Sunday, January 28, 2007

Training 1/22 - 1/28

Mon- Treadmill, 6 mi, 52:16, 8:43/mi

Tues- Tripp 10K, 6.2 mi, 44:18, 7:09/mi
First 2 miles difficult to run on snow covered trail.

Evening: Upper Body Weights, 45 min
Treadmill, 4 mi, 30:00, 7:30/mi

Wed- Rest

Thurs- Rain Run (modified course), 8.3 mi, 58:31, 7:03/mi
Kept up with some faster runners and had a great pace.

Evening: Treadmill, 4 mi, 33:11, 8:18/mi

Fri- Treadmill, 6 mi, 51:33, 8:35/mi

Sat- Columns/Half Route, 10.8 mi, 1:32:07, 8:32/mi

Sun- Prathersville + Blueridge, 16 mi, First 8 mi 1:02:01 (7:45/mi), last 8 mi 59:21 (7:25/mi); overall, 7:35/mi
I’m very happy with this pace on a hilly course. I felt strong for the entire run. Temp was only 18F and a bit windy.

This week is my highest mileage week that I’ve run since 2005 when I ran 60 miles a couple different weeks. I felt strong all week with no aches, no morning stiffness, no muscle soreness, and good energy level all week.

Evening: Upper Body Weights, 44 min

Running: 61.3 mi

Weight-lifting: 89 min

YTD Running: 219.9 mi

February 3rd-Nut Race 5K
March 17th-St. Patrick’s Day 5K
April 1st-Hogeye Marathon
May 19th-Berryman Trail Marathon

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Training 1/15 - 1/21

Mon- Rest

Tues- Snow Route, 6.2 mi, 45:19, 7:19/mi
Temp was 3F and wind chill -12F, and some ice along the roads.

Evening: Upper Body Weights, 47 min

Tu/Th group picture before the run

Wed- Rest

Thurs- Snow Route, 6.2 mi, 47:30, 7:40/mi
New snow and slush along the shoulder of road.

Evening: Treadmill, 6 mi, 49:25, 8:14/mi
No energy when I started this run, but felt good by the end.

Fri- Treadmill, 6 mi, 54:03, 9:00/mi
Energy level felt good when I started, and the run cleared my sinuses.

Sat- MKT, 11 mi, 1:36:53, 8:48/mi
Trail was snow and ice covered.

Sun- Brown Station Rd, 16 mi, 2:11:46, 8:14/mi
I woke up about 7 am feeling fairly well rested. It had snowed as predicted and I was very tempted to wait until later in the day to run but got dressed and went outside to measure the snow. We had 4.5 in on top of the 2 in ice/snow that hasn’t melted. After ½ mile of running on a snow packed road, I decided to run a different route since I didn’t have time to complete a 16 mile run at a slower pace in the snow. The gravel road that I normally run had not been cleared so I stayed on the snow-cleared pavement and ran out and back. Most of this course doesn’t have a shoulder to run on, but there were very few cars. The paved roads had been cleared but were wet and slushy in areas. This course had a few hills but not as many as the course I had planned to do. Considering the wet and slushy areas, I’m very happy with the pace. It didn’t feel like I was running an 8:15 average but it has been awhile since I’ve done that on a long run. The cold that developed on Friday seems to have passed quickly. I’m feeling almost normal again.

Afternoon: Upper Body Weights, 38 min

Running: 51.4 mi

Cycling: 0

Weight-lifting: 85 min

YTD Running: 158.6 mi

YTD Cycling: 0

February 3rd-Nut Race 5K
March 17th-St. Patrick’s Day 5K
April 1st-Hogeye Marathon
May 19th-Berryman Trail Marathon

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Training 1/8 - 1/14

Mon- Rest

Tues- Morning: Dreier – C Route, 5.6 mi, 50:05, 8:57/mi running

Noon: Laughing Out Loud Marathon, 26.2 mi, 4:55:56, 11:18/mi

Wed- Rest

Thurs- MKT bridge, 7.8 mi, 1:02:05, 7:58/mi

Fri- Rest

Sat- Prathersville loop, 13.3 mi, 2:12:52, 9:59/mi
18 F and 3 inches of ice/sleet/snow to run on which made a nice smooth running surface.

