The Week After

Well my post week after the SHT 50K was a pretty good one. The week started with me not being able to believe how darn sore my leg's where. Man I felt like I ran my first marathon. I guess I have not done enough hill work yet to pound my legs into shape. Lucky for me Leadville is still a long way away. I ended up running 5 days this last week with the bulk of it coming at the back part of the week. All in all a pretty good week filled with runs with lot's of friends.

Monday- Took day off as my legs where very sore still.

Tuesday- Ran a easy 6 miles with Sonya and Evan by the lakes. I felt ok overall. A bit sore on the downhills still.

Wednesday- Ran in the morning with Matty G. I like running with Matt on his easy days. We looped by the lakes and back home. I was like 9 miles.

Thursday- Took a off day today. Did not feel like running at 6am and was to tired after a family night at the MN Zoo.

Friday- Met Nick at the band shell for a good morning run. I need to find away to get us to do this more often as it would be good for both of us. I got in 8 miles.

Saturday- Met Paul at Hyland for a morning of hills. It was good to be out with Paul but I will have to say I do not miss the ski hill all that much. But that being said I know it is good for me. We knocked out 25 hill repeats before I started work. Got in like 13+ miles all in all.

Sunday- Man two days in a row running with Paul ? I guess the moons where aliened huh ? Any how we ran down at the Murph. After a day of ski hills this was no let up. We got in like 14+ miles of very hilly running. In fact after today we had in like 9000+ feet of climbing for the two days. Maybe not allot for some but I could feel it in my legs after the run. Heck we did just run the SHT last weekend after all.

Miles for the week= 51

SHT 50K

Man what a race. After a very shitty week of no running(I had 6 miles for the week going into the race) I decided to give it a go anyway. For awhile durning the week I was just not going to go. But after a little talking with people I figured what the hell give it a shot. Let me tell you I am glad I did. Paul and I where at first just going by ourselves but then before we knew it we had a party van going up. Joey Z, Erik L, Chris Lundo and Brian P all came up with us. We had a great drive up in the van as we talked and watched a great Western States DVD from 1982 !!! After a little food at Grandma's it was back into the van and up to Lutsen. Once we got there we all watched the end of the Twins game and a few of us had a pre-race beer or two. I knew I was having fun with all the guys but was not excited about what might happen to me out there on the trail. Let's just say my confidence has not been real good all spring. With that in mind it was off to sleep.....

When we woke up the next morning we where greeted by cool temps of like 26 and a tad of snow on the ground of all things. It was good to see all the people at the start. Man what a good group of people we have in MN ! Then just like that boom we where off and running. Paul and I settled in a good pace and so began our trail journey together. The trail was great and the company was even better. Let me just say I LOVE running with Paul. We seemed to be making good time and got to talk a bunch. The trail was muddy in some spots but oh well it is a trail race after all. In the end we both got in at like 4:57 ish ?? good for 10th and 11th place I believe. Now I loved this area but will say I hate racing on that trail. Running on it is good, racing is bad. That being said the race is great and I hope people continue to go up year after year. In the end I had a great trip with the guys and had a fun time. Glad I did it. Heck our van did pretty well also. I think we had 1,3,4,7,10,11 places.

Why we love trails

As I get ready to leave tomarrow for the SHT 50k( should be tuff since I have had a less than ideal week of running, more later ) I thought I would share this great video. It is a great video put togeather by Matt Hart for a Montrail running talk. Enjoy !

UltraRunning from Matt Hart on Vimeo.

Running the River Bottoms

Well one more week in the books. This was a pretty good week overall. I came out of the week feeling like I had a few good runs overall with a few easy recovery type runs. The week was highlighted with a super great Sunday long run on the MN river bottoms with Paul. Man on Sunday it was the first time in a long time I felt more like what I am calling the "old" kurt. I felt smooth, strong, easy and in control the whole run. Now if I can just get more of that on a weekly basis.

Monday- easy 10 miles with Sonya on the MKTA LRT

Tuesday- ran with Minnick and Keiser for 8

Wednesday- Took day off, just ran out of hours in the day I guess

Thursday- did speed workout down at the lakes. did 5x 800 with 1 min rest. got in 10 miles overall

Friday- early morning loop with the guys at Hyland, good run !! got in 8 miles

Saturday- ran lakes with Nick. good to catch up with him. got in 8+ miles ( Sonya won the New Prague 1/2 marathon !! )

Sunday- MN river bottoms with Paul. ran 20+ with ave pace at 7:56. Was at 7:05-7:16 pace on most parts that did not have hills.

Weekly miles= 65

If you are looking for a GREAT CD check out the new Ben Harper and Relentless 7 !!

TC 1 Mile

Last night in great weather was the TC 1 mile which was also the mens and womens USATF road 1 mile national championships. My buddy Matty G was on site with Mark from Flotrack and here are the video's. Thanks Flotrack for making the sport great with the great video's.

Meet Josh Moen

So Chad Austin does these great interviews with local runners. His last one is with my friend and co-worker Josh. Check it out at Running Minnesota.

Meet little Lucy

I also am happy to report I got to meet little Lucy Decker this weekend for the first time. It is fun to be a uncle for the first time !!

Week of 4/27- 5/2

Well after a sub par week last week running wise I bounced back with a good week. Not only did I get in all 7 days but I felt pretty good each day. I ended up with 66 miles for the week. Not a ton but not bad either I thought.

Monday- did workout on parkway of 6x 3 min on at 6 min pace with 1 min rest. felt good overall.

Tuesday- easy run with strides

Wednesday- nice run on river bottoms with Sonya after work

Thursday- easy run/park with Evan down at the lakes

Friday- great morning run on trails at Hyland with Paul, Joe, Tony and guys. Felt good

Saturday- did first ski hill workout of the year with Paul. I got in 19 hills. man was that harder than I remember.

Sunday- great 20+ miler on the river bottoms with Paul !!! Felt good.

Birthday Re-Cap

Man I have missed some time so I have to do a bit of catching up. So my birthday was a nice time with my family. Even though it was a rainy day we made the best of it. Sonya and I got to go for a great 14 mile trail run out at Elm Creek park in Maple Grove. We both really like it out there so it was fun to start the day off that way. In a funny way the weather made for a fun run. After the run I had a great brunch at my Mom and Dads house. I am a big breakfast food guy so to me I can eat like that anytime of the day. After that it was off to go see the movie Earth with Sonya and the kids. The movie was very good I thought. We finished off the day with a great diner at the Olive Garden. Thanks Sonya and guys for a great day !!