Thursday, October 29, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon
Hello long abandoned blog viewers! I can't write much at the moment as I just got back to town from my half marathon adventure in Chicago, but I can report that my finishing time was 1:23:48...87th place overall (14,000+ finishers in the race) and I was the top finisher from the state of KY (91 people from KY entered the race).
I won my bet with my co-worker, so I am not required to perform any humiliating acts during my next sales meeting (he has to wear old man velcro walking shoes the whole meeting).
The drive home was torture on the legs, and the cat tried her best to prevent me from sleeping last night, but I think I am on the road to recovery.
Next up: Full Marathon in San Antonio in November!!!
I won my bet with my co-worker, so I am not required to perform any humiliating acts during my next sales meeting (he has to wear old man velcro walking shoes the whole meeting).
The drive home was torture on the legs, and the cat tried her best to prevent me from sleeping last night, but I think I am on the road to recovery.
Next up: Full Marathon in San Antonio in November!!!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Home!
I got home yesterday from my sales meeting, having slept one whole hour before shuffling off to the airport at 4:00 AM. It's great to be home, but now we have a whole lot of packing to do in the next two weeks before moving day, and Laura will be gone next weekend. Yipes!!
I've been keeping up with my running (see training log to the right). I'm counting my weeks as Sunday thru Saturday even though the chart counts them as Monday to Sunday. By my method I'm definitely keeping it over 40 miles a week....which is right where I want to be for now, and I'm losing the weight I need to lose.
My roommate at my sales meeting was the guy I'll be racing in August. He's definitely in better shape than me right now.....so I've got my work cut out for me, but I think I'll just stay the course with my current training and hope it all works out.
I ran my first 5K of the year a week ago, and came in at 18:17. This is definitely a good start, and the next major race is the 10K on July 4th.
I guesss that's it for now....better go pack another box.
I've been keeping up with my running (see training log to the right). I'm counting my weeks as Sunday thru Saturday even though the chart counts them as Monday to Sunday. By my method I'm definitely keeping it over 40 miles a week....which is right where I want to be for now, and I'm losing the weight I need to lose.
My roommate at my sales meeting was the guy I'll be racing in August. He's definitely in better shape than me right now.....so I've got my work cut out for me, but I think I'll just stay the course with my current training and hope it all works out.
I ran my first 5K of the year a week ago, and came in at 18:17. This is definitely a good start, and the next major race is the 10K on July 4th.
I guesss that's it for now....better go pack another box.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Next on the List...
I have a co-worker who has been looking for a "rematch" race ever since I put a 38 minute beatdown on him at the Chiago Marathon in 2006. He called yesterday with his race choice (we'd agreed previously on half-marathon distance this time) and picked the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Chicago, which takes place August 2nd.
So.....I guess I'm training for another half marathon. Three months notice seems pretty fair, and to be honest, Ken is in a bit better shape than I am right now, so I'll have to get going pretty quickly. I ran 14 miles yesterday at 7:20 pace, which is only 6 seconds slower per mile than my race pace for the Louisville Mini last weekend. What really needs to happen is for me to get my butt back over to the track and do some speed work (Yikes!).
It does feel good to have another "goal" race since the Mt. Washington idea fell through. If anybody has a great idea for how to drop 8 pounds quickly (other than swallowing a tape worm) please let me know, so I can get back to training at "race weight".
As an intermediate goal, I'm hoping to run a decent time at the Bluegrass 10,000 on July 4th....which will mark the two year anniversary (AND MUCH AWAITED RETURN!!!) of Ale8 Man!!!! Better get your popcorn ready!
So.....I guess I'm training for another half marathon. Three months notice seems pretty fair, and to be honest, Ken is in a bit better shape than I am right now, so I'll have to get going pretty quickly. I ran 14 miles yesterday at 7:20 pace, which is only 6 seconds slower per mile than my race pace for the Louisville Mini last weekend. What really needs to happen is for me to get my butt back over to the track and do some speed work (Yikes!).
It does feel good to have another "goal" race since the Mt. Washington idea fell through. If anybody has a great idea for how to drop 8 pounds quickly (other than swallowing a tape worm) please let me know, so I can get back to training at "race weight".
As an intermediate goal, I'm hoping to run a decent time at the Bluegrass 10,000 on July 4th....which will mark the two year anniversary (AND MUCH AWAITED RETURN!!!) of Ale8 Man!!!! Better get your popcorn ready!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Monkey Off My Back
Yesterday I ran the Kentucky Derby Festival MiniMarathon in Louisville. A couple of years ago, I dropped out of this race at 10 miles because of an IT band (knee) problem.....making this the ONLY race I've ever entered that I failed to finish. Needless to say, its the type of thing you remember.
So, yesterday was definitely vengeance for my previous attempt. I finished in 1:34:36, and as it was about 80 degrees out there on the course, I even allowed myself a couple of 20 to 30 second walk breaks in the second half to make sure I didn't totally blow up in the heat. (My pace through the first 6 miles was 6:50, and my finishing pace was 7:14, so I cost myself a little time....but I made it through in a respectable time, which is fine since I felt a little under-trained for a half marathon). My goal time was 1:28:00, and finished 165th (149th for the men) but I'm fine with where I came in, and think I can keep up my training to run another couple of longer races over the summer.
