TT Running Club

“I hope that all of you struggling with injuries get better. Be patient, and don’t give up.
I’ve been there. It sucked.

I’ve been extremely lucky. My body has tolerated the training well, so far this season. Running, and speed skating, has gotten me into the best shape of my life (at 46), and keeps me relatively happy and sane as a bonus.
I’m really looking forward to this weekend. I have a 5K running race Saturday and speed skating practice, then a skate meet Sunday and a scheduled 20 mile long run. I love it.

Training is on schedule, though I had hoped to qualify for Boston. I don't think that's gonna happen.
I have a shot at taking first in the skate meet if I try real hard and stay vertical. Several skaters better than I are out with injuries, and the one guy I just might be able to beat is a running buddy and always encourages me.

Six weeks until my marathon!”

“Good luck with the marathon training le Subtil! Keep us posted.

10 days till my "Return to Training" 5k.

I needed something to motivate me, so I paid an entry fee. Its working good so far!”

“You guys are all so great! Keep up the good work!

I've been having 12-14 hour days with work and school lately, so running has pretty much been at the bottom of the list. Getting some form of food into my body as I'm traveling from one place to the next is about as big a goal as I can handle right now! My plans to run a 5K this summer are still in the works, though I"m not exactly sure how my life will slow down in the next couple of months! I"ve added in wedding planning and selling my house!

I think I'm still on a high from last weeks 2.5 mile run. I'm still so proud of myself! I'm taking my running gear to WI this weekend, and I'm hoping to get 1 or 2 runs in over the weekend if possible.”

“Do it Smiley! just carve out even 15 minutes if that's all you have!

My 5k is (holy crap) next weekend. I'll be ready for it, my time won't be spectacular, but just signing up for it has gotten me motivated again, which was the intent.”

“Tarabull, get well...hang in there about your knee, it will get better. le Subtle, you keep it up, bud. I hope you get a chance to qualify, that would be awesome. Y'all have a great weekend. God bless!”

“Le Subtil, Cool! I hope you get to do Boston. My uncle has done three or four marathons in the past few years and finally qualified. Once he did he decided he wasn't going to run it and then quickly changed his mind. If you make it too then maybe I'll head out there to cheer for both of you.

Good luck Roam! I bet running in that altitude is a whole nother story. Go fast!”

“Thanks Sass! It took me a couple of months to get adjusted, when I first got here I got winded just on little dayhikes.”

“This morning's race was gorgeous. Nearly 50*F at the race start and almost 60*F when we finished. The race was a 4 mile run on the trail that circles Kent Lake in Kensington MetroPark. Perfect blue skies for the whole race. It was put on by the Sierra Club... the EnviRUNment 2005. The first of what they hope will be an annual run. My time was decent, 36:26 (9:10). Dad finished somewhere in the low 32s and Doug and his brother Van were just over 39.

Driving out of the park, we got up close and personal w/ a nice Sandhill Crane. Great way to end the event.

Oh, and I even liked the t-shirts!!

Some pics later...”

“Pretty good time tarabull! Congrats!

those sandhill cranes are freaky looking ain't they? prehistoric looking freaky sounding birds.”

“Good run tarabull.”

“WTG, Tarabull!”

“Thanks! Here's some pics...

http://community.webshots.com/album/325248081QnoGre”

“Good Job, Tarabull! Glad you're racing again.

I had an awesome weekend. I ran my 10 after work Friday, the weather was incredible and there were wildflowers blooming all along the rail-trail. I didn't want to stop.

I ran a 5K Saturday morning and got a PR (22:24). It was an early race and a beautiful morning. There were lotsa friends running too.
I had to get up extra early Sunday to do my long run, started before dawn. All the familiar landmarks look so differrent under streetlights. I had to quit at 16 to make it to a speed skate meet. I wish I could have gotten the 20 in.
And, I managed to finish my 3 races in the skate meet without crashing or otherwise embarrassing myself, and got a bronze medal.
I wish I had thought to take pictures!

I've been riding the elevator at work today, though ;-)”

“That is awesome le Subtil, Sounds like you had a blast. My wife and I got in 8 on Sunday (after we ate at Southwest Moe's). Big mistake running with a huge burrito in your gut, let me tell you!”

“if any of you who are coming to Nashville to run the full or half marathon here is a good training course. The write up is about Nashville Percy Warner Park.

