Honoring Our Heroes in Blue

I was hoping to post a new Totally Random Thoughts (TRT) a few days ago and I was going to lead off with the tragic events that went down in Fond du Lac, WI last week.  However, the more I thought about it, I felt as though it would be disrespectful to simply consider the loss of a fellow officer a "Totally Random Thought."  So, I wanted to do a short blog of my thoughts and feelings in the wake of the death of Trooper Trevor Casper. 

If you wish to read about the event that took place last Tuesday you can read about it here: Officer Shot in Fond du Lac Standoff

On Sunday, I attended the funeral service for State Trooper Trevor Casper.  Trooper Trevor Casper was literally a brand new Trooper for the Wisconsin State Patrol.  Casper was a recent graduate of the Wisconsin State Patrol Academy and Tuesday was literally his first day on his own, coming off of Field Training.  It's like a story straight out of Hollywood, a brand new officer, on his first day of working on his own, is thrown directly into every cops worst nightmare.  In the end he paid the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of the public.  He was ultimately slain, but in the process of giving his life, he stopped the mindless killing of others by taking out the suspect in a true gunfight.  It's terrible and leaves a terrible feeling in my stomach.  My heart goes out to his family, friends, and fellow officers.  Casper was 21 years old and is the youngest ever officers killed in the line of duty in the State of Wisconsin. 

Trooper Casper's funeral was amazing, as are most other law enforcement funerals.  There is something special about law enforcement funerals.  The outpouring of support is breath of fresh air.  At Casper's funeral, literally thousands of officers, from 30 different states attended, along with thousands of non law enforcement community members to show their support for the family, friends, and the law enforcement community.  Being in the company of so many others in the same profession to show support for a fallen officer brings upon a feeling that is difficult to explain.  It makes me even more proud to be apart of a special group of people.  The dangers that law enforcement officers face day in and day out often go overlooked.  The same goes for your neighborhood firefighters, and medical personnel.  But during times like this, communities become one and show appreciation for the heroic acts of a single person.  It is truly a feeling that cannot be put into words and simply needs to be experienced. 

With all that being said, a law enforcement funeral is still an extremely emotional and difficult event to attend.  Personally, I hate them, but appreciate them for what they are, a celebration of a true HERO.  I wish they never had to happen.  It's a shame they exist.  I struggle emotionally the entire time.  For me, they are a realization of what this job is.  99% of the time, being a law enforcement officer is a great and safe job.  But the reality is there is always that 1% of the time.  There is always that 1% of the population.  They are always out there.  I guess that is why this funerals are so difficult, it brings out the sick, cold truth about our job.  It becomes exponentially more difficult for me, because of 3 beautiful girls who sleep so peacefully at night while I am at work, who simply just expect me to come home every morning.  While at these funerals by far the most difficult moments is meeting the family of the officer who gave their life.  I can't help but picture my wife and daughters standing there in line with numerous unanswered questions - the biggest one being, "why."  It just leaves me sick, sad, angry, and scared, scared for my family.  It is comforting knowing the support they would receive as a result from not only the community, but from the state, and the entire nation. 

After leaving the funeral you're left with a feeling of vulnerability.  A cold reminder of the dangers of the job, but at the same time, it's a reminder of why I do this job.  I do this job to make the community and the area I serve a better place.  I know that what I do makes the community a better place.  I work hard and I take pride in my work.  I know that what I do is right.  I know that I can carry the shield and continue to serve with the pride and courage that so many did before me.  I will never forgot those who lost their lives while serving with the same pride and courage.  So may the spirit of all those who lost their lives in the line of duty live on, including Officer Birkholz and Trooper Casper.

Please consider "liking" the Remembering Wisconsin State Trooper Trevor Casper page by clicking this link.

Or go to his website to read his obituary or make a monetary donation to his family here.

