Maya's birthday is today, October 13th, she's turning 7 this year. She continues to amaze Sarah and I every single day with how she continues to mature and grow. Over the last year, she has continued to become a "little mother." Especially with Harper's recent health issue. Maya acts as though she is about 3-5 years older. She is loving, caring, and always looking to help, no matter how small. This year, ever since Delaney's birthday (June), Maya has been asking to do her birthday interview. This has become a neat tradition for our family and a fun way to watch how our kids grow and change over the years.
I say it every year, but it holds true.... I can not believe my daughter is turning 5 today. Delaney is our little girl and most likely always will be. She is full of love and is such a caring friend to anyone. Delaney is the type of kid who has absolutely zero "stranger-danger" and everyone is a friend. She has a heart that is too big, if that is a possible fault. She is a joy to watch grow and at times I forget that she is getting so old, since she is such a small-fry. She has an imagination that is second to none, along with the love for performing. Even with her tender heart, she can really test our tempers. Happy Birthday to the one and only Delaney!!!
The Bellin 10k is another race that I had on my race bucket list. In the past, though, I have always opted to race triathlons over the Bellin. The last couple years, I raced the Elkhart Lake Triathlon, which falls on the same day. This year, I have been running so much, I simply haven't found the time to get out on my bike or in the pool. I figured I would take advantage of my running fitness and finally cross the Bellin 10k off my bucket list.
The Bellin is a huge race, not just in central Wisconsin, but throughout the national running community. Regularly, the Bellin draws over 15,000 runners...for a 10k!!! In the past, they have brought in an impressive elite field, including USA Olympians, Marathon Champions, and historic running bigwigs. This year, they announced that Meb Keflezighi, who won an Olympic medal in 2004 and won the Boston Marathon in 2014. Once I heard that Meb would be running the same race I was, I was instantly thrilled about the opportunity to meet Meb.
This race will also be my first 10k in about 5 years. I had no idea what my goal time was for the race. My best 5k recently was just under 18 minutes. I then began checking last years results from the Bellin and looked up times for my age group. Without making a specific time goal, I made the goal for my race to finish in the top 100 overall and top 10 in my age group. I made a rough time goal of 37 minutes.
Training for This Race
I decided pretty late leading up to this race to register for it. Lately, I have been so focused on training for my Fall 50 ultramarathon, that I haven't trained for anything else specifically. With that all being said, I did nothing specific leading up to this race.
Prerace
The race was run on Saturday, June 11th and offered packet pick up on Friday evening. I had to work Thursday night into Friday morning. After getting a bunch of chores done around the home and around town, I made the short trip up to Green Bay to get my race packet. The packet pick up and race expo was held within Astor Park. It was very organized, as you would expect for a highly successful, large race that has been running for the past 40 years. I didn't stick around too long and pretty much left right after picking up my stuff.
Maya had her "Bridging Ceremony" for girl scouts Friday evening that our family attended. A strong storm passed through the area that evening which cut the ceremony short and we were home before 7:30. I was in bed around 9:30 and had my alarms set for 5:00am, with hopes of leaving by 6:00am. I slept pretty well and was up right about 5:00. After downing some fresh brewed coffee, I was out the door shortly after 6:00. To handle all the participants, in addition to parking in the street, the Bellin offered a shuttle service leaving from two different locations. One left from a parking ramp to the west of the race location and the other was to the east of the start line. I parked in a parking ramp, which was the shuttle location of the west shuttle. I was on the first or second shuttle which started running at 6:30. After getting to the starting area I walked around to let time pass before warming up. It didn't take long for the sheer number of runners and participants to multiply exponentially. Within the first 30-45 minutes of being near the start line, the streets and parks filled with people. I started warming up around 7:15 by running about 1.5 miles and then did some dynamic warm up exercises. I actually felt really good. I made my way to start corral #1 with plenty of time to spare and just hung out until the National Anthem and the announcing of the elite field.
Nutrition Plan
My nutrition plan was simple and was basically the same plan I have used for most shorter running races. Due to the impending heat during the race (temperatures were expected to be in the mid 80's my 10:00am), I downed a full water bottle of water with Hammer Nutrition Endurolytes Fizz to keep my electrolytes in check. I also took two capsules of Hammer Nutrition Anti-Fatigue Caps.