Other things I learned yesterday: I don't like Orange Vanilla flavor Roctane. WAAAY too sweet for a 6-miles-in recharge. Also, I'm pretty good at keeping my pace while listening to my iPod (which I've never done in a race before....usually just to train). Finally, I learned that it is a bad idea to park downtown with 10,000 other people when a good number of streets heading out of town will be closed after the half marathon for the 2000 people who ran a full marathon in 80-something temps.
Thanks to everyone who cheered for me along the way (KCRS people) and thanks to Camille for the free entry (FF Louisville). And a special congratulations to Ed, who finished his first half marathon yesterday in 2:39!!
So, yesterday was definitely vengeance for my previous attempt. I finished in 1:34:36, and as it was about 80 degrees out there on the course, I even allowed myself a couple of 20 to 30 second walk breaks in the second half to make sure I didn't totally blow up in the heat. (My pace through the first 6 miles was 6:50, and my finishing pace was 7:14, so I cost myself a little time....but I made it through in a respectable time, which is fine since I felt a little under-trained for a half marathon). My goal time was 1:28:00, and finished 165th (149th for the men) but I'm fine with where I came in, and think I can keep up my training to run another couple of longer races over the summer.
Other things I learned yesterday: I don't like Orange Vanilla flavor Roctane. WAAAY too sweet for a 6-miles-in recharge. Also, I'm pretty good at keeping my pace while listening to my iPod (which I've never done in a race before....usually just to train). Finally, I learned that it is a bad idea to park downtown with 10,000 other people when a good number of streets heading out of town will be closed after the half marathon for the 2000 people who ran a full marathon in 80-something temps.
Thanks to everyone who cheered for me along the way (KCRS people) and thanks to Camille for the free entry (FF Louisville). And a special congratulations to Ed, who finished his first half marathon yesterday in 2:39!!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
A bit overdue....
...for an update for all you anxious fans out there. I've been busy, and as we are now moving (sold our house, AND bought a new one) to another part of Lexington in the next two months, things are bound to get even busier. Nonetheless, my people deserve to know what is happening in the life of Queep, so here we go:
Our new house is off Richmond Rd, in the Fairway subdivision. We'll live less than half a mile from Coach Calipari's new digs, and the neighborhood looks quiet and peaceful. We close on June 15th, and I'[m already packing since the month of May is going to be a hectic one with lots of Saturday events for work.
I know I've been rather lax in charting my training for next weekend's Louisville Derby Minimarathon, but I promise I've been getting in my miles as best I can. I'm running 15 to 20 miles most weeks, with a couple of weeks closer to 30 (but not many of these weeks). I'm not concerned at all about the distance, but I think I'm going to be slower than my original 1:25:00 prediction. 1:28:00 to 1:30:00 looks like a safe guess now. I checked the results from the past two years, and each year the #100 male finisher was in the 1:28:00 range, so that is what I'd LIKE to run, and what I'll set out to run (and then try and hold on to the pace).
Life is steaming along at the Crawford household, and with Laura starting graduate school the week before we move it looks like this summer may have come and gone before we even know what hit us. Maybe we'll have to plan in advance for some sort of escape from Kentucky during Thanksgiving (which would mean missing my 10-year high school reunion, but I've already expressed my opinion to the organizers that I think Thanksgiving is for family and they could have chosen another time of year).
I don't really have any pictures of any sort to post right now, but maybe I can download pictures from the finish of the half marathon and post them (sorry folks, no Ale8 cape on this one).
Until next time...
Our new house is off Richmond Rd, in the Fairway subdivision. We'll live less than half a mile from Coach Calipari's new digs, and the neighborhood looks quiet and peaceful. We close on June 15th, and I'[m already packing since the month of May is going to be a hectic one with lots of Saturday events for work.
I know I've been rather lax in charting my training for next weekend's Louisville Derby Minimarathon, but I promise I've been getting in my miles as best I can. I'm running 15 to 20 miles most weeks, with a couple of weeks closer to 30 (but not many of these weeks). I'm not concerned at all about the distance, but I think I'm going to be slower than my original 1:25:00 prediction. 1:28:00 to 1:30:00 looks like a safe guess now. I checked the results from the past two years, and each year the #100 male finisher was in the 1:28:00 range, so that is what I'd LIKE to run, and what I'll set out to run (and then try and hold on to the pace).
Life is steaming along at the Crawford household, and with Laura starting graduate school the week before we move it looks like this summer may have come and gone before we even know what hit us. Maybe we'll have to plan in advance for some sort of escape from Kentucky during Thanksgiving (which would mean missing my 10-year high school reunion, but I've already expressed my opinion to the organizers that I think Thanksgiving is for family and they could have chosen another time of year).
I don't really have any pictures of any sort to post right now, but maybe I can download pictures from the finish of the half marathon and post them (sorry folks, no Ale8 cape on this one).
Until next time...
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