Since I last wrote a lot has happened. Training had been going very well; I was feeling good, my long runs were good and I was really excited about my upcoming racing season and then things took a dive. I got bit by one of my dogs, a bit of an accident (I won't go into the details of the incident), but I ended up in the ER with a plastic surgeon putting about 100 stitches (4 layers) in my chin and lip. Re-constructive surgery is in my future, so training has taken a backseat to healing.

The good news is I am running some and am planning on running my first trail race--the Pikes Peak Ascent (Crazy I know)!! Since I can't train as hard as I want right now, I decided to do something that will be challenging for me and where I have no expectations. I hate running uphill and I am not a trail runner. So this race will be purely for fun and give me something to work towards so I don't become a couch potato (which is very tempting!).

Goings on

It's been a while without running for me, but 6 weeks is already here! Tomorrow, I see the doctor again to get another x-ray. The foot feels good, like it's healed, but it's hard to tell and things will most likely hurt when starting up again. But mentally, I'm ready to go!

Meanwhile, it took some time to get the motivation to go in the pool, but I finally did and it wasn't so bad. Well, the actual swimming was bad but it was relaxing at the same time. Most days I ran in place in the deep end for a mind-numbing amount of time, but yesterday I learned some tips from a buddy who was life-guarding. If my life ever depending on swimming, maybe there's hope after all.

Also meanwhile, I read/am reading a couple books that have been awesome: Ryan Hall's Running with Joy and Born to Run. I finished the first and am still working on the second. Surprisingly, the two books share a similar theme even though they come from very different perspectives: Hall a well-known, professional marathon runner who is a Christian and the Tarahumara people a primitive, isolated community in Mexico known for their ultramarathon ability. In his journey, Hall seeks a pure, simple love of running, something the Tarahumara are born with. In fact, BtR claims we are all born with it but most lose sight when the focus drifts to substitutes. If I didn't love running for it's own sake, I would've quit a long time ago. Health, awards, times, money, and/or recognition are nice bonuses, but that's all they are. I find that when I get excited about these or other things, I start to question why I run. Sometimes I need reminding or better yet, see it discovered in others' stories.

Possible New Coach

It's been a while since I post and I aways keep meaning to post again and again, but I didn't. I have pretty interesting news for the running world of Colorado Springs. So here's the small scoop; Renato Canova is at least going to use Colorado Springs as his American base for his training group. So he is going to have is athletes that are at Pre Classic this weekend move to town for a month to train here. Pretty Cool stuff, however there is more. Canova and Scott Simmons have worked out some deal and Simmons also wants to try to set up a group here in the Springs. So what they are in the process of doing is putting together 2 things. To jump start Simmons training group; Simmons and Canova will have a free Olympic Trials training group starting in October here in Colorado springs to try and get a good group together that wants to stay. To start to fund the group they are have a distance summit in Colorado springs to raise funds for all of this. Here's the website: http://www.americandistanceproject.com/Index/Welcome.html

To me this is awesome, because I don't have to move anywhere and I will have one of the worlds best coaches ever at least living here part time! I pretty sure I'm in on there training group, but I am hoping to get some individualized coaching from both Canova and Simmons.

As for Racing I have only raced once since Penn and it was a small race back home in missouri. It went surprisingly well since I traveled the whole day before and didn't get very much sleep. I ended up running 14.28 ish. Like I said it was a very small race and they didin't really time the race. At the finish i was like 100 meters from the finish, I stopped, and finished with the girl that Race was raising money for. I had about 100 meters to run 18 seconds that would make it 14.28.

AND training.

It's going well the weekend I raced at home in Missouri and I was able to make a good training weekend of it. I had a good race and then a very good long run and closed it out with a good 1k workout on the track in warrensburg. I started off at 3:03, 3:02, 3:01, 3:00, 2.59, 2.55, 2.54, 2.52. I felt good and was able to slowly break it down to a good race pace type of workout. I have a had some up and down weeks since then, yesterday was pretty good. I did a track/road workout. It was a 3 x 2x1k, 1mile road- the 1ks were on a dirt track and again a road mile. I ran 3.06, 3.06, 4.50, 3.06, 3.06, 4.53, 3.11, 3.12, 5.01. I know I was tiered by the end, but I believe it was more the heat and not me blowing up. It was pretty hot when I ran so I pretty sure it was that that kind of slowed me down on the last set.

What's Next...

I'm racing Gary Bjorklund 1/2 marathon in 2 weeks in Duluth, Minn. I know my fitness is there to run under 1.05 and I know I have the endurance to be there too, however it has to be the right day for me to rock it out.

Run Time!

Tommy

Summertime. Wooooo.

As summer gets underway, I’m definitely missing the weather and trails of Colorado Springs. Tucson is starting to get into the triple digits on a consistent basis and the rattlesnakes have been out of hibernation for about a month. Basically, this means the runs need to be done by at least 7:30 and the trails are closed for business. There are a few runners in town that still brave the trials, however, I haven’t been able to get over my first trail run here where I almost stumbled on 2 rattlers on a 45 minute run. On the bright side, I get to see all my old homeless friends from last summer who haven’t lost their enthusiasm for runners.

