6 weeks to go!!

I did not have the week of training I intended to have. Christmas shopping got in the way. The runs I did do were quality runs. I am still super nervous able RR100. I have not done a 100 mile race in 15 months. I will be glad when it is done and have one under my belt this year.

I had some great training sessions with Marquis this week. Monday I was by myself, because Patsy's foot was hurting and he killed me. Wednesday I was feeling under the weather, so I didn't go. We had our third session on Thursday, instead of Friday. We went out to dinner with some very good friends that are moving to Nashville on Friday.

Saturday's run did not go to well. With two training sessions and back to back runs during the week, I was exhausted. I could have toughed it out, but I didn't see the point. I will get plenty of runs in. I absolutely hate cutting my training runs short. Today's run was completely different. I stopped and still had plenty in the tank to do more.

Here is a a list of my runs this week.

Wednesday- 8 miles
Thursday- 14 miles
Saturday- 19 miles
Sunday- 12 miles

7 weeks to go!!

Well I don't have anything profound to say. It was a good training week. The only thing I have been bummed about is not getting my Sunday run in. I have one of my grand kids on Sunday afternoons to spend some time with her and by the time I take her home, the day is just shot.

I am considering moving my time with her to Monday evening to free up that time to train. I don't think missing those runs is going to be detrimental to the success of completing races. I am getting some good mileage in each week, so I am very happy with where I am right now.

Training with Marquis is going really well. Patsy has a bum foot, so she took the night off tonight. I was one on one with him tonight. He worked me really hard and it felt great. He told me I have progressed well since coming back from back surgery. I was very encouraged by that.

This week is a fall back week. I am in need of some shorter runs. My body is holding up very well, considering how fast I have got up to 60+ miles a week. I was expecting some aches and pains, but the only pain I am dealing with is my back trying to heal. I am very thankful.

Here is a run down of this weeks runs.

Tuesday- 16 miles
Wednesday- 6.5 miles
Thursday- 13.8
Saturday- 26 miles

2 months to go!!

Well with RR100 getting closer every week, I am getting more nervous. I had a fairly good week of training, but I still didn't get all the miles in I wanted to. I am averaging around a 11:00 min. mile on my training runs which I am pretty comfortable with.

I was able to get in all my training runs in, but Thursday and cut today's run short. I have a good reason for missing Thursday's run. It was Patsy's Birthday. Whitney and I went and shopped for a present after I picked her up from school and the Patsy met up with us and we went to her choice of restaurant which was Olive Garden.

We were only able to do two training sessions with Marquis this week. He asked to push back the time on us on Friday, but we had plans later that evening. I can tell a big difference in the fact I am able to do the exercises better and faster. Still battling pain in my back though. The progress is so slow, it is hard to tell from day to day the progress that I am making.

Monday- Training
Tuesday- 10 miles
Wednesday- Training/15 miles
Saturday- 24 miles
Sunday- 5 miles

Good week of training

Well this week was a great improvement from last week. I was able to get five runs this week. The only one I cut short was today's run. My leg strength is not where it needs to be yet. I just didn't have the stamina to go as far as I wanted to go.

Tuesday- 10 miles
Thursday- 14 miles
Friday- 10 miles
Saturday- 16.6 miles
Sunday- 12 miles

Looking forward to another great week of training with Marquis and running.

Have a ways to go!!

With Thanksgiving being this week, I did not get in all the miles I scheduled for myself. Before I get to this week I will mention the Turkey Trot that I ran last Saturday. I did surprisingly well. I was expecting around 2:00 to be about when I would finish, but I was able to finish in 1:37 and change. I was really excited about that.

On to this week. I trained with Marquis only on Monday due to the holiday. I tried to run after and made it 1.5 miles due to the fact the training I did aggravated my back quite a bit. I was pretty frustrated about it. Eve though I shouldn't be, I know. I am expecting too much to soon.

Tuesday I ran 4 miles with Patsy, we also ran 6 miles together on Tuesday. That was all the miles I was able to get in till today. My daughters car broke down and I helped get that going and then Thanksgiving I didn't run either. Friday I had to work on the car some more. So today I decided to do 20 instead of the 16 I had intended to do. I wanted to make up a few of the mile I missed out on.

I made a few mistakes going forward with this run. I didn't eat anything before I took off and didn't take any food with me to eat during. I did this all on 6 gu's. Big mistake, because by mile 13 I was ready to clasp and just throw in the towel. The problem was that I was 7 miles away from home, so I just had to tough it out.

Going out, I had the wind at my back, so it was pretty easy to maintain a consistent pace. I went out the fist 10 miles in 2:04. Coming back I slowed down quite a bet. Came back in 2:29 and change. I was into the wind and my body was weak from not having any food. The only calories I had was the Gu.

I felt a lot better after I had a shower and some food in my system. I took a muscle relaxer and some pain reliever, then lounge in front of the TV the rest of the evening.

I'm back

Well, my 3 months of waiting to train is complete. I am far from 100%, but I am on my way back to being in the shape I was before my surgery. I actually did my first run four days before I had scheduled to return. I just couldn't wait to get back at it.

My first run was 4 miles this last Saturday and did a 6 mile run the next day. I'm not going to lie. It was slow and pretty uncomfortable. I also started training with Marquis Monday. That really hurt. I am feeling better all the time, but the progress is very slow.

I will be working with Marquis three days a week and also doing my training runs five days a week. My first run this week was yesterday and I was able to do 6 miles in a little over and hour. I was exhausted after it was over.

My training sessions with Marquis are similar to what I was doing before. Sprints, strength training with muscle confusion along with boxing and core work. I have no idea what I will be doing when I show up. That is what helps the muscle confusion.

I started a 4 mile run today, but I guess I developed some chaffing last night and I noticed it on my run today. I ended up cutting it down to 3 miles and I will make up that mile on my run tomorrow. I signed up for our local Turkey Trot and going to do the 10 mile run.

I feel with the training runs I have done so far, that I will okay to do the 10 miles this Saturday. I will be running Sunday also. My running training plan is very intense so I will be prepared for my 100 mile race this February. No time to to rest from here on out. I have been waiting for this for a long time.

I gained 20 pounds in my healing period that I am going to get off as fast as possible. When you go from training to flat on your back, it hit me hard and I couldn't do anything about it. Glad to be back, will shout at you all in a few days.

Past trainIng sessions

Session 10 

30 minutes of stretching

Session 11

@ the East y

Sprints on track

Burpees

Squats with plates

Wall sits

Medicine ball overhead explosive lifts

Core/6 inch hold with med ball on stomach

Core/6 inch leg circles

Crawling on hands and feet, on toes

Crawling with hands, jump feet forward

Pushups

Session 12

Football field

Sprints

Ladder work/ladder work into sprints

Long distance sprints

Continuous sprints to 30 or 40 or 50 and then he moves back and says last one, ended at 100 yard line

Suicide sprints (5 stop points) with resistance bands, end with sprint to 50 yard line, no band

Session 13

WSU hill

Hill sprints

High knees

Skips

Lunges

Jumping jacks (look like frogs)

crawling

sprints

Update

I realize it has been some time since I posted last. I have been training up till last Thursday. I developed a pain in my back that ran down my left leg. I seeked treatment from a sports chiropractor three weeks ago and did not get any relief. Nothing against him, it was something he just could not treat I found out.

