Wild West Relay.  I started at my nemesis Johnson’s Mound   on Saturday morning. 

 Except this time there were no kids cheering me on.  My butt was dragging.  I don’t really get it.  I felt ok (See below), I ate better than last week.  (Last week Arbys the night before, this week Beef Stroganoff) and had a better night sleeping.  But I still had a hard time getting up the hill. 

  For some reason on Friday the sockets where my legs join my pelvis in back starting bugging me.  Pretty annoying if you ask me.  Almost like a pain in my butt if you know what I mean except it was both sides.  Plus I also had an upset stomach most of the day.  I downed quite a few Pepto’s

to try and keep it under control but 5 trips to the bathroom left a “Raw” behind.  (Vaseline does the trick to keep from rubbing when running) 

  Now that I think of it, I do know why I had a worse time on the hills Saturday….Duh!

  Then came Saturday night.  For some reason I have it in my mind that I have to do better than the previous week.  So I went 5 miles this time.  I made it but it wasn’t comfortable.  Please see the above for the varioius maladies plaguing me. 

  Before the afternoon run I went to pick up my new shoes at Dick Ponds. 

 

  The Asics Gel Kaynos.  What surprised me was that a 4E width was still pretty snug (Foreshadow warning…..).  I still purchased them in the hopes like all other shoes, they’ll stretch a bit.  

  So here comes Sunday morning…Today.  Yesterday’s gastro problems are gone, but I slept pretty poorly last night.  Got my rear out of bed and out the door and trudged through the miles (Of course, had to do 5 again).  Around 1.5 miles I notice my right middle toe was rubbing.  I tried to ignore.  (Get an idea where this is going???)  By the time I got home both middle toes of both feet were in pain.    I wasn’t limping but it sure was not fun.  Looks like my sock was so snug against my foot that it couldn’t move although the toes were.  Friction was created and rubbing commenced.  FIRE! 

  Two nice big blisters on the toes and I can’t wear shoes without band-aids today.  That’s what I get I guess. 

  What does this all mean?  Well, I did 15 miles in 24 hours.  The first five were all hills, the same as last week.  I think I’m as ready as I can get for the relay when living at sea level.  Two weeks until the race and next weekend is travel time so I won’t be able to do this kind of training again.  (Which may not be a bad thing).

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July 17, 2007 by jon.

In an effort to get ready for the Wild West Relay, I ran three times between Saturday & Sunday. I got the estimated times that I’ll be running during the relay and I thought I’d better start simulating race conditions (As best I can). My times should be between 10-11AM, 9-10PM & 4-5AM. These are just estimates and it could be hours either side of that.

My first leg is the hardest even though it is just over 3 miles. It is mostly uphill. As in Colorado Up Hill.

I start around 5900 feet and gain almost 400 feet. Did I say it’s at elevation? Of course my second leg starts at 9100 feet and the third at 9400. (Last two legs are fairly level or somewhat downhill)
So I went to Johnson’s Mound again to my favorite hill (Ant hill more like) and did some repeats. I actually did better this time compared to last week. If you remember, I only got in 3.5 repeats. This time it I finished 6 repeats. Maybe it was the cooler weather, maybe the Shot Bloks or maybe just the fact that the kids were cheering me on.

As you can see the hill is pretty short. I counted a repeat as a climb up the longer slope, decend and then climb the shorter slope and then descend the longer slope. A repeat is about .7 miles so not too bad.

I went home, hung up my shoes, helped at Robyn’s softball game and then went running again. This time 4 miles along the Fox River. Took a while to get going, but once I was moving, nothing was stopping me. I was kind of surprised at how good I did feel..

Then I got up Sunday morning. I was helping with a conversion at work so we couldn’t go to church in the morning, but I did get a break and went out for a quick run. Again, another 4 miles running North on the river. I was sore, but not too bad. I did run a pace a little faster than the night before so bring on the relay!

Plans are to repeat the whole thing one more time this weekend then call it good for the relay. Not much I can do to get acclimated to the elevation anyway.

