Boston Bound

It's hard to believe that its been a year since I had the honor of running Boston! I'm not going this year but I want to wish all my friends who are going.

Katie Owens (bib number 14158) ~ making her return appearance to Boston after running a PR 3:34:58 last year. Always humble Katie isn't making any claims of a great race ahead...WHATEVER...she will do fabulous as usual.

Val Trax Hattabaugh(bib number 18614) - is making her first appearance at Boston using her one and only marathon time from the 2007 Chicago Heat-athon - 3:47:57. A Boston qualifier the first time out! I immediately worked on convincing this "one marathon and I'm done" girl to go to Boston. Obviously she wasn't sold on it fast enough to run in 2008 but was able to enter the 2009 race. I'm excited to see how she does and I'm so glad she decided to run a marathon one more time.

John Garcia (bib number 8563) - the running news guy, see his blog http://runningnewsguy.abc7chicago.com/ is headed to Boston this year as well. Training has gone well and he's on a high after welcoming his fourth daughter into this world just recently.

Dick Pond Racing Team - Fast feet to all the members of my racing team that will be running Boston this year. Represent our team and sponsor with pride!

Remember all runners can be tracked during the race. Go to www.baa.org on race day. Click on the links that will only be visible on race day and by using their bib number you will be able to see every 5k split.

It's going to be hard to concentrate on work that day :-)

Run smart! Run fast! Enjoy!!

Jenny Garrison's First Pro Triathlon!

My good friend and triathlete goddess Jenny Garrison competed in her first triathlon as a pro on August 24th right here in Chicago!

It was a tough day for her out there but Jenny showed us what a true athlete does on such days...you keep moving, plain and simple.

Jenny is just five months from giving birth to her second child and she is already out there competing. She kicks my butt, that's for sure.

Congrat's Jenny, I'm so proud of you!

Read all about it http://www.jennygarrison.blogspot.com/

Hard Choices lead to Best Decision - Mohican 100 Miler

Brian started his first 100 miler on Saturday on great pace but in the end succumbed to foot blisters on feet that may not have been completely healed from his last 100K on May 3rd. Attention for the blisters were taking more and more time (by medical staff and by Brian) and the pain reached a level where continuing on would have required more suffering than was reasonable. Brian still completed an admirable 52.2 miles and had to contend with some scary weather as well.

The allure of the ultra distance race. Formidable challenges with NO guarantees. Hats off to Brian and his first attempt. We are all proud of you!

As my old coach used to say:

"Live to race another day."

Brian going for his first 100 Miler

I guess running a 100K is not enough for Brian as he will be participating in his first 100 miler this weekend (June 21-22). This boy has caught the ultra bug BAD and it sure has been fun following all his ultra adventures. This one should be the best one yet!

Go to his blog http://briangaines.blogspot.com/2008/05/i-gotta-feverand-only-prescription-is.html to read on what led Brian to sign up for this event.

See http://www.mohican100.org/ to view the race website.

As usual I will be sending "run fast and free" vibes out to Brian everytime I think of him and hopefully I will be able to track his progress with his new SPOT GPS toy. :-)

Best wishes to Brian and his crew support Kelly.

RunnerGirl Kyla Shines in First Mile Race

Kingdom Youth Run - April 26th, 2008
3rd Overall
2nd Girl Overall
1st AG 10 and under
8:47.5

Let's hear it for RunnerGirl Kyla in her first full mile race! She had done a few of those short little dashes a race sometimes puts on but today she was doing the "big kids" race. A whole mile! She wasn't even nervous!

I ran with her so I got to see the whole race right up front and it was really interesting watching her race. She hurt for going out so fast, not being experienced in running a full mile distance, but her ability to push was a little scary. I told her before the race that I wanted her to have fun first and foremost but there was nothing that was going to squash her competitiveness that day! I seriously thought she was going to dry heave mid race. She eased back just a bit, powerwalked twice for a few seconds each time, but as we circled around the block that would lead us to the finish line and with about a quarter mile to go she put the pressure on, broke the three boys or so that were still around her, tried to chase down the lead girl and flew through the finish line. She looked amazing.

8:47.5. I barely could run that fast as a 12 year old! She was all smiles at the end.

Kyla - making it look easy!

