20 days 22 hours 6 minutes 10 seconds

Running for over ten hours gives you some time to think about a few things.

Today is the second and last scheduled 20-22 mile long run for my cleveland marathon training program. I did it earlier this week using the first 20 of the birthday run as my long run for this week. Seeing all my running friends hit up the big 20 miles this week just makes me feel happy and proud. I can remember the first time I hit that 20 mile mark. The weeks before the run all I could think about was the 20 mile mark, in short I was scared shitless! The 18 mile run I ran two weeks before felt like it was going to put me in the hospital and I had to push out two more miles. After my first 20 mile run, I felt like the marathon was in my sites! It was a huge hump in my training and I was so proud of completing it.

This years training was no different, the dreaded 20 mile run was in my head the whole time. My first of two 20 mile training runs ended at 18ish... I was a little down about it, but ok with it. The second 20 miles, well thats when I had a break threw.

There will alway be the fear of trying something new. The fear of not completing a goal. The fear of the pain you know is coming. The fear of trying to push yourself and you end up sitting on a park bench wondering why the hell are you doing this anyway. I think you get what I am saying... I think that I always looked at the distance as a chore and I knew when this chore was done I was going to hurt like hell. My mind was telling me why do it again? Why go thru the pain, when I could just stop. When I passed the 20 mile mark on my run I felt proud again, I felt like I did the first time I ran my first 5k. I felt like I pushed thru that mind set that told me I would be only rewarded with pain. Don't get me wrong here my legs were feeling the milage, but I was only thinking about my next goal and getting to feel that proud feeling of completing a distance that I have only been at one time before. As I pushed on to the marathon distance, I knew a new goal of mine was coming close, the 50K mark. The fear was now replaced with a new feeling. The feeling that with every step I am closer to a new achievement. The pain of achy legs was gone, almost like I just started running. I slowly pushed myself past the point were fear and pain ruled and made it to the other side. Ya I know I am clinically crazy, Its just something you have to experience.

I guess the biggest thing I learned on my 10 plus hour run is that, don't fear the distance, its just part of the journey.


Every time you run
you create the quality
of your own experience.


runners often speak of pain
and of course if you want that
you can have all you want
merely by pushing yourself
beyond your limits
every time you run.


it's your choice of whether
to run to punish your self
or to experience your self.
if you choose, with me, the later
then ever run can be joyful.
the key words are,
Take it easy!
create your self as a runner
gradually, patiently, relaxedly.


The Zen of Running
Fred Rohe

The Birthday 40 mile ultra

I think it was last year sometime someone asked me what I wanted to do for my 40th birthday, I said jokingly " I think I want to run 40 miles".



Thu, Apr 21, 2011 7:57 AM

My goal was to run, walk or craw until I hit 40 miles. I wanted to run the Burning River 100 mile course until I hit 40 miles then call in for my ride back. The course is mainly broken down into 5-6 mile sections so I would be running "A to H" Section A and B are on paved roads and the rest for the most part are trails. I decided to run in my New Balance trail shoes seeing that 75% would be on dirt trails.

For water and fuel, I had my Camel Back backpack that was full of just plain water and I brought two Cliff bars, lots of Gu, and four packs of power bar chews. I also brought my hand held 20oz water bottle that was full chia fresca that I made the night before.

For Navigation I used my Garmin 305, you can down load maps or courses into it. Plus it keeps track of your distances and times.

I also brought my Ipod nano to lessen to an audio book or some music. I do have an Iphone that I brought but I didn't want to run down the battery just incase I needed to phone a friend.

Section A: Old Mill & Chagrin River Roads 4.8 miles 54:15

Just normal old running on the roads here, just wanted to keep a steady and slow pace.

Section B: Polo Fields 4.8 miles 58:34

This section was also ran on the roads, It was a little confusing at the start with the Garmin and how it showed you the route. So after standing around a bit I figured it out and was on my way. The roads were not to bad and only a few harder up hills.

