A Good Read !!!

I find year in year out when talking to other runners we all talk about how hard sometimes the winter can be on us running wise. Myself like allot of runners do like running on some snow and such, but it can get a little old after awhile. Plus I find it much easier for me to skip days in the winter, then I feel bad and then I like most people find I pack on a few extra pounds. I found this good blog post from one Scott Jurek where he talks about taking time off. See even elite runners take time off and pack on a few pounds !!! Also watch the good video he has on there. It is from the guy who wrote "Train Hard Win Easy". Also if you are up to it read the book, it is a good read.

Training group ?

Hey if anyone is looking to run a spring/summer half marathon or marathon and is looking for a group to train with our store TC Running Company is once aging this year putting on a training group. You can get more info on our store blog site. It is www.tcrunningco.blogspot.com

Also if you are on Facebook join our new TC Running Company group. You will get lot's of fun coupons, etc.

Moving Along

Last week was one of just plain moving along. At times I think myself like allot of runners want to see quick progress in our training runs. Maybe sometimes to quick of progress. I feel into that category this last weekend. I started off the week real solid but man as the week went on I felt to tired I thought for the amount of miles I was running. But now as I look back at it I have been running many of my miles at a pretty good clip. I think that with the extra part of all the extra clothing in this cold cold weather gets to you. All in all I had a good week so I should not complain to much. I ended up the week with 45 miles on 5 runs with a long run on Sunday of like 16 miles I guess.

I need to stay positive and keep up the work. This week I hope for 5 or 6 runs and get up to 50 miles for the week. I am going to try and run a bit slower on my easy days. I am sure that will help.

Fleet Foxes

Now this is not a local MN band but it is one of my favorites right now. Some people might have seen them on SNL last weekend in which they where GREAT !!! Anyhow I find them to be a great throw back group that all shares in so many aspects of the songs. I would highly recommend there self titled cd out now !!!

Last weeks running news

Last week was a good one for me. I moved it up to 5 days of running. At times I feel like I am moving things up way to slow but then I figure better safe than sorry. I ended up with 41 miles for the week. I felt pretty good about that. I capped the week with a good weekend of running. I got a great 9+ mile run in with Nick on Saturday afternoon after we took Evan and the girls to Elmo's green thumb down at the Target Center. On Sunday I hit the MN river bottoms once more with Paul. It was still nice to be down there but the snow was not as good as the week before. It was runnable but a bit looser.

This week I am shooting for 5 days and like 45 to 50 miles of running. So far it off to a good start. I got out today in the great weather for a nice 8+ mile run. I felt real good and kept the pace solid. It felt good to be out running in the sunlight with some great tunes rocking in my ears. With the warmer weather today the snow was a bit soft in some area's which made it tuff at times.

A Beautiful Day

I will write more later about my week of running and my views on what is happening today. All I can say is I am moved to tears as I watch this. Regardless of what political party you are part of it is important to me that we are one step closer to being a better place. A place where if you can lead and help our country with your idea's it will not matter what color or sex you are. We are all equal !!!

When MLK did this speech not long ago he was doing so at a time when he was looked at as a lesser person just because of the color of his skin. How sad. I would like to think that today he is smiling.

Need Help Getting Out Today ?

So as I sit at my computer it says it is -17 degrees outside now without windchill !! I ask myself how in the hell am I going to get out for a run in this stuff ? I then come across this great video on YouTube. Man can you find lots of stuff on there. Anyhow I hope you enjoy this as much as I did and get out there in some way shape or form and test yourself.

*Also let me know if you like having the music attached to the blog. I am not sure yet if I do or not. If you want to turn it off just go to the bottom of the blog and hit pause.

Keep getting better

As the title says each week keeps getting better and better. This week I also ran just 4 times, but got in a nice feeling 32 miles. I can not begin to say how good I am feeling as I continue to ramp up the running. I also have added in some work with the phycial therapist. I think this is going to be big for my body this summer !!!

One thing that was nice this week was that I had company to run with on 3 of the 4 runs. Man that and my ipod help me so much. Today I even got to run with Paul down on the river bottoms. Man the trails where great. Much better than I thought they would be. This next week I am hoping to get in like 40 miles but we will see. I guess the weather is going to suck big time, yuck !!!

