Where to run ?

Sonya, Ward , Evan and I found out today that there are not many places to run in Michigan City,IN. There are no sidewalks by the hotel and many busy roads !! We even looked down by Lake Michigan thinking we could be in luck but that was not the case.

On a bright note I did feel real good on the run. So I guess that was not so bad overall. I am feeling like it is all coming together and am excited to run in a week !!! It was great to run and talk to Ward. What a great guy.

Miles for the day= 7

Knocking the crap out of the legs

I got out this morning to run with Nick before the family and I head out of town for our good friend and Evan's godmother Heathers wedding. I ran down to the ban shell like normal and then we looped through the cemetery. I think Nick likes that loop. I like the rolling hills. This would be a great NYC marathon loop to do. Man everyday that goes by the better my legs are feeling. I think I just needed to run some of the gunk out of these old legs. Funny how that works huh.

Miles for the day= 10

I got out tonight for my run with Sonya and Evan on the parkway. Wow what a nice night for a run. Both Sonya and I commented about how nice it was tonight. I would like to think it is also the company that makes the difference. I do know that Evan was making many people happy by waving to everyone as well as looking like he way asking for a high 5 by sticking out his arm towards them.

My body felt pretty good. You know sometimes how you feel a bit sore the day or two after getting a massage. Well that is feeling like it is going away which is nice. I am hoping Sonya goes in tomorrow and gets one as well since she has been feeling real sore for a week or so. It would be a good way to go into race week I think.

Miles for the day= 7+

The day Ed Fitz died

Man yesterday I found out that after many years the Edmund Fitz 100 race is calling it quits. This makes me sad. It was a great team relay as well as a 100k solo race. I am not sure why they killed it off, exceptionally since it was only like 2 1/2 weeks till the race was to take place.Heck Sonya and I got married after the race not to far from the finish line just 2 years ago. Maybe some day we will know but I will always have fond memories of the Fitz !!!

Finding Nick

Man was it early. I got up at like 5:40am so I could run and meet Nick at the bandshell at 6:15am. I was also a bit chilly, but did feel good. As I made my way down to the lake I decided I would just go the normal way to the lake instead of the other way in which I mention to Nick last night that I was going to take. Mistake !!! So I got to the lake in plenty of time so I jumped into the bathroom to take care of some business. After I got out I stood and waited for Nick. I waited and waited but there was no Nick. Man did I miss him or what ? I ran up the way he normally comes and still no Nick. At this point I was just going to run back to the lake and finish up my run when low and behold I ran into Nick. He had decided to run around and meet me but I was not going that way. Oh well we talk some and laughed. I continued home and called it a day. I did feel pretty good during the run so that was good. I guess I learned to never change my plans mid steam or rick loosing my running partner for the day. I think we will try once more Friday.

Miles for the day= 6

Feeling much better

I got out today for my run after work. I decided to go run a easy run by and around the Lake of the Isles area. I had not run over there for awhile now. It was a nice night to run with the temps down around 58' or 60' degrees. Since we are in this "taper" times i was not looking to rock and roll pace wise, but did hope to feel better that yesterday. Plus it was nice knowing that after the run I had a appointment for a massage !!!

I started out doing a loop around Isles staying on the soft dirt when I could. Man it felt good. I was wearing my Nike Skylon shoes tonight. I am still unsure which shoes to wear at TCM. Do I go racing flat like I always have or do I go with a real lightweight trainer ? Well I guess I better decide soon. Back to the run.... I felt good on the dirt and was happy with how easy I felt. As I made my way back around to where my car was I looped back to the trails behind Cedar lake for a few more miles. Man I was feeling better with each mile that went by. What a great feeling !! I was wanting to go much longer but knew I needed to stop. After I got back to my car I stretched out and did a few drills. I should do more of those for sure. Well then it was off to the massage and that was great as well. I sure wish I could do that more often that is for sure.

Miles for the day= 7

Slow going

Man was I feeling slow this morning !!! I guess it was just one of those days but I sure hope not to have one any time soon. It brought me back to a few months ago and feeling like that alot. Maybe I just ran to hard yesterday ? Maybe I did not do enough to aid my recovery after the run ? Well what ever it was I must do better. At least the weather is suposed to break for tomarrow and get back to the low 60's for highs. Yea !!!

