The KDF Marathon is behind me. I managed a PR and age group award at a decent sized race, but other than that, my running/training has been on hiatus. That ends tomorrow. It's back to the gym and roads with some new goals.
1) Lean out. No I don't think I'm fat. But I am on the upper end of the BMI scale for my height and I'm around 12% body fat. My goal is to get that down around 10% and shave off around 5 to 7 pounds.
2) Return to a more structured training format. My recent 5K performance has gotten me to thinking about getting faster.
3) Get a jump on training for the Louisville Marathon, with my eye on cracking the 4 hour barrier.
I'll likely be making some changes to the side bar of this blog, possibly lifting the on-line training log used by Mir and linked on her sight, "bittersweetsymphony".
Speaking of my side bar, I got to add a new place to my places run list. Santa Claus, Indiana. I ran a hilly 30 minute run through the campground and out to check out the nearby shopping center while we were camping at Lake Rudolph.
Yes that is really the town's name. No it isn't a recent publicity stunt name change. Here is the story behind the name, as told by Paul Harvey.
http://www.hohoholdings.com/schistory.htm
Vacation is over, gone are the numerous hamburgers I ate. The pizza I consumed is history. The ice cream and multiple trips to the buffet's dessert section are mere memories.
Back to the grind! Stay tuned and I'll let you know how it's going.
08 June 2008
07 June 2008
Holiday World
Ok, we got back home last night and I'll give you some running news in the next posts, but for now a public service announcement laced with praise.
If you have kids, if Holiday World (www.holidayworld.com) is within your comfort zone as far as driving distance from where you live. YOU NEED TO GO!
This year marked our 5th consecutive year to go. 5 years, 6 visits, 0 complaints. Being in a service industry, I've heard about the "Disney' and "Marriott' way of doing things for years, let me tell you, niether has anything on Holiday World.
Employees are friendly, even when three kids are wanting to cram in one more ride 5 minutes before the park closes, even when a dad is ordering 5 ice cream cones 5 minutes before the park closes while 3 kids are riding that last ride. Employees don't lean, they clean. We picked a perfect time to go and the crowd was low, when rides were waiting for riders, the operators were wiping down the rides.
Unlike some of the other amusement parks around here, the rides, buildings, and staging areas are kept clean and maintained. At an indoor ride (Gobbler Getaway) I did a finger wipe of an "out of the way" flat surface, it came away clean
Food prices, we were camping, so we ate only one meal in the park. In the water park, which has the same quality staff and cleanliness as the amusement park, we had 5 big slices of pizza and drinks for less than $15. Oh yeah, and don't forget the drinks are free all day long in the self serve Pepsi Oasis (what is plural for Oasis?).
If you don't think kids and teenagers can behave, then you haven't been to Holiday World. Yes, I was bumped into in the pools and water play areas and this was followed by and "excuse me", or "I'm sorry". Teenagers, even groups of them, are well behaved and courteous. It's amazing how kids assimilate to the environment.
In closing, I have to offer high praise to the camp ground, Lake Rudolph. There were people planting flowers and cleaning up everyday. The camp store's prices were slightly higher than a regular big box retailer, but they weren't gouging anyone. There was plently of stuff for kids to do and the shuttles to and from the park were timely, clean, and staffed by some great people.
Ok, I'm through now. I wanted to email the park's management and tell them of my experience. I wanted to tell several of my friends about our experience. Once I found out that Google alerted Holiday World when I typed a comment in an earlier post and knowing that most of my friends visit here, I realized I could reach the largest group of people by blogging about our experience.
Next year, were planning on a week long trip.
If you have kids, if Holiday World (www.holidayworld.com) is within your comfort zone as far as driving distance from where you live. YOU NEED TO GO!
This year marked our 5th consecutive year to go. 5 years, 6 visits, 0 complaints. Being in a service industry, I've heard about the "Disney' and "Marriott' way of doing things for years, let me tell you, niether has anything on Holiday World.
Employees are friendly, even when three kids are wanting to cram in one more ride 5 minutes before the park closes, even when a dad is ordering 5 ice cream cones 5 minutes before the park closes while 3 kids are riding that last ride. Employees don't lean, they clean. We picked a perfect time to go and the crowd was low, when rides were waiting for riders, the operators were wiping down the rides.
Unlike some of the other amusement parks around here, the rides, buildings, and staging areas are kept clean and maintained. At an indoor ride (Gobbler Getaway) I did a finger wipe of an "out of the way" flat surface, it came away clean
Food prices, we were camping, so we ate only one meal in the park. In the water park, which has the same quality staff and cleanliness as the amusement park, we had 5 big slices of pizza and drinks for less than $15. Oh yeah, and don't forget the drinks are free all day long in the self serve Pepsi Oasis (what is plural for Oasis?).
If you don't think kids and teenagers can behave, then you haven't been to Holiday World. Yes, I was bumped into in the pools and water play areas and this was followed by and "excuse me", or "I'm sorry". Teenagers, even groups of them, are well behaved and courteous. It's amazing how kids assimilate to the environment.
In closing, I have to offer high praise to the camp ground, Lake Rudolph. There were people planting flowers and cleaning up everyday. The camp store's prices were slightly higher than a regular big box retailer, but they weren't gouging anyone. There was plently of stuff for kids to do and the shuttles to and from the park were timely, clean, and staffed by some great people.
Ok, I'm through now. I wanted to email the park's management and tell them of my experience. I wanted to tell several of my friends about our experience. Once I found out that Google alerted Holiday World when I typed a comment in an earlier post and knowing that most of my friends visit here, I realized I could reach the largest group of people by blogging about our experience.
