50k Training

"Chef Bill have you updated your blog yet?" I heard this a million times this pasted week. I've been really busy and had to sacrifice something.

Here it is....
Sat. 10/23/2007

I ran 8 miles with the VR Training Group that started at 7:00am from lock 29. Technically I ran with Melissa (She runs with us at the Wed. Night Night Crawlers 9pm Run) The group was way a head of us. We trotted along at a nice pace. Our conversation took us from talking about our training schedules to what our kids like to eat. It was all roads today, Riverview to Major Rd. to Akron-Peninsula back to Lock 29.

Tuesday 10/26/2006

Track Work Out

800 @ 5K Pace
1200 @ 5K Pace

2000 @ 10K Pace

1200 @ 5K Pace

800 @ 5K Pace

I did OK with the workout but I messed my watch up again. I need to hire a stopwatch person to keep my track/lap times. It was a hard work out, very hot almost 90. I drive to the track then ran back to Vertical runner with the group then ran back to the store. 9 miles

Wed. 10/27/2007

Night Crawlers

Chef Bill, Brett, Melissa, Tanya
A rainy run tonight. That's OK, Night Crawlers usually come out during the rain. We had to dodge some toads along the way. Don't worry no toads were injured or killed during this trail run. We has a few cool looking lighting shows that lite up the area. We ran our normally Pine Lane run. We added a new Night Crawler to our group...Tanya Cady She is training for the BT50K & is planning a few more ultra races in the fall.

Our Pine Lane run is roughly 8 miles and takes about 1:30.

Tanya & Chef Bill comparing fuel packs.

Brett said with my new pack I look like a Sherpa

Thursday 10/28/2007

BACK TO BACK 15 miles (50K TRAINING RUN)

I had to rearrange my running schedule. I had to get a back to back run in during the day, Thursday & Friday of this week. Back to Pine Lane...I started at 10:45 am and ran from Pine Lane to Snowville Rd. I thought I was running 16 miles...(I talked with Vince after my run, he said this section is a total of 19 miles NOT 16 miles)
Here is Pine Lane a very rooty section of trail. Some days it's fun run though to see how fast you can go, then there are other day when your on a long run and every step is a jolt of pain that runs up your legs. Your shoes are screaming to your feet, "stop the abuse!!!"

Trail Running At Its Best
Jaite Trail, 2 1/3 Miles so close but so far away.... I made it back to Pine Lane in about 3 1/2 hours. 100 oz. of water 2 gels and a cliff bar. Ready to do it again tomorrow.

Friday 10/29/2007

BACK TO BACK 15 miles (50K TRAINING)
I didn't sleep very well last night I kept thinking about my run today. I feel OK, I'm a little sore but not overly tired. I decided to run from Oak Grove. This is the start of the BT50K. I talked with Vince about a turn around point, We came up with 10 minutes south of Snowville Rd.

You can't see it in this picture, but I'm holding my morning breakfast...Blueberry Cliff Bar.I started a little earlier today, 9:00am. I thought I would beat the heat. Once in the parking lot I came across a bunch of Boy Scouts. I was hoping to get out before they did. There had to be about 200 of them ready to hike. Once I got started I got lost (of course) I ended up at this cave. If you find yourself here when your running the 50K, your lost. Great place for a picture, but I have a lot of miles to cover, so i need to get moving. I got back on track and only lost about 10 minutes. I did run into the Boy Scouts I thought about asking for direction's, but I got back on track. I felt pretty good once I started move and I knew where I was going. I was fight bugs all morning, I'm talking monster bugs, Big ones that bleed.

I was running at a good pace I walked all the hills. I made it to Snowville in 1:20. I continued south for 10 more minutes then headed back.

On my way back I ran past a bunch of Marines at one of the picnic shelters. I felt like the alligator boy at a circus side show. They were all looking at me like they've never seen anyone run before. I didn't get a picture of the group out of fear they would chase me down and take my camera. I drank 50 oz. today. I knew I wouldn't have a water stop so I had to conserve my fluids. After my run I was beat. I got back in 2:55.

