2008 Season in Review (Halfway Point)

Today marked the end of my first phase of races for the 2008 season. My focus will now turn %100 (well... almost) towards my training for the Chicago Marathon. I'm a little behind where I'd like to be in that regard, but that's the price I have to pay for a few of my other goals this year.

In case you are wondering, those goals were 1.) to win my age group (25-29) in the CARA Circuit, and 2.) to participate in as many of the amazing races this area has to offer before I move. While the circuit is by no means locked up, I'm pretty confident I have achieved both of these goals.

While taking the time to list all of my races, I realize that my teammates who give me a hard time for racing too much are completely justified in doing so (The number one offender is pictured hands akimbo to the right. I think he watches too much ski-ball while drunk). I'm feeling very beat up right now, thus the slow performances of late (especially today). I'm hoping that I've left myself enough time to rest my body from racing, and instead increase my mileage to put in a good showing at the Chicago Marathon (and maybe NYC too, if I decide to treat that as more than a fun run).

ANYWAY... the whole point of listing the races was so that I could write down a few memories about each one before they fade to the back of my mind. Many of them have been special and I'm blessed to have stayed healthy enough to compete (so to speak) so much this year. So, without further ado, the list of races I've done this year, followed by notes and (maybe) pictures from each race.

3/16 March Madness Half Marathon - Cary, IL

4/13 Race That's Good For Life 5k - Oak Park, IL

4/21 Boston Marathon

5/3 Run to Remember 5k - Chicago, IL

5/10 50 Hecto 5k - Wheaton, IL

5/18 Healthbridge 5k - Crystal Lake, IL

5/24 Soldier Field 10 Miler - Chicago, IL

5/26 Elgin Valley Fox Trot 10 Miler - Elgin, IL

6/1 Run for the Roses - Roselle, IL

6/6, 6/7 - MC200(mi) Relay - Madison, WI, Milwaukee, WI, Chicago, IL

6/22 Downers Grove 5 Miler - Downers Grove, IL

6/28 Race for Young Life 5k - Palatine, IL

7/4 Elmhurst 4(mi) on the 4th - Elmhurst, IL

7/10 Bastille Day 5k - Chicago, IL

7/17 Run for the Kids 5k - Chicago, IL

7/26 Xtreme 10(mi) - Waterfall Glen, IL

Key
Race Name
Time (Pace per mile) (Place Overall/Total Finishers) (25-29 Age Group Place)

3/16 March Madness Half Marathon - Cary, IL
1:21:59 (6:15) (25/992) (2nd)

I qualified for the New York City Marathon at this race with the help of some great teammates. I needed to run faster than 1:22:59 on this very hilly course to automatically qualify and I was able to do so relatively easily. Phlip, Mike, Robert, Paul, and Mark, were great to run with. We stuck together for the first 6 or 7 miles. Mike pulled me solo for a few miles, and shared his gu with me when I dropped mine. We burped at the same time as we ran down a hill and made light of our incestuous dating situation which made for some good male-bonding. He then effortlessly left me behind in the last few miles (which I've witnessed several times this year, he's an amazingly strong runner). This was my first major experience with teamwork in a running setting during a race, and it made me appreciate the relationships I made with these guys over the winter (and some before that) even more.

4/13 Race That's Good For Life 5k - Oak Park, IL
17:16 (5:33) (25/754) (8)

This was the first race in the 2008 CARA Circuit. This was a good chance to shakedown the legs one week before Boston. After the race, Ben, Jason, Robert, and myself went to brunch. All three had won awards (little plaques) at the race. I was the only one who didn't win one. They teased me all morning. When the waiter brought coffee they all spoke up to let him know that they didn't need a saucer, but that I did. They all placed their cups on the plaques. Priceless. Chad Marek took some great photos at the finish.

Robert breaking 17 minutes, Great hair, Matt looking good:





And here is a picture of the start from the Oak Park Newspaper. I'm somewhere on the right. Marathon Olympic Trialist Greg Costello is seen in yellow.



4/21 Boston Marathon
2:55:31 (6:41) (748/21,963) (539)

I set a PR for the marathon at Boston and encountered Lance Armstrong. You can read more about it here.

5/3 Run to Remember 5k - Chicago, IL
17:42 (5:41) (9/800) (4)

This was a very windy and dificult race with lots of abrupt corners. There was a strong wind from the south that we faced from 1.5 miles on. I darted in between Ken Herrmann and Greg Vande Kroll in the very last stretch to out kick them for ninth. They've both had nice seasons so it felt good to beat them (although I can't touch Greg these days as he's found another gear it seems). Robert, Paul, Phlip, Jason and I all enjoyed brunch afterwards.

