REMODELING BEFORE & AFTER

Here are the much anticipated "before and after" photos from our recent home remodeling project. What was originally conceived as a new kitched turned into bascially a new whole lower level. The only things we didn't touch were our computer room and the mud room.

View upon entrying the front of our house - family room with vaulted ceiling and built-in shelving. The wall to my right will be removed.

New view from our entryway.

Looking back towards our front door.

Old living room.

Now it's a dining room.

Look into the kitchen - note the wall off to the right and the 2 peninsulas.

The wall is gone and we extended this penisula to make it a breakfast bar. And added pendant lights.

Looking through the old kitchen and into the dining room. Note the dome light.

Laminate counter top is now granite, second penisula is gone and new cherry cabinets.

Looking through the kitchen the other way and into the living room. Notice the floor.

New floor, penisula taken out, and new antique hutch.

Messy desk and refrigerator.

Cleaner looking area without the desk.

Old dining room.

New sitting room.

Recessed lighting. Also, since we lost some cabinet space when we removed the wall in the kitchen and the penisula, we decided to extend our new cabinets up to the ceiling. In the end, I think we ended up with more cabinet space. Of course, some of it requires the use of a step-stool.

My wife and I painted the new dining room, kitchen and sitting room and I installed the floor - otherwise we can't take any credit. Overall, it seemed to take longer than we initially thought, so it's nice to finally be done.

NEW FAVORITE

Maybe it’s just mine, but it sure feels like blogs are dying. When I first started this thing 6 ½ years ago they seemed pretty new. Now I think everyone that had a blog back then has stopped updating it. I haven’t decided to stop, but obviously, updating it has become sporadic. I feel like I finally have some stuff to share, so here it goes;

It’s not every day I get to interview a member of the U.S. Track and Field team competing at the world meet. While my latest interview is not of a runner, it’s still worth checking out.

Speaking of interviews, years ago I interviewed Kara and Laurie. At the time they were going around sharing their secrets to balancing exercise and motherhood at various expos. Well, those secrets have evolved into a book; Hot (Sweaty) Mamas. I happened to find a copy at our library and decided to check it out. I was pleasantly surprised and ended up writing the following review;

Guys like Hot Sweaty Mamas too!

"This book is not just for women. I found it informative, funny, entertaining and insightful. I love the Mom2Mom quotes as well as Kara and Laurie's personal examples. The appendix is loaded with great lists and resources, along with a fitness challenge, priority inventory, and a great "sweat decision tree" which lets you know when it's okay to miss a workout or when you'd better suck it up and sweat.

As a running dad of 2 girls I tend to exercise early in the morning before they're awake. This book has made me realize it's okay for them to see me exercise and it's okay for me to involve them with my exercise routine."

If you want to check out more of their writing, you can check them out at Laurie’s blog and Kara’s blog. Then go pick up the book.

Finally, I hope you made it down this far because I want to share with you my new favorite runner, or perhaps new favorite writer. As a fan of this sport, I have lots of favorite runners. Over the weekend I added Lauren Fleshman to that list. I’ve been aware of Lauren for years, but I happened to come across her journal entry which described her day leading up to the finals in the 5,000m at the world meet. As someone who’s biggest events were a couple of conference meets, it’s interesting to read about life at the elite level. I enjoyed that post so much that I’ve been going back and reading all her post for the last 2 years or so. I’m guessing you’ll hear more about her writing here soon.

So maybe blogs aren’t dead.

Quote of the Day;

“I am barely surviving, reaching into the corners of the toothpaste tube to squeeze out just a little bit more, and I catch one more woman right before the finish line. I didn’t know who won, who got medals, who I pipped at the line, what time I ran, or what place I finished. Complete immersion into maximum effort drowned out all my senses.” - Lauren Fleshman

INDISTINGUISHABLE

Okay, I'm through the first 4-week cycle of P90X and here are the results so far compared to Day 0.

Day 0.

Day 28.

Day 0.

Day 28.

Yeah, the photos are almost indistinguishable. But that doesn’t really tell the whole story. I can see and feel little changes. For example, the other day I was making a lane change and as I checked my blind spot it sure felt like I was able to turn further around with less difficulty. I attribute this to the added stretching and yoga sessions included in the program.

It’d be easy to get frustrated with no visible results after 4 weeks, but then I was trying to compare P90X to a new running program. If I were to follow some 12 to 16 week running program, I’m pretty sure I would not be in much better shape after just 4 weeks. It takes longer for the body to adapt than that. I figure that first month was just for laying the foundation. Now I can build off of that.

Adding some cardio to my program would probably help too. During those first 4 weeks I did not do any other exercises outside of P90X. I’ll see if I can add some cardio during this next 4 week block of training.

I was hoping to be able to provide some before and after photos of our home renovations by now. However, things came to a stand-still as we waiting over a week for a city inspector to sign off on the wall we tore out. That finally happened last week, so the contractors were able to finish dry walling and painting the ceiling. Granite arrives today, so we’re getting close.

One other update, I sold the dining room set for $100. Probably could have got more for it, but that’s alright. The gal was excited and she appreciated the refinishing job.

Quote of the Day;

"It’s not the runner, but those impersonating the runner, who is at hazard.” – Dr. George Sheehan

SPEECHLESS

Believe it or not, I still consider this a running blog. With that said, be sure to check out my interview with Minnesota's newest Olympic Trials qualifier. Her progression over the last 2-3 years is truly inspiring.

I'm not exactly sure what's going on lately, but I've been receiving a lot of really nice emails.

This one came via Facebook on my birthday;

"You give everyone a present in each of your interviews; a heartfelt thanks for the insights gained reading them...no birthday $ for a gift, so this'll have to do." - Phillip G.S.

I got this one from someone I don't know;

"First, I enjoy reading your interviews with all of the good/famous/talented local runners. They are all really good interviews (and runners alike), and I've managed to glean a lot of good insight and information from quite a few of them." - Tom H.

Then I got this one from my buddy, Jim, who was my 2nd ever interview;

"You are an amazing person--what you accomplish and what's on your plate is inspirational. I'm really pleased to see that you have continued the interviews on Minnesota Running." - Jim G.