Night Crawlers

My cell phone sat in its charger juicing up for the next round of text messaging, useless phone conversations about running and new photo opportunities....then it rang. The time was 7:11pm it was Vinnie "The Hill Rucci".
Vinnie just finished up with a hot sock deal with the sales rep from NorthFace. "Hey Chef Bill do you want to meet for a 7:30pm run?" I had to think a minute...1. will my wife allow me to run? 2. will my stomach digest the pizza I just ate. 3. Can I drive to lock 29 without getting pulled over for speeding?
I grab my stuff and head out. Vinnie's plan was to run about 1:30 then met Nick & anyone else running tonight's Night Crawler Trail Run at 9:00pm. We headed to my second favorite hill...Oak Hill and Plateau Trails http://www.nps.gov/cuva/planavisit/maps/oakhill.htm
Our conversation turned to nutrition. As a chef I do know something about nutrition. Vince knows more when it comes to using the nutrition as a fuel. I picked his brain about the number of calories a runner should take in and the timing of each meal. All stuff everyone takes for granted. My legs where feeling like toast from our Tuesday night Track workout, but I kept a good pace. I did need to pop a tums, my pizza was working its magic. We started to head back to lock 29 and had some time to kill, Vinnie "The Hill" Rucci took us to my FIRST favorite hill...Initiation Hill. We headed back to the parking lot just in time for Nick & Melissa to pull in.
We wanted to change the trail up a little bit so we head to the Valley Link Bridal Trail, then to Wetmore Bridal Trail...Vinnie took us through a chest high grassy meadow that links to the trail. Anyone who runs with Vince knows he has these little detours, shortcuts, and he really doesn't know exactly where we're going.
We made it to the trail with a few scraps. Once we got to Wetmore I wasn't toast any more, I was burnt toast. I started to slow down and I had to walk all the hills. From Wetmore we ended up in Kendell Lake, up Little Meadows to my third favorite hill to get some water. From Kendell Lake Vince took us down Terxell to Akron-Peninsula. I was falling way behind. I would see a headlamp shine back at me from time to time. Vince came back once to check on me, which gave Nick & Melissa a break to walk. I yell to them, "Hey I didn't tell you to walk, get your asses moving." It worked that started to run again.

My 3 month old Fujifilm camera is not working I'm starting to use my phone camera.

It also takes color photo's, I set this in black & white.

Vince & I ran 3 hours total (1:20 & 1:40) for a rough total of 16 miles.

Thanks Vince

TOALLTHATREADSTHISCOMEONOUTANDRUNWITHUS

PIC (Parent In Charge)

Some of you know I'm PIC during the day. PIC (Parent In Charge), I was informed (By my wife) when we discussed having children that I would not be babysitting my own children. So we came up with PIC. The title of PIC comes with tons of responsibility. I have to revolve my running schedule around my kids. You'll fine me running at 5am before the kids get up for the day or 9pm just after bath time, stories and a short meltdown. Today will be a 9pm Night Crawler Run.

This after noon was all about the kids. My 4 year old wanted to go run in the forest with daddy. This is because I tell her about my trail runs. The animals I see, the water I splash in, the friends I run with.

We headed to Over Look Trail in the Summit County Metro Park. there's a short .05 mile loop that takes you to a deck that over look the Cascade Valley.

Over in the distance you'll see the Highlevel Bridge.

We counted 12 -15 turtles swimming in this area.

We found a bunch of birds flying in circles then diving into little holes on the side of this cliff.

Vince (Vertical Runner) lace up a pair of Brooks, Tori's ready for a 5k.

Vince, You can fit Collin in a pair of Merrell Trail shoes.

Night Crawlers

Come out and joins us for

Wedensday Night Night Crawlers

9:00pm

Lock 29

1 1/2 hour trail run (approx. 8 miles)

Bring your headlamp

Tuesday Night Track Workout

I was running late tonight and I had to meet the group at Western Reserve track instead of Vertical Runner.

Tonight's workout: 6X800m with a 400m recovery. HARD AS YOU CAN ALL OUT!!!

Vince said run until you feel like your going to puke...Brett Here's a run for you.

1. 3:17:58

2. 3:36:04

3. 3:34:03

4. 3:49:97

5. 3:41:87

6. 3:43:74

Vince ran the last lap with me coaching me on the turning, telling me to work with my arms more, kicking my legs higher, and of course telling me to run faster. He also said I was holding back(Sandbagging) because I picked up speed on the last straight away.

