Allow me to travel far, far off subject for this blog entry. Having an interest in crime going back a long while, I spent some time Friday and Saturday browsing the internet and watching news coverage concerning the horrible murders in Newtown, Connecticut. Before long I was jotting some things down on Word and this is what I ended up with...

The recent mass murder at a Newton, Connecticut, elementary school has again sparked heated debate concerning the increased frequency of mass shootings in recent years. That these incidents are happening more often than ever before does not seem to be much in doubt. The real question is: What can be done about them?

Mass murder is not a recent phenomenon. Genocide has been committed for religious reasons, racial hatred, and in the pursuit of land or money for hundreds of years.  Around 800,000 were eliminated in a 100 day period in Rwanda in the 1990’s. Hitler’s Nazi Germany attempted to erase Jews and other undesirables from Europe during WW2. The Cambodian Pol Pot regime managed to eliminate about 25 percent of that country's population. During two years in the 1780’s in Peru, 100,000 non-Indians were slaughtered. Do I need to mention that this country itself was once populated by Indians until European settlers arrived? The current Sudanese government has been accused of murdering 400,000 in Darfur.   It’s clear that people have always had the capacity and willingness to kill other people on a massive scale since….. well, forever.

But mass slayings like in Newtown are not quite the same for obvious reasons.  A single individual taking out his murderous rage and frustration on innocent people in one single stunning burst of violence. That seems to be a fairly recent phenomenon that is unique to America. But is it?

Mass school murders are not as “new” as many people seem to think. Charles Whitman shot and killed 13 and injured 32 from a tower on the campus of the University of Texas in 1966. As far back as 1927 Andrew Kehoe detonated two bombs at an elementary school in Bath Township, Michigan. He killed 38 children and six adults. Nor is mass murder in general uniquely a phenomenon of the United States. Wikipedia (I know, I know. It’s not gospel but is useful as a general guide) lists 87 mass murders with five or more casualties in Asia, 63 in Europe.  By contrast, North and South America combined have 81 listed. These numbers do not include school or workplace incidents, but those categories are also littered with mass murders from around the globe. It seems we actually do not have the market cornered on senseless mass slayings.  “What is going on in this country?” is actually, “What is going on in this world?” Let’s approach that question later.

With every new public mass murder, especially those that occur in schools, there is always an avalanche of discussion about what can be done. Some blame first-person shooter video games that desensitize our youth, substance abuse, violence on television, abuse, mental illness, retaliation for bullying, etc. All are valid possible contributing issues that should be discussed. But the main thrust of discussion almost always eventually centers around one thing. Stricter gun laws or the elimination of all or certain types of firearms.

Let’s go over the concept of stricter gun laws. If there are guns available, people who want them bad enough will get them regardless of the law. Case in point, Chicago’s ban against handgun ownership. Does anybody seriously think that is anything except a colossal joke? That leaves one potentially effective option: elimination of firearms completely. For the sake of argument let’s say this is feasible (I doubt it is) and we manage to rid the public of firearms. Nobody can get one anywhere, anyhow. Period. What is the result? Do the Charles Whitman’s of the world shrug their shoulders and go home to contentedly watch “Full House” reruns and bake chocolate chip cookies for the neighbors? Not likely. The underlying factors that cause these people to become so twisted and angry that they carefully plan and carry out a massive attack on innocent civilians just don’t go away because somebody takes away access to the most convenient weapon. That would only be effective if mass murderers really “suddenly snapped” and snatched up the nearest gun and started killing. That is a convenient myth. The scary truth is there is a lot of careful planning and buildup that goes into these horrific crimes. Most would simply figure out another way to take their rage out on the world.  Granted, using an ax or a claw hammer would probably be less effective than a bag full of automatic weapons. So we aren’t talking about the elimination of mass murder by getting rid of guns. We’re talking about reducing body counts.  Shouldn’t we aim higher than that? Don’t people deserve better than that?

Statistics don’t do anything to lead me to believe gun elimination is the end all answer either. According to a Slate Magazine article (data provided by Grant Duwe of the Minnesota Department of Corrections), the most effective means of mass murder is the bomb, which kills 20.82 people per incident. Fire is second at 6.82 and is followed closely by guns at 4.92. Knives or blunt objects come in at 4.52 people per incident.  According to the article, of the 25 most deadly mass murders of the twentieth century, only 52 percent involved guns. So even if every potential gun-wielding mass killer was actually successfully stopped cold by being unable to obtain a firearm, it seems that it would only likely cut the problem roughly in half, and that is on the optimistic side. I am sorry, but it’s lazy and it’s just not good enough.

So back to the question, “What is going on in this world?” Well, it is obvious we are breeding mass murderers (and serial murderers for that matter) at a rate far greater than, say, two centuries ago or even fifty years ago. The problem is not limited to any particular country or society, though I am sure there has to be some corner of the world where this sort of thing has never happened or is exceedingly rare. I am certainly not a psychologist or sociologist or anything like that. I don’t have the answers. I just believe that what happened in Newtown does not have to happen. It does not have to be a fact of life. Nobody wants to resort to turning our world into a series of metal detectors or a real life version of George Orwell’s 1984 in order to protect ourselves, but that seems to be the direction we are heading. There has to be some way to get at the root causes of this sort of horrendous violence before it happens.

Doesn’t there?

Mississippi Palisades State Park Review

If a trail runner can have a "home field", Mississippi Palisades State Park would be mine. It's a fairly short 25 minute drive from the house, which is great for my wallet since I love this park and would go there constantly no matter how long the trip! The Palisades borders the Mississippi River just north of Savanna. It's a good-sized park by Illinois standards, totaling more than 2,500 acres, with a trail system that is reportedly around 15 Miles. But if you hike or run here, you can be assured it will feel like a lot more!