BTW - Total for the year is 248.2 miles and 190 on my shoes (Asics Gel Evolution II). I am starting to have my shins talk to me so I went in for another pair over the weekend. The Evolution is now in the III version and when talking to the clerk, I mentioned that one day I would love to have a shoe last more than 150 miles. Around that point my shins start to hurt on every pair I’ve had for the last 4 years.

Well she suggests a shoe that is not a stability model since I already have orthotics. She suggests the Kayano 13 which is more cushioned. The reasoning is that the stability shoes have less cushioning and wear out quicker. The Kayano will have a lot more so hopefully it will last. We’ll see because they are quite a bit more expense. Stay tuned.

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July 9, 2007 by jon.

I haven’t posted much on running lately.  Actually haven’t posted much of all lately.  I just haven’t gotten around to it.  I am still running and it’s not feeling too bad.

I think in one of my more recent posts I mentioned that my back was still bothering me and I couldn’t figure it out.  Well I have been seeing Dr. Mark twice a week for 3 weeks now.  He found two adhesions in my lower back which have been probably causing most of my discomfort.  He thinks they are pretty old and just from over-use.  He has been using the Graston Technique to release them.  Not completely gone yet, but my back sure is feeling better.

So in getting ready to run the upcoming Wild West Relay, I’ve ran some hills yesterday, in the heat.  Not fun.  Of course hills in Illinois mean something completely different from hills in Colorado.  I have about a 60 foot hill not far away that I can run up.  Johnson’s Mound is a leftover from a glacial period and is just a glacier deposit.  Highest point around though.  There is a nice loop road that climbs up the hill for over about 1/4 mile and then descends the same amount in about 1/10 of a mile.  You see what’s coming?

I did repeats on this thing starting with the easier slope.  I would run up that slope and down the steeper one, then turn around and go the other way.  I made it up the gentle slope 4 times and the steeper one 3.  Gotta work on that as my first leg in Colorado is 3 miles mainly up…at altitude.

I did catch the profile on my GPS but haven’t looked at it.  I’ll post the numbers once I do.

Needless to say, I need to run this thing a lot more in the next 3 weeks to get ready for the relay.

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June 12, 2007 by jon.

I was kind of surprised to check my running logs and see I am only 5 miles behind last year by June 11.  I would have thought I’d be farther behind in miles but this year I am at 170 so far.  Of course last year at about this point I started stacking on the miles to get ready for the marathon.  I don’t think I’ll be putting on as many this year.

For one thing I am pretty sore.  A big part of it is that my back is still not 100%.  Don’t quite know why as I am doing my stretches, but maybe I just need to take it easy.

Speaking of taking it easy Sunday I ran 7 miles and this morning I did intervals again.  My pace times for the 5 intervals were  7:20, 7:30, 6:06, 6:32,6:33.  The 6:06 interval I tried a quicker turnover on the steps.  Seemed to work, but I was tired.  These were 2 minute intervals with a 1 minute walking rest.

So where does that leave me?  For the upcoming relay, I need to be able to run 3 times in 24 hours.  My legs are 3.2 miles (All up hill), 4.3 miles (Down hill) and 3.8 miles.  So just over 11 miles in 3 legs.  Should be ok except for the elevation…  I think instead of racking up the miles on the long runs, I’ll stay around 6 or 7 miles and then work on running consecutive days.  As we get closer to Aug 5, I’ll try running 2 times a day for a while just to get ready.

Keep on running

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June 7, 2007 by jon.

I think this year I’ll actually work a training plan rather than just have a goal of doing a certain amount of miles a week.

Today I attempted a Tempo Run.  Basically, after a warm up I ran at just below race pace for a while and then did a cool down. The purpose of a Tempo is to increase the Lactate Threshhold to improve race performance.  Basically it gets you used to running harder for a longer period of time.

