Five running-related items I really want and could really use but am way too cheap to buy so instead I'll write a post about them.

1: New headphones. (Are they even called "headphones" anymore?) The ones I currently use make me look like this guy. And when you take into account they're attached to the minute iPod Shuffle, it's truly pathetic.

Price: ~$20

2: The ASSORTED box of Gu packets. I've now ordered two 24 pack boxes of Espresso Love. Not only can I not choke down the final unopened packet, I can't even drink coffee anymore!

Price of Espresso Love Box: ~$20
Price of Assorted Box: ~$25

3: A watch that actually works. I think this is really the worst of all the list. For training I currently use a Coleman brand watch. Yes, this Coleman brand:

Because nothing says "We know marathon running" like a light that attracts and kills 17 insects per minute. My watch has an 8-lap memory, too. Which is great...except for the fact you can only view your time as the individual laps (and then try to add them together for the total time) or the cumulative time (and then try to subtract them apart for your splits). I know 26.2 miles. Other than that, I was told there would be no math.

Price of a new watch: ~$50

4: More Bodyglide. I'm still scraping the remnants out of a tube I bought at the Chicago Marathon in '06. I'll save you the details, but lets just say my nips actually detach themselves from my body, pick up signs that read "Hell NO! We won't go!" and protest against me anytime I plan on running more than 5 miles. Wisconsin Spring, meet Cotton layering. Flame, meet lighter fluid.

In searching for an accurate price for a stick of Bodyglide, I actually found out that a bike shop .8 MILES from my house sells the stuff. I drive by said bike shop at least twice daily.

5: nuun Hydration Tablets. I'm to the point at the moment where I've drank so much yellow Gatorade that the taste of it only makes me MORE thirsty...for water. (Ellie reached that point several months ago)
I've been reading about nuun for a while, and am very interested in trying it. I'm a sucker for stuff you can dissolve in water. I enjoy Airborne, Emergen-C, and Alka Seltzer. Ok, just kidding on the Alka Seltzer. Never had it. However, I also enjoy the mixing part ofIrish Car Bombs. I never actually drink it. You see, if you don't drink it fast enough, the Bailey's coagulates, and it's disgusting. So basically, I drop the shot of Bailey's in the Guiness, then give it to someone else to drink.
Anyone out there use this stuff? (The nuun, NOT the Jaeger)

3 tubes of nuun (makes 36 bottles of water): ~$20

Now is where you come in. What else belongs on this list? As runners, we're already kinda quirky. We all have something in the "just buy it already!" category. Comment away!

Post-post editing: I ran 8.1 miles today. First, a great 5K with Parsenn at Parsenn pace. Then I ran 5 miles as a speed workout. Surprisingly, I finished in 31:26 (6:17 pace) and TOTALLY shocked myself. I was pumped with a 6:30 pace last week, and 6:17 wasn't too bad. Wow! Also, it was chilly and windy, and my nipples hurt. See #4 above.
I also tried to take a bunch of pictures of stuff to add to this post. I had a lot of trouble with the camera, though, and quit halfway through. I think it needs a new memory card. I probably won't buy one. Too expensive.

April (Snow) Showers

I was planning on running about 16 miles at PMP this weekend, but things got a bit busy. Saturday morning I went down to Madison for a seminar on Workers' Compensation Management (I know, I know--where can you sign up, right?). After sitting through the first 2 hours of a seminar I had actually already attended, I decided to leave. I had the notes and info at home already and my mind was on running. So at the first coffee break I snuck out and headed to the UW Arboretum. It's really a beautiful area, and there's a 10K loop around Lake Wingra that is used for the Mad City 100K event, held a couple weekends ago. Here's the course:



Each mile of the course is marked and named after a Wisconsin Olympian. It's pretty cool. Despite some serious winds, I ran the 10K in 40:27, which was a PR. I really feel like I'm peaking at the perfect time...

Saturday night was our church's fundraising auction, which Ellie was on the board of directors for. This past week we have been up until about midnight nightly preparing for it, and to have it finally arrive was wonderul. The best part? $130,000 was raised in His honor. Wow!

Sunday morning came with the plan of running before 10:30 church. Ellie and I both decided to punt on the run but did make it to church. As usual, the rest of the day filled up too, and we found ourselves last night making plans for the make-up run. Right now it's looking like it'll be tonight...except for the fact it's FRIGGEN SNOWING right now...unbelievable.

Move over, Snoop.