The race started with about a two mile stretch without turns. It was mostly downhill. I think I may have gone out a bit too fast, but it's not like I totally imploded. The entire first mile was lined with music and large crowds of spectators. I was very impressed and surprised with how many spectators came out to see the runners. I could only compare it to the Boston Marathon. Now before you call me crazy, the crowds at the Boston Marathon were much louder and more enthusiastic, not to mention more of them But the Boston Marathon is the only other large race I have competed in. So the Bellin had the best crowds I have seen, outside of the Boston Marathon. Anyway, after crossing the mile marker 2, I took a second to evaluate everything. I thought about my pace, my breathing, my ego, and my body. I told myself that I only have 4 miles to go and felt as though I should slow up a bit to avoid crashing at mile 5. Plus, it was getting hot. I crossed the half way point and I was already working pretty hard. It was at this point were I first starting grabbing water just to rinse out my mouth and dump the excess on my head to stay cool. As I continued to check off miles, I felt like I held a pretty steady pace and never really lost ground to any other runners. I pretty much held my position in relation to the people around me at the half way point.
The second half of the race was by far the best part. Around the 4th mile, the Green Bay Packers had 3 players out on the course to cheer the runners and offer up high fives to the runners. By far, the biggest highlight of my race came shortly after the 6 mile mark, just before the end of the race. As I was making my way down the gated off area of the race, making my last couple turns to the finish line, I saw a tall and skinny runner running the opposite direction. It was MEB! I yelled out to Meb as we approached each other. He pointed at me and gave me a high five as I passed by him. This short encounter with one of the greatest runners in US history, gave me a new level of energy and powered me to the finish line. Even though I was probably as close I have ever come to puking while running, I pushed through the finish line. I finished in 38:15, 49th place overall out of 13,144, and 13th out of 530 in my age group (M30-34). I am completely ecstatic with my race results, even if I didn't finish in the top 10 in my age group. To finish in the top 50 out of over 13,000 participants is awesome! This year the Bellin 10k drew a total of 16,944 total participants, including team participants, wheelchair, and My Team Triumph participants.
Post Race
After crossing the finish line, I had no clue what place I took and would have to wait a while to find out. The Bellin had no posted race results on site after the race. All of the race results where posted through their online race results website, which also offered text message updates. Regardless of what place I took, I was on cloud 9 after giving Med a high five. I thought it was so cool of such an elite runner to start running the course backwards to show respect for runners of all levels. It turns out Med won the race overall with a time of 30:08. My plan was to head home shortly after the race to get some rest as I had to work 12 hours that night. So I headed over to the shuttle pick up location to jump on the first bus to bring me back to the parking ramp, which was supposed to start running at 9:00am. I got there right at 9 and I was the only one around. I talked to the bus driver who said they would not leave until the bus was full. I opted to just run to the parking ramp, which ended up being just over a mile and half from the race location. I beat the bus to the ramp, in fact, I never even saw a bus show up, so I definitely saved some time.
What's on Tap
With the Bellin now in the rear view mirror, It's time to really focus on the Fall 50. I had planned on racing the Ripon Medical Center Triathlon in July, but due to my work schedule, I won't be able to be there this year, which bums me out. But, on the bright side, I will be able to focus that much more on the Fall 50 instead of investing time in triathlon specific training. Even though the Bellin is done, I totally fell in love with the race. It was well run, well organized, had awesome support from volunteers and the community. It also had awesome race course entertainment. I made a very aggressive and immediate post race goal. I want to race the Bellin in 2017 and finish in under 36 minutes. It's one hell of a goal, to take 2 minutes off of a 10k, but if I train hard and follow a specific 10k training program, you never know what could happen.
A couple weeks out from this race, I stumbled upon this
event.As far as I am aware this was the
first running of this event.It worked
out well in my schedule.I was off of
work, but had to go back to work on Sunday night.Sarah and the girls were away for Memorial
Day, so I decided this would be something to do over the weekend while I sit
home alone.In addition to it working
well in my schedule, the race raised money for a charity called Hope for
Warriors which helps veterans find work after returning from war.And by far the most impressive fact about the
event is that 100% of money raised went directly to Hope for Warriors.
Training for This Race
This entire year, I have made a shift from my traditional
training. I have been running nearly 6-7 days a week, logging up to 70 mile
weeks.I obviously did not train
specifically for this race, as I just learned of the event the week of the
race.I did choose to not only just run
to the race, but run 11 miles to the race.I figured this would be a way to keep my weekly mileage up, while still
enjoying a short distance race.
