A simple blog about food, cooking, family, friends and the fun of ultra running. From the eyes of Chef Bill Bailey.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Akron Zoo Run

Jen (My Wife) wanted to take the kids to the Akron Zoo. I wanted to run. Then I said
"pack up the kids and I'll meet you at the Zoo." Said said, "OK"...(it was that your nutty/crazy OK). I mapped out my run to see what I was getting myself into. it's only 7.22 miles. Here's the Map . I thought it was going to be a hard run. It was pretty much flat only two major elevations. I spotted a blue blaze on a telephone pole. I found a portion of the Buckeye Trail behind the Zoo. There was no trail it was Perkins Park street. If you look at the map Perkins Park is the actual Zoo. We agreed that I would call and meet me at the gate. When I called they where still at home. I ran a few more roads then headed back to wait in front of the Zoo. What a great way to spin time with my family and still fulfill my running obligations.

Camera Update:
I got a letter today from the camera repair place. because there is a dent on the side of the camera the warranty is void. So for $163.00 I can get my $ 83.00 camera fixed.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Chef Bill Bailey's Blog

I have been really busy. Some running stuff, some food stuff and then there are those little people who live in my house that I have to take care of.

I'm gearing up for the Burning River 100 Catering. My catering company Playing With Knives & Fire will be providing the pre-race dinner and the post-race breakfast. If your at the race come over and introduce yourself and say hello.

Still waiting for my camera to get repaired from Fuji.

Sunday July 22, 2007
I met Brett, Vince, Dave Peterson, Bob Clark & George at O'Neils Woods. In the parking lot we spotted a white rabbit. Sorry no camera...trust me it was white and it was a rabbit. O'Neils is not a very long trail, I think it's about a 1 1/2 mile loop. It's hilly and very challenging. A portion of this trail is in the Burning River 100. Vince & I talked the night before about trekking up to Hines Hill to get some extra mileage. Hines is a 3.5 mile loop and a mile road run there & Back. We mixed up the trail a little bit and ended up running the Buckeye trail to Ira. From there we ran to Akron-Peninsula Rd then to Hines Hill. I want to run up Bath road, there's a nice hill to run up to get to a service entrance. We end up at the main parking lot which was OK. Mike Keller & I ran this trail a few months ago at night. It's a great trail to run at night.
We stuck together for the most part. Toward the end the gazelles got ahead of Brett & I. I expected them to take off sooner, once we caught up to them they were in the parking lot. we ran for about 1 1/2 8 miles.

Tuesday July 24, 2007
Track workout
I got to meet everyone at the store this time. Jen (my wife) is on vacation this week, so I got there on time. Our workout this week was 16 x 400m with 200m recoveries. I wont list them all but
My 400m's were 1:34 to 1:47. It was a rainy day, we didn't get rained on, but the track was wet.
Wednesday July 25, 2007
I met Vince, Wild Bill Wagner & Bill's friend Patty at Happy Days. We ran part of the Burning River 100. Vince, Wild Bill and myself head into "The Hole". You know which one, the cave that you climb into then you pop back out on the top of the rock. We were telling Patty this was the only way to get to the trail. Once we were done we could find Patty. we were yelling for her, we thought she got mad and headed back to her car. We cut off some of the trail to see if we could find her. We found her over by the octagon trail. We were glad, we could have been running around for hours trying to find her. We ran this trail camera-less for about 1 hour 30 minutes. 7-8 miles tonight.

Soon I will have my camera back taking those great pictures you've been accustom to seeing on my blog.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Chef Bill's Week in the Running World

What do you do when you crush you 50K PR by an hour and twenty minutes? Wake up early and go running with Vinnie "The Hill" Rucci. That was Sunday...I ran 7 or8 miles with Vince to collect the signs & TRASH from the trail. Monday I ran again with Vince; a five mile neighborhood run around Silver Lake.
Tuesdays plan was track workout. I woke up and all my energy was drain from my big toe spilling all over the floor. I was a mess. I felt better as the day moved along but then I remembered my wife had to work late, so no track workout.
Wednesday was a mini Night Crawler. Mike Keller & I test out his night lights. Mike's training for the up coming Burning River 100.
We met at Mike's house at 10:00ish PM then head down to the gorge. Before heading out we stop to talk with Mike's neighbor, Tony. I've only met tony through "Blogland".
Mike showed me a trail head I didn't know about that runs off of 18th street. We only ran 4 miles. We were not out long, just enough to get our blood pumping.
Sat AM I ran with the VR Training Group from Lock 29. I ran with Coach Nick and some of others from the group. Nice slow 12 mile run on the roads. Good running day, nice & cool.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Buckeye Trail 50K

Sat. July 14, 2007
Sorry for the delay, here's my BT50K Post.....

