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Feb 29, 2012

Shamrock N Roll Run - 19 days and filling quickly!

As March nears, it's time to start the racing season!  Yes, even in Michigan!  One of the first races of the year is the ShamRock N Roll Run in Downtown Plymouth Michigan on March 18th.  I will be there and I want you to join me!  Who wouldn't want to race in a downtown like this?
Kellogg Park
The ShamRock N Roll Run is coming in only 19 days! 19 days!!!!!  There's going to be lots of fun at this race but you need to hurry.  There is only 650 spots left for the 10k, they're going to go fast, and you know you want one of these; a sweet medal:
You will also get one of these, an awesome Tech shirt....and who doesn't want one of these to run in all summer long?  I'm planning on that four leaf clover giving me a little luck this season for racing.

How do you get one?  Join me in the 10k race(for both the medal and shirt) or join the 5k race or one mile(for the shirt) of the ShamRock N Roll Run on March 18th.  I can't believe racing season is already here.  Has winter gone by quick or what?  Anyway......

Here's some more details you should know about this race so you don't miss out:

  • Expect to have lots of company - they are expecting over 3,100 participants for this inaugural race.  Now I know many of you worry about inaugural races but Kona Running Company has years of experience and it will surely be a well organized race.
  • The City of Plymouth has committed to plow and salt the streets should by chance we have a snow or ice storm that weekend so this race will NOT be cancelled!  A big plus knowing you will be racing that day, regardless of weather, and it will be safe running.  Now that is what I call a committed City and race director!
  • The Circus tent in Kellogg Park(at the start and finish area) will have new registration and packet pick up, volunteer check-in plus the age group awards and the rock n roll concert by The Remix Band which begins at 9:05am!  This means if it's cold, at least you won't be.
  • Want a preview of the band? - Click HERE to hear some samples of their songs!  Great band!
Here's the layout of the start and finish lines again in Kellogg park.  It really is well planned to allow for the number of participants expected:
Please click to see a larger version
Here's the courses as well.  This is a great downtown run!
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Also, these are the awesome sponsors that are helping with this race.  Of course, it could not be done without them so their support is really important as with any race.
Want more details, check it out:

Go to www.shamrocknrollrun.com for more information and to register for the race.  I want to see all you Michigan runners at this race.  Hurry so you don't miss out on.  Plus, take advantage of lower prices and sign up before 3/17 but I would not wait that long - it's likely to be sold out by then.

Have a great day and....Keep Running!!!!


Feb 28, 2012

Linky follow me!

Hey guys - I just set up Linky Followers so you can follow me this way instead of through Google Friend Connect that is apparently going away for Wordpress users on 3/1 and for everyone else later this year.  Linky Followers is easy to use.  Sign up at their website and follow me or you can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+(except there's not much there until I don't have to use my personal name for it) or by e-mail.  See my sidebars.  Linky followers is also a great way to track everyone that follow you.

Have a great day and....Keep Running!!!!

A new PR and a World record run!!!

4 miles on the schedule today....ended with 5!

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If you read yesterday's post, you will know that I ran while on vacation.  Some of the runs were on a Cruise Ship as it was moving.  I knew the GPS would not work properly but thought it would be a cool experiment to see how it worked.  Here's a picture of what I saw while running.  I decided to run on this deck since it was all the way around the boat - about 2.5 times around for a mile.  If I ran on the actually running track they had, it would have been 7 times around(for 1 mile) with a larger crowd so this worked out much better.  The only issue was I had to run around the wind walls(walls used to keep the wind down on the deck)
My track on the ship!
I even had lights if it was dark(not that I ran much this early)
I also had to watch out for water so I didn't slip.
More importantly, check out the results.

What is interesting is that I ran around the ships deck on level 5 which is basically all the way around the boat.  I could not tell you how many times I ran around it but it's interesting to see that the GPS showed this as a straight line.



The other interesting thing is the distance.  Check it out - I ran 23 miles in just over an hour.  A new world record run!!! Haha!  And look at that best pace of 1:34 min/mile!  Ok, I guess the ship moving helped me.  Since I knew it was all messed up, I basically ran for time so I probably did around 7 miles in actuality.

Here's a look at the timing chart and elevation.  It kind of looks like I'm doing intervals.  In a sense, I was.  When running towards the front of the ship, I was running against a strong wind.  When I was running toward the back of the ship, I was running more with the wind so it helped speed me up.  In addition, as I was running to the back, the ship was moving in the opposite direction which showed me going fast.  Actually I was fairly level overall though.

Plus, look at the elevation.  The ship is completely flat, of course, however, with the movement from the waves on the ocean, there was a slight elevation gain and loss.  The weather was great so the waves were not crazy but I guess the boat moves more than you can actually feel.
Finally, here's the splits again I had for the mileage for a world record run.

