2010

2010 was a bad year. By all standards, it just sucked. The high was running the Warrior Dash, the low was tearing cartilage in my knee and missing every other 2010 race and one adventure race in 2011. But I learned a lot throughout the year.

Despite not being able to run in the North Face Endurance Challenge, I learned that volunteering for an event you were supposed to compete in can be just as much fun. When I ignored all the signs of knee damage, I learned the importance of listening to your aches and pains. And while getting my IT band shredded during my intense physical therapy sessions, I learned that, believe it or not, stretching is actually a good thing.

For 2011 there are some big plans in the works. The Warrior Dash in June, a 10 day hiking and kayaking trip to Isle Royale in May and I am still looking for an adventure race for the fall. To further my mission of providing education and support for the wilderness I will be refocusing my energies on Bring a Compass, I am starting a Facebook page and will be more active on Twitter.

I look forward to making 2011 a much better year!!

-JS

16 Days

Yes, there are only 16 days left before my first race of the year. And boy am I dreading it; nothing like throwing myself to the wolves. So far my training has consisted of a week on, then one-off, with only two runs 6 miles or more. However, with my impending death looming over me I have gotten back onto a real regime. Hell, I even put 4 behind me this morning, albeit at nearly a 10 minute per mile pace.

Last Saturday I returned to Moraine Hills State as part of my training for the North Face Endurnace Challenge 10K out in Eagle, Wisconsin, early September. It was a perfect day for a trail run, sun was out, deer wading through the swamps, and the dog was left at home. I wish I had brought my camera, it’s a whole new world out there when the snow and ice is gone and the hills were easier to ascend without all that snow. I was surprised to see how much pavement there is on the trails, nearly every hill is paved. And I sucked wind, all 6 miles I ran; at least now I know that I can finish the 10K under the max alotted time of 2 hours. My goal for the Endurance Challenge is to finish in under an hour, to give you a guage, I finished the Nike Human Race 10K in 61:34 two years ago. And that was on a flat, wide, straight, paved course.

So I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me before the 29th.

-JS

They all smell, and everybody’s got one…

As in much of the country east of the Mississippi, Chicago has received a fair amount of snow this week. And anyone that lives in the city knows that people to a downright terrible job of clearing the 8 inches of snow off their 100′ of sidewalk. So since I’ve had little meteorological cooperation for my training, I’ve had to resort to other tactics. Like watching tv, while doing push-ups. The great thing is that this has given my shins time to heal, and I think I’ve done more push-ups this week than most of my adult life combined. However I haven’t been running and feel like I’m losing my motivation. I printed off my receipts from the three events I’ve already registered for, figuring that between the seeing the event AND how much money I’ve paid to run in them will keep me chomping at the bit to get back out there. It works, try it.

Since I haven’t been outside, I haven’t had much to write about. My hiking plans in Michigan changed last-minute, and last weekend just didn’t work out for reasons involving a bottle of tequila and a slight hangover. I’m playing football Saturday with the guys, so this Sunday it’s on. I will be spending the afternoon today researching trails and planning a day of hiking. I may get some company on this one, if she’s willing to bundle up and spend 5 hours in the snow-covered woods.

Yes, these have just been one bad excuse after another. And there’s just no room for excuses when you doing something you’re passionate about. So it’s time to cowboy up and get back outside. I’m looking for a trail in either southwestern Michigan or western Illinois, and a little more technical. The great thing is that I have Monday off, and will be able to spend the day writing about the trail and uploading my pictures. Have a great weekend everyone and find a way to enjoy the great outdoors!!

-JS

Layers

This is my first winter training outside. I grew up in Mid-Michigan, so I enjoy some cold weather, I find snow beautiful and love the brisk morning air as it stings your lungs. But I am thoroughly convinced the dreadmill was invented by a southern runner that moved north and had zero intention of running in the cold. Typically I don’t head outside for a run until March, winters in Chicago don’t really end until April but it’s warm enough to head out at that point. This year, however, I have thrown down the gauntlet at myself and signed up for three challenging races. In May I am running in the Soldier Field 10 Mile (which will be my longest race ever), in June I am competing in the Warrior Dash (a 5k with crazy obstacles like a pile of hay bails and a mud pit with barbed wire), and then in September the North Face Endurance Challenge 10k Trail Run in Madison, Wisconsin. So I decided to get a head start on my training.

So I have been back on the roads for about a week now and have learned a valuable lesson. Layers are not just for little kids and women’s hair styles. My first couple runs this year were in mild weather, last Sunday it was about 37 degrees, I even ran in shorts. But last night was something special…

Yes, that does say a wind chill of 3 degrees. Having walked home from the office I knew what I was getting into, and as I got into my running gear I began dreading the idea of being out there. Underarmor Cold Gear, two long sleeve t-shirts, a long sleeve running shirt (designed for late fall/early spring), a pair of shorts, long jogging pants, two pair of gloves, a winter hat and one of those things that covers your neck and face. I instantly gained 10 pounds and looked like Joey in the Friends episode where he puts on everything Chandler owns.