I’ve had some setbacks in my training since my last race nearly a month ago. I came down with a nasty bug that was compounded by allergy problems, and I ended up taking a week completely off to heal and concentrate on my last week of finals. Now that school is out of the way for the time being and I’m healthy again, I’m trying to come back in time for the Atlanta Peachtree on July 4^th. Since graduating college, this has been my favorite race by far. There is something special about seeing the sun come up at the starting line and seeing 55,000 people lined up behind you. It’s equally special to run a 10k course lined with people fired up to cheer for some Americans on the 4^th of July. Hopefully, this year will be as fun as the last 2.

A short recap of the last few weeks...

• First, a huge thank you to Cody, David, and Adrian for helping with a mile repeat workout this past Saturday. Poor Cody showed up to Monument Park without knowing we would be there and quickly got suckered into pacing me. Cody was a great pacer and pulled me through the first 5 mile reps between 5:24-5:26, and then killed me on the last rep as he dragged me to 5:11!! Adrian had an amazing workout especially after having a two hour drill and strength session at the gym the day before. David was a great coach and kept me controlled. Russ and Jay also had intervals on the road and ran very well. Amanda and Ashley did threshold workouts and had a very good day. Shannon happened to have an easy run at the park as well. It was like a mini team meeting.


• Congrats to Ashley for graduating from PA school!


• Congrats to all the BRC Adidas runners who took on the new course at the Bolder Boulder.


• Workouts have been wonderful through the month of May. I have surprised myself with some faster paces that I wasn't sure I could hit and I defeated a couple workouts that previously were defeating me.


• I ran on the Colorado Trail in Buffalo Creek on Sunday. Great trail and scenery. It was a gorgious day with blue skies and warm weather. There was an attempt to get in the South Platte River afterwards, but when the water feels like it's below 40 degrees I can't make myself even get a foot in.


• Monday was another adventurous run at Golden Gate Canyon State Park. We had never been to this park but saw that there was a ton of trails. We definitely should have investigated a bit further...the trails were ridiculously difficult and gained altitude quickly. I was not ready for that after a huge mile repeat workout and a long run. There was some awesome sites on the trail though. There was a lake with an old cabin. At the top of the mountain you have a great view of Mt Evans and some other snow covered peaks. The most interesting thing we saw was the mountain lion kill that was on the trail. It was a bit strange, the hind was separate from the skeleton and the legs were broken off and scattered about. Luckily, no mountain lion sighting. Fair warning - this is probably a good trail run, but don't do it when you are tired or in need of a recovery day.

This weekend I'm running a local 5k to keep the brain fresh for competition. Then in two weeks I'll race the mile on the track at Boulder for a last workout before USA Nationals. I can't wait to go to Eugene, to race and to explore. Until next time, happy running and go BRC Adidas!!

Bolder Boulder

I've shirked my blogging duties long enough, and it's time to get back into it.

The Bolder Boulder will be my first serious race back after a medium hiatus from running that began with hernia surgery last winter. (My advice to everyone on this is don't get a hernia because its not fun. Women might have an easier time with this than men.) My training is finally going well--I've been logging 70+ miles for the last several weeks with some solid workouts--and I've had a couple of moderately successful low key racing including most recently a win in a 5k in Portland, OR while my wife and I were on vacation.

I'm focusing on the Bolder Boulder not because it's my favorite race, nor because I'm particularly good at the 10k (I'm much better at the 5k and shorter races), but rather because it's the only race non-runners in Boulder care about. When people find out I'm a runner the first thing they ask is, "did you do the Bolder Boulder?" and then "How did you do?" I might as well do everything I can to maximize my street cred with my friends and neighbors.

After that I'll be focusing on some 5ks and the Boulder Races Series (the 2k, 3k, and mile) which is more of my forte anyway.

25K Championships

I spent my weekend in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the 25K championships. When I first got here, it was ridiculously hot and humid. I was a little nervous, but the heat and humidity died down on Friday night and gave way to rain and thunderstorms. It was a wet race, but I was still happy with my time and performance. I was hoping to finish somewhere between 1:36 and 1:40. 1:38:36 was right in the middle and a 4 min PR! I'm going to take a short break and then start training for the Chicago Marathon in the fall.

Need Change?

Yes please!

In the hopes of getting myself out of what is becoming a bit of a prolonged running funk, I decided to join a training group and actually get serious about finding direction. While I've been mulling over possibilites for some time, this was spurred
on more quickly by several things; one of which was the fact that little while ago post-Mt.Sac I was running a particular loop for the umpteen-millionth time and the dawned on me that I had run it umpteen million times, at the same pace, at the same time of day. Afterward, while standing in the ice tub I was looking through my running log (yes I have one. Yes I'm that nerdy) and flipped back to....oh say, this time two years ago and realized that yes, I was doing the exact. Same. Thing. For some strange reason I was oddly depressed by these revelations. But at the same time it was a smack in the face because realistically, if you change nothing then nothing changes. I always liked to envision myself as having made some sort of progress with something, but the writing's on the wall. In any case, evidently I find it difficult to deviate from a comfortable routine, because I've been in the same routine for like, 8 years now. All this is to say, s**t or get off the pot, do it or don't, but stop dilly-dallying around because soon you'll be old and decrepid or you'll have 10.5 kids and a 9 to 5 and it will be too late to do this stuff and you'll always wonder...

