May 1, 2011 is marked on my calander...

I'm excited and scared at the same time! When you really think about training and eventually running a marathon a lot of things have to align perfectly! Unfortunatetly the Fargo Marathon of 2008 smacks me in the forehead every time I think about things that can go wrong..... Then you start to think of all the nagging injuries, overall health and the lovely 6,000 foot elevation at the start it gets even scarier! How do I train for elevation? BUT, we are not here to dwell on the negative! We only want hap-hap-happy thoughts running through this brain! Let the fun begin! I've been talking to a co-worker who's ran 4 marathons and she has been giving some excellent advice! Train hard, train smart, and know your body and its limitations. Phfpt! F that! I'm going all out!! ha

PeAcE!

TRKJ

Back to the grind...

Wow! Looks like the 4.5 crazyrunners blog site was hopping while I was gone (input sarcasm here). Nice reply from Mama Pre! I probably will be sleeping in my pickup on the front lawn with Bryce, Seth and Grady steeling BBQ's and smoking the mary jane! They will become my suppliers! ha
It's sad to say this but I only ran 1 time while on vacation last week! BUT, it was a great run! I started in downtown Seattle and ran north to the Washington Arboretum. It was a great run! The WA had so many trails to follow and a creek running through the whole thing. Plus, it was a GREAT hill workout. Kicked my @$$!! I ended the day running almost 7.5 miles. My longest run so far. GULP! The half is on 3/27 and I'm definitely in no shape to be running 13.1 miles but I'm going to do my best! I was shooting for 2 hours but I'm not too confident I can pull it off.
Mike, are you still running the half in CO in May? Mama Pre, you training right now?
Miss you guys!

It feels good to run...

Thanks for the shout out Mama! Glad to have some feed back! I love your idea of trail running! I've ran 3 trail runs and they are the best! You're always juking, jiving, dodging, and jumping! I bet UT has tons of great trail runs. Before the little fella decided to become part of our life Becky and I were planning a trip to UT this summer. Well, let's just say that's been pushed back a few months......Sorry.
The half marathon is just under 6 weeks away and I'm making good progress.....even with the cr*ppy weather!! Last night I posted my best 5 mile time since last spring which was an 8:17/mile average! I'm not gonna lie I was pretty stoked about it because it was 20 degrees with a 10 mph west wind and I was running on an ice/snow trail. I was exhausted at the end and my legs and hind sector got a great work out! I'm hoping to get a 10 miler in this weekend if all goes according to plan. I think we are supposed to be 30+ degrees! WOO HOO!
How about you Mike? Been running? The Ft. Collins half is not that far away! I've all but given up hope from ever hearing from Allie. Must be busy planning for a wedding or something. : )

ugh

sorry kirk. i'm just getting back into runnin'. iv'e been doing a couple of short runs during the week with some strength training and then a 'longer' run on the weekends. i'd like to stay in pre half marathon shape, but to be honest i got a little burnt out. i'm taking it slow and trying to run for fun, not looking at my watch very much, listening to my body.

and i'm thinking of taking up trail running. there are a lot of great trails around and it might spice up my workouts a little.

i'll try to get better at posting... to support good ol', soon to be a daddy again, kirk.

keep on keepin' on.

So what's the deal?

OK, so yes I did take a bit of a hiatus awhile back but I'm back stronger than ever! The only problem is that I seem to be alone.....Where are my peeps? Kelly, what's motivating you to run now that the half is over? Mike, are you training for the Ft. Collins half? Ally, it's called a running blog. The idea is for you to post your runs here for everyone to see so it helps keep other runners motivated. I know it's a new concept and all but...... ha
To update my running, I've actually been doing pretty well. I've been running about 2 - 3 times/week with an average of 5 miles. It's been chilly but nothing several layers doesn't take care of! Last night was a great run! Ran about 5.5 miles. It was about 32 degrees with a pretty good wind (about 10mph). My pace was only about 9:30/mile but I can feel my stamina, legs, and lungs getting back into shape and it feels good!! I will dominate that half come March 27!

Training and Congrats!

