HOW MUCH PAIN CAN ONE TAKE?

A goal, a coach, and 5 month plan...simple right? Not so.
It all started Dec. 2006, why not try to run a 1/2 marathon. You always have to have a goal, it keeps you moving. Biking wasn't quite cutting it, don't get me wrong, I love to bike, but the racing scene, I will leave to Pete.
I told my friend Denise of this goal and wow was she amazing! In her own free time put together a plan and I mean, spreadsheet and all and started me on a log to keep track of my progress.
Started off great with Denise and I running shore drive in Dec, no snow, clear roads and I was on my way to running a 1/2 on May 26th. Comes to find out we started me out a little to hard, calfs cramped like you wouln't believe. Rested up, stretched, and iced and I was back on the road.
January, feeling ok, doing a little treadmill work, found a new running partner, Denise had to go to France for 2 months, but she left me in good hands with Martha.Martha was always willing to run anywhere anytime, and we had great fun. We ran NCMC track. Comes to find out, even with snow on the road and temps cooling off, the road is the place to run. Getting my miles in, but still not very long runs, I have plently of time.
Feb. comes and so does the injuries! Granted, every time I run, some little twing is there, but my coach said, you know when your in pain and you know when you can shake it off. Well, for two months I am shaking it off, but I think I was in pain and after an amazing 4 mile run with Martha, with a sprint finish at the end, I drove home and got out of my car and low and behold, a sharp piercing pain in my left kneecap. So, next day what do you do, you of course run! Shake it off, get through it, it will go away, feel the pain!YEAH!!!
Nope, put me right down, couldn't shake it off, called in the doctor for a script for PT. Comes to find out, I have what every runner gets, my IT band got misplaced and my patella, knee cap, moved to the wrong position-to the side of my knee. So a little hamstring work out with the most amazing PT gal, Shelly from Orthosport,"she also called me in her free time the night before the race with great tips" she got me running again and gave me few extra exercises for the wedding coming up!
So, on track again, March to April-ran a 5 miler on shore drive, in shortsleeves no less, and my foot started going numb on my left side and after the run, couldn't weight bear on my right hip.....what the $^**% is going on? Why can't I exercise without hurting, at least I am not sitting on my bumm watching tevo and eating McyD's.
I am in so much pain every time I run and the whole foot going numb thing, what the hell!
So, back to the doctor's, othodics guy, tells me my foot is blah blah and my ankles can't flex and he is surprised I haven't broken my ankle and if I kept running, that soon would happen. WHAT? Now I am going to break an ankle from exercising... Come on, throw me a bone.
So, what do I do? I drink myself silly and wallow in self pity and eat all sorts of shit that I can't say because Pete is going to read this. I mean, I woke with hangovers and then had to drink the next night because I knew I couldn't run.
I was makiing it worse and I came out of it somehow and to end this long ass post, I e-mailed Bayshore organizers and said my goal is not going to happen and I had to regretably be part of the 10Kers. Man, was that ever humbling.
In the end I ran the 6.2 miles and comes to find out, I was awesome! I ran it in 1:14:39. 12 minute miles, not bad.
But the best part about this post....found out, I really love to bike...
Ride on fellow riders....
Sarah

Season Opener

This weekend is the official start of the summer season for most of us around here. The holiday weekend gives the summer people a chance to come up and get the cottages (3000 sq. ft. +) opened up for the season. The nicest thing about this weekend is that it means there are only three months until it's over. You just have to view it as a really long ride that you know will come to an end come Labor Day. You just put your head down and get on with the task at hand. I'll be done racing after the Lumberjack until the Ore to Shore, so hopefully most of the summer will be nice consistent training and working. Had another great turnout for the WNR this week. The group has varied quite a bit from week to week, but we've consistently had nine or ten riders which is great. We'll be riding this Sunday around four at boyne if anyone is interested. Otherwise, WNR next week will meet at the Bartley House for a big loop at boyne. Until then, a couple of quick snaps. One, the youngest member of the team practicing his mowing skills. Two, Matt finishing his first ever race last Saturday. I'd better get to work. Over and out.

Race Report

So the 1st Annual Team Terpening 3day Stage Race just finished up yesterday morning, and I'm pretty sure that everyone had a great time. There were a couple of crashes (none too serious), and a couple of people got lost (none requiring search and rescue missions). All in all, I'd say things ran pretty darn smoothly. Speacial thanks go out to Chris for driving me around in his truck on thursday night to finish marking the course for saturday's stage, and to Sarah for manning the aid station on saturday and organizing the kitchen for the party on saturday night. And so, without further ado, the official results:
Stage 1: Friday 6:00 pm 4.6 mile road tt
1. Pete: 14min10sec
2. Chris: 15min7sec
3. Scott: 15min38sec
4. Sarah: 18min54sec

Stage 2: Saturday 4:00 pm 30 mile mountain bike
1. Pete: 2hr1min
2. Doug: s.t.
3. Nate: s.t.
4. Chris 2hr15min
5. Dave: 2hr28min
6. Rob: 2hr30min
7. Ed: 2hr52min
shortened course:
1. Scott: 2hr
2. Matt: 2hr33min
3. Seth: s.t.