Finally, the youth cross country program that I'm the program director and assistant coach for has started up again. We have 35 kids in grades 3-6 signed up. This is my second year with the program and we've made an effort to focus more on fun, in the form of relays, games, obstacle courses, etc., and less on race results. We're only two practices in, so I was really surprised to receive this email;

"I wanted to let you know that after practice Thursday, Molly told me she now wants to be a cross country coach when she grows up. You guys are very inspirational. Thanks for all your hard work." - Julie H.

WOW - that one leaves me speechless!

I wish I could take credit for all the new cool stuff we're doing this year, however, I have to admit I'm "borrowing" a lot of ideas from this awesome site put out by the New York Road Runners. Anyone that coaches kids cross country should check it out.

Check back in the next day or two for some P90X 4-week progress photos, along with an update.
As for quotes of the day, it doesn't get any better than what I've already posted.

ONE MORE

I mentioned before that I had refinished another dresser a few years ago. It's probably my favorite. I still can't believe someone covered this beautiful wood up with white paint.

BEFORE & AFTER

Here are some before and after photos of two of the projects I've been working on. The first is dining room table and chairs that we picked up from my wife's uncle's estate when we moved him to an assisted living facility. We tried to sell it for $100 at his estate sale, but no one bought it. I thought maybe refinishing it would help increase it's value - but mainly I thought it'd be fun. I refinished a similar dining room set a few years ago for my family. If I'd been doing this set for our family I'd have put another coat of polyurothene on it and I'd have re-upholstered the chairs. But since it's 90 degrees outside with a dew point of 70, I just wanted to get this thing done with.





And here's the dresser I brought back from my parent's place. I'm really happy with how this one turned out. I don't know what kind of wood makes up this "tiger stripe" pattern. All I know if that I like using a light stain on it in order to highlight the pattern. I originally bought single handles to go on the top two drawers, but when I filled in the two holes left from the old knobs, it looked bad, so I went back to knobs. I can't tell you how long that Pizza Pub sticker has been on this dresser. I think I put it on there when I was about my kids' age.

SO FAR AWAY

Pretty quiet week, but I’m still here. The remodeling project at home is in full-swing. Luckily, we still had a stove last week. That changed yesterday and we are now without a stove, kitchen sink, and dishwasher. Basically, everything is in the basement except the fridge. Whenever we make a meal it seems like we’re walking up and down the stairs 3 or 4 times because we keep forgetting things. New cabinets arrive on Monday, so hopefully things will be semi-back to normal by next Friday. In an effort to save some money, I (foolishly?) agreed to install the new laminate flooring myself. I did this about 10 years ago in our first house and back then you had to glue all the pieces together. Now everything is click and snap, so it should be easier. The only difference is last time I replaced about 200 square feet, this time it’ll be more like 800 square feet. It’s look great when it’s all done, but right now that seems so far away.

The dining set and dresser are coming along great. I started staining them yesterday and may even be done tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll have some photos to share soon.

As for P90X, I’m still plugging along. Yesterday was the first workout that I missed – mainly because I took the day off from work and was working on the projects mentioned above – but I’ll just rearrange the schedule a little and still get everything in this week. The program does call for either one day off or a day of stretching each week. Maybe I’m looking too hard, but at almost 2 weeks in I can see subtle changes. Two more weeks and I’ll post photos of my progress.

All of these restoration projects have somehow lead me to discover my new favorite TV show, American Restoration on the History Channel. It is amazing the things these guys can restore no matter how rusted and dented they may be. It’s shows like this that make me question my career path. Seriously, I think doing that kind of work would be so much more fun than sitting at a computer all day looking at spreadsheets. Even the work our contractor is doing would be so much more fun and rewarding.

Finally, here’s today’s recommended read regarding the Afton Trail Ultra and the difficulties overcome by race director John Storkamp had to overcome given the state shutdown. Looking at the byline, I don’t think I’ve read anything by Alex Kurt before, but I look forward to seeing more of his stuff in the future.

Quote of the day;

“I never considered canceling the event. Trail running and ultrarunning is not for quitters. We would have had it on a track, in a parking lot, or in my backyard if we had no other choice.” – John Storkamp

AS PROMISED

As promised, here are a couple of before pictures of me without my shirt.



I know what you’re thinking, “Dang, those look like after pictures.” I know it’s hard to think I can improve upon on this, but I’m going to try.

Yesterday was a yoga day, which led to this email to my buddy Scott; Running makes it easy to think we’re these super-fit athletes that can do anything. Then when we try something new, like yoga, you realize how limited we are with range of motion, flexibility and balance.

Instead of sending in before and after still shots, I think P90X users should send in actual videos from their first and last workouts. Now that would be comical – watching people struggle with seemingly easy movements (and I’m not just talking about the yogo portion of the program). And it’d be impressive to see how people improve over the 90 days. I’ve done the Ab Ripper X workout 3 times now. The first time was a huge struggle, but things went a lot better today – expect for the Oblique V-ups. That is impossible at this point. But I find the challenge kind of fun.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I have some other projects to keep me occupied this summer. Here’s a dining room set that I’m working on refinishing. The table is stripped down and I’m working on the chairs. I should say, I would be working on the chairs is the heat index weren’t 110 degrees all week. If anyone is looking for a new dining room set, let me know. It’s 42” wide and ranges from 28” to 78” long depending on whether you fold down the ends or insert one of three leaves. I’m not sure what color to stain it yet – perhaps I’ll just let the natural color of the wood shine through. Of course, if someone is interested in it, I’ll stain it whatever color they’d like.



And here’s a dresser I plan on refinishing too. I brought it back from my parent’s house. I refinished a similar dresser for them a few years ago and it turned out awesome. I’ll dig those photos up sometime too.



Finally, just for fun, here’s a photo from a recent Twins game. Back row!


