Weekly Totals

5/25 – 5/31 total miles = 17.56 miles average pace of 9:48

May total miles = 101.93 miles pace of 10:59

2008 total miles = 477.87 miles average pace of 10:13

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Up early so we could meet a group at Parkside by 6 am…who would have thought that there would be 10 of us!! That is a record! We headed out to do a loop in the park (better to do the road now since we are doing the trails at 7) I was only feeling ok. I ebbed and flowed with the group and once we were nearing the parking lot I decided to do a couple of trails. I got out to the parking lot and still had some time so I meandered out to Hwy E and back. By this time there were people waiting at their cars.

We had 5 people I’ve never met before show up…I was glad to meet them all. We started at 7 and headed for the trails I really wanted to do the entire 10k course so even though I walked a bit more than I liked I still managed to push my way through the whole thing. Completed the day with 10.13 miles and while not a great time I did complete it in 1:45:49

Friday, May 30, 2008

Late at night but needed to get a mile in. 1.00 mile in 9:53

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Tried to keep an easy pace today but the GPS shows it all…started off slow and built to a nice pace. 1.01 miles in 8:56

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Neighborhood loop…1.01 miles in 8:38

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Wanted a little more today but the route I chose was not as far as I thought it would be. 1.38 miles in 11:47

Monday, May 26, 2008

Around the neighborhood as usual 1.00 mile in 8:36

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Ran a little longer today 2.03 miles in 18:26

Weekly Totals

5/18 – 5/24 total miles = 11.54 miles average pace of 9:15

May total miles = 84.37 miles pace of 11:14

2008 total miles = 460.31 miles average pace of 10:14

Saturday, May 24, 2008

It was nice to get up later…but once we got there I found out that the ladies were there early…I felt bad but at the same time I was happy! 5.50 miles 52:31

Friday, May 23, 2008

As always…I’m behind on this blog so here is the recap: today 1.01 miles in 8:52.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Got home from my meeting and there was still time to get in a run before my wife got home. Tried to take things easy but as I have pointed out before easy isn’t what it once was…1.01 miles in 8:53

Wednesday, May 21, 2008 part 2

Got home from the gym and since I made the commitment to run a mile every day I still needed to get that in. It was after 10 PM but I still had not run so off I went. Got my 1 mile in at an 8:44 so now I can go to bed!!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008 part 1

My wife has been raving about her personal trainer for over a year (nearly 2!!) and since I really don’t have any plans (marathons) scheduled for the next few months I agreed to start working out with them. I really need to strengthen my core and lose a few pounds so that will be the focus with them.

We did the measurements – not really pretty and calculated the %fat…@18-19%...both my wife and I think that the number is a bit low…I’m think around the mid section…then we got to a 30 min work out.

I really understand why my wife thinks this is good – because it is!!! For only 30 minutes I really worked my tail off…I can only imagine what the 60 min workouts are going to be like!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Was rushed at work today so I wasn’t able to get out and do the run before heading off to trap but since there was no one at trap this week I was home early and could get my run in. 1.01 miles in 8:54

Monday, May 19, 2008

Still recovering from Saturday and still not 100%as far as this cold is concerned. But I still hit the street and got my mile done. 1.01 miles 8:57

Sunday, May 18, 2008

It was a long day!! 9+ hours of driving…I didn’t have to stop as many times as I did the previous day but I still wasn’t feeling well and there were a few times where I got nauseous in the car…thankfully they passed. Got home and I wanted to try to run a bit. The wife came with and we managed 1 mile in 9:56

Weekly Totals

5/11 – 5/17 total miles = 34.08 miles average pace of 12:29

May total miles = 72.83 miles pace of 11:32

2008 total miles = 448.77 miles average pace of 10:15

"How Far will you Go?" Fargo Marathon

This is one of those races that I really wish I could do over…and maybe I will once all the states are completed. I woke up this morning and my throat was bad. I was in and out of the bathroom 3 times before we left for the bus. My only hope was that I would feel a bit better once I started running.

My wife and I met the other girls in the lobby of the hotel and drove over to the mall to catch the bus. It was about 47 degrees and not a cloud in the sky…a good day to run!

We got the bus and rode it to the FargoDome…in retrospect we should have just driven here ourselves but oh well. We did the customary bathroom stop (number 4 for me!) and milled around for a bit before heading out to the bag drop and the starting line.

This is my wife’s first attempt at a half marathon and I know she is going to do well. Her goal is sub 10 and she has a stretch goal of a sub 2 hour half. Both the half and the full start at the same time so we all line up together and the gun goes off…and we walk to the start line. There was about 5-7 thousand people between the two races so it was a bit of a bottleneck.