Next year, were planning on a week long trip.
04 June 2008
Well what do you know?
As I sit here waiting for bad weather to pass so that we can hit the road for a trip to Holiday World (our favorite theme park) for two days of camping and fun, I double checked the Run for the L of it results and...
I placed 31st overall, by far my best finish other than the 20-30 runner Utica 5K and I won my age group. Yeeeaaaaa!
Yes I know that in my last post I said I didn't care and was happy I PR'd, but I did send an email to see if I could get my certificate mailed to me. So I guess I do care a little.
Correction: Alicia's official time was much better than I posted, it must have taken longer than I thought for me to get to where I could see the clock. Nice Job Alicia, official result was under 28 mins.
NOTE: Took my oldest to see Prince Caspian yesterday. Great Movie! Fun to sit and pick out the events and people that conveyed or correlated to a Christian message. I've got to read the book!
I placed 31st overall, by far my best finish other than the 20-30 runner Utica 5K and I won my age group. Yeeeaaaaa!
Yes I know that in my last post I said I didn't care and was happy I PR'd, but I did send an email to see if I could get my certificate mailed to me. So I guess I do care a little.
Correction: Alicia's official time was much better than I posted, it must have taken longer than I thought for me to get to where I could see the clock. Nice Job Alicia, official result was under 28 mins.
NOTE: Took my oldest to see Prince Caspian yesterday. Great Movie! Fun to sit and pick out the events and people that conveyed or correlated to a Christian message. I've got to read the book!
02 June 2008
I ran for the "L" of it and PR'd
Nothing like having friends who send out emails on Tuesday or Wednesday saying, "Hey, there's a race this weekend, wanna run?"
Since this friend is a school teacher it wasn't phrased in "redneck", but my mind translated this into the, " you ont to?" Which of course is second only to "Watch this!" as famous last words in redneckdom, and despite a college degree and fancy job title, I still hang out there from time to time (see post about our RV for proof).
Well three days sequestered in a hotel room or office for 12+ hours conducting interviews, a flight aborted half way down the runway (which is much better than having it abort half way into the initial climb) and six hours in airplanes and airports had me feeling pretty irritable. Stepping off the plane in Louisville I made two calls. The first one was to my wife to let her know there was no big settlement for her from Continental Airlines this time and to find out what we had going on Saturday morning. The next call was to Alicia to tell her I'd run for the "L" of it. I needed to blow off some steam!
In the interest of shortening this post. Run for the "L" of it was a 5k sponsored by the University of Louisville Alumni Association. It started and ended at 4th Street Live! in downtown Louisville and I guessed right that the course would be flat.
Flat course plus I haven't run all week had me thinking PR. Well the lead pack was a bunch of youngsters. Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers. Not the best group to be trying to set pace with, but I started in the front and planned on staying there. The first half mile my legs felt like lead and I questioned my decision to race. Then things felt good and I turned in my fastest mile, clocking the first mile in 6:03, 12 seconds faster than my previous best. At the 1.5 mile mark the pace began to take its toll. I logged the second mile in 7:03, slipping more in mile three, but holding on to set a new 5K PR of 21:03. Twenty six seconds faster than my previous PR.
More impressive was Alicia turning in a 29:10+\- (I was shocked to see her so far ahead of her 30 minute goal time and didn't see the clock right as she finished) at 5 1/2 months pregnant.
We didn't stick around for the awards. I'm pretty sure I slipped from the top three in my age group in the last 1/4 mile, but checking the last two years' results (Saturday's results haven't posted), my time might sneak me into a third place age group spot. Who cares? I PR'd. I'm happy. Now to enjoy vacation, run a little bit, and get ready to start training for a fall marathon.
Since this friend is a school teacher it wasn't phrased in "redneck", but my mind translated this into the, " you ont to?" Which of course is second only to "Watch this!" as famous last words in redneckdom, and despite a college degree and fancy job title, I still hang out there from time to time (see post about our RV for proof).
Well three days sequestered in a hotel room or office for 12+ hours conducting interviews, a flight aborted half way down the runway (which is much better than having it abort half way into the initial climb) and six hours in airplanes and airports had me feeling pretty irritable. Stepping off the plane in Louisville I made two calls. The first one was to my wife to let her know there was no big settlement for her from Continental Airlines this time and to find out what we had going on Saturday morning. The next call was to Alicia to tell her I'd run for the "L" of it. I needed to blow off some steam!
In the interest of shortening this post. Run for the "L" of it was a 5k sponsored by the University of Louisville Alumni Association. It started and ended at 4th Street Live! in downtown Louisville and I guessed right that the course would be flat.
Flat course plus I haven't run all week had me thinking PR. Well the lead pack was a bunch of youngsters. Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers. Not the best group to be trying to set pace with, but I started in the front and planned on staying there. The first half mile my legs felt like lead and I questioned my decision to race. Then things felt good and I turned in my fastest mile, clocking the first mile in 6:03, 12 seconds faster than my previous best. At the 1.5 mile mark the pace began to take its toll. I logged the second mile in 7:03, slipping more in mile three, but holding on to set a new 5K PR of 21:03. Twenty six seconds faster than my previous PR.
More impressive was Alicia turning in a 29:10+\- (I was shocked to see her so far ahead of her 30 minute goal time and didn't see the clock right as she finished) at 5 1/2 months pregnant.
We didn't stick around for the awards. I'm pretty sure I slipped from the top three in my age group in the last 1/4 mile, but checking the last two years' results (Saturday's results haven't posted), my time might sneak me into a third place age group spot. Who cares? I PR'd. I'm happy. Now to enjoy vacation, run a little bit, and get ready to start training for a fall marathon.
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