Quote of the Day;

"Being an athlete is a state of mind which is not bound by age, performance or place in the running pack.” – Jeff Galloway

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

Probably like most runners out there, I’ve gone through numerous running lives over the years. These can be split up by different phases of your life; high school, college, pre-children, etc. Between two of my phases I spent 4 years in the Navy where running took a backseat and I spent more of my time playing basketball and lifting weights. I don’t know if I’d call myself a bodybuilder during those years as my super-fast metabolism wouldn’t let me weigh more than 160 pounds. However, magazines like Muscle & Fitness and Flex replaced my Runner’s World subscription. I can remember stretches during this time where I paid a lot of attention to the foods I ate. I was very disciplined, placing emphasis on how healthy foods were, rather than how they tasted.

I bring all this up mainly as a reminder to myself as I begin this P90X journey. I’m on day 3 so far and the workouts are going pretty well. There’s an issue with trying to do the new exercises correctly, as well as figuring out how much weight to use. However, overall things have started off rather well. I did take some “before” photos, but I haven’t loaded them to the computer yet. I hope to do that for my next post.

While a new set of P90X DVDs runs $140 on their site, I was able to get a set that had not been opened from Amazon for $90. It also includes their nutrition guide. I’ve decided not to follow that – it’s just too hard with family dinners. For right now I’m focusing on cutting out as much crap as possible – especially those times when I find myself digging in the pantry for no other reason than there’s a commercial on TV. And instead of eating all 4 Snackwell cookies in the package, I’ve just been eating one to help curb that sweet tooth. Another change is to only drink alcohol during social settings. No more beer just because we’re grilling out, or wine while reading at night. I’ll see what kind of impact those small changes have to begin with. I can always adjust as I go.

So that’s where I’m at right now. There will definitely be more to follow on this topic.

Quote of the Day;

"If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.” - unknown

NAKED FOOT

Let’s start off by posting a link to another interview. Enjoy.

I have a couple of more race entries to giveaway. These are for the Naked Foot 5K to be held around Lake Nokomis on Saturday August 20th. As the race director told me, “I know barefoot running is quite the polarizing topic in running circles, but our event is all about getting out there and having fun.” The websites says they're not about the 'barefoot movement, but rather the 'movement movement'. And although the title of the event suggest it’s exclusively for barefoot runners, that’s NOT the case - they do not discriminate against those of us the wear shoes. They also mention this is not just another 5K. They have an all-grass 1-mile race, a free kids 1K, games, face painting, er I mean, foot painting, prizes and other healthy living vendors will be there as well. They are also collecting shoes for Soles4Souls. Sounds like a fun new event!

If you’re interested in a free entry leave a comment or shoot me an email or facebook message. I promise I’ll be more patient this time when it comes to selecting the winners.

Okay, I have to close the week with a gripe. At work we have free coffee set up in each wing of the building. The coffee maker has 3 separate burners, so there are 2 pots for regular and 1 for decaf. The decaf pot is rarely used. Typically, in the mornings there are 2 pots in use and then only 1 in the afternoon. All this makes sense. The gripe I have is when people finish off the pot and then place it back on the burner – without turning the burner off. Seriously, either make another pot or at least turn the burner off. If this happened once a month it wouldn’t bother me. But I would bet 3 times a week I end up removing an empty pot from a burner. Anyone else have this problem in the office?

Quote of the Day;

"I always knew that ‘some day’ I would get back into it, it was just a matter of that desire coming back and coinciding with life circumstances that were conducive to running.” - Amy Halseth.

QUALITY POSTS

The problem with shutting down your running when you have a running blog is that things get really boring very quickly.

I’ll try to keep posting so you can learn valuable things about me like this;

Last night it occurred to me that I like fruit and I like ice cream/custard, but I really don’t like fruit in my ice cream/custard. This occurred while eating a very berry cobbler from Culver’s. The very berry cobbler would have been a yummy dessert by itself – same with the custard – but mix them together and it was just okay. The same goes with seafood and pasta for me. I love them separately, but mix them together and I’m not a big fan.

See, this is the kind of quality posts you can expect while I’m not running.

I haven’t run since last Friday and am doing my best to turn into a fat blob before starting my P90X program next week. I figure a nice double butter burger and a very berry cobbler dessert will “help” with my before photos. Given how I haven’t really been able to stick with any sort of routine lately, I have no idea how the P90X program will go. It might turn into P10X, where 10 is the number of days I actually follow through with the program. Actually, I’m kind of looking forward to it, so I’m guessing I’ll stick with it fairly well.

Besides a new workout program starting next week, I have some other transformation projects on my plate. These include a kitchen remodeling, as well as refinishing a couple of pieces of furniture. Hopefully, these projects will keep me busy during my down time – and provide some material for blogging.

Quote of the Day;

"I was never a graceful runner, but then, I never have thought an athletic event should be a beauty show.” – Clarence DeMar

ACCURATE ASSESSMENT

Looking through the results from last year’s Minneapolis 13.1, I only recognized about 2 names. So I wasn’t sure if anyone would jump at the two free entries I had to giveaway or not. Besides, I never know who’s reading this thing – other than me. Anyway, after not getting any responses, I sent out a mass first-come-first-served email. That sparked a little interest and I was able to give them away. Then, of course, readers of my blog started to chime in. I guess the moral of the story is that I need to be more patient. In the future I’ll give people a chance to actually respond before giving away the good. Thanks for your interest.

Friday mornings I typically do group trail run in Hyland Park. This morning I showed up intentionally late. I figure with the shape I’m in, there’s no way I could hang with the group. Instead, I ran the course backwards and met up with them for about the last 2 miles. Given that I couldn’t even keep up with them for that short stretch, I’d say my thinking was right on the money. In the brief time I was with the group one of the guys mentioned that I’d fallen off the face of the earth since running the Grand Canyon. That’s a pretty accurate assessment. That’s basically how I feel about my running right now. Another guy mentioned he was thinking about a little forced break from running in order to recharge his batteries. I like that idea too. Typically, I perform my best when I have a long run-way to build up my base. For me, in the past, this is what winter is all about. Shutting things down, recharging, building back up. That’s where I see things heading right now, it's just that the shutting down process will start earlier in the year. If that’s enough to help heal my knee, then I’m all for it. Of course, one never knows if that’s enough or not.