Trail Map

There are actually two separate trail systems at the Palisades, north and south. Though they are both demanding and share one common trait (elevation gain) they are in other ways quite different from one another. The south system is by far the most scenic of the two, with great views of the river from the bluff edge. Be Careful on the Sunset and Sentinel Trails, they sometimes do come very close the the bluff edge with sheer drops of well over a hundred feet. The trails on this end of the park are probably about 75% singletrack and can be very rocky and slick. There are some switchback sections, bridges to span ravines, downed trees to scramble over, and stair steps (stone and wooden). If you are running these trails throw any time expectations out the window. You will not make good time, so just relax and enjoy!

I can't do it justice through words so here are some pics of the south system:

Cave alongside Sentinel Trail

Stone steps and Outcropping, Sunset Trail

Ridge towards bluff edge, Sentient Trail

View from lookout, Sentient Trail

Yeah, there is a trail there! Sunset Trail

Bluff edge, Sunset Trail

The north trail system is in all honesty, not as visually appealing as the south. It has much more widetrack trail, not many rock outcroppings, and not nearly as many accessible bluff-edge views. What is DOES have it some very taxing climbing. Unlike the south, there is nowhere to drive to where you can begin a run or hike at the top of the bluffs, you have to climb there. Switchbacks? Forget it! You are going up in a direct line to the ridge top. This is no joke, you can be completely shot in about five minutes! Even when you reach the top, the ridges have very rolling terrain with an unusuall (but annoying) obstacle: innumerable mole tunnels. You will not run flat for more than a few seconds at a time on the north system and you will likely get ample opportunity to work on your power-hiking technique. Sometimes you will be too gassed to do much more than that. 

Shelter/lookout only accessible by foot. High Point Trail

If you go to The Palisades to hike or run be prepared for quite a workout, but you will be rewarded with some fantastic scenery along the challenging trail systems. It's an incredible way to spend a day. There is camping available at the park and lots of places to eat and drink in nearby Savanna and Sebula, Iowa. I highly recommend Sebula's Bombfire Pizza or Manny's in Savanna. Carve some time out of a weekend some time and visit this fantastic park!

Wow, it's been almost two months since my last post. My legion of followers has been endlessly harassing me via Facebook and Twitter, trying in vain to convince me to make time for another fascinating running blog post. Okay, so maybe the internet didn't notice my absence one teensy bit. I like to live the fantasy, though, so don't burst my bubble with reality.

I actually have been quite busy coaching my cross country squad while trying to keep up with some sort of training. Luckily, I am not terribly rigid when it comes to following my training schedules. As long as I can get my long run in on the weekend and two or three decent efforts the rest of the week I don't stress out about it. The only stress involved was the usual coaching agonizing and obsessing that I always whenever I coach a team. Perhaps someday I will achieve a state of coaching zen that will mean 100% enjoyment and zero high blood pressure, but for now I am simply your typical classic worrier.

The season went very well, in my opinion. First off, I had great kids to work with. Hard workers with great character.  Despite the relative youth and inexperience of most of my runners, we were almost completely injury free. That is my primary goal, because you won't run a fast time if you are hurt and can't run the race. We had our first medalist ever at the Pretzel Invite in Freeport, had a 2nd and 3rd in the girls varsity race in Durand, and a medalist at the Erie Invitational. Cooper advanced to Sectionals again and one of the our girls finished just two spots out from advancing, and she is just a freshman. To say I am pretty excited about next year would be an understatement . I have two young girls to built around and there is some real talent potentially coming out of Junior High in the next couple of years, also. I think in the next couple of years I could have a girls squad that will be a force to be reckoned with.

A couple of weeks ago I ran the Blackhawk Ridge Trail Run. This is a fall run near Sauk City, Wisconsin, that is sort of a sibling to the Blue Mound Trail Run in the spring. The Blackhawk run was 16k and was not quite as hilly and rough as Blue Mound was (evidenced by the fact my pace per mile was quite a bit faster) but was pretty challenging. I did not medal, but like Blue Mound I won some honey in the random prize drawing! They really know how to keep a fella coming back! They also keep track of how many kilometers you accumulate between the two races and you can eventually become a part of the "100k club". You get a hat, I believe. Between both races this year I am up to 34k already, so maybe by this time 2014 I will have my 100k hat. Now that I think about it, it's a lot of work and discomfort for a hat, but I think I will give it a go anyhow.

My more immediate plan is to run the Rock Cut Survivor Trail Series. It is four races, one each in December, January, February, and March. The distance grows with each race from 5k to 20k in the final run. Obviously, the wild card in this series is weather. The only one I have ever run was the March 20k a couple of years ago because I was getting bored during marathon training, so I have never had a taste of the weather nightmares that a runner could run into during races staged at these times of the winter. It is clearly stated that the races will go on no matter what kind of conditions there might be that particular day. I have heard horror stories of people trudging through knee high snow and being covered by freezing rain, so I am mentally preparing for anything even if I will be physically prepared for nothing! I have to do all four to get the orange "Survivor" shirt. It ought to keep me motivated during the winter months, that's for sure.

No doubt the coolest thing I have done since my last post was crew for Gina during the Stone Bridge Marathon. It is a point-to-point marathon that begins in Beloit and ends in Roscoe, with the majority of it being run on a paved bike path. I drove along the course meeting her every few miles (it helped that I know the area fairly well because of all the driving I do for work) and making sure she had everything she needed, just having a blast. It really interesting seeing the way she and the other runners would change every time you saw them. The steady rain that fell the last 9 miles or so certainly contributed to the overall deterioration that I witnessed, though Gina seemed to handle it better than a lot of them. It was the first marathon I had ever witnessed in person before and it was an overall wonderful experience, very inspiring! Watching the marathoners close in on that finish line was alternately moving, sad, and even sometimes a little comical. It also made me want to run another one. But just a little bit. Mostly I was just super proud of my wife and a little jealous when she was ready to run again just a few days later. After my only marathon I was completely destroyed for the rest of the summer!

In other news, I got a new pair of road shoes! Yes, I know this is probably only interesting to Guy Shoe Geek, but I picked up a pair of New Balance 730's. The 730 is basically a low price alternative to NB's Minimus line of shoes, running about 50 bucks a pair, a price that is hard to beat. It's a 7.2 ounce shoe with a 3 or 4 mm drop, very similar stats to the NB MT110's I bought for trail running this past summer. The 730 are incredibly comfortable and flexible, though I have wonder about durability long-term. The upper is like a sock, you can barely feel these things on your feet! I am suprised how long it is taking to get used to them considering I have been running in the similar MT110's regularly for a while. Overall, I like them and feel they really force me to run with better form because if you don't, the blacktop will make you pay big-time.