Ellie flashing gang symbols (or it's just "N" and "F" in sign language) at Chicago last year:

Create Fake Magazine Covers with your own picture at MagMyPic.com

Taper Time

After back-to-back 50+ mile weeks, I'm excited to step back a bit. Especially after this weekend--8 miles on the IAT Saturday followed by 18 on Sunday destroyed my legs. I'm not sure how you trail guys run 50 MILES on the IAT...but I can see why you do. It's pretty addicting, as I've mentioned.
Speaking of addiction, how lucky am I to have a wife who is such an enabler understanding person? Last night we ran 8 miles on some local trails with Bonnie (an over-energetic yellow lab) as part of her (Ellie, not Bonnie) training for Grandma's Marathon. It's neat for me to see her mindset change, from a half marathon being an overwhelming task, to now: a 13 mile run is a relatively easy training run! This weekend she runs 17 miles, so she's a bit nervous.
This morning was my first tough workout of the taper: 5 miles at 6:30 pace. I was about 30 seconds off my goal at the 4 mile work, but somehow finished the last mile at a 6 minute clip, getting home in 32:27. That's a 6:29 pace, and according to McMillan, the equivalent of a 3:10:53 Marathon. That time would leave me 6 seconds to spare and STILL qualify for Boston. Gotta love the extra 59 seconds they grant you. Oh so generous.
Speaking of Boston, check out the race reports for Nitmos (aka Beardsley's Prag), Reid, and "The Dude." Great runners, fantastic writers. They're worth the time to read.
Congrats, fellas, and everyone else out there who got to turn left on Boylston.

The Sweetest Left Turn in the World

After watching friends run Boston today from the comfort of my laptop, I'm more excited than ever to join them in 2009, as planned (fingers and shoelaces crossed). Here's an article from Runners' World today about the approach to Boston's finish line. My favorite all-time memory from marathon running is 2006 in Chicago, turning off of Roosevelt and onto Columbus. The crowd was going nuts, I was running 7 minute miles, and my wife and best bud were right there, completely ecstatic. There may have even been a tear or two.

I can only imagine what Boylston will be like in 364 days.

Borderline Addiction

An addiction to the IAT, that is.

After such a great track workout I decided to treat myself to some more trails, in the form of 8.5 miles on Saturday and 20(ish) on Sunday. These trails aren't all too friendly to speed, so I settled in today knowing that I wasn't going to run 7:15's. Probably not even 8:00's. I was okay with that, though, because the overall exertion on those 20 miles would be worth their weight in leg strength. These trails are a knock 'em down, drag 'em out, my-quads-are-burning-and-I'm-about-to-trip-and-knock-myself-unconscious challenge. I'm guessing they're not as tough as the Superior Trails (no bouldering required here) but in my own very limited amount of trailrunning experience, they're pretty tough.
I ran some more of the Glacial Trail course, from Butler Lake to Hwy S and back, then the Butler Lake loop.

The first 17.5 miles were done in 2:29 (8:28 pace), and I jogged/hiked the last 3.1 and soaked up a B...E...A...utiful Wisconsin spring day. I'll let you know how the legs feel tomorrow!

Checks #2 and #3

Yesterday morning I was up and out to the IAT at around 8:00 for a planned 6 miler with Parsenn. The little guy wasn't up for 6, however, and his tongue was dragging by mile 2, so we turned around and finished up with 4 miles.

I really love going out to the trails--especially the IAT. This particular part of the trail is a bit north of where they hold the Glacial Trail 50, and anyone who's taken part in that event knows how rocky it can be. The trails are always a welcome break from pavement for me. The change in footing, the abrupt changes in elevation, the quiet surroundings. Trail running also forces me to increase my cadence, decrease my pace, and not heel strike at all in my stride. In addition to all that, Parsenn is always entertaining--from "hunting" leaves blowing in the wind to going around the wrong side of tree (he's on a leash most of the time), all he wants is to keep up. Sometimes his legs just aren't long enough!

Today was my track workout, hoping to do a Yasso workout (10 800's at sub-3:00). After a mile warmup, I was off and enjoying it, as you can see by the results:

1: 2:45
2: 2:48
3: 2:48
4: 2:50
5: 2:51
6: 2:50

I wanted to do ten 800's but was feeling so good after the first 6 (with 1:50 rest intervals) that I upped the stakes a bit, and ran the last 4 800's as miles. Results:

7/8: 5:51
9/10: 5:48

Wow! To say the least, I was pumped!

After checking these workouts off the list, all that's left for this week is my long run. I'll get back to you later this weekend.

