The Road Back

Well, it looks like, at this point, all I have to do is just keep building the mileage.  It's going super slow, but I'm showing improvement every time I'm out.

Today's run will mark 5 days out of the last 9 that I've been able to get some kind of mileage in.  So far, my longest run/walk has been 4.5 miles with five minute walks and ten minute runs. 

I'm not comfortable with choosing a goal for the Thanksgiving Day 5k, but some kind of time target would give me something to work toward.  The 5k will not be an issue, but I sure would like to run it in 33 minutes or less.  Boy does that sound slow, but so be it!

MS150 Bicycle Ride

I'm tired and sore, but wanted to do a short post.

I did the MS150 with a team from work, Team Kiewit.

I rode yesterday and felt pretty good. I did 73 miles at an average speed of 13 mph with an elevation gain of 3,232 ft.

We camped out at a park in Lawrence.  I hadn't used my pup tent for 30 years I think.

Today was 68 miles, but I slowed down to 11 mph.  Still sore and climbing muscles just weren't there.  My Elevation Gain was 3,415 ft!

Here are my routes from my GPS.
Saturday 9/13
Sunday 9/14

I signed up to do it next year, too.

Mitchell's Broadway Bridge Half Marathon

This is my first post in a long time. Bill asked about my half marathon on Sunday Sept. 7 and I decided to blog my response.

I had a good half marathon.  I was not fully trained, but I did run 10 miles a week before that went well. So I knew I'd have a good day if I didn't push it.  I planned to run it as a normal training run. And mostly I did, but I may have pushed myself a little.

The Broadway Bridge also had a 10K and 5K, but it was a rather small event, maybe 1500 total runners.  I did do packet pickup the day before (9/6), but could have done it early on the day of the race. It was Nathan's birthday on 9/6 and Susan and I planned an outing around the packet pickup.  We went to the River Market Farmer's Market, because we needed a few things and because Nathan loved the Baltimore Farmer's market that he was biking home from the day of the accident.  After that we drove to the Sprint Center for packet pickup.  Susan actually enjoyed packet pickup because of the silent auction.  She and I bid on a few things and we won 3.  I also knew Carl was running because he bid on a few things, too.  We then walked to the KC Repertory Theater box office for tickets to Our Town and Hair.

On the morning of the race, I found Carl, talked with him before the start and ran with him for a few hundred feet. I planned to start out slow and kept to my plan, or at least slower than Carl. I ran the 1st 4 or so miles at around a 10:20 pace.  I was hoping for an average pace of 11:00 so going faster for the 1st few miles was OK. 

We ran North over the Broadway Bridge and around the airport.  The 1/2 marathon and 10K started together, but the 10K went only a few hundred yards around the airport and then did a small loop to head back into town. So after the split, the field was more sparse. It was a relaxed run, no crowds to fight, but plenty of runners nearby.

When we headed  back over the bridge at about mile 6, I noticed my GPS was off by a few tenths of a mile. This continued until the end. So my GPS thinks I ran 13.56 miles.  (I revised it on Garmin Connect.)  The bridge on the way back was mostly up hill.  I did not notice the downhill on the way north.

I did slow down for the rest of the race.  Mile 8 was mostly downhill.  I was really slow for miles 10-12 because of some hills and I walked a little. I had some knee pain, but the walk helped and didn't need to walk much.  I felt like I had a strong finish. I did not want to sprint to the finish line.

I still have some DOMS, but hope to be better for the MS150 this Saturday and Sunday.

Here's my route and splits.
Broadway Bridge Half Marathon

Mile       Split

1              10:25

2              10:03

3              10:21

4              10:31

5              10:56

6              11:50

7              11:58

8              10:30

9              11:30

10           12:10

11           11:53

12           13:03

13           11:56

Average pace for 13.2:     11:41 per mile

Running in the New Year

Got up and joined the KC Track Club's annual January 1st run this morning.  Bill -- leader of our the 11:00 pace group whose last name escapes me -- and Dan Lara and I ran a steady 6 miles then pigged out on bagels and hot chocolate/hot apple cider.  They had a great turnout and it was a nice run.  There was, however, lots of ice still on the bike trails, which led to our motto for the day/new year:  "stay centered and make good choices!"  -- Bill

Thinking back

Yesterday as Kay and I were driving back from South Dakota I glanced at the clock and noted that it

was about the same time exactly a week ago that the MRC rode triumphantly into St. Charles. For a few moments I was right back in the saddle chewing up the miles.

I'll remember a lot of things about those four days, but the best part was the final day - a perfect day for a long ride, and a ride that was perfectly executed by our team. I finished the day feeling like I have at the end of a couple of my marathons - like it didn't beat me, I beat it.

The ride is going to be a feel-good memory for a long time.

KATY Trail ride is history

The Men's Running Club of Kansas City went riding last week, covering the KATY Trail from Clinton to St. Charles in four days. First thing we did was find a helpful citizen to take our picture at the depot. From left, it's Jerry Adams, Rob Perschau, Mitchell Krasnopolar, Jody Cox, Bill McClave, Sean Joyce and Steve McClave. Mike DeGhelder rode with us over half the way as well. The ride was recorded at lengths varying from 220 to 243 miles, depending on side trips to bike shops. We averaged right at 12 mph while enduring something like 14 flats, three broken spokes, a blown tire (not just the tube), and a full day of rain on Saturday.
I forgot to turn my GPS watch on several times during the ride, but it was on when we started and when we ended, and enough in between to come up with these numbers: Elevation gain 5,185 feet; elevation loss 5,478 feet; average speed 11.8, average moving speed 12.1 miles. Ride time was roughly 20 hours and 42 min.

Nelson Island Bike Ride

Saturday, Dan Lara and I ran short runs with Runner's Edge (Dan - 8 miles, me - 6 miles), then we met Rob at the Nelson Island trailhead for a 2-hour, 20-mile bike ride.  We had a blast with the beautiful fall morning and lots of fellow bikers and runners out on the trail.  At the end, I took this picture of Rob and Dan with all the women bicyclists we met on the trail.  We were somewhat disappointed when all they wanted to know was "Do you guys know this Mike the Elder DeGhelder guy?" and "Do you think he ever rides this trail?"  and "Do you think we could meet him and ride with him here?"  Geez....