I guess I should have done three more miles to get in an actual marathon distance world record.

Anyway, I thought this was a very interesting experiment in the use of a GPS while running on a moving ship.

Have a great day and....Keep Running!!!!

Feb 27, 2012

Hyland Post #9 - Running on vacation

Rest day on the schedule today!

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Here's a recap of week #8 of 18 weeks of marathon training.

Miles Run  37.05 miles
Days Run:  5 days
Cross Training:  None this week
Time Training:  4 hours and 46 minutes

Last week I discussed fitting all the running into your schedule.  This week I'll discuss running on vacation.  You would think this would be a simple topic but when you think about it, it's more complicated that you think.  First off, many people don't want to work out on vacation.  I mean, you're on vacation....you're not supposed to being doing any hard work including workouts right?  Personally though, I enjoy running like many of you so I make time for it as much as I can.

Of course, if you are on vacation without any kids, it sure makes it easier.  You just get up and go or run during the day sometime when you have free time - that should be all the time right?

It's quite a bit different when on vacation with kids.  Kids typically have to eat at certain times and cannot move meal times around too much.  Since my kids are 12 and 14, it is much easier at this age to go with the flow but I know with little kids this is much harder.  The other issue is waking everyone up when you are all in the same room and not waking up everyone!

I recently went on vacation last week but we decided to get two rooms.  We went on a Caribbean cruise and it made things much easier.  Plus, have you seen the size of those rooms?  Not too comfortable with four in one room.  Fortunately for me, my son is a heavy sleeper and we stayed up late most nights so while the family was generally sleeping or getting ready to go to breakfast, I did my running workouts.  The other thing I did was I ran my long run on the Friday before vacation started and ran my long run the following day on Sunday after we  returned home.  This way, I was not running over 2 hours twice while on vacation and was able to still get in both long runs.  It was important for me not to skip my long runs so I re-arranged my plan slightly to fit my schedule.

I was able to get in four workouts last week on vacation(two 4 milers and two 7 milers).  I only gained a 1/2 pound - not bad for a cruise and I ate like crazy!  I actually did three runs on the ship on deck and I did one when on an island.  This also presents problems in itself.  While I love running, I do get a little nervous not knowing the area especially considering I was running in Mexico.  Fortunately, everything worked out great and I had a fantastic run on our last island stop in Costa Maya, Mexico.  It was kind of strange not knowing where you were running to and there were very few people around but it was a great run.  I ran between 7am and 9am so it was out of the way to enjoy the rest of the time with family.

Here's a couple pictures from the run.  As you can see, most of my run was right on the ocean but some of the area looked run down which I guess adds to both the nervousness and excitement of the run.
Just outside the confines of the port.  Looking a little scary! Ha!
Lots of this was real estate for sale.

The road to the beach

Finally in an area that looks really nice by the ocean


Mixed in with hotels was homes like this
Yes, this IS a home!

A humble church in the area

By the water

You can see my cruise ship on the left in the distance and one coming in
I was about 2.5-3 miles away

Lots of real estate available for sale

A little fake Mayan ruin 

Hard Rock!

On the way back to the ship -this is in the port - finally people around!
A very nice area to shop/swim

Back at the port waiting for this ship to come in after my run

At the end of my run.  This was my ship,
Overall, one of the best runs I have had on vacation and I'm really glad I got past my nervousness and just did it.  I told my wife if I was not back by 12 noon to have a search party start looking for me.  Haha!  It was also nice to get off the ship instead of running in circles on deck.  People thought I was crazy running so much!

So, the moral of the story is....get out there!  Run when you are on vacation and enjoy the new scenery around you.  Explore the world!  You might be surprised to see where running can take you.

Have a great day and.....Keep Running!!!!

Feb 26, 2012

Tifosi Tyrant Sunglasses review

15 miles on the schedule today.  Done.  Yikes, this marathon training is starting to get serious!  It was really windy today at Stony Creek but still not bad temps.

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Recently I contacted Tifosi in regards to doing a review for running sunglasses.  While I have run in some other glasses, I have mostly run without glasses.  I know that this is not the best idea given the suns effects on your eyes so I needed to find a company that made a good quality pair of sunglasses specifically for running.  I also felt that most of you would have an interest in these since most of you are runners as well.

In checking out their website, of course, they have tons of glasses to pick from for a number of reasons but I was looking to review something good for running.  Erin over at Tifosi sent me a link with several choices geared towards running.  I looked through their website at them - my gosh, they had so many kinds of glasses to pick from.  I did not realize the kind of selection that they had!

