Sweet Corn

This Sunday past, I was roped into a group ride.

The Sweet Corn Challenge is a popular local ride centered in Richfield, OH that offers 25, 50, and 100 mile options. The course descends and climbs out of the Cuyahoga Valley along with several other 200-300 foot climbs in the area. We were in familiar territory--the course looped one of our group's favorite hill running loop at the Hinckley Reservation.

We were treated to a pleasant yet overcast and humid 80F morning. The lack of rain made for an easy ride.

I ride a lot, mostly for commuting, but never more than 10-15 miles at a time. My running buddies convinced me to join in for the 50 mile. I was somewhat stunned that 3 of my buds would ride on mountain bikes. Two of us had road bikes.

After riding together for a couple miles, the two of us took off. I never knew how much fun cycling is. Consider me hooked. The course provided aid stations every 10-12 miles. We were in no hurry--I rode and chatted along the way with M--and we took all three additional "killer hill" options resulting in 58 total miles for our Sweet Corn challenge.

At the end we were treated to sweet corn and a meal. Afterwards, I headed out for a few more miles to accompany our last running buddy to the finish.

I never knew how enjoyable a long bike ride could be!

Week of July 22-28

Sun: Run 4 E (8:16), Cycle 12 miles
Mon: 4 E (8:20), Swim 1000 yds
Tue: 9.25 (7:48) with 3.5 @ I-pace (7x800m; with 400m recovery jogs), Cycle 11
Wed: 5 E (8:24), Cycle 9
Thur: 7 E (8:43), Cycle 10
Fri: Rest
Sat: 16.5 on hills (8:47), Cycle 11

Totals:
Run: 46 miles
Cycle: 41 miles
Swim: 1000 yds

10 weeks to go. 3nd week of Interval phase and nothing spectacular to report regarding the Interval workout. Pacing good.

Last week, I was already improving on the 800s and the weekend race confirmed it. This week, I had an even-matched runner to work with, maintaining I-pace for VDOT 52:

800m splits: 3:07/3:00/2:59/3:01/3:00/2:58/2:54

And with that, everyone's jaw dropped...

I work for a fairly big company--we have about 400 employees here in our downtown office. In turn, I don't make a big deal of my races to my co-workers. Sure, they know that I run marathons and such. The last time I did make a fuss and told everyone was for the JFK 50 Mile a couple years ago. When non-runners hear about the tale, its mind-boggling to most of them. I'm embarrassed by the strange looks and wild reactions I get, so I just stopped telling everyone at work. They know I run races, but most times I just say I'm going to run a "marathon."

Earlier this week, I got word that an article in our city's weekly newspaper was going to run in today's edition.

So yesterday, at the end of a department meeting with about 15 people, I decide to tell everyone about Mohican. I asked a question, "Anyone subscribe to the Lakewood Sun Post?"

No replies.

I tried to leave it be, but the cat was halfway out of the bag and I had to follow-up. "There's an article coming out this week. I just wanted to tell everyone here. I ran in a 100 Mile race last month and the paper is running a story."

And with that, everyone's jaw dropped.

What I had thought would be a simple 2-minute announcement turned into 25 minutes of Q&A with my co-workers! As they grilled and chided me, the general response was shock.

The article came out in today's edition. Must not be very much news in my city--the article and picture was front page! The reporter interviewed me a week after the race and I had wondered how it would turn out. She did pretty well to capture the essence.

Article link here.

The outlandish headline is supposed to read: "To him, a marathon is a sprint," with the byline, "Lakewood runner gets ninth place at 100-mile event." The picture did not make it to the web article, but they ran this photo of me approaching Hickory Ridge aid station.

Week of July 15-21

Sun: Run 18 miles, Cycle 12 miles
Mon: Run 4
Tue: Run 10.25 Intervals (7x800m @ I-pace; with 400m recovery jogs), Cycle 10
Wed: Run 10
Thur: Run 6 (trails), Cycle 11
Fri: Run 3
Sat: Run 9 (4 mile race - 25:01)

800m splits: 3:03/3:07/3:02/3:00/2:59/2:59/2:57

Totals:
Run: 60 miles
Cycle: 33 miles
Swim: 0

11 weeks to go. 2nd week of Interval phase and nothing spectacular to report regarding the Interval workout. Pacing good.

Saturday's night race was a tad warm (81F) in the direct sun. Not bad, but I felt rushed when they started the race 5 minutes early. Sheesh. When does that ever happen? I never felt entirely relaxed, but I should have expected as much since this was my first 'short' race of the year.

Splits: 6:13-6:19-6:17-6:12 = 25:01
Place: 36/915

The performance falls in the VDOT 52-53 range, reflecting a bit of improvement from the 2 mile trial of four weeks ago.

Next week, looking forward to more intervals and a weekend long run on hills.

