27 on 27 "Race" Report

As for "28 on 28"...we'll see :).

On Friday night Plymouth got the kind of snowfall usually saved for animated movies and snowglobes...big and fluffy, very slowly descending and landing without wind to blow it around or drift it. It resulted in each and every tree being outlined in snow so you could see every branch. Absolutely beautiful. I was tempted to take a picture of our house, with the Christmas lights still up, but never got around to it...and will probably regret that soon.
I had planned on running my 27 miles in 3 seperate runs, with breaks at our house for soup and warmth in between. The first loop consisted of a 12 mile out-and-back on Blueberry Lane, a very small but relatively hilly country road heading South out of town. It was splendid--plowed, but not salted, so the road was covered in a packed snow that wasn't all too slippery, and not at all slushy. As usual for me when it comes to pacing, I ran the early part of my day wayyy to fast. I downed a Gu and some gatorade every 30 minutes and finished in 1:38 (8:10 pace). I was hoping to keep my overall pace for the day under 9:00, and was far ahead of schedule. But it felt sooo good....
Back at our house, Ellie had warm Chicken & Stars ready for me and even had the foresight to suggest I change from my Asics to my Lafumas, with their Gore-Tex bottoms. Smart woman. However, being a man, I immediately decided against it, and kept to my Asics with my Christmas-present Gaiters over the top. Mistake number one.
Leg #2 was another out-and-back, this time on Hwy E heading North, the same route I used for Nancy's "8 on the 8th." I'm really coming to enjoy this road...rolling hills, easy mile markers (there's literally a road every mile), and little traffic. Highway E had also been plowed--and salted. This combination resulted in a sub-32 degrees melting of the road way snow. It was a slushy, snowy, watery--a slush-snow-tery mess. Less than 3 miles into my 10 mile leg, I could see the water oozing out of my shoes with every step. Ugh.
Out and back I continued, keeping my pace under 8:30 per mile until the last 3 miles, when my feet were really feeling the effects. My pace dropped off a bit down the stretch, but soon enough I was back inside the friendly confines of my house, with Chicken & Stars & Dry Socks & Lafumas & and "I told you so" waiting.
Leg number 3 was a 5 mile loop in town, and I was lucky enough to be joined by my brother-in-law, Doug, on the "victory lap."

Parsenn really wanted to join me for Leg 3...not yet, little guy. But your time is coming. He's adorable.

Doug, waiting to start Leg 3, in his custom-made "27 on 27 shirt...except that he spelled my last name WRONG...

After about 15 minutes of rest (for me and Doug--I was tired from running, he was tired from last night), off we went. I had intentionally planned to run past my parents' house in town, and then Ellie's parents' house, for "manned aid stations" consisting of beer. It was part joke, part celebration, and mostly for comedic effect. 1.5 miles into the final loop we were at my parents place, but as we approached, I could see the tell-tale sign of desertion--a snowmobile track leaving their house. I had been ditched for another wonderful winter activity. My dad was out enjoying the freshly groomed snowmobile trails, but I can't blame him.
We continued, arriving at my wife's parents' at around mile 3. There was my mother-in-law, camera in hand, waiting for us.
Some drinks of Smithwick's later, off we went. Believe it or not, I almost PR'd in the marathon this day...hitting mile 26.2 in 3:46.

Approaching Mile 25 Aid Station (Ellie's parents' house).

The last half mile took us over the Mullet River (no kidding, that's the name) and up a steep hill. Finally, arriving back home, it was time to celebrate. The aid station this time was stocked with freshly baked lasagna, ice cold water, a puppy, and ice cold New Glarus beer...my personal favorite. All in all, I finished in 3:53:50 (8:39 pace)"chip time," but if you include the "aid station" breaks taken it was about 4:30.

I did it! Parsenn was so excited, he had to pee.

Ellie's thoughts: "Did Parsenn fart, or does 27 miles smell this bad?

Earlier in the week I had emailed my family about intentions to make this a "Birthday Biathlon," with running replacing the skiing portion. I was intent on making it happen, too. So after showering Ellie and I headed out the family farm to do some trap shooting. My other bro-in-law, Curt, spent most of the morning clearing snow at the farm so we could complete the shooting portion, and then proceeded to dominate, along with Doug, the trap shooting. My personal results are something I'd like to forget...I'm by far the worst shot in the family.

Ellie and I trap shooting--part two of the "Birthday Biathlon." Man, was I bad.

Ellie thinking, "Wow, that 12-gauge recoil is something fierce!"