5/10 50 Hecto 5k - Wheaton, IL
17:28 (5:39) (8/114) (1)

This was by far the smallest race I've run in all year. I ran neck and neck with Sam Cortez for most of the course and edged him out in the end. Ken Herrmann got his revenge by pulling away from me in the last half-mile to beat me by 5 seconds. The three of us began to see a lot of eachother over the next few races. Tiffany Carson rode out to the race with me in the car and we both won our age group. Here's a picture from the start line:

5/18 Healthbridge 5k - Crystal Lake, IL
17:17 (5:33) (7/396) (3)

What a fun race morning this was. Drove with Ashley, Matt, and Jason and had some really fun discussions. Ashley finished second in the women's race and Jason finished third in the men's which was impressive. I was cruising with Sam and Kenny again. I made my move at about 2.75 and they were not able to stay with me. I regret waiting so long as I had a lot of kick left and I think I could have reeled in one more runner to pick up 6th. Here is a photo of Jason pointing to yet another triumph over me.


5/24 Soldier Field 10 Miler - Chicago, IL
1:00:28 (6:03) (33/6045) (15)

I was a little disappointed not to break the one hour mark, especially when I passed my coach with about a quarter mile and he yelled for me to kick the people in front of me. As I picked it up I realized I had more left in the tank than I should have. But, I still had to be happy with taking a large chunk off of my time from the course the previous year (I ran a 1:05:21 in '07). Michael ran a very nice race. He didn't pass me until we were past the 5 mile mark and he ran a beautiful negative split to easily clear the 60 minute mark.

5/26 Elgin Valley Fox Trot 10 Miler - Elgin, IL
1:05:35 (6:33) (39/685) (5)

This marked my second 10 mile race of the three-day weekend and I was cooked. I started off with a little kick, but it was clear early on that I didn't have the legs for the hot sun or the hard hills. But, I managed to pick up 10 age group points and enjoy the beauty and challenge of the massive hill around mile 7. Any early morning driving with Ashley to a race is fun, even when I'm slow as dirt. Ken and Sam handled me easily.

6/1 Run for the Roses (5k) - Roselle, IL
18:18 (5:53) (21/579) (1)

Roselle started off beautifully. Matt and I got off the ground rolling and I cruised through the first mile feeling I could easily break 17 minutes which was my goal for this fast course. Unfortunately we were lead off course and I couldn't recover. I still managed to turn around and fight it out for the first overall age group decision, but this is a day that will live in relative infamy.

6/6, 6/7 - MC200(mi) Relay - Madison, WI, Milwaukee, WI, Chicago, IL
21:31:40 (6:27) (1/107)

This was by far the highlight of the 2008 season. Read more here!



6/22 Downers Grove 5 Miler - Downers Grove, IL
29:15 (5:51) (13/310) (2)

Matt, Jason, Ashley, and I jaunted out to the burbs. I was a little off and unable to hold onto Sam. But, I was glad to pick up 14 circuit points for the 2nd place age group finish and we all had a good time together modeling our age group award medals. Once again I gave Jason a ride to the race only for him to kick my ass and take points from me. After the race as seen here (Jason, Matt and half of Ashley):

6/28 Race for Young Life 5k - Palatine, IL
17:23 (5:35) (11/257) (1)

This is a race I'll remember more for the drive than the actual race. Went with Hutton, Matt, and Ben G. My car overheated about 4 times and we had to constantly replace fluid in the engine. We made it to the race just in time for me to win my age group and pad my CARA standings lead.

7/4 Elmhurst 4(mi) on the 4th - Elmhurst, IL

22:53 (5:43) (28/801) (4)

Ken had an awesome race here as he ran with a monster negative split to take me at the line. He's been a very evenly matched competitor for me. The highlight of the race came inside the first mile when Katie McGregor (one week removed from running in the US olympic track trials at Heyward Field in Oregon) blew past me on her way to a commanding victory. It was neat to see so many happy people at a well run race.

7/10 Bastille Day 5k - Chicago, IL

17:14 (5:32) (17/2675) (9)

This was a really fun night with lots of teammates competing in the west loop right next to my office. I had a lot left in the tank at the finish as I was disappointed to once again fall short of breaking 17 minutes. However, I'll take a PR whenever I can get one, and this was a 2 second PR. Verdo really began to show his legs on this night, and he hasn't looked back since. Phlip, Jason and I finished a very close second in the team competition running under the fake team name of Johannesburg South Africa Track Club. (Me, Phlip, Jason)

7/17 Run for the Kids 5k - Chicago, IL

17:58 (5:46) (14/1129) (3)

Just stretching out the legs at this one while running with the Road Scholars (photos). I won some Puma Socks for the 3rd place finish.