One hill of a time

By Michael Williams, mdwilliams@nashvillecitypaper.com
April 15, 2005

The steep slope of three-mile hill is one of the many reasons Percy Warner Park's 11.2-mile running course is a popular training ground for many Nashville area runners.

What angle does one take when describing Percy Warner Park’s 11.2-mile running course? Turns out there are a good many and all angles seem to go up.

World Class marathoner Dick Beardsley once said the Eleven-Two, as most Nashville runners simply refer to it, is perhaps one of the top three training courses in the country.

There must be some truth to that seeing how the same year he ran the 11.2, Beardsley finished the 1982 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:08:53, the fourth fastest marathon time by an American male marathoner.

An uber-novice distance guy at best, I’ll forgo Beardsley’s other top two training routes, opting for a giant cup of Starbucks and maybe one of those pieces of chocolate pound cake. But I have run the 11.2; rather, it’s run me.

The course begins at the entrance of the park at the end of Belle Meade Boulevard making a giant loop that takes you to all corners of the park.

It’s not for the timid, or sane for that matter, but it makes a great sparring partner for those about to take on the challenge of the Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon in two weeks. Plus views along the way change with the seasons and the last two weeks have seen an explosion of spring time green.

“We’re fortunate to have [the course] as a resource,” said Peter Pressman, president of Nashville Striders, a local running club. “It attracts so many people and finishing it really helps your confidence.”

I’ve run the course with varying degrees of success over the years. Success meaning that sometimes I finish, other times I call a cab. Mainly I do it when I feel the need for a good cry.

The normal weekend jogger typically chooses a nice course with varying degrees of undulation, which is a nice way of saying they look for something flat. The 11.2 starts with a half-mile straight up before it even thinks about smoothing out. After that it shoots straight up again with a smaller hill I call, in the friendliest of terms, a bugger, though not necessarily the B-word I typically choose. All of that is included in the first mile, not to mention the people walking their dogs down the hill looking at you as if you had two heads for running up it.

A nice flatter section follows the first mile and upon hitting the two-mile mark of a parking area known as Deep Wells, you can stop for a bathroom break or perhaps a round of solid therapy. The character building section is at the three-mile mark of the course, which has perhaps the most technical title of any section — three-mile hill. Rope is required for the ascent as well as an oxygen mask along with a healthy vocabulary of expletives.

Lungs burn and the heart pounds, but reaching the top of three-mile hill means resurrection. For the next few miles, you’re rewarded with scenic views and a touch more undulation, before the hills begin going up again. (By the way, I’ve discovered that all hills in the Nashville area go up.)

After dodging golf balls running past Harpeth Hills driving range, the nine-mile hill begins at — you guessed it —the nine-mile section of the course. Nine-mile hill takes you to heaven, but getting there is hell.

“After nine-mile, you’ve conquered it,” Pressman said. “There is definitely a difference in doing an easy 11 miles and doing that 11 miles in Percy Werner Park. It definitely aides the training process.”

Redemption waits at the top of nine-mile hill and, save about three more rollers, you’re rewarded with a two-mile float back down to the parking area and triumph. I amend the remainder of the training process though. Mine includes a ride to Starbucks, Krispy Kreme or the closest bar.

The drive, of course, is downhill.”

“Dang Le Subtil, whatta weekend!

Congrats on the Bronze!”

“5k race open to 2legged and 4 legged runners. It was fun to see all the dogs, all very well behaved - just reinforces the idea that I need to get a dog.

Beautiful morning - about 45 degrees when we got to the site on CO State's Campus in Ft. Collins. Pretty flat course (thank goodness). I've only been really training again for about 2 weeks so I was very pleased with my 30:11 finish - I was in the top 1/3 or so of the pack too.

Sarah ran the kids 1k run/walk and had a lot fun too.”

“Good Job roam, I would love to do a run with my dogs like that, how fun!”

“Good job, Roam! And nice to include the family in that kind of activity.”

“As for me, I just got myself up to 4 miles. Prior to that I had been running 2.5, once or twice a week for a month or so.

Ran 4 Wednesday night, focused on not going too fast, felt ok. Ran 4 this morning, pretty relaxed the whole way, but still took 2-1/2 minutes off of my time - big difference!”

“I decided to do a trail half marathon tomorrow, I have done the full and half before and love it. Bummer is the weather, lots of snow and rain, oughtta be a mess but fun....”

“good luck Birch - watch out for the slippery slideys!

I bet there was 200 dogs there this morning - everything from Chiuauas to Great Danes.”

