Post #201 - 2012 Buck Rut 5K Trail Run

Over the past 200 posts I've really focused on Mountain Biking with every now and then a blurb on Cross Country Skiing, Snowshoeing, Illegal Snowbiking, and yes even running.  As I mentioned before, with the way things are going with spending time with the family, moving to a new home with 17+ acres to maintain and a house that needs some TLC along with following my passion for coaching for the Tomahawk Cross Country and Long Distance Track programs, i've had to make the best of my time available to excel at one sport.  With that being said I took on the journey of running endless miles to try and pick up some speed and I couldn't be happier with how my season went and it all came to a great end this weekend....I think....

First of all, I love the fact that the folks at Minocqua Winter Park opted for a later start time, but as in the last couple of races I was still the first person to show up to preview the course and pick up my bib number.  I ran the first mile, stretched, walked the second mile and finished it up with a faster jog to the finish line.

Secondly, this place is a killer course and I will definitely be back as I couldn't believe the hills, I knew early on with the fact that on top of the hill I would be greeted by a path to a cell/radio tower coincidently enough called "Vo2 Max Hill" which was fun to walk and curious to see how the racers would handle it.

To continue on with the story, it was cold, but I remembered that I had some embrocation (Brian Matter's Full Heat from Joshua Tree) left over from skiing this past winter and decided to give that a try and run in a tank and running shorts lol!  Not too many were brave enough otherwise.  We lined up with everybody shivering ready to let out onto the course.  I got off pretty well no issues ran with the Rhinelander Cross kid for about the first 800m.  I told myself to stick to my pace and think about the 1.5 mile mark where it starts to go up in a hurry and would cross mile 1 at 6:08 pretty slow going, I thought I would start to pick it up after that and start attacking the hills which I didn't seem to have the pop I needed to gain the time I needed back on the two leaders, but they were still in site.  Once the endless hills finally ended at the 2 mile I began to start opening up the stride and with about a half mile left on the flattest section of the course I began to kick, but just didn't have enough course to catch the 2nd runner finishing 3rd overall and first in my age group.  My time wasn't pretty, but I gotta tell ya that the course was slightly longer than a 5K and wow did I mention the climbing????  19:14.

There are still a couple of events left this year before winter closes it's fists on Wisconsin, not sure what if anything will come up, but that will depend if I get out on a run on a regular schedule.

Till then have fun keep the rubber on the ground whether you roll it or lace em up!

Keep Running

I'll tell you what, I am enjoying this running thing and not enjoying the negative publicity on the pro scene of bicycle racing.  I am going to continue to ride my bike with friends on group rides, but training for elite mtb racing is taking a back seat for the short term future.  Will I be back?  Sure, I think so, but I think enjoying the sport or comp races on my salsa singlespeed will be the go forward and that may be few and far in between.  Bring on the 5/10K's.

Wausau Fun'd Run 5K

Got up at the butt crack of dawn to head down to Wausau in hopes to "race" a 5K.  I put race in quotes because when I first started running again in January, it was all about making sure I would finish with the knee problems i've had over the last 10+ years.  I would get to the venue and get out of the Aztek greeted by gusts of cold winter like air that almost crystalized my lungs with ever inhalation.  

Pre-Race:

I walked the first thousand meters of the course which felt like a lot of rolling tight and twisty terrain, I had to make sure I left the bike shoes and mountain bike in the car as it felt a lot like singletrack.  The course then opened up just before the 2K mark which looked a lot like the picture above for the rest of the race.  I would jog the 2K to 3K, walk, and then jog the 4K to finish line for my warm up.  After registration and many stops to the porta-john, I pinned on the number, put on my spikes (yup I wore cross spikes as it was pretty slick out there) and did a 200 meter acceleration with 10 mintues to go to the start.  I felt loose and fast and was ready to bring the metal.

