Just wanted to quickly post a couple of things about our teams recent accomplishment of finishing the innaugural Bourbon Chase Relay a couple of weeks ago.
Wanted to again thank all my team mates for having such a great attitude and persevering to the finish.
Things didn't quite go as planned as we started with six runners and quickly went down to 5 after an unexpected injury early in the race.
To make a long story short, all remaining runers wound up running around 40 miles for the duration of the event.
We finished in the dark in Lexington but we're ultimately successful in completing the task set before us.
Along the way made some great new friends and am looking forward to have a new group to go race with and hopefully pace and crew this spring for me in North Carolina.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Mission Accomplished, looking ahead...
Boy that sounds very W ish doesn't it.
At any rate was very pleased to have finished IronMan Louisville on the 30th.
Had a pretty decent race and finished much sooner than I expected to in just over 13 hours.
The only low point of the day was getting sick just after mile 16 in the run. My legs felt great and I was on par for a marathon PR and ready to pick up the pace when my stomach turned on me. Oh well. I managed to walk for about 4 miles and slowly build up my tolerance sipping water and broth. Was able to run the last six miles and still have a marathon time faster than my first ever marathon at least.
I had a great time but am now looking forward to getting ready for the Bourbon Chase relay and some long trail runs to offset the hype of the Ironman.
I am super excited that a fried of mine has already signed up for next year so I may have to bite the bullet again.
As for my next adventure I managed to get into the Umstead 100 mile endurance run in North Carolina next spring. I definitely plan on making this my A race for the season and want to publicly declare my desire to run a 20 hour race!
Now back to the kiddos.
At any rate was very pleased to have finished IronMan Louisville on the 30th.
Had a pretty decent race and finished much sooner than I expected to in just over 13 hours.
The only low point of the day was getting sick just after mile 16 in the run. My legs felt great and I was on par for a marathon PR and ready to pick up the pace when my stomach turned on me. Oh well. I managed to walk for about 4 miles and slowly build up my tolerance sipping water and broth. Was able to run the last six miles and still have a marathon time faster than my first ever marathon at least.
I had a great time but am now looking forward to getting ready for the Bourbon Chase relay and some long trail runs to offset the hype of the Ironman.
I am super excited that a fried of mine has already signed up for next year so I may have to bite the bullet again.
As for my next adventure I managed to get into the Umstead 100 mile endurance run in North Carolina next spring. I definitely plan on making this my A race for the season and want to publicly declare my desire to run a 20 hour race!
Now back to the kiddos.
Monday, August 3, 2009
New additions and future goals...
Just wanted to write a quick post and celebrate the newest addition to our family.
Zane Jakob Jaques was born @ 1253 on July 31st weighing in at 8lbs, 6ozs and 21 inches long.
We were all able to come home today and momma and baby are doing great!
As for running stuff I am trying to figure out how I can fit training into my growing family time without sacrificing too much sleep.
IM Louisville is now 26 days away and coming fast!
Fortunately I am able to take a nice break from work until the end of the month and some family have come down to help with the kids/baby. Really difficult to maintain focus after the stress/nervousness/excitement of having a new baby come a week earlier and then be assimilated into two other very different personalities at home.
My overall goal is still just to finish the race but would love to finish sub 14 hours. I know it's not very competitive but hey it's my first race.
Other than that I would love to lose about ten lbs prior to race day still and feel like I could go strong into a couple of post IM races in the fall and then the Bourbon Chase Marathon.
Still up in the air as to whether I can get a fall ultra in prior to the relay. While I think it would be fun my overall goal after IM is still to complete a 100 miler. I'd love to go to Inaugural Ozark Trail 100 but will just have to see what happens.
Gonna go try and get some rest now!
Zane Jakob Jaques was born @ 1253 on July 31st weighing in at 8lbs, 6ozs and 21 inches long.
We were all able to come home today and momma and baby are doing great!
As for running stuff I am trying to figure out how I can fit training into my growing family time without sacrificing too much sleep.
IM Louisville is now 26 days away and coming fast!
Fortunately I am able to take a nice break from work until the end of the month and some family have come down to help with the kids/baby. Really difficult to maintain focus after the stress/nervousness/excitement of having a new baby come a week earlier and then be assimilated into two other very different personalities at home.
My overall goal is still just to finish the race but would love to finish sub 14 hours. I know it's not very competitive but hey it's my first race.
