Chicago Winters

We're in the midst of another typical Chicago winter here.  We are having a stretch of below zero temps the last few days culminating with three inches of snow last night.  The snow was kind of nice this morning, but 3 degrees is just too cold.  Tomorrow's high temp is only supposed to be -2 and over night down to -15 with windchills as low as -35.  This is the type of weather that makes training at this time of year so tough.  I really do not like the cold weather.  In fact, I hate being cold.  So, getting myself out the door on days like these truly takes a major effort.  And it seems to get harder as the years pass by.  But, hopefully, this will just make me stronger.

Give me heat any day.  My best marathon had temps in the 80s.  And I have always done well in the heat.  This is the reason I would have such a hard time with a major spring race.  I wouldn't be able to get the training I feel I need during the cold months.  Training through a whole summer is what gives me the confidence that I can have a very successful fall season.  But it is important that I get out often enough in January and February to maintain a solid base going into my formal training.

So here's to our good ole' Chicago's winters!

Training Races in June

June is the month that I haven't really found a long race to do for training.  But I will keep looking.  But I do have two shorter trail races lined up.  One is another Kennekuk race, the Lake Mingo Trail Run (7.1 miles around Lake Mingo in the Kennekuk Cove County Park) and the second is the Dew It! 13.1 Mile Trail Run in Griffith, IN.  If I can't find a long one to fit in, I will just run extra miles each of these days after the races.  These two races should give me some work on a bit more technical trails that what I have around home.  Plus most of my home training will inevitably be on the roads.

Next - July

Races as Training

With the Hennepin Hundred on the schedule, I wanted to find some races that would fit into a training plan leading up to the 100.  After some searching, I found what I was looking for.  Three races that should fit the bill, each one progressively giving me more time on my feet.  

The first one will be in May.  I signed up for the Starved Rock Marathon in Ottawa, IL.  I ran the inaugural one last year.  It was a well-organized race with a really nice course that I struggled to finish in a bit over 4 hours.  This was during my left knee problems before my meniscus surgery, so the result was not really unexpected.  It wasn't that the time was slow, it just was a hard last few miles.  I am figuring that four to four and a half hours will actually be a good training run for this year.  With my training starting in February, I should be ready for this.

Tomorrow - Race #2

My First Siberian Express Trail Race

My first Siberian Express was today.  It is 7.45 mile trail race at the Kickapoo State Recreation Area in Illinois put on by the Kennekuk Road and Trail Runners club (KRR).  It is always at the beginning of January, so the weather is a big question mark.  And it is about a two and a half hour drive from home.  So it has always been tough for me to decide to do it.  But this year they had a special reduced price and I decided to go for it.

We had icy rain/snow during the night which turned to rain in the morning and throughout most of the day with temps in the mid-30s which made for a very muddy and slippery course.  But it was a lot of fun running through the slop through the woods.  But being my first time, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into.  The first half was pretty easy as long as you didn't mind the mud and puddles.  Once your feet got wet it didn't matter how many more puddles you had to run through.  But, oh, the second half!  A couple of monster slippery hills and slanted trails made staying upright a large task.  Needless to say I went down a couple of times and by the finish I was carrying a lot of Kickapoo mud with and on me.  But it was great time nonetheless and a great challenge.  And as always, KRR puts on a fantastic race!

Plans for the New Year

So what are my plans for the new year.  Over the last month I have been putting together my calendar of races for the year.  My 'A' race is a new 100 mile, the Hennepin Hundred.  Reasons I picked this one are several.

1.  Easier to get into because of the newness (although because of a website glitch, I couldn't sign up for the first hour)

2.  The course is along the Hennepin Canal Towpath (non-technical & flat limestone path)

3.  Point-to-point (have not run one before)

4.  Almost impossible to get lost

5.  Second weekend of September (still should be warm and have all summer to prepare)

More tomorrow...

A New Year Begins

Start of a new year. After a bit of a down year with my knee surgery las June 30th, I wasn't able to achieve my running goals. Had to walk most of Howl, only finished 50K of my Run Woodstock 100K (which originally was supposed to be a 100 Miler), and ran most of the shorter end of year races slower than I wanted to. I did manage to get over 2000 miles for the year, however, with a consistent mix of running and walking. This was significant because it extended my streak of 24 years in a row achieving this yearly total. Still feeling the knee at times, but overall feeling pretty fit to start the year. I will write about my goals for this year over the next couple of days' entries.

Success With Lots of Support

Ran The Howl At the Moon 8 Hour Run yesterday.  This was my 15th time running this event.  And it was easily the best time I've had.  Two years ago my daughter and her husband came down and camped with me the night before and then stayed and supported me during the race.  Which was great.  But this year they talked my whole family to come down.  All three daughters, two husbands, wife and to grand kids (ages 3 and 1 month).  What a great time we had.  My one son-in-law is really into camping and had everything you could have asked for (canopy, tent, grills, fire pit, food, etc).

After a pretty good night's sleep, the next morning was race time.  Start time was 7:00 a.m. And we would continue trying to move forward over the next 8 hours.  The race is held on a 3.29 mile loop in Kennekuk Cove County Park near Danville, IL.  It is a mixture of trails, dirt, grass and a couple short paved sections.  Not a lot of elevation change, but enough to keep it interesting.  What makes the race special to me, is the people involved.  The race director, Marc Reddy, his wife, the volunteers, the runners and all the people who come down to cheer and support all of us.  It is put on by the Kennekuk Road and Trail Runners.  They have always put on a first class event.  Their slogan is "Train Hard, Race Hard, Party Hard!"

I've had some moderate success in the race over the years, including a 4th place overall back in 1995, and 2004, and placed first in my respective age groups (40-49 in 1998 and 50-59 in 2010).  The last 2 years, I have had good efforts, but have started finishing farther down the list (32nd and 23rd), somI didn't really know what to expect this year, especially with DNF at the Black Hills 100.  I knew I was in good shape and was feeling pretty good this last week, so I decided to go out faster than usual.  The first 3 hours went well with 6 loops done, but then the wheels started to fall off.  I slowed down to almost 10 minutes slower per loop for the next 2 hours.  But somehow, with the support of my whole family, I managed to work through it during the last 3 hours as I steadily picked up a minute or two in each succeeding loop.  I ended up with 45.27 miles which was good for 10th place overall and 1st place in the Grandmaster Division (50-59).

A tough, but absolutely wonderful weekend!!!