After The Gun:

At about 9:00am the gun sounded and the race was off and I got a great jump, in fact, I had a gap of about 10 seconds going into the trails which was less than 300m.  I gotta tell you though, that this was far from my strategy, I thought maybe since the first mile was so challenging that I would sit on the leader's shoulder and then attack at the 1 mile, but I never got that chance and had to switch to "Plan B".  Plan B was to stay in front and attack every hill like I was being chased by wolves and I was being chased by a damn fast wolf in Chris Borchardt!  I get to the 2K marker and realized that I have a guy that's really trying to bridge up this gap and so then it became a race.  First, he would gain some ground and then around the corners when he can't see my pace I would go into a 200m burst to extend it back out again.  Same thing would continue on the flats for the 3K and going into the one last little hill on the backside just before the 4K mark I kicked it hard up the hill, but he was still coming and managing to stick around 5-10 seconds back.  I was starting to wonder how I was going to do in a sprint finish as I was starting to get sloppy on form, but as soon as I seen the 4K banners I took off and just gutted out the last 1000 meters which felt like forever, but then I see the clearing, I look back and 2nd place was still just as close as he has been the entire race.  I give one final kick and cross the finish line first overall with  Chris Borchardt from Wausau taking 2nd 10 seconds back according to the results, but it felt like he was much closer.  Time wise, I felt like this was a seasonal best time, but the course was further than the 5K as advertised, probably a full 1/4mile if not more, as we knew that last mile was just a hair over 6 minutes and our first two were much faster.  Felt more like 17:50's.  What a fun course and great people, I'll be back for sure as long as cross doesn't conflict next year.  

Impressions:

It was great to get my first overall victory in the 5k of which I can't honestly remember the last time I won overall or if I even did, but this was definitely a huge achievement and against quality talent.  Chris was a UW-Oshkosh Alum and has won many 5k's and part of the Wasuau Area Runners club which produces some damn fast runners!

Next Up:  

Buck Rut - Minoqua (Another Trail Run -  very hilly)  This is my Peak and maybe last 5K of the year depending on the Tomahawk Turkey Trot date.

Till then Cross Country Practice!!! Go HATCHETS and I gotta give mad props to Bryan Tomek on his Win this week. Smartest race I've ever seen him run, cool watching him break through to that elite level. Soon he'll be posting 15min 5Ks, and soon you'll be hearing more and more about his results.

Been a long time, Been a long time

So unfortunately, I've not posted anything for quite some time but things have been crazy busy and well to be honest after 8 years of continuous bike racing, I am a little burned out.  I give props to all of those that have rode consistently for decades at a time without stopping it truly is inpiring.  For me it wasn't that I was tired.  In fact, just the opposite.  You see, before I got into this whole mountain biking thing I was an avid runner, those of you that know me know this well, but as I got older I got sloppy in my training habits and this caused an overuse injury from "too much, too soon".  This tedonitis issue halted my running efforts for what seemed like a decade and pretty much was, that was until this past spring.  I was probably coming off my best offseason to date and ready to kill it, what I found was that I was eager to run and wasn't all that pumped about riding for whatever reason let alone race.  I started volunteering with the track kids, running on my lunch breaks, biking to track, running with the kids, then biking back home.  This would go on from March till June and found a couple of hidden 5Ks out there that I excelled in and brought home better results than I have in recent years of bike racing.  This got me excited to run hard again, to chase after PRs from my own days at THS as a high school athlete.  I got better shoes, purchased real running shorts and shirts, got the Nike+ Ipod app for the phone, calculated my VDot, figured out my time splits to determine my dream 5k/10k times and what I need to do to get there.  I am now coaching the THS cross country kids and seriously anxious for the first camp practices to begin.  To say I am sucked back into running again is certainly and understatement, but what do I do about cycling now?  Where do I find time to train?  Is this just a phase?  I still don't really know the answers to any of those questions, but I do know that I've made some decisions as recent as last night that I realize will not be popular with some, but it does keep me home with my family, coaching cross country, working on my trail project and being available to contribute to the community in my role as a board member on the mainstreet board of directors.  This will also allow me to pursue my goal of teaching people how to live a active lifestyle and get the community excited about the opportunities they have all around them to stay active all year round.  I will continue to be active in the cycling community cause that is simply a community I've grown to love being a part of and yes I will be toeing the line in races next year.  The events that will unfold in the coming days isn't something I look forward to, but thankfully I have the support of my family, true friends, and community leaders that believe it or not do believe in me and share my vision.  I can't just come out and say it, but many of you know my frustration and the decision that has been reached.