Week of July 8-14

Sun: Run 8.5 miles, Cycle 7 miles
Mon: Run 4, Swim 1000 yds
Tue: Run 9 Intervals (6x 800m; with 400m recovery jogs), Cycle 10
Wed: Run 5
Thur: Run 9
Fri: Run 5 (trails)
Sat: Run 8 (trails)

800 splits: 3:06/3:05/3:05/3:08/3:03/3:03

Totals:
Run: 48.5 miles
Cycle: 17 miles
Swim: 1000 yds

12 weeks to go, and the first week of a phase of intervals (I-pace.) Current VDOT 51 = 3:06 per 800m. The forecast called for 90F temps on track night, but a cool breeze kept the temps down. Enough to run the set, but still hot.

The highlight of the week as this year's Buckeye Trail 50km trail race. Although not running it this year, I was able to get down there to help out and watch the record day. In past years, Vince, Dave, Greg, and I marked the course early Thursday morning. This year, we marked it on Friday night and I think it worked out better, except that we ran out of materials. Vince got happy with the spray chalk all up down the trail. I thought it was a bit excessive and left an unnecessary trace. We did, however, mark the trail better than ever before.

I ended up returning early Saturday morning to mark from the start to Ottawa Point. I got to watch the entire field of runners (181 - a new race record) pass by me near the third mile. Then I reversed all the signage heading back towards the finish line for the racers' return trip. I spent the remainder of the day at the finish line recording the results.

If you've never run the Buckeye Trail down in the Cuyahoga Valley, click here for a great Web Gallery from this years race. The trail was dry and fast.

Unofficial BT50K results

14th Buckeye Trail 50km
July 14th, 2007
Brecksville, OH
Dry and fast trails

181 registered *
149 finishers *

* Event records

Note: Results Unofficial

Congrats to all!