Quote of the Day;

"I’ve strained my body to the bounds of endurance and running had become a nightmare.” – Herb Elliott, upon his retirement at age 22

MY PROBLEM

This is the problem I’ve been having lately; I say one thing and do the opposite. I talk about getting consistent and building off of the previous week and then I proceed to take 3 of the next 4 days off. Granted I had some family commitments that required physical labor, but that’s just an excuse to help get me through the week.

To make matters worse, my knee was bothering me again when I finally laced my shoes again. I ended up struggling through a mile and then walking 3 more. I figure I had the time, I might as well try and burn some calories. For the first time in my life I find myself thinking of exercise as a way to stay fit rather than doing it in order to compete.

Now I’m trying to figure out what kinds of exercise I can do to stay fit and still help my knee recover. Do I break out my bike again, continue running, dust of my roller skis, walk, lift, hit the elliptical, etc.? I broke down and ordered P90X yesterday. I figure if I can’t run it’ll be a good way to gain some strength and burn some calories. Maybe if you’re lucky I’ll post some photos, without my shirt, along the way.

GIVEAWAY
Any readers out there interested in running the Minneapolis 13.1 on August 22nd? I may have the opportunity to giveaway some free entries and I wanted to see if there’s any interest out there. Either leave a comment or send me an email.

Finally, I’ve mentioned my neighbor’s blog before because he takes tons of great photos and has lots of great info on biking. Well, he posted a couple of photos of our daughters at their horseback riding lessons. Mine is the one with the braids in her hair.

Quote of the Day;

"Part of a runner’s training consists of pushing back the limits of the mind, of proving to his doubting intellect that 66 seconds a lap for 12 laps won’t reduce him to another cinder on the track.” – Kenny Moore

BUILD OFF OF IT

I’m up to 48 miles in the last 7 days. Nothing spectacular, but I have to start somewhere. The important thing is to build off of it. When training isn’t going that well, I find it very easy to skip the only hard workouts that I typically do; tempos and marathon paced runs. Once that cycle starts, it’s easy to continue. Usually, I’m able to justify it by tell myself I’m not fit enough to do a workout. I figure if I can’t improve upon the last workout, why do it. Well, now I don’t care how bad my workout times are, I need to start somewhere. So this week I did a 3 mile tempo at 6:54 pace. Sure, that’s a lot slower than “normal”, but things haven’t been “normal” for awhile. This is the new me for right now and, as with my mileage, I’ll build off of it.

Last weekend were the U.S. Track & Field Championships. I really didn’t follow along until the meet was over. Then I went to Letsrun.com for their recap and was able to watch some videos. Here are my random thoughts. Jen Rhines continues to impress. I don’t have her info handy, but she must be 36 or so. She been an Olympian at 5K, 10K and the marathon. Last weekend she made like her 10th U.S. team. She never seems to get a lot of recognition, perhaps because she’s always solid, but never spectacular. Just looked it up, she’ll be 37 tomorrow. Happy Birthday to one of my favorite runners!

On the other hand there’s Christin Wurth-Thomas. I don’t know a lot about her, but every time I see her race she zooms right to the front and then gets passed by everyone. Last weekend was no different. She built a HUGE lead and then was passed by 3 women in the last 100 meters. She finished 4th, 0.01 seconds from qualifying. What really bugged me was summed up nicely by Pre’s Mustache. In her post race interview she talked about food poisoning and lack of sleep and then said “But I’m not making excuses.” Umm, yes you are.

With sites like Flotrack, Runnerspace, etc. all interviewing these runners after their races, fans are getting a lot more exposure to these athletes. Of course, this can be either good or bad and what they say can leave lasting impressions on the relatively small fan-base surrounding track & field. While runners like Wurth-Thomas and Will Leer made excuses, youngster Matt Centrowitz said all the right things and made some fans along the way.

Quote of the Day;

"I don't think it's set in yet. Taking a victory lap with guys like Lagat and Leo Manzano is just exciting and just to be running alongside of them and to be mentioned with them is an honor. I'm pumped." – Matt Centrowitz, after winning the U.S 1500 meter title

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT

First off today, happy 13th anniversary to my wife – that means we’ve been together 16 years total. Hard to believe anyone could put up with me for so long. Even my parents could see the light at the end of the tunnel after 16 years.

I’ve talked about being fired up lately and getting more serious about my training. As always, it all starts with getting out the door on a consistent basis. Luckily, my knee is feeling better, so that makes being consistent a little easier. Who would have thought running 26.2 miles would help make the pain go away?

Since I don’t have much going on right now, I wanted to share a couple of other websites that you might enjoy. Dave Elger’s site is one of those sites I always forget I have saved in my favorites. Yet every time I go back, I tend to find some little nugget. Toni Reavis is one of the best promoters of our sport around. You may happen to remember the Runnerville Podcast that I enjoyed awhile ago. Toni was a big part of those.

Big weekend in running with the U.S. Championships as well as Western States. I hope to share some thoughts on those later this week.

Quote of the Day;

“There's something intensely satisfying about racing and pushing yourself as far as you can but it's not necessarily fun at the time, especially if you fail at your goal, whatever it may be. That's why I couldn't let the hard day's work go to waste.” - Ian Sharman talking about his 10th place finish at Western States

ON THE BEATEN PATH

I'm going to close out the week by sharing an article I recently wrote for MDRA.

On the beaten path by Chad Austin

For as long as I can remember I’ve been a road runner. Sure, I do a fair amount of my training on trails and I’ll jump in a trail race or two during the year. But for the most part I stick to the roads and races ranging from 5K to marathons. Like most roadies, thoughts of running an ultra marathon have been the furthest thing from my mind. I’ve been too consumed with finding flat, fast courses in order to lower my times as far as possible. However, somewhere along the line the order of importance for me has shifted from setting PRs to experiencing new things. I’m guessing this is a natural progression that occurs as we age and PRs become fewer and farther between. One thing I haven’t experienced is running more than 26.2 miles. So now that I’ve set the last of my road PRs, I find thoughts of trying an ultra marathon creeping into my head.