So when you put that all aside that can really explain my absence from the blogosphere, granted, I don't really need to explain anything, but I am still here and still racing.....

So at the end of June, Chris Schotz and the WEMS Series puts together one hell of a race and course.  You can't beat a race that has RedEye Beer on tap....just sayin.  Now Chris puts together a course that will reward your toughness and crush the weak afterall he did just win the Wausau24 Solo!  My time on the bike wasn't what I would have liked and really I wanted to save myself for the 5k on the 4th of July (I know, Blasphemy, Right?)  I lined up for the 6 hour solo with a pretty damn fast group, nobody really wanted to take the lead going into the first section as I really eased up on the parade loop to the entry of the first section of singletrack.  I botched the first rock garden with allowed Maciej to go by, but I rode calm.  I dropped back to like 5th or 6th just watching wheels pull away and while I could have gotten easily frustrated and mail it I chose to keep going and have some fun.  Lap times were pretty bad so it wasn't much of a surprise that they were somewhat close together.  Despite how I was feeling and the fact I got stung by a bee, I wasn't sure if I was going to have to shoot up with the epi-pen and really did finish the race and did fairly well with a 4th place finish....not bad.

Then we get to the 4th of July 5K in Tomahawk.  It was friggin hot, much goes the story of the entire summer even as we speak.  Even as the 5K took off at 9:00am it was already approaching 85 degrees and stupid sticky humidity.  I didn't really feel like myself and after about a mile started losing pace.  I told Nick to go on without me and he didn't have to pull me along as I didn't feel right and probably would have had a bad last 1/2 mile if I would have picked it up that soon.  I lost a lot of time to him and he would actually have been 5th place overall in the race out of 300, I would come in 6th overall at 19:22 definitely not my kind of day but still a top 10 in a deep field....I'll take it. 

I was originally going to race the stump farm but did come down with a cold on the 4th so that race was out, but then it was time to do up the Wausau24.  This year I didn't know what to do with myself as it was the first time since 2007 that I didn't go solo and the relay concept for a 12 hour duo seemed foreign to me and it was really evident on the 2nd lap when I missed my partner coming through the pits (sorry Jim!) First lap I got stung again, my 2nd lap I dropped the chain and while practicing cyclocross to get back on my calf cramped thankfully I downed some infinit and some endurolytes that seemed to take care of it with the addition of more water and lots of chicken I ate before going out on my 4th and 5th laps. at that point we decided to double up before finishing doing one more each or so I thought, well Jim got me back for our handoff goof earlier in the day by crossing the line unknowingly while waiting for the 10pm finish.  Much to the cheers of the crowd I got to the bike and carried on for a night lap, which was a blast to ride.  The results would say I did 6 laps but that was wrong, but the team lap count was still correct and was good enough for 10th out of 36 super competitive teams that included Mike Curtes and even the Craig brothers from the Wausau area.

I got to tell you that the decision to do the 12 duo was smart as I feel terrible this week while I am down here in Kentucky, but I am still running, still weight training, still looking to race even this weekend.  This ought to be interesting lining up for a 5K nowhere near home, kind of feels like the lumbjack 100 or sea otter all over again.  I am hoping to do well, but hope the "travel diet" doesn't become my downfall....trying to do my best people.

More race reports to come!  Wish me luck and thanks to all of the sponsors that have continued to support not only myself but my vision.  Infinit Nutrition, TwinSix, Rudy Project, GoPro, Hayes

I Was Running...

So here we go again with another non-cycling adventure.  This time I would run a 5k as part of the Rockin' Tomahawk 5k and Half Marathon.  It was slightly breezy, hot, and thank god it was only a 5k on tap for us today.  