Place , First Name, Last Name, Age, Gender, Finishing Time

1 Kam Lee 38 M 3:55 - (Men's CR)
2 Mark Godale 37 M 3:57
3 Kip Brady 4:05
4 Steve Godale 36 M 4:28
5 Mike Ryan 41 M 4:33 - (Men's Master's CR)
6 Jeff McPherson 37 M 4:35
7 Wyatt Hornsby 34 M 4:41
8 Bob Pokorny 46 M 4:42
9 Jeff Ubersax 51 M 4:42:10 - (Men's Grand Master's CR)
10 Rich Wisneski 38 M 4:43
11 Connie Gardner 43 F 4:44 - (1st Woman & Master's CR)
12 Jeff Hirt 36 M 4:45
13 Gerry Hynes 41 M 4:48
14 Ed Goubeaux 45 M 4:49
15 Matt Pazderak 36 M 4:51
16 Joe Smidak 46 M 4:55
17 Lindsey Loftus 43 M 4:56
18 Steve Hawthorne 32 M 4:56:58
19 Heath Harris 16 M 4:57 - (Men's 19 & under CR)
20 Joe Maduri 19 M 4:59
21 Rob Powell 36 M 5:07
22 Andrew Riggins 19 M 5:08
23 Tim Fayer 39 M 5:08:10
24 Kim Martin 42 F 5:10
25 Carson Heiner 56 M 5:10:25
26 Michael George 47 M 5:12
27 Todd Surrarrer 34 M 5:14:50
28 George Themelis 47 M 5:14:50
29 Bob Clarke 55 M 5:15
30 Chris Gillen 39 M 5:16
31 David Peterman 44 M 5:17
32 Dan Kuzma 25 M 5:18
33 Dan Staats 37 M 5:20
34 Jerry Brandt 34 M 5:20:30
35 Dawn Malone 41 F 5:20:45
36 Paul Romanic 38 M 5:21
37 Soren Petch 35 M 5:22
38 Steve Vellky 43 M 5:26
39 Melissa Terwilliger 23 F 5:26:50
40 Elizabeth Hansen 25 F 5:26:55
41 Mark Gorman 34 M 5:28
42 John Nichols 43 M 5:29
43 Wayne Vereb 57 M 5:29
44 Josh Dillingham 21 M 5:33:30
45 Steve Calhoun 40 M 5:33:40
46 Brad Polman 40 M 5:34
47 Pat Martens 53 M 5:37
48 Laura Taucher 28 M 5:37:50
49 Melissa Bolgrin 28 F 5:43
50 Kellie Truesdell 31 F 5:44:30
51 Peter Penzone 33 M 5:44:40
52 Kevin Ford 44 M 5:44:50
53 Roy Hager 52 M 5:45
54 Tom Bauer 56 M 5:47
55 Brett Himes 49 M 5:48
56 Mark Loeper 43 M 5:49
57 Greg Trapp 44 M 5:50:40
58 Tom Henterly 51 M 5:50:45
59 John Young 40 M 5:51
60 Todd Bolgrin 31 M 5:52:10
61 Frank Dwyer 36 M 5:52:20
62 Doug Klein 46 M 5:53
63 Jason Bour 39 M 5:54:10
64 Bill Wagner 54 M 5:54:50
65 Kurt Osadchuk 47 M 5:57:10
66 Jay Mast 31 M 5:57:20
67 Paul Siegferth Jr. 39 M 5:58
68 Kimberly Bucey 31 F 5:58:50
69 Joe Petkac 51 M 5:59
70 Jim Harris 42 M 6:02
71 Christian Maier 35 M 6:04
72 Bob Combs 40 M 6:07
73 Bill Bailey 40 M 6:09:45
74 Dave Nonno 48 M 6:09:50
75 Paul Lefelhocz 38 M 6:11
76 Ryan Smith 29 M 6:12
77 Sameuel Pak 56 M 6:16
78 Jeff Vasiloff 39 M 6:17
79 Al Eder 55 M 6:18:30
80 Jeff Lingafelter 50 M 6:18:40
81 Bob Neiderman 53 M 6:18:50
82 Tom Morgan 45 M 6:20
83 Michele Fortuna 41 F 6:21:20
84 Jerry Williamson 45 M 6:21:30
85 Zachary Johnson 30 M 6:21:40
86 Nick Villanti 35 M 6:22
87 Brandon Russell 35 M 6:29:50
88 Jeff Lillie 43 M 6:32
89 John Kennedy 22 M 6:33:30
90 Tanya Senne 35 F 6:33:30
91 Matt Kennedy 48 M 6:33:35
92 Brian Musick 26 M 6:34
93 Nick Billock 34 M 6:37
94 Adam Mouenkopf 30 M 6:41:30
95 Steve Hammer 37 M 6:41:35
96 Nancy Smith 54 F 6:42:50
97 Mark Elderbrock 46 M 6:42:55
98 Chris Levandowski 28 M 6:43:25
99 Jeff Zapp 36 M 6:43:45
100 Trent Perrin 26 M 6:45:15
101 David Koch 48 M 6:45:20
102 Jared Steele 35 M 6:45:45
103 Scott Ferrari 49 M 6:45:50
104 Chris Vandiford 37 M 6:45:55
105 Frederick Davis III 59 M 6:49
106 Venkatesh Krishnamurthi 40 M 6:50:30
107 Charles Balek 39 M 6:50:40
108 John Kefer 34 M 6:51:20
109 Joe Jurczyk 42 M 6:51:30
110 Beth Powers 25 F 6:51:40
111 Melissa Hospodor 27 F 6:51:45
112 Kim Penzone 36 F 6:52:10
113 Beth Coyne 47 F 6:53
114 Marty McPeak 59 M 6:56:05
115 Dwayne Potts 37 M 6:56:15
116 Ellen Potts 35 F 6:56:20
117 Tim McGinty 56 M 6:56:50
118 Tim Harber 50 M 6:57
119 Debbie Haynes 48 F 6:58
120 Stacy Rhea 39 F 7:04
121 Mike Halkovich 35 M 7:07
122 Kreig Spahn 43 M 7:10
123 Paul Rhine 42 M 7:16
124 Tonya Banzhaf 33 F 7:17
125 Robert Drake 50 M 7:19
126 Mark Anson 54 M 7:22
127 Maria Healy 31 F 7:23
128 Karl Hiltner 55 M 7:25
129 Bill Hofeldt 47 M 7:26
130 Steve Sutton 50 M 7:32
131 MIchael Donnelly 40 M 7:32:10
132 Paul Yoe 45 M 7:32:20
133 John Brogan 40 M 7:32:30
134 Rob Apple 45 M 7:34
135 Robert Wright 40 M 7:35
136 Joe Novicky 47 M 7:43
137 Sara Hill 42 F 7:44
138 Paul Neugebauer 37 M 7:49
139 Michael Kazar 43 M 7:52
140 John Ropar 57 M 7:53
141 Todd Krall 36 M 7:59
142 Alex Nemet 32 M 7:59
143 Cindy Autenucci 42 F 8:02
144 Debi Glinsek 53 F 8:16
145 Laurence Macon 62 M 8:36
146 Arthur Moore 69 M 9:11
147 Bill Whipp 62 M 9:11
148 Philip Sage 46 M 9:24
149 John Connor 51 M 10:23

Week of July 1-7

Sun: Run 10 miles (trails), Cycle 31 miles
Mon: Run 3
Tue: Run 8 (with 8x 90 second hill repeats), Cycle 13
Wed: Run 7, Cycle 27
Thur: Run 9
Fri: Rest
Sat: Run 16

Totals:
Run: 53 miles
Cycle: 71 miles
Swim: 0

Good run mileage and outstanding cycle mileage due to the 4th of July holiday.

With 13 weeks to go, the marathon training group just finished Phase I of the marathon training plan and now heading into Phase II. Next week quality session introduces sets of Interval-pace 800s.

This year's Buckeye Trail 50 km falls two weeks earlier than the traditional day (last Saturday of July) due to accomodating the Burning River 100 Mile race held on August 4-5.