20 miler!!!!

5 miles today and pretty quick as well; kept under 8 minute pace.  The last three miles of the run were in the rain too but it was not pouring rain, just a steady rain.  AND enough of this crazy cold in April.  I'm longing for days like this again:

Tomorrow is a rest day.  I love Saturday rest days.  My plan - Do nothing.  I want to be 100% rested for what I have coming up on Sunday ---- my first 20 miler ever!!!!  It's a great time to do a 20 miler because the wife and kids will sleep in while I'm out running(for 3 hours! Yikes!).  Then it's over to my parents for Easter dinner and I'm sure I'll be hungry.

My foot has been giving me problems this week but it felt better on today's run after the first mile, but the rest will do it some good. I'm hoping for a positive experience on the 20 miler.  It will go a long way in keeping my confidence high.  I have another one planned in two weeks as well and a half marathon in between them and then it's taper time from there on out.  I can't believe I'm only 35 days out!

Happy Good Friday everyone.  I hope everyone has a great Easter weekend!

Question of the day:  Do you get Good Friday off at work? Not for me :(




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

Weather sucks!

Bowflex workout last night and 5 miles today.  This weather blows.  While I'm grateful it's not raining, this cold is crazy! That's all I'm saying!

And it SNOWED near my cottage up north!  ENOUGH TO SNOWMOBILE!!!!

Question of the day?  When the hell is spring coming?




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

Ryan Hall Garmin recording for Boston

5 miles today(I actually did 8 miles yesterday but said I did 5-oops) Today I really did only 5.  Still cold outside.

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Saw something posted in Facebook about Ryan Hall's time on his Garmin. Very interesting!  Here is his crazy ass fast splits!

Here is the elevation.  This looks easy(NOT!):

Here is the map of the route:

Very cool.  I wish it were downloaded from my Garmin(even with slow times).  By the way, I love my Garmin watch.  I HATE their software.

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Question of the day?  Anyone here ever run under a 5 minute mile(even just for one?)  That's a big fat no for me.  Best I've done is 6:58 - I know not very fast.



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

Sub 2 hour for a marathon?

5 freakin miles today.  This weather just sucks.  It's nice it was not raining but, come on, we need some Spring temperatures now!

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Yesterday, the Detroit marathon announced what their new medal looks like.  Here it is:

Mustang for this years race

Now here is what last year's looked like:

Classic Car from last years race

See the difference?  The car.....that's it????  Ok, as you can see, I'm kind of disappointed with this.  You would think they would come up with something new?  I mean, come on.  There is so many creative people in Detroit and this is what they come up with.  The only good thing is that I'm running the half this year and I only did the relay this year.  It's still a great race but I'm just hoping laziness does not take over in other areas like it did for the medal.

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Boston marathon - WOW - world record 2:03:02!(a 4:41 pace? WOW!)  How long do you think it will be before someone breaks the 2 hour mark for the full marathon.  I bet it will be sooner than we think.  Do you think it's possible?  I guess he had a tailwind to help him but still, that time is amazing!!!  Did you know that he technically does not get to have the world record because Boston is deemed too easy?  Too easy?  Yes, I said too easy.  Right!

Way to go Americans as well.  We had a really good showing for this year.  Ryan Hall - 2:04:58 for 4th place.  Desiree Davila 2:22:38 for 2nd female and Kara Goucher 2:24:52 for 5th female.  Yeah Desiree - thanks for representing Michigan and Hanson's!

Desiree Davila

Ryan Hall

Kara Goucher

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Question of the day:  What's your marathon PR?




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

Back at it!!!

Well back at it, this is a tougher week for me - the cutback week is over!  I'm looking at 43 miles of running for the week with my first 20 miler as well.  On the schedule for today -- Cross training!  10 miles on the bike and weights.  Happy to be inside today because of this stupid weather.  I really wish I could have had a camera on my run yesterday.  It would have been really funny to see me and my running buddy battling the winds.  It was ridiculous!

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GOOD LUCK BOSTON RUNNERS!!!!!!!!

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Here's an article I found on the internet about products that last longer than you think - 2 YEARS for running shoes!!!! Hahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!!  If I kept my shoes for two years, I probably would have quite running by now.   Just keep them in a cool place when not wearing.  Where in THE hell do writers come up with this shit!  It must be true right?  I mean it's on the internet.  Jeez!

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Question of the day?  How long do you keep your shoes?  I keep mine for 400 miles.  Right now that's a little longer than 3 months.



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

Wind, wind, wind!!!!

13 miles on the schedule today and I ended up doing a little more than that.  It was crazy windy out there today!  20 mph winds with gusts up to 45 mph.  We ran at Stoney Creek doing a little over two loops.  Mile 1,2,6,7,13 were really, really tough but, as always, I'm really happy when I finish.  Plus it gives me a sense of what I can do if the marathon happens to be windy but jeez, hopefully not this windy.

