Race Review "2016 CBRC Chili Chase"

This past weekend I was able to run “The CBRC (Cornbelt Running Club) Chili Chase”, which is a four mile race held every February in Davenport, Iowa in Duck Creek Park.   This is my third year running this event and it’s become sort of a staple on the DRC Calendar as it’s really a fun and pretty unique race.  The Chili Chase gives out sweet white logoed gloves and chili pepper embroidered socks instead of your standard race t-shirt.  Now I don’t know about you but I’ve got literally hundreds of race t-shirts stacked up in boxes so getting anything else is a great change!   I also really like the race route…  it starts and finishes on the largest hill on the course winding through Duck Creek Park before exiting into the surrounding neighborhood.  After touring the residential streets for a mile or so, the route dives back into the park on a paved trail system that leads back towards the finish.  The final hill is tough but there is great crowd support that makes the accent go by fairly quick and before you know it the hill is crested and finish line is staring you down.  Admittedly this was my first year running the true course as it had to be changed last minute in 2015 and 2014 due to ice on the route but the basis of the route was the same.

To fit this race into my training schedule I flip flopped my weekend running workouts doing the 10 mile run w/ hills on Saturday and replacing a 5 mile pace run with the 4 mile race on Sunday.  It worked out great and even though my legs felt the after effects of the hills a bit it wasn’t enough to have significant impact on my overall performance.  My plan going into the race was to take the first mile out at somewhere between my 5K/10K pace and if I felt too labored or if my HR read too high on the first incline I’d cut back and run closer to my marathon pace.  Luckily I felt fine so I pushed the first couple miles pretty hard until I secured my place then flipped on cruise control until it was time to tackle the final accent.  I ended up finishing the race with a time of 24:29 averaging right around 6 minute mile average and felt very refreshed not drained so it was a big mission accomplished for the day!   Post-race I enjoyed some delicious chili and an equally delicious beer as I caught up with friends and reviewed my data before hopping back in the Corymobile and cruising home feeling good about where this year is heading!

So the next race on the schedule is the Gaelic Gallop 8K on March 12 in Dyersville, Iowa which is a fun St. Patty's day themed event where I’m planning my debut race wearing a kilt... if anyone has suggestions on where to find or how to make a good running kilt please hit me up!   Until next time… Happy Running!

-Cory

Race pictures below taken by Shannon Woulfe (Woulfer Photography)

Bill and I are amped up and ready to rock!

Always important to display a little class while racing

Digging deep to finish strong up the last hill!

Rounding the last corner to finish up the race!

It's always a good day when you get to run fast!

Bill and I displaying our "Award Winner" mugs

Basking in the Post Race Glory!

Enjoying the Calm before the Storm!

It was a cold and snowy weekend in Dubuque wrapping up my two week break before the start of spring marathon training!  I've been winging my workouts the last two weeks since my last cycle ended.  While the lack of structure in my workouts has been a nice break, I'm definitely ready to settle back into the grind of a familiar training plan and cycle which starts up Monday.

On Saturday morning I had a very "brisk" run with the DRC rocking through an icy 8 mile loop with Bill and Thomas before retreating back to One Mean Bean with the rest of the crew for some coffee to un-thaw my frost beard (pictured below).  Since the workout was a little shorter than I had planned I supplemented it with a 2,700 yard 1.5 mile swim.  Upon returning home I realized the Olympic Marathon Trials had already started so I flipped on the TV and hopped on my bike trainer to knock out a little over an hour on the bike while watching an AWESOME inspiring race!.. after that I spent the rest of the day taking the girls to the mall then relaxing at home watching movies in the nice warm house.

Sunday morning I woke up and to my surprise it hadn't started snowing yet!  I decided to gear up early for some bonus miles and run the 4 miles to the trails so I wouldn't risk getting my mustang stuck out there.  Turns out the decision was a good one because once the snow came it dropped fast and there was no way I would have gotten back home.  So my great sense of timing got me to the trails about 40 minutes earlier than I needed to so I took the "scenic route" up the back side of the bluff leading up to the Julien Dubuque Monument (pictured below).  It was crazy slick and I ran into some down trees which made me veer off into the woods and make my own path to the top of the bluff... just the way I like it!  Once meeting the rest of the crew we took a nice easy loop up to horseshoe bluff and back, a few miles in it started snowing pretty good so it made for a pretty beautiful run at an easy pace which was the perfect way to wrap up my little two week training break.

So now things get really fun!!!  18 weeks of awesomeness all leading up to my favorite running event, Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN.  This year I'm heading up with a crew of nearly 30 Dubuquer's and many first timers including my sister!  I'm very excited for the coming weeks of training and even more excited to see everyone's training in action come June.