FNB St. Pat's 10 Mile Run - Race Report

I have only done the FNB St. Pat's Run once before, but it's tough to pass up considering it is literally run within miles of my home.  The race starts and finishes at a local sports bar and grill in Kimberly, WI.  The race is put on by Du Tri Run, who is the race organizer that puts on various endurance events throughout Wisconsin.  Du Tri Run offers a promotion throughout the race season called "The 5 Star Series."  It's rather simple, participate in at least 5 of their events and you add up your age group placement.  At the end of the season, you add up the 5 best placements from at least 5 events and the top three scores in each age group win additional awards at an end of season banquet.  The race I ran in February (Seroogy's Valentine's Day 15k) was apart of the 5 Star Series and I would like to try to work 5 events into my schedule and see how well I can place throughout the year in my age group.  This was also a race that worked into my schedule pretty well, because of its proximity to my home and the 9am start time, since I worked the night before.  The FNB St. Pat's Run offered two distinctly different distances, a 5k and a 10 mile run.  After falling in love with an intermediate distance at last month's Valentine's Day 15k.

Training for This Race

I haven't been following a specific training plan for this race.  I was using this race as a "training" race or your stereotypical "C" race.  I had no taper and no specific preparatory workouts.  In fact, I ran 10 miles the weekend prior and had a speed workout on Tuesday and a tempo run on Thursday.  On Friday, I was able to finally get outside on my bike and coupled it with a short 2 mile brick run after.  I have really changed up my training plan from my traditional training philosophy.  After the Seroogy's Valentine's Day 15k, I started implementing the basic philosophies of the Furman Institute of Running and their FIRST Study.  These principles can be found in their book, "Run Less, Run Faster."  Basically, you perform 3 running workouts a week, no more, no less.  These include a track workout, a tempo run, and a long run.  All 3 workouts are based on intensity opposed to volume, which is traditionally found in most endurance training plans.  In addition to the 3 runs, you perform 2 cross training workouts during the week of you choice for about 45-60 minutes with a moderate to high amount of intensity. 

I started planning my week with the 3 run workouts (Tuesday=track, Friday=tempo, Sunday=long).  After scheduling my running workouts, I wanted to add in 3 bike workouts and 3 swimming.  After playing around with my schedule I came up with the following schedule (primary workout is in bold):
Monday: Tempo Swim
Tuesday: Tempo Bike / Track Run
Wednesday: Endurance Swim
Thursday: Interval or Hill Bike / Optional Brick Run
Friday: Sprint Swim
Saturday: Long Bike
Sunday: Long Run

Training has been going really well for me.  This style of training is completely new to me.  Sure, I've done intensity before, but never to this extent.  Basically, there is no easy days.  Even long runs are done at a pace faster than my predicted marathon pace.  It's been very challenging, both physically and mentally.  This is the main reason I wanted to try this style of training.  In my marathon racing in the past, I have faded in the second half of the marathon.  I think I neglected the intensity in my training.  I know without a shadow of doubt that I can run for hours at an easy clip and I can run a half marathon in a good time, but I can't break 3 hours in the marathon.  So, my hope is that if I increase the intensity of my training, I'll be better suited for the challenges during the later stages of longer races.

Prerace

Unfortunately, I had to work the night before.  On top of working overnight the day before the race, I had a long sleepless week at home.  We had two sick girls at home this week which lead to a long tiresome week.  Saturday night went without a hitch and got out of work I got to the race start really early.  Okay, really early, I got there around 6:40am and passed time with a fantastic nap.  I sleep rather soundly until 7:30 and went inside to get my race bib.  After getting my bib (#71) it was back to my car to do my final preps before heading out for a thorough warm up.  About an hour before the race start, 8:00, I took 2 caps of Hammer Anti-Fatigue Caps and chilled until about 8:15.  After about 2 miles worth of warming up, I made my way to the start line.

Nutrition Plan

My nutrition plan was very basic - eat/drink nothing unless absolutely necessary.  I brought a few Hammer Gels along with me to take throughout the morning, if needed.  I last had a protein shake around 4:00am while at work and brought a couple Hammer Gels to eat before the race in case my stomach started rumbling.  I never needed to eat the Hammer Gels before the race, so I brought a single gel along for the run, to be taken only if needed. My intention was to avoid the on course sugary "sport" drink and just utilize water and calories from my Hammer Gel if I started to feel sluggish.  I did bring a small baggie with 3 Hammer Energy Surge.  My intentions were to take these as needed throughout the race.