Other than that I would love to lose about ten lbs prior to race day still and feel like I could go strong into a couple of post IM races in the fall and then the Bourbon Chase Marathon.
Still up in the air as to whether I can get a fall ultra in prior to the relay. While I think it would be fun my overall goal after IM is still to complete a 100 miler. I'd love to go to Inaugural Ozark Trail 100 but will just have to see what happens.
Gonna go try and get some rest now!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Flying pig....
So after my disappointing experience at McNaughton I decided to sign up for a road marathon to hopefully give me some confidence that I could actually put some miles down.
I had not done a big road race since the Derby festival half marathon in '08 so thought it would be something different. I'd also like to eventually join the 50 states marathon club so I figured why not knock off Ohio?
In the time between I tried to get some speed training in on the treadmill but really had no long runs under my belt.
Fortunately race day was cool and cloudy with a bit of a drizzle at the beginning. Forgetting how crowded these big races get I got stuck near the back of the crowd after my early bathroom break. I don't know how many people were there but it was packed. Between the full, half and relay runners I could hardly see the starting line. From the time the gun went off it took me almost 12 minutes to reach the starting line behind the walkers. I had no choice but to take it easy in the first 10k or so since I didn't want a repeat of Louisville where I wasted too much energy chasing down the pace leaders through the crowd.
I enjoyed just taking it easy and trying to conserve my energy for the race ahead. I assumed that after the half there would be very little crowds similar to Louisville but this wasn't the case as there was always a new influx of relay runners. The course wasn't too bad but I've been spoiled by too many trail ultras and it just seems like running in a city.
At any rate my half time was just shy of 2:06 which certainly reflected how conservative I'd been running. Knowing how far back I started my new goal was to try and catch the pace runners knowing that if I could catch up to the 4:10 crowd I had a shot at coming in under 4 hours. I was able to pick up the pace considerably in the second half routinely ticking off miles between 8- 8:30 pace for most of the remainder. There were a few hills that I walked briefly but was able to maintain a good effort for most of the race.
With probably 4 or 5 miles left I finally had the 4:10 group in sight and had something to look forward to. I caught up with them shortly and from then on knew that I could make a sub 4 effort, a personal best by almost ten minutes.
I did get a bit lazy at this point knowing that I was in good shape as long as I stayed with that crowd so I would run to the horizon, walk till they caught me and then pick it up again. I wound up running 3:59:09 which I was ecstatic about considering how little running I'd done in between my last ultra.
I had always wanted to be able to negative split a marathon and was finally able to do so. With my first half being clocked at 2:06 it meant I was able to run the second half at about 1:53 with an overall pace of around 9 minutes.
I was much more sore than I had been over the last several races mostly due to running on the road. Overall it was a confidence building race time wise but I'm ready to go back to the trails in the fall.
Now, on to triathlon season.
I had not done a big road race since the Derby festival half marathon in '08 so thought it would be something different. I'd also like to eventually join the 50 states marathon club so I figured why not knock off Ohio?
In the time between I tried to get some speed training in on the treadmill but really had no long runs under my belt.
Fortunately race day was cool and cloudy with a bit of a drizzle at the beginning. Forgetting how crowded these big races get I got stuck near the back of the crowd after my early bathroom break. I don't know how many people were there but it was packed. Between the full, half and relay runners I could hardly see the starting line. From the time the gun went off it took me almost 12 minutes to reach the starting line behind the walkers. I had no choice but to take it easy in the first 10k or so since I didn't want a repeat of Louisville where I wasted too much energy chasing down the pace leaders through the crowd.
I enjoyed just taking it easy and trying to conserve my energy for the race ahead. I assumed that after the half there would be very little crowds similar to Louisville but this wasn't the case as there was always a new influx of relay runners. The course wasn't too bad but I've been spoiled by too many trail ultras and it just seems like running in a city.
At any rate my half time was just shy of 2:06 which certainly reflected how conservative I'd been running. Knowing how far back I started my new goal was to try and catch the pace runners knowing that if I could catch up to the 4:10 crowd I had a shot at coming in under 4 hours. I was able to pick up the pace considerably in the second half routinely ticking off miles between 8- 8:30 pace for most of the remainder. There were a few hills that I walked briefly but was able to maintain a good effort for most of the race.
With probably 4 or 5 miles left I finally had the 4:10 group in sight and had something to look forward to. I caught up with them shortly and from then on knew that I could make a sub 4 effort, a personal best by almost ten minutes.