Miles for the day= 5

Long run with Hibbs

I met Steve Hibbs out at the Luce Line trail this morning for the long run. I was looking for a easy 17 miler and the soft flat gravel path sounded good to me. I was feeling pretty good, just a little sleepy after Jason Zarn's wedding last night. We had a good time. We started out easy but I found that our pace was picking up at bit so after about 6 miles I told Steve we needed to slow a bit. Not long after that we met up with Eve Rembleski ( spelling ? ) out on her run. Eve ran with us the last 11 miles. It was great to talk with her and hear how things where going for her and her husband Duke. Duke just was 3rd at the Superior trail 100 miler two weeks ago. It was his first 100 miler. As we got back to the car I was happy overall with how I felt. Just 2 weeks to go till d-day !!!

Miles for the day= 17

Bolder Dash 10k

Today Sonya was looking to run a solid 10k race 2 weeks out from the marathon so Evan and I went with her down to the bolder dash 10k down on it's new course at Lake Nakomis. It was a super nice morning weather wise for the race. Evan and I warmed up with Sonya and then figured we would run around with the jogger during the race. I thought Sonya ran pretty good considering she had this crazy side cramp from like 2 miles on in the race. I believe she was like 38:08 for time. She was not to happy but I was proud of her. Sometime shit like that happens and you just can't put much into it other than to say it was not my best day. Then saying that she has to see that a 38 min 10k given she was not at full output is pretty good. I think she will be ready to roll at TCM in two weeks.

As for me I was pretty happy with how I felt during the run. I was feeling my phosas a bit so I am thinking I need to get on that big time before the race. Other than that I was good.

Miles for the day= 7

A new blogging world for Kurt

Today my blogging world all changed. We finnaly got high speed Internet !!! I will now be able to post with pictures and such. Man is this great.

Now back to the run for the day. I had the day off to be with Evan and man we had allot of things to do. I talked to Nick last night and we decided to run together in the late afternoon. So after I got most of the stuff done I gave old Nick a call and we figured he could run to my house then we could do a loop from there since he needed more miles than me. We started out with a loop to the parkway and to Lake Nakomis then back to Lake Harrite. From there Nick ran home and Evan and I ran the mile back to the house. The temps where great !!! Evan slept most of the way which was great since he was in super need of a nap. I felt good today. Now it's off to the weekend and my last long run of 17 miles. I am feeling good about the upcoming TCM.

Miles for the day= 10

Crazy Storms

Well my run today was foiled by some crazy storms. I was hoping to get out not long after work but just when I was thinking of it a whopper of a storm came to town in a big way. Pour Finny dog who is not a happy camper in storms was like glue dog to my leg. By the time it went past and Sonya got home I had lost all motivation. Oh well sometime that is just how it goes.

Miles for the day= 0

Speed play ?

Today was going to be a speed workout day. I was hoping to go to the track since I had to do like 6x 1200 at 5k pace. Well as the day went on I was "running" out of time so I decided to just run to the lakes and then do the same type of workout just on time. Well guess what, that is realy hard. Not only was there a ton of people out and about in the afternoon but but running a workout like that not knowing distance can sometimes be tuff. Overall I felt pretty good. Not great, but not bad either. I only have 2 more of these speed days before the marathon so how bad can that be ?

Miles for the day= 9

Running in the rain

So do you ever have those mornings where you wake up and you just do not want to get out the door ? Well I had one of those and then when I saw it was raining I was even having a harder time with it. I got all my clothes togeather and went out the door. I had been thinking something around 8-10 miles today. As I got to the lake I knew it was bathroom time. The first one I saw was let's just say beyond gone. I wonder what galls people sometimes. So after finding my next option I was good to go. But then the " hay you can just go longer a different day " bug started in. Lucky for me I was able to fend it off. I kept running and thought I would go through the cementery once more and say hi to my sister and grandpa. I really feel at peace not to use a bad pun when I run there. Plus next Wednesday will be my sisters b-day. She would have been 33, man crazy to think of that. All in all I felt pretty good about the run. I was a bit tired at times but not to bad. Somedays just go that way. Running in the light rain was nice, even if it was a tad muggy out.

