136 days until the 2012 Leadville Trail 100 Mile Run...
Curt Johnston and Rick Fountain arrived at my house around 5:00 am and we knocked out a 6.6 mile run in a little under an hour. Pictures forthcoming - you know the drill - being held hostage by my daughter Katie :o)
http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/80931919/?new_route=1
Afterwards we headed over to St. Ambrose to try our hand at the bench press. The goal was 3 sets of 10 at 185 lbs. Rick, as usual, popped them out like he was doing it in his sleep. I think he pretended to struggle on one or two reps, probably just to make me feel good. I didn't do so well today. I did manage to do the 1st set of 10. The 2nd set I could only get 9 and the 3rd set I could only muster 5. I was not a happy camper. It was a bit discouraging since I did 2 sets of 10 last week at this weight. The last couple days we have been doing some push ups and I have not been getting much sleep the last few nights. Don't these sound like good excuses? LOL. As our friend Aaron Maurer quoted earlier in his blog "If the cows don't get fed, the cows don't get fed." Bottom line - I didn't hit today's goal - I'll try again next time. If I think I need more sleep, I need to go to bed and not waste people's time whining about not getting enough sleep. It was great having Curt join us - I think he's on board for some stairs at the Bettendorf football stadium next Tuesday. It has been fun getting reacquainted with him more through all this running.
It is with mixed feelings that I write about not entering the 24 hour run in Eldridge on May 5th this year. I had fully intended to run this race - excited about the prospect of seeing where we were at in this training, enjoying the camaraderie of the Cornbelt Running Club members, supporting their efforts to fund youth running events, and having a date circled on the calendar where I would see how far I can go in 24 hrs. Yesterday John O'Brien, LiveUncommon member, had offered to come run some of it with me to keep me company and help me out. I volunteered last year to be a lap counter and made the decision at that time that I was going to run it.
But as cool as this running community thing is, I was reminded last night that it should not supercede everything else. My son Joseph has an out of town double-header in soccer and Michael (fingers crossed) will find his prom date and have an After-Prom party at the high school - which parents are asked to help at. I see many of Joseph's soccer games and we have good friends that I completely trust so I didn't think it was a big deal to ship him off with friends. As for Prom, it isn't me that is going so I didn't see the big deal for me to be around. Sort of forgot about the After-Prom party but still figured that the kids could/would have the same amount of fun regardless if I were there. As my wife Joan and I were 'discussing' my desire to do the 24 hr run, she reminded me that it would be nice for me to be around that day. She also inquired why I needed to go to Eldridge to run for 24 hours. I reflected on her inquiry and came to the conclusion that she was right. While the 24 hr run in Eldridge would be fun and cool, I can get this 'reality check' in my training outside of the 24 hr run. So....Rick and I plan to do our own 24 hour run - and it may not be entirely around a track. We may do some of it around a track, especially so people can come join us to watch and/or run but we are likely to run around town and perhaps to neighboring towns. So we will set a date in the near future and reach out to see if some of our local friends would be interested in joining us for an hour (or more...or less) during this run. I'm guessing that we'll probably do our lap running at Bettendorf High School instead of North Scott High School. We'll put together a plan with estimated routes/times and solicit some people to incorporate us into their run for the day. Who knows - maybe this could be the 8th LiveUncommon event for 2012? Probably not as the organization is most likely looking for more than 2 participants for its events :o)
Oftentimes in life we don't get or do exactly what we had intended to but that isn't always a bad thing. This is a minor adjustment in the training plan but a good test to see how I respond and to make sure I get the date and details coordinated.
Until my next post, have a great day! DIG DEEP!