Over the last couple of years I’ve had the pleasure of running once a week with some of the best local ultra marathoners. Earlier this spring I was fortunate enough to travel with many of these guys to Arizona where we ran the Grand Canyon. While this wasn’t a race, the experience gave me an inside look into the ultra world. During this trip I couldn’t help by think about the difference between roadies and trail runners. For example, road racers put a lot of emphasis on their pace per mile. In fact, as little as 5-10 seconds per mile, faster or slower, is often the difference between a great race and a terrible race. Given the variability of trails, little to no importance is placed on mile splits. Instead, these runners focus more on being in-tune with their body and how it’s responding to the stresses placed upon it. Another example, marathoners try to avoid bonking at all costs. We know once a bonk arrives, it can be a miserable shuffle the rest of the way. The only thing we can do is watch our mile splits get slower and slower. The ultra marathoners I ran with know a bonk, or two, is coming and they almost look forward to them. They place bets on who will reach Bonk City first and joke about 3 bonks and you’re out. Their lighthearted approach is due to the fact that they know they have time to refuel on the run and can pull themselves out of a bonk. Finally, I even think the camaraderie between the two groups is different. Post-road race conversations are typically about finish time and place. Roadies will go into minute detail about ever mile split along the course and tell you who they beat and didn’t beat. On the other hand, the trail runners seem more genuinely concerned with everyone’s experience; how they felt, what they thought of the course, how was their nutrition, etc. It’s hard to explain, but it reminds me of my time in boot camp where everyone looks out for everyone else.

I’m not sure what each group thinks of the other, but I get the sense that roadies think they are better runners. The sheer number of roadies almost guarantees that they’re faster, however, the trails have their fair share of fast runners too. For example, three-time XTERRA Trail Champion, Max King has run 14:23 for 5K. And earlier this spring California resident Ian Sharman ran 100 miles in 12 hours and 44 minutes, that’s 7:51 pace. Another way to look at it, he ran 24:20 for 5K 32 times in a row.

Of course, the two groups aren’t mutually exclusive, former Team USA Minnesota runner, Chris Lundstrom who boasts a 2:17 marathon, is also one of the most successful trail runners around. As for Lundstrom’s love of the trails, he says, “Trail races, particularly ultras, are less about competing with other runners and more about testing yourself and your own fortitude. There are a lot more variables than in road racing. You may encounter a wide variety of conditions and challenges, such as poor footing, down trees, heat and humidity or snow and cold, dehydration and energy depletion...the list goes on and on. Ultimately these events are about continuing to move forward to the best of your ability, despite the challenges. They're also about appreciating some of the beautiful natural areas that we have around us. A great trail race is one where you aren't thinking about racing, but rather are simply cruising along, enjoying the trail and the natural surroundings.” For more reasons to hit the trails, see the sidebar.

If your interest in trail and/or ultra running is piqued, you can learn more on the Upper Midwest Trail Runners website. There you’ll find at least a dozen ultras between Minnesota and Wisconsin. They also have a variety of different series events that you can enter. Two consist entirely of all ultras, another ranges from 10K to the marathon, and they even have a 5K trail series for those looking to get away from the roads and on the beaten path.

SIDEBAR
My buddy Joe Uhan is fairly new to ultras. He recently posted the top 10 reasons he loves ultra marathons on his blog.

10. Best of All Worlds - It combines my three favorite things: running, being surrounded by nature, and eating!

9. Nutrition, Hydration, Electrolytes - It's more than just running. You ultimately have to manage these things well in order to do your best.

8. Youth - In a sport where the average competitor is 40+, it's fun to be "the young guy" again.

7. Resiliency & Forgiveness - The ability to run a hard 50-mile race, then be able to come back the next day and run an "easy 14" without consequence.

6. Race Reports - In what other sport does the individual competitor provide their blow-by-blow account? Reading their blogs is a fascinating perspective into their race.

5. Sustainability of pace, of training, of body - Success, both short and long-term, in ultra running depends on sustainability, of the stride, of fueling, of training. To learn sustainability is to learn to love the feel of effortless running.

4. Race Dynamics - The marathon comes close, but only in ultra running can you be at death's door and be resurrected. The ability of both body and spirit to "turn the tide" makes the battle, of the competition and of self, so rewarding.

3. It's a "Pure Sport" - Challenging oneself, and challenging your competitors by giving them your best. Your best is achieved only through your competitor giving their best.

2. Mentorship & Stewardship - The sport has plenty of guys who are not only mentors to us "young road guys", but models for stewardship of the competition, the arena, and the competitive spirit.

1. Camaraderie & Community - Pre-race, post-race and in-between. Top guys will hang around at the finish to ask us middle-of-the-pack runners how it went. The true spirit of running, as a sport, is through community, including communal sacrifice, support, and celebration.

REVITALIZED

Too many people ran well at Grandma’s to cover them all in one post. Congrats to Erin who inspired this article. I don’t know if she followed my advice or not, but I’m happy to take credit for her 11-minute, Boston-qualifying PR. While Kelly didn’t inspire an article, her 1:15 (that’s 1 hour and 15 minutes) PR is nothing short of spectacular. Had I know she’d run 3:27, I’d have been looking over my shoulder. Finally, congrats to my roommate for the weekend, Jared. The 69-year-old negative split a 3:17 and won his age-group by 27 minutes. That’s not supposed to happen when you’re at the far end of your age group.

As I alluded to in my last post, I’m feeling pretty fired up lately. Maybe it’s because I got to hang out with so many people that had such great performances on Saturday. Thinking about it some more, I really miss the whole process of setting a goal and training for it. I miss everything from planning tune-up races, dealing with nagging injuries, trying to peak on race day, worrying about the weather, developing a race strategy and then watching the race unfold in front of you. At the end of the day, this is what I really miss – the race times are just the icing on the cake.