I went to my family doctor Monday to get a referral to a doctor that the chiropractor suggested. My family doctor ordered a MRI this last Tuesday. My doctor called me personally and told me that I had a herniated disc and he got me in to a neurologist the next morning. That is just unheard of to get into a specialist that quickly.

I went to the neurologist appointment Wednesday morning and he told me exactly what my family doctor told me. Surgery is the best way to go to eliminate the pain and get back to form the quickist. I agreed and it will be August 21st.

I will be unable to run for three months so it can heal properly. That is not the news I wanted to hear, but it is not the end of the world. I will be unable to compete at Flatrock or Heartland later this year which saddens me deeply, but I know I will be back next year.

I will post the training sessions I completed prior to the injury and all the training runs I did. Our traininer received a great opportunity and that was to try out for the Kansas City Chiefs coming up September 1st I believe. He put a hold on our training to go to Iowa where he went to college to train for three weeks leading up to his tryout. We wish him the best, but would hate to lose him as our trainer.

I will post periodically to let you know how surgery goes and my progress. I appreciate all your support and interest in my training.

Session 8, 9 and 10 and training runs

Session 8 was Monday and we were out on the football field. We warmed up and then did standing still vertical jumps trying to touch the goal post. Then he had us get a short running start and jump for the goal post and the third set was quick repeats. We did a number of 100 yard dashes and then he had us race each other sprinting various distances and touching a tire to finish.  He raced with us.  He is fast.

Also he pulled out the resistance bands and had us do some short sprints.

Session 9 was at WSU stadium on Tuesday. We did our normal warm up and went right into some 40 yard sprints and moved on to what he called active stretching. He set up a line of hurdles and we had to step over them staying on our toes. Then he had us turn a round and do it walking backwards. Then we were on the side of the hurdles and stepped over with just one leg and then we switched to the other one.

We then went to doing some high knees for 15 yards or so, then he taught us the A skip which is a high knee and kind of a stomp. Then we went to the B skip which is the same as the A step, but you kick y our leg out.  This all helps you with your form.

Session 10 was today and it was only a 30 minute session that consisted of just stretching and get us focused on the race tomorrow night.  I'm running the Lunar Trek 100K.  He did not want to over work us and have dead legs when running. He talked to us a bit, there are some exciting things going on in Marquis's career. He is going to be training at multiple branches and growing his client base. I am very excited for him and the opportunities he has been given.  And then some motivational words as well.

I cut Wednesday's run short due to stomach issues, I ran 7.75 in 1:51:25

Tonight before training I ran 10 in 1:38:44

Overnight Run

This is the 3rd out of 4 weeks that I have ran either early in the morning or all night like I did last night. I left the house 11:30 last night and set out on my long Saturday run. I took off really fast and sustained under a 11:00 mile pace the first half which was 2:47 and some change.

About 5 miles into my run I got to see a fox. What a sight to watch it run. I have never seen one in person before other than the zoo. Then at 15 miles in I saw three raccoons together. I have heard they are very mean, so I went to the other side of the road and contiued on.

On the way back I ran acrossed a guy passed out on the sidewalk on Douglas. He was in his mid twenties. I woke him up and made sure he was okay. He was drunk as a skunk. I just didn't want him to get picked up by the police or mugged. This was around 3:00 in the morning.

That was all the excitment I had on the run other than a couple of rabbits hopping around closer to home. My legs felt a little tired from the training sessions this week. This is the first week that we did three sessions in a week. This first two weeks, we only did two per week. We will do three a week for the next five weeks and then hit a new schedule, as this is basically an 8 week boot camp.  Having already seen marked results in three short weeks, we will continue to work with him.

Stopped at my usual QT's. I like them because they are clean and they have a good selection of items to choose from. I had a piece of cake the first stop, dounts the second stop, a turky sandwich and a Snickers bar the third stop and grapes on the last stop. This is the types of food I like to use to fuel me on my training runs.  Plus, we have no sweets at home.

The temps were great. I believe it was around 82 to 85 when I started and I believe it got down to around 75. It made it so much easier to run. Next weekend I will be doing the Lunar Trek 100k which starts at 9:00pm. I wanted to do these early morning and overnight runs to prepare me for that.

I ran 32 miles in 6:05:24.  

Session 7

Before Sophia came over to meet me for a run, we had our 7th session with the personal trainer. We stayed inside this time thank God, but that did not mean it was going to be easy.  This was our 4th hour long session in 6 days as we are now going 3x a week and that is a body shock.

We did our usual warm up laps and some quick push ups to warm up our chest/upper body because we were going to use those muscles. 

We did sets of push ups with bear crawl sprints with straight legs, stopping at the half way point to do more push ups.  Then we did squats with weights and chest work at the same time, followed by bicep curls with resistance bands and a burn out set.  Sets are 45 seconds to 2 minutes long.   Couple of sprint laps and into burpees and planks. 

More laps and then into core.  His ten minute core workout is way harder than any 30 minute core class I have ever taken.  8 different sets of exercises with your legs 6 inches off the ground. 

We ended running stairs at the back of the Y, doing lunges and squats up the stairs.   He had me do the duck crawl on the stairs also.  He is pushing me to do things I would never think of on my own, and in ways I wouldn't sustain by myself.

Thursday's special treat

I had a special friend come into town Wednesday and asked if she could come hang out and have dinner. We were very excited to hear she was in town. Sophia is a ultra running friend that I have come to be very good friends with. She happens to love Patsy and her cooking too.

She came over around 8:30 and I believe she left around 12:00. We have so much fun just chit chatting about anything and everything. Even things that have nothing to do with running surprisingly. She brought her dog this time and he is very well mannered.

I asked her how long she was going to be in town and she said till Friday morning. I asked her if she was up for a run tomorrow evening and she jumped at the opportunity.I was very excited myself. Someone I look up to in the ultra running world wanted to run with me.

I was also excited to show her my training grounds. I have to leave it at that for reasons that if I said I would be incriminating myself.  We met at my house a little after 6:30 and left shortly after. We had great conversation mostly related to running since we were on a run. We talked about a KC friend Danny Miller, If I do not get into Cascade Crest in 5 weeks, I will be pacing him. (I am moving up slowly on the wait list, have jumped over 3 spots.  Keeping my fingers crossed). So I was asking a little about him to be better prepared on how to be the most beneficial to him beings I don't know him. The first 5 miles clicked off pretty quick and we got to our water stop/turn a round. Patsy dropped a water cooler off for us.

We made our way back and I took her on a slightly different route back so she could see the other trails that I am get to run on. She was very impressed with what I get to train on. We got back to the house and asked if she wanted dinner and she gratefully said yes.

I am so thankful to have genuine friends like that who do not judge you in anyway and doesn't care whether I am the fastest runner or slowest. She just loves us for who we are (and I thank you for that Sophia).

We ran 10 miles in 1:55:07.

Wednesday's Run

Wednesday is the longest weekday run I have each week. Carving time out for this is a big commitment. I took off on a route that would lead me toward the West side of town. I always enjoy the time I am at SCP, because there is so many others out running, roller blading, walking and biking.

It was a very hot afternoon. I believe it was 106. I left home at 3:00, so I was right in the hot of the day. The first 4.5 miles was a breeze. Then the heat hit me and I struggled the rest of the way. I ended up stopping at QT's to cool down. I do use these for my water stops, but I purchased something to eat each time and took a few extra minutes to make sure I was okay to go back out.