Much more to come on marathon training soon, in the meantime hope everyone's training is going well and stay warm! haha...  Happy Running!!

- Cory

Inspired by the US Marathon Trials I rocked out some great workouts on the road, in the pool and on the bike!

A rare photo off me wearing a face mask.  I normally throw this on for the first mile or so when the temps go sub-zero, it helps my lungs get acclimated to the cold air.

WARNING- Tree down on the back side of the Julien Dubuque Monument trail!.. it took some of my smooth moves and a short tumble down the hill to get across this one! 

Julien Dubuque Monument overlooking the Mississippi River... it would have been just beautiful if it wasn't for the bone chilling wind up on top that bluff.

Cool little trail leading off the monument site, Catfish train bridge in the background.

Another great group photo by Shannon Woulfe at the end of our run... love running with these guys!!

Weekend Running Fun!

What's up Ground Hogs?.. the sun was shining and the snow was melting this weekend in DBQ!  The schools had an in-service day Friday which meant that this dad was able to get a sunrise 6.5 mile run in early morning where I blazed a new path to connect some established trails via some farmland with my partner in crime Lucy (below)

Saturday morning after dealing with a marathon of a night with my ulcerative colitis flare ups, I turned my lack of sleep and painful morning hours into a great 14 mile road run out to the neighboring town of Asbury where I passed by my parent's house and my old apartment. I was just able to make it back to the coffee shop to meet the rest of the DRC Crew to finish up a great morning run.

My Sunday started a little rough as I woke up late, forgot to eat and parked at the wrong location at the Mines.  Luckily after struggling on a slippery 1.5 mile loop I saw my buddy Chuck heading back to the correct lot.  Chuck got me to the right spot to restart my morning with some good friends a little further down the road.  We had a great run as I first took them through the above mentioned path I ran on Friday and the run continued on through some of our favorite spots which were finally showing some signs of spring as the dirt was poking out in spots underneath the melting ice!

Back at the finish Shannon snapped some shots of us including the one below of me and Lucy which is probably my favorite ever... look at that face!!.. and the pup is pretty great too haha.  Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

- Happy Running!

Yup, I left my pack open, luckily I was only carrying dog food today!

My sister Elisabeth tackling a new stretch of trail!

A run is always elevated with Chuck around!

One of many moments when I think "Does anyone else love to run as much as I do?"

Sun in our eyes is a welcome sign in February!

Jason showing us how to run down an ice covered hill

Thomas joined in after a couple miles, he has been crushing the runs lately!

Sunrise Run with Lucy, off the trails and loving the adventure!

Beautiful historic chapel built upon a bluff.  Buried acres away from any current roads, it's a trail runner's sanctuary! 

Excited to go off the map!.. Lucy waits for me to get a head start

Enjoying the sunrise with someone who couldn't care less about anything but the run :)  

Lucy and my last pit stop before returning to society

"I Love it When a Plan Comes Together!"

Round One of my 2015-2016 winter training is now complete!!!..  

To recap:  I just finished up an 8 week training plan that started immediately following my last marathon December 5^th.  The plan allowed me to drop my weekly mileage by 40% compared to November to let my legs recover a bit from the higher mileage grind.   I took the saved time to work on my swim and bike training that had been put on the backburner to focus on training for my fall marathons.   The miles I did run were shorter but higher quality speed workouts that were intended to adapt me to the marathon pace of 6:45 which I will be training at this spring.

Below is a comparison of my swim/bike/run training in January 2015 vs 2016.   Essentially I ran the same miles as I did last January but since I cut out most “junk miles” this round it lowered my avg pace and saved 3 total hours of training time.  It’s worth mentioning I took a 30% hit in elevation this January as my speed work was mainly done on a track or flat surface, but I believe this was a good trade-off for the results I achieved.  Overall I only put in three more total training hours this January compared to last year but I was able to increase my swimming distance by 107% and my biking by 64% while keeping my run miles the same... pretty awesome! 

In closing I’ll admit was a little skeptical going into this plan because of the mileage drop.  I had planned to keep up my 200+ monthly average and didn’t want to risk losing fitness over the winter months.  However after finishing strong and healthy and clocking one of my fastest 5K’s this month, I’m completely sold on this plan and I will be doing something similar again next year.  So now that things are wrapped up I'll be taking the next two weeks to just enjoy my workouts with no pressure or plan in place and on February 15^th round two starts up and that is where the real fun begins... stay tuned and Happy Running!

- Cory