"Steve's Old Time Tap Spring Chaser 5K"

Continuing my April lucky streak I pulled off another overall win on Saturday at “Steve’s Old Time Spring Chaser 5K” In the Quad Cities.  Although once again keeping things in perspective as my time was not blazing fast, I’m still very excited to have run a personal best time of 18:03 in the 5K race!  I went in with a goal to PR and 2^nd goal to get under 18 minutes so I’ll say I was darn close…

I wasn’t sure what to think as the field was pretty large for this race (about 600 or so runners) so I decided to focus on my splits and hopefully pick a guy out ahead that I could draft with or use to push me though the race.  “Unfortunately”, if you can really call it unfortunate I pulled into the lead right after mile one when we hit the one and only hill of the course.  Hills, which I used to dread more than anything while running have now become my secret weapon.  Running the bluffs of Dubuque really give our community of runners a distinct advantage and that is seen very clear in these out of town races.  From the crest of that that hill until the finish was radio silence… I had got a 15-20 second lead and managed to maintain it through the end of the race.  I was a little bummed that the clock was hidden until the last few feet so I didn’t know I was so close to breaking 18… I really have no one to blame but myself as I should have kicked it in harder instead of comfortably finishing knowing I had the lead position.   I won’t be making that mistake again, that is for sure!!

After the race I was excited to find out I won $150 worth of prize money and a couple free beers which did a great job of quenching my post-run thirst.  Bill and Hunter also nailed age division prizes which was awesome and we got several people inquiring about the Dubuque Running Club which was very exciting!  Bill was even approached by the director for the Quad Cities Marathon wanting to get the DRC more involved this fall, he even wants to wear one of our shirts to promote the club!!   All in all it was a very fun and successful morning for the group, really nothing beats our weekend race trips!

So moving on I’ve got a tough couple weeks ahead, doing a 20+ mile run Sunday morning followed by a hard week of training.  The next race is the Trail run May 10^th and I need to make the decision still on whether I will run to PR the 10K or try and hit under 18 for the 5K…  either way I look forward to this race as I guarantee there will be much faster runners than I and I’m really looking forward to both watching and learning from them and also pushing myself further.

"Easter Long Run and Boston Monday"

What a fun few days, packed in the Bunny Hop 5K, Easter with the Family, my 20 mile long run Sunday with Bill and Shannon, and got to watch the Boston Marathon(well some I had to listen to at work).  It has been a really fun and exciting last few days for my running and I come into this week feeling very energized and ready for another challenge! 

SUNDAY – 20.25 Miles – Easter Sunday Long Run from Fountain Park on Asbury through the Mines of Spain and back.

Our Easter Morning run was just awesome, the weather was around 50 at the start(around 5am) and stayed within 5 degrees to the finish.  This was the longest run I’ve had to date and I was a little concerned about how my body would handle 20 miles, those concerns were put to rest as I got through this workout feeling just great.  The route was just awesome and took us from One Mean Bean in Fountain Park down Asbury and Grandview to the bike path leading down to the Mines of Spain.  From that point we hit the trails and wound our way up to the top of the park where I left a couple water bottles waiting, man that HyVee water never tasted so good!   We turned back and went back through the park and up the path, at this point we started picking up the paced and dropped down to a 7:30 or so for the remaining 4-5 miles… I actually felt pretty comfortable at the faster pace as my legs and hips felt like they got a good stretch.  As I finished the run crossing the 20 mile mark I just confirmed what I had thought all along, 20 is just another number… I don’t take it lightly as it is a nice milestone to hit; I acknowledge it and move on.

Link to my Garmin Data for Easter Long Run

MONDAY – 4.5 Miles – Run4Boston Run – Murphy Park

Monday Night there was a Run4Boston run put together by some local running folks at Murphy Park.   It was a pretty cool run and it was nice to get to see some new faces and talk and run with some new people.  We did a nice slow run down and back on Grandview and enjoyed the run and each other’s company… sometimes it is nice to just trot along without worrying about time or mileage.   It sure was a great race this year too, Meb rocked it out and made for a great race and nerve racking last couple miles.

"2014 Bunny Hop 5K"

This spring has been truly shocking and rewarding and Saturday was no exception!  This is the 3^rd year I’ve participated in Hempstead’s Bunny Hop 5K and I look forward to this race both as Hempstead Alumni and the chance of winning a ham, the prize given out to first place in each age category.  This year I was lucky enough to win the 5K race overall but more importantly crushed my previous 5K PR by nearly 40 seconds with an 18:23!!  I am very excited as my goal for this year was to break 18:30 but I had not planned on hitting that mark so early in the season.  Moreover to do it on a course with such a huge hill at the end, in the previous years I had hit that  hill and died off, last year I believe I ran a 21 something on the course… it sure was nice to come back and conquer that darn hill!