Just because it rained doesn't give you guys a ticket out of track workout Mike The Mailman where were you? Mike Keller (FitfromFat) , I thought you said you were going to come out?

Tough workout, I had fun. I need to learn to push myself more. I think more about how far or how much more I have to run then about the lap I'm running.

9 mile total: warm up run, cool down run and to Vertical Runner Store and back to my car.

Buckeye Trail 50K Training Run

Sunday June 17, 2007

This morning I had a flastback. Although I haven't had a drink in awhile, my body was telling me I had a hangover. 5:00am once I was up moving around I felt fine. Sat. was a long day...8 mile trail run (up at 4:00am) then catering gig until 8:00pm.

Today is the 16 mile BT50K familiarization run. I was the first one in the Pine Lane parking lot. I thought I was to early, a few minute later the parking lot was full. We piled into cars then headed to Oak Grove. Our run today was Oak Grove to Pine Lane. We had 25 people running today, Bob Clark, Rich Wisneski, Lindsay, Jim Chaney, Mel (from Vertical Runner) and her husband, and Kirk (He runs with Mike Keller). I had the privilege of finally meeting and running with some fellow Bloggers, Cindy(Sensationally Red), Elisabeth (E-Speed). make sure you check out red & e-speed blogs)

I teamed up with Brett & Nick, We had planned to run this while running Night Crawler. Once we started up with Dave, He's training for his first 50K, Elisabeth and her Friend Melissa. Elisabeth is an Ultra Runner, Melissa is a runner and I think is training for a marathon and may run the BT50K. We managed to get lost by missing the BT turn near the stables. We kept running the Bridal Trail when we started to notice things don't look the same. We headed back towards the stables to see where we missed our turn. Luckily Dave ran with us a few weeks again and had the trail history in his garmin. We ran about 1.5 miles out of our way. Once we got back on track I lead the pack at a pretty good clip and we ended up catching up with Red, Kurt, and their group. I asked if they got lost too, Nick said "Your fast lead made us catch them." He made me think about my pace so I slowed down a little so I wouldn't run out of gas. I did kick it back it to high gear when we were about a mile from the Boston Store.

Once we got to the Boston Store the hex was place on Brett once again. He looked like a Wet Walking Zombie He's on his 40 something mile for the week. He puked again as we were heading towards pine Lane parking lot. Nick and I were heading back to make sure he was ok then we see him running. He's trying to find out what's making him sick. Shotblocks, too much water, dehydration...

Great run we ran 3:25ish not bad for 17.5 miles. I had a plan to run later tonight after spending time with my kids for father's day, but the top of my eye lids were falling down towards my bottom lip. I was wiped out tired.

For the week I have 41.5 miles.

Sat AM Group Run...Trail Running

Sat. June 16, 2007
I thought I would be the only one running this morning. There was Mahican 100 today and another Buckeye Trail 50K run familiarization run planned for Sunday June 17. Then add on the fact the run starts at 5:30am. We still had a group...Melissa, Beth and myself. When I pulled into lock 29 parking lot Melissa was out of her car stretching doing some yoga poses. I pulled up next to her car then I noticed she wasn't parking in a parking spot. It was in the middle of the lot. Once Beth arrived she asked about Melissa's parking skills, Melissa thought I had parked wrong...she said it was early, dark, and she wasn't awake yet. We waited for a few minutes to see if anyone else was going to show up. I didn't think we'd see anyone so we headed out. Our time was limited to an hour and a half. I would to make sure we got back so the girls could run with the second group at 7am. We head back to Pine Lane loop. I know I've be abusing the trail for the past couple of weeks, but it's a challenging portion of the BT50K and I know we can get back in time. We headed up the brick hill, then got going at a good pace (my best guess 9.5 to 10/minute mile).
We started to yak about the normal trail talk...we are all training for the BT50K & Akron. Then out of nowhere a deer ran up on its back legs and knocked Mellisa to the ground. (Just kidding...Melissa fell again) If your keeping track that's her 3rd fall in less then two weeks. She's still nursing a sort hip from our Night Crawlers Run. Beth began to talk about her new trail shoes. She bought a pair of Montrails, halfway into our run she started to blister on her heels. Her shoes didn't have Vince's special lock lace that prevents the shoe from slipping. She kept on running. It started to warm up once the sun popped out, then out of nowhere again a deer, this time charging down a hill like a run-away bull, Melissa was knocked over yet again (yes...She fell again...That's twice today and five in two weeks). She's now wants either, give up trail running or running with me. She thinks I might writing something in my blog about how many times she's fallen on the trail.
Once we hit the Valley Bridal Trail Beth's heels where bleeding (Sorry no camera today). We had about 20 minutes of running she took her shoes off and ran in her socks!!! Now that's hardcore trail running...We made it back to Lock 29 (1:29). Melissa went on to run the roads with the group, Beth had to nurse her blisters, and I had to prep for a 2pm catering gig.
Nick lead the 7am group on a 7-8 mile run. They had about 20 runners this morning.