Prerace
As I just mentioned, I chose to run to the race.This was the first time I have ever done
this.Initially I was planning on
running to and from the race, but decided that I wanted to go out to my
family's cabin for the night and wanted to get out there earlier.I still wanted to keep my mileage up, so I
found a new route which was about 11 miles to the race site.I woke up just before 5am and was out the
door around 6am.I had a nice and easy
run.The weather was cool and
humid.Once I got to the race site, I
met up with my buddy, Bob.We had about
a half an hour to catch up, since it's been a while since I've had the
opportunity to chat with him.
Nutrition Plan
My nutrition plan was simple.I had a couple cups of coffee before heading
out the door and once on the road, I just sipped on a water bottle of HammerNutrition Perpetuem for calories during my run to the race.I also drank some water along the way.Once at the race site, I had a HammerNutrition Gel about 5-10 minutes before the race.Once the race kicked off, I didn't worry
about any water or calories during the race.I was hoping to finish around 30 minutes and didn't need anything to
help me get to the finish line.
Once the race started, a group of about 5 runners took off
at a pretty good clip.I had a good
feeling most if not all of them would run out of gas pretty quick, but only 1
or 2 of them actually did.It took my
until about the first mile marker to take the lead.Once in the lead, I was following the race
official, who was riding a bicycle.We
crossed one of the major roadways and were on the large property of Thrivent
Financial who has a small trail system throughout their property.This was were most of the race was planned to
be ran.I'll try to not sound like a
crabby sourpuss, and I will also try to not drag this out.But to keep this short, the gal who was
leading the race, made multiple mistakes.The first mistake she made went completely unnoticed.There was a volunteer standing on a corner
with a sign stuck in the ground with an arrow pointing to the right.The race leader went straight and confidently
waved her arm forward and claimed to know the proper route.Turns out, we were supposed to turn
right.After that, she brought be about
a tenth of a mile past a turn before she realized she missed a turn.This allowed the rest of the runners to catch
up to me.This was the second time I
passed a couple of the runners.A short
while later, she missed another turn.Believe it or not, she again missed another turn and tried to take us
completely back down the route we have been on for nearly a mile.The girl who was behind me, said very angerly, "NO WAY! We'll figure this out on our own."Now, since I had run to the race site, I had
a general idea of how far it was from where we were at this point back to the
finish line.We had only run about 3
miles.So I told the girl behind me that
if we run a half mile down the trail and turn around, we should get back to the
finish line at about 5 miles.Turns out,
I cut it a little short, completely unintentionally.I crossed the finish line 29:26, but had only
ran 4.68 when the race was an 8k or 4.96 miles.
Now, don't get me wrong, I was quite frustrated, but having
run many road races in my career, I know part of the blame falls squarely on my
shoulders.In any race, the runner is
ultimately responsible for knowing the correct route.This is true for any race from the Boston
Marathon right down to the Hope for Warriors 8k.With that being said, the girl who was
leading the race, had a gosh darn map of the route in her hand while she was
biking!I mean seriously?!?As they guys on ESPN's Monday Night Countdown
say... C'MON MAN!I can forgive a missed
turn, but three??? Below is a picture of
the route compared to the route that we actually ran.They are no where remotely close to being
identical.We would have been better off
just going down the road for 2.5 miles and turning around.But, whatever, I can't change anything that
happened.I technically won the race,
but just didn't feel good about it.I
don't think anyone was particularly happy with the race itself, which is sad.The race itself was organized.It was small, but organized.Plus it was for a great cause, in which 100%
of money raised was donated - and that's something you very rarely see.I feel bad in a way, because I would like to
see the race succeed and continue to grow, but with that being their first time
running the event, I find it hard to believe any of the participants would come
back next year.I know I probably won't.
The Actual Race Route
The Route I Ran
What's on Tap
Up next is the Bellin 10k.Believe it or not, this will be the first time I ever run the
Bellin.the Bellin is probably one of
the biggest races in the state of Wisconsin.Literally over 20,000 participants run this 10k.It draws some of the best runners in the
world.This year, Meb Keflezighi, will
be running the race.I am super pumped
to run the race along with him.He is a
Olympic Marathoner from the good ol' US of A.He also won the 2014 Boston Marathon and was thefirst American to win it since 1982.Other than running the Bellin, I am
continuing to increase my weekly mileage and continue to prepare for my first
ultramarathon, the Fall 50 in October.
