Hard Work

I guess I will try to get packed up tonight for Rocky. It will be a bit in the warm side but very close to last years temps. I am really looking forward to getting on the plane and on the way. I am still not sure what I will be doing for Hydration. I have a single bottle Go Lite waist pack I may use with a handheld to start. Last year I ran with my Nathan HPL pack which worked well, I was able to go the 1st loop without having to stop and refill. I will likely try the 1st loop with the GOlite and switch if needed.
I am really amazed how much I have accomplished in 11 weeks. I went from being 198 lbs, running about 50/week to logging 1115 miles the next 11 weeks and dropping about 21 lbs. I really think the few months of low mileage helped to recharge everything.
Today I think I am in the best shape of my life. I had a thorough body fat and composition done yesterday. My body fat was 5.8% which is the lowest it has ever been. My hips waist and butt were about 1 inch lower than my previous lowest measurements. I weighed in at 177-178 lbs, a new low for me. Mentally I am focused and ready, I know it is going to be rough, it will hurt and there will likely be times when I feel like stopping. I will have mental lows, leg cramps, stomach issues, blisters, toenails falling off and who knows what else....I can't wait.

I know my splits from last year but will not wear a watch to track them. Last year Rocky was my best race ever, it all clicked. I have done my best to put myself in a position to have a good race. I am just going to go what pace feels right and see where each loop ends up. I need to get 60 miles strong. Rick will be able to pull me through the dark on those last 2 loops. John will be right behind me trying to catch me the entire time, even though he will be 700 miles away at home, he will still be there ........pushing me.

I can't wait for Breakfast on Sunday!!

About Time

Holy Cow! I have been such a slacker in updating my blog. It has been over 8 weeks with nothing, guess I have been spending to much free time on facebook instead.
I use this more as a personal journal which does not do me much good unless I actually write something huh?
Corbin broke his arm in December wrestling 1 day before his first tournament so we have decided to sit he season out and make sure it is good and healed. Tristan has wrestled a few tournaments but really doesn't have too much interest in it so I imagine he will not be doing any more tourneys this year.
Both the boys are in a winter hitting league for baseball and we are having tryouts for both of their teams tomorrow. Ella is still the best cheerleader in the world. She is going to sleep by herself at night. We got her a new LCD tv for christmas and she watches it for about 10 minutes and dozes off. Tiff really likes it because she was usually the one who had to lay with her until she fell asleep.
Tiff ran the Groundhog Run last weekend with a neighbor and did a little better than she was expecting in the 5k. I had thoughts of going also but hung out with the kids at home so she could do something without having to worry about them.

I have been running, a lot. I have averaged over 100 miles for the past 9 weeks, which is amazing. I really was not planning or anticipating running so much but I really had no reason not to. I got in 448 miles in December and have 426 so far in January. My 2 biggest months ever and back to back on top of that. Most of it has been on the treadmill during the week and long runs on the trail on the weekend. Running on the treadmill really lessens the impact and I can hold up to a lot more miles. I really have only had a few minor problems which have cleared up after cutting back for a couple of days.

My diet has been good, I have been tracking my calories for a few months and that on top of running so many miles has allowed me to drop a few lbs. I actually lost about 20 lbs since mid November when football ended. It has not been easy but I still am able to eat some good chocolate of some sort every night every night.
I ended up signing up for Rocky the last day of the normal entry deadline, I figured I might as well give it a go since I felt I was in shape for it. I am really looking forward to running there again. Hopefully the weather will be good and all will go well. John is not going this year which sucks. I like to have him out there to keep me moving. I did get SuperPacer Rick signed up to fly down with TIff and I to pace the last 40 miles which is awesome. There are many trail nerds going down for the race to run, pace and crew. I think there will be 10 or so running and just as many crewing and pacing, for many it will be there first go at 100 miles.

I feel like I have done all I can do to prepare myself to run well at Rocky. 100 miles is a long way and ther are a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong so we will see what happens.
After Rocky my focus will shift to Western States. I am where I want to be right now and will try to take my training up another notch to get ready for Western States. It is going to be a wonder butt kicking experience especially with Rick training for it as well. I cannot wait.

Kyle Amos and Tony Clark both finished HURT 100 last week, one tough, tough race. Props to you guys, you are freaking animals.

The past few weeks have gone pretty well as far as the running goes. Last weekend John and I ran Dude where's the trail 50k. It is one of my favorite events. This year there was more trail and markings to follow through the woods than before. Unfortunately the weather was very cold and windy which made for a long uncomfortable 6 hours but worth it none the less.


The previous weekend we ran the Nathaniels run 6hr in Olathe. Another cold night but we managed to get in another 30+ run there as well. It has been nice to start getting in longer runs on a regular basis.
Both the boys have been going to wrestling practice the past few weeks and will be wrestling in a tournament in Lathrop next weekend. They are both progressing and starting to pick up more each practice.

203 days until Western States,.,.,sounds like a long time but it will be here too quickly. I hope to get to a good level of fitness by February to allow for 3 months of good training. Lots of time and lots of miles.

So..,.,.now what??

It just seems like yesterday when we were starting out football practices , now they are done and the cold dark winter is beginning to set in, cheerful huh?