Section C: Harper Ridge Picnic 5.8 miles 1:27:52 When I got to the polo fields once again I was confused and where to go. I watched a You Tube video of the route and remembered that this is where the trails begin, but where? Still not to sure how the Garmin was pointing me I grabbed my phone and looked up the video and found the right way to go. I started down the trail and realized why they call it the Burning River 100... I am following the river. Duh, it takes a while sometimes. Running down the trail I started to feel my 10 mile yuck starting. Its a point in my runs that has been tearing me down for a while now. I usually can push threw   it, but a lot of times the couch wins. I put it in the back of my head and just enjoyed where I was at and where I was going. A few miles in it was getting a little muddy and I came up to some water crossings that soaked my shoes pretty well. The more I ran on the trails the loser I began to feel and next thing you know I was at the 15.4 mark.

I came out of the trails to a small picnic  area and sat down on a bench for a small rest and to figure out my next section.

Section D: Shadow Lake 3.2 miles 45:53This section was the shortest of all the sections, Some really nice relaxed running. I can start to feel my legs aching and hitting a small mental wall. I haven't been over 18 miles in a long time and I knew it was coming up. When I got to Shadow lake I grabbed one for my cliff bars and started to walk to the starting point of section E.

Section E: Egbert Shelter 4.8 miles 1:26:43

After walking around the lake and back into the trails, I decided that I wanted to at least take a small break and walk a mile. I could remember the 20-21 mile mark at the Cleveland Marathon last year and how my legs hurt like hell and I wanted to prolong that feeling. So the strangest thing happened about a half mile into the trail... I was running again? Mainly on the downs and straights but It just felt better to run them. When I came out of the trails to the bike paths I started to walk some more, my legs started to really hurt then. I knew that I was past the 20 mile mark and anything from here could be run ,walk or craw. I was using this run as part of my sunday 20 mile training run. I came up to the entrance back in the trails and off the bike paths. I think this is one of the best parts of the run up to this point. The trails were signal track zig zagging back and forth threw the woods. When running them I almost forgot were I was and how my legs were killing me. Wait! Legs killing me? Nope! it almost felt like I just started to run. I wasn't ever expecting this, I felt really good, loving the trails! I ran up on this shoe in the middle of the woods, It was sitting just like its pictured. I was laughing the whole time I saw it.

Section F: Alexander & Bedford Rd. 5 miles 1:22:18

Thou the easiest of the trails, it was the hardest mentally and physically. On this section I passed my distance record of 26.2 the marathon. I really started to break on this section, I kept on telling myself it doesn't matter on how fast you go, its the distance today. It doesn't matter when I finish only that I do.

I was out of Chia Fresca and was hitting all the snacks and chomps I had to get me going again. I was also getting low on water. I came up on a very nice looking water fall and filled up my 20oz with what I hope was fresh water...

Section G Station Rd. Bridge 4.9 miles 1:23:19

I made a short phone call to my wife to explain where I was and about how long before she would have to leave to pick me up at the end. I posted on Facebook my progress and got caught up on my birthday wishes. Sitting here I was at 28.4 miles and about to hit my winter goal of a 50k in 1.6 miles. I was hurting a little bit but nothing like it was after my marathon last year. Time to hit it again! I think I posted that it was time to harden up and get it done. I started of walking again until it turned to trails again. I almost missed the entrance to the Buckeye Trail, Thank you Garmin for yelling I was off course. The trails turned into some really nice signal person zig zags again and I started up running again. This is were I had a break threw, as soon as I started running the trails all the pain was gone. It was like once again I just started to run. The next two miles... I never wanted it to end, It felt so good to be there. I came out to a beat up road and started to walk some. I crossed the street and hit a bike/trail path that when along the river. I kept on walking wish that it would turn back into those dirt trails again. Around two miles down the path I realized where I was... The TowPath. I always wanted to run it, but today I was only going to walk some of it.

Section H Ottawa point  6.3 miles 1:30:00

I sat down on the bench and made the call for my wife to meet me at Ottawa point. I changed my socks to some fresh one I have been saving in my back pack and reloaded my 20oz with some fresh water. Made my update on Facebook, set the Garmin and hit the trail to finish my last section. I headed down the path and then my Garmin went dead! CRAP! the only thing that was keeping me on course just died. I crossed the road into the park and kept following the bike/hike trail. I was frantically looking for the blue slashes for the buckeye trail. I didn't want to use my phone to look it up because I was at 8% power and wanted to make sure that I could call someone if something happened. I ran across a bridge and kept following the path. I though I would try my Garmin one more time to see if it would turn on more more time to maybe give me a small sign of direction. Lucky me it lasted about two minutes, just enough to get me on the right track. After a few miles I tried the Garmin one more time to see if I could get a update. Once again it came on and I was going in the right direction. It only lasted for about 30 seconds that time. Then I came up up on my favorite sign of the day! The buckeye Trail! 