Sun- Upper Body Weights, 40 min

Treadmill, 4 mi, 30:00, 7:30/mi
More ice last night so too slippery to run outside.

Running: 56.9 mi

Cycling: 0

Weight-lifting: 40 min

YTD Running: 107.2 mi

YTD Cycling: 0

February 3rd-Nut Race 5K
March 17th-St. Patrick’s Day 5K
April 1st-Hogeye Marathon
May 19th-Berryman Trail Marathon

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Laughing Out Loud Marathon



The Laughing out Loud Marathon was an idea that Jim Linville, a runner, and former smoker, came up with after the Columbia City Council approved the no smoking ban in restaurants, bars, and bingo halls. The ordinance took effect on January 9th so Jim wanted to have a marathon on that day. For Jim LOL, means “love our lungs”. You can read more about his concept of a marathon to celebrate the smoking ban in the Columbia Missourian article Marathon to Celebrate Start of Smoking Ban

Hugh and me planned to run to about mile 14.5 (his parent's house) and then get on our bikes to finish the rest. I had run 5.6 miles at 5:30 am with the Tues/Th group and Hugh had run with the dogs. The marathon start was at Athena, in downtown Columbia. Registration was $1 and all participants had to sign a waiver which Jim said his lawyer had approved. It must have been a very slow news day since several from the local news media (about 2 TV, 1 radio, 1 newspaper) were on hand to witness this crazy event. The weather was beautiful. Temps were in the upper mid to upper 30’s, quite windy (up to 20 mph), and sunny.

After a short speech from Jim, we were off. I’m guessing there were about 15 people that started. There was no course support for the marathon so we had to obey traffic laws although many people stopped and let us pass. The first part took us through downtown Columbia where I’m sure we received lots of strange looks with a couple runners dressed as cigarettes and a chicken skipping and running all over the place. Everyone pretty much stayed close together until about mile 5 and then we split up. I think the chicken collapsed and got on the tandem about mile 3 and gave runners rides if they wanted.

The course was very urban, and challenging with the traffic. We ran on the shoulder, close to the shoulder, and sidewalks. Some parts there were very little traffic and really not a problem. Up to mile 12 took us through the north part of Columbia and out of the city. At this point, I was saying to a couple other runners that I caught up to that I could probably finish the course running, but would evaluate when I got to mile 14.5. About mile 12 I caught up to Hugh (he had run ahead of everyone) and we ran together. He said that he was thinking about running the complete course and I told him I thought the same. We decided to make our decision when we reached our bikes at 14.5. We passed mile 13 and had been running for a little over 2 hours.

About mile 14, a radio interviewer started running with me and asking questions. Shortly after that we stopped at Hugh’s parents to use the bathroom and get water. I guess after having so much fun running 2 hours, and feeling relaxed not worrying about our time, all good sense left us and we decided to continue on for the entire marathon.

After mile 16, there was a big hill that we decided to walk. About mile 17, we stopped at Tryathletics to purchase some Sports Beans and drink water. There were several people biking as well as a tandem bike that the chicken was riding at this point, plus they had a cooler full of water, energy gels, and beer. After standing around for awhile Hugh took off and then N. and D. (using initials to protect their identity) and myself took off. They each had a beer and were going to try running and drinking. I didn’t get far (less than a mile) with them and D. decided he needed a bathroom and they stopped at The Starting Block

Ahead, I could see Hugh so caught up to him. While we were in Tryathletics, we had been passed by S. and he was running the entire course, and then L. also passed us since she was on her bike. After mile 20, Hugh decided he needed to walk. He wanted me to go ahead, but I stayed with him. We would run and then walk. At mile 21 we were passed by N. and D.

For the rest of the course, we would run a little, and then walk a lot. We wanted to make it by 5 pm and would be under 5 hours. Those last 4 miles seemed to take forever, but we made it to the finish in 4:55:56. We went inside Athena and we gave Jim our time, got our finishers ribbons and had some food. Jim said that we finished last and the prize was his ice cream maker that he won at Cross Country X-Treme.