(Photo: Sam Lund)

We would take to the course 5 minutes after the half marathon started so after they took off we strutted our way to the start line track parade of athletes style.  I knew it was going to be important to get a spot up front as I didn't want to dodge multiple people while I try to track down the leader, but that would still happen about a mile into the race.  Immediately, I knew before this thing started that I would need to keep Connor Ahrens and Dylan Dahl (both 2012 THS grads) in my sight if I wanted a good result, both are very capable of some fast times and of course we had Reuben Frey from UWSP looking to get out to a fast start as well.  The  airhorn sounds and quickly Reuben, Connor, and I formed a breakaway and it was game over almost before we rounded the first corner.  Couldn't see the chasers, and as we got to Sammy's Subs, we started to split apart, first Reuben kicked it up and built a 10 second gap and then Connor started started to pull away from me at about the same distance.  We would start catching half marathoners about a half mile into it and it started to become difficult to find Connor through the crowd, but I could still see him dodging through 100's of people pacing themselves on their 13.1 mile journey as we basically sprint by them as it would seem anyway.  So the first mile was pretty quick, about 5:35 or so, but now we would begin to go uphill along the hogsback, I would still be dodging people left and right just trying to stay out of trouble all while keeping tabs on connor and I could see him getting closer foot by foot, but just as I thought I was making ground I would lose sight of him as we headed out of Bradley Park to not be seen again.  The two mile mark I was feeling pretty good, but did not like being on the blacktop again and running along the sara park runway I was glad to be closing in on the finish.  Reuben came across in 17:08 first overall, Connor in 2nd at 19:04, and I would finish 3rd overall at 19:40.  I wasn't too thrilled with my time, but it was a hard course with more hills than I remembered so I am okay with that as I was rewarded for the effort not the time right!!??  Anyway,  that was a great race, great volunteers, promoters, timing and everything.  

Results 

age groups 

overall.

Other News: In the Half Marathon, Andy Schiltz came through 4th overall making it a successful day for athletes powered by infint nutrition.  Jason Vanden Elzen ran his first ever 5k and finished solidly well into the top half of the field.  Great job to everyone who braved the heat on Saturday.

(Photo: Angie Larson)

Afterwards we talked about the race, I blabbed about bikes, we talked about future races and plans...lovin life.

Saturdays medalists and overall winners.  Sorry Twin Six for blocking your beautiful shirt, but the 1st place medal was just necessary to get in the way hahaha.  Don't worry I got you in here Rudy Project and Infinit

(Photo: Angie Larson)
THS Cross Country Runners:  Past, wayyyy past (me), and the future.
Left to Right: Connor Ahrens, Justin Lund, Austin Kaiser, Emmy Larson, Stephanie Welke

After that it would be time to get out and enjoy the weekend and have some fun in the sun, clearly Charlee here doesn't have to be asked twice if she wants to go on a boat ride.  She fell asleep on the boat just as we got back to shore,  she was all partied out.  What a perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

Nine Mile WORS

What a day out there at Nine Mile for race #3 in the WORS series.  Still getting used to Sunday races and taking off from the start line in the afternoon.  It's a bit of a difference coming from the WEMS series start times that is for sure, but I think I got the important things down, like when to eat and leave for the venue. I arrive just before the start of the sport race and I couldn't believe the number of cars parked along the road, but a staff member pulled up just as I did and told me there were spots by camping available if I hurry it up.  So parking close to the course was nice even though it was in the glaring sun.  I did get everything ready straight away so I didn't rush and then immediately searched for shade to stretch it out before the warm up.

My warm up consisted of a 5 minute spin and I litterally spun my legs into shape as they felt a little heavy this morning, then picked it up for brief moments just to break a sweat and breath a little heavier.  From there I jumped into the singletrack across redbud to get acquainted with with the granite singletrack.  Easy spin with a couple of jumps up the hills and then back again in the shade to stretch before the Don yelled go.