So in light of this, I thought maybe a change in routine, approach, surroundings, peer-group, mind-set, and mentality may be just the stimulus needed to make me pull my head out, get my ish together, and maybe get out of the part-physical/part-mental (I won't deny it) slump I got myself into. So I decided to start training a bit with the Boulder Express group in Boulder (obviously) that Lee Troop coaches. It seemed like a terriffic opportunity with great people to run with, and how often do you get to have a multiple-time Olympian tell you what to do? This was kind of a big step since I'm terrified of change if it involves risk of any kind, however insignificant in the big picture. I'm a pansy like that. While the fact that they are over 100 miles away prevents running with them everyday, I'm able to train with them on occasion for now. Baby steps.

My initiation into their long runs last week included getting lost somewhere on a nice hilly 14 mile loop in Boulder, inadvertantly tacking on a few more miles, and learning that it is apparently important to at least look the maps that Lee emails out to everyone several days in advance of the runs. Or better yet, memorize them. But there are worse places to get lost and there's nothing wrong with a prolonged long run even if it did kick my ass that day. Furthermore I got to see some fantastic trail routes and I will say that it was very different actually having women around to run (and keep up) with. But they are a blast and it was a terriffic (although slightly unintentional) 2 hour and 15 minute long run on a beautiful day. Hopefully a step in the right direction!

Out of action, into the bone healing chamber

I got an unexpected surprise a week and a half ago. I found out I have a broken bone in my foot that I'd been running on for months, at least since January that I can remember. Of course, I didn't know that's what it was, and it never got bad enough to stop running or give it extra attention. I finally decided to make an appointment to check it out and see what could be done. The doc asked me to point to where it hurt and when he stuck his finger right on the spot I felt a lot of pain. He then took some x-rays, which showed one of the sesamoid bones, under the big toe joint, was fractured all the way through in two directions. I was reminded of Jesse's injury because this is the same thing that happened to him. If I can learn from his experience and stay off of it, I hope to be healed in four and half more weeks when I go in for another x-ray.

Injuries happen. I'm not upset, even with it happening at the start of summer and not knowing what caused it. When I start back, I'll look into whether my shoes are still appropriate. Otherwise, I'll see how training plays out to figure out racing since it's been awhile! In the meantime, I'll practice my water survival skills (some call it swimming) and golf of the frisbee and polo-and-khakis varieties.

A different perspective

Normally I only get the urge to blog after a race no matter if it's good or bad, it just gives me a release. This blog however came to me while I did my workout on Wednesday. As many of you that are parents know sometimes squeezing ten minutes out of your schedule is tricky let alone 2+ hours for a workout. I do have an amazing support system who helps with the kids so I'm usually able to get my workout in when needed. Last week however proved to be a serious challenge. Kevin was incredibly busy at work and with the school year winding down there were lots of school functions to attend. Luckily for me Wednesday was a nice day so I opted to take the kids to Josephine Jones park to do my workout, 400x4, 2 miles, 400x4, seemed easy enough. The boys were excited, the park has a large dirt loop that we have marked out from 400-2 mile courses. The best part for me is the trail loops around a nice big playground so the boys are pretty happy. I got in a nice two mile warm up and was ready to get my workout rolling. The boys were told that when I passed them at the park (the 200 meter mark of the 400) they were aloud to follow me to the finish and than we would all jog back to the start. This got them excited they got to participate. The first 400 went off well and believe it or not the boys did what they were suppose to no problem! I jogged back to the park, dropped the boys there and finished my jog to the start. It's funny 3 minutes usually seems like a long time between 4's but when you have kids there everything seems rushed. Number two got off I was running down the trail came through a couple trees and to my surprise Tripp was on the other side I yelled to him "watch out buddy run behind mom!" bless his little heart he tried to make a u-turn and ran right in front of me. I tried to put on the brakes and change directions but no luck. I knocked him over, he slid for ten feet on the gravel as I did a very clumsy looking flip over him and onto my own hands and knees. Needless to say I stopped that interval, picked up my little man, gave him some kisses, explained to him it would be much better if he ran behind mommy and started my workout all over. It was just one of those days as a runner and mom that you remember what really is important to you......your kiddos. Running is a huge part of my life, but if Tripp had wanted to leave after that spill I would have packed up and taken him for ice cream. It's a good thing I have my kids to ground me. I tend to get very hard on myself and my performances but when I come home to them and all they care about is that I ran. They dont need to know my splits or my time. They are just proud! They make me a better person and runner!