I did get a bit lazy at this point knowing that I was in good shape as long as I stayed with that crowd so I would run to the horizon, walk till they caught me and then pick it up again. I wound up running 3:59:09 which I was ecstatic about considering how little running I'd done in between my last ultra.
I had always wanted to be able to negative split a marathon and was finally able to do so. With my first half being clocked at 2:06 it meant I was able to run the second half at about 1:53 with an overall pace of around 9 minutes.
I was much more sore than I had been over the last several races mostly due to running on the road. Overall it was a confidence building race time wise but I'm ready to go back to the trails in the fall.
Now, on to triathlon season.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
McNaughton
After a long absence I am back here to put up a new post for those few who may take a look at my blog.
Since March I have had at least one disappointment and one success while aiming to keep up with training and have my sights fixed on IM Louisville in August.
In April I headed up to Mcnaughton Park to attempt another 100 miler after an OK race in Western Kentucky and not a whole lot of running in between.
My prep up to McNaughton was certainly less than stellar and the trip up and prior to the race was a bit ominous.
First I had to go by myself since it was just too much too ask my wife to go up there, camp and manage the children over what could possibly be 30 or more hours.
Arriving Thursday evening I planned on getting some good rest and then starting early with the 150 mile bunch Friday at noon.
It began raining around eleven and rained through most of the night making for a cold damp and dismal morning. After grabbing some lunch at Denny's I headed back to get my gear ready and attend the pre-race meeting. A light rain continued and I geared up to head out anyway hoping the extra time would do me some good.
Within the first 1/2 mile of the course I knew it was going to be a long race. After circumnavigating the first field you head out and up into the mud and continued with wet feet for most of the ten mile loop. The first creek crossing was refreshing and at about thigh deep height. The course was definitely challenging in it's own right with lots of ups and downs but the mud and wetness were easily demoralizing.
My game plan was just to take it easy and see how it went. The first couple of laps went alright and I even stopped for a shoe, sock change. Food and drink I pretty much just ate whatever seemed palatable at the aid stations which were more than adequately laid out by a stellar group of volunteers. I met and ran with one gentleman for most of lap three which helped past the time. I believe my first lap was somewhere in the two hour range becoming longer and longer as the evening went by.
On the 4th lap I hooked up with a group of another 4 or 5 runners and had a great time actually running a good bit of the loop and getting to know some other racers. By the start of the 4th loop we were well into the dark having started at noon on Friday and the temperatures were also cooling down nicely. The only dispiriting thing about running with this group was to find that most of them were already on their 5th lap and almost ready to be done for the day as they were just running 50 and then sticking around to volunteer. That and the fact that a couple of them could have been my dad! Oh well, they were great guys and the companion ship helped alot.
Continuing on this wave of optimism I think I made a mistake in not changing clothes for the fifth lap and staying in shorts. It seemed that within a mile of the 5th lap the wheels just came off the bus and my energy was just sapped. I wound up walking most all of the 5th lap and it was too easy of a decision to call it good having ran at least a 50 miler. I did spend a good amount of times at the aid stations consuming hot soup, instant potatoes and cheese and enjoying the bonfire, so much so that I had to be coaxed from my spot by one of the volunteers.
I tried to tell myself that I might just take a quick nap and then feel like running again. Yeah right. After completing my th lap at about 4 am in the cold I crashed out in my sleeping bag and called it good. I awoke to the call for runners for the six am start and laid in bed listening to the main group head off. I slept for another hour or two and then woke hungry to go find food, coffee and let the RD know I was done.
It was still Saturday morning and I was excited about being able to make it home to see my family and celebrate Easter.
In retrospect I know that I could have gone farther, especially if I had someone to kick my butt and motivate. As opposed to Pinhoti I never felt injured, and never felt sick, just felt wore out and demoralized over the difficulty of simply getting miles in on the course. The thought of getting back out in the mud was more than I could bear.
My hat goes off to Ryan Dexter, the winner of the 150 and extreme motivation for me to get on the ball and hammer out one of these 100 milers.
Since March I have had at least one disappointment and one success while aiming to keep up with training and have my sights fixed on IM Louisville in August.
In April I headed up to Mcnaughton Park to attempt another 100 miler after an OK race in Western Kentucky and not a whole lot of running in between.
My prep up to McNaughton was certainly less than stellar and the trip up and prior to the race was a bit ominous.
First I had to go by myself since it was just too much too ask my wife to go up there, camp and manage the children over what could possibly be 30 or more hours.
