R&R

So after about 2 months of dedicating every Tuesday night to MORC we finally finished and opened the new section of trail that we have been building this season. Last night at trail work we cut the opening and the exit to the new trail. Melissa and I worked on the exit while the others finished the berm leading into the new section and still others walked the length of the trail and fixed little problems. It was a fun night. After trail work was done we all celebrated with Root Beer Floats out in the woods, which was a nice treat. I am really looking forward to riding it which I think I am going to do tonight. I put some new tires on one of my bikes and I gotta get out and give them a try. Yeah!

In other news: Melissa and I are all ready for our trip. We got all of the gear out and tested to make sure nothing was broken or not working. We added a few small things made reservations in a few places just to be sure and made plans for a couple other special things. One of them being a guided fly fishing trip for me. I am so excited I can’t even tell you. 6 hours, me, my guide and miles and miles of trout stream in the Rockies. I can’t wait. I have done a little fly fishing and have even caught some fish, mostly sunnies and small bass, but I have never done a guided trip or have I ever fished for trout. I am hoping it is really fun. I am hoping to have some pictures of me with fish I caught posted soon. Our itinerary is: leave home drive to Lincoln Nebraska 1 night, then on to Boulder Colorado for 2 nights and then up to Estes Park for 4 nights. We are going to spend our up there, hiking, relaxing and fly fishing. Then back to Denver for a night and then home. Part of me hopes that we just decide to stay out there and not come back. I am guessing I would be fine with living amongst the mountains.

I am hoping to have a little more exciting things to put on the old blog soon. I have nothing, so sad.

Not

Much going on these last few days. We have our trip squared away and I am really looking forward to it. We are heading out to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado to do some camping. Right now we have 2 nights in Boulder planned and then we are heading camping, I think we are going to do 4 nights camping in the park area. And then maybe a night or 2 in Denver. After doing some research it looks like there are just some great hiking trails and things out there. Some of the trails summit a couple of the peaks out there which is very cool. I am hoping to do as many of them as possible. I am really looking forward to spending some time in Colorado, I have never been there. I am really looking forward to spending a week in the mountains.

Tonight is trail work night. We are getting closer to opening the new section of trail over at Lebanon Hills mountain bike trail. I think this is going to be the last major trail work night with the thought that we can open the trail next Tuesday night.

I haven't been running at all. I keep telling myself I have to get back out and get going again but right now I really do not have any desire to run. It has been very hot and humid lately and I just don't have the desire to run in that. And I am not hardcore enough to get my a$$ out of bed and run in the morning before it gets hot. So I am not sure what is happening with my running career. I have been doing a lot of biking though so that has been good.

I have spoke with a couple people that have seen the new batman movie and everyone says it is really good. So I am really looking forward to seeing that. I haven't been to a movie for a long time, I have been utilizing my Netflix subscription to it's fullest.

I tried that Crunchwrap taco thing at Taco Bell last night it was pretty dang good. I think I am most likely the last person on Earth to give it a whirl but it is good.

Joker

I love this picture.

Nothing

So not much new to report. I have taken a couple weeks off from running which has been pretty nice. Tonight I am back into the fray of running though. I signed up to do the Running Rooms 20 minute challenge mostly for the free running hat, but also as a nice easy way to get back into the running thing. I am hoping the rain holds off until the event is over. I have been watching the radar and there are storms popping up all over the Twin Cities area. I haven’t even ridden my bike very much the last few days, I am being über lazy. Which I guess is ok, well sort of ok. I do miss running a little bit. Last night was trail work night, it was hot and the bugs were terrible, it was not a fun night in the woods. But we got a lot done and are getting closer to opening the new section of trail at Lebanon Hills so that is very exciting. Other then that I got nothing it is quiet.

All Done

Ok, so I have been away for a bit. I had to travel for work the last couple days so I have been a little out of touch. Here is the latest news.

I ran my 25k on Saturday July 5th. I finished and I was not last, so my main goals were met. My time was 9 minutes slower then I had paced for myself. I did pretty well for most of the race. I would say I hit the wall at 12.5 miles. The last 3 miles were incredibly brutal I thought. The trail changed from nice wide grass cross country ski trail or gravel service road to some god-awful, 10 inch wide, concave, snowshoe trail, which was hard enough to walk on let alone run on. So I lost a lot of time in there. I had a really hard time the last 3 miles; I just couldn’t get a rhythm going at all, it was a little frustrating but all in all it was a great race. I was very proud of myself for finishing. I ended up being 245 out of 262 people, I know kind of sad, but hey. I got the finishing medal. So that is really all that matters. My time wasn’t the greatest and looking back I could have probably done better, but now if I do it next year I will know what to expect and it will better. I have attached a couple pictures from the race, kind of the before and after.

