Snow On The Trails

I ran with the Tuesday night group again tonight, it was Randy, Ken, Greg, and me. We started on the trail but we hit a few slick spots (under a light cover of snow) and Ken and I switched to the road for the 2nd half of the way out, and all the way back.

Randy & Greg were sitting in the car when we got back. Often the runners who get back first will turn around and regroup with the slower runners. But Randy & Greg weren't sure if we were on the path or the road and didn't want to miss us, so they stayed put.

Total distance was 4.5 miles.

Running To Relieve Stress

Many people claim that running is a stress reliever. Fortunately I personally am a guy who feels very little stress.

My son Levi, however, is a different story. He's very competitive. We played soccer today against N-town (where he goes to school at his mother's home) and lost 12-3. Levi was very frustrated during and after the game.

I suggested we go for a short run together. We ran 1 1/2 miles, just out to where our development meets the main road. We talked about the game and the team and it seemed to help him to put things in perspective.

Running In The Rain

I ran tonight with Randy and Ken on the Oberlin bike path. It was raining the whole time. Greg was absent as he had gone trapping, according to a phone call to his son Cory.

I turned around early and then the guys caught me on the way back, I ran about 4 miles while they ran closer to 4 1/2.

I felt pretty good for my 2nd run of the year, and my 2nd in 2 days. My chest was a little tight but I'm blaming it on my new "batman style" tight underarmor shirt that I got for my birthday.

Beginning Again

I ended up taking the entire month of December off as a rest month. The purpose was to relax and also to rest my Achilles that had been bothering me for months.

I ran today, just an easy 2 miles. The weather was amazing. Low 60's in Cleveland in January and if we get 64 it could break the record temperature for the day. I ran down to CSU's Wolstein Center to get some concert tickets.

I was afraid I would be heavier but a bout with the flu in late December helped me keep some weight off and I weighed in today after my run at 191 lbs, exactly the same as the last time I was at the fitness center.

PR's By Decade

Under Construction

Junior High
800m - 2:38.2 - 4/22/82 - Dual Meet, New London, OH (age 14)

Mile - 5:44 - 5/19/82 - Firelands Conference Meet, Mapleton, Ashland, OH (age 14)

2-Mile - 13:00 - 10/3/81 - Ontario Invitational, Ontario, OH (age 13)

High School
800m - 2:02.7 - 5/24/86 - District Meet, Shelby, OH(age 18)

Mile - 4:37.8 - 5/12/86 - Firelands Conference Meet, Mapleton, Ashland, OH(age 18)

2-Mile - 10:19.5 - 4/23/86 - Edison Ivitational, Milan, OH (age 18)

5K - 16:41 - 9/21/85 - Galion Invitational, Galion, OH (age 17)

5M - 31:53 - 6/22/85 - Honeybaked 5-Miler, New London, OH (age 17)

10K - 37:58 - 6/29/85 - Tiffin 10k, Tiffin, OH (age 17)

College
1500m - 4:07.5 - Baldwin Wallace, Berea, OH (age 21)

Mile - 4:28.04 - 2/28/88 - North Coast Athletic Conference Meet, Ohio Wesleyan, Delaware, OH (age 20)

5K - 15:24.8 - 4/19/88 - Cleveland City Championship, Baldwin Wallace, Berea, OH (age 20)

5M - 25:48 : -10/29/88 - NCAC Championship, Denison University, Granville, OH(age 20)

10K - 33:08 - 9/24/88 - Malone Invitational, Canton, OH (age 20)

Half Marathon - 1:21:07 - 8/19/89 - Parkersburg 1/2 Marathon, Parkersburg, WV (age 21)

Age 22-29
5K - 16:12 - 6/26/94 - Two For The Road, Lakewood, OH (age 27)

5M - 28:21 - 8/14/94 - Johnnycake Jog, Painesville, OH (age 27)

10K - 34:28 - 9/25/94 - Great Race, Pittsburgh, PA (age 27)