Gotta sign off on this post now, and start working on a review of Palisades State Park. Was just there this morning taking a few pics. Later!

Clinton a success! Hobo is history...

Those of who who have read my blog before know that my training plan for the summer basically revolved around pulling a "double" of sorts: The Clinton Half Marathon followed the next weekend by the Hobo 25k. I don't know if I ever made it clear but I was planning on holding something back during the half to save a little for the Hobo. I started changing that thinking a bit the last couple of weeks. I prefer to run trail races, so I figured that this half marathon may be one of the last long road runs I do. Therefore, I might as well let it go and P.R. (is that road runner thinking, or what?) and if I can't get it together for Hobo, so be it. Well, that is exactly what happened.

I had only run one half marathon before, in Madison the spring of 2010. It was unseasonably hot that day and I was pretty cautious, having never run that long of a race before. I stopped to pee at a port-a-pottie during the race where I was about fifth in line and ended up finished just over 2:02. So my weak bladder cost me a sub-2 hour half marathon time! Anyhow, I ran a 1:56 training half a couple weeks ago so I was shooting for under 1:50 at Clinton. Gina, Coop, and I got to the race and picked up my packet pretty early but I still somehow managed to dawdle just enough to feel rushed. To top it off, I realized that I forgot my GPS watch at home. I had a couple of minutes there where I was teetering on the edge of total panic! This is what they mean when they claim that a sport is 90% mental. I had about 15 minutes left to get myself stretched out and figure I was going to keep and eye on my pace and cope without my watch. I will tell you something: I will never bring my watch to a race again.

My original plan was to run around 8:30 miles until mile 10 where I would hit the downhill and go for broke. Without a watch this plan was out the window so I wrote a couple of my planned split times on my arm that I could use when I saw Gina and Coop on the course. That way I might be able to guage how far ahead or behind I was. I knew I would most likely be ahead of plan, but I had no choice but to basically race by feel. Sure enough, at about mile 5 or 6 I saw them up ahead, took a box of raisins from Gina, and heard the warning "you need to slow down, you are five minutes ahead!" I was running a minute per mile faster than planned. Surely, a bonk/blow-up/meltdown loomed.

But man, I was feeling good. I was going completely by instinct, I was shortening my stride and not wasting myself on the uphills (and there were some nasty hills for a road race, holy cow!) and I was in a nice little rythym. I went for broke! I knew at about mile ten it was an almost total, gradual downhill to the finish. I just had to hang in there until then and it would be okay. I would probably hurt (a lot) but it would be okay. I have to say at this point that the crowds in Clinton were very uplifting, and the kids working the water stations were a lot of fun. I am a firm believer that I run better at a race the more interaction I have with volunteers, other runners, and those watching the race. It just helps me keep a positive attitude and I have a lot more fun. The race is well supported by the town and staffed with great people. I was even called out to by name by a dude I know from high school! You can't beat that! Thanks, Larry!

After I saw my wife and Coop I never again had any clue what time I was running. I just kept putting the hammer down. There were some fairly steep, short hills in a park that ate up miles 7 through 10. The park was pretty taxing but I seemed to be handling it about as well as any of the other runners that were around me. Honestly, the last 5k didn't seem to be as "downhill" as it was described (it never is, is it?) but I still felt good. I was hurting moderately but nothing that forced me to slow down any. No ITB problems, cramping, etc. Just your general long run soreness and aches for the most part.

To make a long story a bit shorter, I hit the finish in a stunning (to me at least) 1:41:09! I finished 15th out of about 150 runners and 5th in my 40-49 age group. To say I blew my greatest expectations out of the water would be a severe understatement. The aftermath was not quite as pretty. I typically don't show most of the effects of a long run until a few days later and this is definitely the case with this race. I have called off the Hobo because my calves are absolutely killing me and my right knee is being a bother. I don't think limping through a 25k would make bunch of sense, and it definitely wouldn't be much fun. I am reasonably young, I have a LOT of Hobo's left in me God willing. A person sometimes has to know when to call it quits and live to fight another day.

I am not pretending I did something miraculous, but in 2 1/2 years I shaved over 20 minutes off my half marathon time. Part of the reason is simple: time. I have only been running for about six years, so in a way it is not suprising that I have made improvements. But my 5k PR is 20:39 was at Music In Motion in 2010. This summer I ran 40 seconds slower. Also, in 2010 I ran our hometown Raging Road Rally in 21:30. This year I ran it in 21:37. My 2011 HOBO 25k was about two-and-a-half minutes faster than the year before. Not much of a difference, though I admit I was not nearly as well trained for the 2011 run and still had a PR. So how can you explain such an improvement in my half marathon time?

First of all, this was not completely out of the blue. In the spring I ran the Blue Mound Trail Run. This is a VERY hilly (by Midwest standards) 18k run that I ran in 1:43:21, about 10 minutes faster than I guess-timated before the race. So it seems something happened between fall of last year and spring of this year that resulted in significant improvement in my endurance during longer runs (and my recovery between runs) but no real speed effects on shorter runs. These are the factors that have changed.

1) My diet: This will not be terribly popular with the local farmers, but I have seriously decreased the amount of meat I have been eating. I am a ultra-running fan (an ultra is anything over marathon distance) and something I began to notice was that a suprising amount of ultra runners are vegetarians and vegans. How can meat protein be necessary if somebody who routinely runs 100 or 200 miles a week subsists without it? I treat meat like ice cream or cake: I eat it moderation. And when I do eat it, it's usually fish. You can get plenty of protein from other sources. I also eat as many fruits and veggies as I can stand, including at least one salad a day with stuff like tomatoes, blueberries, etc. And no pop or McDonald's! It's just common sense, really.

