Wednesday, April 26, 2006

24 Hours in Chicago


So I was set to attend training in Chicago. Since I had never been there before, I really wanted to see as much of the city in the 24 hours I had before the training started. I am glad I did that because once the training started, I was pretty much stuck in the hotel.

My adventure started Saturday night. While checking into my hotel (which was the Hyatt Regency, awesome hotel) the guy at the front desk answered all my questions about where to go and where to eat. So, I got all checked in and headed down to an area of town called Wrigleyville.

Wrigleyville was really cool. I got out of the cab right in front of Wrigley Field. Now, I am not a baseball fan, but I still found this pretty neat. Wrigleyville is like a district of sports bars and dance clubs. I hopped in a few bars and ate dinner at a place called the Ivy. It was a pretty cool Irish pub. Food was great. The people were also really friendly. Both men and women were very outgoing and talkative. I didn’t feel like I was by myself at all. I hung out with a really cool group of folks and watch the Bulls lose in the playoffs.


I got up the next morning and decided to go for a run. I did some searching on the web and found a great route. I ran a 13 mile route that started at the Navy Pier and headed up to Lincoln Park. Looped through Lincoln Park and headed back. I have never seen that many runners out. It was amazing. (route 2 & 3 in the pic)

I got back to the hotel for a shower and a quick rest. Starting to get hungry so I headed down to Michigan Ave, also called the “Magnificent Mile.” You name it it had a store. It even had a North Face store. I had to stop in to see their running gear.

Eventually, I worked my way down to a restaurant called Big Bowl. It was great. I had some spicy Crispy Thai Fish. Looking at my watch, I new I had better get moving. I had seen a Ghost Tours bus the night before. I thought it would have been neat to to go on that. I headed back to the hotel to hop the net to see if I could book a tour. No dice, they only did them on Fridays and Saturday nights. Oh well.


On my way back to the hotel, I began to see a lot of women wearing red hats and purple dresses. Started of 5 then 10 then 30 then…there was honestly an army of them gathered. One word of advice: don’t even think you are going to get through a crowd of them without getting heckled! It was brutal. One of the grabbed even me to be in a picture. Pretty funny.

I left the hotel and headed to the Chicago Institute of Art. Along the way, I walked though Grant Park. I was awesome! It had all kinds of statues and people out walking around. Chicago is a pretty busy town, even on a Sunday afternoon.


The Art Institute was great. I spent about 3 hours walking around. I got to see many of my favorite impressionists and artists like Gauguin, Matisse, Van Gogh, and Monet. They also had some great works from Kandinsky and Pollock. But no Worhol that I saw…bummer.

The Institue closed at 5. I could have spent another couple of hours there. I headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit and grab a shower before dinner. I got all ready and grabbed a quick cocktail in the down stairs bar which was much quieter that the night before. I met some cool people also in from out of town.

Dinner time. So I decided to head to Wicker Park. Wicker Park is a very cool, trendy part of town. The bars and restaurants down there are pretty cool. I had some very good sushi. My waiter was very nice. However, he didn’t speak a word of English. But I could tell he was being very nice. At least, I think he was. Now, I wonder what he was saying!

Stopped in a few of the local places there. More Pubs, more cool people, had a great time. I headed back to hotel. Feeling pretty satisfied that I had seen a good deal of Chicago. I can’t wait to go back and spend more time.

From Chicago I hopped a plane to Las Vegas. So that is where I am now. In my hotel room and Treasure Island (yeah, I know, pirates. Did you expect anything less from me) watching the sun come up on the mountains over looking the desert. Pretty neat. More to come….

Monday, April 24, 2006

Bull Run Run 50 Mile: Pain and Redemption in Virginia.

The best way to some up the Bull Run Run 50 Mile was one word: MUD. On second though, two words: rain and mud. While at the pasta dinner the night before, a storm front, which was moving across the entire south, started to come in to Virginia. It wasn’t long before those dark clouds turned into a full-blown thunderstorm! It rained all through the night. I felt bad for the few people who decided to camp out in a tent that night.

