Random Log Entries

Here are a few of my more memorable running log entries from 2011:

April 14th 2011- 14 Mile Training Run

Between the strong winds & the couple of decent size hills I climbed on this run this became a test of my endurance. I felt great. I'm more confident in my running right now then I've ever been. One hill I climbed I've failed on multiple times, having to take walk breaks. Today I ran it strong and with a smile on my face and that was at mile 9. I can't wait for the marathon!!!

May 15th 2011- Rockford Marathon

Started cramping up again pretty bad towards the end. I'm baffled as to why. The heat wasn't a factor. I was hydrated (even stopped to pee at mile 20) That's were I went from the 11:12 pace to the 9:31. Right at mile 26 I had a very sharp pain on my inner left thigh. It hurt to the point that I screamed out in pain, walked for a few seconds and then just said the hell with it. I'm either running to the finish or crawling!! Overall I'm not disappointed. more than 22 minutes of Chicago from last year. Hopefully I can get this cramping issue resolved and break 4 hours.

My 3 favorite moments in the race were:
-All the gang graffiti just past mile 21 along the trail. I recognized a lot of it haha
-The soft Chips Ahoy cookies someone gave me at mile 24 
-My kids running across the finish line with me

July 8th 2011- Run / Walk / Runmy first attempt at trying a run/walk/run. My motivation was simply due to my recent hip/leg issues combined with spending ALL day walking around Great America yesterday. I honestly didn't even expect to make it this far. I just did a simple run at a comfortable hard pace for 5 minutes and walk for 30 seconds. The first few times I stopped It was tough because I felt great and didn't feel I needed it. Later those 30 second walk breaks became just enough to re-charge me. Maintained a 148 average heart rate and ran mile 14 in 8:33. I think I kinda like this and may continue using it on my long runs.
(I didn't continue it)

July 11th 2011-Storm Tracker 6 Miler

Absolutely the craziest storm I've ever run in. Had about a mile to go when the thunderstorms hit. Wind gusts had to be over 40 mph. I saw several trees bending to the ground and another one snapped in a neighbor's yard as I ran past. I was running directly into the wind, rain drops were piercing my eyes like needles, garbage from two different recycling bins was flying, well swirling, all over the place. As I turned onto my street I finally had the wind at my back. I couldn't stop laughing because I knew everyone who saw me had to be thinking "what an absolute moron!" Then with only several houses to go a car pulled up along side me, it was my wife. She had been out driving the blocks in search of my lifeless body somewhere on the side of the road. I got home and my littler girl was in tears, worried something had happened to her idiotic father. After many hugs, kisses and sorry's we all had a good laugh about it. I don't think I'll be forgetting this run anytime soon.

August 14th 2011- Chicago Rock & Roll Half Marathon
Well first and foremost ignore the splits. The GPS accuracy is off. This was a great race for me. I went downtown with my neighbors Deann & Scott Ryan along with Deann's brother Tony. We had a great time hanging out together. Also got to avoid the gear check lines because of my decision to join Team Future. We hung out at their tent before and after the race, drank lots of beer and watched people running around in the rain. We also spent a fair amount of time talking to Jackie Evans (former biggest loser contestant) and her son Dan.

Some of my favorite moments along the race were the goof doing the SNL character around mile 4 and the Beastie Boy's cover band around mile 10. I did a pretty good job of keeping up with the pace group (1:45) until about mile 10. Although I think I made up some ground in the last mile because I think I was only about 30 seconds behind them.



Sept. 18th 2011- Fox Valley Marathon
Well somehow all of the data ended up getting deleted off of my watch. ALL OF IT. I'm guessing it had something to do with the weather. But despite this minor detail I had a great race. Ended up running with another guy named Dan for much of the race. Took a couple very brief walk breaks at some of the water stations but otherwise ran the whole way through.

The 4 hour pacer said by his watch he came in at 3:59:30 and I knew I was close behind him but didn't think it was only 9 seconds behind him. Only took me 3 tries but I'm finally a sub 4 hour marathoner.

Very proud of my kids too. They both completed the kids marathon. Since the beginning of June they have been logging mileage towards a goal of 26.2 miles by today. Today they finished the final 1.2 miles. They are both totally hooked. I feel like Dr. Frankenstein. Baahhhhhh


So many other highlights from the year but I'm sure you've got other things to do by now.....
Happy Running