2) Hills: Although I am finding out they are not terribly popular with the cross country team, I have become a huge believer in running hills. I do West Lanark Avenue hill repeats on a regular basis, and I head out to Mississippi Palisades State Park and run out there quite often. Those runs can be torture but you can get the benefits of a 10 mile run while only putting your joints through a seven-miler if you put enough vertical into it.

3) Rest: I don't get hung up anymore thinking "real" runners have to run almost every day. I rarely run more than four days a week, and on Monday and Friday I usually rest completely. If I do anything on those rest days it is a short walk or something equally mild. I also don't go out and do short, easy runs just for the sake of piling up miles in my running log. In my opinion those are "junk" miles that serve very little purpose. If it isn't a fairly hard or long run than I don't think it is doing much other than adding needless wear and tear to my legs. I feel I am better off cross training or resting on those days.

4) Minimal footwear: I have gone more lightweight, flexible, and thin-soled with my shoes since last fall. While this can take some getting used to and be pretty darn uncomfortable in the calf area for a bit, it's worth it. I believe it allows you to run more naturally and builds up the muscles in your feet, ankles, and calves. In the long run it makes you a stronger runner with a more efficient stride, eventually making it less effort to run longer distances. I also try to put in some cool down runs barefoot at the local High School. If I am running trails I sometimes put some water shoes on afterward and put in another mile or so. Got to give those feet a good workout!

Anyhow, good luck to all those Coyotes and everybody else hitting the trails for the night run, 25k, and 50k this weekend! And especially for those incredible people doing all three, which is known in Hobo circles as The Triple Crown! See you at the Survivor Series!

I have found out one thing this past week and that is coaching cross country does NOT fit well into a person's half-marathon taper! Even though the mileage is not much and the intensity is pretty low, I am not used to running four days in a row during the week. I did not run the hill repeats with them Thursday (I sat on my bike watching them work up the hill, which I am sure they just loved) and I took yesterday and today off which will give me three days of pretty much complete rest before the Clinton Half. It's been a long couple of days until the race, though. I am getting restless and I can already feel the pre-race adrenaline flowing. On the other hand I have gotten more done around the house this morning than in the last month combined. Taper energy pays off I guess!

 Physically, I am actually feeling pretty good besides my knee still bothering me a bit. After taking a close look at the course description for my half Sunday I am now shooting for under 1:50, I think the last three miles are tailor-made for a downhiller like me. I just need to make sure I get to that last 5k in under 1:25. Essentially I am going to go for it and risk blowing up. I am holding nothing back for next week. I will see how I am feeling around the middle of next week. The HOBO 25K is not going to happen if my knee and I do not feel real close to 100%  by then. 25k on rough, rocky, rooty trail is probably not a good idea if a part of me is not feeling stable. I can say "I will take it easy" all I want but I know I wouldn't. It will make me a little sad if I don't run it, I have done it two years in a row and the HOBO runs are the one event I could see doing every year for a long time.

Been pretty busy with the cross country team, holding four practices a week, brainstorming with the other coach about scheduling, fundraising, etc. The kids are coming along well. Though they all did some running over the summer only two of the seven had ever run a meet before our first one at Winnebago the day after Labor Day. There is a lot of inexperience there but we have some kids who are young that have high ceilings. I think it takes a couple of years of pretty consistent training before you can really get an accurate idea of how good a runner can be. They are all working hard, though, and I think they will be very suprised how much their times improve by the end of this season, let alone what they could be doing by the end of the NEXT season! I really think all four freshman and sophomore runners could advance to a sectional as individuals before they are done.

Lately, I have been really debating with myself what to do with my daughter Claire. She just started 7th grade and shows quite a bit of running potential in my opinion. She ran a sub-26 minute 5k this summer and broke the Eastland Jr. High girls P.E. mile record last year as a 6th grader. I am sort of resisting the urge to drag her out to run all the time. I sometimes ask her if she wants to join me. Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't. I don't really want to push. I also feel a bit goofy about it (ok, guilty actually) because when Coop was that age I never really encouraged his running. He was in track but was basically a basketball and baseball player. Plus, and it seems weird saying this now, I didn't feel he showed much running talent. In fact, when he ran the mile in Jr. High track he was almost always last or next-to-last. So I basically considered track to be something he would quit doing in High School when it clashed with baseball. Shows how much I know!

Have been watching quite a few running documentaries lately. Netflix is a godsend if you like docs! Some of the better ones: Terry Fox: Into The Wind 30 for 30, My Run, and Running The Sahara. I personally think that Fox's story is pretty much the most motivational and inspirational journey I have ever heard of. Definitely something everybody should check out. If you can't find the doc anywhere here is a link to a great article about him.

Has it really been two weeks since my last post? How did I miss the clamoring from my adoring fans? Have I already run out of things to write about? Au contraire!

The training for my half and 25k has been marching along. It's at that point when I am getting ready to get it over with so I can free myself from the shackles of my training program (by that I mean, run less) and get to race day. On the 18th I went to Lowden State Forest and ran from one end to the other and back again. I have begun to map out certain routes on trail runs and "race" them instead of just wandering around. It's part of the never-ending quest to keep it all as interesting and challenging as I can. Plus, afterward I can claim the FKT (fastest known time) for that particular route! If I never share the routes with anybody I can take the FKT's to my grave with me. It's a great plan!

Anyway, I put in 12 miles at Lowden Forest that day. Beautiful running weather, felt a little sluggish. My new trail shoes are still putting a pretty good hurting on my calves. The highlight was that I actually saw, you won't believe this, another runner! It is the only time I have EVER seen another runner at a park other than Rock Cut in Rockford, where you might see a dozen in an hour. You must understand that Lowden Forest is not the most heavily visited park in the state. In fact, sometimes I am the only person at the park as far as I can tell. So coming across another runner several miles into the park was so suprising it really almost brought me to a dead halt. As a friend of mine once said when I told him I liked to hike and run alone in the woods, "That's the craziest shit I've ever heard!". It was nice to see another lunatic out there running.