I am not a big fan of pouring cold water on my head during a run, but it felt really good that day. Pouring it right on the back of your neck is the best way to cool your core temperature the fastest. I went shirtless on the way out, but I decided to wear it on the way back, so the sweat would help cool me down a bit.

I ran 16.36 miles in 3:26:20.

Session 6 & Training run

We did hill repeats for a solid hour.  The hill wasn't high, but it was steep.  Anything from spinting with high knees, lunges up hill, back pedaling in a squat position to out right sprints.

He had me do this one thing called the duck crawl and I have to say, it is one of the hardest things I have ever done.

It was an hour of torture.  Not really a whole lot more to say, think you get the idea.

I went home and instantly left for my training run. Thanks goodness I only had 8 miles to do.

I ran 8 miles in 1:18:58.

Session 5

Session 6 was today and the back was bothering me, but I wanted to see what I could handle. Along with running, the exercise kept it loose and I didn't have really any issues. We started out of course with a couple of laps on the indoor track, but he wanted them to be at almost a sprint.

We did more push ups and right into 6 in. raises with spreading your legs out, bringing them back together, hold for a moment, then we were able to rest. Repeated this around 4 times. He took us right into free weights doing bicep curls. Three reps with both hands at the same time and one slow rep with one hand at a time. That was considered one time. We did that 10 times.

After that we ran short sprints outside behind the Y to the parking lot, back to the door where Marquis held the door open, up the flight of stairs and down, and back outside. Not sure how many reps we did, we did this till I caught Patsy. We did this twice. With a lot of interest and applause from the families watching their children in gymnastics. None of them were willing to join us.

More weights in the big weight room. Marquis specializes in cross fit training. Reverse push ups with sets of pullups, more reverse push ups, pull ups where I had to pull my feet to my hands on the bar, more reverse pull ups and the last set I had to pull my feet to the bar and swing back, but couldn't let my feet touch the ground. Very hard.

For the last 30 minutes we went outside to the football field. With the 16 pound medicine ball. Marquis threw the ball, I chased it and threw it, Patsy chased mine and threw it and so on till we did the length of the football field and back.

Next I had to throw the ball, chase it, and repeat this by myself to the end of the field. Then we reversed it, I had to throw it backward over my head, turn and run to it and repeat this for 100 yards.

Marquis said we had one more, we were going to bear crawl and push the medicine ball in front of us. Patsy went first and pushed it to the length of the football field. Wore her out. Basically, pushed it with one hand, crawled to it, pushed it ahead with the other hand, crawled, I ended pushing it 120 yards. This was very hard. It is supposed to mimic using the same muscles you would use climbing up a steep hill. He said he had a funny story to tell us when we were done.

When we were finished, he told us that it was supposed to be a joke. When he showed us what we were going to do and asked who wanted to go first, Patsy volunteered and did it. He was going to stop her at the 20 yard line, but she kept going. So he let her finish, and then let me go before he told us the joke. We left him speechless, he said we are pushing him to come up with ways to challenge us. He also commented again that we are his only clients that he hasn't made throw up.

Session 4 with a long training run

Session 4 was rescheduled from Thursday to Saturday afternoon. We were indoors the whole session this time. So our warm-up laps and then Marquis came on to the track and told us to try to catch him. Neither one of us did of course. We went around the track 6 times.

Then we went into the training room and he had us do regular push-ups and every once in a while he would tell us to hold it half way down, then resume push ups. Then he had us turn over and do flutter kicks till he said stop and this repeated 4 times. While I was doing the flutter kicks, he was taking a 16 pound medicine ball and bouncing it on my stomach. Not a really great feeling.

We then went to burpees for two minute at a time. Then he had me hold a 35lb weight and do squats at different rates of speed, some slow and controlled, some as fast as I could go.  He wanted them parallel to the floor. We repeated that 4 or 5 times and then he had us do burpees for two minutes straight at the end of that routine.

He gave me a 25lb plate and said do bicep curls then, chest presses and then overhead presses. This was timed for each exercise. Then we went out on the track and sprinted 2 laps and came back and did that all again 3 times.

He said it was time for some core work. I had to do incline sit ups while Patsy sprinted 1 lap and then while she did the incline sit ups, I had to sprint 2 laps. We did that twice and then he had me turn around and do reverse sit ups with a lift on an incline. I did them while Patsy sprinted a lap and she did them while I sprinted 2 laps and we did this for two sets also.

I came home and crashed. I showered and fell asleep and slept 2:30 hours. I woke up and had a horrible pain in my back. I then remembered personal training with my friend BJ that I tweaked a muscle in my back doing the chest presses and I believe that is what did it this time too.

We ended the session with holding the squat position against the wall and they were really tough for me. My quads were screaming at me 20 seconds after we started. I believe that he had us hold them for a minute each time and we did them 3 times. He would put weight in our lap every once in a while.  When I wasn't holding the weight, I had to hold my arms straight out shoulder height.  If I wanted to rest, he put the 16 pound medicine ball on my legs.  The price for resting your arms.

I decided not to run Saturday due to the back pain. I got up with Patsy Sunday morning to go run with her and her best friend Sheila for 10 miles and then I was going to do 12 more to get in the miles I needed for the week. We started a little after 5:00.

We got around 2.5 miles into the run and I was feeling really good and I was pulling away from them, but not intentually. I thought it would be best if I just broke away and finished my 22 miles on my own. So I told them I was going to go on and off I went.

As long as I kept running, my back didn't bother me. The minute I stopped to walk, it would give me fits. I did not have much of a problem holding a pretty decent pace most of the time. If I got tired, I just slowed my pace a bit.

I ran 22 miles in 4:12:00. 

Mashup

Well this week has been a little awkward as far as training goes. The only run I have done on the day it was scheduled was Wednesday. The rest have been a bust till today. I did Tuesday's 8 miles, Thursday's 10 miles and part of Saturday's training run today.

I started in the heat of the day which is pretty normal for me and it was tough. I have ran this route before and had the same result. I ran by the West Y here in Wichita and I was really hot. So I decided to finish out my miles there. Last time I ran that way, it was very cold.

It was 8 miles to the Y. Then I got on a treadmill and knocked out another 5 miles and took a quick break to fill my bottles and use the restroom. At this point I have not eaten anything. I also took this time to call Patsy to arrange for her to pick me up.

I was feeling really light headed at this point and I knew exactly why. I was really low on calories. I needed some food. I did not bring any and I only had my debit card, so I could not get anything out of the vending machine.

I decided to get back on the treadmill and tough it out as long as I could before Patsy got there to get me. I made it 2 miles and I did not have the energy I needed to keep going at that time. I got a long break sitting and waiting for her to come get me. It felt good to sit for a while.

We went to the store and got some things for dinner and headed home. After eating my great salad, I was rejuvenated. So I went out and did the other 3 I needed to get me up to date and decided to get a jump on tomorrow's miles and ran 2 of them too.

This is a fall back week for me, so my Saturday run is only 14 miles. Our personal training session got rescheduled to this Saturday which worked well as that was Whitney's last evening with us for yet another out of town trip to see some family in Seattle, so we took her out for dinner and did some shopping.

Tomorrow morning we get to help with a 10k race, the Titan 10K Summer Scorcher, a fundraiser for the South High cross country team. We are calling out times at mile markers 4 and 5 and throwing in some encouragement.  (You can show up and register at 6:00 a.m. race starts at 7:00 a.m. at South High Carpenter Stadium).  Should be a fun time. Then we are going to do our training runs. Then on to our fourth personal training session. It's going to be a busy Saturday.