Tristan's football team won the Truman Bowl championship last Saturday. They were the first Kearney team to win this, so it was a pretty big deal for them. It was very cold and windy Saturday. I was on the sidelines helping out for the game and the biggest challenge was keeping the boys warm on the sidelines. Immediately after the game we had to drive 4 1/2 hrs to the University of Northern Iowa for another game Sunday. It was in a dome Stadium against a team from Chicago. We won that game 38-6 and then got to drive 4 1/2 hrs back home. It was a very busy weekend as always but I really enjoyed spending the weekend with his team since the rest of the season I was always at Corbin's stuff. Tristan had a blast in football this year and is going to be a very good offensive lineman especially if he keeps growing so fast.

Corbin had a rough time at the Championship game Saturday. He teared up a few times because he was so disappointed that his team was not playing for the championship also. He is so passionate about what he does it is scary, he has the heart of a champion. After talking to a few other coaches I am pretty sure he will move up 2 years next year and play with the older kids. I was hesitant but every coach I talked to said it it the best thing for him. Luckily for him we started wrestling practice last night so that will keep him busy for now. We are still hoping Tristan decides to give wrestling a shot since he isn't playing basketball this winter.
Ella has been running around the house cheering and dancing nonstop. We will have to figure out something for her to do soon. She likes to get us involved and repeat the cheers and clap along. The only word she knows how to spell is B-U-L-L-D-O-G-S.
I am hoping to get to the trails this weekend, I really, really, need to get in gear. I have missed running on the trails. The treadmill and roads are getting old I am having a very hard time with getting my calories down to a level to start losing weight. I am good until about 7:00pm then it usually falls apart. I am not going to decide on running Rocky 100 miler until the end of the year to see where I am at. There is no reason to run it if I am not focused and ready to do it 100%.

WS 100

So, Friday night I was checking my email and saw a posting on the Ultralist where someone said they received notice today that they had been of of the TTL's selected for Western States this year. Crap, I hadn't received anything so I guess I would be waiting at least another year.
I then went to read throught some more emails and realized I skipped the first page of the inbox. There it was, a message from the WSER Webmaster titled "TTL selection into the 2009 Run." Needless to say I was pretty excited. I screamed out a few times and Tiff yelled down to see what was wrong, she couldn't believe it either.
The day before I ran my first marathon a few years ago Rick brought over Running Madness and Running on the Sun for me to watch. After watching them a few times I knew someday I was going to run Western States and now I get my chance.
I have a reason to run again which is what I needed. Something to focus on and prepare for, to circle on the calendar and count down the days remaining.
Life is good!!

FInally Fall

Fall is finally here which means there gets t be a little more time for running (hopefully). For the past several months I have just been hanging around 50 miles a week but should be able to start ramping that up soon. Hopefully I can get rid of about 15 lbs before Feburary to give Rocky Raccoon another go.
Both the boys have been busy with fall baseball and pop warner football, so free time has been about non existent. Baseball is over this weekend and football still goes through Nov 8th. Both of the footbal teams are in first place and hopefully will make it through the playoffs to the Truman Bowl Championship. Tristan has been playing Offensive and Defensive tackle this year and seems to enjoy it a lot more than last year.


I coach Corbins team and he plays about every postion. He is fun to watch. he has about 700 yards rushing and over 70 tackles so far this season. It amazes me that a boy who just turned 7 can do what he does on the field. Hopefully he will always have such a love for it and still be playing on Saturdays in 12 years.


I should find out in a few days about Western States next year, most likely I will be pacing Rick but there is a slim chance I caould still get in...doubt it though.
I may head out to the BS 50/50 Sunday the 26th. Saturdays are still filled with football so Sundays are the only option.

Congrats to everyone who finished Heartland 100 last week My friend Mark Stovall completed his first 100 at Heartland last weekend under 24 hrs with no crew or pacer!! Awesome Job Mark!!!!

Back in the Saddle

Well I guess it is time to get my fat butt back in shape again. Baseball season is now over and hopefully another 100 miler will be coming up pretty soon. I am waiting to see how the football schedule comes together but I plan on getting in a 100 sometime in the fall so I had better get a goin.
We spent 8 days in California for WS100 which was cancelled and vacation. Unfortunately Rick didn't get to run the race he has been training for the last but hopefully it will carry over into even a better performance next year. I was looking forward to paceing those last 40 miles. We spent 3 days around Tahoe, 2 at Disneyland and 3 in Huntington beach. It was a blast but it is nice to be back home (kind of).
The past weekend was the Psycho Psummer 50k at Wyco. I signed up last minute after staying out too late on the 4th a having a bit too much fun I was hoping to be able and finish. I ended up runnning the first 20 miles or so with John and Stuart Johnson which made it pretty enjoyable and ended up coming in about 6 minutes faster that last year. Hopefully that is a good sign that I can do ok with around 65 miles a week. I am just going to focus on losing some weight over the next few months.
I am coaching Corbin's football team this year, that will take a lot of time but it is manageable. Oh, I got my first tattoo while on vacation. I made Tristan go with me to get it. I think he was a little creeped out in the tattoo parlor but he did watch it being done. Here is a pic of the tatoo, I know what it means but so far no one else has.