2010 Kirby Derby

Kirby Derby

I spent the weekend at my sister's house in Monticello.  On Friday we celebrated my nephew's birthday.  Ryan will be 16 years old.  Oh to be young again. On Saturday morning, me and my other nephew, Jake, went on a 16 mile bike ride.  We finished our ride at the start of the 2010 Kirby Derby 5K/10K.  It's a small race in Monticello benefiting the Kirby Hospital Foundation.  Over 600 … [Read more...]

3 Mile Birthday Cake

BDay.preview

Last week's workout happened to fall on my birthday.  Normally, for my birthday, I would have chosen to run a quarter and go home (or out to actually eat lunch).  However, the guy that suggested 3 repeat miles didn't know it was my birthday.  For some reason miles on the track seem like an eternity to me.  I'm not sure why, but it always takes several workouts with miles to get to a point … [Read more...]

New City Time Trial Results for May 12, 2010

group-ride

A NEW COURSE RECORD!!! There were 29 riders tonight, welcome new riders Angie Nesbit & Justin Stewart! Thanks for coming & we all hope to see you again soon! Thanks to Lois Jazo for bringing & setting up the safety signs again! Thanks to Brenda Reiling for running the stopwatch & Adam Sergent’s sons for recording the finish order tonight!!!! That gave me a chance to ride … [Read more...]

Octo Pie for Lunch

Octopus

[download id="octopus"]The consensus in the group was to head back to our Winter stomping grounds and give the octopus in OakRidge Cemetery another run for its money.  We had another great turnout of 12 guys and weather was pretty ideal.  It hurt as much as ever, but I did feel like we were running faster than we usually do in our "off" season.  I was surprised to learn that this was Purcell's … [Read more...]

Triathlon rescue boat swamped

Firefighters operating a boat rescuing swimmers competing in a triathlon had themselves to be rescued when their vessel was overcome with distressed athletes. … [Read more...]

What a week

John, Eric, Dan, photo by Jeff.

Starting last Saturday with the Illinois Half Marathon, exhaustion has been playing a role in my everyday life ("EVERY DAMN DAY", as Eric would say.)  I went into the half, not really expecting much.  Actually I was really undecided on how I was going to actually run the race until a couple of miles in.  I was not in any shape to run the race at full steam, especially coming off the two … [Read more...]

2010 Fat Ass 5K

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Word on the street was that over 1,500 people participated in the 3rd annual Fat Ass 5k.  By the looks of the stream of the runners/walkers over the downtown streets of Springfield I don't doubt the claim. [Results] [Photos] The weather was crisp and windy.  Temperatures were in the low 50's and the wind was gusting around 30 mph.  In the sun, buffered by the taller buildings, the … [Read more...]

Happy Mother’s Day

This week can be described with 2 words........flat tires and wind. Tuesday was sprint night.  Even though I was still physically tired from Saturday I thought I might have a fighting chance to stay with the group the whole ride....nope.  Kirk, Danoh, and myself got in an early 10 miles and met the group on Old Salem Rd.  I was with the main protagonists maybe 30 seconds.  And that was all … [Read more...]

The “half” way

The workout was nothing new and unfortunately most everyone knew what to expect.  We had done the 6x800s on the 4:00 sometime last June and it hurt back then as well.  Pacing and consistency is definitely the key to making it through the entire set.  By the way, if anyone thinks that these workouts don't help, ask Billingsley.  He hit every one well under 3:00.  Everyone looked … [Read more...]

DNF

Not the result I was expecting at the 2010 Illinois Marathon.  I was hoping for a PR which would have been anything under 3:30.  Starting with the 3:20 pace I was hoping to eventually fade between 3:20 and 3:30.  Having Danoh start out with me was a bonus as he would add a distraction to the first couple of miles.  Not finishing wasn't even in the picture.  Unfortunately it was reality. My … [Read more...]