I ran 20 miles in 3:31:34

Session 3/Long weekly run

Well we had session 3 yesterday of our personal training and it was exhausting. He asked us to meet him at WSU stadium. We did our warm-up routine and he had us do some short sprints and increased the distance each time. He noticed that I was a little stiff on my form, so he had us lean up against the wall and do high kicks so I would be able to relax better, then we did more wind sprints.

We went into the bleachers of the stadium and he had me run up on the bleachers and down the stairs. This was very tough. If you don't know anything about WSU's stadium, it is quite big and the bleachers go up for what seems like a quarter mile. (I know it's not that far, but it seems like it.) I believe I had to do this 6 or 7 times.

Then I had to do high kicks just up the stairs about half way up. I am not sure how many times we did this. Then he took us in the concourse and the way you get from one level to the next is a steady incline walk that has switch backs. I would say the grade goes up 20 feet of climb and it is around a 100 feet in length.

He gave me 2:00 and  up and back down was one trip and he asked that I do it 7 times. I barely made it with 5 seconds to spare. The whole session I never could get my breath and my legs turned into jelly. He just said that each session is just going to get a little harder. I say bring it on, it can only make me stronger for race days coming up.

I was supposed to run Tuesday, but I elected not to. I usually run before our personal training session, but I was unable to. Our daughter has been out of town with a friend and her family for a week and a half and she was going to be coming home shortly before we were to leave for our training session. So I wanted to be home when she arrived.

After the training session, we stopped at the store and got some things for dinner and by the time my food settled enough to go run, it was getting really late and so I decided to put that run off till Friday which is normally a rest day.

Today I did my Wednesday miles and did 8 miles out on the trail and waited till Patsy got home and did my other 4 with her since I knew that is how many miles she was going to run today.

I ran 12 miles in 2:24:34

Back to Back

Well Saturday morning I wanted to beat the heat once again, so I started my long run at 3:00AM. Unlike last Friday night when I was able to get about 4 hours of sleep before I got up to run at 2:00 AM. This time I wasn't so lucky. I laid down around 11:00 and just tossed and turned and was not able to get any sleep.

I set my alarm for 2:30, but I did not need it. I got up at 2:22 and started to get things ready to go. At this point I have technically been up since 5:00 AM Friday morning. My plan was to park at the QT at Maple & Tyler and do 4 mile loops.

I started out going East on Maple toward Ridge and not even 2 minutes in I came up close with a skunk. I made some kind of noise and he scurried across the street. I breathed a sigh of relief. I can say that was the most eventful part of the run.

The first 4 mile loop was as I said starting down Maple to Ridge to Central and then down Tyler back to the QT. I did not like that way because it had too many low limbs to maneuver around. So my next loop I decided to go to the West and go Maple to Maize to Central to Tyler. This worked a lot better for me so I stuck with that.

There is a lot of rowdy folks out at 3:00 AM I noticed. Quite a few people were pulled over and I saw one police car race down the street at a pretty high rate of speed going to a call. Not a good time to be out and about. No one bothered me on the sidewalks at all thankfully.

I ran 30 miles in 6:39:17

I was able to sleep a full 11 hours Saturday night into Sunday morning. Boy, Saturday was a tough day. I tried to take a nap, but could not sleep. I didn't start my Sunday run till around 5:30 in the evening.

I saw a couple of great friends along the way which is pretty unusual for me. Not in that I don't have great friends, but that I hardly ever run past any on my training runs. I ran into a friend from church Adam Dreher and his son Sutton, and an ulra running friend Hannah McBeth and sorry I did not stay around and make small talk to meet the friend she was running with.

It was great to see you all.

I ran 16 miles in 3:09:06.

Thursday training

I went to the Y a couple of hours early to get my training run in before our personal training session. I decided to do my training run on the treadmill this time. I was going to be out in the heat for our training session.

I ran 10 miles in 1:39:48

We had our second training session with Marquis yesterday. Started out with the warm up lap and the stretch routine he showed us the first day. He laid out a rope ladder on the ground and had us do 6 different variations of foot work through half of the ladder and hop the other half. With each variation, we would do 3 to 4 trips per.

Then we had to do bear crawl. First, we just went 10 yards out and back. Then he increased ten yards at a time with the last one a bear crawl to the 50 yard line. This was really taxing on the shoulders and legs, but especially on the palms of my hands. The turf was really hot.

The good news was that we were going inside, but that did not mean for a rest break.  He took us to the back hallway of the Y and pointed at the stairs and said we would be getting to know them very well today. We did 6 different variations of footwork on the stairs with multiple trips up and down.

The last one was skipping a step and I think he had me do that one around 10 times up and a back down being one trip. He really got my legs to burning on that one. He gave us a little insight what we were in for in the next couple of weeks and frankly, I'm a little scared.

He is so impressed with how we are doing that he wants to video us so he can put it on his website to demonstrate and promote this type of training. That is pretty cool.  He has clients in all stages of fitness, from the very obese, a blind man, and former athletes returning to a work out regimen after years of inactivity. 

July 4th training run

Wednesday is the longest week day training run. Was very glad to be off work today. I slept in till 11:15. Not a very good idea when temps are going to soar a little over 100 today. Got up and ate a pb&j and a banana, then I got ready to go for my run.

Got out of the house around 12:00. Stepped out into the sauna. I just told myself, just slow and steady today. After all my training yesterday, I was pretty worn out before I even started. I ran at a 10:00 mile pace and then I took frequent power walk breaks. This continued through the whole run.

My wife told me that she read in Runner's World that running in the heat is a good way to train for altitude. With the possibility of getting into Cascade Crest 100 this year, this is my fuel for getting out there in the heat for my training runs.

If you don't have the mountains, do what you can to improvise your training to per pare for what you are about to embellish. That is also why I agreed to join my wife in the speed, agility and endurance training.

The first 7 miles I did with the Infinit product I use and on the way back I filled one of my bottles with fountain Gatorade and the other with ice cold water. With using the Infinit product,. I do not use salt tablets or any gels. On the way back not having Infinit, decreased the amount of energy I needed to run more efficiently.

Never the less, I made it back with a negative split. Got to the turn a round in 1:29 and change and finished in 2:50:56. The energy level was not there, but the will to get this thing done was much stronger. I dug deep and got it done.

I ran 14 miles in 2:25:56.  

This weeks progress

Well we had our introductory meeting for our speed, agility and strength training on Monday and started our first workout today, it was intense. We started with a light jog around the football field and then went through a series of active stretches.  This basically meant that we did lunges for 5 yards, high kicks for five yards, etc.

He had us do some sprint work, working on long strides to the 10 yard and back, 20 and back, 30 and back, 40 and back and then worked our way back the other way.

We then went to resistance sprints. He would wrap three resistance bands around our waist and we would have to sprint 25 yards and back. We switched out twice and then he had us sprint one way with the band 50 yards and walk back.

Then we went to some circut training which was one squat with a 15 or 20 pound ball and throw it, then pick it up and do it again to the 20 yard line. Then, pick it up and run back carrying the ball. The other circut was jumping both feet together over a series of small hurdles and sprint back and repeat till the other person is done with the other circut.

He had us do shuttles which is sprint to the 25 yard line and back repeated 6 times. He wanted us to do it in 56 seconds. (In week 3 we have to do this twice) I came in at right at 52 or 53 seconds.