“Great time Roam! Good job.”

“Awesome, Roam Around! Glad to see you're enjoying Colorado, which I can only imagine has a very outdoor-minded atmosphere.

Good times Fritz.

Birch, you're a brave man. I've just recently started trail-running more, since I can do it literally from my backyard. I won't for several days though, and will opt for running on the roads. It's raining like a banshee and will be muddy for quite some time. Trail-running is a hoot though, and also great training for hiking.”

“Yes, there is a very outdoor minded atmosphere here. Which makes for a lot of opportunities and most counties have 'open space' programs and the state park system is widespread and wonderful. However the other edge of the sword is that since most people who live here are outdoorsy types, the parking lots fill up and you have to get pretty far off the beaten path to have much chance of solitude. But I ain't complaining - the people that are out there are generally considerate and nice to chat with.”

“well the race was AWESOME!!! It was cool (high 20's to low 30's) with a stiff breeze outta the NE and blowing snow flurries. The parking lots was full even with the weather. I hung out in my car and drank coffee and read till it was time to run.

The trail was better than I had expected, it ws wt but not very muddy (except the really low spots). I started pretty slow and wanted to get 3 or so miles done before picking up my pace. I settled in and tried to weave my way through the crowds (running on single track is a challenge requiring a fine balance of sprints and courtesy and you pass or are passed). I was feeling great and the miles started to roll by quickly. At about 6.5 miles I was grabbing a water from an aid station and looked ahead and saw someone familiar, LeSubtil had signed up late like myself and had left with the first wave of 1/2 marathoners. We said hi and exchanged pleasantries and went back to our runs. At Mile 8 I noticed that I was speeding up and that I was feeling better still so I steadily picked up my pace, sprinting down the long hills and flats and recovering on the uphills. Mile 10 rolled by and with 5k to go I was anxious. I watched the clock but never saw mile 11 which made 12 a very pleasant surprise. I new at 12 I would not make one of my goals (to beat 1hr 55 min) but I would still be under 2 hours by a couple minutes. I ran hard (may last few miles were at an 8min pace as opposed to the 10min pace I began at). I sprinted that last few hundred yards to cross at 1hr 57min 52 seconds (my watch, the chip time isnt in yet but will be within a few seconds). I was more then happy. I changed quickly trotted back to see LeSubtil finish and see how he did, I headed home quickly in dire need of coffee. Its my 3rd year doing this course an I love it. Very challenging but a great crowd! I do feel bad for the full marathoners though, the second lap is prolly a mudbowl.
last edited: 4/24/05 11:33:18 AM”

“I forgot to mention that Vasque deserves some high praise for their Velocity trail running shoes. I swear there was glue on my soles cause In never slipped once, I actually heard a few runners commenting on how they wish they had trail shoes on. Thanks vasque!!!!!”

“Sounds like you had a GREAT race birch!

Congrats!

and to Le Subtil as well!”

“I signed up for another 5k, in May. The Colorado Rockies Home Run 5k. As a bonus, included in the registration fee are two tickets to the game later that same day! The finish of the race circles the warning track and we cross home plate at Coors Field to finish. Should be a blast of a race in downtown Denver.

And, theres a kids run that just circles the warning track so Sarah will get to do that. She seems to really like doing the races with me, now I need to get her worked up to training a little bit with me.

My goal is to do one race per month the rest of the year and a 10k by the end of the year.”

“Thanks Roam!

The 5k you have coming up sounds fun. I love races that add a twist to make em unique. Its great to see that kids are included in it all, what a great way to get children into running and fitness.

I think your monthly goal is a great idea, it makes staying fit so much more fun when its for a reason. Happy running!!!”

“The official results are in...

my chip time was 1hr 57 min 56 sec.
I finished 17 out of 50 in men 30-34
I finished 109 out of 584 total runners. Last 1/2 I did their I was 150th out of about 550.

Artex, I am not brave. I just have bad judgement LOL. I wish I had trails I didnt have to drive to.
last edited: 4/25/05 5:44:46 AM”

“I'm signing up to do a 5K on May 14th. Will be a good gauge to see where I'm at with my goal time for the 4th of July!”

“What a beautiful race, with all the trees covered in snow!
Course, that also meant all the trees & brush were hanging low over the trail. Sucks to be 6' tall sometimes.

My chip time was 2:03:23
19th out of 46 men 45-49
172nd overall.