I had one of those night where I didn't sleep but I was well rested. I got to Pine Grove a little after 6am. The first thing that caught my one was the Men's bathroom had a line. Only one reason for a line there...The stall with the paper. After getting my bib number pinned to my shirt, getting my shoes and socks on, I was ready to go. I mingled the parking lot with fellow bloggers E-speed, Sensationally Red, Maria, and Brett. I spotted a blogger that I've only seen pictures of KIM. Kim came up to volunteer at an Aid Station. She just ran Mahican 100 miler and will be pacing Mike Keller for his Burning River 100. We talked for a few minutes then Josh (another blogger from Cincinnati) shows up, Josh is running the race. Again another person I've only met in blogland.

After mingling and saying, "Hello", "Hi", "Ready to Go?"...I got my place. I'm running with Brett & Nick the training coach from the VR Training Group. We got a place somewhere in the middle of the pack. It was very loud, I was trying to listen to the very important announcements over all the pre-race chatter. I was scanning the crowd looking for Melissa & Beth (Two runners from the Sat AM group) They had to use the facilities and started at the back of the pack. Both are running their first 50K. If you remember from previous blogs I talked Brett into running his first 50K. Although it was quit noisy for the announcements I did get to hear Mr. Rucci say, "Gentlemen Start your Engines!"...or something like that may he said, "GO!!" We where off and running right at 7am on the dot. We picked up another runner from the Sat AM Group Runs, Nick (Now we have two Nicks running with us this will be fun trying to talk to the both of them).


My goal was to stick with Brett to help him run a good 50K. Brett was pumped full of Adrenalin ready to run and so was I. There was no leader or pacer of our pack we were just all running taking turns running in front. Coach Nick, Nick & Brett all had the GPS monitors. I kept checking our pace & mileage to make sure we were not running to fast. I also kept asking Brett if he was comfortable with the pace. We were averaging a 11.30 pace. At times we were at a 10 min. mile pace. we were all doing quit well. The weather was nice and cool; the trails were dry and some spots dust. Great running weather. The Roots, Rocks, Fallen Trees, and Hills were all place just right...Good Job Vince.

Nick & I started talking about what time we would finish, we all want to run 7-7.5 hours. I didn't want to run to fast, from our previous training runs I know running to fast will come back to haunt me.

I stuck with Brett and the two Nicks ran together. We got to our first aid station at Snowville, but didn't need anything. Our water was fine, we had gels; we decided to keep running and stop at Boston Store Aid Station. We were still running at a good clip, 11.5 min. miles maybe a little faster at times. Brett & I caught up to Nick & Nick, we all ran together from Columbia Rd. through Blue Hen Falls trail. When we got to Boston Store we re-fuel. I got PBJ, and topped off my water. I was set to go again. Kim was at the aid station cheering me on. There was a small crowd of people clapping and cheering. It ready feels good to have people cheering when your out there running. Even though I didn't know the people cheering, it gave me a boost of energy I can't explain.

Next stop Pine Lane. OK this is the section of trail we've been training the most on. We've ran this at night, in the morning, in the rain. I've ran it in 90 degree heat. We know this section trail very well. We were all running at a good pace, again I wanted to check on Brett to make sure he was doing OK. He wasn't. I hexed him... I asked if his stomach was OK. He slowed down to deal with some of his stomach issues, I was a little ahead of him but not by much. I turned to ask if OK. He stopped and said to go head he'll be with me in a minute. At that point I know he was going to have issues. I ran a slower pace for a while to see if he was going to catch up to me. At this point I thought Brett was just going to run a slow pace to finish the race. When I didn't see him for a while I picked up my pace to catch the two Nicks. Brett made it to Boston Store to end the race. I felt bad knowing I talked Brett into running a 50K. He only been running for seven months.

