The Ryan's

If you are looking for some coverage of one of my favorite runners Ryan Hall there is a good article on him on the ESPN did for their web page. This is the link to it. You will also see a link to the piece on Ryan Shay that was on E-60 last night. I felt like it was really well done.

M.I.A.

So man it has been awhile since I have posted anything. Well it has been a packed week. Where to start ? Well I am very happy to report that I have after a long wait been able to run on some trails for many days in a row !!! Wow does that feel good. I ran trails everyday so far since last Wednesday.

I had a good time out running with this last Friday morning with a bunch of guys I have met Thu the store. They run every Friday morning out on the trails at Hyland at 6am. We had a great but muddy run. It was very fun to be cruising the trails with 7other guys. I hope to become a regular with this group.

On Saturday which was also my birthday !!! I ran the river bottoms with my buddy Nick. I was a very nice run even if we where running in tights with light snow falling on April 26th. It felt like a perfect place to start out my b-day. Later that night Sonya had a great party for me at the house. We had many people packed into out little place but it was so good to see everyone.

Sunday's morning run with Paul came much faster than I hoped it would. After getting only a few hours sleep the night before I was ready to hit my first ski hill/ long run session for the year. It was a good morning and I was happy to be back at the "hill" after a year long break from it. Paul and I where crushing the hills over and over. It felt good, but I knew I was feeling that this was the first time of the year. This first time is always the worst. When we where done we had run 15 hills on the ski hill and some solid loops in the park as well. In all we got in 2 hours and 20 min's of running.

Monday I woke up feeling like I had run my first ever marathon. My legs where so sore. My left hamstring was by far the worse. I took the day off as there was no way I was going to be able to run. Oh well this is what always happens.

On Tuesday morning I felt better so I went out to the trails at Cedar lake and Theo Wirth park. While it was nice to run for 5 miles on the dirt, I should have stayed on some flat area. Running down the hills just made me feel worse. Sometimes the draw of the trails gets the better of me. I am going to have to take it easy if I hope to have a good back end to the week.

Me and my Buddy

This week so far has been filled with allot of running with my little buddy Evan !! I can not tell you all how much good it feels to have him with me. With all the what seems like "extra" ducks and all on the lakes now he is really into it. Give him his book and he is good to go. Plus when in need of a good nap the jogger works like a charm.

Monday- We ran after watching the Boston marathon on t.v. and the web. It was a good finish in the women's race with the closest finish ever. On the men's side big bad Robert Cheruiyot went after it hard. He was running like sub 2:06 pace for awhile which is very crazy givin the Newton hills and all. We got in a solid hour so like 8+ miles.

Tuesday- We ended up being a bit short on time so we went for the harder pace is better approach. We did this 6.25 mile loop we have which ends with a good 1/2 mile uphill climb. I was feeling real good as we did it in 42 mins. Hell sub 7 pace pushing the jogger was nice.

Wednesday- Not a bad day. I was feeling pretty good over all. I could tell I ran with the jogger for the third morning in a row. My arms can get a bit sore. We did a easy 5 mile loop as we had to get off to Grandma's for a day of fun !!!

Where does the time go ?

Man I ask myself that all the time. With all the stuff going on and with the fact that I am SO busy at work I know the blog takes a back seat. So a little catch up is in order. Well I did not run the Trail Mix races as I hoped. I was planning on the 25k as I went to bed on Friday night then at 3am I hear my daughter Summer up and very sick. Oh well I guess no race. From the sounds of it people had fun on the course.

I did get a great little trail run in over the weekend. In need of running on dirt I was able to get out for a short trail run after work. Man it was nice to be running like that. SO free !!!! I was trying out the new Brooks Cascadia and I think I like them. I am going to be using many shoes over the next few weeks to figure out what I want to use at Leadville.

Lastly did you all see the Womens Olympic Marathon trials ? I got up and watched it in the morning and was very happy to see them all run so well. Congrat's to all the women who ran. Joan Samuelson is so cool !!! To see her finish in that way with her Red Sox hat on was great.