The next week I put in a solid 7 mile tempo run (another thing I won't miss: the tempo run) and then Coop and I ran a small fun run in the hills near Mt. Carroll called The All-Terrain Run this past Saturday. This ended up being the hardest 5k distance race I have ever raced, by far. The climbs were completely brutal and the descents were strewn with golf and basebell sized rocks. Throw in a couple of creek crossings and you had the makings of a really rough day at the office! I think we were quite a bit more prepared than most of the small crowd racing it due to the fact we do a fair amount of trail running and climbing. I finished second in around 29 minutes, though I was sent backwards at one water station, causing me to retrace my steps twice.  I probably would have been in at around 26 minutes, that's how tough this thing was! Coop blasted everybody there in a little over 22 minutes and one of the young cross country kids came in fifth, having a real breathrough run in my opinion. It's amazing how you begin to embrace the torment that you can encounter in very hilly trail running. It was Hell but I would run that race again this weekend if they let me!

Unfortunately, I still had a scheduled 13 mile run scheduled for the next day, my last real long one before the races. It went very well considering it was done in a steady downpour. I ran it in under 1:57 without much trouble, so I am hoping on half marathon day I can go just over 1:50. The only downside we that my right knee was pretty stiff afterward and hasn't improved much today. No pain, just not real good range of motion and stiff. Hopefully that will disappear during my taper.

The most interesting and exciting stuff that's happened lately is that cross country season has gotten underway! I was hoping for five kids that were "all in" and we ended having seven. In a nice suprise, my niece Maddie decide to go out for the team in her senior year, which means I get to coach Coop and her together. That is pretty cool! Also, most of them have been doing some sort of running over the summer so I am looking for it to be a pretty rewarding year. There is some talent there and already I am seeing pretty significant improvement in a couple of the kids, and we didn't start practice until last Wednesday. Oh, to be young again!

My goals for the cross country program are pretty simple: to encourage kids to run. I would be thrilled if ten years from now I see the one of them running the streets of Lanark or read on Facebook that they are training for a half marathon or something like that. I am not dreaming of building a juggernaught program or grooming state champions. I must admit, though, that my competitive fires are stoked a bit when I feel like we are being ignored. For instance, the other coach asked me to write up a short summary of the team for an area newspaper. I do it, send it in. Area round-up comes out: no mention of us. Thanks for wasting our time! For about about hour all I could think about was how great it would be to someday have a kick-butt team and then telling that paper to stick it where the sun don't shine when they came sniffing around! But that would be petty. Incredibly satisfying on a personal level, but petty.

Whew! I better have another Corona and chill out! Keep running...

The Tragic Story Of A Broken Husband

Well, I was wrong about having a shot at my 5k PR the weekend before last at Music In Motion. I realized at the one mile marker that it was NOT gonna happen! Ended up with a 21:20, which I am okay with. The great news is Coop ran an 18:41 and finished third overall, losing only to a fellow XC runner from Dixon and a 12-year-old from Sterling. Yes, you read that right, a 12-YEAR-OLD that ran an 18:40 5k! I think it's safe to say that kid will be making his mark in XC and track the next few years. Ridiculously fast for a kid that age. The next day me and trail running convert Kerry had a good run at the Pines to break in my Mt110's and his new pair of Salomon's.

This past weekend found the family in Galena for the weekend again, which means a weekend of hills, hills, hills! Gina had a fifteen-miler scheduled for Saturday, so I tried for the HOTY (Husband-Of-The-Year) award and decide to tag along for 5 or 10 miles of it. As we ran my decision making abilities began to abandon me and I decide to do the whole fifteen. Gina claimed I was, quote "trying to kill her", on a recent eight-mile trail run. Now that she was in her element on the roads I am pretty sure she decided it was payback time. Despite being five-foot-nothing and having a stride length of around 8 inches, that woman just about broke and dropped me at around mile thirteen. Honestly, what kind of person actually speeds up at the bottom of a hill at that point in a run? Somebody who is trying to punish their running partner, that's who! I think the high point (for her that is) was when she looked over her shoulder as she was running away and asked me if I was "all right". I really wanted to respond as casually as possible, but I only managed a sort of strangled croak in reply. It was a sad display.

I did manage to hang on to finish the entire run and rallied myself enough to hit the trails on Sunday for a 5.5 mile run and actually felt pretty good, with a minimum of power-hiking up the hills. I made a concerted effort to pay more attention to my diet a while back. Not in a counting calories kind of way, just trying to eat a lot more veggies and less meat and staying away from the crap food like convenience store breakfast sandwiches, chips, stuff like that. Basically getting away from a "trash can" diet and making fast friends with lettuce and spinach. I think it has really paid off big time with my recovery time. Last year I don't think I ever would have been able to tie my shoes after a long, hilly run like Saturday's, let alone hit the trails and feel decent the next day.

I have also made a concerted effort to get my recovery started as soon as possible when I finish a run. If my feet or ankles are a bit beat up I soak them in some cold-ish water for a while if I can. Then I usually try to get some protein and carbs back in with some chocolate milk, fish, or peanuts. If it was a pretty long or tough run I will usually put on my recovery socks for a while afterwards. They are basically compression socks that are designed not to be run in, only to be worn afterwards. As an added bonus, the socks totally embarrass my wife if I wear them outside in public. And of course I make sure to drink plenty of water. This sounds like a lot to go through after a run but it really isn't that time consuming, and in my opinion if you are going to do something semi-seriously you might as well make it as painless as possible and give your body what it needs to get cranked up to do it again the next time. Like Scott Jurek says, "train smarter, not harder." Or something like that.

Might have a review of Mississippi Palisades State Park coming soon. Until next time...

New Shoes!

Since the Byronfest weekend I have just been basically continuing my half marathon/ HOBO 25k training. During the week I'm doing one 4 mile trail run at a medium effort, and another slightly longer run at either a half marathon pace or tempo. Nothing out of the ordinary, but it will be nice when these races are done so I can ignore pace goals and just run! Each of the past two weekends I have done a long trail run (9 and 8.5 miles) at Palisades State Park north of Savanna. I spent a lot of time there early in the year getting ready for the hills at the Blue Mound Trail Run. It's pretty much a form of torture to train the Palisades but it does pay off, plus it's a beautifully wild park. The rock climbers stare at you like YOU are the crazy one! Followed the second Palisades run with a 9 mile road run the next day to keep my wife Gina company during her marathon training. The last couple miles of that one were definitely not pretty. I had to employ my patented "Pauley speed-shuffle" technique.