With all that said, I’m going to see if I can become a “competitive” runner again. For me that means getting back into to a lifestyle that involves paying attention to weekly and monthly mileage, taking planned days offs, setting some goals, blogging regularly and so on. I don’t know if they body can hold up, or the mind, but I’m willing to give it another shot.

I haven’t set any goals yet but I’m kicking around the idea of jumping in a shorter race, just so I’m able to see some improvement between now and the fall. Perhaps I’ll find a fall half marathon to run too. We’ll see…

Before I forget, here’s a nice Q&A with Matt Gabrielson who always provides good quotes. With all the talk of Grandma’s lately, here’s a nice video by Carrie Tollefson that summarizes the weekend in a nutshell.



Quote of the Day;

“This most recent run on Old Hwy 61 [Grandma’s Marathon] has revitalized my entire career. It's like I've been given a fresh shot.” – Matt Gabrielson

GRANDMA'S MARATHON RACE REPORT

Well, that didn’t last long. Three days after posting that I may not race in 2011, I jumped into Grandma’s Marathon. At the time I knew I was going to run it, but I didn’t plan on racing it. NOTE: I use the term “race” VERY loosely here. This was my 17th marathon and only 2 have been slower.

My plan was to meet up with a friend at the start and run with him while he tried to keep his string of running every Grandma’s intact. Since I couldn’t find him, I decided to run with Jared for as long as possible. That lasted until about mile 11 when I had to stop and go to the bathroom for the third time. The first two were quick pee breaks alongside the road and I was able to catch back up within a mile or two. This time it was a full on stop with sitting involved. There was no catching up after that.

During that stop the 3:20 group went by and I decided to hang a little ways back from them. I went through the half in 1:40:43 and was pretty confident that I would not be negative splitting. About 3 miles later I could already feel the pounding in my legs. I have 3 reasons for this; 1) lack of mileage, 2) long runs being on dirt, and 3) wearing too light of a shoe. I thought about wearing a heavier trainer, but all my non-trail trainers have 500+ miles on them. I didn’t think it’d be smart to wear them in a marathon.

Grandma’s is far and away my favorite marathon. I especially like the section from just after mile 18. From that point there’s a long gradual downhill and then there seem to be plenty of key points to look forward to; London Road, mile 20, the college kids with their beer, Lemon Drop Hill, Superior Street, Fitger’s, Lake Street, and mile 25 before making that final turn towards the DECC, William Irvin and the finish line. During this stretch I told myself to keep things under 8:00 pace for as long as possible. This lasted through mile 22, before Lemon Drop resulted in an 8:05. I think 24 and 25 were slightly over 8s too. At mile 25 I was pretty confident I could sneak under 3:25. I seriously couldn’t remember if my BQ was 3:20 or 3:25 (it’s 3:20), so I thought I’d at least try to get under 3:25. Yes, I know Boston gives you an extra 59 seconds. I hung on and crossed the line in 3:24:43.

If you haven’t heard, conditions were nearly perfect. Temps never got much over 50 degrees and it was cloudy with a nice tailwind. As you can imagine it was a regular PR-fest. Congrats to Matt on his 4-minute PR (2:13:28) that earned him 7th place, Jennifer who dropped dropping roughly 90 seconds to lower her PR to 2:33:01, Jenna on her 2-minute PR (2:40:45), her fiancé Chris who PR’d by 6 minutes (2:38:27), Nichole who’s dropped her PR from 3:03:08 to 2:44:46 in the last 2.5 years and earned a spot in the Oly Trials, and all the other runners that had great races.

I will say, while I’m more sore than I’ve ever been after any marathon, for some reason I’m feeling more fired up than I have in a long time. Maybe it’s due to the fact that so many people ran so well on a day when I didn’t. Whatever the reason, I’m going to see if I can feed off of it and get back into the swing of things – after I recover, of course.

Finally, as promised, here’s my latest interview.

Quote of the Day;

“As luck would have it, the year when I don't feel like I'm in the best shape is the year with the best conditions you could hope to find.” – Chris Lundstrom

FORCING MOTIVATION

I've been joking that I need to find some slower friends before I run the Grand Canyon again. However, really I just need to put forth a little more effort in my training. Sure our group included awesome runners like Brian, Joe, Tony, and John who's won this event three times, but I should be capable of hanging with the other guys in the group.

I wrote an article recently where I stated, "somewhere along the line the order of importance for me has shifted from setting PRs to experiencing new things." That's all fine and good, but that doesn't mean I can't try to excel at these new things too. I've been at this long enough to know you can't force motivation. I don't know how to get it back, but I know you can't force it.

All of this is moot right now as I try to figure out my right knee. It's to the point where I either want it to break or heal because it's in just enough pain to make running no fun. I was considering running a 50K and 50 miler this year, but now those are out the window. 2011 could seriously be the first time I don't race in like 15 years.

I will end with some good news. Frequent commentor, Double, who I interviewed here has (finally) started a blog. If he blogs like he comments, I think you'll find it enjoyable. And, finally, speaking of interviews, I'm happy to announce that they'll be back shortly. I can't believe it's been over year since my last one. There are too many interesting people out there to let it die. So I'm hoping to pump new life into the site.

Quote of the day;

"When all is said and done, I believe I am a 2:12 marathoner on my absolutely greatest, most perfect day. That result may or may not happen in a week, but I will go into this sucker with a smart race plan and nothing but positive energy flowing through the veins." - Matt Gabrielson

RIM-2-RIM-2-RIM

If you’ve been reading along for awhile you probably realize that my training for rim-to-rim-to-rim has mainly consisted of a few back-to-back long runs and 90 minutes of hill repeats at the local ski hill. Almost all of this training was done at around 1,000 feet and I’m sure it was not above 40 degrees on many occasions. I topped off my training in the last couple of weeks by catching up on episodes of Dual Survival, where Dave and Cody remind me how quickly heat can kill, which bark I can eat for carbs and how to filter water through my dirty, sweaty sock. I’ve got 44 miles ahead of me, along with 10,000 feet of climbing and descending and temps sure to be in the 90s. I’m set!

This is a mandatory image for all rim-cubed blog postings.