From the start I think I learned my lesson from Rhinelander.  I stayed in control and rode hard but not out of my mind in the first mile leading up to the first section of singletrack where a very important meeting or seminar was being held in a way that we had to each wait our turn before we were allowed to the enter the singletrack, but at least we got a break after the leadout.  This put me in an interesting position of actually being the one that was more in control of his bike in the tight stuff than those around me,  I continuously want to improve my tech skills, but today I felt quite comfortable and almost fearless more emphasis was placed on getting ahead of people before that next section.  So with that, I felt lap one went okay once I got around some of the traffic and began to go to work on the 2nd lap.  Funny thing was though that I kept on going back and forth with some of these guys, I would gap them in the singletrack and the climbs but would reel me in on the flats, that is till I caught jim peterson.  This dude was riding out of his mind as he just got crashed up (partly my fault since I got brake checked coming out of section 12 everybody else got collected as I was already over the log pile.)  We basically rode the rest of that lap together and really put some time into that group until section 4 where I dropped the chain the first time.

3rd lap was more or less the same, I struggled maintaining speed up to that first section of singletrack, but felt about right everywhere else, I would catch a glimpse of jim here and there on the climbs but would disappear in the singletrack again, this would be the last I would see of him for the rest of the day which sucked cause the way we were riding on lap 2 we probably could have moved up pretty good as that's exactly how I wanted to ride, I would lead up the climbs and he would destroy the singletrack.  3rd lap though was consistent and made the attack on the last lap.  I didn't necessarily attack anybody on that last lap, I just wanted to attack the course and finish strong.  I would, however, lose the chain again in section 9 and lost my front shifter up the climb where the water station was, but really none of the mentioned mechanicals took all that much time out of me, just opportunities lost.  I would even cramp a little bit on that last lap, but it was very early stage and besides I found it strange that it even happened, hell I never ever ever cramp, but it would leave by the time I got into the last burst of singletrack.

This was probably the most fun I had in a race in a very long time.  Great to actually be racing with people instead of being off the back just trying to catch one or two having a bad day.  I was quite a fan of this course of well.  Great job to all the volunteers and everybody involved in the event.

Results link is now working.  57th overall and 17th in age.   Good progress.  Important thing is I had a blast out there.  Time to flip the script and run a fast 5k next weekend.

WORS #2 Crystal Lake Classic

(Sums up how it went)

First race of my mountain bike season and I wanted to stick close to home so what better place to do it than rip up some singletrack in the WORS Crystal Lake Classic?  This would be the first time in about 2 years I had the stomach to line up in the elite field in a WORS race like this.  I wasn't alone though.  Jesse Lalonde also made his return except he did it better, and on a fully rigid singlespeed in which he would cross the line in 3rd where as I came in 51st.  

I wasn't sure about my fitness going into this race.  I've put in well over 20 hours more compared to this time last year, but the catch here is that I am running a lot more this mainly cause of coaching a great group of long distance track kids at the local high school.  In addition to that I am really trying to play around with my heart rate and see if an experiment will shake out like I think it will.  Short of it is, I put in more time than last season, but a lot of it is running yet still a 65/35 split in favor of the bike.  

Anyway, I get to Rhinelander on Saturday and immediately unload the bike and hit the course.  I put down and easy lap at around 42 minutes which I thought was really low key didn't feel too labored except when I wanted to open up the lungs, but that's where it all ended, I just didn't realize it yet.

The week leading up to the race I experienced very little rest time.  I found, while looking back, that I really set myself up to train right through it.  Monday was a long hard ride up to Hazelhurst with really some good motivation to keep it about 19.5mph by my lonesome on the cross bike and did just that, but wait there's more.  Monday night I get to track practice and run a good 5 miles.  Tuesday I did take a day off of riding but headed up to Minocqua for the GNC Meet there I did a lot of standing for long periods of time, running around getting time splits and whatever else that needed to be handled so that the kids could do what they do best.  Wednesday it was back at it again except this time I had no practice that night so I did 2x20min efforts at atp which ended up being 172bpm for number 1 and 178 for number 2...ouch.  Thursday was an ouch as well with a hard ride into practice followed by a hard mile effort followed by 600m @ 800m goal pace with a mile warm up and cool down plus another hard ride home.  Friday was no different except this time I (dare I say it) drove into practice in which we did 200m intervals after a 1 mile warm up and a cool down when done.  Saturday was the pre ride and then comes Sunday.