Gear/Equipment

Brooks Pureflow 4

Swiftwick Tall Compression Socks

Adidas Running Shorts

Hammer Long Sleeve Running Shirt

Rudy Project Rydon Sunglasses

Miles 0-10

The race started out at what felt like a very relaxed pace.  I didn't want to look at my watch at all during the race and just wanted to run as hard as possible and shoot for a top 10 spot.  During the first 2 miles, I thought the pace was too easy for a 10 mile run and just thought that I would take advantage of the perceived slower pace and be grateful during the last 2 miles.  Just like the Valentine's Day 15k, both the 5k and 10 mile races started together.  The main difference for this race is the bibs were distinctly different for the two races.  The 10 mile race had green bibs while the 5k had white bibs.  This was actually pretty nice to know who was running which race.  At the one mile mark, I was in 8th place (including two 5k runners).  The lead pack was basically the 8 of us and were all within 50-75 meters of each other.  The lead runner really started to break away during the second mile.  By the second mile I think I moved up into 5th place or so and still felt like the pace was relaxed.  The 10 mile run split from the 5k around mile 2.75 at which time only one runner that was ahead of me split off the course and I was officially in 3rd place at this point.  It was right then and there were I made it a goal to not give up this position and finish in at lease 3rd place.  The majority of the 10 mile route was run on a paved trail along a larger county highway in my neighborhood.  I have run numerous of my everyday runs on this trail and have become extremely familiar with this trail.  The trail has a couple decent rolling hills that follow the on and off ramps of the highway.  Knowing this I planned my first tablet of Energy Surge around mile 4, just before the first hill climb.  I continued to stay about a 300-400 meters behind the 2nd place runner.  I passed up on all the water stations and was feeling really good nutrition-wise.  I wasn't feeling thirsty nor did I ever really feel sluggish to the point I felt I need to eat my Hammer Gel.  The portion of the race that was on the trail was an out and bake section, so I took a second and final tablet of Energy Surge at the same hill, just the opposite side, which was about mile 8.5 or so.  After reaching the crest of the final hill climb, I cranked up my intensity, just mentally imagining the runner behind me was on my ass.  I made it a point to not look back for fear of getting a feeling of complacency.  I just kept imagining hearing foot strikes on my tail, when in reality I had built nearly a 90 second lead.  It seemed to pay off, as my last mile was one of my faster splits.  I finished the race in 1:02:27 (6:15/mile pace) and placed 3rd overall and 1st in the Male 30-34 age group.

Post Race

I was pumped with my finish, both my time and my place.  I realize that my place is only indicative of who entered the race and I have zero control over that.  But my time, I have total control over that.  I have never raced a 10 mile race, so I had no prior races to draw from when creating a goal.  I arbitrarily came up with a time under 1:05 for a goal.  I really thought I would be closer to 1:05, then my finish time of 1:02:27.  So, when you compound that with the fact that I placed in the top 3 overall, I would classify that as a highly successful race!  After the race, I hung around until the awards ceremony and was able to catch the tail end of the 5k awards ceremony.  By far my favorite perk of this race was the fact that it was held at a local sports bar and the bar offered free beer to all the finishers!  How can you beat that?  And I'm not talking about shitty green light beer....but any tap beer was free.  So, I scored a couple pints of Red Hook's Audible Ale.  After receiving my age group award it off to get home, shower and get to bed!

The Day in Music

What's on Tap

Coming up next is one of my most important races of the year.  Its a race I do just about every year, the Jailbreak 5k.  It has become a must add in my annual plan and this year I will look to claim my 4th Bloodhound Challenge title in a row.  The Bloodhound Challenge is dubbed the "race within the race."  It is a race open to any law enforcement officers.  I have claimed the title the past 3 years and have no intentions of no trying to reclaim the title until it is taken away from me.  I will continue to train following the FIRST Run Less, Run Faster plan with hopes that it will bring my 5k time under 17 minutes.  Now, lets be honest, that is a damn lofty goal.  Taking 50 seconds off of a 5k is taking 17 seconds per mile off my average mile splits.  But, I'l never continue to improve if I don't set my sights high.  

Also, I may do an additional 5k the weekend before, to continue placing high in the Du Tri Run 5 Star Series.  On April 19th Du Tri Run is hosting a 5k, half marathon, and full marathon.  I have already done 2 events through Du Tri Run, and still am planning on doing 3 more as it is now, but one of my planned events may not go, depending on my work schedule.  So, if I am able to run a quick 5k on a morning after work, especially since its hosted in the city I work in, I feel like I should take advantage of the opportunity.  

So, until then, thanks for reading!

Cheers!