Great run even though we had a few mishaps. Great to see two hardcore chicks determined not to let the trails beat them!!!

(Bloggers Note: Melissa has two children not one as I stated in my last blog)

Night Crawlers

Wed. June 14, 2007

Brett & Nick came up with a late night trail run. Wednesday Nights 9:00pm at Lock 29, run for 1.5 hours. We realized we were all coming out for the same reason. Brett has 2 kids Nick has 3 kids, my wife has 2 kids (just kidding). We're trying balancing our family lives with our running lives. It creates a happy medium between spouses. After getting the kids tucked in, we are now allowed to go play. Tonight I made it to the parking lot in time for Bretts call saying Nick is running late. This is OK no scheduling conflicts as long as I'm back by 6:00am before my daughter wakes up. Melissa met me a few minutes later. She's training for the BT50K & the Akron Marathon and also has a kid (I think just one). Nick & Brett showed up minutes later, Nick without him headlamp, so he was a using our lamps to see what he was tripping over.

We were waiting to see if Vince was going to show up, but after hecking and trash talking about him we started our run with out him. I found out later he ran with another group earlier. Now with Vince out of the way we schemed up a great plain to run Pine Lane Trail (same as last weeks) backwards. This would avoid all the hills, so we thought. OK so we avoided the two big hills, but they where replaced by other big hills that we would normally run down. Brett was still running all the hills (he's forgetting about his note to self "Walk the hills in the 50K." I'm going to start calling him the Hill Monster. Once we got to rt. 303 Brett & I started a sprinting race to the parking lot, Brett won. NICK BRING YOUR LIGHT NEXT WEEK!!!!!

Tuesday Night Track Workout

Tonight was track workout

800m @ 5K pace

200m jog/walk

800m @10K pace

200m jog/walk

1200m @ 10K pace

I'll have to post my times later I was 1:47ish to 2:03ish

I'm still trying to determine my 5 & 10 K pace.

I don't think I had my watch working correctly tonight on some of my splits.

After our workout Vince took us to the Western Reserve Cross-country course, then we end up running a baseball Field barefooted. That was cool. Mike (fitfromfat) was at the trackwork out and blog it 20 minutes after our workout so he has more info for you to read.

Sunday June 10, 2007

I had to venture out on my own tonight. so I ran a familiar neighborhood route. My tunes blasting my ears, the smell of fresh bread from the bread plant mixed with the stench of the Cuyahoga River what more could you ask for.

My route took 41 minutes (my house down Broad Street to 26th, up Chestnut to Front Street back to Broad.) I stopped running at Front street & Broad (4.5 Miles). Jogged back to my house for a total of 5.2 miles.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=751896

There is a small building at the corner across from Sheraton Hotel. It use to be an old garage/gas station. Now owned by the Clifford Family. Clifford’s Auto Museum, owned by William Clifford (Mr. Clifford passed away this past year), who also owns the Clifford-Shoemaker Funeral Home next door. His personal collection includes automobiles, vintage gas pumps, bicycles, and a wide variety of other memorabilia.

SAT 5:30AM Trail Run & 7:00AM VR Group Run

5:30am is really early Vince!!! Despite the early time we had a great turn out for this mornings trail run. I don't remember how many I think around 10 or so...(Brett do you remember?). Vince put a lot of thought into this trail run. I asked him a few times during the week where we were running, once he said, "Where ever you want, it will be to early to think about it." We ended up running the same trail as this past Wednesday (Night Crawler Blog Post). Buckeye Trail: Lock 29 up to Pine Lane parking lot towards the Boston Store (North) back on the Valley Bridal Trail; Back towards Pine Lane parking lot.

