Plan for the remainder of 2008

After completing the Kettle Moraine 100, and the Bike MS Century 2 weeks later, I have taken some time off. From the end of June up to the beginning of August I had only been putting in about 20 mi/week, and had let my weight training slide as well. Rarely lifting more than our 9 month old Ella (By the way, this is so much more rewarding than lifting weights).

So, a few weeks a go I kicked it back into high gear. I’ve had a few “long” runs of 17, and 25 miles, along with quite a few runs of 10 miles on the trails. I had been running on the roads mostly to get back into the swing of things. I quickly remembered how much I dislike road running compared to trail running. There’s just something about the trails. I feel like I can really fly on the trails and have fun, but the road is just so monotonous. But I plan on trying to get up to 70-100 miles/week over the next few weeks.

As usual, I need to have a goal to shoot for in order to stick to my training plan. The goals that I have set for myself for this fall are as follows –

- Sept 5-6 is the Superior Sawtooth 100 mile in Lutsen, MN – http://uppermidwesttrailrunners.com/superior/index.html - I will try to pace my uncle to a great finish. This is my chance to give back for all of his help when he paced me at Kettle Moraine. I couldn’t have done as well without him. Not to mention, he has been my mentor ever since he talked me into pacing him at the 2007 Arkansas Traveller 100. It’s time for me to give back.

- Oct 4-5 is the Arkansas Traveller 100 mile in Perryville, AR – http://www.runarkansas.com/AT100.htm - Finish at or under 20 hours and place in the top 5. This could be tough, since this race has replaced Western States as the final race of the 2008 Grand Slam. There will likely be some tough competition in attendance, but I’m going to set the bar there, and just go out and do the best I can. I will be training harder than I have in the past as well, so in order to keep that up, I need to keep this lofty goal.

- Oct 25 is the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 mile at Kettle Moraine State Forest in WI (Same area where the KM 100 was held). - http://www2.thenorthface.com/endurancechallenge/races/2008/mdw_course.html - My goal for this race will depend on how things go in Arkansas, but right now I’m shooting to place in the top 3 (Top 3 get $$).

So between now and October 4^th, I’ll be hitting the trails pretty hard, getting ready to meet my goals for the balance of 2008.

With any luck, maybe I’ll see you along the way. If not, I’ll let you know how it’s coming along with regular updates here. Happy trails.

Birthday trek and subsequent reflections

Summer will soon come to an end and soon the leaves will start changing colors. Along with the vibrant fall color comes great running weather (usually). This past summer flew by faster than any in recent memory for me. They say time flies when you’re having fun. This summer has been very busy, but has also been very fun.

I just turned 33 on Sunday, so to celebrate we headed over to Silver Springs State Park in Plano, IL, which is about 2 miles from our house. As we drove over to the park I told Anna, our 7 year old middle daughter who has down syndrome, that we were going to go where I run. She said in her delayed speech “100 miles? Daddy? Run? Anna too!? Yea!!!!” I thought that was great!

I led the girls along the path. It’s a three-mile loop of mainly single track with lots of fun twists and turns, and hills. We all had a great time. It was fun to be able to just let them go and not be restrained by having something scheduled to go to, which is usually the case for us. Ella, our youngest who is 9 mos, giggled as we walked along the trail. I had her in the Baby Bjorn baby carrier thing so she was basically strapped to my chest seeing everything we saw as we walked. She kept peeking back at me, presumably to make sure things were ok.

Towards the end, the girls started to get hot and itchy from the weeds, and the skeeters had started to come out. Liv, Ella (Strapped to me) and I walked ahead to the opening from the woods to the trailhead where we had started. We made a finish line with our arms and cheered Anna on to make it to the finish. As soon as she saw us she sprinted through our arms finishing her first “100 miler”. It may sound goofy, but we were all VERY proud of her. She had never done so well on such a long walk. But most importantly, she was proud of herself too. If you know Anna, that was a BIG accomplishment. It was a great day.

The following day Anna woke up and said “Race, Daddy, Livia, Fun!?” She was basically saying that she had fun at the park with us and wanted to do it again. I had to ask her a few times what she was saying, but when I did it made me quite emotional.

It made me think – Everything I do, from what I drink, to what I eat, to what I read, to how I speak to others, to my religious beliefs, to my training habits --- EVERYTHING has so much influence on our kids. Weather it’s good or bad, they catch on and it affects them. To all of the fellow parents out there - I speak from experience when I say - Be the best role model that you can for your children. They learn from everything you do, weather you think they are listening or watching or not. My experience consists of both good and bad things that I have done in the past that I have seen reflected in my kids. The hike on my birthday just kind of reminded me of the importance of providing positive leadership for your family and kids.