Brian and Kelly's Very Busy Weekend

Congratulations to Brian on his outstanding finish at the Clinton Lake 30 miler. The Clinton Lake 30 miler is a 3 x 10 mile trail loop near Bloomington/Normal and having run just one loop there last Thanksgiving I know it's definitely some challenging terrain. I certainly struggled with it. Good job Kelly on going along with Brian on his last loop. By Kelly's description she had to work to keep up with Brian and this was his last loop. This bodes well for Brian's 100K in May. Get to work Kelly, we can't have him showing you up again, he gets so annoying when that happens! (totally kidding)

It was awesome to hear that Brian performed better than he had expected! It was driving me crazy all Saturday not knowing how he was doing so I had to call before the day was over. Hey race director how about a chip mat to mark each loop and a way to track online? Oh I forgot, that would be very un-ultra like, I guess I'm one of those spoiled marathoners :-) I'll just have to drag my butt out here next time to watch for myself!

Read all about the race and see this year's results at http://www.secondwindrunningclub.org/Clinton/Clinton.htm


Brian completing his 1st loop


The next best thing to an ice bath - a freezing cold lake!


Now where would we be without our crew support? - Brian and Kelly



Okay now we aren't really done here because then Brian and Kelly show up on Sunday to the Shamrock Shuffle 8K and race yet again! Aren't they tired yet??

Congrats Brian! Its going to be a great year!

For Brian's complete race report see
http://briangaines.blogspot.com/2008/04/clinton-lake-30-mile-trail-run-race.html

Naperville North Girls Cross Country Team bring home 3rd place State Trophy!

Congrats to my training partner Dan Iverson as his girls once again saved their best race for last and brought home a State Trophy by placing 3rd. This was indeed a very competitive year and the road to the state meet was challenging. Through this season's up-and-downs I had a sense that with a solid team effort this team could grab that last trophy spot, the question remained as to how many of the seven girls who stand on that starting line in the championship season would find it in them to really lay it on the line and race. Well enough of them did to secure their place and I breathe a sigh of relief. I know how hard these girls work all year, and I know how much time and energy Dan gives to this team, and I'm very happy for them.

Unfortunately many good teams and individuals could not race at state as the qualifying round of meets had most of the best teams in the state all in one sectional. Naperville themselves placed 4th at this loaded sectional. The top four teams at state all came from this one sectional. Seems like the IHSA needs to look at a better way to walk that line between regional representation and a state meet that really means something with all the good players in place...

Congrats again to Dan and the Naperville North Girls Cross Country team, the seven that ran and the rest of the 90+ girls that make up this team. They are all winners!

(Can you imagine trying to coach 90+ high school girls, yikes!)

Brian Completes 50 Miler and Paul Completes 1st Marathon

Congrats to Brian Gaines and Paul Clement for their race finishes on Saturday.

For Brian this was THE race he had been planning and preparing for all year. A stress fracture in June really held Brian back as he missed months of training while it healed. As soon as he was able he was back on the road and was able to put in a 10 miler (speed walked), two marathons (one walked, one run), and a 33 miler before getting on the starting line of his 50 miler. (my apologies if I forgot a race or two).

Although the wind provided some challenge in some parts, and physically there were some rough patches Brian had to work through, he successfully made it to the finish line and did so in admirable and respectable fashion. We are all so darn proud of him! Way to go Brian!!

Here are some pictures take by fellow ChiA runner Kelly.

Brian during Loop 2, on his way to Northerly Island, with the Adler Planetarium in the background

In the final stretch, spelling out 5-0 with his hands

All smiles after 10 hours, 11 minutes, and 57 seconds of running








Now we go to Paul. A.K.A. "Mr. I don't run more than 6 miles and I don't run on pavement Paul." Its been quite a year for Paul as he not only ran more than 6 miles on a regular basis he actually ran in his first marathon after not having any real plans to do so until just recently. He picked the most low-key, no frills marathon I've ever seen and did a great job with it. (No miles splits on the course, can you image that?? You guessed it I'm not an ultra runner!) I guess he figured all the training he went through to help pace Kelly in the latter half of her marathon needed to be put to good use. I love stuff like this! Way to go Paul!















Paul finishing his first marathon. 4:46:31

Chicago Lakefront 50/50

Best of luck to fellow ChiAs Brian Gaines and Paul Clement as they run the Chicago Lakefront 50/50.