Womens Marathon Trials

In my last of a few post today ( with my new job i do not have time to get online each day like before ) I was going to give my 2 cents on this weekends Olympic marathon trials. Like many I am very excited for this. With a few friends running it is extra great. Make sure you tune in as they will be showing it live on the web Sunday morning at 7am our time. Good Luck to all the MN runners and a extra big good luck to Nicole and Jenna !!! There web site is very good. Check it out.

My Picks:
1) Denna Kastor
2) Blake Russell
3) Kate O'Niell

What a run

Today I got out with Evan for a baby jogger run. It was supposed to rain this afternoon so I was hoping to miss it but with our 1:15pm start time I was not sure. One thing for sure was that man was it windy in places !!! Try pushing a jogger into that stuff. I knew this was going to be a great run for everyone since Evan was sound asleep within 2 block from the house and after 5 min's of running I was feeling great. Maybe stopping at 50k last weekend was a good thing as I thought ? As we worked our way around the lakes I was feeling better and better all the time. By the time we got the wind behind us I was flying. At the same time I was happy to take it a bit easy just in case I jump into the 25k race tomorrow at Trail Mix. As we got like 1 1/2 miles from home a light rain started. Good timing huh. This was a good step in the week. Good Tunes+ Little Evan= Great run !!

Madison Zoo

Evan of all of us had the best time in Madison last weekend. He got to go to the zoo two days in a row with his Grandma. These are a few pictures Evan would like to share.

Maddening City 100k

So I think the title maddening city sums it up for our house hold after last weekend. There are many things as runners we can have control of but then sometimes there are things we have no say what so ever in.

Going into the race I knew that I was short on total volume of miles but also knew I had many good long runs in and was hoping my ultra running experience would pay off. Sonya on the other hand had put in a super great training cycle once more before this years race. I was thinking if I could keep up with her for like 50-70k then go from there. Race morning we where greeted with like 25-30 mph winds, temps in the upper 20's low 30's and rain/snow mix. Not ideal huh. After 40k My hip flexors and left hamstring were acting up so I dropped off of Sonya's pace, changed shoes and thought I would take it lap by lap. That next lap was a back and forth of OK one minute then bad the next. About 45k into the race I decided to save my body and stop at 50k. I believe I was like 4:14 or so at the 50k mark. I know this was best but very hard to do. I think for me the thing I learned the most was to not sign up for something like this without having your whole heart into it.

Now it was time to become super crew for Sonya and her quest. She was running very strong going back and forth with the 2nd place gal Connie. Last year she had to drop at 93k into this with hypothermia. Well at 80k our nightmare was happening once more. With her slight frame and the fact that you are running for like 7+ hours you can not be that wet for that long in those temps. By 85k she was having a hard time walking to fast and her body was shutting down. She was still in a solid 3rd place. When she got back to our car at 90k she knew she was done. I cried for her because I knew how bad she wanted this to make up for last year. Distance running can be cruel in this way. Un-like 5k or 10k races where you can race hard every other week we only get so many cracks at races like this a year. It was the best thing to do by stopping but very very hard also. The next morning she went back to the course and ran two loops, 20k in 1:55:10. She felt it would help her bring closure to this race. It was a hard weekend but sometime it goes that way. That's life and sometimes life does not seem fair.

I will have to say that Tim and the crew do put on a great race. I feel real bad for them and the weather they have gotten these last two years. Both this and his other race the Kettle 100 mile and 100k are first class races !!

My post race recovery has been good. I ran one loop also on Sunday and felt good. I took Monday off and ran between 5-7 miles every day this week so far. Today was a great 7+ mile run pushing my son Evan in the jogger. I might jump into the 25k at Trail Mix this weekend ? Will see.

Ryan Hall & the London Marathon

For those who might not have seen the results from the 2008 London Marathon our very own Ryan Hall was 5th in a time of 2:06:12ish !!! He was with a group of like 8 guys who were on world record pace at 1/2 marathon in a time of 1:02:10 or so !!! Can you believe it. It was such a great race to see. Speeking of this you still can watch the race on demand on WCSN. If you can check it out it is so great to see these runners rocking like this. I truly believe that Ryan will win a medal at the upcoming Olympics. He has the talent, work ethic, and knows how to race. That is one thing about the Olympic and World Championship races in the marathon. They are races and not time trials. Good luck Ryan !!!

