My Pet Rock!

So last Saturday morning, Caroline and me left early to get to the FARMDALE 33 mile trail race site.

There was some familiar faces there. Because this would be the last race I had to finish for the IL. Trail Grand Slam race series.

There was two separate races that day. A 8 miler and the 33 mile Ultra. We all started together, so there was some congestion early on the single track portions of the race.

Then at one point there was a split, which was kind of interesting, because at one point there was a whole bunch of us running together, then in a instant I was all alone on the trails. I saw somebody in the distance, so I was assured that I did not make a wrong turn.

While I was running I happen to look back and saw Caroline hot on my heels, she was still about a quarter mile away, so I yelled out "Heyyyyy". So after that I ran a couple of more steps, then I tripped over a tree root and down I go face forward into the leaves. I used my hands to break my fall, which was not a smart move, because my elbow felt a little stiff the rest of the race.

So have not run this race before I did not know what to expect. It was mostly single track, being "Fall" weather, all the leaves were covering up all the obstacles on the ground, thus making people, like me, prone to fall on their ass. There was a 20 foot wide shallow water crossing, not to bad but cold nonetheless. Then there was 2 to 3 smaller water crossings. So three loops of that made for some cold wet feet. It was alot more technical than I thought it would be with alot of switchbacks and small hills one after another. It was entertaining to run because you had to be alert during the entire race but draining after awhile.

I actually ran the 1st loop well, getting slower the 2ND, and of course, just trying to hold on the 3rd loop.

But with a finishing time of 6:29:17, (25th out of 66 starters), 33.6 miles was done.

I was pretty glad to finish, because that concluded the trail race series. Not sure how many people started this 1st annual event, but around 20 of us were able to complete the whole thing.

(That's me in the back next to Chris M.(tall guy in red shirt, creator of the slam series) . A big ThankYou to him to setting this all up)

I think I placed 5th among the men (out of 13) in the series. So "whoot" "whoot" to that.

It was actually pretty fun being in a race series. Seeing the same faces at each race and doing some new races I would not have never done before if it was not for the race series.

Then as an added bonus, I got some unique finisher's "bling" along the way. A hobo 50k tin cup, 100 mile buckle, finisher's 50k medal, and of course my "pet" rock.

So what's next, Me and my pet rock took a little break, but now time to get moving again and get ready for probably my last long "ASS" race for the year, The Lakefront 50 miler,

A little SAD just thinking about it, but I think my mind and body needs a much needed rest after that.

Back to my regular scheduled off-season!

Just back from a mini-vacation with the family in Florida.

Of course we had to visit Disney World for the 20th plus time. Not sure how we spent 10+ hours at the Magic Kingdom theme park, I guess time flies when you are having fun.

Here is a pic of the kiddo with "Ariel" from the Little Mermaid after waiting 50 minutes to get her autograph. The weird thing was two adult men in front of us waiting 50 minutes as well to get a picture with her as well. Hmm, is it me or is that kinda of strange, I think I would rather be waiting 50 minutes to ride the space mountain roller coaster.

So this weekend is the final installment of the Illinois Grand Slam trail series. The Farmdale 33 miler. More fun on the trails. Not sure how it is going to go again, because I have switched to some Cuban pastries I got from Florida for energy food instead of my standard apple danishes. So will see how it all works out.

But just going to have some fun out there like I did two weeks ago at the Hobo 50k and hopefully hold on to my 4th place status in the race series among the men.

Then two weeks later get ready for the Lakefront 50 mile road ultra. This might be easier than a trail 50 miler but will hurt a little more.

So on a last note, here is a little endurance inspiration. David Goggins is a Ultra Runner/Endurance BAD ASS. He just completed Kona and broke the course record at the 150 mile McNaughton trail race earlier this year. I was running the 100 mile at the same time and saw his film crew throughout the race. So here is video documenting his journey along with his t-shirt saying "Show No Weakness", gotta luv that!