Brian will be running the 50 miler after having completed the 50K last year (31.0685 miles, hey I got that from a converter)

Paul will be doing his first marathon as the race was gracious enough to offer a timed marathon this year due to the issues at this years mega-sized Chicago Marathon on October 7th.

I won't be there to cheer you on but I will be sending positive go fast energy your way all morning. Correction...Brian has requested a longer sending of positive go fast energy so I will continue through until the late afternoon just to be safe :-)

-RunnerGirlJaneth

Val Finishes Her 1st Marathon in Boston Qualifying Time!

Special congrats to Val Trax-Hattabaugh, a co-worker of mine, for her awesome Chicago Marathon finish - 3:47:57. Awesome in many ways:

• It was her first marathon
• She did it in the brutal heat
• It's a Boston Qualifier and she wasn't even trying!

Val isn't expressing much interest in running Boston but we are working on her!

...and while we are here let me just say ONE more time - I not only knew Val would run under 4 hours I predicted a Boston Qualifier months ago! So satisfying being right. :-)

Congrats again Val and I do sincerely hope this isn't your one and only marathon because I know you can go way faster and I kind of suspect you actually liked doing this marathon.

Farmdale 33 Miler - Yikes!

Congrats to Brian Gaines and Gayle Wagner, fellow ChiaDeads for completing last weekend's Farmdale 33 Miler! A 3 x 11 mile looped trail course in East Peoria.

This is the longest footrace ever completed for both of them and Brian now looks to his 50 miler on October 27th. On top of it all Brian had run the Chicago Marathon just the week before. He makes me feel like such a lazy bum as I'm still in "recovery" mode from my marathon.

For information on next year's race and this year's results go to http://www.farmdaletrailrun.com/

Brian Gaines Race Walks the Fox Cities Marathon

Fellow ChiaDead Brian Gaines (a.k.a "Leadfoot") completed the Fox Cities Marathon on September 23 by race walking the entire distance! He finished the course in an average mile time of 13:22 finishing in 5:49:56. Not an easy "feet" to walk so fast for so long. (puns are just a riot aren't they?)

With no foot pain resulting from this race we are all confident that at Brian's next check up with the podiatrist he will get the okay to get back to RUNNING marathons.

Way to go Brian!

Not sure if he will post a race report to his blog but if you want to check out his blog its at http://briangaines.blogspot.com/.

Brian finishes Leadville Trail Marathon

Looks like Brian's foot held out and he was able to complete yesterday's marathon, which by the way is a bitch of a marathon! 7+ hours on his feet....wow.

He promises us a race report soon http://briangaines.blogspot.com/.

Way to go Brian!

The news is in, Brian will attempt Leadville Trail Marathon

After an unexpected foot injury on June 23rd that has put fellow ChiDeads Runner Brian Gaines on the injured list it appears that Brian feels the foot has healed well enough to attempt the Leadville Trail Marathon tomorrow (July 7th)!

We all hope for the best for Brian tomorrow. Hopefully results will be up quickly at http://www.leadvilletrail100.com/merchant.ihtml?id=1423&step=2.

See Brian's blog for the "drama" leading up to tomorrow's marathon. http://briangaines.blogspot.com/

Jenny Garrison Wins Triathlon Nationals for 2nd Straight Year!

Training partner Jenny wins triathlon nationals again.
http://www.insidetri.com/portal/news/news.asp?item=109723


Congrats Jenny, I am so proud of you! You are one tough chick!
Now hurry on back because its your turn to do MY workouts with me :-)

Jenny and Kelly compete in Subaru Women's Triathlon in Naperville

Jenny wins yet again (yawn). Just kidding. Training partner Jenny looked comfortable and relaxed as she won the elite wave of the Subaru Triathlon this weekend.

Kelly successfully completed her course and improved on her last year's time (wave 21). Kelly looked focused and strong throughout.

My apologizes to both ladies as I failed to get the pictures I busted my butt around the course to get. I just don't understand how my digital camera works and it turns out that even though I thought I took over 30 pictures I ended up with 3. I was so hoping to give these ladies some great action shots. :-(

Congrats and great job to the Jenny and Kelly. I had a blast running around cheering you both on.

Training partner Jennifer Garrison wins HyVee Triathlon

My training partner wins yet another triathlon. She is such an inspiration and she also gets my lazy butt out the door at 5am on tuesday and thursday mornings. Congrats Jenny!

http://www.pem-usa.com/racedata/hyvee07/results/HV07agegroup.html