Miles for the day= 9

Chasing Glory Begins

Well it is fall time at that means it is marathon time !!! Only 3 weeks till TCM and Chicago and then like 7 weeks till the mens U.S. Olympic marathon trials the day before New York City marathon. I know of many people running in each of these races. I thought I would give you all a heads up on few sites to vist with great info.

The first one is my good buddy and teammate Pete Gilman's train blog. Pete is getting ready for his first trials and I can say for each of us on the team we are so excited for him !!! Look into Pete's training at trialsqualifier.blogspot.com

There is also a site by the NYRRC group who put on the NYC marathon about some of the athletes getting ready for the trials. It has daily video's done by chasing kimbia's Matt Taylor so it is first class. Look that info at
http://www.nyrr.org/races/pro/mens_trials/glory/index.asp

Rest day

So after my run on Sunday I was a little tight in my abdomen area. I think my psoas muscle is acting up a bit. Well with that being said I figured what better day to take my rest day. I knew I would have one of these this week any how so today was going to be the day. I feel pretty good all around but no need to try and be a hero huh. I ended up having to go into the store later at night to fix a phone problem and with my luck Dr. Folske was there. He has helped me with my psoas muscle before so I got a little active release right there at the store. I think I will go into his office on Friday as well just to make sure all is good.

Miles for the day= 0

A little longer than the plan

It's that time aging, the weekly long run. Today Sonya, Nick and I where going to be running from our house down the parkway, looping across Lake street/ Marshall bridge and then back home. We thought that would be like 16 miles or so from home so we would have to just add on a few more at the end to get our 19 miles for the day. Plus this was going to work for Nick who was running 15 with us then doing his last 3 miles at a harder pace. The morning was great, and there was lot's of bikers out. It was the Mpls bike tour so the parkway was closed to car's and the bikes had free rain. I was feeling super great during the run. We even met up with Patrick Russell who just was cooling down after some hills. It is always great to see Pat ! As we where making our run back and we where like 2 miles from home I could tell I was wishing I had brought a gel with me. The worst part was that I had one in my hands before I left but did not put it into my shorts !! So Sonya ( who was also dragging a bit ) and I decided to loop up to the house and grab some gel and finish up. Man did the gel taste good and it with some Gatorade endurance formula did the trick. I was feeling pretty good once more. As we left the house to add on a few I lost track of time a bit and we ended up with like 21+ miles. Oops my bad ! It was funny because it is normally Sonya wanting to drag me out for more but today she was like " are we done yet " ? All in all a good run. I feel like there is not much more I can do at this point before TCM but I look forward to getting in one more week of good hard running. It was a good week.

The first Chasing Kimbia video is up !!! Look it up you will like what you see.

Miles for the day= 21+

Where did my gloves go ?

So when the alarm went off this morning the first thing I did was call time and temp to see if we would take Evan with us in the jogger. Well after they said it was 39' out I was like no way are we bringing him. Not that in the future he would not come with us but at this point I do not know where his super warm jackets and such are. Plus he and Sonya looked so happy in bed, I guess Sonya will have to get out when I get back. So I just looked all over the house for my tights, gloves and such and went out the door to meet Nick. Man it is hard to find all that stuff the first time of the year.

As I hit the road I decided to start out extra slow with the cold and all and let my body warm up. The crisp air felt very good. Hell I saw my breath at the start !!! After I met up with Nick I thought for something different I would take us into Lakewood cemetery which is by the lakes. It is a super pretty place to run with lot's of rolling hills. My sister and Grandpa Decker are there so I like to run in there every so often. I was feeling great once more as we glided up and down the hills. Man is it great to feel good aging !!! After we looped through the park I went my way home and Nick went his way. I think he liked the loop. Maybe we will do it more often ?

On a side not everyone Nick and I where talking about how much better we have been feeling since we both starting taking the First Endurance optygen aging. I would highly recommend this to everyone. It works out to cost like $1.00 a day. Man it is so worth it !!!!

Miles for the day= 9

Feeling it

During tonight's run boy was I feeling it. I was feeling like I am hitting a good grove with my running and I was also feeling the cold cold wind. Man was it crisp. It is funny how with weather like this the lakes do not have as many people ? Go figure. Evan and I ran tonight with Nick. It has been fun running a bit more with Nick as of late. It sure seems like Nick is getting into this dad thing. Good for him I say since in my book being a dad is the best thing ever. Speaking of being a dad, Evan was having a good time but I think he was getting a bit cold by the end. I needed to have the wind cover on but I forgot it, sorry Evan.