A friend of mine who was the former boys head track coach and I were discussing the fat tire illness we both shared and all of the expert knowledge we've gained since coming down with this bug called mountain biking.  We equally agreed that we are now educated and in turn educators in the field of meteorology. I swear I must have checked the weather about 25 times before driving over there Sunday morning and again when the rain showers I predicted didn't show up and/or were tardy to the party.  All looked good and I thought the gods may have spared us after the collective pleas to not have an Iola moment again this week, at this point we would be laughed upon by mother nature herself....oh how funny that broad can be.

I get to the start after my warm up, I was concerned about the concrete that didn't want to seem to leave my legs, but knew full well that there have been times where the body plays tricks on you and shows you that there is much more life in those legs than one would think.  This was just not one of those days.  I actually got off the line quick (thanks cyclocross practice), I was ahead of a few people I am not used to seeing, but this wouldn't last long.  My heart rate was blowing up 1 beep, 2 beeps, wait....3 beeps, at that point I know I am above 180 and there it stayed and when the dust settled before the first climb and disappeared, so did I....off the back.  I felt heavy, had a hard time taking deep breaths, but tried so hard to chase on, but just didn't have squat on any climb so I lost a ton of time, I mean I should have gotten off and ran every one cause I know it would have been faster just nothing there.  It wouldn't get better, however, as I started on round 2 I was well off the pace and it didn't help that it started to poor down rain and hail.  I used the Maxxis Ignitors and wow did they work.  I couldn't believe how well they gripped this watery, sandy, mud like substance, but the chain suck I wasn't too thrilled with.  It forced me out of my comfort zone and happy cadence that I thought would shake my legs loose so that I can stop riding like a wal-tard, since, now all I was left with was my big ring (I had it in the dog, for those fluent in 24 Solo) I actually started riding a little better legs started coming alive a little bit and way too late to make a difference during round 3, round 4 dumped more water on us and at this point it became a question of do I make this a workout and just see if I can put in a couple of decent efforts or do I save the bike???? Well I figured the sand already did it's damage so I pushed on and got the finish.  Not a W, but I didn't give up and refused to let a little poor planning and poor weather ruin my day.  

Post race bike repair turned out to be a non issue, cleaned up really nice nothing to replace.  Score the 5th round and that score card to me.

So the judges scored the bout in favor of.....ME

Round 1:  Me -  Good start not a terrible lap time.

Round 2:  Crystal Lake Classic

Round 3: Crystal Lake Classic

Round 4: Me - Character Builder for sure pushed through it and got Metal!

Round 5: Me - No physical damage to me or the bike....big plus.

Training through this race was not on purpose, but a good learning experience.   See ya at the Big Ring Classic in Wausau.

Thanks to everybody that is supporting my adventure this year.  TwinSix for allowing me to Metal before I went mental, GoPro in which one day i'll live stream this stuff when they release their wifi backpack, Infinit Nutrition for not being able to have the excuse that my nutrition is the reason I was slow Sunday, Sprocketz Bike Shop for selling Niners that handle the mud and rough terrain, Hayes Bicycle Group for the flawless prime pros....dude!!!!! they are awesome.  Rudy Project muddy conditions new lenses no scratches just the way I like it, I even found a pair on the trail and being understanding of their value and cool factor I made sure they found their way to their owner who I actually knew....karma should be showing up at the big ring.....I hope.  

Good Night Suckas!

Fools Only Run @ Midnight

Normally, since this is a cycling blog and everything, I would be talking about the first few rides of the year or first couple of races.  And while I did race this past weekend it wasn't on the bike.  In order to understand this I have to rewind back to February where I inquired about coaching track for a grant that I was eligible for to give back to the program and started down that path in March.  I found out early that running can still be fun...for me and just as rewarding as cycling as it is what you make of it.  So training and working with these kids did make me a little faster and I decided to test my new found fitness at the Fools Run up in Minocqua this past weekend.  