My performance was less than spectacular, it could only be described as a jalk (jog/walk). Everything got heavy, my shoes froze and felt like they bricks, my gloves got stiff and I could even feel frost forming on my contacts. Needless to say my time of 38 minuets for 3 miles was almost too embarrassing to post. Maybe I was slow, but I was warm darn it. Tonight’s weather will be about the same, I’ll probably put on an extra layer!

-JS

This is great stuff!!

I found this video on The North Face blog, Never Stop Exploring. Sometimes I wish I had gotten into the sport, feel like I’m a little too old to start snowboarding. Check it out…great runs!

Mens Top 3 Runs at The North Face Masters Snowbird, UT 2010 from The North Face Masters on Vimeo.

-JS

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Monday morning…the most dreaded two words in the business world. It means giving up your freedoms to the monotony of the corporate life, it means getting stuck back into your cube for the next 50 hours, it means having to deal with that boss droning on and on about you having done or not having done something he may or may not have told you to do or not do. But every so often, more so for bankers and government employees, we all get the opportunity to delay this torture by 24 hours. So on this long weekend I took advantage of that opportunity and loaded up the car with my pack, some water, lunch and dog treats (no…not for me, Dakota came, too).

Moraine Hills State Park in McHenry, Illinois is about a 50 mile drive from downtown Chicago, a nice distance for a quick day trip. As I had mentioned in the earlier post there are about 9 miles of trials divided into three loops and as expected it was fairly flat. The weather was perfect, about 32 degrees and sunny, there was about 8 inches of snow still covering most of the trail, and there were enough fresh deer tracks to keep my dog from focusing. 

The 2 mile yellow loop is flat and wide, and without the snow would have moved much quicker. It runs through the flat open wetland areas, filled with cattails and along the levees built to contain the Fox River. As the trail follows the river you quickly realize how likely it is that it could become unusable during flooding in the early spring or during heavy rains. So much of the area is frozen swamp and bog. As we came around to the junction between the yellow and red trails we stopped for the first time to refresh and get some water. Something I learned about hiking with a dog…her legs are much shorter than mine, and even though she has four to my two, she needs an extra break or two along the way if I want to get through the day.

The terrain has many more short elevation changes on the red loop than in the marsh. The wooded loop wraps around Lake Defiance, which was frozen over and playing host to some ice fishing. As we came around to the junction of the red and blue loops Dakota gave me that look, I could just hear her saying “Are we there yet daddy?” So we passed on the blue loop for the day, next time we head out there the weather will be warm and the hike will be much easier on the little city pup. Her desire for the warm car was quickly forgotten when she found what she thought was her toy squirrel, it was in actuality a real squirrel that had died very recently. She loves chasing them up trees and across parks, however she’s never caught one. Recognizing the smell she immediately wanted to play with it, but it wouldn’t respond. Disappointed we wandered off, leaving her to refocus on how tired she was. However, back at the car she got a sudden burst of energy as if she had forgotten the 5.7 miles we had just hiked in the snow. 

Overall it was a nice easy trail, surrounded by beautiful scenery even in the heart of winter. It seems to be a great place for an easy ride or a day out with the family, so this summer I’ll head out there with my mountain bike instead of the dog. There were frequent benches to rest, a few brick outhouses along the way and I have included a link to a trail map.

 

-JS

 

It Starts Today!

I spent the day hiking in McHenry yesterday, a post I will get up once I’ve downloaded all the pictures I took. But today is where it all starts. Last week I registered for what will be my longest event run to date, the Soldier Field 10 Mile. This last season I did not run in any events at all, a decision I regret…however, I can’t change that. In 2007 I ran in the Nike Human Race 10k which follows essentially the same route as the 10 miler I will be running this spring, but was just a little shorter. In addition to this, I will be running the 10k trail run at the North Face Endurance Challenge in Madison, Wisconsin and potentially in the Warrior Dash in Joliet, Illinois.

So starting today, I begin my training and preparation for these events. The Soldier Field run is 4 miles longer than any other race I’ve run (the finish line is the 50 yard line in Soldier Field, how cool is that).  I’m going to start this week with short 3 and 4 mile jogs around the neighborhood to get back into the road running mode and feel. I’ve been away too long and need to break myself back in nice and easy like. The plan is to be up to 6 and 7 mile training runs twice a week by March, so that come May 29th I will be ready for the full deal.

The idea of a ten-mile run kinda scares me, I’ve never pushed myself past 7 before and even that was killer. Just the though of running 10 miles is making my knees hurt. I suppose I could run a 5 or 8k before just to get back into the mindset, but I guess I’ve always been a “go big or go home” type person. I just need to get out there and start running 4 days a week again to prepare for the season of races I have coming up.

There’s no better time to start than today!!

-JS