After thinking about it, I believe that most of what I’ve been doing up to this point have been tempo runs.  I normally will just head out and run hard.  Usually around 8:00 - 8:30 miles except for my long runs.  By doing a warm up slower, a tempo and then a cool down, I hope to decrease the stress on my body yet still improve my performance.  We’ll see.

So today I ran 3/4 mile at 9:00 pace.  Then I ran 1.5 miles at 8:00 pace and then finished with 3/4 mile at 9:00 pace.  Felt pretty good and the fast pace really wasn’t that hard.  Maybe I need to do it faster.  I’ll keep playing with the pace to see what works.

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June 6, 2007 by jon.

Recently I moved from HRH’s Schaumburg office to the Lombard office.  In Schaumburg, there was a gym and showers and I could go for lunch-time runs.  Lombard doesn’t have that, but it does have an open stairwell and 9 flights of stairs.  So when I can, I try to get in a few flights for exercise.

I just completed 18 flights and feel it in my legs.  Good stuff and it will help to get me ready to run the Wild West Relay in Colorado in a few months.  (Not looking forward to the hills)

BTW - I did some interval training yesterday and I think I’ll try to continue that at least once a week.  I ran 5 repeats of 2 minutes running and 1 minute walking. My pace while running was 7:15, 7:00, 6:15, 6:30 and 6:30 in that order. (Min per mile)  Not bad after a slow start.  That’s one way to get in some speed work.  I then cooled down by jogging about 2 miles back home.  All around about 4 miles on the road.  Felt good, but I was tired after.

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June 2, 2007 by jon.

  I had a low mileage week which was pretty good after have shin and back issues the week before.  I ran almost 4 miles with Aunt Julie in Mt. Pleasant, MI and then another 6.0 today with Scott on the Great Western Trail.

  Julie normally does 3 miles on a treadmill and wasn’t quite sure about the 4 miles but there was a good 4 mile loop that I wanted to do and she wanted someone to run with.  A lot of what we did was along side roads with no sidewalk so we were going a little slower.  A pretty good 9:30 pace though.

  We ran on the day of the funeral for my other aunt, Aunt Nancy.  We were all in Michigan and I wanted to take the opportunity to get in a run.  It was good to get out as the rest of the day was sad and a little stressful.

  So add Michigan to Illinois, Colorado, Florida and Virgina as that states that I’ve run in so far this year.

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May 25, 2007 by jon.

I ran this race for the first time on Thursday.  (May 24)  The downtown HRH office has entered in this event for the last 5 years or so and this year asked the other HRH office to join in.  It was kind of hot and muggy with the evening temps in the upper 80’s.  A neat part was that each team from all of the companies were to design and wear their own t-shirt.  Ours was black cotton this year.  Looked good but not so good for running in muggy weather.

What chaos!  22,000 runners at the start.  Supposedly there were start groups for runners under 7:00 min miles, under 9:00 min miles and all others.  I ran the race with Bill, the IT Manager there and we hoped to be in the under 9:00 section.  Either they weren’t marked well or we didn’t see it but we ended up starting in the middle of the pack.

Mistake.  We had a lot of walkers and slower runners ahead of us.  The first 2 miles or so were just zigging and zagging, starting and stopping to just avoid people.  I told Bill it was a good Interval training session.  Things opened up a bit around 2.5 miles and we were able to go a little faster.  There were still a lot of people to avoid, but at least there was more space to go around them.  (Note to walkers, please move to the side of the road when walking!)

With about .5 miles to go Bill and I picked it up a bit.  Felt good to stretch things out.  I ended up crossing the finish line and Bill was a bit behind me.  I think he let up so the old guy could win.

It was still fun to be out there with a bunch of HRH people (Runners, Walkers and others just cheering us on) and to run downtown again.  Next time we’ll have to pay more attention to where it is we start.

My time?  30:38.  I guess not too bad considering.  I was hoping for under 30:00 but with all of the walking and trouble, not bad at all.

After the race there of course was beer.  Important for any good race.  Below is myself, Neil and Bill from TF’s IT.

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