The trip includes 14 guys that will split into two groups. I’ll be in the first group with 7 other guys who will begin our trek at 4:30 AM. The second group will start an hour later and probably catch us near the North Rim. As we check into the lodge they tell us Friday’s forecast calls for 33 degrees in the morning on the South Rim with highs in the canyon around 90.

Thursday evening before our journey.

At 4:31 we fired up our headlamps and begin heading down the South Kaibab Trail. Not concerned with my time, I don’t start my stopwatch. Instead I set the Timer to go off every 15 minutes, which will remind me to eat and/or drink throughout the day. Within minutes we all realize it never got down to 33 degrees. Temps are probably 10 degrees warmer and we soon stop to shed our long sleeves.
It’s a little weird heading into the canyon in the dark, but it’s also really cool. Within 30 minutes the sun begins creeping up over the horizon. While it’s not as spectacular as what you’d see in a book, seeing it first-hand makes up for it. With the added sunlight a few of us take out our cameras and begin taking pictures. Unfortunately, every time we stop the main pack pulls away. Early on it’s easy to catch up, but that doesn’t last long.


Fairly early on we pass a hiker coming up the canyon and all he says to me is “You signed up for this?” My only response is “ask me again in 10 hours.”

After about 1:40 of constant downhill running we reach Phantom Ranch in the base of the canyon. Here we stop to fill up our water bottles, eat some calories and point out the way to Bright Angel Trail, which we’ll take on our return trip. For some reason things feel rushed – at least more rushed than I thought they’d be. I think maybe it’s just due to the gnats and flies swarming all over us.

We head out of Phantom Ranch on the North Kaibab Trail. The trail gradually begins to rise and our next stop, Cottonwood, is roughly 6 miles away. It doesn’t take long before I begin to fall off the back. Although it’s probably important to stick together, I figure it’s equally important to stay within myself. Beside, I know the second group will be coming along soon – in fact, sooner than I thought. As I pull into Cottonwood, the first group is about to leave. I tell them I’m fine and am just going at my own pace. Five minutes later the second group arrives – and leaves within minutes. I head out with them, but that companionship is short lived and I’m soon alone again.


Roaring Springs is only about 2 miles away and the stretch goes by quickly. This is the last water stop before the North Rim. With 5 miles still to go to the North Rim, that means this water will need to last a total of 10 miles. And I’m not talking about the 10 miles you cover during a normal day. I’m talking a 10-mile stretch that probably includes 4,000 feet of climbing and descending. To make matters worse, things are heating up quickly and there’s not a cloud in the sky. I filled up my 50 oz. Camelbak, along with a 20 oz. bottle in my waist pack and set off up the trail. As I forge on, I think about what the veterans have said; monitor your body, eat, drink, CFM (constant forward motion) and, most importantly, before you commit to the top, be sure of yourself because at the point you’re “all in”.

I’ve already walked quite a bit so far, but now all I’m doing is walking. For the first time I break out my iPod thinking somehow it will magically propel me to the top. It doesn’t propel me at all. I’m probably about 2 miles beyond Roaring Springs and when I find one of the few shaded areas, I decide to take a break and refuel. I shut my iPod off and the silence is refreshing. It’s time to reassess the situation.


My main concern is that I’m already in “last place”. Being last doesn’t bother me, but if I continue my way to the top, the others will soon be making their way back down. Not having anyone from my party around for the return trip would definitely be concerning and probably a huge mistake. If I turn back now I’ll have the advantage of being caught and at least being able to check in with the group. Heck, we may even be able to “run” up the South Rim together. I’m nearly 5 hours into the trip and the decision to turn back is made. I take one last photo from my northern most point, pack things up, and head back towards the South Rim.

This is as close as I got.

Obviously, the return trip to Roaring Springs is downhill and it goes by in 30 minutes. To my surprise, just before I arrive, I find myself sucking air out of my Camelbak. With only 10 ounces left in my bottle, there’s no way I could have made it to the North Rim and back without running out of fluids. Later I find out a bunch of guys did in fact run out of water during this stretch.

By now I’ve gone from walking any uphill to also walking all of the rocky sections. The last thing I want is to fall down out here by myself. The stretch to Cottonwood is a relatively quick 2 miles. After a quick break I’m looking forward to the smoother, more gradual, trail leading back to Phantom Ranch. There’s not much traffic on the North Kaibab Trail and I try to calculate when I’ll start seeing the other guys. I figure I’ll see them at Phantom Ranch where I plan on taking a longer break before heading back out of the canyon.

I seem to be making good progress along this stretch, but all of the sudden, I’m sucking air out of my pack again. Shit! I only have about 6-8 ounces of fluid left. I’m pretty sure I left Cottonwood about an hour ago. Since it’s only about a 6-mile stretch, I figure I must be getting close to Phantom Ranch. I finish off my bottle and decide to walk it the rest of the way to the ranch. It’s frustrating because I’m on some of the most runnable trail all day and I’m reduced to walking. However, it’s brutally hot and sunny and I’m all alone. I make sure to do a quick assessment. I feel fine and mentally aware of what’s going on. I’m confident I can make it to water without much difficulty.

To make things more frustrating, every turn looks like the previous one. I constantly think the ranch is around the next corner, but it never seems to materialize. Finally, I see a hiker and he says I’m about a mile out. Sure enough, a few minutes later I see a ¾ mile sign. By the time I reach Phantom Ranch my timer has gone off twice and I’ve been without nutrition or liquids for close to 45 minutes. Not good!

I monitor myself again and seem fine – despite my mistake. I find it hard to believe I blew through 70 oz. during that stretch. I can only guess that I must not have filled my pack all the way up to the top. I guzzle half a bottle of water before refilling it with 20 oz of Gatorade. I vow to suck down the entire bottle and consume a 300-calorie “brownie” before I leave. Luckily, the gnats and flies that were driving us crazy five hours earlier have disappeared and I’m able to eat my “lunch” in peace. I take my time knowing that it’s all up hill from here – plus I’m half hoping I’ll see someone I know. I wait until 1 PM, but no one arrives. I decide to start the 9.7-mile ascent up Bright Angel Trail by myself.