First, I would like to say CONGRATS to my esteemed running blogger partners, Mountain Momma Pre and Gator Chaser for kicking @$$ in the Disney World Half!!! Sub 2 hours is no small feat!! Nice work! Also, nice work on setting new PR's (I believe MMP set a new one??)!

With that, Kansas City started a new half and it's only a few blocks from our house!!! WOO HOO! The only draw back is that it's March 27! GULP! Needless to say with the lack of running I've done lately I need to get my rear in gear! I ran 5 miles on 1/6/10 when it was 15 degrees outside! My coldest run to date. Luckily little wind and I was able to get traction in the snow. Pretty good run overall. Tonight will be another 5 miles but it's much warmer (25 degrees).

Quick question for my 3 other bloggers. Give me 1 or 2 of your favorite running songs. I've got a lot of music but always love to find new running kicks!

TRKJ out!

final countdown

ooh. only 5 days until the big race.

am i nervous? yes. will i have intense prerace jitters? yes.

but more than that i'm excited. i get to run with my sister in her first half marathon. we trained for almost 5 months together.

we don't get to do many things together (living 23oo miles apart).

here's to you sister for getting me back into shape, forcing me to trudge through the challenges of running in this heat, high altitude and thin air.

sub 2 hours is our goal.

track us here

http://disneyworldsports.disney.go.com/dwws/en_US/events/eventDetail/detail?name=WdwMarathonDetailPage&pid=pip-4

the race starts at 5:40 am Eastern time (middle of the night for me)

confirmation

I will confirm with Kirk's post that I rocked the race on Thanksgiving. I think my average pace was 7:08, much faster than I've run before.

I had a 9 mile run on Sunday. It felt pretty good, but it was c-c-c-cold and treacherous as it had snowed the day before. I had very little traction, which for a couple of miles is no big deal, but got pretty challenging for nine.

Today it's dumping snow and I have 4.5 miles to do. This could be interesting.

Holiday Running

First I want to say how GREAT it was having the Himle trio in KC over Thanksgiving! TRKJ had a fabulous time! It was even great running the Thanksgiving 5k even tho I pulled a boner the night before spraining my ankle. Not sure if I have some sort of subliminal thing with running with Mike because this makes 2 out of 3 races we've ran together where I've been hurt......and I've only been hurt 2 times in my running career....go figure...I'm doing some self reflecting to determine the cause. Might need more of the "secret smoke sauce" to help me out! Mike you up for "reflection" over X-mas? ha
My running has come to a rip roaring hault since the ankle sprain and I'm bummed! Luckily the black and blue is being replaced by normal skin color so I'm hopeful I can be out maybe next week???? I'll keep you posted!
Until next time.....TRKJ out!

I'm finally here!

OK so I have to apologize for my hiatis the past 6 weeks! I don't have any excuses and wouldn't tell you if I did because this is an important blog and is what's going to keep my running during the next 6 months!
My last run was Monday night (11/16) with my partner, Anna. We went 5 miles and finished in 52 minutes. Pretty sad but she just had a baby in May and is making her way back slowly. I'm running tonight by myself and will hopefully post a good time! I will let you know tomorrow....

ugh.

7 miles is, well, 7 miles. And I look at our training schedule for the rest of this ride and am feeling a little discouraged. The first half of the training schedule is always hard because you have to get into the groove, the second half of the training schedule is always hard because IT'S HARD! I'm reminded why most people don't run long races and wondering why I do.

moving out of this state

I did not have a good run today. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to run my 3 miles at 2:30 this afternoon. The temperature was around 88 degrees with the sun blazing making it feel like 96 degrees. Seriously, I'm so over summer.

seven mile fun

Sunday Sunday Sunday!

Seven miles in 1:04. Ouch, not really fast, but it felt good and the hills didn't kill me.

Great weather made it better and coming home to quiche and apple pancakes made it just darn fun.

