Almost Three More States

Amy, my wife wouldn't let me do a mile in the airport in Minnesota during our layover, so I only got to run in two new states. My first run was in North Carolina - The Outer Banks or OBX, as the locals call it. Our hotel was on the beach about a 1/4 mile away from the Wright Brothers Memorial, so my plan was to run over to the memorial. Here I am pictured next to the memorial that is situated on a hill overlooking the field that was used for the first powered flight.
Here you can see the hill. It was a big hill, the picture doesn't do it justice. It was a large sand dune back when the brothers were here. The park service planted grass to keep it stable. I ended up running 2.75 miles in about 45 minutes. I did take some time on the top of the hill to snap some pictures and to take in the view. Once, I was below I finished touring the museum. We visited the day before and did about 75% of the musuem. I wanted to see it all.

In the picture below you can see four markers in the distance. The Wright brothers took turns flying the plane. The first flight lasted 12 seconds and went to the first marker 100 feet away. The second and third flights went 175 and 200 feet. The final flight of the day lasted for 59 seconds and went over 800 feet. I took the challenge and decided that part of my run would be to the last marker. It took me about an additional 10 seconds to reach it. I then ran back to the hotel, grabbed my bathing suit and found my kids at the beach for some body surfing.

I didn't get to run as much as I'd like. I wanted to do a beach run, but that didn't happen. After spending a few days at OBX in North Carolina, taking in a wedding and a family reunion. My family headed toward Virginia to take in some Revolutionary and Colonial history. Grandpa Harry Potter came along for the fun. Yeah, I married Harry Potter's daughter.

We visited Yorktown, VA the sight of the battle that won the Revolutionary War and gave us our independence. I saw runners running the roads in the battlefield, pretty cool. We went to Jamestown, VA, the first English settlement in the new world. Think Pocahontas. The driving tour was on an island and it too would have been a great place for a run. We stayed in Williamsburg, VA and visited Colonial Williamsburg the site of the Governor's Palace when the King picked the govenor and the Colonial Capitol where Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry made their names. All three places were unbelievable. If you are a history buff, it's a must see place. I decided to run in Colonial Williamsburg, down the DOG or Duke of Glouchester Street in the heart of the oldest part of town, past the Gov's palace and the Capitol and then onto the campus of William and Mary College. 2.51 miles and 234 years in the past. It was beautiful.

So, that gives me 7 states that I have run in to date. You can see the map on the right of my blog.

I'm Back!

Mile 1043, Las Vegas, NV - Many of you have training programs from Hal Higdon, Jeff Galloway or other great runners. You know that I don't really do any programs, until now. I found the Las Vegas One week training plan.

Here's how it works. You go to Vegas. Stay on the strip, gamble away your kids college fund and eat really bad fried food all week. You train by walking from casino to casino and work your upper body by pulling levers. unless that's too difficult, then you just push a button over and over again for hours. After a week of training and no running you go and run the Las Vegas Turkey Trot.



How do I know this training program works? Because I set a PR! My previous PR was 31:06 set at the Islands 5k in Gilbert, AZ. Today I ran a 30:25 at the LV Turkey Trot. Each mile split was under 10 minutes, no walk breaks and no leg issues.

Remember, I had a calf issue. So, I decided I would take the week off of running and just run the 5k. I spent the first 3 days of the week limping around the National Association of REALTORS Convention. Then, on Friday my leg felt great. I knew I was going to run.

I got to the Las Vegas Outlet Mall around 6:20 am for the 7 am race. The 10k race had already started and I got to see them go by. I signed up, got a sweat shirt (really nice) and started to warm up. I knew it wasn't going to be real scenic and I was right. It turned out almost 2/3 of the race was in the outlet mall parking lot. The beginning and end of the race was behind the mall, past the dumpsters. Before the race I met a couple that had just gotten married and were on their honeymoon in Vegas. They were from England. He did the 10k in 44 minutes and finished in 21st place. She ran the 5k.

Check out the map below to see the parking lot 5k and my splits.

I'll write about my week in Vegas later. Not real exciting, but Amy and I did get to hear Seth Godin, Scott Bedbury and others. We got to go to a James Taylor concert on Thursday nite.

Winton Woods Run

When I was a teenager, my buddies and I would go up to Winton Woods lake and rent a row boat. We didn't fish, but we did like to explore the lake. Today, I ran the trail around the lake. It was a nice asphalt trail. This morning, there was a walking club of about 50 walkers, dozens of people with their dogs, cyclists and a half dozen runners.

I did 5 miles in 1 hour and 3 minutes. I had a tought time breathing in the first mile. I think it was the humidity.

Map of my run.

Happy Hollow Park

On Monday, I ran the trails at Happy Hollow Park. It's a park in a ravine near my mother in laws home. I could run directly from Cathy's house to the park. Downhill to the far end of the park and then back uphill. This trail is about 1 1/2 miles long and about 1 mile of it is uphill.

It's a mixture of dirt, chip bark and asphalt trails. The picture above is a short segment of dirt trail. It took me 10 minutes more (54 minutes and some seconds) to do this four miles. First, my wife said the trail head was at the top of the hill behind the elementary school. I spend some time looking for the trail head there. Finally, I asked another runner and he directed me to another entrance. The elevation change was 222 feet. It went from 550 feet to 700 feet in about a mile.