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Next week the plan is for 20 miles and we will be running on part of the Clinton River Trail and the Macomb Orchard Trail which will take us almost to Romeo(actually it will take us all the way to Romeo but were only doing 20 miles).  Here a picture of the Clinton River Trail Map:

You can see the blue line above where the Macomb Orchard Trail picks up.  Here's a map of the Macomb Orchard Trail taking it further North and East up to Romeo:

That should be a great 20 mile run.  The Clinton River trail is not paved but decent shape and the Macomb Orchard trail is paved up to Romeo.  Another out and back course to get us used to doing an out and back for our marathon.  When I say our, I mean me and my running buddy.  We are very fortunate to have so many good trails/parks in our backyard!

Question of the day:  What's your longest training run when training for the marathon?  20 miles is it for me(maybe slightly longer)



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

5 miles past empty giveaway!!!

Rest day today.  Ah, I love Saturday rest days.  Slept in until 9:30am this morning.  I have not slept that long in two years!

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Go check out 5 miles past empty's blog today.  She is giving away an Allied Metal Hanger.  I want one of these so bad.  These things look freakin' awesome!!  I'd get a custom one with Detroit Runner on it. Here how my medals are displayed right now:

Pretty lame, huh?  As you can see, I am in desperate need of a display for my metals to make them all shine!  Now I know the way I can win this is to NOT tell you about this great give away but then that wouldn't be fair.  So go check out her blog and good luck winning it.

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For those of you wishing to watch the Boston Marathon, I found it will be on Universal Sports from 9:30am to 12:30pm on Monday morning in the Detroit area.  I don't have Universal Sports but my parents have Comcast so they are going to record it so I can watch it on Easter. That should be fun.  I'm sure I'll be the only one interested in it. Haha!  I'll look for my fellow bloggers running it too.

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Here's a funny video that has been posted on some of the blogs I follow.  I thought you would find it amusing.  It's actually pretty funny and anytime someone talks about poop, that's always good for a laugh.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did:

See, I told you it was funny.  Yes, it's a runner thing.  If you are not a runner, you will not understand.

Question of the day:  Have you ever thought those thoughts in that video.  I know I have.  Haha!




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

TGIF

TGIF - That God it's Fun.  Running, that is.  How could you do it daily if you did not like it?  5 miles today checked off my training list.  Rest day tomorrow!  This was a great cutback week overall.

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I read an article yesterday that I think you will find amazing.  An 80 year old with a world record marathon time.  I'm jealous of his time and I'm half his age!  Here the article:

http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/runners/2011/04/crim-ed-whitlock.html

He's from Canada but has run in one of Michigan's most famous races, The Crim.  Yours truly has already signed up for this race.  It's an unbelievable 10 miles race with hills.  Tough course at a tough time(Aug. 28).  It could be very hot.  Last year we lucked out and the weather was really mild.

Will you be the first picture or the second when you are 80?

Question of the day:  Do you think you will be running when you are 80 years old?  I can only hope!



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

Three things Thursday...

Today, five miles was on the schedule.  I moved my five miler to Friday and did eight miles today instead just because the weather looks like its going to be more windy out.  I just hate that wind but can deal with it for 5 miles.  With this cutback week, I barely feel like I'm working hard.

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I'm not one to do three things Thursday too often but here goes:

1) With the cutback week this week, I kind of feel like I'm tapering with you Boston folks.  It kind of feels like I'm with you(in spirit).  Good luck on Monday!

2) Have you seen the latest review of Garmin's new watch, the Garmin Forefunner 610?  Check out DC Rainmaker's awesome review.  It's primarily for runners and looks pretty nice.  They keep getting better and better.  Now if they could just get better software.  I personally hate Garmin Connect but I don't see anything much better for Macs.  I usually just use Garmin to move my miles to Dailymile and use Dailymile to track everything.

3) I used to ride my bike(road) in college miles and miles.  I'm going to try and get into it again this summer and perhaps use my off day to get some rides in.  I doubt I'll be riding much at 5am when it's still dark out during the week.  I really need a new bike but I just can't see spending $2,000 for a new bike and that's for last years inexpensive model.  My bike 20 years ago was around $300-350 and I thought that was a lot of money!  What's a good way to get a less expensive tri bike that also fits?

Question of the day:  What's your favorite internet running store website?  I've been using Roadrunnersports.com for almost a year and I like it.



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

Next half....

Another five on the schedule today and that's exactly what I did.  It was a great morning out there.  No wind and starting to be a little warmer.  I can't wait to start running in shorts though.  It was also a speedy morning too - I really felt good this morning so I cranked out some speed.  I have not really been doing any speed work.  I think having off Sunday and biking on Monday really helped give my legs some time to rest nicely.

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Two weeks from Saturday, I'm running in the first annual Let's Move Festival of Races Half Marathon The event starts and ends in downtown Mt. Clemens Michigan and should be a great race.  I for one am not going for a PR.  This will be four weeks out from my marathon and I'm not going to hurt myself by killing myself to try to PR for this race.  The race is to combat childhood obesity.  What a great cause!