I caught the Nicks; told Coach Nick Brett wasn't feeling well, then we started to talk pace and time again. Coach Nick said if we keep our pace we could crush 7 hours and roll in at 6.5 hours "6.5HOURS!! I was floored. After hearing this I didn't have any bad feelings about Brett anymore. I began to feel very selfish think about the only person running with me....ME! (SORRY BRETT). I would have be happy with 7.5 or 7.25. This got my blood moving. I was so excited when he said that. This was a feeling I can't explain. We back to the Boston Store re-fueled (Just water for me) I was munching on my Clif bars and gels on the trails. Oh but I did drink Coca~Cola. Once back on Buckeye Trail, we had that big hill that is so fun to run down. I was getting tired but managed to power walk up the hill. Once we got to Blue Hen I ran what Vince & Wild Bill refers to as a "suicide run", run as fast as you can down hill. This is where I left the Nicks behind. I kept looking back to see if they were going to catch up. No sign of them. I kept running my pace and found another running, Dave, he ran some BT50K training runs with us a few week ago. We stuck together motivating each other to keep running. At this point my legs where screaming. My IT band kicking me in the ass. I wasn't going to let pain get in the way of my 6.5 hour finish time. Dave had a GPS. "Dave what's our pace, How many miles left." We calculated we were going to finish in 6:10. I was on cloud nine. Trying to figure out how I was running so well. Why is my 50k time an hour and twenty minutes less? When we were run the Bridal Trail, just pasted the stables, Vince was running towards us. "Where's Nick?" He Asked. "He's way back there." Vince said if we kept running we could have a 6 hour finish. We started to run hard again. Then I looked at my watch, we are not going to make 6 hour. We slowed down to our 12 min. mile pace. We got to the driveway I was running slow but it was the fastest I could get my body to run. I could heard e-speed yelling & cheering, but I could see her. She was inside the pavilion. I'm looking around for my wife & kids, they had signs made for me("Run Daddy Run" and "My Daddy Runs With Knives & Fire"). They were pulling in the parking lot when I crossed the finish line. I was so happy; it's so far the best race, the best run ever. Now time to eat!!! 6:09:45 official time.
Melissa & Beth Racing to the finish

Here's media leak...Melissa & Beth's a moment after the race, a photo that should have not been publicized.

Here's Coach Nick running to his finish followed by the Buckeye Trail Troll.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Buckeye Trail 50K

Sat. July 14, 2006
I HAVE TWO WORDS P.R.
Well technically they are letters...I have a new PR for my 50K- 6:09:44 (By my watch). I'll have to totally race report soon. Great Day! Great Race!
How do I feel today? I woke up at 6:30am crabwalked my way to the front porch for some coffee & the newspaper, then called Vince to see if he ran yet today, then ended up calling about running today.
Vince & I ran about 7-8 mile today from Pine Grove just past Snowville to pull markers and to cleanup the trail. I felt good running. I'm ready for more anyone want to run Monday PM???

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Two More Days

Two Days until Buckeye Trail 50K. As Sponge Bob would say "I'm Ready...I'm Ready....I'm Ready...."
Camera update. I called the camera repair co. Thursday, they said they sent my camera to Fuji Co. and it will take another 4-6 weeks to return. So no camera for awhile. I may use my phone again.
My wife has a new job and a new work schedule. I got of the house by 4:30pm to run
Thursday. I ran a 5 mile (47:14:08) High-bridge & Signal Tree Trail in the Cascade Valley.
Although it rained earlier in the day the trails were dry. I spent the day helping the kids make signs to hold during my grand 50k finish. I also did some scouting for Vince. He got an email stating that Riverview Rd. was closed. I drove down to check. The road is closed just before Boston Store. There is bridge work in progress. Alternate directions can be found on the Buckeye Trail website. I made my run easy to gear up for the 50K. I did run the hills. The signal tree trail has one of those hills we all love-to-hate-to-run. I must say I'm getting stronger at running to hills, not faster just stronger. Completing the full run up the hill without walking. While running this hill I thought of a project...I want to document and rate the hills in the area (when I get my camera back). Of course not ALL the hills; we do live in SUMMIT County. Just the ones we are familiar with. Initiation Hill, Oak Hill & Plateau Trail, Major Rd. Quick Rd. Just to name a few. I can only think of one man who will be willing to accomplish this task with me...MIKE KELLER
Yes the fearless ultra runner who would run barefoot through through the Burning River 100
with bricks tied to his shirtless back, sipping tomato & orange juice while eating broccoli & cabbage sandwiches with horseradish on fresh baked sourdough bread.

HEY Mike I got another Idea.....

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Downtown To Downtown

Tuesday 7/10/2007
I'm hoping to get my camera back soon. My blogs aren't as fun without some photos to add to them.
I skipped track workout today to run the roads. (Sorry Vince I'll be back at the track next week). I ran a 13.32 mile route, Downtown Akron to Downtown Cuyahoga Falls. Here's the Map
I took a different route this time, I ran Sacket to Cuyahoga Street to Howard. Cuyahoga Street is a little tricky because your running on the street with the cars zooming around a blind spot corner. There is no room for error. No sidewalks, the curb is covered with over-growth & brush. Your forced to run with the cars. Is about 1/4 of a mile, you have to run it fast to get to the grass near the Valley View Golf Course. Once your past the golf course, it's all up hill then down hill to Howard street. I got into Downtown Akron all I could think about is The Pretenders song "My City Is Gone". I also had thoughts of the Akron Marathon, I'll be running again this year. Akron has a small portion of the Tow Path finished. There is a nice little walking park with a rubberized track and one of the locks. The water is disgusting!! It had a glowing florescent green color, it was awful looking. I'm hoping when the paths are connected they will clean up the water. I tried to run to Lock 3 behind Canal Park Stadium, but there was a locked gate. I had to travel up next to the stadium to get back to Main Street. Back on main I ran up hill to High Street toward the Akron Police Dept. I found some energy to pickup my speed to run towards North Akron. This turn out to be a bad mistake, I ran out of water. I only took 40 oz. of water & sports drink. I was hurting by the time I got to State Road & Broad Blvd. I thought if I could get to Downtown Cuyahoga Falls, they would have a drinking fountain. No Dice...No water until home. I took a break and walked to Schwebel Bread Factory before I started to run a slow pace back home.
I'll run a few more short runs with week before my 50K Sat.