Arriving Thursday evening I planned on getting some good rest and then starting early with the 150 mile bunch Friday at noon.
It began raining around eleven and rained through most of the night making for a cold damp and dismal morning. After grabbing some lunch at Denny's I headed back to get my gear ready and attend the pre-race meeting. A light rain continued and I geared up to head out anyway hoping the extra time would do me some good.
Within the first 1/2 mile of the course I knew it was going to be a long race. After circumnavigating the first field you head out and up into the mud and continued with wet feet for most of the ten mile loop. The first creek crossing was refreshing and at about thigh deep height. The course was definitely challenging in it's own right with lots of ups and downs but the mud and wetness were easily demoralizing.
My game plan was just to take it easy and see how it went. The first couple of laps went alright and I even stopped for a shoe, sock change. Food and drink I pretty much just ate whatever seemed palatable at the aid stations which were more than adequately laid out by a stellar group of volunteers. I met and ran with one gentleman for most of lap three which helped past the time. I believe my first lap was somewhere in the two hour range becoming longer and longer as the evening went by.
On the 4th lap I hooked up with a group of another 4 or 5 runners and had a great time actually running a good bit of the loop and getting to know some other racers. By the start of the 4th loop we were well into the dark having started at noon on Friday and the temperatures were also cooling down nicely. The only dispiriting thing about running with this group was to find that most of them were already on their 5th lap and almost ready to be done for the day as they were just running 50 and then sticking around to volunteer. That and the fact that a couple of them could have been my dad! Oh well, they were great guys and the companion ship helped alot.
Continuing on this wave of optimism I think I made a mistake in not changing clothes for the fifth lap and staying in shorts. It seemed that within a mile of the 5th lap the wheels just came off the bus and my energy was just sapped. I wound up walking most all of the 5th lap and it was too easy of a decision to call it good having ran at least a 50 miler. I did spend a good amount of times at the aid stations consuming hot soup, instant potatoes and cheese and enjoying the bonfire, so much so that I had to be coaxed from my spot by one of the volunteers.
I tried to tell myself that I might just take a quick nap and then feel like running again. Yeah right. After completing my th lap at about 4 am in the cold I crashed out in my sleeping bag and called it good. I awoke to the call for runners for the six am start and laid in bed listening to the main group head off. I slept for another hour or two and then woke hungry to go find food, coffee and let the RD know I was done.
It was still Saturday morning and I was excited about being able to make it home to see my family and celebrate Easter.
In retrospect I know that I could have gone farther, especially if I had someone to kick my butt and motivate. As opposed to Pinhoti I never felt injured, and never felt sick, just felt wore out and demoralized over the difficulty of simply getting miles in on the course. The thought of getting back out in the mud was more than I could bear.
My hat goes off to Ryan Dexter, the winner of the 150 and extreme motivation for me to get on the ball and hammer out one of these 100 milers.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Still running strong!
For anyone that might take a look at the blog sometime just wanted to make a quick post in regards to what I've been up to.
Since my last post I believe I've ran four races of Marathon distance or longer beginning with what may be the last Otter Creek marathon this past December.
In January I ran my own personal ultra (26.7 on my Garmin but probably longer due to inaccuracy's) at Capitol View park here in Frankfort since I didn't have the time or money to go to an 'official' January Ultra.
February brought me back to the Louisville Lovin the Hills 50k on Valentines where I got my but kicked once again but managed to break seven hours this time.
All of the aforementioned races were ran in excellent conditions, dry and cool.
Last week I went back to Western Kentucky for another episode of the Land Between the Lakes Trail Runs. Again I signed up for the 50 miler but wound up only running 60k. The race was a mix of cool temps, overcast, rain and lots and lots of mud. Had a great time and probably could have made the 50 mile cut off but wound up calling it a day around Seven hours and 52 minutes or so. As always the folks out there put on a great race and I definitely considered it a success.
We've got a little vacation coming up in Florida next week and then it will be on to the McNaughton Park Ultras in Illinois for another 100 attempt!
Thanks for reading and will try to update more often.
Since my last post I believe I've ran four races of Marathon distance or longer beginning with what may be the last Otter Creek marathon this past December.
In January I ran my own personal ultra (26.7 on my Garmin but probably longer due to inaccuracy's) at Capitol View park here in Frankfort since I didn't have the time or money to go to an 'official' January Ultra.