The race was very flat and I had been hoping for the last 2 weeks that I’d be able to break 5 hours…well it didn’t happen. I was going along pretty well until around mile 5-6 when I stopped for another bathroom break…and just to avoid the repetition I stopped again around 10, 14, 15, 19 and 23.

The course was great, the road not so much, the people were very nice and the neighborhoods we ran through were terrific! I saw many people outside partying and cheering on the runners…this community is really behind the race which was very nice to see. We ran through a number of parks and so many neighborhoods it was tough to count and there were people throughout the course ringing bells, offering support and some just watching. One of the local businesses even had flat Coke available to runners around mile 15!!

There were 2 Gu stops and I used them both but did not use one of my own…by that time I was walking and it seemed useless to use it then. I have to say that the Banana-strawberry Gu was rather tasty, much better than the mango Gu I had a couple of weeks ago.

Once I hit mile 19 I was done. I had been in and out of bathrooms too many times…I was run down…my throat was soar…and to be honest I really didn’t want to do this any more…but I’m 19 miles in. I can do 7 miles standing on my head practically…so I decided just to walk it out. Based on my rough numbers I would still be able to make it in less than 6 hours.

I talked with a number of people along the course and was surprised to hear how many were from Canada! I finally saw my wife at around mile 22. I immediately harassed her because she was not wearing her medal. She completed her race in 2:09:03!!! WOW, I was impressed! This is the same woman that just over a year ago said she would never be a runner and thought that the whole thing was rather dumb…now here she is a half marathoner!

I explained what was going on…told her I shouldn’t have started the race but at this point was going to complete it. She walked with me for about a mile and then said she would meet me on the flip side (there is a small loop to the North). We met back up around the 24 mile mark and she walked with me all the way to the FargoDome. I ran the last 0.2 in…just to show some effort. Completed the course in 5:58:09

That makes state number 12, 4 marathons for 2008 (so far), 2 marathons in the last 13 days…I’m tired and I think I’m going to take a small break.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Up early again…marathon is tomorrow and didn’t want to run tonight!! Still not feeling right but might just be jitters!

Got up got my 1.02 miles done in 9:19…we are ready for the race…shouldn’t be real windy until late and it will be nice and cool most of the morning!!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Got up early this morning and decided that I need to get the run out of the way…this running after dinner is starting to suck! Not feeling 100%...a little run down and my throat is bothering me. Still managed to get my mile done though…1.01 miles in 9:01

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Work, dinner, run, Repeat…Out again for a nice run but the wind is still bad…I hope that it is not like this on Saturday! 1.00 miles in 8:50

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Running a little later than I had hoped but I hate running right after dinner so I waited a bit before hitting the road. 1.01 miles…just like being home…in 8:52

Monday, May 12, 2008

It was a long drive from home but I made really good time! I was able to pick up my co-worker from the airport and I’m ready to get a run in before dinner.

It is rather windy here and a bit cool but with how flat it is this should be pretty nice. I was able to run 1.53 miles in 13:08 and only encountered 1 hill and that was to go over the interstate. I’m thinking that the marathon should be pretty good.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Still have to get the run in but wanted more than the 1 mile bloop. In stead did the 2 mile bloop…2.03 miles in 18:01

Weekly Totals

5/4 – 5/10 total miles = 36.71 miles average pace of 10:47

May total miles = 38.75 miles pace of 10:42

2008 total miles = 414.69 miles average pace of 10:04

Saturday, May 10, 2008

We helped out at the Ice Age 50 today so we didn’t run with the running group this morning. We (my wife and I) knew that we needed to get a run in so we headed over and did the cemetery run in reverse…I have to say I just wasn’t feeling it today so I decided I wasn’t going to do the 6 miles but only do 4. My wife seemed okay with that so that is all that got done. 4.00 miles in 36:24

Friday, May 9, 2008

Around the neighborhood as usual…1.01 miles in 8:56

Thursday, May 8, 2008

With the wife out for the night I decided to get a lot of chores done. Running had to be one of the items but I am still recovering from the last marathon and getting ready for next weeks…therefore I keep trying to take it easy but I just can’t seem to keep the pace easy. I managed to put in 2.13 miles in 18:40 which is about an 8:48 pace!! Now if I could only keep that pace up for 26 miles!!!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

After cutting the lawn tonight I decided that I still should get in my mile before it started raining or it got too dark. 1.01 miles in 8:28

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

I got home from work and I needed to get my run in before heading out to trap. My wife had already run but she decided it was only 1 mile so she’d come with. 1.01 miles in 8:54

Monday, May 5, 2008

After a long meeting I was able to get home and get my mile run in…I had to tape my nipple just so that it can heal before the next marathon. I must not have given the race my all…1 mile in 8:45

Flying Pig!!