6:15am was the start. It was still very dark and things were pretty wet, but the rain had lightened up. I began to think maybe things are going to not be so bad today. I was wrong. By the time we reached the first aid station at mile 7, things began to turn towards the bad. Once leaving that aid station and working towards the first turn around, things got UGLY. The rain and people had turned the trail to a complete sloppy mess. Some parts we over the ankle. Not sliding all over the trail was nearly impossible,

Soon, it was mile 16. The first leg was over. However, the trail continued to get worse and worse. I stopped in and talked to my sister, who was crewing for us, for a bit. Refueled and off I went. I was still feeling pretty good, but the first 16 miles was rougher than I expected. I cruised along and the hills started getting bigger and steeper. About this time, the rain picked up again and the temperature dropped from the upper 50s to the low 40s.

Off in the distance, I heard a cannon fire. A few moments later, more and more cannons went off. I am sure this was planned for our benefit, but I never did hear who was firing. I have to tell you how eerie the explosions sounds in the early dreary morning rain. It was then I began to think about how it must have been like during the battle there. Here we are 150 years later, running for a good time, while the soldiers that were there would have been running for their lives. Carrying a very heavy gun and in some cases wounded or dieing.

Speaking of wounded, it wasn’t long, about mile 25 or so, things started to go wrong. My right quad began to feel tight. It wasn’t long before it began to cramp. I would get it feeling better, run for a bit, and it would cramp up again. No matter what I did, I could not keep the cramps away. Eventually, I made to some aid stations, which were close together. I was able to hydrate and eat a lot. It was there they had boiled chopped up potatoes on a plate of salt. I would dip the potato in the salt and eat. Now, that sounds gross, but let me tell you it was just what I needed. Those and Pringles! By mile 35, my leg was feeling great and I was feeling better, too. The bad miles were over with.

By mile 40, I felt even better. I figured a sub 10 hour finish was out, but I could still make it under 11. Which is what I needed for qualify for Western States. I really started to push it. I had never qualified for anything before! I was able to run the steep uphills and the downhills. Many people were walking by now so I began passing quite a few people. By the end, I lost track, but counted more than 20 people. Each one I shouted some encouragement.

The last mile seemed to go on forever. I never thought it would end. Keeping an eye on my watch, I was getting worried that the sub 11 hour was not going to be possible. With about a minute left, off in the distance I began to hear bagpipes. It was the finish! I did a full out sprint to the finish line. Final time: 10:59:49. 11 seconds to spare. Plenty of time!

I wanted to take this chance to thank everyone, my friends and family, who helped me get to the start line of the race. If it were not for them, I would have never gotten to the finish line. The past month has been a very difficult time for me. I didn’t think I would have been able to finish and almost called off the entire race. However, a lot of people wouldn’t let me do that. Especially, my sister and brother-in-law. Without them I could not have done what I did that day. Thank you for everything!

Next up…not sure. I will let you know!

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Dean Karnazes


Ultrarunner Dean Karnazes was in Cleveland for a book signing for his book Ultramarathon Man. Jeff and I were lucky to get a chance to talk with him and get his book signed. It was a pleasure to meet him. He takes a lot of flack by some ultra web sites and listservs, but he is a really down-to-earth guy. I think he asked us more questions than we could ask him!

If you have not had a chance to read this book, check it out. It isn't a book about running, it is a book about a runner. It is a great read and written very well.

Dean also talked about what he is doing this summer: 50 marathons in 50 states, in 50 days! Very impressive. He will be back in the Cleveland area this summer to run the Cleveland Marathon course. Maybe get a chance to catch up with him then!

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Home-Run for the Homeless 5K

My buddy Bill told me about this race. It was a 5k in downtown Akron. At first, I wasn't sure if I was going to run it. However, I am really glad I did. It was a pretty nice course, not too hilly, not too flat.

I ended up with my fastest 5k time yet with a 21:49 which was 75th overall and 10th in my age group. And I finally broke 22 minutes!

Next up..Bull Run Run 50 miler!