I felt like I was back on track! as soon as I got back on the trail it turned into the best time, I was running pain free threw some great trails. I came out onto some road that I thought was the finish. I had no clue how far I just ran or how much I had to go. So I grabbed my phone and hit maps really quick to see where I was. I look across the street and saw the buckeye trail sign and headed over.

Then I called my wife to see where she was and she didn't sound very happy, I guess she got a little lost on the trip out and was frustrated. I started walking down the road and decided to give her my location so she could use maps to get to me. She was about 20 minutes out so I found a place to sit down and rest.

Good Times.

29 days 17 hours 17 minutes 20 seconds

WHAT! less then 30 days! but I don't feel like I am even close to being ready for a marathon. I say that every time I head out for a run. It's almost one year ago I ran my first Marathon, and I am going to do it again.

Training has been going really good, on paper. I am putting in the workouts like my program says and I am making improvements in my time and endurance. Its the mental training that is bringing me down lately. Its a battle of "Will Power" and sometimes the old guy on the couch that like to drink beer and eat chips all day is winning this battle. I have not been over 18 miles in a year, my last 20 mile run ended at 18 because I lost that mental battle. Two weeks ago I hit a high in my sunday LSR when I did my 3 hour run and hit the 16 mile mark! I felt really good about that run! Last sunday was a easy two hour run that I was to give it my all and run it like a half- marathon. To say the least I didn't win that fight I made it about 6 miles at a good pace and felt like crap, no motivation to keep running. I started up after my refueling point and only made it 1.6 miles more... that guy on the couch won the battle. (i didn't really go the the couch and drink beer and eat chips)
I thank gosh for my cross training! I now love to swim and totally look forward to it every monday and thursday and now that the weathers warmer I am trying to get outside with my bike.
Then there is barefoot running. Its the one time I am really having fun running. I love my Vibram fivefingers I wear my Trek sports everywhere I can. I have even been wearing them to work lately. Don't get me started on my Bikila LS fivefingers they are the most comfortable thing in the world. I do short runs a couple times a week in them and hopefully someday I will be a full time VFF runner. I am going to try to get out and run some trails next week in my treks.

Strides Of March 5K race report

This is my second time running the Strides of March 5K and it the first 5k of 2011. With all the speed training and tempo/hill workouts I have been doing I was looking forward to running a 5k to see what kind of improvement I made. I think PR-ing a 5K is tough business! Its only three miles, to shave 1 minute off your time you would have to drop your pace 20 seconds a mile. Easier said then done to me...



Event Description: The 14th Annual Strides of March 5K Race and Walk, part of the month-long celebration of mental retardation and developmental disabilities awareness month, with all the proceeds going to benefit local children and adults with mental retardation and developmental disabilities

Course Description: The 3.1 mile race course winds along beautiful Sperry Road through The Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, Ohio. The out and back course is fully paved and is slightly hilly.


I got to meet up with Mike, his wife Kelly, there children only Jeremy was running this time and Kirsten from Days go by. Mike has been on the injured list for a couple of weeks so he didn't get to run. I felt kind of sad about that, I hate being on the side lines and you can tell he wanted to run.

We all lined up towards the front and after a few minutes the race got on its way. I really didn't have a plan for the race just to run a little harder and try to keep up the pace until I couldn't push any more. The first Mile I ran in 7:37 which is the fastest full mile I have ran to date! Plus the first mile was almost all up hill. The second mile I ran in 8:45, from mile 1 to 1.5 the hill got a little steeper but nothing crazy. The turn around point was at 1.5 and we got to start running down hill! I could tell that running that first mile that fast started to catch up with me a bit. I felt like dropping the pace more, I kept telling myself to man up and push harder its only one more mile. I ran mile 3 in 8:21, I think the down hill was helping me. As soon as the finish line was in site I stated to drop the hammer and give it all I could to finish strong. The last .1 I ran at a 6:43 pace! Thats so crazy!

Well I crossed the line in 25:33 a new 5K PR and a new course PR last year I ran it in 27:01, 01:28 faster.