Check #1

I planned on running a tempo 8-10 miler yesterday, but life (in various formats) said, "How 'bout you just settle for a 3 miler with Parsenn? Hmmm? Oh yeah, and I'll bring the wrath if you try to squeeze in an hour of running in spite of my warnings."

So I obliged. Things are busy and I don't see that ending any time, so I'll make due when I can. I really think I ought to just quit the day job and husband duties and run full time. Any thoughts, Ellie?

So, anyway, I ran a hilly and windy 8 miler tonight instead of last night with the plan of keeping it at or below marathon pace. Result: 8 miles, 57 minutes. Now it's off to a meeting without showering or even applying deoderant. Luckily these guys greet me every time they see me, no matter where it is, with "Did you run here?"

They don't get it, but at the same time, they get it. Make sense?

Big Week

This is my last big week for hard training, and I'm excited for it. It got off to a good start last night with a nice 5 miler at Parsenn Pace. My legs are still a bit sore from this weekend's run (by the way, there are now photos in the report), so it felt great to stretch them out a bit last night. On this week's list:

-Yasso 800's
-An easy trail run, provided it has dried out some
-10 miles at marathon pace
-20-21 miles at around marathon pace this weekend

On Endurance Planet is an interview with Michael Wardian, who just won his second national title of the year this past weekend in the 100K. (Congrats go out to friend Roy pIrRUNg too, who took 9th overall!) Wardian also:

-Holds the world record for fastest marathon pushing a stroller
-Held the world record for fastest marathon on a treadmill
-Will be competing in the USATF Trail Marathon Championships
-Led the early miles in the Olympic Trials last fall in NYC
-Is running the Western States 100 this June

Quite the schedule!

Race Report: South Shore Half Marathon Steeplechase

Most challenging conditions I've ever run in.

Absolutely loved it.



One of the puddles.


As previous posts pointed out, I knew going in this was going to be a different animal today. Wisconsin has had 3 straight days of rain, and add that to a previous week of temperatures warm enough to melt all the remaining snow, and you've got a saturated situation.

Still, I had paid my 9 bucks to run this 13.1 so I might as well suck it up. I was out of the house at 6:30, stopped at the store to get the breakfast of champions, and then heading South for the hour-ish drive to the race. I wanted to get there early so I could run about 6 miles before the race started and increase my total mileage to 19 on the day.

After checking in and picking up my sweet gloves (no medals at this event, only gloves) I started off on the course. It's actually a great course--bike trail the whole way, right on Lake Michigan, some rolling hills. I kept telling myself to keep these first 6 miles at 7:10 and save some juice for the rest of the morning. Mother Nature accommadated that task, too, by presenting me with gusty winds and drizzle. At Mile 3 I looked ahead before turning around...and saw what would be the first of several puddles. Not all that enthused at the thought of running through it, I turned around and returned to the start line, finishing up in 43:13.

I returned to the car, grabbed a Gu and some water, and called Ellie, who informed me it was SNOWING in Plymouth. WTF?!

My shoes were already damp, my running pants were wet, and I was faced with a dilemma. I brought a change of socks and some shorts to use if I chose to. But shorts on a day like this? I wasn't sure about that. And while my socks were slightly damp, they were Wigwam socks and were actually holding up pretty good. I didn't want to risk changing it (the other socks were cotton), so stayed with the same socks but bit the bullet and changed into shorts. The thought of slugging around soaking wet pant legs for 13 miles wasn't all that appealing.

Back at the start line (I only had about 10 minutes between finishing the first 6 miles and getting back there) I was somewhere in the middle when the gun (in the form of a guy with a bullhorn yelling "go") went off. Again, the course took me South along the lake and was beautiful. Especially with a tail wind that would gradually increase in speed for the first 6.5 miles. First mile: 6:48.

Mile 1, in my red running hoodie

Way too fast there, Nic...slow it down. I was aiming for 7:00 splits and hit them for the next couple miles. Then came the puddles. It was interesting to watch the runners in front of me...go straight through the water, slip and slide in the mud adjacent, go wayyyyy off the course and stay (relatively) dry. I chose going way out of the way.

For the most part, I avoided any real saturation in the first half. I'd stay out of the water when possible, and do my best Deion Sanders high step when I had to go through it. At the turn around, my clock read exactly 45 minutes, and I had counted about 45 people in front of me (it was an out and back course, so I got to see all the speedsters).

Me in the background, "Chasing Boston"...well, chasing a guy in a Boston Jacket! I want one!