Oh Patrick Swayze

My lungs still hate SLC

below are the distances/times from my last 4 runs. My legs have felt surprisingly good- even my hamstrings- which only hurt when I think about the fact that they don't hurt. seriously- at some point in every run I think about the fact that my hamstring doesn't hurt for the first time in OVER a year and suddenly i feel a twinge. fortunately the pain from the hell-fire burning in my lungs takes over and I stop thinking about my legs. sometimes i wonder if i am a pack a night sleep-smoker. what does one expect when i haven't run seriously in 6 months.

so here are my times. my runs on monday and tuesd

a

y were the exact same distance and pace (eery) and today i felt pretty good despite the wind and crappy weather. it's been 60 degrees (which is nice) with 20 mph winds, gusts to 40 (not so nice). as kelly mentioned, can't bitch about the view- snow in the mountains- grab your boards!

sunday, 10.11.09: 3.10 mi @ 8:56

monday, 10.12.09: 3.32 mi @ 8:23

tuesday, 10.13.09: 3.32 mi @ 8:23

wednesday, 10.14.09: 3.93 mi @ 8:13

Just to give you an idea about the terrain here.....this is the elevation chart from today's run:

I also learned a few things about running down steep hills:

1. it's not as fun as it sounds (much more fun on a board)

2. quick footstrikes and long strides both help (at least for me)

3. look ahead- it's hard (and dangerous) to try to avoid objects/potholes/bumps/etc. at the last minute when all your momentum is going downhill

4. with conscious controlled breathing it's a good time to rejuvenate the lungs

Back on track

Last night I logged 4.5 miles in 40 minutes. Kind of slow I know, but half of it was UP hill and it was windy and raining and – STOP THE EXCUSES KELLY! At least it wasn't 95 degrees and humid with wild boars chasing me;)

what have we gotten ourselves into?

Yesterday I logged 4.25 miles and it was the hilliest, hardest and most beautiful run I think I've ever had. There were times I was running straight up hill at a 12 minute pace, but then as I got to the top and saw the view my lungs stopped burning and I was ready to run downhill.

Here's to you Utah for kicking my lungs in the butt and giving me scenery that makes me forget.

i'm outta here

It's 4:45 PM MST. NOT the most productive day at work, so rather than just sit here I decided to create a route, leave early to beat traffic, go home, and run for the first time in several weeks. Ally's post inspired me- I didn't get up until 7:30 this am. So I went on Googlemaps and created a route. I think it might be too hilly, but I guess we will see. The link to the route is below. I will send an update after it's over- assuming I make it home.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=101148639103091957687.000475740bab4f679980a

POST RUN REPORT (if you can call that a run)

Well that didn't go as planned. It turns out that the route that I plotted is straight up a hill. Seriously, the first mile was STRAIGHT up the mountain. I will post the elevation change from my watch as soon as I find the USB. I almost died. My lungs were burning SOOOOOO bad and my mouth started to blister. And running downhill was just as bad. When will I learn. So today was 2 miles. 2 really, really bad miles. I am truly starting from scratch. On the bright side, I will conquer that route, and when I do it will be my sign that I am ready to race. keep running my friends.

animal planet

This is my first blog....ever. I may need some help along the way, but here I go. I set my alarm for 6:15 this morning, hit snooze a couple of times and finally got the motivation to get out of bed because my schedule said I had to 4 miles today. It was 86 degrees and very humid....really its October..ugh.
I think the crew for Animal Planet must have been hiding out in the trees taping my run due the multiple animal encounters I had this morning. First, a family of boar wanted to say good morning, me not so much. Next, a snake and it wasn't a garden snake from ND. Just as I get my pace and breathing back to a normal pace there is a hawk perched on a mailbox eyeing me up and I HATE birds. My ponytail was swinging away and being my paranoid self I envisioned it grabbing my ponytail to build a nest so I had to run a few blocks holding on to my ponytail out of fear.
Needless to say it was probably my fastest 4 mile run yet :) I ran it around 32 minutes.

back on the saddle again

After taking over a week off from training I was back at it today. I had to take Greenie with me which is always a challenge. And I somehow hit "stop" on my watch a third of the way into my run, but I prevailed. I was determined to do the 4 miles that was expected of me and I did. Due to my watch failing me I don't know my pace, but it was probably slow.

But a slow, frustrating run is so much better than no run at all. Run on my friends, run on. And Kirk, your old name was so much better.