February brought me back to the Louisville Lovin the Hills 50k on Valentines where I got my but kicked once again but managed to break seven hours this time.
All of the aforementioned races were ran in excellent conditions, dry and cool.
Last week I went back to Western Kentucky for another episode of the Land Between the Lakes Trail Runs. Again I signed up for the 50 miler but wound up only running 60k. The race was a mix of cool temps, overcast, rain and lots and lots of mud. Had a great time and probably could have made the 50 mile cut off but wound up calling it a day around Seven hours and 52 minutes or so. As always the folks out there put on a great race and I definitely considered it a success.
We've got a little vacation coming up in Florida next week and then it will be on to the McNaughton Park Ultras in Illinois for another 100 attempt!
Thanks for reading and will try to update more often.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Still running...
While it has been some time since I posted I just wanted to let everyone know that I am alive and well and still running.
I was unsure for a week or two there but I think I'm finally recovering from Pinhoti, my calf is doing better and I've got at least one decent training run in.
I was uncertain on Saturday when I ran the Fallen Firefighters Memorial Run here in Frankfort. Although it was very cold for us, with wind and light snow throughout the race that usually doesn't bother me. I felt stiff and tight the whole race. Being up most of the night probably didn't help either.
Ran almost the entire race with my Lieutenant who managed to outkick me in the final yards. A little after two miles I felt a blister coming on which I couldn't figure out for the life of me. I didn't have my injinji socks on but that still doesn't usually account for blisters.
Turns out I did get a blister on my insole. Not paying attention I had my custom orthotics that I'm not that crazy about in my shoes instead of my power steps. I think this probably made me feel uncomfortable most of the race.
With the Otter Creek Marathon one week away I decided Sunday would be my test. My goal was to go out and run at least two hours on the trails and see how I felt. If I felt terrible I might just ditch Otter Creek and save my money. Fortunately I felt great throughout the run. The temps were in the thirties but the sun was out with little wind and I actually had a great time running again. The previous couple of weeks I felt I had no spring in my step but Sunday felt pretty good.
I'm guessing I probably got 11 or 12 miles in, enough to convince me that I could gut out another 12 at Otter Creek so away I'll go. Unfortunately, it appears that the City of Louisville will be closing Otter Creek at the end of the year so this may be the last time it is ran.
In other news I submitted my entry to the lottery for Massanutten Mountains 100 mile and look forward to hearing one way or another in a couple of days.
My senior project is all but finished so I feel like I can breathe again and get back to my life and family. It has been a good experience but difficult as I am a huge procrastinator and would much rather run that sit down and write a research paper.
Look forward to a race report from Otter Creek with pictures in a week or so.
I was unsure for a week or two there but I think I'm finally recovering from Pinhoti, my calf is doing better and I've got at least one decent training run in.
I was uncertain on Saturday when I ran the Fallen Firefighters Memorial Run here in Frankfort. Although it was very cold for us, with wind and light snow throughout the race that usually doesn't bother me. I felt stiff and tight the whole race. Being up most of the night probably didn't help either.
Ran almost the entire race with my Lieutenant who managed to outkick me in the final yards. A little after two miles I felt a blister coming on which I couldn't figure out for the life of me. I didn't have my injinji socks on but that still doesn't usually account for blisters.
Turns out I did get a blister on my insole. Not paying attention I had my custom orthotics that I'm not that crazy about in my shoes instead of my power steps. I think this probably made me feel uncomfortable most of the race.
With the Otter Creek Marathon one week away I decided Sunday would be my test. My goal was to go out and run at least two hours on the trails and see how I felt. If I felt terrible I might just ditch Otter Creek and save my money. Fortunately I felt great throughout the run. The temps were in the thirties but the sun was out with little wind and I actually had a great time running again. The previous couple of weeks I felt I had no spring in my step but Sunday felt pretty good.
I'm guessing I probably got 11 or 12 miles in, enough to convince me that I could gut out another 12 at Otter Creek so away I'll go. Unfortunately, it appears that the City of Louisville will be closing Otter Creek at the end of the year so this may be the last time it is ran.
In other news I submitted my entry to the lottery for Massanutten Mountains 100 mile and look forward to hearing one way or another in a couple of days.
My senior project is all but finished so I feel like I can breathe again and get back to my life and family. It has been a good experience but difficult as I am a huge procrastinator and would much rather run that sit down and write a research paper.
Look forward to a race report from Otter Creek with pictures in a week or so.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