I had camera issues again, so no picture for the trails.

There were some new faces running today. Some training for the Akron Marathon one of the girls I spoke with is training for Buckeye Trail 50K. We also had some familiar runners, Bob Clark (He's in the group I call the Gazelles), except today he wasn't running his fast pace. That goes to show you that when your training even the fast guys run slow sometimes. I think he ran slow because he is planning to run the Sunday AM Buckeye Trail 50K Training run. That's when He'll put on the gas. Another Ulatra Runner, Lindsay Ran with us. I met Lindsay last year on a long training run. Great Guy...I remember him coming back to run a few of us slow runners to the finish. He's training for BT50K. Brett who is also training for the BT50K & the Akron Marathon. More about Brett Later.

We had two "dirt-eater" (NO INJURIES, every one's OK) one new girl hit the ground hard banging up her shoulder. Another runner Mark made one of those stuntman rolls and jumped back up his feet then kept running. I hurt my ankle running down a hill(Not bad) . We ran 1:27 (8 miles).

We heading back towards Lock 29. I got some engery to run down the brick raod hill from Pine Lane. Lock 29 was packed we had a very large group this morning. close to 20 (Vince did you get a count?). I ran with Bett & Nick. Nick is the VR Trainer to runs with the 10 minute/mile pace group.

Here's part of the group just before our run started.

I got the camera to work as I was running so some of my shot are a little blurry.

We headed South on the Towpath towards Bolanz then back to Lock 29 (about 6 Miles)

When runners aren't running they stand around making fun of other runners. They were giving Brett some grief for sitting.Brett (Note to Self: Walk the hills in the 50K) Brett ran every hill for the trail run this morning so by the time we got to the Boston Store, he didn't have any gas left.

These ladies called me Paparazzi after taking this shot, I had to explain that because Paris Hilton was going to jail I had some time to kill, so I ending up in Ohio.

The Gorge Metro Park Run

Man was it hot today. I took the kids on a bike ride, I have a mountain bike and a kid trailer thing that hooks to the bike. I rode around for about two hours. After the big storm I ran from my house to the Glens Trail & Gorge Trail for a little splash in the mud. I was having camera issues again so I don't have any of me running. Here's Glens Trail
To Mike & Vince (Or anyone else) find this rock...It looks like one of those Egyptian Sphinx
Again I was having camera issues, just before this shot there were 6 naked chicks showering under the water falls.

When we were kids we would climb on this pipe and walk across. No I'm not going to cross it today I have a 50K race to perpare for, I can't wake up in the hospital and find out I can't run anymore...I'll have Mike walk across the next time we run down here.
Today there is a foot bridge to the leftHere's a look at the gorge trail
Here's a look from above of the might Cuyahoga RiverAfter the rain this falls are rolling pretty fast.

I love running this trail, it brings back old memories coming down here as a kid with my family. The trail wasn't as muddy as I wanted it to be. I ran 6 miles 1:08:35.

I'll be up at 4:30am for the 5:30am trail run at lock 29. I'll log 12-14 mile then 8-9 on Sunday.

Night Crawler II

Here is the sorry looking group picture from last night. Everyone but Brett was waiting on the very bright flash.

The Night Crawlers

Vince, Nick, Chef Bill (Me), Brett


Brett also had to go geek on me in an email here's what he wrote:
BTW I did the math on last night... according to GPS 7.75 miles... when computing in elevation changes 7.9 miles. So I lost signal on the watch for a minute or two but realistically we did 8.00 miles in 1:25 which is what it felt like.. pretty fast for night trail running especially with the hills.

And last Saturday we hit 9.2mph on our way down the hill point to point... when you correct for elevation changes it comes out to around 10.6mph or a 5:66 mile.

Sorry going geek for a minute.

-Brett

Night Crawlers

Logging in another night run. Brett asked me last Sunday if I wanted to run with him & Nick tonight. I knew I wanted to run another night run this week, so I agreed (Without checking with my wife Jen first bold move for a married runner.) Luckily I was in the clear to run. Jen said, "Just help tuck the kids into bed and you can go." I met Brett, Nick and Vince at 9:00pm at lock 29; We still had some light as we headed up to Pine Lane Parking Lot. Stock photo it was a little dark than this.