I have been real excited with how I have been feeling as of late. Maybe I am not as off as I thought I was going into TCM. I just need to stay focus.

Miles for the day= 9+

Artic blast

Man was it cool tonight on the run. I think the temperature when we started was like 60' or so. Plus it was pretty windy so that just made it seem that much colder. I think it was the first time in a while that I ran in a long sleeve shirt. Hell Sonya had her gloves on !!! But if I had to choose I would take this over the extreme heat any day. I guess I am a Minnesotan to the core. Sonya, Evan and I went on the run tonight with our friend Jason Zarn in St Paul along the river road. I forgot how much I used to run along the river road. It sure is a great place to run. Today was another day of feeling real good. Man that is such a good feeling !!! Now if I can just get in a solid week and a half then rest I will be ready to go. I tried out a new pair of Saucony lightweight shoes tonight that I might use at TCM. They felt pretty good but I will need to get a few more runs in them and see. I think I will try them on the long run this weekend.

On a side note it was great to see Jason, it has been awhile since we last ran. Jason is getting married 1 week from Saturday. It sure sounds like it will be a blast. Good luck man.

Miles for the day= 9+

Feeling it comming back

Well after a few days I am feeling back to normal. It was good to feel each day that came and went was getting better and better. I hooked up with Nick today after work. It was nice to have that all work out running with Nick since I was planning to run on my own up till I ran into him on my way home. It is always nice to have someone to run with. We did a good loop through the neighborhoods between our houses. It was a good break from running the paths around the lakes. The weather was super nice once more today. Man is this good string of days with great weather making a big difference. I love temps in the 65' to 70' range !!! We will have to see but I might try a light workout tomorrow if I am feeling good.

On a side note the 3rd season of Chasing Kimba starts next Monday !!!! Just in time to pump we up the last few weeks before the marathon. Look it up at

Miles for the day= 8+

Can you belive the weather ?

Wow has this weather been a runners dream as of late !!! One can only hope it holds out till TCM. So today I am still a bit sore but figured I would give it a shot. It was a bit windy but that's ok, I will take that over the heat any day of the week. I knew Sonya and the kids where hoping to go walk in the grass by the rose gardens so I did a loop where I could swing by to see them. It is a joy for me to see them from afar having fun. The only problem was that once I got to that place they where not there ? It turns out that I must have just missed them. Oh well it sounds like they had fun. Now back to the run. I was feeling much better than yesterday. I guess that 3 mile run was good to loosen things up. I still was not feeling great but better than it could have been. I just can't belive how much I was beat up after that day. I decided to keep in shorter and not streach my luck to much so I looped back as to get 6 miles all in all. It turnd out to be a good idea as I felt my run going down hill the last half mile or so. Good call Kurt !!!! Better luck tomarrow.

Miles for the day= 6

Man am I sore

So the day after I feel pretty sore. I am not sure if it is the race or standing for like 3 plus hours at the Rush concert last night. I am guessing it is the fact that both happen in the same 24 hour span. Given the fact that I feel this way I decide to take it real easy !!! I thought a good 5 mile run would be goo but after just a short time I change my plans and go for the 3 mile option. At first I was like only 3 miles ? But I know that just some is better than nothing today. I hope I find myself feeling much better tomarrow.

On a side note, the Rush show was great !!! Man are those guys all so good at what they do. They are so tight. I guess that happens when you have been playing togeather for like 40 year

Miles for the day= 3

City of Lakes 25k

Well today was pretty good day all in all. The race was interesting in that I felt real good for like 13 miles but then the last few miles my legs were a bit sore. I know for sure that I will not be using my normal racing flats at TCM. I just do not feel like I have spent enough time in them to go the marathon distance. I think I will use a different pair I have that has a little more forefoot cushion. The weather was great temperature wise, a bit windy but I will take it over the heat. I was shooting to average around 6:15 pace or so and I believe I ended up around 6:17 pace so not to bad. It was so great to all my teammates !!! When life get's hard for me which in many ways it has this year I lean on the knowledge that I have all of them in my life !!! Thanks guys !!! So I guess I have 4 weeks to go till TCM. I think there is still some time to fine tune a few things but all in all I think I still have a chance to run around 2:45 or so.