Half Marathon - 1:16:50 - 8/18/90 - Parkersburg 1/2 Marathon, Parkersburg, WV (age 22)
Marathon - 3:26:36 - 11//91 - Columbus Marathon, Columbus, OH (age 24)

Age 30-39
5K - 19:27 - 9/2/2000 - Firelands 5K, New London, OH (age 32)

5M - 33:33 - 5/27/2006 - Avon Eagle Run, Avon OH (age 38)

10K - 43:27 - 8/12/2000 - North Ridgeville Lions 10K, North Ridgeville, OH (age 32)

Half Marathon - 1:44:00 - 11/4/2007 - Inland Trail Half Marathon, Elyria, OH (age 39)

Age 40-49
5K - 17:41 - 8/7/2010 - Cleveland Clinic 5k, Independence, OH (age 42)
5M - 31:04 - 11/25/2010 - Turkey Trot, Cleveland, OH (age 42)

10K - 38:54 - 5/16/2010 - Cleveland 10k, Cleveland, OH (age 42)

Half Marathon - 1:26:52 - 9/12/2010 - River Run 1/2 Marathon, Cleveland, OH (age 42)

Marathon - 3:59:21 - 10/10/2010 - Towpath Marathon, Peninsula, OH (age 42)

50K - 5:01:53 - 3/6/2010 - Green Jewel, Cleveland, OH (age 42)

December Carnival Of Running

Welcome to the December 4, 2007 edition of Carnival of Running and Racing. I also run the Carnival Of Pizza. This is the inaugural edition of the Carnival Of Running. December is probably not the best month to kick this off, but we've got some good submissions (and some not so good) so we will get started.

First off, we have a pre-marathon carbo-loading dinner submitted by a Manhattan attorney. Katy presents Pasta di Verdure Autunno posted at sugarlaws. Katy ran the NYC marathon last month and this is what she ate beforehand!

Warren Wong presents How To Feel Better And Be Happier posted at Personal Development for INTJs. Warren has some practical tips you can use now to feel better and be happier. And you can bet that exercise is near the top of the list.

Ed H presents Video games as fitness tools posted at A Viking, running, saying, "Video games as cross training? Why not?" I know we have a DDR game for our Xbox and at our house, playing DDR counts as a physical fitness activity.

Finally, we have a post that is directly about running! FitBuff presents Track Workouts | FitBuff.com's Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog posted at FitBuff.com's Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog. Want to rev up your fat-burning metabolism? Try this challenging track workout.

Now I got 2 more submissions that really have nothing to do with running at all. Alex M presents How to Make Your Car Faster. Driver. Part I. If I'm running, why would I want a faster car? This would almost be more appropriate at my pizza blog, but of course pizza drivers don't speed. Finally, Kevin Fleming presents 5 Great Ways to Watch Live Sports Games Online. Nothing at all to do with running, I'm not even sure why I'm including it.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of running and racing using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Thursday Circuits - emphasis on Push Ups

I attended Chris' circuits class today and there was a heavy emphasis on push ups. Not only was there a push-up station, a push up / mountain climber station, and a bench press station, but we also did 10 push-ups after each song ended, for the entire 45 minute class.

And the 2nd group exercise was doing step-ups for 30-45 seconds, followed by 10 push-ups, then more step-ups. The push-ups in this group were wide base, narrow grip, right leg up, left leg up, and normal for a total of 50.

I bet in the entire class we did close to 250 push ups.

Then at the end, before abs, we did arm-walks.

To me, it was quite a work-out.

• Dynaband Row - This actually goes between the curls and the run-in-place / side-hops station I described on Tuesday. Seated on the floor, row using a dynaband wrapped around the bar on the side of the room.
• Wrist Curls - Seated on the bar, we hold our arms still and just curl with the wrists. I used a 45 lb bar for this.
• Step Up With Weight - Stepping up onto an exercise step, holding a 17.5 lb dumbell in each arm.
• Push Ups - As I said, this is it's own station.

Weight = 191 lbs.