I had decided to run this one early in the year since one of the members of the running group was going to run it…I made the comment “if you do it…I will too.” Well that was made far before Atlanta and the idea of Fargo came up!

My wife had decided that she was going to run the 10k on Saturday so I finally would get to see her run a race!! I was pumped at the idea. She did a great job…not her best time but she was there to help a newbie finish her first 10k race and that meant just as much to my wife as finishing.

Saturday was windy and rainy at the start so I was dreading my start the next day. I got up and the wind had died down a bit and the forecast, while cold this morning, was going to be perfect weather for running. My wife drove me to the hotel so I could meet the girls this morning and the three of us headed to the starting line.

We got there and waited for the gun…and waited…and waited…it seems that the race had been delayed due to a house fire around mile 22. Because of this they delayed the start by 15 minutes so they could reroute the course…uh oh!

The gun finally went off and we headed out. We start the race by heading over the river and into KY for a short while and about a mile later we cross back over into OH. The bridge coming back over was a bit eerie…there were so many of us on it that the bridge started to move A LOT!!! So much that I nearly lost my footing twice!

As we start to make our way through the city the sun is already high in the Eastern sky and I’m going to be going that way for the next few hours. At mile 5 I see my wife, Melissa, and Jen I told them I didn’t need anything and kept going…about 30 feet later I turn around (to the dismay of a few runners) and run back to see if my wife had my sunglasses…she didn’t but Melissa kindly offered hers…Thanks again Melissa!!
Shortly after leaving downtown we start the largest climb of the course it was hard but not too bad at about mile 7, while I’m looking out over the river from a much higher elevation than you would think, I hear my brother cheering me on. My brother lives in Cincinnati with his family and I was glad to have another face in the crowd that I knew cheering me on.

By this point I should have hit the highest point on the course and should be a relatively gentle down slope to the finish…yeah right! The hill to mile 8-10 was so big that the rolling hills for the remaining course are small and are not detailed on the elevation map. I saw the wife and friends again around mile 12 and shortly after this I notices that my right nipple was starting to hurt…didn’t think much of is since they were taped up and I’ve not had any problems since I found that clear surgical tape works great.

I got to about mile 15 and I looked down to see that the right side of my shirt was bloody…I guess I lost the tape on that nipple…I found the next first aid station and asked for clear tape…they had none…offered Band-Aids and Vaseline…tried them both and in half a mile they were gone, useless!
I saw the wife and friends again at mile 16.5 and would again at 17.5 since this part was an out and back and she had Mtn. Dew!! I took a nice big swig communicated the nipple issues and continued on. My brother was waiting at around mile 17 (near the hotel my wife and I stayed when we where here for his wedding!) When I got back to the wife I asked for band-aids…again they were gone in a matter of minutes.

I trudged on but by mile 19 my nipple was in such pain that running just wasn’t really in the cards so I did my best. Saw my brother and nephew at mile 22 where I ran with Logan for a few feet.

Between mile 22 and 23 we were diverted from the regular course. I checked my GPS to verify the mileage and watched when we got back onto the course and noted that they had moved the mileage sign to correlate with the corrected distance…mile 24 was dead on. Mile 25 was dead on…and now it looked like the course was all down hill. About 0.5 miles from the 25 mile sign was the “last mile” marker…um…that is off by about 0.3 miles!!!
I managed to run the final 0.5 miles and found that they were unable to move the finish line meaning that the course was off by a minimum of ¼ of a mile. Even with the nipple issues, the hills, and the sunny conditions I was able to put up a decent time of 5:03:03 (corrected for the marathon distance…otherwise the time was 5:05:57)

Then with all that over I met up with the other runners who did phenomenally!! Kim with a sub 4 hour finish (once corrected for course length) and Yemi with a 4:10 finish for her 1st marathon!!
Saw my brother and family before we headed back to our car and a long drive home…I see a Mexican dinner in a few hours though…mmm salsa!!

Only 13 days until Fargo!!

Weekly Totals

4/27 – 5/3 total miles = 7.06 miles average pace of 8:50
May total miles = 2.04 miles pace of 9:04
Apr total miles = 80.54 miles pace of 9:33

2008 total miles = 377.98 miles average pace of 10:00

Saturday, May 3, 2008

With all the running I did today…between the hotel and the finish line of my wife’s race and the running across the bridge to get to my nephew’s race…which we still ended up missing…I was able to put in my mile + but I do not have a time for today…oh well.

Friday, May 2, 2008

After a days worth of driving I was ready to get out for a run. The weather here in Cincinnati is slightly overcast and drizzly but I was able to stay relatively dry in my short 1.03 miles run in 9:03

Thursday, May 1, 2008

The usual loop around the neighborhood…1.01 miles in 9:24