P.S. I got my great Christmas present in the mails this week from Sonya. A sweet Suunto t6 heart monitor. Very cool, thanks honey !!!

Fab 50's and MN trail series

So this is the list of races on this years series. You can find more info on both Steve Quick's blog and on the UMTR site. I would encourage people to join up for the UMTR and look into either this or the 2009 MN trail running series. There are still putting the list of races together for the trail series but it will be fun !!

Here's the dates of the Fab 5 Fifties races for 2009:

April 18 Trail Mix 50K
April 25 Chippewa Moraine 50K
May 9 Ice Age Trail 50K and 50 mile
May 16 Superior Trail 50K
July 4 Afton Trail 50K
July 25 Voyageur Trail 50 mile
August 22 Lean Horse 50 mile (and 100 mile)
September 11 Superior Sawtooth 100 mile (50 mile split)
September 12 Superior Trail 50 mile
October 11 Glacial Trail 50 Mile
October 17 (tentative)Wild Duluth 50K

I haven't decided whether or not the Wild Duluth 100K will count.

Other ultras in the area of note:

April 10,11 Zumbro Bottoms 100 mile and 100K
June 6 F.A.N.S. 12 and 24 hour runs
June 6 Kettle Moraine 100 mile
November 7 Surf the Murph 50K
October 24 Door County 50 mile
February 2 Arrowhead 135 mile
February 7 John Dick Memorial Crusty 50K
August 29(?) Badgerland F/X 12 and 24 hour.
May 2 Cornbelt 24 hour

Not a bad week

So this week I got in 4 runs, Yea !!! The best part is I felt like running more but did not as I knew I needed to cool my jets as I am only 4 weeks out from my surgery. I can say that on each run I felt good and relaxed.

Today I went out with Sonya, Paul and Nick. Sonya was looking to get in 2 hours so she started a little before us as Paul and I only wanted 45 min's to 1 hour. Nick was looking for 1 1/2 hours so he was planning on added on with Sonya after Paul and I dropped off. The footing was pretty good I thought. I was thinking it was going to be much worse but the little snow we got was nice as it stuck to the ice. It also helped that I had put 10 screws in each shoe. We kept the pace easy and also kept up a good conversation. Nice to be out with people !!! When all was said and done Paul and I had 1 hour and 1 min on the clock. I am guessing like 8 miles. The longest yet for me !!

Put this with my run on Friday night where I ran my 5 mile loop in 36 min's and felt easy made me feel good this week about things. I am looking forward to starting with a physical therapist on Tuesday and continuing my journey to building a more perfect runner out of me.

The week ended with 23 miles on 4 runs. It is a start.

Killer workout !!!

So over on Flotrack they are doing their best of year end video's. This one won out as top motivational workout of 2008. It is with Shalane Flanagan who went on to win the bronze medal in the 10,000 in American record time at the Olympics. It was only her 3rd 10,000 meter race ever. Heck come to think about it she has run the American record time in 2 of the 3 races !!! Any how check it out. I hope to add this to the program come spring.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Happy 2009 !!!

I always like the first day of the new year. There is always so much promise out there. Now I do know that every year has it ups and downs. That is life, but I just like that feeling of a "clean slate" that January 1st brings with it.

Last year was a mix bag for me. I would say there seemed to be many more bumps in the road that I was hoping for but there was also lots of really good things as well. Things like....
* Got to watch Evan learn to grow like a crazy man.
* Watch as the girls get bigger and bigger. How did that happen so fast.
* Spend lots of good time running with my good pal Paul.
* Continue running many miles with my super wife Sonya !!!!
* Start my new gig at TC Running.
* Meet Joe, Brian, Arly and the gang and start running some with them.
* Ran some new races for me like Afton 50k and Leadville 100.

Well come to think about it I could go on for a long time about all the good things. I look forward to 2009 and what it will bring. I look forward to pushing myself harder than I ever have. I believe I am off to a great start after partying with Paul's family last night and having a great 55 min run with Sonya. Happy New Year people !!!

P.S. It looks like most people are telling me to go to Leadville in 2009. I think they might be right. Thanks for the input.