I have thoughts still to share on my "27 on 27," but I'm going to wait for another post. Having said that, I can't tell you the kind of fun I had. In the final .25 miles of the run, Doug and I were talking about college life and drinking--some story about a friend doing 21 shots on his 21 birthday, and I remember telling him, "I feel drunk right now." I was tired, lightheaded, and ready to be done running. It was a mixture of hypothermia and hypoglycemia (which I think of as uphoria--see 2 Cor 12:10)...or perhaps it was just me realizing how blessed I was at that particular moment. Surrounded by family, supportive of an activity I love, smiling at what I had done, and also at what the future still withheld. It makes me smile just to think of it.

27 on my 27th

Well, I did it! It was quite a run--I'm working on getting the photos uploaded and I'll have the whole story for you soon! I finished in 3:53:50, which I'm definitely happy with.

Thanks again for the comments about my '08 goals--perhaps 2008 miles in 2008 is a possibility?

8 Goals for 2008

1. Qualify for Boston.
2. Run 1000 1800 miles in the calendar year.
3. Break 3 hours in Chicago.
4. Set new PR's in 3 distances other than the marathon.
5. Guide 5 people to enter a race and run a distance longer than they've ever run before.
6. Stay injury free--not "hurt" free. Injury free.
7. Run with others more.
8. Walk to work more days than I drive.

Now, lets break them down:

1. This has GOT to happen this year. If conditions aren't right at a peak event, I'm going to have the intelligence to save the training and go someplace else. But I WILL be toeing the line in Hopkington '09. Because of this I have really trimmed my scheduled events to more speed work. I had been flirting with the idea of running a 50K (part of me still is...stay tuned), but I am really going to focus efforts on a couple half marathons in preparation for Journeys in May, and then a couple more for Chicago in the fall. Depending how this weekend's 27-miler goes, I'll know more about the endurance portion of my baseline.
2. So this one already has changed, based on advice from runners faster than I (in the comments.) I was originally aiming at a 1000 mile year, but that simply isn't enough miles to attain other goals I've listed. I'm officially increasing my goal to 1800 miles in the calendar year. This will allow me to average about 40 miles or more per week during the roughly 30 weeks I'll be training for a marathon (my program is about 16 weeks long) and then drop down to about 20 mile weeks for the remaining 20(ish) weeks in the year. I've never been one to count miles, but I really want to start. I guess this goal is a shout out to the Laminator, who hit his 1000th mile just this past week.
3. This one should be interesting. I think if I can hit the 3 hour barrier, I'd consider the marathon "conquered" in my own mind. This goal is a loooooong way off, but I've already been dealt a couple pocket aces: two guys that want to do it with me.
4. I really like the local events, and this is a way to incorporate them into my speed work. It's a great opportunity to connect with other runners and take part in some pretty cool events and courses around here. Looking at my times, I think my 2 mile, 4 mile, and 10K PR's are a little soft, so I'll be aiming at those.
5. I can honestly say I've gotten both my parents and my wife's parents to take part in a 5K in the past--something they had never even thought of doing. I want to do that for more people. I especially want to get Brock (My NF hero) participating in another 5K. Talk about motivation--if I know he's out there overcoming more than I can ever imagine, I can gut out a 3:10. Boston, afterall, is one of his FAVORITE cities. Oddly enough, he had the opportunity to visit Bahhhston on an NF-related medical trip.
A lot of people talk about getting in shape, but don't know where to start. Hopefully I can provide some leadership, guidance, and some kicks in the butt if needed.
6. Trying to run a sub-3 marathon is going to hurt, no doubt. What I don't want is to get the nagging stuff that cuts me out of a couple weeks of training. This summer it was plantar fasciitis for about 2 weeks. The summer before that it was some lateral meniscus issues. I'm upping the nutrition, I'm taking more rest days, and I'm cross training more. My baseline fitness is leaps and bounds above where it has been in the past, so I'm pretty optimistic about this.
7. I get bored. Simple as that. The accountability alone will help a lot.
8. If I take the shortest route, it's .77 miles to my office. I add in one little block, and it's exactly a mile. I work 5 days a week, and on Wednesdays, because of meetings, I need to drive. That leaves 4 days for me to run/walk 3 times. I'm throwing this goal in there, but we shall see...

My big races for '08 are Journeys and Chicago. I'm going to do at least one half marathon in preparation for those runs, and we'll be doing the Fall 50 again this year, although not in the pairs division--it's less than a week after Chicago. We'll probably be a tam of 4 this year. As I mentioned earlier, I'm still not completely eliminating a february 50K from the radar...but it's really losing steam in the "don't be an idiot--remember goals 1 and 6" part of my brain.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts, so let 'em rip! Any tips? (Nancy, now you can comment :) )

Look out, '08!