Curt Johnston and Rick Fountain arrived at my house around 5:00 am and we knocked out a 6.6 mile run in a little under an hour. Pictures forthcoming - you know the drill - being held hostage by my daughter Katie :o)
 |
| Rick Fountain and Curt Johnston - we started in the dark so this picture is appropriate :o) |
Afterwards we headed over to St. Ambrose to try our hand at the bench press. The goal was 3 sets of 10 at 185 lbs. Rick, as usual, popped them out like he was doing it in his sleep. I think he pretended to struggle on one or two reps, probably just to make me feel good. I didn't do so well today. I did manage to do the 1st set of 10. The 2nd set I could only get 9 and the 3rd set I could only muster 5. I was not a happy camper. It was a bit discouraging since I did 2 sets of 10 last week at this weight. The last couple days we have been doing some push ups and I have not been getting much sleep the last few nights. Don't these sound like good excuses? LOL. As our friend Aaron Maurer quoted earlier in his blog "If the cows don't get fed, the cows don't get fed." Bottom line - I didn't hit today's goal - I'll try again next time. If I think I need more sleep, I need to go to bed and not waste people's time whining about not getting enough sleep. It was great having Curt join us - I think he's on board for some stairs at the Bettendorf football stadium next Tuesday. It has been fun getting reacquainted with him more through all this running.
 |
| Rick Fountain on the bench press |
 |
| Curt Johnston on the bench press |
It is with mixed feelings that I write about not entering the 24 hour run in Eldridge on May 5th this year. I had fully intended to run this race - excited about the prospect of seeing where we were at in this training, enjoying the camaraderie of the Cornbelt Running Club members, supporting their efforts to fund youth running events, and having a date circled on the calendar where I would see how far I can go in 24 hrs. Yesterday John O'Brien, LiveUncommon member, had offered to come run some of it with me to keep me company and help me out. I volunteered last year to be a lap counter and made the decision at that time that I was going to run it.
But as cool as this running community thing is, I was reminded last night that it should not supercede everything else. My son Joseph has an out of town double-header in soccer and Michael (fingers crossed) will find his prom date and have an After-Prom party at the high school - which parents are asked to help at. I see many of Joseph's soccer games and we have good friends that I completely trust so I didn't think it was a big deal to ship him off with friends. As for Prom, it isn't me that is going so I didn't see the big deal for me to be around. Sort of forgot about the After-Prom party but still figured that the kids could/would have the same amount of fun regardless if I were there. As my wife Joan and I were 'discussing' my desire to do the 24 hr run, she reminded me that it would be nice for me to be around that day. She also inquired why I needed to go to Eldridge to run for 24 hours. I reflected on her inquiry and came to the conclusion that she was right. While the 24 hr run in Eldridge would be fun and cool, I can get this 'reality check' in my training outside of the 24 hr run. So....Rick and I plan to do our own 24 hour run - and it may not be entirely around a track. We may do some of it around a track, especially so people can come join us to watch and/or run but we are likely to run around town and perhaps to neighboring towns. So we will set a date in the near future and reach out to see if some of our local friends would be interested in joining us for an hour (or more...or less) during this run. I'm guessing that we'll probably do our lap running at Bettendorf High School instead of North Scott High School. We'll put together a plan with estimated routes/times and solicit some people to incorporate us into their run for the day. Who knows - maybe this could be the 8th LiveUncommon event for 2012? Probably not as the organization is most likely looking for more than 2 participants for its events :o)
Oftentimes in life we don't get or do exactly what we had intended to but that isn't always a bad thing. This is a minor adjustment in the training plan but a good test to see how I respond and to make sure I get the date and details coordinated.
Until my next post, have a great day! DIG DEEP!
5 comments:
John, this is why you are such an inspiration and role model. I can understand your feeling of not being able to run because I hate it when I have my sights on something and I am not able to go forth. However, your mental toughness is amazing because you know you will get your 24 hour run somehow, someway. In the meantime you won't regret being home being with family and friends during that day. That sacrifice is what will make that day all the more special that you are there!
Thanks Aaron - your comments are too kind. I will find a way to get it done - it is important to find out how far along I am regarding LONG runs. It will be good mental discipline to create this event on my own - I still wish I could be a part of what the Cornbelt Running Club is trying to do.
John, depending on when you and Rick do it, id love to see if we could incorporate our middle school track teams. With both Tyler and Katie being a part of our teams, what a great way to support you, learn from you, and be inspired by you. Id love to talk you more about that.
John, depending on when you and Rick do it, id love to see if we could incorporate our middle school track teams. With both Tyler and Katie being a part of our teams, what a great way to support you, learn from you, and be inspired by you. Id love to talk you more about that.
Ben,
Absolutely! I'm not sure we are going to do it in May though - it might be June. I would love to have the track athletes join us for some of this - let's talk more!
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