7/26 Xtreme 10(mi) - Waterfall Glen, IL

1:09:11 (6:55) (65/652) (5)

This race was a disaster. Although I enjoyed Mark Dolgin's company and he picked up an impressive third.

That's it for now. For the next month or so I should be laying off races as I try to regain my form from earlier this season in time for the Chicago Marathon on October 12th.

Electric Boogaloo: MC200 Overall Champions

This weekend I competed in the MC200 relay race. It was an absolute blast.

The 200mile race begins in Madison, WI, travels east to Milwaukee, and then heads south to Chicago. The course is divided into 36 legs and teams are allowed to have up to 12 members. Runners on a team must stay in the same order through-out the race. Teams are given maps of the entire course along with directions. The course is marked (but sometimes difficult to follow, especially at night) and there are HAM radio operators that monitor checkpoints between each leg.

The approximately 120 competing teams use a staggered start based on their predicted finishing time. This means the slower teams started early on Friday (7am), average teams started throughout the day, and the last wave started at 4pm. We were a part of 8 teams that started in the last leg. We had two goals. First, and most important was to win the overall competition with the fastest net-time, and the second was to pass every single team in the race (even those starting at 7 am).

Our team, Electric Boogaloo, was composed of 9 runners, 1 bad-ass driver, 1 bad-ass 12 passenger van, and one sissy Chevrolet HHR. This meant we each ran 4 legs (with total mileage ranging from 19-27 miles each) from start to finish. We are all pretty similar in ability, but we matched our toughest legs with our strongest runners. Here's a look at our team.

Arik Anderson - Showed up wearing a leisure suit and purposely let every team beat him off the starting line so we could have the possibility of saying we passed every team. World-Class Ass-Slapper.

Lance Caldwell - Representing Running Away he proved to each of us that Martineau has friends away from Fleet Feet.

Ken Fandel (on right, in blue) - An amazing photographer, artist and teacher at the Art Institute who can also run with the best of them.  He took almost every photo you are looking at.

Ben Geletka - Ricky Bobby couldn't hold his jock when it comes to driving. Ben stayed behind the wheel for over 27 hours without a nap. He also happens to be a great runner.

Phlip Kepler (driver's side) - It's hard to find this father not smiling. He sometimes dispenses some really sage advice, but that usually comes out in the middle of about 19 jokes that he's simultaneously telling. He enjoys trying to give tool booth operators the wrong amount of change.

Mike Martineau - One of the monsters on our team who churned out really fast miles in high heat on at least two of his legs. One of the lawyers on R Kelly's defense team.

Dan McDowell - I ate a lot of beef jerky.

Jason Ream - Our anchor. A real speed demon that humors me by running by my side now and then. Poster boy for the Cleveland Marathon.

Robert Wiegand - Famed instructor of Rabbit Abs. Friend of Jimmy John. Fast. Not related to Charles.

Chris Woods - The number 1 ranked Hi-Guy impersonator in all of Chicago. A model of speed and efficiency.

At the end of the first leg Arik rolled in about 20 seconds after the leader. He handed the slap bracelet (instead of a baton) to me and I began to chase. The first legs were in the city of Madison and had a lot of turns and busy street crossings. I was so nervous about getting lost that I ran with a map folded up in my hand. The heat and sun got to me and I felt slow. I suffered as I watched the lead open up in front of me.

After reaching the end of my first run I handed off to Robert. As we drove in the van to the next checkpoint was watch Robert obliterate the leading team's man. He caught him very quickly and left him baking in the hot sun. Our teams would continue to trade the lead for the next few legs. However, by the time we had gone through one cycle of our runners we had built a substantial lead. The main team we were racing against had 11 runners. We knew (or were almost certain) this meant that they had their 3 fastest runners going first, as they would be doing 4 legs while the others only did 3.

Nightfall brought great relief as temperatures dropped and running became a lot more comfortable (minus the bugs). During our second cycle through our roster we began to catch teams from earlier starting times. All runners during the night must wear head lamps, glowing vests, and blinking back lights. It makes for a goofy looking spectacle.

