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!
