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.