It's been a year and a half since I
last ran a marathon and 16 months since my last half marathon. I've
really missed the longer distance events. Sarah and I had a couple
extensive discussions about possibly racing another Ironman in 2017 or
2018. I got excited at the idea of racing a 70.3 half Ironman this
summer to get back into racing long course triathlons again, but then I
took a step back and tried to plan my training for a 70.3 this year. I
had a very difficult time scheduling 4 hour bike rides and 4-6 hour
training blocks into my personal schedule. My life is in a new place
now, with a third daughter. I was having a hard time figuring a way to
allow me to get all the training in. There is no doubt in my mind that I
would be able to finish a 70.3, but I want to be competitive. The idea
of just finishing doesn't motivate me to put in the training. So that
lead me to some new goals for 2016. I have wanted to "run the year" the
past few years, but never truly attempted to achieve it, due to cycling
and swim training. I decided that I would focus on running for a while
(few years), while my kids are growing up. Running is easy to work
into my schedule. It's much more conducive to run before the sun comes
up in the morning, where the same is cannot be said for cycling or
swimming. I am also able to take advantage of drop off child care at my
local YMCA and run for up to 3 hours on a treadmill. So That leads me
to my goal races for the year. I decided to focus back on distance
running this year. First on my list was a spring marathon. Second was
my first ultra marathon.
I registered for the Oshkosh Marathon for a few reasons. First, I
couldn't beat the cost. I got a 50% off deal from Groupon for the
marathon. Second, it fit into my work schedule and my personal
schedule, and it is close to home and wouldn't require me to travel or
stay in a hotel. Lastly, two years ago while training for the Whistle
Stop Marathon, I did a lot of my training runs on the Wiouwash Trail, as
the marathon was a trail marathon and fell in love with the scenery on
along the trail. The Oshkosh Marathon has a 7 mile stretch of of the
trail as part of the course, which was enticing.
Training for This Race
I created a strict, specific, 16 week training plan leading up to the
April 24th race. My training was going great initially. But, then came
my first hurdle. I some how, some way, injured my neck on January
25th. It put me in the Emergency Room. I took a 2 week hiatus from
running to allow, what my chiropractor called, a compressed disc to
heal. I finally got back to a normal running routine on February 9th.
At that point, I made some minor adjustments to my training plan and
began following it very loosely. I was actually probably very smart
about my training. I followed my training plan with workouts, but was
flexible with what I did on a day to day basis. I knew what I needed to
achieve throughout a specific week, but made my day-to-day decisions
based on how I felt, my personal schedule, and other various metrics.
But then, on March 31st, I had a 10 mile tempo workout, which I ran on a
treadmill. I felt great afterward and went to work that night. I made
the decision to do a "back-to-back" running day and run a 6 mile "easy"
run the morning after work. I finished it, but noticed a "niggle" in
my left calf throughout the run. It never hindered my run, but I
noticed it. It got tighter and tighter throughout the run, but
finished. I biked the next day, hoping to work out the soreness. I
then attempted to get back out for a run on April 3rd. I wasn't able to
get further than 2.46 miles. At this point the race was 3 weeks out. I
knew that if I was going to be able to not only run the race, but
finish, I would have to be smart with my calf and not force anything. I
made a couple more attempts at running on both April 5th and 6th, but
ended with the same results. I felt good for about the first mile, then
noticed my calf tightening up, and would just bag the run all together.
I took my second two week break from running, this time during my peak
training weeks. I finally was able to get back to running on April
15th, just about a week out from the race. These two "injuries" really
changed my goals for the race.
I will say though, I really took away two big learning points this
training cycle. First off, on the Endurance Planet "Ask the Coaches"
Podcast, one of the host's favorite running workouts was an "over/under"
run. The concept is simple. You take your goal race pace, then run a
mile at 10 seconds faster and alternate that with a mile at 10 seconds
slower than your goal pace. Basically, I would run a mile or two warm
up, and follow that with 4-8 miles alternated at a 6:40 pace and 7:00
pace. The workout is challenging and never really gives you a slow
recovery. I fell in love with this workout and will definitely use this
again. The second learning point I took away was the idea of having a
flexible training schedule. Basically I knew the 2 or 3 key workouts I
wanted to achieve during a weekly training cycle, but would plan out my
cycle literally in 2-4 day stretches. in the past, I would follow my
training plan to a "T." This would get difficult and frustrating. But
making these adjustments made my life less stressful and allowed for my
body to adapt and recover. If I wasn't a complete idiot that one day
which caused my calf to tighten up. I completely blame myself for
"injuring" my calf, due to just being stupid.