This race helped me decide to sign up for the trail marathon on Grand Island July 30th.”

“BTW, great time Birch. It was great to run into another TT'er at an aid station!”

“Lesubtil, I agree. Its always nice to see a familiar face at a race. You were prolly amazed that I didnt jabber your ears off (which is my usual habit LOL), running is the one time (excluding sleep or comas) when I dont talk much. Good job to you also. I look forward to hearing about the garnd island run. I would love to do that one day.”

“Where was that run, guys?”

“SG, it was on the Potowatomi trail.”

“The 5K on May 14th is a trail run, near Johnson's Creek in Northville. Never done a trail run before, so it should be interesting!”

“If you want to start running on a trail on Tuesday we could meet up at Rotary Park (6 and Hubbard) and do a couple laps there. A lap is roughly a mile.”

“Next week I can - tonight I have to go to a planning commission meeting. I'll shoot you an e-mail next week!”

“sounds good. Weather's kinda crappy today anyways.”

“hey sg, that 5k was on my list, too. but, it turns out that i'll be out of town that weekend. good luck to you!”

“btw, congrats on the half marathon trail run, guys. glad you enjoyed yourselves.”

“ Keweenaw Trail Running Festival 09-10 Jul 2005

Grand Island Trail Marathon 30 Jul 2005”

“Hey Tarabull! :-)
Haven't seen you in a while!

Thinkbubelz & I are taking a running class through "Running Fit". :-) It gives us an entry in a run/walk tomorrow night out from their Novi Store... :-) (5 k). I'm not up to running the whole distance yet (still building up my endurance--and the colder weather makes it difficult for me to breath properly), but since it's a free entry, we plan to try it for fun! :-) (I'm pretty sure I will come in last place, but what the heck-- got to start somewhere!) :-)

I hope the weather isn't too icky!”

“Hi Pink. Yeah, I've been pretty busy these last few weeks. My TrailTalk attendance has been pretty sporadic. I'm finishing up my last semester of classes (taking my last final in a couple hours) and I started working at a brewery so many of my nights are filled.

Still running w/ dad. Not as often as I like.

I'm walking lots, tho... I wore a pedometer to work last night and in six hours I walked 6.5 miles. And, yesterday wasn't even a busy night.”

“Thursdays Gramma takes Abby for the evening and Birch and I usually go kayaking. It was windy and he was tired so we went for a run together instead. I haven't run any further than 3 miles since last November when my tendonitis struck.
We decided we'd go the six mile route and I could peel off and head for home at three or four or five miles if I needed to and I could set the pace. I felt great, ran the entire six and was amazed to find I ran a 9:29 pace. =D This morning I'm a tad sore but feel fantastic, like I'm walking on clouds.
There are tons of great races coming up, a midnight 15K run, the Chicago muddy buddy, a trail run that I'd like to do. Every single one falls on a school weekend. So, I may have to resort to the Detroit marathon.
I'm so tickled to be running again!”

“actually it was a 920 pace...:)”

“This past Sat was the Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon. They had between 17,000 & 18,000 people sign up for it. Over 11,000 did the half and 5000 did the full.

This was my first time to watch it. It was interesting to see the folks in wheelchairs (not your normal ones) do the full marathon.
When they came by people were up cheering and yelling for them.

It took about 15 to 20 minutes for the elite runners to come down the street. I was at an area where the came down one side of the street then ran through some neighborhoods then came right back to the same street. It was amazing to see the street full of runners on both side.

After I saw my friend come by I headed back to my car and made my way to the finish line for the half.

I saw lots of folks dressed in weird outfits or wearing off hats. I took a few pictures of them. The one I wanted was a guy dressed in a pink tutu, wearing pink running shoes and a pink cowboy hat. He had come all the way from England to run the full marathon.

To me the most impressive feat was a woman who completed the full marathon in 8 hrs and some odd minutes. What made her stand out was that a year ago she couldn't evenrun. She has had Cerebral Palsy since she was a child. She had a trainer and they worked together. We saw her at the 22 mile marker. She was all smiles and was thanking everyone for still being there cheering her on.

here are my pics from the marathon.
http://community.webshots.com/album/335452638noLqVR

Applesauce, did you and your wife make it down. I saw lots of TNT people from Michigan at the pasta dinner (Friday night) and the show (Sat night) at the Wildhorse
last edited: 5/02/05 7:57:07 AM”

“Sounds cool Eddy!”