Jan 7th???

Are we in the southern hemisphere? We have 60 degrees today which made this morning's 4 mile run very warm and enjoyable. My legs are feeling the effects of this past weekend's efforts and I am looking forward to a rest day tomorrow to recover a bit.

I feel pretty good about my training for the Winter Buckeye Trail 50K and as always, the weather will be the wild-card. I will do the entire 50K this year and have fun doing it! I am considering leaving my watch in the car or at home, and just enjoy the day. We will see. I have a feeling the engineer in me will win and want the numbers from the watch to use for some future purpose! I can use the watch to ensure that I do not go out too fast!

The 100 mile distance is hitting me like the Ironman distance. It scares the hooey out of me! Even after completing two Ironman events, I still cannot think of the entire event in one piece. I have to break it up into smaller chucks. This is what I am going to do for the Burning River. I will run from one aid station to the next, until I run out of aid stations! Like the classic question of "How do you eat an elephant?". My version is:

"How do you run 100 miles?" "One step at a time..."

Foggy Bottom 8.5

I chose today's title not because we had Mexican last night, but because the warmer temperatures make for some foggy areas along the bike path as the snow was melting. Nice 8.5 mile run early this morning after yesterday's 22 miles. My legs are really tired now and I am going to run again tomorrow to take advantage of these warm temperatures!

We had Denise's family in today from Buffalo for a late Christmas celebration since we were sick for the originally-planned time. I asked my parents to also come up from Dayton to visit since they have not seen my mother and father in-law for some time. I think everyone enjoyed seeing each other again and there was lots of laughing as Forrest kept us entertained with his moaning and other shenanigans!

Off to "Buffalo Wings and Things" for some junk food for dinner. That craving will not be back for a while...

Week summary: 42.5 miles. This next week should be close to 50 miles and then taper for the Buckeye Trail 50K. I enjoy taper!! :)

Winter trails

Two co-workers, Marty and Mike, agreed to run with me today for a bit. I enjoy company while I am running long to help pass the miles. We started at Boston Store at 7am and headed toward Pine Lane. The morning was a bit warmer than I expected at 30 degrees and the trail was packed snow but not icy. Marty and I both had Yak Traks on our shoes but I really don't think they were necessary.

We made up the first two hills and Mike's lungs were not appreciating the cold air. He decided to turn back before becoming more uncomfortable. Marty and I continued to Pine Lane. It was still dark when we hit the pine trees after the turnpike crossing and then when we exited the trees, suddenly it was light! I turned off the headlamp and we kept running. We did not see anyone else until the return leg back to Boston Store. Everyone must have slept in later today.

Marty stopped at Boston Store and I debated where to run next. Snowville road seemed like a good choice so off I went. The trail was also snow packed, although not as much as the more popular Pine Lane trail.

The cliffs at the stream crossing were very fascinating with the contrast of the clay against the snow and evergreens.

They must have been doing some sort of construction on the trail before Snowville road because it looked as if some heavy equipment had gone through. The trail was heavily rutted and was very uneven and mushy. I hit a low spot here and broke open my emergency rations. Gummy Bears!! They always seem to pick me up when I need a boost. Made it to Snowville and turned back. I noticed that my right yak trak had broken. A short time later I noticed that the left one has also broken. They were sliding back on my shoes so I stopped and took them off. The snow was soft enough and they really were not required. I did however miss them when I had to cross the stream again at the cliffs. The ice-covered log was a bit trickier to traverse w/o the extra grip...

I was starting to get tired and made it back to Boston Store. I needed 3 more miles to hit my 22 mile target. I refilled my bottles and started off to Brandywine Falls. I turned around where the trail forks off for an abreviated loop. Got back to Boston Store before the drizzle turned to rain.

Good run. 22 miles; 4 hours 23 minutes. I started to get frustrated at my 'slow' speed but had decided that for a 100 miles, speed does not matter! "Time on feet" is most important. Just keep moving... That is exactly what I did today. I hope to follow up tomorrow with 8-10 miles to keep the legs loose.

Officially in!

The list of entrants on the Burning River 100 web site now includes my name! (gasp) It somehow feels 'real' now... I think I need to run!

I have a long run scheduled for saturday. I just need to figure out where and see if I can coerce some friends to join me for some of it.

Snow has stopped falling and temperatures are supposed to stay cool for a few days. The mud may remain frozen for saturday! That will be nice for a change...

Showshoes

I wish that I had snowshoes for this morning's frigid run! We have around 6-10 inches of snow on the path this morning. I made it 2 miles and decided that some cross-training via show-shoveling was in order. The short run was a great warm up and loosened the legs up a bit from last weeks volume. The driveway is not totally cleared, but at least I was able to get the car out!

The girls said that they would finish it for me today...

Happy New Year!

I am so glad that we went out to Squire's Castle yesterday since today is very windy and snowing! A great day to stay indoors and catch up on all of those things that we never really get a chance to do...

Last year was quite a year. This next year will prove to be even more exciting.

I hope that your year goes well and I wish much happiness and good health to all!

Squires Castle visit

We decided to take a trip yesterday to the starting line of the Burning River 100 at Squire's Castle. This is part of the North Chagrin Metro Park, part of the Cleveland Metro Park system. My wife, Denise, and I used to hike and bike through this park a lot when we lived in Willoughby several years ago and it was fun to revisit the area again.


As part of the documentation process of this journey to 100 miles, we snapped a photo of the castle itself.

(from left to right, Forrest, Abby, myself, Gina, and Mia)

The race actually starts, I think, at the shelter closer to the road, but that makes for a boring photo.