Then inside for a killer ten minute core workout.  With the 2-3 times a week I attend core express classes, I didn't expect this to be as hard as it was, but he did push me.

What a first day. Looking forward to seeing our progress. I am doing this to have more endurance and strength with hills in races.

Monday I sneaked in a run before our appointment with the trainer. I ran 7 miles in 1:20:11. Not a knock out performance, but glad to get in a run on a rest day since my Sunday run was cut short.

After work today I got my training run in before I went and did the madness I just told you about. I had decent run. I tried to keep a consistant pace to whole time. No walk run this time. Had to wait at street lights, that was my only breaks.

I ran 8 miles in 1:25:58.

South to North

We thought we had our introductory appointment for our strength and agility training. He texted us and said today, but called back and said he meant tomorrow night. I said all that to say that I just planned to run home from our training.

I knew it wasn't going to be the distance I needed today, but something is better than nothing. To get a little bit more distance, I decided to run to Seneca and then head North toward home. I started at the QT on Meridian and MacArthur.

I did not have the mojo today. I walk/ran the whole time. Tried gels and it really didn't give me the boast I was looking for. So I just made the best of it and ran hard then tried to walk as little as possible.

With the heat, I never felt I drank enough, but felt like I was water logged the whole time. I didn't care, I drank anyway. Everything felt great considering I ran almost 30 miles yesterday. I do believe that contributed to the fact I did not have the energy I was looking for tonight.

Patsy was out and about and happened to see me and drove up to me and I gladly just got into the car cutting my run even shorter than it already was. I know that some of you may read this and consider this run a failure, but I did get out and run. That is always a victory in itself. I also realize not running for two weeks and jumping right back into my training plan is going to be a little tough at first.

I ran 8.70 miles in 1:52:01.

Night Run/Trail

My friend Scott asked me if I would like to join him and a few others on a run starting at 2:00 a.m. and run till around 5:30. I jumped at the opportunity. Scott is someone I really look up to in the running world. He wins races he enters, but he is the most humble person I know. More than that, he gives back to the sport by coaching a Team in Training group.

We started a few minutes after 2:00 and Scott mapped out a 3/4 mile loop that we ran. The idea of it is that if you needed a break you could just pick everyone up on the next loop or walk in the opposite direction and pick everyone up that way. It worked great.

Everyone traded stories and the best thing was, that most of them were not related to running. Scott had a great refrigerator story, so did Adam, but I did not get to hear that one, because I took a break to fill my water bottle.

Adam gave Scott some pointers about running Leadville. The best advice he gave him is be careful of the elevation. The race itself is not that difficult. Adam said he DNF'd both times he attempted it. Being from Kansas it is a huge disadvantage for us doing higher elavation races.

I cut out at 5:30ish and hung out for a few minutes until Scott and a few others were meeting the TNT group for a training run. I came home and took a nap. Got up around 1:00 and headed back out to finish the miles I needed for today.

I ended up getting 21 miles in about 3:30.

I got ready and Patsy headed out with me. We ran around 2 1/2 miles together and she said that she wasn't going to go much farther before she was going to turn around and head home. I took off and got to the 4 mile mark and started back home.

I had went through over half of my two bottles by that point. I knew that it was not going to be a fun time getting back home. The temp had to be aroung 95 by then. I was three miles from home and I had around 18 oz. of Infinit left.

I could conserve it and make it last till close to the end, or drink it all at once and not have any fluids for the remainder of the run. I conserved it. I got home and drank two quarts of water and jumped into a cold shower.

I ran 8 miles in 1:50:35.

Back to training

I have taken a good amount of time off training letting my Achillles heal and thank God it feels great. I went to the Y last night and did a shoulder and calf workout.

Today I went out to acclimate myself to the 100+ temps we are having here in Kansas. I was doing pretty good through 2 miles of running and then I was losing energry. Minus last Saturday's run, I have not ran in two weeks, so I belive that was a contributing factor. I did some walk/running and then I just decided to power walk the rest.

I went 5.06 miles in 1:05:15.

I am going to the Y tonight and doing a Core Express class and then I will do a chest and back workout.

I am really excited. Patsy found a personal trainer at the South Y.  He specializes in strength, endurance and agility training.  He told her that you don't get many guarantees in life, but he guarantees she will get faster.  He's going to train us together and I cannot wait to get started next week.  He also claims to help build mental endurance as well.  So I can go 105 miles next time. I have been looking for ways to get faster and stronger for my running. I believe that it is going to help immensely. 

It's a 6 week 16 sessions, so it's going to be pretty intense.

Black Hills 100 Crew/Pacer Report

I had an awesome weekend playing in the Black Hills of South Dakota. We arrived on Thrusday evening and went to a very nice Lodge in Deadwood where we were treated to a incredible dinner. Went back to the Hotel and crashed.

Friday morning we drove to all the crew access aid-stations locations and wandered up the trails a little ways. 

We later drove to Mt. Rushmore.

Mark thought all a long that his pre-race meeting was 4:30. It was 3:30 and he missed most of it. From what I heard from other runners, they didn't really give them any pertinent information that they didn't already have from the website.

Mark said the prerace meal did not look that appetizing, so he suggested that we look for something else. He asked the front desk and they suggested Rosco's. It was pretty good. We all decided to call it an early evening and let our runners (Mark &Willie) get some good sleep.

Patsy and I sat in the the hotel room and just watched TV. We both were having problems getting to sleep and we finallly went down around 1:45 am I believe. 4:45 came awfully early. The hotel opened the breakfast bar early because a lot of the runners stayed there. So we got something to eat and headed to the starting line.

I saw a lady wearing a Rockin K shirt this year that did the marathon and a guy wearing a Free States shirt from this year. I did not catch either one of their names, but it was cool running into them. At the second crew aid station I saw Theresa Wheeler, a local running acquaintance and through out the day till her turn a round. She ended up getting second in the 100K. Congrats to her.

It was a very hot day for South Dakota standards. It got up to around 93 degrees. The only good thing is, that it was a dry heat. That gave a little relief. Mark and Willie stayed to their plan to take it easy through the first fifty miles and that is what they did. It would take them a little over three hours to go 12 miles. A combination of the heat and the elevation played a big part in that.

At one of the aid stations Patsy and I climbed to the top of the ridge.  We crossed the trail twice and had to climb through a barbed wire fence, but it was well worth it.  This is the view.

There was an area on the way down that had a little throat and we went out on the rock ledge.  Unfortunately you really can't see the depth, but it was really beautiful.  It was an 80 minute round trip from the street to the top of the ridge and back down.  Well worth the work.

At the turn around, both of them decided that they could not continue any farther. Willy was under trained and Mark had some health risk issues that concerned him. I was supposed to pick up Mark at the turn around to pace him back home. Beings that did not work out, we had been hanging out at the aid stations with Al from Ontario since mile 17 and his wife,  Linda that was a little ahead of Mark and Willie all day and asked her if she would like a pacer.

She said "sure". I picked her up at the 57 mile mark and we made it out of the next aid station which was 7 miles away in an hour and forty-five minutes. We left and headed to the next stop. Everything was going perfect and we got to an intersection and wasn't sure where to go. She made a decision and we ended up off the course even though it was a good trail.