My second leg was perfectly straight. It ran along a railway that had been converted to a trail. The scenery was completely rural as I saw no artificial light save for the one on my head. I felt much faster than in my first leg and not worrying about taking a wrong turn made for a very pleasant experience. I ran through some thick tree cover and occasionally ran over some long wooden bridges that covered vast boggy openings. It was a beautiful night with lots of visibility. I saw my first roadkill ahead in the distance and enjoyed closing the gap with each step as I went in for the kill. By the time I handed off to Robert I was positive I had made the right decision in being a part of the race.

Our lead continued to grow throughout the night. There was no way to be sure how big it was. The only way we could measure it was to see how long after our vehicles reached a transition area it would take for our opponent's wheels to arrive. Eventually we were packing up our arriving runner, and heading off to the next transition before the 2nd place team's car even arrived. We knew this was a great psychological advantage.

By the time my third leg arrived it was around 3 a.m. The map called for a 7+ mile jaunt through southern Milwaukee. At this point we were surrounded by a majority of the teams in the race. Most of which had started at least 4 hours before us. If my memory serves me correctly I passed 11 teams along the route. The speed came easy despite the weird hour and location. Running in the middle of a random city street in darkness and calm air gave me an odd adrenaline rush. I could see many slower runners lined up ahead of me, their blinking lights a beacon for my carnivorous desire to pass. A few times during the leg the huge white whale driven by Ben and covered in our decoration rolled by to deliver water and gatorade. The hooting and hollering from inside the van made it easy to roll the legs even faster. A few of my miles were clocked under 6 minutes (which wouldn't normally be something to write home about, but at that hour after being up for almost 24 hours I was extremely happy).

As the sun rose our entire team seemed to be feeling pretty tired. But, the view along lake Michigan in southern Wisconsin was pretty spectacular. Some of us laid sleeping bags out on the ground and tried to catch a little sleep. Meanwhile, Ben continued to drive, navigate, and cheer us on as if it was the easiest job in the world. By this time the van almost always had someone taking a nap in it. The doors were also covered in tally marks as we kept record of every team we passed.

Lost in my recap of this event is the fact that Chris, Mike, Robert and Jason were all really flying. Without a doubt, they were the reason we were turning this race into a blowout. As we cycled through our last legs, Chris had a 8+ miler that put him in some high heat. There were still 3 teams ahead of us from the earlier start times. We hoped he could wrangle one of them is as we wanted to be the very first team across the line at Montrose Beach in Chicago. We had seen no sight of them as Chris left on his run. But, by the time he made it to the end of his leg, they were all left in the dust, wondering what the blur was that had blazed past.

In the last few legs we had managed to piss off a lot of teams. Lots of teams and their fans were waiting quietly in a park for the teams to begin arriving. Ken's Dad even greeted us and watched Ken take his turn. Who were those loud, cocky, sprinters waking us from our naps as they flew through the transition station? Electric Boogaloo, duh! And let 'em know who it is with a little extra honk of the horn big Ben!

By the time we all reached Evanston the beginning of our final leg I was running on empty. All I wanted to was to sleep in my bed. But, for Jason, he still needed to keep himself loose and ready for the final run. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Arik had been done for hours and had to keep himself awake while he waited for everyone to get done. He did so in spectacular fashion with lots of cheering and grab ass.

After Jason raced off to cover the last miles we raced in the two cars along Lakeshore Drive to try to beat him to the finish. We managed to find parking spots and then all gathered 50 meters before the finish line. We ran across the line together and began to celebrate with friends, family, beer, and laughter. It was great to see Ashley again as she met up with me just after we crossed the line. Robert somehow managed to fall on an orange cone as we crossed the line which was quite the contrast to his incredible speed in the first leg. Phlip came through as he always does with some excellent Bell's hand delivered by his Wife all the way from Michigan. Lance's wife gave me an incredibly nice lift back to Logan Square where I managed to nap for a while before the after party at Emmit's later that night.

In the end, we won by over an hour and 13 minutes, passed every team in the race, and had a great time the entire way. I can't say enough about how well everyone got along and how many times we all had to laugh at the fun and absurdity of what were doing. Dong ask. Dong tell.

I run with my mouth wide, wide open.

Why do I run?

Because I have no short answer to this question, I direct you to Dave Eggers' You Shall Know Our Velocity.  Below, you will find a ten page excerpt from the book that I find to be quite fantastic.  In a roundabout way I feel as though it offers some insight to the reasons I enjoy running.  It is from this book that the name of this blog was derived.

Its a shame that some runners don't know about the nomadic Jumping People who were indigenous to Chile, weighed as much as mountains, and were convinced a bird's mouth was more important to its flight than its wings.*

* This group may or may not be fabricated by Mr. Eggers.