As I began to fatigue a bit, my footwork did too, and tiptoeing through the grass around the puddles became more difficult. Finally around mile 8, I got to the point where I figured I'd just go through one. Big mistake. This puddle was actually the 6th Great Lake, and fully shin deep on me. As I waded out of it, the run suddenly was a LOT less fun.

From Mile 9 to the finish, the wind seemed to really pick up, right into my face, and my breathing was getting a bit labored. I held on to the 7:00 pace until about Mile 11, when I thought of Doug's post, remembered this is a training run, and allowed myself to slow down a bit. There's no benefit to going anaerobic at this point...just bring it home.

Mile 12, two thumbs up.

I crossed in 1:33:07 (7:07), good for right around 40th overall and 8th in my age group. A quick call to Ellie to let her know I didn't drown, a change out of my shoes galoshes, and it was off to get some food in my belly.

The refreshments were wide ranging, and I helped myself to a bit of everything. Walking from one spot to another, I decided that in endurance sports, there is a "Mount Rushmore" of Post-Race Drinks: Coke, Chicken Broth, Beer, Dunkin' Donuts Coffee. I had a glass of each.

Looking back right now, Here's what comes to mind:
- My Rushmore of Post-Race drinks actually sounds rather disgusting. But Wow!--at the time, it was fantastic!
- That water was cold.
- The wind on the way back was NOT fun.
- Overall, 19 miles in 2:16 is a 7:07 pace and I'll take that any day.

Photos courtesy of Jeff from Badgerland Striders.

Uh Oh Part 2

A post today on badgerlandstriders.org message board (Posted by Layne, who ran the course today) had this to say about the South Shore half marathon course:

- No ice
- Mile 4 (and 8 on the way back): small lake-18 steps-top of the shoes
- Just past 4 mi: very large puddle; 21 steps over the shoes. This wasn't there Wed and may drain some by tomorrow
- 50 ft later, water, 9 steps, over the shoes. This one's been there since Sun and isn't going anywhere
- Between 5.5 & 5.75 mi: there are 2 large puddles; 5 & 7 steps, deep enough to soak the sox
- As you cross Park Rd just before the turn around: very large puddle, 19 steps, over the shoes. This is standing water that's been getting larger since Sun. The surrounding ground is completely water soaked.

Yesterday I ran 3 miles at Parsenn pace, then ran 10 with the intention of doing it at a 7:10 pace. I didn't have it in me, however, and had to settle for 7:24 pace. That's okay, now that I think about. I'm glad I didn't push it knowing what I know now about tomorrow's event. I'm thinking about bringing along my bike, swimming through the "small lake" at mile 4 and just making the whole thing a triathlon.

I wouldn't really care at all either, if I still had my Lafuma Shoes. They were Gore-Tex and awesome with trail gaiters, as I've mentioned in the past. Unfortunately, Parsenn ate them. I'm thinking about putting garbage bags over my feet...anyone ever try that?

As much as I'm looking forward to tomorrow's adventure, it will be great swapping stories with Keith and Adam about their race...in the snow in Northern Wisconsin!

Have a great weekend everyone!

PS: I forgot to mention that I literally ate 10 servings of fruit and vegetables today:

-Spinach (in breakfast shake)
-Frozen Fruit (in breakfast shake)
-2 oranges in morning
-1 banana
-2 servings of stir-fry veggies at lunch
-1 orange in afternoon
-2 bananas in afternoon

I had a bunch of fruit in my office and didn't want it to sit over the weekend. Bring on the race tomorrow, I'm ready!

Uh Oh

This could be ugly. Here's a preview of the 13.1 I'm signed up for on Saturday.

1 Month

May 10, 2008 at about 8:00 I will begin my attempt to FINALLY BQ at the Journeys Marathon. Before then, I would like to:

Get in two more solid 20(+) mile runs, preferrably with one of them at marathon pace.

Complete one set of Yasso 800's with sub 3 minute splits for each of them.

Cut back on some of the junk I find myself susceptible to in my diet (okay, I'm mostly talking about beer and coffee adn other dehydrants :)

Set a new 5K PR with Parsenn.

Complete 4 5K repeats in under 20:30.

Actually perform a correct taper--no "madness," no injuries, relatively high intensity, low miles.

Complete a Six Word Memoir for Nitmos--wait, not specifically for him, but he tagged me, so I guess because of him. I mean, if I'm going to perform a memoir for Nitmos, I've heard he's partial to Haiku.