100k in slush ??

I am not sure what we have in front of us weather wise but I guess we have no choice but to take it on head on. I would be lying if I said I am super OK with what the weather is looking like for race day. But I do know that this is part of running, there are many things out of our control. With that said I am very confident that Sonya and I will make the best of it and do our best.

This week has been OK running wise but nothing great. In fact I have felt a bit sluggish the last few days. I think Sonya is doing better. She was able to get some ultrasound done by our good friend Jenna Boren. I know Sonya was very happy to have this done and it seems to have worked !! Remember if you are interested in what's going on in the race click here. Wish us luck !!!

Also good luck to all of the runners running The Chip 50k this Saturday as well.

Lastly if you want to see the best marathon in the world year in year out you can see the London Marathon live and free at WCSN. Ryan Hall will rock it !!!

OK Weekend on to Madcity.....

This was a good weekend in many ways and a sub par in others. It was very good in that I got to spend some good time with Sonya and the family. It was a fun weekend at the TC Running Co. I got to go spend a little time at my friend Sean's little sons 1st b-day party. Got our taxes done !! That was all good. Running wise it lacked a bunch but in other ways it was OK. With everyone sick over the last 1 1/2 weeks and with Madcity 100k just around the corner I was hoping to keep away from whatever everyone in my house has had. I am happy to say that I have been able stay away so far. My running has taken a hit with this but at least I am healthy. I am looking forward to this next week and getting ready to head down to Madison this coming Friday morning.

Sat 4/5- I took the day off. I wanted to get out for a run but there was just so much going on and in the end I think it was a good idea. While I have not been sick I have felt a bit extra slow at the end's of my run the last few days. Maybe my body just needs a full day off ?

Totals: 0

Sun 4/6- I was hoping to run with Paul and Adam today but that did not work out. I was happy to join Sonya, Evan, Karl, and Joelle for there run. We did a easy 10 mile loop. I was felling very good. Pace was easy and I felt smooth. Evan is such a good running buddy.

Totals: 1:15:44 10 miles ( New Balance 826 )

Weekly Totals: 48 miles

Sick House

Man this has been a week full of sick people at the Decker household. First Kyra had the stomach flu at the end of the week last week then this week it was on in a crazy way. First little Evan woke up super sick late ( 2am, 3:30am, 5:30am ) Monday night/ Tuesday morning. Then Sonya got it on Thursday night. Poor Evan has had super diarrhea for the last 3 days as well !!! While all of this is going on I am keeping my fingers crossed that I do not get it. Then aging this might be the time to get sick. With my luck I will get it next week right before the 100k race. Needless to say this all going on around the house has taken a small toll on the training. All in all I do feel pretty good about the week. I have run everyday still !! Sonya got me a massage today which was GREAT !!!! I am looking forward to the weekend and some good runs I hope. Also people if you like track races look at this link with like 400+ video's of great track races over the years.

Monday 3/31- I ran in the morning by my self then once more at night in the crazy snow with Adam after work. I was feeling ok in the morning and at night I felt super great. We ran a real cool loop !!
Totals: 1:10:22 10 miles (total for 2 runs ) ( Puma Trailfox )

Tuesday 4/1- Ran in the morning before work by myself. I felt real good. I kept it easy. I have been happy using my heart monitor each day.

Totals: 1:05:44 9 miles ( New Balance 826 )

Wednesday 4/2- Ran from work. I was a tad tired but felt overall good. I like the running loops so far out this way.

Totals: 49:33 7 miles ( Nike Elites )

Thursday 4/3- I ran with Evan and Kyra today. I was tired !!!

Totals: 40:08 5 miles ( Nike Skylon )

Friday 4/4- I was still a bit tired at times when I tried to pick it up. But when running with Evan and Sonya I was good. I am sure my body is fighting like crazy to not get sick.

Totals: 50:15 7 miles ( Mizuno Percission )