But the big news: My New Balance trail shoes were waiting for me when I got home from work one day last week. Took them out for the maiden voyage the next day at the Blackhawk Springs and Epensheid Forest Preserves (both part of the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District) near Rockford. I got a pretty bad blister on my right heel because I really don't have proper socks for a minimalist shoe, so I went sockless. I have done this before, usually because I accidently forget my socks at home, and never had a problem. It's no big deal, some chub rub and thin socks will take care of the problem, and overall the shoes performed great. Felt super light but had adequate protection against roots and rocks when bombing downhill. I don't know if I was just excited about the new kicks but I was running unusually fast for a trail run at well under 8 minute miles, but the effort didn't seem that great. Are these magic shoes? If so, you would think they would have cost a bit more.

The Golden Slippers

This weekend I am backing off the mileage quite a bit. On Saturday me and Coop are heading over to Sterling to run the Music In Motion 5k. If you have never run this race, I highly recommend it. Very well organized and flat. It drew well over 200 runners last year and is on the circuit for three different running clubs, so if I manage to medal I am very happy. Good competition for Coop, also, since it draws a good number of the high school runners from Sterling, Rock Falls, and Newman. I set my 5k PR of 20:39 at Music In Motion a couple of years ago and I think I have a shot at getting under that if I am feeling it Saturday. I just don't know if I have that drive to kill myself to shave those few seconds at a 5k anymore. I am more likely to put it in cruise control and finish around 21 flat. Sunday is looking like a trail run with my friend Kerry, probably at The Pines. We will both be breaking in our new trail shoes over some roots!

Other than that I am eagerly awaiting the Olympic track events and the marathon. I am a huge fan of Ryan Hall and Kara Goucher so I am really hoping that they and the rest of the marathon team make a good showing against some insanely tough competition. I am also gearing up for the upcoming High School Cross Country season. I am one of the coaches for Coop's team (Eastland) and I am hoping the turnout for our little program is better than it was last year. We only had three boys that actually did most of the meets. This year I am hoping for five, next year maybe ten, and hopefully in a few years we can actually field a complete team for a meet. Gotta crawl before you walk, though. For now we will take a handful of dedicated kids and be thankful for that.

Going minimal!

I am beginning to suspect that my wife is tired of hearing about shoes. Mostly because of the way she rolls her eyes and shakes her head whenever she asks what I am doing on the computer and I say, "reading about shoes!" Isn't the purpose of a blog to ramble on about things that people in your house don't care to hear about? No? Well, it is today.

Like a ton of runners out there right now, I am jumping on the minimal bandwagon. In case you haven't read a running magazine in the last 3 years, what is referred to as "minimal" footwear can be generally described as lighter, more flexible, less cushioned shoes. The sole thickness difference between the heel and the forefoot, or "drop" is also a trait of minimal shoes. The basic theory is that thick-soled, cushioned, heavy shoes that try to control motion don't actually prevent injuries, they cause them. I have read articles that compare the modern over-built shoe to having two casts on your feet, causing the muscles in your feet to atrophy. That seemed a bit dramatic until I really give it some thought, then it seemed so obviously correct I wonder why it didn't occur to me a long, long time ago.

The problem is after having your feet trapped in bulky shoes for so long, you just can't throw them away, proclaim "I'm free!", and head out the door for a 6-miler. It would be like deciding to start weight-lifting and going to the gym to crank on your biceps for an hour straight. You would be quite a bit less enthusiastic the next day when you could not move.  It is recommended you go minimal in stages. For instance, go from a shoe with a 10 mm drop to one with a 4 and start out with short runs, working your mileage up in gradual increments.

After battling Plantar Fasciitis (if you don't know what this ailment is you don't know how lucky you are) for a couple of years I decided to get with the trend and get a little minimal and bought the Saucony Mirage for road running. It weighed in over 2 ounces less than the usual Saucony shoes I was used to and the Mirage had only a 4 mm drop. I got these in the last fall when I knew I would't be training for anything that would require any longer runs. I could immediately feel the difference. First, my Achilles and the muscles in my lower calf were pretty darn sore for a while. Also, over a short period of time I was naturally using a shorter stride, more like the length of stride I used when running a semi-technical trail, and turning my legs over noticeably faster.

Even though I was sidelined for two months over the winter with a non-running injury, I was completely sold on the benefits of more minimal shoes by spring. My legs had adapted to the shoes and my slight over-striding only showed up when I was fatigued and going downhill. Though it hasn't disappeared, my Fasciitis has improved dramatically. I am definitely going to take the next minimal step with my next pair of road runners and get the Kinvara 2 or 3, which also has a 4 drop but is even lighter than the Mirage. My son has a pair that are, unfortunately, too small for me to borrow. But just handling them I am in love with the flexibility of the shoe. In short, I think all the motion-control we have been sold as the answer to preventing running injuries was total bullshit.

Without knowing it, I had actually gone sort of minimal a few years ago. While in Florida I had picked up a pair of what I call "water" shoes. You may know them as "pool" or "aqua" shoes. If you don't know what these are they looks like slippers with an insole and a thin rubber sole, and they are usually black. I believe the original intent was as a deck shoe for sailing but I am not sure. Not being a big sandal wearer (and a fierce hater of the flip-flop) I thought the water shoe looked interesting. And they were cheap! I have been buying a pair of these every year or so ever since.




My water shoes. Not only minimal but the ultimate in footwear fashion!