Well, I'm ready to kick off the 2008 season in fine shape now, after a splendid holiday. Saturday's run with Jon was fantastic--a little over 21 miles crushed his old record for longest run, and I could have easily run my 27 miles--I was sure to stay hydrated, keep the Gu flowing (actually, "oozing" is a better term), and even worked in some of my secret weapon--Campbell's Chicken & Stars. The excitement is building for this weekend and a great start to 2008.

For Christmas, I really scored well. I got new trail running shoes and they're feeling great around the house as I try to break them in. I also got a pair of gaiters, TWO headlamps, and a Browning A-Bolt 270 Rifle for deer hunting. Last year's mishap will not repeat itself.

My favorite gift? Ellie framed some of my marathon medals into a shadow box:

L-R:Cincinnati Flying Pig, Chicago, Las Vegas, Green Bay, Chicago, Green Bay, Chicago, Door County Fall 50.

As I close this post, the words needed to describe how blessed I've been in 2007 escape me. Perhaps my dad's favorite expression works best: Life is good.

Always remember who makes this season so important.

Mele Kalikimaka

Before I get started, I can't resist sharing a little Cousin Eddie...

This isn't even my favorite Cousin Eddie moment--that would have to his response when Clark mentions to the kids that Santa's sleigh has been spotted over New York City:
"You serious, Clark?"

Well, this Saturday morning I'm running a 20 miler with my buddy Jon, so wish me luck! I can't say I'm all that trained, but I have been really hammering down the 1.5 mile distance run with Parsenn, if that counts for much. Jon and I will be doing 2 rounds of a 10mile loop just outside of town. It travels right through a cross-country skiing area, over some beautiful country roads, and, to top it off, it ends with two serious hills. I'm looking forward to getting in a great run and will be sure to keep it at an easy pace, considering the 27 miler lurking in the near future.

PS...I'm not exactly sure of the explanation for such an incredible oversight, but my age group victory in this year's Lake Street Run didn't make the Top Ten Running Moments of 2007.

"Can't see the line, can ya, Russ?"

I watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation for the first time (this week) last night. I had to post something about it.

Merry Christmas!



On the running front, I can't say I've been putting in the miles. I did run on Saturday night after reading Doug's post. I took Parsenn out on a short jog (about a mile) and I loved it. It's crazy at the moment, with Christmas this weekend, commitments every night, and limited access to safe running conditions, considering the snow. I will be running 20 miles with my buddy Jon this weekend, however, so lets just hope I survive that. Then next weekend is my "27 on my 27th," so I guess I can call the last two weeks a taper? Generally, you have to be running hard before tapering, but as I said in a recent post...mundane details.

That was a flagrant personal intentional foul.

-- Michael Scott, The Office

If you haven't watched NBC's The Office, you probably have also wondered what's going on with the "Dwight Schrute" link on the right. My advice to you: Rent the first season of the show and enjoy! It is--scratch that--it was the highlight of my television week, until the writers' strike ended the season.



One of my favorite episodes is the Basketball episode, condensed above. I have a new appreciation for it, too, since I've started playing in the Plymouth City League A Division (there's A and B) on Monday and Wednesday nights. When I was in 7th and 8th grade, I used to scorekeep for the league, and now here I am playing in it with Plymouth Plumbing and Heating. We improved our record to 4-1 with a win on Monday night on a fast break layup with less than 5 seconds left. The 6 people in the gym watching (Ellie was one of them--what a wife!) found it very exciting.

As I said, I've got a new appreciation for the clip I posted above. In the game before our game on Monday night, one of the teams (wearing white undershirts) only had 5 players and were getting tired. What did they do? What any B-league team would do--they recruited the scorekeeper, who happened to be wearing a white shirt, to give them some minutes off the bench. And he did--in jeans and all. The best part: he still had his cell phone clipped to his waist when he started. It was removed after it got knocked off in a scramble for a loose ball. Hilarious.

Much like Jim from The Office, basketball was "kinda my thing" in high school. I was never much of a shooter, but I was pretty quick and could play good defense. I've lost some of that since I developed a certain ambition, but when you consider that some of the guys playing were also playing when I was scorekeeping, I'm still at an advantage.

Is there much of a correlation between basketball and running? Not really. I get tired pretty quick, but my recovery time is about 15 seconds and I'm ready to go again. Is it good for my ankle that gets sprained seemingly every time I try go on a trail run? Actually, it's pretty therapeutic for the little bugger. My ankle is sore immediately after the game, but the next day it feels stronger and the pain-free ranges of motion have increased. I don't wear a brace on it because I am rehabbing it and don't want to give it extra support--I want my own body to provide that in the form of stronger ligaments, tendons, and fascia.

