Training Miles - A Thin Line Between Perfect Conditioning & Injury

Friends -

This week marked my first week of serious running mileage in preparation for the McNaughton Park 150 Mile Race April 10. This will be my third time running this race and my goal is to win it. I thought adding some more training miles earlier in the year would help create a more solid base in an effort to keep a decent pace during the race. So, this week starting on Sunday I began a quest to run a total distance of a marathon (26.2 miles) each and every day for 30 days. When I got home from work last night I was at 100.33 miles in 4 days - that meant I needed to cover an additional 4.47 miles after the kids went to bed. My legs were tired and my body ached a little. I thought "what am I trying to prove"?

The truth is by pushing my body beyond "normal", I am getting closer and closer to injury. Running a marathon a day just to say I have run a marathon a day is egotistical. In the big scheme of things, it does not matter. And if I am meant to win this race it won't be because I ran such and such miles, it will be because I prepared well - both mentally and physically - and through the grace of Jesus Christ.

My training this week will still be better than any non race week's mileage total for me (previous best was 129.60 miles - March 16 - 22, 2008). I am going to continue to maintain 100 + mile weeks for the next month but if I don't run 26.2 miles a day I'm not going to loose any sleep over it.

There is going to be a lot of great competition in Pekin, IL for the upcoming 150 mile race. My friend Paul Stofko is coming back for a third time as well. He forwarded me a great article on his attempt to regain the title which he won in 2007.

McNaughton Park Video (David Goggins)

We are about 2 months from the start of yet another McNaughton Park 150 Mile Race. This will be my third year competing and God-willing after finishing third and second this will be my first win. Some of you have asked about the course. Last year a camera crew from Lexus was out on the course filming my friend David Goggins (who eventually won the race over 2 hours ahead of me). The short film can be viewed online and shows some of the course.

The Long Run: http://lstudio.lexus.com/#vid346

There is also a video out there of the entire course at Peak Races' website: www.peakraces.com/index.php?inc=videos-mcnaughton

The course website is: http://www.mcnaughtonparktrailruns.com/

San Diego Running

I had a business trip out to California this week and was able to run a couple times in San Diego with my friend Keith Kirby. We had a nice 15 mile run near a lagoon Sunday night and then again this morning we ran about 12 miles on some trails . Was able to meet Keith's bride-to-be Jakie at dinner Sunday night.

There is nothing like some nice warm weather running to help break up the long Wisconsin winter training. As January is coming to an end, it looks like 300 miles will be the total running miles for January 2009. A good start and we will continue to rack up the miles for a target peak month of March for April's McNaughton Park 150 mile race.

I was also able to stop in and visit with Injini this morning in San Diego. I am honored to be a sponsored athlete with Injinji socks and it was great to meet everyone there.

2008 Running Miles

I have been keeping a very detailed daily log to keep track of the miles I have run since the beginning of 2006. With the end of 2008, I decided to graph my monthly averages and see how each of the last three years compare (I guess my engineering side is coming through).

I have been gradually increasing my mileage over the last few years. I do not run everyday. In 2008, I "rested" 83 days. Basically, every time I laced my shoes up for a run I averaged over 10.5 miles but taken over the entire year, my daily average is only 8.2 miles/day. The goal for 2009 is to raise my daily average to over 10 miles/day. It's off to a good start. Looking forward to seeing what all these miles on my legs will equate to at the McNaughton Park 150 Mile race in a few months.

Getting Ready For Another 150 Mile Race

It now feels like winter here in Verona, WI. It is getting harder to walk out that door in the mornings for my run to work. It is the thought of the McNaughton Park 150 mile race that keeps me motivated. At the start of December, I have covered 2830 miles by foot in 2008. I am targeting 3100 miles for the year (basically the distance from LA to NY). Mentally, I am ready for the challenge that the race will provide in April 2009. The first goal is to win the race. The second goal and for whatever reason seems more important to me - is to finish in under 30 hours. One would think that if the race in run in under 30 hours one would win. But you never know. I know that for me 30 hours would represent a perfect race. And that is really all I can concentrate on - my perfect race.

My Wife is a 3-Time Ironman Finisher!

Gotta brag a little: Christina did it again Sunday night finishing her third IM at Ironman Wisconsin in Madison with a personal best time of 12:58:17. Finishing 34 out of 134 in her division, my wife was 1104 overall, with a 59:01:00 swim (that's her in the pink swim cap), a 6:44:43 bike and a 4:58:41 run.

Friends are God's Way of Taking Care of Us

My Mom sent this to me and I thought it was really awesome. The following was written by a Metro Denver Hospice Physician:

I was driving home from a meeting this evening about 5, stuck in traffic on Colorado Blvd., and the car started to choke and splutter and die - I barely managed to coast, cursing, into a gas station, glad only that I would not be blocking traffic and would have a somewhat warm spot to wait for the tow truck. It wouldn't even turn over. Before I could make the call, I saw a woman walking out of the 'quickie mart building', and it looked like she slipped on some ice and fell into a Gas pump, so I got out to see if she was okay.

When I got there, it looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than that she had fallen; she was a young woman who looked really haggard with dark circles under her eyes. She dropped something as I helped her up, and I picked it up to give it to her. It was a nickel.

At that moment, everything came into focus for me: the crying woman, the ancient Suburban crammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back (1 in a car seat), and the gas pump readin g $4.95.

I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying 'I don't want my kids to see me crying,' so we stood on the other side of the pump from her car. She said she was driving to California and that things were very hard for her right now. So I asked, 'And you were praying?' That made her back away from me a little, but I assured her I was not a crazy person and said, 'He heard you, and He sent me. '

I took out my card and swiped it through the card reader on the pump so she could fill up her car completely, and while it was fueling, walked to the next door McDonald's and bought 2 big bags of food, some gift certificates for more, and a big cup of coffee. She gave the food to the kids in the Car, who atta cked it like wolves, and we stood by the pump eating fries and talking a little.

She told me her name, and that she lived in Kansas City Her boyfriend left 2 months ago and she had not been able to make ends meet. She knew she wouldn't have money to pay rent Jan 1, and finally in desperation had finally called her parents, with whom she had not spoken in about 5 years. They lived in California and said she could come live with them and try to get on her feet there.

So she packed up everything she owned in the car. She told the kids they were going to California for Christmas, but not that they were going to live there.

I gave her my gloves, a little hug and said a quick prayer with her for safety on the road. As I was walking over to my car, she said, 'So, are you like an angel or something?'

This definitely made me cry. I said, 'Sweetie, at this time of year angels are really busy, so sometimes God uses regular people.'

It was so incredible to be a part of someone else's miracle. And of course, you guessed it, when I got in my car it started right away and got me home with no problem. I'll put it in the shop tomorrow to check, but I suspect the mechanic won't find anything wrong.

Sometimes the angels fly close enough to you that you can hear the flutter of their wings.