Monday, July 28, 2008

Mud March Photos are Up!


The Mud March 5K photos are up. A lot of folks have been asking about this race. It was so much fun! Even a blast to just watch the finish line for a while while people climbed "Mud Mountain" as they called it.

The race started in a field, then took us down a short paved road then into some of the muddiest trails I have ever ran. The course then pops in and out of the woods until you hit their vineyard. You weave through the vineyard, back into the woods for the last mile where you come out of the woods one last time to Mud Mountain and the finish line.

The only photo I found myself in was at the start. Yeah, that would be me in the white hat and white shirt. Note to Self: Don't wear anything even half way decent next year. It will get ruined.

Click here to view the race pics

They also have a video up here which is pretty funny

Friday, July 25, 2008

July Recap


I am still trying to keep up with some updates here. I know some of you are just dying to see what I have been up to, eh? July was a pretty fun but a really crazy month. Running and work took up most of the time. I was able to get out and catch John Mayer, which was a great show. It was a nice follow up to Jack Johnson earlier in the summer.

Good news, one of my two big projects for the year at work finally went live and was very successful. Pretty happy about that. Bad news: there was a last minute change in the project plan made it impossible to run the BT50K this year. This was a bummer to train for it and find out the Wednesday before the race that I had to drop out. I was feeling pretty good getting ready for the race this year plus everyone I knew was running it. It was going to be a great time and I was really looking forward to it. However, I also wanted to get this project completed and behind me so I can hopefully calm things down a bit.

Still, with everything going on, I was able to run my highest month of miles ever, 289 miles beating last month’s record of 267 miles. This brings me to over 1000 miles this year so far. Seeing if I can break 2000 miles this year.

I also ran the most number of races I have ever completed in 1 month which was 6 races, including my first double header. I was also able to knock a few more PRs off my list: 10K and 4 mile. This leaves 5k, 5mile, ½ Marathon, Marathon. Only 4 to go! Things actually went well in the races. Of the 6 races, 5 of them I was in the top 20 overall, 4 of them I placed in my age group, and 1 was in the 95% overall finishing placement which was my highest placement in a large race ever.

July Race Details:

7/5 - Davey Tree 5K/10K – This was a race I was really looking forward to. I had run this course a few years ago. Also, having Davey Tree as the title sponsor, lots of co-workers were coming out and they were super excited. I Finished 10th place overall, 3rd in my age group. 10k PR.

7/13 - Brook Park 5k Run – 18th overall, 2nd in age group

7/19 - Winking Lizard Shot in the Dark 4 mile – A much needed redemption from last year, but still not an easy race. This year it was HOT. Thermometer at the start was reading 90 degrees. Beat last years time and PR’d. Finished 43 out of 864 (95.02%), 8th out of 110 in my age group (92.73%). Had a beer with the super cool Martin’s at the finish line (thanks for the Sammy Smith’s! They were goooood!). Kevin had ran the BT50K and then ran the 4 mile with his wife being the only finisher of the 2008 Buckshot!

7/20 - Richmond Heights Family Day 5K – 16th overall, 2nd in age group

7/26 - Joseph C Monastra 5K – I wanted to place in this race this year. My first time placing in a race two years in a row. Finished 11th overall and WON MY AGE GROUP!

7/26 - Shadow Woodstock “Mud March” 5K – Total blast! This was the second half of the double header for the day. I was beat from the race in the morning but still pulled off 16th overall. I am looking for pictures of this race. The mud was hilarious. I can’t tell you how much mud was there.