As they were driving back to Ontario when she finished the course, Al went back to the hotel and Patsy was going to crew for us.  We didn't have a car, but another couple we met at the hotel had a rental car.  Stephanie was attempting her first 100 mile race and her boyfriend, Daniel was going to pace her the last 42 miles, so Daniel was going to have Patsy drive his car, and it was a win for everyone.  Stephanie however, dropped at mile 57.  So Patsy went back to the hotel with them and by the start finish to drop off Annoying Bob who also dropped at mile 57 and then came back to the aid station.

We ended up going a couple miles before we realized that we were not on the course. We back tracked to the place where we went off course and ended up going down the trail that led us back to the aid station that we had just left. She looked down at her watch and we were twenty minutes from the cut off for the next aid station and we were about 6.5 miles away.

She was devastated. She still wanted to press on, so we kept going and finally made it to the next aid station 50 minutes after the cut off. We had some choice words for the volunteers, but we knew it was not going to do any good complaining to them how that portion of the trail was marked at all. That would need to be taken up with the race director himself. I found out that people were coming in and complaining about the very spot we got lost.

They told us we could continue, but the aid stations would be closed up and there was not a very good chance that they would give her an official finish missing a cut off time. There was no doubt in my mind that she would have finished under the cutoff time of the race. We had 8 hours to do 29 miles. I was confident that she could do it and I was ready to get her there.  She was heading for a negative split on a hard course.

What seemed like a night where everything went wrong, actually didn't. Mark, Willie, Stephanie and Linda all left healthy and looking forward to their next races, except maybe Willie, Dan and Steve were the only disappointed ones because neither got to run as much as they wanted to.

Patsy took us back to the hotel and I ate breakfast and took a shower and a couple hour nap. We got up and did some more sight seeing and Mark showed me part of the Lean Horse 100 trail. When we were in Hill City, we went down a street that had tons of shops. We stopped and roamed around for a little while. They were really cool, but expensive.

Took Mark to Nemo where we raved about the burgers they had. He said they lived up to our hype. Went back to the hotel and did not have any problem going to sleep. Got up Monday morning and Mark took us to the airport and got ready for a long road back home.

This was my first time crewing and pacing and I really enjoyed it. Being able to help your runner and tend to their needs was a lot of fun. Runners are dead in the water without a good crew. I firmly believe that.

Thanks Mark and Carolyn for a unforgettable weekend in the Black Hills. Maybe some day I will return and run through the Black Hills.

Catch up

I have really dropped the ball posting this week. I want to catch you up on what I did the last 7 days. Last Saturday I ran Storm the Dam Half-marathon Trail Race for the fourth year in a row. I have ran this race every year since it started.

I ran the race with Patsy and we had a great time enjoying the trail. The only part that we don't like is from mile 8-10. This is just a field mowed down. There are clumps of grass and hoof impressions all over from riding in muddy conditions.

This is the famous Sheila's loop. Patsy's best friend Sheila ran it 3 years ago and really hated that area also. So Patsy gave it that name. The first 3 miles is ran on private land and it is technical single track trails and then you climb the hill to the top of the dam and run along the top for a mile or so then you enter Sheila's loop.

You then follow the far West side the Eldorado lake up a hill and do a 1 mile loop that is similar to Sheila's loop, but not as long, then you go into my favorite part of the course. There are two very wooded trail heads that are very beautiful to run in. You then run through a camping area over a bridge to the finish.

Ran 13.1 miles in 3:04:42

I went to the Y four times this week. I was able to get in a full body workout and went to two Core Express classes. I did not run at all this week letting my Achilles heal up. Going to do a couple of short runs next week to knock off the rust. Will be heading the Sturgis, SD this Thursday to pace my friend at Black Hills 100. I get to run the last 50 miles with him. Very stoked to see him complete his first 100 mile finish!!

I almost forgot. I ran home from work this last Monday. The rest of the days I have been walking. The starter is out on my car, so Patsy is taking me and I am walking home.

Ran 5.25 miles in 50:59.

Thursday training

I have a good word of advice for you all out there. Don't go to Popeye's and have spicy tenders, mashed potato's and biscuits, then within an hour, go try to run. I went to the Y and attempted to do a training run on a full stomach.

I did real good up to around 4.5 miles and it all went down hill from there. I had planned to do 10 miles. I decided to stop at 8.35 miles. I was doing too many walk breaks. The food was way to heavy on my stomach to keep a good pace for any length of time. I figured another 1.65 miles would take me another 25 minutes and I was ready to get off the treadmill.

I am doing a half marathon this Saturday, then I am going to really back off on training a lot. My Achilles is not doing well and I need to let it heal up before I go pace my friend Mark Berry at Black Hills 100 in two weeks. So I will not be post many runs, only cross training workouts.

Like I said I ran 8.35 miles in 1:20:10

Training thus far this week.

Tuesday I got to go out on the trail. With the rain we had a few days ago it still had some mud to deal with. A day after doing a lower body workout, I was quite sore. I felt like I was wearing a parachute on my back trying to pull myself. Every step was a struggle. I managed to stay around a 10:30 mile mile.

Wednesday was very busy, so I was not able to get to the Y till around 7:30 last night and hit the treadmill. for my run. The treadmill is a moral booster for me. I run better on a treadmill than I ever do outside. Bad part about it is, there is not a whole lot of time between the two runs. Very sad I know.

Tuesday 8 miles in 1:23:10
Wednesday 12 miles 1:37:01

Monday Cross Training

Went to the Y today to do some cross training. I went to the Core Express class and then I did a complete lower body workout. Worked my quads, hams and calves. I really don't know what each exercise is called, so I will spare you all the agony details of explaining what I did. I did do three different types of exercises per muscle group.

Planning to run tomorrow. I have been fighting a nagging pain in my achilles for the last couple of weeks. I am taking ibuprofen every four hours to take away any inflammation which is helping a lot. I am thinking about running to work the next few days. That way I am only running 5.25 miles at one time even though it will be twice, there will be a long break in between. I am hopping that it will not aggravate the Achilles.

Saturday River Run/long run

Did something pretty special this morning. Got to run the River Run (2 mile) with Whitney, my youngest daughter. She did great. We both wore matching clothes. We have had the same shorts for sometime, but we went and found some royal blue running shirts.

We were laughing at all the people running in place and doing all the non-sense that runners do before a typical road race. It is ridiculous. We were off and could not start running till after we crossed the starting line.

The whole race we did nothing but dodge walkers and slow people. It was terrible. About a mile and a half into the run, Whitney had the use the restroom, so we stopped and we were off to the finish. Stopped in the food tent and had some bread, fruit and I had a breakfast burrito.

Whitney got one of the metals to add to our collection. I think she had a good time. I was glad to share that time with her. After that we went home and I got ready to go out for the rest of my training run. I left straight up 11:00 and was off on yet another tour around Wichita.

Was able to keep my pace at a 10:30 minute pace all day. Took very few walking breaks and my water stops were a lot faster than they have been as of late. Patsy texted me around 24 miles into my run and asked me if I would like anything. I requested a p,b&j sandwich a banana and some ice water.

She showed up at 28 miles and I figured out that I was farther away from home than the distance that I had planned to do today. So I decided to ride home with her and convinced her to go for a run so I can finish the miles I needed for today. She really did not fell good today, but she agreed to go.

She had a pretty rough time, but she told me she was glad I drug her out. Nothing was going right for her which I can relate with more than you know. I really felt bad I drug her out.

I ran 40 miles in 8:01:47.

Friday Cross-training

Patsy wanted to go to the South Y for a group class, so I decided to hit the weight room. I did an upper body workout. I did shoulders earlier this week, so I did back, chest, biceps and triceps.