Bunny Hop 5K Data

"Huge 1/2 Marathon PR!"

SUNDAY – Marion, IA – ½ Marathon and Marathon Relay            

Man, this year is full of surprises and Sunday was no exception!  On a cool rainy morning I somehow managed to blast a 6:25 average to shatter my ½ Marathon PR by almost 10 minutes!   It is really thanks to the extra push from running the first ½ as part of a marathon relay team, it forced me to get out of my comfort zone and run a pace I normally would have never started at.

My plan for the race was to go out around a 6:40 pace for the first ½ of the race and then drop back to a 6:50 and try to hold on to the end.  Once the race started however I fell into a comfortable 6:30 pace and carried it through the first ½ of the race.  After the handoff I got to run with Scott(who ran the 2^nd leg of our relay) for about the next mile which was beyond awesome, he total lifted my  spirits and I was able to bounce my thoughts off of someone instead of letting them fill up my head…. the mile flew by at a quick pace and by the time I started off on my own again I only had about 6 miles left of the race… this is where the race went from fun to downright exciting!

The second half of the race was where I had prepared to crash, I had taken off at a pace nearly 30 seconds per mile faster than my previous PR and did not expect to hold it through the end.  However mile after mile I felt stronger and stronger and my pace continued to drop; every mile I expected to hit a wall but instead found myself feeling just fantastic and completely in control, by mile 13 I hit a 5:47 pace and felt incredible!    I ended the race at a 1:25:50 and was excited to find the course was about .3 miles long so my adjusted time would have been 1:24:14, almost 10 minutes faster than my last ½ marathon in November J

There is a lot I can take away from this race, the most exciting stat for me is that I was running nearly 40 seconds faster than Boston pace over this race… I have about 6 months of training left before my first attempt at qualifying and I am happy with my progression so far.   I’m also looking to retune some splits and goals as I’m much further ahead than I thought I would be, a very good feeling to have.   I ended up finishing 10^th place overall in the ½ and our relay team crushed 1^st place, finishing over 15 minutes ahead of the 2^nd place team… it was a great showing for DBQ runners! 

Check out Shannon's Video Below.... 

"Trails are GREAT at the Mines"

Wow, what a great week of weather we have had!!  The months of struggling though snow and ice makes the spring is even sweeter now as I’ve enjoyed a really great three days of running this week.   Luckily I’ve been able to cut the mileage back with the nice weather, I have a tendency to over train and have been trying very hard to put more self-control into my training and especially with the big weekend ahead.

Sunday I will tackle my first ½ marathon of the year with a goal to hit under the 1:30 mark, a 3 minute improvement over my PR in the Galena ½ last year.  I’m also running the first 6.5 miles of a marathon relay team with some friends so that is an added bonus!   Since I’m doing the first leg of the relay the race directors are giving me two bibs and letting me continue the ½ after my transition point for the relay.  I really enjoy doing relays as they bring more of the team aspect to race, I’m very much looking forward to this event.

MONDAY – 7.1 Miles at the Mines of Spain         

It was a beautiful evening at the mines, the temps were high enough I was able to run shirt free and the sun felt great!  I started at the first parking lot through the main gate on the lower end of the park, from there I ran Catfish to Calcite to the Prairie up top... it had been too long since I had visited the mines and I felt energized with every step.  Over the years, the Mines of Spain has become my favorite running spot and a place I often visit for my solo runs.  There is something about leaving the technology in the car(except the garmin, gotta total those miles up J ) and just enjoying a run in nature… many times on my long runs through the mines I will reach a meditative relaxed state to the point I will literally lose track of 3 or 4 miles at a time.   This is also a spot where I can hit the reset button internally… I have so many runs and workouts where I am trying constantly to hit a number or break a barrier…  when I hit the trails I instantly remember how much I love to run and suddenly my times and goals fall short in comparison to that awesome feeling you get from feeling the breeze as you whip through a wooded valley… thank goodness the trails have dried, I needed that run this week.