Other then the big race, not much is going on. Did some biking this weekend as well. On Sunday’s we and a few friends have been meeting at Murphy mountain bike trail and doing a group ride and BBQ. It has been a lot of fun. This past Sunday was a brutal hot day so the riding part was a little warm, but it was fun. And the BBQ was great. Standard BBQ fair, burgers and dogs. But we had a lot of laughs while eating so that is all that matters.

I have taken the week off from running and am thinking about starting up again next week for a couple of nice short runs. I am trying to decide if I want to sign up for a half marathon or not. There is one in late October that I am eyeing and thinking about, but I am not sure.

Melissa and I are trying to decide on a summer camping trip, we were looking at western South Dakota, Eastern Wyoming, but I discovered that the time we are heading out is the week of the Sturgis Harley Rally so that is out. I have been out that way once during the Sturgis bike week and it is a nightmare. So we are thinking of other places to go. Right now we are thinking of Colorado and maybe rocky mountain national park. I am not sure though…

Training Done, Race, It's On

OK, so I could not finish my running portion of my 25k training on a low note like my run last week, so I decided to go out last night and do a quick 6.5 mile run. I went over to Terrace Oaks again the scene of the Not-So-Good run and did 2 laps around the expert cross country ski trail. It is a 3.2 mile loop, it is very hilly, but there are some flat fast spots as well. I think it is a great loop for training. My run went really good, I was very happy with my results. I did the 6.5miles in 1 hour 11 minutes, it was a great pace. And again well within my planned pace for the 25k. So I was very happy with my final run.

I think I am ready for my race, I have I have a good plan as to how I am going to run it so I can finish in one piece. All of the finishers get a medal so I now have hardware in my sights... In the few races that I have run there hasn't been and hardware so I am hoping I can do it. Getting a medal would be very cool.

After my run, I went home and BBQ'd 2 very awesome cheeseburgers. And relaxed... It tuned out to be a good day.

June totals:

Running: 46.10 miles

Biking: 112.80 miles.

Kind of a light month, lots of rain and crappy days.

Final run, not to good.

So yesterday I did my last training run before my 25k and let’s just say it didn’t go very well at all at least the last .25 mile anyway. I ran at Terrace Oaks cross county ski trail which is very hilly. It is a 3.2 mile loop which I thought would be perfect because my plan was to go 15.5 miles. I started out great, did the first loop in 32 minutes, 10 minute miles. Perfect, well within my goal time of 14 minute mile pace for the race. 2nd lap 36 minutes, also happy with that time. 6.4 miles in I feel good and I am also almost half done. Third lap got about half way in and I took a nice walking break, I had my camelback on with 32oz of water, so I was drinking water regularly. It was hot yesterday, humid, and it caught up with me really fast. I started the 4th lap and got about .25 mile in and hit the wall and I am talking major hit it. I really thought I was going to die. My legs stopped working; the lactic acid took over and said yup you’re done. I was dizzy and I thought I was going vomit. I sipped on some water and turned around and head for my car. I walked the whole way back very slow and deliberately taking my time and trying to make sure to stay focused. My god it was the worse feeling ever. I made it back to the car, finished my water and turned on the AC full power to cool off. Started to drive, which I am sure wasn’t the smartest thing in the world but I was only about 4 miles from home and I just wanted to get there. But I stopped at SA to get some Gatorade and tried to drink that, got a few chugs in and I could not continue because I thought for sure we were going to see 32oz of water and lime Gatorade all over my car. I finally got home and got in the bath tub in luke warm water. Trying to cool off and get my legs back again. They hurt so bad I could hardly move. Then I started to shiver, big FUN. That stopped and I lay in the tub and reflected on my night, what did I do wrong! Things were going good better then good, broderline great. I felt good; I didn’t feel like I was pushing myself. I had water and was drinking it. I was taking it easy on the hills… The heat wasn’t bothering me because there was a light breeze so I never really felt hot at all. I think it was the fact that I had depleted all of my electrolytes and when I crashed I crashed hard. Let’s just say it SUCKED and I learned a lot. The thing that made me so mad was I was doing so well and on pace to finish in under 3 hours. I was so mad at myself, but on the positive side I learned a valuable lesson and I will not let it happen again. I am still looking forward to my race but I will admit that after yesterday I am scared and a little more nervous about it. I did manage almost 11 miles yesterday before all of this crap happened so I was happy with the day. The next few days I will be relaxing and doing a lot of road bike riding just to keep my heart rate up and my legs moving. This training scheme for me seems to be working I think. I am not sure if it is 100% correct, but my longer runs though challenging have been good and I feel really good on the runs in the 4-8 mile range. I just want to survive the race…