Stage 3: Sunday 11:00 am 15 mile cross country mtb. (4.7 mile lap)
1. Doug 1hr15min (3)
2. Nate 1hr17min (3)
3. Pete 1hr20min (3)
4. Chris 1hr21min (3)
5. Scott 1hr (2)
6. Ed 29min (1)
7. Matt 38min (1)

So that's it for now. I'm pretty sure I got the times right, but let me know if I messed anything up. I'm already looking forward to a bigger badder race next year. It'll be the same weekend so mark it on your calendar now, no excuses. Good job everybody for coming out and making it a fun weekend for all involved. I got a ton of great pictures from Sarah and Kathryn, but these four are going to have to do for now. I'll sprinkle more into the blog over the coming month or so. In the meantime, take care and ride well. Over and out.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday wishes go out to Benson today. Have a good one buddy, and we'll see you out on the trail tonight. Over and out.

Lumberjack Training

Since Doug had to bail on our plans to preview the Lumberjack 100 course this Sunday, I took the oppurtunity to do a long ride on the mountain bike from home. I was shooting for 100km (62 miles), but the loop I picked ended up being a little shy. Interestingly enough though, it worked out to be almost exactly half of the projected numbers for the big race. 51 miles in 4hr38min with total elevation gain of 4,096 ft. I'm certainly feeling it today, but it's not as bad as I expected. I rode into town on as much dirt as possible (the Loop and around Pond Hill Farm) to meet up with Chris. We then headed over to the North Country Trail on the low road. Chris rode on the N.C.T. with me from there until Stutsmanville Rd. He headed south on Pleasantview to boyne, and I continued on the trail north to Van Rd. From there I followed the same course that we'll be racing on Saturday. All the way down to the lake and back up via the south end of Lamkin Dr., Middle Village Rd., and Boyton Rd. Those are three pretty big climbs. I look forward to hearing what people have to say on Saturday night after the race. WNR at boyne this week. I'll see you there, and don't forget to come racing this weekend.

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

Thought I'd share some pix from the race last weekend. The first one is of my buddy Justin and I warming up before the start. The second one is the pro/elite field chatting before the gun. I think the middle Bell's guy was the eventual winner aboard his 17lb. Quiring Ti Singlespeed. You talk about fast.......

The training has been going well. I recovered nicely from the race and got in some good long rides this week with some hard intervals on wednesday before meeting up with the WNR group. By then my legs were pretty trashed so I just took it easy for the rest of the night. When I'm feeling sore and not really in the mood for riding, I just have to remind myself that the Lumberjack 100 is just around the corner. I know Hugh's putting in the miles over in France, and that is probably the biggest motivator to get out on the bike. I'm shooting for a metric century on the dirt Sunday. If anyone's interested in all or part let me know, and I'll figure out a meeting place. Otherwise, I'll see you at the WNR this week at boyne. Jess made her second appearance last week, and I think we may have her hooked. Kathryn had her first WNR last week, and we're hoping to reel her in as well. It's nice to have some new faces showing up for the WNR, keep it up.

Fort Custer Race Report

In an effort to get more racing miles in before the big Lumerjack 100 and Ore to Shore later this season I've moved up to the expert class for my cross country races this spring. All I can say after getting my ass handed to me yesterday morning is that they don't call it the expert class for nothing. It was a relatively flat but very technical 10 mile loop. Out of 27 starters in my group I was only able to beat 2 in the three lap race. I suppose that's better than finishing dead last, but it still kind of sucks. Those guys were just so fast; I'm still trying to figure it all out. The trail was 100% singletrack, and I averaged 12 mph. For me, that is a superfast (bordering on unsafe) speed to be cruising through the woods. Guys would pass me, and I'd try to stay with them but it was no use. I'm just going to have start working on my technical skills more I guess, but the only trail around that's even close is all the way down at Boyne Mountain. All right, I'm done whining for now. My legs actually feel pretty good today all things considered, and I didn't crash. I'll see you out on the trail. WNR this week @ Larks Lake North Country Trailhead.

Cinco de Mayo

As if we all really need another excuse to knock back a few drinks. You really can tell that spring is here to stay though. The trillium are out (and quite thirsty). The summer population is slowly beginning to trickle back in (they're thirsty as well). Fortunately, we all have another month or so to enjoy the nice weather before it gets really busy. The WNR this week was a big hit. We had nine riders, and I believe that everyone had a good ride. We also had the great pleasure of introducing Matt's girlfriend Jess to the wonderful sport of mountain biking. For her first time out riding she did great. Now we just have to keep her coming back until she's addicted just like the rest of us. Then there's no turning back. I'm heading down the Battle Creek this afternoon for the Fort Custer Stampede tomorrow morning, so I won't be able to do too much cinco de mayoing tonight. I will however be celebrating cinco de sies tomorrow night if anyone wants to stop over for a margarita. Until next time.

Trail Building 101

After my four hour ride on Sunday, I had every intention of sitting around being lazy on Monday. But that was not to be the case. The WNR is coming out to Terpening this week, and there were still a couple of trail issues that needed adressing. So instead of my recovery day, I spent two hours hauling recycled lumber up the hill and using the chainsaw. But the bridge is built, and it is totally rideable (in both directions). I haven't been out to ride the whole loop in a few weeks, but last I checked it's all in fairly decent spring shape. There are small sticks and such to watch out for, but nothing that should force you off the bike. We'll also be screening my new favorite bike video, 24Solo. It's awesome. So it should be a good night. Too bad so sad for those that'll miss it.