TUESDAY – 5 miles – Mile Repeats at the track

So after such a nice relaxing run on Monday afternoon, I turned up the intensity on Tuesday with an evening of mile repeats with Bill.  I was a little nervous going into this one as I’ve never done straight mile repeats on the track before although I am familiar with mile fartlek workouts.  But the miles were not  near as bad as I anticipated.. I did three and had a goal of 6:30 which I did not stick to very well.. I ran a 6:10, 6:18 and 5:43.  It was a good start but I need to work on consistency on the next go around.  I think next time around I will put a goal time of 6:10 or 6:15 and stick to it.  The best take away I had is that I was running my miles just as fast as my 800 sets last year but I was feeling a lot better, in fact on the second 6:15 mile I did not feel winded at the finish which is awesome.  This is the first of many track workouts to come as Tuesday Run Club’s will move back to Hempstead for the spring/summer.

WEDNESDAY – 4.5 miles – Mines of Spain

I was planning on skipping the run today however with the temps soring to 70 degrees and the fact I am getting my new road bike Thursday, I decided to have a nice easy run and enjoy the weather at the mines.  Scott met up with me and we explored the trails going to E.B. Lyons nature center… again we were pleasantly surprised at how dry it was out there, I’ve covered the majority of the park this week with not so much as a soggy sock!  Not much else to say about this run as it was pretty short and sweet but it was nice to get out for a bit and I’m glad I did not run any further than I did.  

"The Drunken Granny"

SUNDAY  - 16 mile longrun, 2nd half tempo

Oh boy did we have fun Sunday!!

I wasn't expecting much following a pretty crazy Saturday where I clocked in just over 10 miles of speedwork including a 5K and a 6 mile "tempoish" run but man was I wrong :)  When we met up that morning we had talked over doing about 8-10 miles but somehow ended up with 16.  The first 8 miles of the run were uphill taking us from Heritage Pond area all the way up to the crest of the bluff that runs to Balltown, once we hit the crest we cruised back down again.. It was a mix between the heritage trail and some gravel roads which worked as a nice contrast to the pavement we've been pounding lately.
We stuck to just over 8 minute miles for the first 6 or so then dropped to the 7's until the last mile where I hit a 6:30.  It was a solid run and a lot of fun on the course we jokingly refer to as "The Drunken Granny" after Hunter and I were stopped twice last year by the same elderly lady on one of the country roads who kindly offered us a beer :) - Check out some of Shannon's great photos he snapped of the route below!

"Opening Doors 5K"

I ran the Opening Doors 5K this weekend and had a great time!  It's a fun event with a really good cause... this was the second year my daughter Hayden was able to run, she did the kids 1/2 mile won 1st place in her age division this year(5 and under)!  I was pretty happy with my time as well this early in the year, I managed to keep it around 18:50 minutes despite the hills.  I also got a huge surprise by winning the event this year!  Lucky for me the elite runners of Dubuque's were absent from that race and that left me pretty stunned to be in the front of the pack.  I feel very grateful for the awesome plaque and kind words from Ann and the other event coordinators and I look forward to running again next year... Below are some pictures from the race!

"Tuesday Night Hills"

TUESDAY – 14.57 Miles - Hills followed by Speedwork

So to start off today’s run I explored a new set of hills on a 8 mile loop starting from the Y and heading North along the Bluff down to 32^nd.  I’m always amazing at variety of landscape Dubuque offers and how it makes for such great training!  There are some pretty awesome areas and very cool old houses along the river bluffs and it makes the miles fly by while consistently hitting about 100 feet of elevation per mile.    On the flip side there were a lot of a twists and turns which made navigating the route a little difficult, thankfully Scott joined me and had written down the directions so we stayed on track.   The route was fun, challenging and a great way to warm the legs up for the group run.  We timed this one to finish as the group run started so we transitioned into the next run without risking stiffening up…

The group run was a little over 6 mile route.  It took us from Washington Middle School to the Opening Doors 5K start point on Clark Drive.  From there we ran the course at a “tempo” pace… I ran it at 6:57 pace… not quite a tempo run but enough to get a good feel for the hills and upcoming race.   The course is a grinder, the first mile is downhill, second is low rolling hills and the final mile is a fairly large assent…  they also added a subdivision on mile three that adds some extra elevation.  I can definitely say that I’m prepared with my training and I know my body is capable of running a great pace for this race, it is a little scary knowing this one all comes down to guts as it’s going to be a tough finish and there is no way around that.  So after running the course and all of us feeling a little worse about it than we expected, we trudged back to Wash to finish off the run. 

So while nervously reviewing Saturday’s race course I remind myself once again if I wanted it easy I would have taken up golf J    There is a reason I picked this crazy sport, there is a reason I’ve ramped up my workouts over these last few months, the fuel behind every painful, freezing cold, and hilly mile I push through ... and that reason is about to pay off again Saturday when I let my legs loose and enjoy what I love doing most, RUNNING FAST