Helen Phillips, winner of Season 7 of the Biggest Loser will be out there to start things off.  I don't really watch much of the Biggest Loser so I would not know her if I walked by her but I know there are many fans of the show.  Here's a look at the route below.  It is difficult to tell from this but it really looks like a nice run.  The little circle about half way through takes you through Metro Park so we will see water(Lake St. Clair) on this run along with the Clinton river as well.  It's also nice that it starts and ends in Downtown Mt. Clemens.  I worked downtown there for awhile and it will be a great place to start the race.

There is also an expo the Thursday and Friday before and an after race party.  For it's first race, it's shaping up to be a really good race.  Latest I saw, there were over 1,550 runners as of yesterday.  Amazing turnout for a first race.  They also have runners from nine States and Canada!  I also heard there is talk of a marathon possibly next year.

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Hey, anyone out there have any discount codes for Running Times Magazine?  Mine is due to run out next month.  I got an incredible deal when I signed up for it - $3 for the ENTIRE year!!!!  I'm not sure I can find that deal anymore but I'm looking!  I also subscribe to Runner's World as well.  They are really geared towards two different types of runners but I enjoy both of them each month.

How about you?  Do you have a favorite running/fitness magazine?




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

The Boston countdown!

Five miles on the schedule today and that's what I did.  Boy, it is really nice to "only" run five miles!!!  I love cutback weeks.  I know many of you don't like cutback weeks but they really are helpful for me.

Here's a look at my training schedule that's been done(bolded) and what is still left until May's marathon.  I have another training schedule that I will share with you later that follows me through mid October for the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon.  I can't wait to run that race either!  Where can you run across a bridge to another country(Canada) and back to the USA through a tunnel?  Simply awesome!!

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So --- for everyone running in Boston --- 7 DAYS!!!!!  Wow.  I am so excited for all of you that were lucky enough to be fast enough to qualify and fast enough to register for the race!!!

I'd be proud to wear anything with boston on my running gear(assuming I could actually qualify for it!)  I can't wait to hear all the race reports for it.  I wish I lived closer to the race.  I would come out to cheer you all on.  Here's the new qualifying standards, just click to see it:

I figure I'll be able to qualify when I'm about 65 so I've got 23 years to go and then I can run it!!  Haha!  Ok, perhaps if it was a 5k to qualify, I could do that but 26.2 miles at 7:26 pace - NO, not going to happen.  Seriously, though, you guys(and ladies) that can qualify, that's awesome!!!!

My only complaint of the entire thing is that the race is not on TV - at least not in Detroit!  I know it's on near Boston but, jeez, this is the Boston Marathon.  If the New York Marathon is on TV nationwide, so should this one.  I guess it's on Universal Sports but I don't get it otherwise I'd be glued to the TV  :(

Question of the day:  Would you wear something with Boston on it even if you did not qualify and/or run in it?



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

Cross Train

10 miles on the bike today and my bowflex workout as well.  Back to the regular schedule.  As I said yesterday, this week is s cut back week so it should be easier on me.  Yesterday, WHEN I WAS RESTING, my left foot started to hurt for no reason.  It still hurt this morning.  It's just a bothersome kind of hurt but I hate those kind because they play with my mind.  You know.  You start thinking, oh, am I going to be able to run tomorrow?  What if it hurts like this all week?  What if I can't get my workouts in?  Is this going to mess up my half marathon in a couple weeks?  Hopefully tomorrow I will run and all will be better again!  Haha!

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46 days until my first marathon!!  Holy cow!  That's less than 7 weeks away.  It seems like I just started training for this.  Where did the time go?  I've been juggling a new job, training and regular family life.  One thing my running partner and I were discussing was how much harder a full marathon is to train for than a half marathon.  This sure makes the half marathon training look easy even though I know it's not.  He's also going to be doing his first marathon with me AND a second one this fall.  I chickened out and only went with half marathon's the rest of the year.  I'm glad I did.  I can't see training for another marathon in the same year.  There's always next year.  Yes, I'm already thinking of doing another one next year!

If I have the money, my next full will be New York.  Anyone want to put me up for the weekend?  Jeez, hotels are expensive in New York!  I'm adding up what this weekend would cost me so I better start saving now even if it takes 3 years to get in.  Wow!

The Start!

The finish!

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Question of the day:  Did you have awesome weather like Detroit - over 80 degrees yesterday!!!!!



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

Rest day, mail and sweets...

Rest day today.  I'm very happy about that! :)  Back to my normal schedule tomorrow.  This week coming up is a step back week.  Thanks Mr. Higdon - I needed a rest(relatively speaking)

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Look what I got in the mail yesterday!!!!!  More blogger stickers!!!  I love blogger stickers, don't you?  These are from Michelle over at Running with Attitude and Tall mom from Tall Mom on the Run.  Not only two great blogs but also two incredible runners as well! Check out their blogs!!!

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I also thought I would leave you with some pictures of the sweets we have bought over the last month.  Both my kids birthday's are in February and March and we like to buy them little treats from our local bakery place, Christine's!  Yummy, huh?

I think that butterfly had two wings!!

Bunny frosting!

Question of the day:  What are your sweet indulgence?  Personally, I like skittles or Snickers but I gave up Snickers for Lent!



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