The race started at midnight April Fools Day, in the dark, cold, and by the time we hit the course fog and mist covered the 5k route.  I lined up front ahead of over 1000 additional racers wearing everything from Mario Brothers costumes to a speedo.  The gun went off and we took off on a series of immediate right and left turns and then down a long straight stretch of road.  Early on there was a large group of 20 runners flying down the road, but I would begin to pick them all off one by one except for a couple that just got away and some dude wearing a banana suit that slowly pulled away as well.  The course was dark and even with headlamps it was hard to see because of the fog, but the streets were lined with paperbags with candles burning inside which added a cool touch to the event.  Coming up on the first mile checkpoint it was well lit which made things interesting cause I could see my shadow in the trees along with a bigger shadow of what looked like 10 other racers working to chase me down like a rabbit, but as each minute passed that shadow would get smaller and smaller and I would look back and see no one there.  Finally we hit Hwy 51 again just out from the brewing company and I can see someone a couple hundred feet behind me trying to chase me down, but tonight wouldn't be his night and I pulled the April fools joke of the race giving him the perception that I was fading and with about 800 meters left I took off in a pace I would run that same distance in during track and held that gap to just over 5 seconds and had that race been longer he may just have caught me. 

I had thought that there was one guy that busted the race wide open, then the guy in the banana suit, and then me.  Turns out one other person came through and their chip didn't register..... on top of that the course was measured out at just over 3.5 miles so I think my overall time of 21:44 wasn't too shabby and 4th place overall out of 1037 runners was excellent for this early season race.  I did manage to win the age group of 30-39 out of 58 runners. 

It was a great time, excellent course, and fun to spend the race with Sam who did her first 5k that night as well.

Next race for me is going to be the RASTA Rally up in Rhinelander the weekend before WORS.

Until then I encourage you all to...
DO EPIC SHIT! 

Still Around and Very Busy

I am still around.  Still training, getting bike stuff together and renewed my passion for running.  I've been on a huge running kick lately mostly derived from coaching track.  Some aches and pains developed and then went away now it's getting fun like it used to be.  Yeah sure I still get some pain here and there, but it's running and yeah there is some impact involved.  Time will tell when it all starts to click again but feeling like a breakthrough moment occurred last night.  Fools run is coming up on the 31st that will be the first 5k of the year.  I am hoping to break 19 minutes but i've never raced this course and especially at midnight so we'll see, but the work is definitely there.  I actually have a few 5Ks scheduled this year due to the fact that they are so close which is nice when it comes to the family.

Oh and this biking thing.  Well the time is adding up nicely after my lovely trip to GB is finally old news I can continue to regain my biking form.  One thing that helps is the fact that I am 10-15Lbs lighter than at this time last year.  That my friends is encouraging.  I've got some races scheduled, curious how my  rev limiter (aka: heart) will allow me to perform with all of this running above the 180 mark.  I have some thoughts about where I want my racing to take me this year, but I don't plan to reveal any of that till later on.  Got some new wheels being built by grandmaster Greg and now the family is completely outfitted with bikes including Charlee even though she is about 2" too short to stride away, but she wanted to and gets how it works so now we just wait.  Thanks to Sprocketz for getting us all set up for the season and congrats to Sprocketz of Weston for being named the Wausau area's best bike shop.

So that's it for now.  See you in Iola, maybe I'll ride or maybe I'll just run and play with the camera or all of the above!

  

Come Get Some!

If you would like to get your hands on one of these jerseys and support the trail project in Bradley Park, Act quickly this is a one time run with orders and payment due no later than April 13th!! an assortment of goodies will sure accompany these jerseys thanks to my gracious sponsors.

For questions, interest, pricing, sizing, etc please email:

hogsbackcx(at)yahoo(dot)com

2012 Jersey Draft

Here's What I'll be Rocking this year.  Some Minor Tweaks and I'm all set.  Thanks to Patrice and company at Jakroo!!!

Thanks for the support this upcoming season

Infinit Nutrition -  Watch here for exciting new stuff I am testing!!!

Hayes Disc Brakes - Prime Pros are on the way for real this time!!!!

Sun Ringle, Manitou, Answer

GoPro - for my new Kick Ass HD Hero2,

TwinSix - for allowing me to be as metal as I want to be

Rudy Project - Love the new shades and the photochromic lenses

Tomahawk Mainstreet and Tomahawk Chamber of Commerce -  for supporting the Hogsback Race to be held again 9/29/2012!