We decided that we needed some more food, changed our clothes, and had dinner at the Bread Basket. My legs still felt okay last night, but this morning my ankle hurts a bit but I’m walking. Being out on the course for almost 5 hrs I can now more fully appreciate the accomplishment of those that take longer than I normally do to finish. This totally unexpected marathon was number 8 for me.

Today, there was an article in the Missourian Smoke Free and Breathless There were some close up shots of me and Hugh running ahead of the chicken in the print version. The picture online you can see our backsides. Hugh’s brother said he seen us on KMIZ news. We didn’t stay up late enough to see if we were on KOMU as well, but I will check my tapes later.

I carried my camera and have posted all of the pictures

You Tube Videos:
Chicken Dance

Pre-Marathon Speech

Start of Marathon

D. signing Jim's shirt

pre-race

N. warming up and Hugh assigning race numbers

The Starting "Gun"

Go chicken!
Chicken being King of the Mountain

Chicken still going
Hugh about at mile 12
Taking a break at Tryathletics

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Training 1/1/07 - 1/7/07

Mon- Boatman Hill, 6 mi, 1:00:30, 10:05/mi; legs very sore

Tues- President’s Hill, 7.5 mi, 59:37, 7:57/mi; felt better, 6th day in a row running

Evening: Upper body weights, 38 min

Wed- Rest

Thurs- Rock Quarry, 7.8 mi, 55:17, 7:05/mi

Fri- Rest

Sat- 19 mi, 2:17:09, 7:13/mi
The first 20K I ran the Columbia Track Club Runner’s Choice. The course was out 3.1 mi and back with really long inclines. For the 20K, we completed the course twice. After I finished I went out one more time and added enough to round up to 19 mi.

1st 6.2 mi, 42:30, 6:51/mi
2nd 6.2 mi, 44:55, 7:15/mi
3rd 6.6 mi, 49:44, 8:01/mi

Felt very hungry at the end. Replenished blood sugar with a filled long john from Dixie Creme.

Sun- Clay’s Fork out and back, 10 mi, 1:29:31, 8:57/mi

Evening: Upper body weights, 48 min

Legs very tired earlier this week, but managed a couple pretty good runs and hit 50 miles. Ankles feel great after long run yesterday and run today. I’ve been doing exercises and stretches for my ankles twice per week very consistently since Chicago. It seems to be working.

Running: 50.3 mi

Cycling: 0

Weight-lifting: 86 min

YTD Running: 50.3 mi

YTD Cycling: 0

January 9th-Laughing Out Loud Marathon I’m running about 14.5 mi and biking the rest.
February 3rd-Nut Race 5K
March 17th-St. Patrick’s Day 5K
April 1st-Hogeye Marathon

Monday, January 01, 2007

Training 12/25 - 12/31

Mon- Rest

Tues- Dave’s Dirty Devil Run, 6.66 mi, 0:51:38, 0:07:45/mi

Evening: Upper body weights, 43 min

Wed- Rest

Thurs- MKT Bridge, 7.8 mi, 1:01:24, 0:07:52/mi

Fri- HOA course (hills), 18 mi, 2:20:12, 7:47/mi

Sat- Column’s, 10 mi, 1:28:12 0:08:49/mi

Sun- First Night 5K, 3.1 mi, 0:20:43 (M1-6:36/mi, M2-7:08/mi, M3.1-7:00), 06:41/mi

My legs were pretty much done before I started this race. I gave it my best effort.

Running: 45.6 mi

Cycling: 0

Weight-lifting: 43 min

YTD Running: 1937.0 mi

YTD Cycling: 575.6 mi

Running: 153 miles less than last year.

26 events included running for 200.8 mi

3 events included biking 53.8 mi

Janurary 6th-Runner’s Choice 10K/20K
February 3rd-Nut Race 5K
March 17th-St. Patrick’s Day 5K
April 1st-Hogeye Marathon