Cory's Running: 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.