This is Brett's first night trail run and his first day in his new "Green Keen" trail shoes BRETT SEND ME A PICTURES OF YOUR NEW SHOES...(What's with the green running shoes? Mike also has a new pair of green road shoes now Brett's got green shoes too.) I need to take a trip to China to see if a can change the color palette. Vince had a new pair of Black Merrell Trail Shoes. Very cool shoe!!!

We ran Pine Lane towards the Boston Store (North). Instead of taking the towpath back, we ran down the service road to link up to the Valley Bridal Trail next to the turnpike. This gravel hill takes us back towards pine lane, but we continued on the Valley Bridal Trail towards another hill and headed back to Pine Lane Parking Lot. I thought I thought I had new batteries in my camera but they were dead. Brett happen to have a camera in his car (to big to carry on the trail run) but we got the after run group picture. I'll post pitures later.

We logged about 8 to 8.5 miles (I'm calling it 8) in 1:25. I thought it was a great run we all stayed together for the most of the run, the hills were more of a challenge for me tonight, there were a few I had to walk. Great loop to run in the day or night. I'll see if I can map it. We will be back out here next for another night trail run Wednesday Night Lock 29 Paring Lot 8:45pm run @ 9:00pm. See you there.

Tonight is a 9:00pm Trail run lock 29. Come out and join us. Bring your headlamp and your trail shoes.

My First Track Workout

Today I ran the VR Trainings Track Workout for the fist time. We had 7 people show up.
Our workout: 400m at 5K pace, 800m at 10K pace, 1200m at marathon pace. We ran this 3 times. I wasn't sure if I ran my true pace, but I had to start somewhere. I don't know much about running track. I avoided any type of running while attending school. I had a short experience with soccer, but because it involved running I drop out of it.
Just like marathon running and trail running there is method to this maddest. Vince came over and show me the proper form I should have while running track. there's more to it than just running really fast around an oval.
Here's my workout times: this is the time for each lap
1. 1:33:63 (This was a little faster than my 5K pace)
2. 1:47:65
3. 1:56:12
4. 1:55:06
5. 1:55:80
6. I missed my split button
7. 2:00:01
8. 1:58:96
9. 2:01:65
10. 2:03:99
11. 1:51:75
12. 1:59:12
13. 2:03:85
14. 2:05:00
15. 2:07:10
16. 2:03:32
17. 1:44:96
18. I missed my stop button
So there are my splits, I need work on finding out my pace times. After our work out we ran 4x400 then back to the store. I was really tired and sore. When I got home I stretched for a half an hour.

Buckeye Trail 50K Training Run

Today's run was a training run for the first part of the BT50K July 14, 2007. We met at Boston Store then piled into cars to drive to Oak Grove in Brecksville. It's about 11.5 miles from Oak Grove back to Boston Store. The group consist of 16 runners, I ran with Brett Shivers who just finished up his first marathon in Cleveland. I conned him into running the Buckeye Trail 50K, I said I would run with him to make sure he makes it to the end. I didn't explain to the end of what...We'll have a few thing to work on to make sure he's ready for the trails. Pre-race fuel & hydration, and experiment with a different gel pack.

This is the last time we set eye on the group...BECAUSE OF BOB CLARK (FAST RUNNER). Brett & I were running about a 11-12 minute pace. Our cars were at the Boston Store so no one had to wait for us. The last 6 miles the rain started to come down at a good clip. we were soaking wet. It reminded me of being in the rain forest. Brett had on his favorite road shoes his was slipping and getting muddy. Brett http://www.verticalrunner.com/ They have some really nice trail shoes you can buy.

Here is Brett happy to see that it was raining

This is my favorite portion of the Buckeye Trail. It's the trail between Snowville & Columbia Rd. It reminds me of Muir Woods in Berkley CA with smaller trees.

Here me & Brett running the end of the trail towards the Boston Store of course it stopped raining.

I'm picking up the milage- 37 mile this week. Next week my plan is to do 40 miles most of them on trails and one or two night runs.