Wednesday Training

Well I thought I would be able to be the rain that was headed our way, but I was wrong. It started raining on me about 2 miles into my run. I was running from my house to the Keeper of the Plains. The rain came down pretty heavy, but that did not bother me all that much.

I ran out of it and it was pretty cool out, so my pace was pretty quick. Got to the turn a round point and I could see another round of rain coming from the West, so I bumped my pace up a little faster, thankfully I was having a great running day.

About 7 miles into the run it started to come down in 55 gallon drums and around 3 or 4 minutes after that, it started to hail. The first on that hit me square on the top of the head startled me and really hurt, but after I knew what it felt like, it wasn't so bad.

Just before it started hailing Patsy drove by and found me and asked if I was okay or wanted a ride home. At this point neither her nor I knew it was going to hail in the matter of a minute. I told her I an doing great, a little rain is not going to hurt anything.

She drove off and I thought I was not going to see her till I got home. She got down the rode and it started hailing and little did I know, she parked in a parking lot and waited for me to pick me up and rescue me. Glad for it too. It came down for quite a while and the stones got larger before it stopped.

I ran 8 miles in 1:09:24.

Tuesday training

Well today was not my best showing, but I got it done. I had stomach issues and had to make two pit stops. Never a fun thing to go through during a run. Pace was slower due to the heat which I think brought on the stomach issues.

I went out really strong and did not for see anything coming on. At the 3 mile mark it all went down hill. Got to the turn-a-round point in a little under 55 minutes and the way back took me around 72 minutes, but I did go a quarter mile further on the way back.

I ran into the weird old man again, but this time he had no clothes on but socks, shoes and his ball cap. It was disturbing. I was about done and I saw Patsy turning into the trail. I tried to yell at her, but the wind was too strong and I was to far away. So I started sprinting to catch her. I wanted to warn her about the naked old man.

As I thought ,she did not want to go back there on her own. So we ran back together back to the house and she finished her run on the treadmill at the Y. We went to the Core Express class and then I did a shoulder workout while Patsy ran.

I ran 10.32 in 2:07:07

Memorial Day training run

Got up early and got prepared to go for a long training run. I would prefer to do it on the trail, but the longer runs are not easy to get aid back there, so I limit the trail to 12 mile or less training runs, because I can carry all the aid I need for that distance.

I went for an adventure around Wichita. I did the first 20 miles in 3 1/2 hours and 30 miles in 5 1/2 hours. I was on a pretty good pace for me. I decided to cut the run short and just get to the pool. I ended up doing a little over 34 miles, then lounged at the pool for an hour and a half or so, then went home.

I decided to suit back up and finish what I had originally was going to do which was 40 miles today. I decided to go back out on the trail this time. stayed pretty close to home though, so I was getting creative as to what trails I went down and zig zagged through another, it was quite fun just going out to just get a little under 6 miles.

Ran into a weird old man a couple of times. He just stared at me as I went by. said hello to him, but no reply. Then I think I scared a couple of teenage boys hanging out next to their motorcycles. They wasn't sure what to think of me and why I would be back there running.

It was still very hot at 5:30 when I went back out. The wind had died down and the bugs were thick. Was glad that I was not going to be back there more than an hour. As much as I run back on the trail, I know the distances in different areas real well. After I goofed around for a while, I got to a distance where I knew I could just do a particular route and it would come out to the 40 miles I wanted today.

Even though this was split into two runs, I was able to stay at 5 miles in 1 hour which is what I try to shoot for with breaks when training. I was very happy I was able to accomplish this.

I ran 40 miles in 8:00:23.

Rocky Mountain Run

I got to run in the most awesome place I have ever ran. My nephew was getting married, so we were headed to Westminster, CO for a few days. It was a no brainer that we were going to get in a training run while we were there.

We decided to find the Mesa Trail. This is located in the foothills of Boulder, CO. We found a trailhead right off a residential street. We had to run on a gravel path for about 3/4 to 1 mile to get into the trails headed up the mountains.

Going up the gravel path was up hill of course, and I felt like I was going to die within the fist 1/4 mile. So I slowed my pace for awhile and power walked up the hill to get my breath. This area is around 5,400 ft of elavation. Checked and Wichita is around 1,200 ft.  Doesn't seem like a big difference, but it was. This area gained around 1,400 feet I believe.

I finally got comfortable with the surroundings and started to push it a little. I could not believe how many people utilized the trails there in Boulder. There were people of all ages and all walks of life, everything from those out for a nice walk to the serious runners.

Most everyone that I passed by were very nice. Said "hello" or "good morning". I was very suprised.

With starting our run around 9:00, it was around 52 degrees and the two hours we were there it might have went up around 10 degrees. I really wanted to be there longer, but with a wedding to go to that day, that is all we could fit in.

With climbing a lot, there was a lot of walking up the mountian. I could not help but stop every once in a while and just take in all the views. I was like a kid in a candy store. Grinning from ear to ear the whole time. There were so many different trails I could have taken, but since I was by myself I decided when I came to an intersection, that I would always go straight.

I did not get up as high as I would have liked to, but I did not get lost. I got back to the gravel path I started on with 40 more minites I could run, so I went up the mountian and found another trail. It was very rocky, but it gave me the best views of the day. I was around halfway up the highest mountain that was in the area we were running. All I can say is it was amazing!!! That was all up hill, so the run back down was a blast.

The trails were very well mantained and very technical. You had to be very careful not to twist your ankle. The trees were beautiful and everything was green. I cannot say enough about the surroundings. I did not get in a very long run as far as distance, but I would not trade it for any other training run I have ever done.

I ran 8.44 miles in 2:00:17.

Here are the pictures from Patsy's cell phone.

Thursday training

After I got off work I threw on my running clothes just consisting of a pair of shorts of course. Filled my bottles and off I went. I took my West Wichita route. It was right around 90 degrees and just a slight breeze for Kansas, just perfect for me.

Kept a tempo I was happy with through out the run. Being an ultra runner, a 10:00 mile for me is a decent pace that I am thrilled with. I train at a pace that I want to try to sustain through out an actual race minus the hills, then I power walk as fast as my legs will move.

Within the first mile I was soaked with sweat, it was great. I am a little strange in that I really love to sweat. Fluids could not go down fast enough. Two bottles usually last me around 10-12 miles. I went through both bottles today in a little under 7 miles. So easy to forget how you have to adjust in the summer.

After the run I was still really thirsty. I drank a 32 oz. glass of water, took a shower and headed to the Y for Core Express class and a lower body workout. Took frequent trips to the water fountain and after I get home, I am still thirsty, geez! Well I will get caught up before the evening is over.

I ran 15.06 miles in 2:48:03.

Tuesday's training

Well I was able to get out on the trails by my house today. It was a pretty windy day, but that didn't effect the run at all. Felt really strong through it all. I kept the pace very easy. Never really got out of breath or wanted to walk at all.

I went to the Y to do a Core Express class, then went to the weight room and did a bicep and triceps workout. Saw my good friend BJ and his wife there.

Ran 10 miles in 1:40:29

Steve's Fun Run

Well I believe that this was the most successful "Steve 50" yet. There was a total of 6 runners that came out, but they were all a blast to run with. Mark Berry from Omaha, NE, Dustin Birdsong from Marquette, KS came as well as Stuart Ray from Andover and Tony Brown from Bentley. I also got to meet two new runners that happen to see the run on Tony Brown's Dailymile page. Ron Micah La Point and Jonathon Goering from Wichita. These are some fun guys to hang around with. They kept me laughing the whole time I they were there.