Prerace
The entire week or two leading up to the race, I had been checking the
weather forecast. The forecast was not promising. All week there was
an 80% chance of thunderstorms and cool and breezy. The night before
the race, the forecast was the best I had seen. There was a slight
chance the rain would hold off until the afternoon. I was ecstatic with
this. Not that I would have any control over this, or let this get to
me mentally, but let's just be honest, no one likes running in the cold
ran...let alone thunderstorms.
The Friday before the race, we brought the girls to a Brewer's game with
some friends of the family. I did something that I don't think I have
ever done....drank alcohol within the week of a major race. I had three
beers! I guess, at this point, I had the mentality that I was not
going to be setting any personal records at this race, just based on my
training. I chose to have a few brews to enjoy the company and have
fun. I thought, what's the worse that could happen at this point?
Three beers would not dramatically impact my race, 36 hours later.
On Saturday, I was on my feet way more than I would have liked to be,
but again, oh well, life is life. I had to take care of filling in
several holes in our yard and planting grass in those spots. I also
made it down to the race expo for my packet pick-up. The process was
actually very smooth, I credit that do the smaller size of the race.
That evening, I had a baked filet of tilapia with a sweet potato and a
salad for dinner. I drank a lot of fluids throughout the day and
finished the day with my traditional cup of chamomile tea before bed. I
was able to get to bed right around 8pm and watched a little of the
start of the NHL Playoffs.
I woke up when my alarm went off at 4:30 and was on the road by 5am and
got to the race site by 5:30...exactly as I planned. I just chilled up
until about 6:20ish, which is when I stated doing some of my favorite
dynamic movements to help loosen and warm up before the race. The
weather outlook was just about perfect. Temperatures were in the upper
40's with overcast skies. The rain looked like it was going to hold off
for the morning.
Nutrition Plan
In every single previous marathon I have run, I have had some sort of
breakfast. Whether it be a Powerbar (way back when), toast with peanut
butter and honey, or a sweet potato. For this race, I chose to try
something new...to not eat a damn thing. All I had before the race was
coffee and a few swigs of water with a tablet of Hammer Nutrition Endurolytes Fizz. My fueling free morning seemed to work, as I never really got hungry before the race.
The days leading up to the race I took my standard dosage of 4 servings a day for 4 days leading up to race day of Race Day Boost. As far as my race plan, I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. I first took two capsules of Anti-Fatigue Caps one hour prior to the start of the race, then I carried 4 Hammer Gels with
me, along with a few additional Anti-Fatigue Caps. My plan was to take
a gel at or around miles 5, 10, 15, and 20 and take an additional 2
Anti-Fatigue Caps around miles 10 and 20. I ended up taking a gel at 5
and 10 and 16. At that point my I never really felt like I wanted to
take an additional gel, but also felt like I needed something. So at
about mile 21-22, I forced about half of my last gel down. I also took
two Anti-Fatigue Caps around mile 13. My body started craving something
sweet, but not a gel, around mile 23. So, I took an orange slice from
an aid station, and it tasted so good. I also took about three cups of
Gatorade from 3 separate aid stations from the remaining 4-5 miles of
the race. I felt good, all around, just wasn't digging the gels at that
point in time.
As
I mentioned above, my training was inconsistent at best leading up to
the race, so my expectations were curbed. I really didn't have any
specific goals other than not to embarrass myself. I set a wide range
of times for a finish goal. My range was 3:00 to 3:30. I figured I
should have no problem finishing within that time window. So at the
start of the race, I really just wanted to take it intentionally easy
and just get into a groove that I could sustain for at least 20 miles.
Once the race started I did my best not to get sucked into the rush that
happens at every race start. I knew that still went out a bit too fast
and did my best to pull myself back. By mile 4, I had the inkling that
I probably had been going too hard. My heart rate at this point was in
the mid to upper 160's. I slowed up a bit, but also tried not to look
at my watch for time and distance as I just wanted to run based on feel
for at least the first half. As I continued to pass mile markers, I
continued to see my heart rate in the 160-165 range. I decided to just
do my best to try and regulate my heart rate the best I can and just
keep the fact that this was a 26.2 mile race and not anything less.