Lo and behold, when I started surfing the internet about minimal shoes and barefoot running, I found out some people are wearing water shoes to run in! Again, why this hadn't occurred to me earlier is a mystery, since I had been wearing them casually for about three years. I suspect I may need more hints than the average person for the obvious to sink in. So I started running in grass or on trails in them earlier this summer as a cool down, first for just a few minutes and eventually working up to about a mile. I even wore them for a five mile trail run after I had driven 30 minutes only to realize my trail shoes were at home in the living room. This proved to be a bit unwise (I had a shin splint problem on and off for a while after that) but I have to tell you, it felt GREAT at the time. Talk about feeling the trail under your feet! I could feel every twig! I wouldn't wear them on anything at all technical but down the line under the right conditions I plan on doing some shorter trail runs in my water shoes. Did I already say they are cheap?

Right now I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of a pair of New Balance MT110's to my doorstep. I have been running in the same pair of Nike Alvord 8's on the trails for over two years, and they have served me well. The MT110's have been praised in a lot of shoe reviews (I mentioned I have an addiction to reading about shoes, didn't I?) including The Runblogger, and they are a favorite of former Dubuque, Iowa, ultrarunner Brad Williams. Oh yeah, and Anton Krupicka helped design the shoe. I think he knows a BIT about what makes a great trail shoe, right?

I really don't know what the end game of my flirtation with minimal footwear will be. I don't see myself running a race in my bare feet someday, but I seriously doubt I would ever by a "standard" running shoe again. I will say that my thinking is that I want to get as minimal as possible in my trail running down the road. Got to find a happy medium there somewhere. Road running is a different animal, altogether. If the goal of running barefoot is to run like men ran thousands of years ago, with their feet to the ground, I am not sure if that applies to road running like it does to trails. After all, our ancestors did not pound their bare feet over asphalt and blacktop. I think most runners will always need some kind of cushion when pounding pavement.

While I am on the subject, if you haven't read Born To Run, pick up a copy as soon as possible. It's a masterpiece and would be a great read even if you have never run a step.

Until next time, kids. Gonna grab a Landshark. Good summer beer originally made for Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant. That's a very short beer review. I live to serve.

Trail Review: White Pines State Park

I decided to do my first trail review on White Pines State Park, which is located between Oregon and Polo. I run at this park probably more than any other due to the fact that it is not too long a drive from  my house and I think it is just a blast to run due to the fact that it doesn't have long climbing (so you can put the pedal down if you want and not bonk) and it is easily the most technical running I know of in Northern Illinois. If you have a thing for tree roots, this is the place for you! There are some bluff areas, probably no more than 30 or 40 feet high, but still take care because the trails generally get more technical nearer these bluffs.



Holy tree roots, Batman! The Razor Back Trailhead


Razor Back Trail is by far the shortest trail in the park (about 1/2 mile) but one that I never fail to hit at some point during a run or hike. It has rooty, rocky climbs at each end and the trail skirts the bluff edge. It does have railings along a good portion of the trail, though. During the Spring and Fall when the leaves are off the trees it has in my opinion the best views of the valley and Pines Creek. It is 100 percent singletrack.




Rock steps at the Sleepy Hollow Trailhead


Hands down the coolest trail at the park! As you can see from the pic above, it begins with a boulder-ish short climb that brings you out on a root-infested ridge covered in pines. It also has several creek crossings. Most of this trail is fairly wide but like Razor Back, it gets very technical in spots and measures out at a little over one mile long. You can tell it is my favorite since there are more pics from this trail below.



ridge portion of Sleepy Hollow Trail



yep, that's my shoe giving some scale to some of the roots I am talking about

Fireplace thingy along Sleepy Hollow

Sunset Trail, Whispering Pines Trail, and Look Out Trail are all interconnected on the Northeast end of the park. Consisting of mostly wide track, they give a runner or hiker a chance to eat up some miles, and Sunset borders the bluff for aways, so watch your step on the roots.  Also on the East end of the park are the Red Squirrell and Grey Squirrell Trails, which can be accessed easily from up top at the Inn's parking lot or from down below at the tree identification area. You will find some singletrack on Sunset, but mostly this side of the park is nice wide trail. I usually park near the tree I.D. area and either begin at Razor Back or Grey Squirrell. That way I can ramble around and sort of circle the park and not do too much backtracking. I have gotten in some nice 7-8 mile runs without getting repetitive about it. If you shoot down some side trails into the valley and criss cross it a bit you could get in a real decent long run.

White Pines Trail Map.

Some other nice features of the park: There are four fords in the park, two you can drive through and two toward the rear of the valley that you can wade through. They feel damn nice on your feet after a run, let me tell you! Just be careful, they can be a bit slippery. If you want a camping experience, it's a cozy camping area with a suprisingly nice store that is part of the White Pines Inn. There are also cabins, though you have to reserve those well in advance. If you are just there for the day there are several shelters, a couple that are really neat little things. Although it is nice to have a park and it's trails almost to yourself, this is almost never the case at The Pines, it is a well visited little park with a lot of activity whether it be picnics, fishing, or what have you. Me and the family and some friends spent a night camping here last weekend and had a blast. Got in a good eight-miler with my wife and did a lot of relaxing!

Had a very enjoyable running weekend! Took my son Coop to the ByronFest 5k on Saturday morning. He is 16 and runs track and XC. I thought with the awesome programs they have at Byron that there was sure to be a great level of competition for him at this race and I was right. He set a PR with 18:43 (that includes road 5k's) and still didn't medal! That's OK with us, we would rather he ran good times using stronger runners as rabbits than go to some little road 5k and finish top five with a slower time. For instance, he ran in a very small road 5k earlier this summer and won it, but with a much slower time than Saturday at Byron. I brought home 3rd place medal (22:07) in what I like to call the "younger old guy division", otherwise known as 40-44. It's becoming a running joke with me and Coop that we go to a race, he beats me by 3-4 minutes,  I come home with another medal to add to the pile in my dresser drawer, and he gets nothing!

Also, A big shout-out to the Rockford Road Runners Coyotes, you guys were out in force! Always nice to see that group, they epitomize what running should be all about. As great as ANY kind of running or race is, I feel that those that run trails have a bit deeper understanding of what running should be about. Times, PR's, splits, pace, tempo runs... those things are fine and dandy and useful to become a better runner. In my opinion, though, running is one of those thing we were meant to do, and we were probably not supposed to be doing it on blacktop with cars and trucks rushing by us. We are supposed to be putting our feet to the dirt and grass, connecting with our surroundings, competing with ourselves rather than other runners, and just having a damn good time!