While basketball probably isn't the best form of cross training for running, it's certainly not the worst, and I enjoy it far too much to give it up. It's kinda like golf...it only takes one good shot to keep you coming back. Example: last night I made some great moves to get into the lane, but couldn't finish the layup on a couple of them. If I had scored, I'm certain the "crowd" of 6 people would have together went, "ooooooh." Well, at least Ellie would have.

I'm a King of the Kick!

Thanks again to Nancy for directing a great "8 on the 8th" event. It's a great tune-up for my "27 on my 27th" coming up later this month. Viewing the overall results, I took third behind a couple of great runners--Marathon Dude Bill, who is a sub 3:00 runner (something I hope to be by this time next year) and the Toronto Runner, who's race conditions were less than optimum (something I can relate to).
I think the best part of the event was reading the race recaps. My personal favorites were Doug's and Reid's. I mean, Reid got BIT BY A DOG on his run! Wow! Honorable mention goes to The Laminator, who ran a King of the Kick worthy time despite some "issues" he had to attend to.
I was also able to even the score with Doug at 1-1, which felt pretty good after the thrashing I took in Chicago. He's obviously bitter, as he took all the medals home with him and is refusing to reliquish them.
Thanks again, Nancy, and to everyone else who shared their race reports--they were a blast!

8/8/8

What's the last 8 for in my title, you ask? 8 degrees this morning. How fitting.
I originally wanted to run my 8 miles on the Ice Age Trail so that I ran slower but had a higher HR, but the conditions weren't exactly accomodating:
-- We have 4" of fluffy snow resting one top of about 6" of crusty snow, so with every step my foot would break through the crusty stuff, leading to quite a struggle just to find a rhythm walking.
-- It's also another gun deer season here in Wisconsin, so although I was in neon yellow, I know I'm not all that welcome out in the forest.

So I returned home, switched out of the trail shoes and into the roadie shoes, and took off on a 10 miler, with the first and last miles serving as warmups. It was still very chilly, but I enjoyed being out there and ran a negative split to finish in 55:37. Not sure where that left me in the overall standings, but it was kinda neat to know there were a bunch of people running for the exact same purpose as me (with the Exception of our RD, who ran yesterday).

I think I've been reading too many of Doug's posts recently, as good ol' Patty Plantar Fascia is starting to stalk me again. Just what I need. I attribute this to the blistering pace set by my fellow participants in today's race: vehicles. They were averaging at least 40 mph every time the passed me, just fast enough to spray some salt/snow/slush in my direction. Not sure how that relates to Patty, but both irritated me a bit.

Despite finishing about 8 minutes before Doug, I must have taken a wrong turn on the course, as when I reached the finish line (corner of Hwy E and Hwy O) there were no awards left. Gimme my medals ya jerk!

Thanks again, Nancy, for a great event!

"If I knew exactly why and how a [long run] worked its magic..."

...I might not treasure it as dearly."

--Michael Parker, Runner's World, January 2008

If you haven't yet, read the entire article in this month's edition. It was a bit of an epiphany for me, as I had only hours earlier talked to Ellie about how great--energized and focused, yet calm and relaxed--I was feeling after my run this afternoon. Parker points out several reasons that I can associate with regarding a long training run:
-You earn quite a few funny looks when you tell someone you're moving a little slow today because of yesterday's 17 miler.
-Only a runner can understand that physical discomfort isn't always directly related to mileage...sometimes the opposite is true.
-While I'm often thinking about pace and time and splits during my runs, life itself is actually slowing down, letting me pray, sort through schedules, plan the future (both tomorrow and 2 years from now), and simply find my "rhythm," for lack of a better term. I mean, I'm a white guy--rhythm is elusive to say the least. But when I give myself the hour or two to "be still and listen" I'm able to find purpose.

This weekend Wisconsin received about 8 inches of heavy snow. It's really pretty out there, and I had to take advantage of it. I picked up Bonnie and headed for the Ice Age Trail to get away. Considering the conditions, I hoped to cover about 6 miles in an hour. I finished about 5.5 on an out-and-back portion, but it was one of the most satisfying runs I've had in months. Just me an Bonnie (literally...not another track on the trail) trudged our way up and down the hills, into and then with the wind, with only our breathing to listen to. The snow prevented me from rolling my ankles and also raised the HR and lowered the pace. I took a picture of Bonnie leading me down the trail with my phone, but can't seem to figure out how to email it to myself so I can share it...hopefully soon.

When we made it back out of the woods, my feet were soaked, my legs were sore, and Bonnie was exhausted (she fell asleep on the 5 minute car ride home!). What a perfect way to start the week...