Miles
3-20 were by far the most scenic miles of the race. These miles were
run on the Wiouwash Trial that I mentioned about. The course was set up
to run the first 3 miles to get out of the City of Oshkosh and to get
onto the trail itself. Miles 3 to 10 were all north on the trail.
There were several old bridges from when the trail was originally a
train track. I first saw Sarah and the girls along with my parents and
my in-laws around mile 9. It was great to see some familiar faces as it
had been a while since I saw anyone. The total number of marathon
participants was pretty low, which left us runners pretty spread out, so
it was nice to just see a person. Just before reaching the mile 10
mile marker, you hit the turn-around point and headed back south down
the trail.
Miles 11-20
After
hitting the turnaround point just before the 10 mile mark, I was on the
"home stretch." I only had another 16 miles to go and I was making my
way back into the City of Oshkosh. At this point in the race, I had a
feeling my heart rate was too high and was going to cause problems later
on. I just did my best to keep my pace in check and keep a close eye
on my heart rate. My goal was to stay below 160 bpm. I look at my
watch for a time for the first time just after the half way mark. I was
at 1:34. My immediate thought was, "Wow, I could really put up a good
time." My second thought was, "I better get my heart rate down if I
want to be any where near a even split." As I approached mile 15, my
stomach wasn't really craving a gel, so I opted to push it back a mile
or two and see if that made a difference. I approached the water
station in the vicinity of mile 16, I forced myself to take as much of a
gel as I could. I ended up sucking down at least 75% of it and I
called it good. It was right about this point that fatigue set in.
Part of me was pissed that it again was happening. That again, I would
be taking walking breaks. The other part of me was actually surprised
that I made it this far before fatigue got the best of me. My
cardiovascular system was feeling great, my lungs felt like they could
keep on keeping on. My legs though, they felt heavier and heavier with
every passing mile. I did my best to just make it mile marker to mile
marker.
Miles 21-26.2
By the time I got to mile 20, I
was
still just going mile to mile with short walking breaks. My legs were
destroyed by this point. I again didn't want anything to do with a gel,
but knew I needed the calories. At mile 21/22 I forced about a half of
a gel down the hatch. I knew that I didn't get nearly enough calories,
so I started to take Gatorade from the water stations. The flavor of
the Gatorade tasted great and wasn't exactly what I would have
preferred, but they went down great. At about the 23 mile mark, I
grabbed an orange slice, and let me tell you, it was the best damn
orange and it hit the spot. After getting to mile 24, I just kept
telling myself, "2 more miles...15 more minutes." I just kept pushing
till the end. I finished the race in 3:17:53, 18th place overall, and
3rd in my age group.
Post Race
At
the end of the race, I had mixed feelings about my race. First, I was
actually really happy with finishing at all. I honestly had forgotten
how hard marathons were. I guess a better way of putting it would be
that I took running a quick marathon for granted. It's not easy at
all. See, over the last couple years, I have been running shorter
races, simply using my base fitness. Marathons are not easy, nor can
you just mosey your way through one. Sure, you may be able to mosey
your way to just simply finishing one, but if you have ambitious goals,
you better have put in the work...and consistent work. Ultimately, at
3:17 marathon is nothing to scoff at. Especially knowing that I took
four weeks off from a 16 week training plan (25%). Not only did I miss
25% of my training plan, two weeks were the two biggest weeks leading
up to my taper.
After the race, I got to hang out with my buddy from Winnebago. I
haven't seen him in what felt like years. But it was great to catch up
with him after a race. He ran the half marathon after working all
night. After sticking around for a bit, I headed home to try and take a
nap before work. Yup, I had to work third shift the night after a
marathon.
What's on Tap
With my marathon out of the way, I have one remaining "A" race left on
my schedule and it is quite possibly my biggest race, at least since the
Ironman. On October 22nd, I will be running the "Fall 50," a 50 mile
ultra marathon in Door County, WI. I am also 1/3 of the way into my
goal of running 2016 miles in 2016. I am behind the 8 ball to be
honest, but with my training for the Fall 50 coming up later this
summer, I should be close. Also coming up is our family trip to
Florida, which we are all very excited for.
