Run For Your Heart 15k

Today was the Run For Your Heart 8k/15k trail race in the North Chagrin. I ran the 15k as well as Dad and Rudy. There was a lot of runners in our race, but I'm not really sure how many. I felt good right off the bat. I kept it at a good pace and I was in second place, running with the first place runner for the whole first lap (4.9 miles). Around mile 6, i started to fade a little bit and dropped off the pace of the first place runner, and ran my own pace so that I wouldn't blow up, because there was a lot of climbing in the race. I luckily had enough legs to finish second overall with a time of 1:22:47. I felt pretty good throughout the whole race and all the training Dad and I have been doing on the running trails seemed like it paid off. Dad finished 7th overall and had a great race he said. Rudy finished 6th. After the race, Dad, my Mom, and I did a fast walk a little bit past Squire's Castle and back. We walked for about 4 miles, so Dad and I ended up finishing the day with 14 miles and my Mom had 4 miles.

Later Days

Finally

Dad and I had a very nice ride today; not on the trainers either. It was finally a nice day, and the roads were dry! We have been running and swimming a lot lately so I haven't been on the bike barely at all this year. Instead of being a 'gloom and doom' day today, it was sunny with NO wind. Too good to be true. Dad and I ended up riding 35 miles with a few hills but nothing too bad, and kept it at a nice pace throughout the whole ride. It felt really good to be out on the roads again. The way I am making the day and the ride sound is like I haven't been on the bike in years. But, it was just a great day today which ended in a very good training ride. We are running again tomorrow then possibly skiing Saturday and heading out to the North Chagrin on Sunday to get in a 9 or 10 mile trail run. One more week until the Run With Your Heart Trail running race, so next week will be a little easier than this week.

Late

Well.

I'm not looking forward to this weekend. Tomorrow is my Grandpa's calling hours and Monday, is the funeral. To keep my mind off all the sadness, I have been running a lot. I'm feeling really good and I feel like how I was last triathlon season. I haven't really been on the bike lately. Just on the trainer. I hate the trainer. It's so boring and I can barely stand riding the trainer for 45 minutes. Next week, Dad and I and maybe Uncle Scott are going to hit the pool again. We haven't swam in a couple of weeks, so we definitely need to get back in. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Later days

Current Training.

Not a lot of time on the bike lately. Dad and I have been running a lot and we now trying to ski at least one day a week. Since the weather has been so crappy, we have been riding the trainers with our TT bikes. We have our powertaps on our TT bikes simply because we are going to be more focused on Triathlon this year. I've been putting in a quite a bit of miles in running lately which is good because I would like to do a Half Ironman towards the middle of this year and there is a trail running race coming up on February 14. I would also like to race The Nordic Flurry at Chapin Forest this year also. I would have to get in more skiing but thankfully, I still have some of my fitness left from cross season. So hopefully I can get into shape for that.

Later Gator.

Awesome run

today. Dad, Uncle Scott, Nate Loman, Royden Kern, and Royden's brother in law J.B. ran at the Happy Days Visitors Center and Kendall Cliffs. It was a great morning. A little cold though, but we all were warm about a mile into the run. We all ended up running for just a hair short of 10 miles and the trails were fantastic. My ankle felt great throughout the run also. I'm running with an ankle brace also to keep everything in line. Awesome day running. Merry Christmas to everyone and their families.

Later

Another Season Gone

Another cross season has come to an end. This year's cyclocross season was much bigger than the previous years. Also, the completion has increased which resulted in a lot of fun and fast racing. Thank you to Solon Bikes, Spin, Chagrin River Valley, and Stark Velo for the awesome races venues this year. Also a big thank you goes out to the Johnsons and Mr. Boughton for having us tear up the farm again. This year's course was very fast and muddy. As the races went on, the course started to loosen up and so did the mud. With all the mud on the bikes, the temperature was in the low thirties, high twenties, which caused the mud to freeze on everyone's bike and caused a lot of people broken derailleurs. Thanks to everyone who raced our series and maybe next year will be bigger.

Trail running is on my mind now for this winter, and when the snow falls, cross country skiing. O yea.

What a jump.

States was such a blast. The whole team did great. Matt and Shawn were second and third Ohioans, I placed eighth, and sadly John Proppe had a mechanical in the Elite Race. Jon Card won which wasn't a big surprise. Rudy raced great and won the Elite Master's race with Jeff Craft having a great finish as well. Dad raced the Cat 3 masters 35+ race and placed 7th Ohioan. Nate Loman won the Masters cat 3, 35+ making him the Ohio state champion. Uncle Scott raced a phenomenal race and place third in the cat 4 35+ race. After a horrible starting position, Uncle Scott raced into the front of the group and held it for the whole race Awesome job!! And lets not forget about Robert. Robert raced the Junior race first and destroyed every other junior. After winning the Junior race, Robert also raced the Cat 3 race and did very well. It was a fun weekend and great racing TLE!!!

Right now I am unable to race the final race at Boughton Farm. I sprained my ankle yesterday running into school. The doctor says I have a grade three sprain which is the worst sprain you could get. A grade three sprain is worse than a fracture also which means I can't have any pressure on it for quite some time. It's going to be tough but I have all winter to heal. I will see everyone on Sunday!!

Later