Ultimately, I received the Tifosi Tyrant Sunglasses based on her recommendation.  I chose these also because I was looking to review interchangeable lenses.  As most of you know, I run in the dark - ALOT!  With that in mind, I was looking for a pair of sunglasses with clear lenses.  The clear lenses help when it's raining and/or snowing.  I hate it when snow is getting in my eyes and was looking for a solution.  This is it!

Take a look at what I was sent:
The box they came in.
I was really excited to see that there was a really nice case so you can take your glasses with you when you travel.  In fact, I recently used these on a trip to the Carribean.  It should prove to be a very handy thing plus the case is very sturdy so there's no chance of breaking your glasses.
Sweet Case for the glasses!
Here's a look at the inside of the case.  There plenty of room to hold the glasses and the additional two lenses in the case.  It' a very nice feature.


Case holds glasses and lenses.
This is the mirrored look.  One of the nice features of the glasses is the lenses.  If you look closely, you will see that there is a small portion of the lense missing in the corner.  This allows for some ventilation.  This has proven to be a good feature as I ran with these when on vacation in the Carribean when it was hot(82 degrees).  I'm glad I got a chance to try them in warm weather too because there's no warm weather to be found around this part of town currently.  I actually had a chance to try them four times running in hot weather.
Mirrored red lense
The process to change out the lenses is very simple.  You grab the lense and the frame and pull the corner by the temple down and they come out very easy.  They go back in just as easy.  It literally takes about four seconds to change each lense out.  Also, they never slipped out.  The lense stayed in the frames well with a nice snug fit.
Lense out of glasses
As you can see, I took out both lenses to show you.  Since I run in the dark during the week and the daylight during the weekend, I changed these out several times and never had any issues.
Both lenses out
Here they are with the clear lenses in the frame.  I ran in the rain and also the snow with these on and it helped to keep the rain and snow out of my eyes.  Granted, it might have been a little blurry in the rain but it beat having it in my eyes.
Clear lense
 The other lense that came with the glasses are used for lower light.  They are not as dark as the mirrored lenses but also not clear either.
Dusk lense, I call them.
 I have not had a chance to wear these lenses out running since I don't typically run after work but I can see the benefit to having these if you run just before the sun goes down or just before the sun comes up.
Dusk lense on me! 
Here I am, ready for a run in the dark.  It was cold that morning and snowing!  A great time to test these out.
Clear lense before a run
Here's the mirrored lenses before a run during the day.  I really like the look and style of the glasses.  Also, because of the venting in them, these would be great for biking as well.
Mirrored lense before a run
Here I am using these on a really cold run.  I had on a balaclava and a hat.  It was about 18 degrees.  My biggest worry was if they were going to fog up on me given the cold weather.  Fortunately, they don't and it made for a really nice run.  No squinting my eyes on the bright snow that day like I usually do.
Mirrored lense during a run
The fit on these were somewhat tight(for the small/medium head size).  Personally I like them that way because they stay on my head nicely.  They don't bounce around when running or slip off your nose.  I've done up to a 15 mile run with them on(today in fact) and did not notice them at all.  As you can see, you can still wear these even though you have a winter hat on.

Retail on these are $89.95; a fair price considering you get the frames and three lenses along with a case to hold everything.

So here are the likes:

1) Great style
2) Nice case to carry your glasses and the lenses.
3) Polarized lenses; 100% UVA/UVB protection
4) Interchangeable lenses are a bonus especially for night runners
5) The fit, while tight, was what I prefer(they are adjustable on the nose and ear too)
6) Ventilation on the lenses is a nice feature to keep you cooler in warm weather.

Dislikes:

1)  What to pick?  There are so many types of glasses that Tifosi makes, it was difficult to choose the right ones.  Ha!  I know that's not really a dislike since people want options but there are so many.  I will say that Erin was great at helping me choose what would be right for my readers.  I'm sure if you were buying a pair, they would be able to recommend a pair based on your need.

While I was using another brand to run with, I rarely used them.  I just didn't get the 100% comfort with them that I do with these.  I guess you don't know what you are missing until you try them.  I look forward to racing in these this season.  If you are looking for a nice pair of running sunglasses, I would certainly recommend these.

Interested in learning more?

Check out their website HERE

Become a Facebook fan HERE

Have a great day and....Keep Running!!!!




* Note:  I received a complementary pair of Tifosi sunglasses in exchange for this review.  All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.

Feb 25, 2012

Marathon Motivation #9 - Cherry Blossom Run

Bucket List:

Ok, it's not a marathon but I've got to run this 10 miler.

I'll be back to regular posts tomorrow!  It was nice to get away from the computer a little!  We all need to do that once in awhile!

Have a great day and.....Keep Running!!!!

Feb 24, 2012

Marathon Motivation #8 - Chicago Marathon

Bucket list:

This is the closest one to me and hugely popular.  How could I pass up this one?

Have a great day and....Keep Running!!!!