I see more hikers during the first 15 minutes on Bright Angel than I saw during 5 hours on North Kaibab – or at least it seems that way. Maybe I’m craving social interaction because I try to make friendly banter with everyone I see. I even ran into a group from Minnesota. One of the guys was “nice” enough to tell me that I had a long way to go. He spent the last 7 hours coming down the trail. That’s not what I wanted to hear at this point.

I have no idea where the water stops are on this trail. Not wanting to run out again, I begin asking the hikers coming down how far away the next water stop is. They’re all concerned that I’ve run out, but I tell them I just want to ration my supplies accordingly. Before I know it I’m at Indian Garden. A map tells me I’m now only 4.7 miles from the top and a thermometer tells me it’s 90 degrees in the shade. Later it was reported to be 105 degrees in the canyon – a far cry from what I’ve been training in back home.

After another 15-minute break I decided to push on. I try to write “Chad 2:50” in the dirt with a rock – a message to my friends representing the time I took off - but it’s unreadable. I put my iPod on for the second time today and head up the trail. For some reason I take one last look back and I happen to see Joe and Brian coming into Indian Garden. It’s great to finally see some familiar faces and get some details on what’s happening with the rest of the group. Unfortunately, it sounded like things weren’t going very smoothly – more on that in another post.



The three of us leave Indian Garden together. With my own interest in mind, I’m happy to find out that they’re only able to power hike. I’m able to stick with them for about a mile and am awed by these tremendous athletes. To be able to watch them in action at this point of their “race” is one of my highlights from the trip. With 4 miles to go Brian is trying to convince Joe that they can get under his time from two years about if they “just” maintain 20-minute miles. Joe’s not buying Brian’s motivational tactics today.

By the time we reach the 3 Mile Rest House, those guys have begun to pull away. I stop for water and find four hikers that have been struggling in the heat. I’m able to share some salt capsules and my final Nuun electrolyte tablet. For some reason I forget to offer some of the energy bars or Shot Bloks that I still have in my pack. They’re grateful anyway and I press on.

I throw my iPod on again and this time Disturbed hits the spot, especially songs like Divide and Indestructible.

The stretch to the 1.5 Mile Rest House takes a long time, but it’s relatively uneventful. As I near the top, the trail is becoming more and more crowded – both with people making there way out as well as those coming down to see the canyon in the few remaining hours of sunlight. At one point I cross paths with some teenage boys that are actually sprinting down the trail at full speed. I can only picture them clipping a rock and sailing through the air, head first. I never heard any screaming behind me, so apparently that didn’t happen.

I think to myself that I have to be getting close to the top. As a hiker approaches, I make the mistake of saying something like “I must be getting close” only to hear “You still have a ways to go” in return. Damn it! I continue to trudge on but have reached the point where I don’t want to eat anything else. I continue drinking, but that’s about all I can manage. Finally, I crossed the “finish line” around 5:15 PM – 12:45 after setting off on this crazy adventure.


Overall, I believe I covered about 38 miles. I’m guessing only half of those were done while running. Although I was probably only 3 miles from the North Rim, I later found out that that stretch included another 3,000 feet of climbing. Thinking back to how I felt during that last mile, I’m so glad I turned back early. Maybe some will consider that a DNF, but given the circumstances, I'm fine with my decision. Of course, I would have loved making it to the North Rim, but I’ll just have to save that for another day.

There are so many other aspects of this trip that I want to write about and photos that I want to post, but I’ll wrap this up now and save those for another day. There are also a bunch of quotes that could be used to wrap up this post. I happened to come across this one on the plane ride home that seems to some things up.

Quote of the day;

“We swung north to the Arizona mountains, Flagstaff, clifftowns. I had a book with me… but I preferred reading the American landscape as we went along. Every bump, rise, and stretch in it mystified my longing.” – Jack Kerouac, On the Road

WELL AWARE

It’s been awhile. A couple of weeks ago I had a bunch to say, but no time to get things written. Last week I had time, but forgot all the things I wanted to say. In any case, “race week” is upon us. The current group sits at 14 and we are flying out on Thursday. If nothing else, I’m looking forward to running in shorts. Seriously, it’s May 2nd and during this morning’s run it was 36 degrees. I had on pants, a jacket, a winter hat and mittens – and I wasn’t over dressed. The only thing worse than the weather, locally, is the play of our beloved Minnesota Twins. If you don’t follow baseball, I won’t bore you with the details. If you do, then you probably already know the story.

I haven't done much Canyon-specific training since my last post. The only “real” workout I’ve done was 90 minutes worth of hill repeats at the Hyland ski hill. Other than that it’s all been maintenance runs. I thought about doing one of two separate 50K races, but family things got in the way. I thought about another solo long run, but that never happened either. I’ve been a little concerned about my right knee lately. I’ve had some chronic pain that flares up from time to time. It’s been “active” the last few weeks. I’m sure running down Hyland didn’t help matters. So far it doesn’t get any worse, so we’ll see what happens.

Two weeks ago I was really freaked out and worried about this whole adventure. However, I figured sitting around worrying about it for 3 weeks wouldn’t help anything, so I’ve just accepted where I’m at. I’ll enjoy the adventure and deal with things on “race day”.

One thing I wish I’d have done differently is kept my mouth shut at work. I mention the trip to a co-worker that runs and now a bunch of people keep asking me about it. You’d think that someone who (occasionally) blogs would be okay with talking about this stuff, but I’d rather keep it to myself. I mean, who wants to hear about how crazy this thing sounds from other people. I’m well aware.

Speaking of crazy, I recently picked up a copy of Outdoor magazine and they had a list of like 10 people doing really crazy stuff, like spending over 2 years walking 4,000 miles through the Amazon. Each one of the people made running 44 miles through the Grand Canyon seem like a cake walk. I’m going to re-read their adventures on the plane and keep them in mind while I run.

Quote of the Day;

“If I’m looking better than he is, then he must be dead.” – Jeff Tinley racing Scott Molina