Monday, July 9, 2007

Sat. 07/07/07

Today was the MUDDY PAWS RACE, I am volunteering my time to help with this very important race. Proceeds for the race will go towards a new Summit County Humane Society facility. I helped out at the Kendell Lake water station. I'm not sure of the official count, but I know it was well over one hundred people and countless dogs. Our water stop was very popular for all on two and four legs. After the race I helped Vince clean up then Vince, Dexter, Sadie, Jim Chaney & I hit the trail again for a five mile cleanup run. Jim is in training for the Burning River 100
I was going to continue to run with him, he needed to get in about 3 hours of running. I had some family obligations to attend too. I'll have to remember this course for a Night Crawler run.
Friday 7/6/2007
I met Vince to to help mark the MUDDY PAWS five mile course. Sure was a lot easier than last year. Last year we walked the course with a mile marking wheel, back-pack full of pie plates (with directional arrows), wooden steaks, and hammers. It was not fun, it took use 3 hours. This year we ran and marked the course with a GPS and bright sprayable chalk. We also had help from Jim Chaney, he brought his GPS. What a great course to run, the five & Ten mile courses are what trail running is all about...hills, roots, dirt, rocks. Except the weather didn't cooperate...it didn't rain we didn't have any mud. Great run thanks guys see you in the morning!!!

Friday, July 6, 2007

Boulevard To Boulevard

Thursday July 5, 2007
Saturday's your lucky day, Vertical Runner's MUDDY PAWS. Bring your dog out for a 2 mile romp in the woods. For time, course map, location visit Vertical Runner's website.

I received a call today from a writer for the Akron Life and Leisure Magazine. They are writing a story about training groups for the Akron Marathon. Vince was the first to be interviewed. He gave the writer my number. The article will be featured in the Sept. 2007 issue of Akron Life and Leisure Magazine.

Still in training for the Buckeeye 50K I ran what I call "Boulevard To Boulevard". Broad Blvd. to Chestnut Blvd. It's a nice 5.2 mile run that takes me through some residential neighborhoods. Here's the route MAP There were a lot of runners out tonight, maybe gearing up for the Akron Marathon or maybe seeing me running in the neighborhood all the time inspired them to get up and run!! (Mike I may have ran passed your neighbor TONY) I didn't take a camera today. My new camera is shipped out to the repair shop, I've be relying on my phone camera for the last few weeks. It's not as good, I can't get any good running shots. I also didn't take my tunes with me tonight. I had problems with the earbub headphones. Technology has not be good to me. I have to go out and get a new set to use in the BT 50K. I ran the 5.2 miles in 49.33. I wasn't running very hard, just enough to rid my body of all the four of July food I had to eat.

Friday PM I'll be out with Vince to mark the MUDDY PAWS Course, I'll run about 5 miles of the course. Sat. AM I'll be volunteering at MUDDY PAWS. I'm hoping to run 10-15 miles later in the day, but I have some family obligations which may cause my run to be delayed to Sunday. Hope to see everyone at MUDDY PAWS.





Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Recipe of the week


FYI
My website is now set up to provide recipes. The recipes will be updated weekly. If you miss one email me and I'll have one sent to you.

Monday, July 2, 2007

Running with The Dawgs

It was a nice cool evening to run with the bitches Sara & Monet.
We headed out from the Boston Store north on the Buckeye Trail. A little over 10 miles round trip. The dogs ran like it was race day. They both started out fast then very slow at the end. I kept a nice slow pace to train for my 50K. A few times they would head into the woods to case something, I think chipmunks. I got them to pick up the pace, Sara was dragging ass for a little while. Once we got to Blue Hen she was done, She talked me into talking her down the hill instead of heading back onto the buckeye trail. We were out for about 2:00.
Crossing the bridge over the Cuyahoga River we came a cross this deer that wouldn't move.
I'll run about 20 more miles this week to finish up my tapering week. Great running weather this week temps are in the 70's. I'll get the bitches out again this week but only for a 5-6 mile run.
Also keep an eye on my website www.playingwithknivesandfire.com I have a new post for all to enjoy "recipe of the week"
I'll have all your favorite recipes posted.