Last night I ran two fast mile repeats (6:01, 5:45) then ran about 4 Miles with Parsenn at a decent pace. While he did stop twice to poop, there was no puking involved. Good Boyyyyyyyyy!

I'm "that guy!"

If you're reading this, you're probably a little like me. You like to run. You like to track your running experiences. You like to read about other peoples' running experiences. Some are amazing. Some are hilarious. Some used to be runners, but now like to do other stuff too. Some like data, maybe a little too much.

One blog I enjoy reading is from a fellow Wisconsin runner. Jerry Cameron lives someplace other than "the sticks"--Milwaukee. He apparently also ran the Dick Lytie Spring Classic, which I reported on earlier. Like me, he saw Roy Pirrung there.

The best part? I'm "that guy" that Jerry mentions was running with Roy! I finished 14th overall, so at some point I guess I passed Jerry back, and if I had known it was him, we would have likely had a conversation something like this ( "..." represents a labored breath):

N: Excuse...me...is...your...name...Jerry?
J: Umm...Yeah...leave me alone.
N: I'm...Nic...I...have...read...your...blog.
J: Oh...Nice to meet you.
N: Yeah...I'm...going...to...mention...that...I...met...you...and...link...to...your...blog. Okay?
J: Sure.
N: Okay. Bye.

So...Jerry, if you read this, feel free to leave a comment! I would have contacted you but I'm not exactly computer-savvy and have not a clue how to contact you via your website.

As for running, I took Parsenn for his first trip on the Ice Age Trail. He loved it. Then he threw up in the backseat of my car. That was awesome too.

A "Feast" of Knowledge (and Trans Fats)

That's kind of a cheesy title for this entry, but it works. You see, the most interesting facts I learned this weekend were the following:

A. Red Lobster's Admirals Feast has 22 grams of Trans Fat. Wow.

2. The longer the chain of Omega 3 Fatty Acid, the more health benefit it has. So it's official: Flaxseed, you can't compete with Salmon.

IV. Eggs can lower cholesterol! Recent studies have shown that patients with high cholesterol did not raise their cholesterol, and some even lowered their cholesterol, by eating one egg per day. I've been saying for a while that eggs are good for you--especially when they come from a free range chicken and they're not served next to bacon, sausage, and hashbrowns. Speaking of meat, Medium rare is the way to go on red meat. Well done meat can lead to denatured and carcinogenic proteins.

I remember learning a lot of this already but it was great to have a refresher on it and some practical applications to specific health problems. So to recap: Eat a salad!

I also ran a couple times this weekend, totalling 16 miles at a 7 minute pace. The runs really felt easy, and it was difficult at times to keep my pace at 7. After experiencing that, I decided to sign up for another half marathon this weekend, I'm approaching this one a bit differently, though. I'm going to go to the course early and run some miles before the start, hopefully totalling 18-20 continuous miles.

In other news, I also did some cross training this weekend--in the form of Wii. If you haven't played it at all, it won't mean much, but my right rotator cuff is as sore as it has ever been. Between Bowling, Boxing, Home Run Derby, and Tennis, I destroyed my upper right extremity. Thats enough "cross training" for a while.

Back to school

This weekend I'm off to Stevens Point for the first of 4 seminars on nutrition and some continuing ed credits. The seminar runs all day on Saturday and until about noon on Sunday, so I've already scouted the surrounding area for some running opportunities. Stevens Point still has a lot of snow on the ground, so I'm not sure about running on the local trails, but I did find a city park with a one mile loop of road in it. Interval workout, perhaps? Another option is to get in the car right away on Sunday and head for home, stopping at 7 Hills Road and giving it another shot.

I'm still really sore, though, from yesterday. I got my butt kicked!

Have a great weekend!

7 Hills Road. (Yeah Right.)

Just West of Plymouth is an area called the Kettle Moraine. Its an area known for its hills and is great for biking and running. An Ironman friend of mine told me about this road called "7 Hills Road." Just based on the name, I was hooked. He said he's biked it a lot, and many of the hills make the biker look down to make sure his tires aren't flat--they're that steep. Bring it on!

I drove out to 7 Hills Road this morning and parked somewhere in the middle, with the intention of running it from end to end (it's 8 miles in length). Well, I didn't quite make it end to end, but did cover 12 miles of really hilly terrain. Chalk this battle up to 7 Hills. It may have won the battle, but I'll be back to win the war! And it's a whole bunch more than 7 hills. More like 20.

Link to Course (Be sure to click on the elevation map!)