On the cool down i was so tired. I was in much need of food and drink. I think we made it like 2 or 3 miles. Sonya went on a few more miles past the car with Paul but I was done, done , done. Man I think I ate my race cookie in like 2 seconds. Now it is time for the first Vikings game of the year then off to the RUSH show tonight with Hibbs.

Miles for the day= 21

The day before...

Well tomorrow is race day so it was going to be a easy one. I figured a easy 5 miles would be good, so I took Evan in the jogger down to the band shell to meet Nick. Since we did not have to go to far we left home at 8:30am with the idea of getting it end then still have time to get off to work. Boy did the nice cool morning feel good. I sure hope it is like this for the race !!! One thing with running the lakes later in the morning it can be more of a pain with the jogger. Oh well I guess it is just the price of spending time with my son. I will take it any day. I did feel real good on the run so I am hopeful to have a good one tomorrow.

Miles for the day= 5

Much better

Today's run was much better let me tell you. I went out this morning with Sonya and Evan. What was great was the great breeze and temp's !!!! I am ready for fall. I love weather in the 60's and 70's !!!! One of the things I am trying to figure out is what flat's to wear at TCM. I am going to try my Nike Marathoners in the 25k race to see how they feel. I guess I have a few weeks still but it is getting closer to race day at TCM !!! I am very excited. I do not think I am going to run sub 2:40 but non the less I am ready to be apart of the race once more.

Miles for the day= 9

Hot one

So when I took Evan out for a run today in the jogger I figured it would not be super bad since we heading out the door at like 10:30am but man I was super surprised but how hot it felt. I know it was not super bad but the sun was a sizzling. As for the run I felt very tired. I had hoped to feel better after the day off but that was not the case. With some luck I will feel better tomorrow. For the run we did our normal Lake Harriett and Calhoun loop. It is a good one because of all the people watching Evan can do. Today on the run we saw Katie McGreggor. It was nice to see her out running. She is such a nice person and heck 1 week ago she ran in the world championships of track and field !!!! I hope to see her on the U.S. team for the upcoming Olympics.

Miles for the day= 9+

Off Day

After the last few days I decided to take a easy day off and let myself rest. I was a good day to do this since it was Hot !!!

Miles for the day= 0

easy day

After the race I was looking foward to a easy day of running with some friends. I ran some with both Liz and Nick. It was nice to run with Liz since I have not seen her for awhile. Nick was doing good for a new dad. I felt like crud the first 10 min's or so but was good after that. It was nice to see Sonya, Kyra and Evan out while I was running. They had fun at the rose gardens.

Miles for the day= 9+

Race day

Today was race day at the Victory 10k and 5k races in Mpls. The morning temps felt pretty good but I felt like it would not take long to heat up. My warm up was nice and easy. I ran into a few people like Erin Ward and Kelly Mortenson and ran a bit with them. I felt good on the warm up but had to see what would happen at a faster pace. When the race started I went out faster than normal this year for me. I hit the mile in 5:42 or so. I felt ok but knew I would not be able to hold that the whole way. As I slowed I was happy to keep it at 6:05 ish all the way back. I belive my time was 37:47. I still have much to do but will have to see what happens. I had a nice cool down with Sonya and Evan. Sonya went after the 5k. It was hotter for her race which did not help her in trying to break 18 min's. She was on pace for 2 miles but slowed in the end and ran 18:22. She was 2nd overall.

Here are more state fair photos

Miles for the day= 14+

The day before

Well in most cases I would not go for much of a run the day before a race but I needed some miles and I was not feeling to good about the upcomming race. I met up with Nick and Hibbs for a run. Steve and I went like 9+ miles and Nick rocked it out for like 21 miles. Nice job Nick !!! I felt real good. I guess we will se what happens tomarrow huh. Wish me luck.

Miles for the day= 9+

Sleep Evan Sleep

After work today I took Evan out for a run. He was super need of a nap and the jogger was going to be the ticket. Well that is what I thought. I told Sonya I would run with him till he feel asleep then loop back and drop him off. Well we ran and ran and no nap. It was not untill 35 min's and 5 miles did he drop. Heck by that time I figured let's let him be. I felt pretty good considering all the fair food I ate the day before.

Miles for the day= 6

State Fair Rocks

Here are some pictures from our State Fair day !!!