We were just about to load everything into the car and low and behold, two guys walk up and ask "are you Steve?". I said "yes". It was Ron and Jonathon. They immediately went for the food. I told them they are going to have to run with me to pay for that food. They gladly agreed. They ran one loop with me and we loaded up and went home.

Each loop was around 4.35 miles long. Everyone that came was in no condition to run 50 miles, so I decided before I even started that I was going to go no more than a 50k. We didn't quite make it the 50k distance. Everyone else was done and Patsy had been the wonderful crew that she always is. So I did not want her to have to sit at the shelter any longer.

Ron and Jonathon were game to run more laps with me, but they understood that Patsy would most likely want to get out of the heat and go home. I ended up running 6 loops. Mark ran the first two loops with me and had to back off. He had just ran a 50 mile race the weekend before. Stuart and Dustin was able to run three loops and Ron and Jonathon was only able to run one loop. I believe Tony ran one and a half loops with me and volunteered to go pick up most of the flags and Patsy got the rest of them.

Patsy cooked burgers and put out quite a spread of food to eat. No one went away hungry. I want to thank each one that came. I really enjoyed our time on the trails. I hope you all come back next year. Planning to do the Steve 50 in March next year. I hope there will be less conflicts and more people will be able to come and enjoy time running together.

Ran 26 miles in 5:13:01 

Marking trail

Yesterday evening Tony Brown came out and helped me mark the trail. He has a lot of local knowledge on those trails.  Some of the areas that we wanted to get into was overgrown, so I had to use more of the sidewalk than I had planned to use.

It is a 4.25 mile loop give or take a .10 of a mile or so. After it was marked, I told Tony that I was going to go out and run another loop for a two fold reason. First, to see if the way I marked it made sense to me to follow. Second, I attempted to patch a bladder together on my Camelback with Super Glue and needless to say, it did not hold up.

The whole back of my body was soaked, so I wanted to run another lap to dry off a bet before I got in the car to go home. Well it worked pretty well. and I did not get off track at all. I have friends coming in from out of town to run. This is very humbling for me. Looking forward to spending some time on the trails tomorrow.

Ran 8.5 miles in 1:36:48

Start of training this week

Will Tuesday I started out on a 4 mile run with my wife Patsy. Got home threw on a shirt and headed to the Y for a Core Express class. Then I hit the treadmill to do another 6 miles. I then did a chest and back workout on the weights.

Today I did a 10 mile run on the streets. Headed North 5 miles and back. Last nights treadmill run was effortless and today I believe I took around four little walk breaks. I just can't explain how one day goes so good and the next, it fills like I'm running for the first time in my life.

I was happy with how they went regardless if I had to walk or just breezing through it.

Tuesday run w/Patsy- 4 miles 43:07
                Treadmill- 6.03 46:39

Wednesday- 10 miles 1:37:59

Saturday's Long Run

I set out on my Saturday long run just before 11:30 this morning. It was a little cool out which was a good thing. I decided to run through the streets of Wichita instead of the trail. I wanted a break from the ticks and other creepy crawlies.

This was the best time I have ever recorded on the training run at this distance. Everything went great up to 15 miles and like I expected, my stomach started to give me fits. I stopped and filled my bottles and got a nutri-grain bar and some peanut M&M's. I got the nutri-grain bar down, but did not feel like eating the M&M's. So that is all the food I ate through the whole run.

I am amazed that I did not fall out with not having any energy. The last 3 miles or so, I did some walk/running to get home. I really wish I could figure out what to do to calm my stomach on runs to be able to feel like eating to have plenty of energy to get stronger and perform better.

Any suggestions from you readers would be helpful what works for you. I will try anything to have a better experience training.

I also did a short run Friday night to scope out the location I will be doing my fun run next Saturday the 19th. The ticks and mosquito's were out in full force. It was pretty bad time to be out on the trails. It was almost dusk.

Friday night: 4.66 in 1:15:30
Saturday run: 30.42 in 5:47:02

Random Training

I have been trying to find a good location for the Steve 50 this year and so I went to a couple of locations and ran the trails at each location and accumulated 5.5 miles doing so. I did settle on Pawnee Prairie Park here in Wichita. Here is a link to the website. It is May 19th and we will start at 7:00 am. Leave a comment if you have any questions and are interested in participating.    http://www.wichita.gov/CityOffices/Park/Parks/PawneePrairie/

I am on facebook and Twitter if you would like to friend/follow me, If you would like to ask me questions about the run there also. It is free and there will be burgers and the fixings after the run.

Yesterday a ran 4 miles on the trail with Patsy and today after I got off work I was able to do another 10 miles on the trails. I purchased a pair on New Balance MT101's at Sports Authority last night on clearance and tried them out today. They were different than any other pair of shoes I have ever had before. They are a minimalist shoe. Very light weight and they have pretty good protection from rocks and other debris in the ball of the shoe.

My feet are going to take a bit to get used to them. I am used to wearing a shoe with extra support. This will help toughen my feet up a bit I hope.

Recap: Ran 5.5 miles and did not keep track of the time.
            Ran 4 miles in 50:07
            Ran 10 miles in 1:43:40

Thunderbird Lake Relay for Life Run

I went up to Norman, OK to participate in a fun raiser for cancer run for friends I met at Ozark Trail 100 race this last November Eddie Spencer and Rex Pace. I had been fighting a sinus infection all week as you know through past post. The antibiotic I am taking really upsets my stomach.

We left about an hour before we was to start the run and the GPS got us clear on the other side of the lake from where we needed to be. I called Eddie noticing I had a missed call from him anyway letting him know where we was and he and Rex gave us good directions and we finally got there about 5 minutes before it started.

In the car on the way, I was trying to get my bottles ready and I opened the new bag of Infinit Nutrition and low and behold, they forgot to put in a measuring cup. I seem to always have a small disaster when I go to races lately. So I did my best to guess on how much to put into each bottle and then I added the water and tasted it to try to get it at the right mix. In the process, I got it all over my lap.

My stomach felt great at the beginning of the run and around 12 miles into the 15.5 mile loop, it went all the way south. It was around 92 degrees and with the trails being in the trees, it was a sauna in there. I was able to stay hydrated just fine. The problem I had was the antibiotic acted up my stomach something fierce.

The trails were pretty cool. They mainly get mountain bike traffic rather than runners. There are a number of wood ladders built into the trails were not runnable, but a mountain bike could get down them pretty easily. Seen a couple of turtles and a pygmy rattlesnake that was coiled ready to strike at us, pretty scary I must say.

It was a 10k, 25k and a 50k run. I had all intentions of doing the 50k distance, but I ended up only doing one lap which was the 25k distance due to my stomach issues. I had an absolute blast out there. They were grilling burgers and dogs, but my stomach was in no shape to eat anything. I was really bummed, because it all looked so good.

After hanging out and talking for an hour or so after I got done running, we headed back to Wichita and by the time we got to Stillwater I was ready to eat. There was a great BBQ place at a truck stop there that was really good. I didn't care for the baked beans though. The pulled pork sandwich I had was really big.

Only doing the one loop got us home at a real descent time, so we were able to chill up and relax the rest of the day.

I ran 15.5 miles in 3:49:36.