Anyhow, we came straight home and packed up for a one-night camping trip with friends at White Pines State Park. I had not been camping in quite a while and it was remarkeably peaceful, though I didn't sleep real great. The next morning me and my wife headed out on for a 8-miler on the Pines trails. We ran a super easy pace, which was nice since I was a little tired from the race the day before and the lack of sleep. I love running at the Pines because it is easily the most technical trails you will find anywhere around here. If you like tree roots, this is your dream come true. I hope to get a detailed review with some pics up later this week. 

Well, no beer comment this time. It's not even noon, for crying out loud!

Let's review this past weekend's running mistakes. 1) Stayed up until 2 a.m. on Friday night. 2) That same night drank many beers (Boddington Ale, if you haven't had it your existence is not quite complete). 3) Though I knew it was going to be brutal hot, I slept in and didn't get out for my 8-miler until late morning. Mistake number three MAY have been a result of mistakes 1 and 2 but I can't be 100% sure! In my defense I realized my mistakes early on and took it REAL easy, did a fair amount of power-hiking up the steepest hills, and survived in decent shape considering it was in the mid-nineties by the time I finished up.I recovered enough to do an EZ 5 the next day on the Galena Territory roads.

I have been not myself since that Saturday run, though. I don't know about anybody else, but I have periods where I am not what I would describe as fatigued, but what I would call my "energy level" is just not there. I won't be sore and I can go out on a run and feel decent, hitting any time or distance goal without much problem. But I just feel mentally hazy all day long and won't have any real motivation or enthusiasm for much of anything, especially running.

I have been pretty careful not to overextend myself since my marathon training, where I completely burned myself out and stuck rigidly to my training schedule no matter what my body and mind was telling me. That experience completely changed how I train for a race, though I have not tackled marathon training since then. I now pretty much wing it on my own training schedule, which in a lot of ways mirrors what I do when I am not training for anything, just with more mileage. I only run during the work week on Tuesday and Thursday. One of those days I make it a point to hit a park trail, running completely on feel with no time goal. The other day is a road tempo run or hill repeats on a long gradual hill in my town. On Wednesday I either go for a walk or hit the eliptical for 30-45 minutes, then some core work and leg work like lunges and toe raises. I always totally rest on Friday and if I do anything on Monday it is very easy.

The weekend I always run both days, usually long trail runs on Saturday and an EZ shorter run the next day. The long run I really try to stay away from time goals and focus on running according to how I feel. This is easier said than done if I am not on a trail because, like a lot of runners I suspect, I become more concerned with the numbers on the watch when I run on the pavement. I feel one of the worst things I personally do to myself in training is push myself on my long run, resulting in "leaving my race" in training. So the end result is I only run 4 days a week, seriously cross train one day, and usually totally rest two days. This hasn't solved every problem I have and I have not achieved running bliss or anything, but I feel it works well for me. I haven't had nearly as much periods of low energy that I described above since I started this schedule. It's a constant learning experience, though. I might be doing something totally different next year. Who knows?

I am taking my son to the Byronfest 5k on Saturday. It's at a forest preserve that he runs at for cross country a couple times every year so it will be a good race for him with some good competition. I may run also (I will not be one of those providing "good competition" for him) if I feel like manipulating my weekend training schedule a bit. Saturday night I will be camping at White Pines State Park and running the trails there. One of the things I plan on doing with this blog is providing some trail running park reviews, so I might start with The Pines next week.

Later, trail fiends! There is a Potosi Fiddler in the fridge waiting to get in my belly!

Happy Birthday to me!

Yes, today is in fact my 41st birthday and, apparently, the best way to celebrate this occasion was to grab a run at Severson Dells on my way home from work. Though it was about 98 degrees out at the time, I elected to run on trails then, rather than on the road later when it cooled a bit. I typically run about half my runs on trails and under my current training plan I run roads Tuesday and trails Thursday. So heat be damned, I was going to hit the trails today no matter what.

I should explain further this "plan" I have. I am running the Clinton Half Marathon in Clinton, Iowa, on September 9th. But I also don't want to miss the HOBO 25k, a trail race, which is on the 15th. So I have cobbled together a plan that should have me ready to rise to soaring heights of mediocrity in both races and hopefully with a minimum of suffering. I am now several days into this training regimen and ready to proclaim is a total success already! Nothing could possible go wrong. Right?

This likely will be one of the last long road races I do. I have only done one other half and that was two or three years ago in Madison on an unseasonably hot spring day. I ran a couple minutes over 2 hours, which I know I can beat since I was well under that time at the halfway point of my only marathon. I later imploded in that race, but that is a story for another time when I feel like revisiting that torture chamber. So I am basically running this road half for no other reason than to see what kind of time I can get. Unless I get the urge to tackle a road marathon again (about as likely as me flying someday) I will be doing all my long races on dirt from now on hopefully.

Where was I? Yes, yes! My run today. Was supposed to be an EZ four but nothing is easy when it feels like you are running in the midst of a solar flare. 98 degrees is no joke, my friends! Thankfully, I forgot my watch at home so I had to approximate the distance. With temps like today I am pretty sure I "accidently" underestimated and probably ran more like 3.5, tops. Close enough. I took my handheld Nathan bottle because I didn't want to stroke out and die, but that sloshing was throwing off my rythym, so that wasn't helping things, either. Maybe not the most enjoyable run ever, but any day on a trail is a good day to me.

Looking forward to this weekend at The Galena Territory with friends. The trails there are actually pretty fun and about as hilly as you are going to find around here. Some washed out sections add a bit of technical to the mix. Even if I decide to hit the roads on sunday it won't be bad since I love up and down and the Territory roads have plenty of that. The big question is I can con my son, who is scheduled for a 6 miler, into coming with me on Saturday for my eight. Considering he will have to slow up so I can keep him in sight, he should be able to handle a couple extra miles!

There is a Summer Shandy calling my name...