First Run of 2010

Happy New Year!!!

Jan. 1, 2010... I started the new year with a short 5 mile run at Turkey mtn. There was quite abit of snow still left from christmas eve blizzard. The temp. was somewhere around 20 deg. F, but no wind. Just perfect weather for trail run.

The trail still had lot of icy spot. But for the most part, it was running...but running with caution.

Today, it was just great to hit the trails. I was going at it about 13 min. miles...simply just enjoying the quietness.

I hit the north end of the power line about 30 min. The open spot was somewhat cold. I didn't stay there for long. I turned around and headed back into the woods. As I was coming back on the ridge, I managed to work up a sweat.

What a great way to start off a new year... a trail run in the snow at 20 deg. Life is grand.

Silver Spuds

The "Silver Spud" Awards were given out during the annual TATUR Christmas party last night. Yours truly received the coveted Tatur of the Year for 2009. It was with great pride to have this honor bestowed upon me. A big Thanks goes out to Head Tatur (Brian), TZ (Ken), and Kathy, an outstanding ultrarunner and coach, for making TATURs the group that it is today.

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And to the many others in the Tatur group who also deserve to be Spuds of the year.

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TATUR's rock! Yeah!!

A week after Route 66 marathon, I was rapidly going downhill with flu-like symtoms. I was down and out for about a month. There was absolutely no running. Finally, today, I went out for a nice slow run. I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I thought..if I keep it slow,,,I might cover 8 or 9 miles.

The first 3 miles went great. I was at about 9:30 pace. Dangit.. I was aimming at 10 to 11 min. pace. But the next 3 miles, I was beginning to feel it. I was slowing down more. My pace was falling to 10 min. pace. I finally reached the 6 mile mark. I thought... OK.. enough punishment for today. I was exhausted.

Soon enough, I'll get back to my normal workout. But for this week and maybe next week, I'm keeping it around 5 to 7 mile workouts. Holy cow!!! I hate the crud that goes around this time of year.

It's all about the BLING!

Cool Bling!!! Route 66 Marathon is done. Time- 5:05.22 (5:01.45 net). I had a fanastic time doing my pacing duties for 5 hr marathon finishers. I stayed on pace pretty much all the way thru-out. I had people come and go...some stayed up with me for some distance, then slowly fall off the pace. And most are usually first time marathoners. Sometimes it's just hard to keep even splits the entire course. At the end, I did catch up with a few people, and still got them to finish strong. It's a great feeling to get someone to the finish. Normally, I'm not sore from my pacing, but this time... my legs were feeling it. I think it's the concrete portion of the course. My legs just don't like concrete.

Well... time to up the mileage again. My next venture is Rocky Raccoon in February. I'm ready to hit the trails again. Congrats to all Route 66 marathon finishers, and those who didn't finish...takes courage to get out there and give everything.

Route 66 Marathon this sunday

The long runs are done... 20 miles on saturday, and a short 12.5 miles on sunday. Time to relax and keep hydrated. I can't wait to get started. Since my finish time is already set...5 hrs, I'm ready to have a great time helping people attain their goal of finishing a marathon in 5 hrs. I really enjoy the time out there pacing other people. For some, 5 hrs may seem like a long time to finish a marathon, but for alot more, finishing a marathon in 5 hrs is a dream. And to see people's face when they finish in that time frame, it is time well spent being out there.

Come out and cheer on all Route 66 marathoners or half-marathoners.

This weekend is "Oklahoma's Ultimate Challenge"... a 5 mile race that is almost entirely uphill all the way. This is oklahoma's version of "Pikes Peak Accent". The climb is about 2,000 ft in 5 miles. Not bad for Oklahoma. Should be great weekend get out.
After feeling abit under the weather for about a week...including no running for a week. I'm back on the road again. I was at a comfortable 60 miles per week for some time, until the "crud" set me back. But it might've been a good thing though. I really needed a week to relax and rest the ol'bod. Last night was a short 10-1/2 miles at a 9 minute pace. I really wanted to go slower, like 11 min. pace. I guess after a week off, my legs wanted to git going. Tomorrow, I'll make it slooooow pace. It's good to go slow and maintain a steady motion thru-out the whole 10-12 miles.
I hope to make it to Poteau this weekend for nice, slow 5-mile uphill training run. I'm not worry about time, but doing a relaxed hill run.
Happy Trails!

"You will never FIND time for anything. If you want time, you must MAKE it." ~ Charles Bixton

In Nov. 2006, I ran Mother Road 100 miler from Arcadia, OK to Tulsa,OK. In our goody bag was a book... "Running With Payne" by Randy Ellis, a legendary ultra-endurance runner. And just a great guy to be around. Since 2006, I've been putting it off reading this book. Three years later, I finally opened the book and read it cover to cover. What a great book! When I grow up, I want to run coast to coast, like Randy.

A year from now, we'll be doing the 3rd running of Mother Road 100 miler. This is suppose to be the last of 3-part series of Mother Road 100. I'm ready to go!!

www.motherroad100.com

But before the last running of MR100, I would like to run the missed portions of the Mother Road in Oklahoma. Or maybe do them as training runs.