As you can see, it had lots of shade. Very different than running in Arizona. The asphalt trail was very wide and in great condition.

Of course, this is vacation. Before the run our family spent time at the swings and slides at the bottom of Happy Hollow Park and then we went to McCords Candies in downtown Lafayette, pictured above. It's a great old tyme ice cream parlor. I had a sundae and considered it carb loading before my run.

Map of my Run

Summer Scamper in West Lafayette, IN

Much cooler temps here in rural Indiana. Our plane was three hours late getting to Indy and we arrived around 3:30 am. The Hertz rental desk closed before our flight got in, but since we were sooo late, it opened at 4 am for the next day. We got to the hotel for a few hours of shut eye and just 24 hours before the start of the Summer Scamper 4 miler hosted by the Wabash River Road Racers in beautiful West Lafayett, Indiana.

The WRRR picked a great course. It was just west of the Purdue University campus. One loop around a shopping strip center and then up McCormick Hill. Not used to hills, it was challenging, but the good news is that it was only one hill and we got to come down it on the way back. After running on McCormick Road, we got to run on the Cattail trail (pictured above) next to the Purdue Golf course. Lots of fast runners in this race and not many penquins, like myself. Right before the turn around I started running with Candy, a local runner that ran at about my pace. We got to talk about running and life in Indiana and it kept my mind off the running. She doesn't ever stop, so it was good for me. I finished the last 2 1/4 miles without stopping. Only stopped twice to get water in the middle of the race. My hopes were to finish in under a 12 minute pace. If I finished under an 11 minute pace, I would be thrilled. Finish time, 43:43. Just slightly under the 11 minutes I really wanted. I had an entourage for this race too. Jeff and Annie, in laws from Madison, Wisconsin came to watch the race. Jeff ran the Twin Cities Marathon in '99 and plans to run it again in '09. We might make a party of it and all run. I appreciate them coming out to watch. Not a really thrilling thing to do, but they were troopers and were at the start, mid point and finish of the race. Jeff took some pictures and I'll post them when I get 'em.

50 States: This makes the 3rd state that I have run a race in. Arizona, California and now Indiana. I might do a race next saturday in Ohio. We'll see.

I ran in Indiana last year, so I'm still at five total states.

ON VACATION

This, Peter Jenkins guy might walk across America, but I prefer to fly. I, will however, read his book while on vacation. This guy graduated from college in 1973, was disillusioned by what was going on in America and decided to walk from NY south to New Orleans and then across the country to California. This is the story of his trip to N'awlins. This book was published around 1979 and I got it used at Bookman's (a great used bookstore).

So, now I start my journey to West Lafayette, Indiana and then to Cincinnati, Ohio. Not sure how much I will be blogging in the next ten days. I will, however, get in as much running as my weary legs allow.

State #4 is California

On the 28th I ran the Bumble Bee 5k at the Big Balloon Parade. It is the race right before the Holiday Bowl Parade in San Diego, CA. We got to start our run in front of the grandstands, run the entire parade route in front of thousands of supportive on lookers. The race was very congested in the beginning. It took about 25 seconds to get to the start and then we walked for a bit before it thinned out and I could take off. My family was watching around the 3/4 mile mark and got to take my picture. I did have to circle around so that my wife could take it adding 20 seconds or so to my time, but it was worth it. We raced downtown San Diego passed the Padres Baseball stadium. Looped around the convention stadium and ran along the bay. Thru Seaport Village to the finish. From start to finish I timed myself at 33:16, another PR for me.

The official time was higher, but in my defense, several people passed me in the shoot and they collected my bib tag about 100 yards away from the finish. It could not be a very accurate way to get a finish time.

Vacation: We had a great time. My daughter got to see the set for Gilmore Girls. She's a fanatic. The whole Warner Brothers tour was great. We got to go to an aquirium, museum and the San Diego Zoo too. I didn't get to run as much as I'd like, but oh well.

Weekly running: On Christmas day I ran 3.88 miles in 47:10.
On Wednesday I ran on the treadmill at the Holiday Inn, San Diego. 1.77 miles in 23:05 and then I ran another 10 minutes, but didn't keep any records.

Recovery Run

After running a PB 12 miles on Saturday, do I take the day off on Sunday or do a slow recovery run? I decided to do a recovery run. I had to take my daughter to a christmas party a bit aways from our home. So, instead of making two trips, I ran while she partied.

I ran in Cooper Commons, a nice community of homes built mostly 4-5 years ago. My plan was to run slow and walk often. Which I did. I still had a pace of 13:04 and ran 2.61 miles. And my legs feel much better.

50 States: I would like to run in all 50 states. It doesn't have to be a formal race, just one mile or more. It would be nice if it was in a scenic location, a trail, big city or along a beach. Here's my total so far:

1) Ohio. As a youth. I probably did my first mile in high school on the Aiken HS track in Cincinnati. I, also ran my fathers treadmill earlier this year.
2) Indiana. In college I would run to the high school and back to my dorm. I went to Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. It was between 1-2 miles. Not real consistent. This year I ran in West Lafayette and on the campus of Purdue University. I even did the stairs at their football stadium.
3) Arizona. I've run a lot this year.


Not, many states, but it's a beginning. I will be running in California after Christmas and I will probably run the Vegas strip sometime in 2007.