Missing Betty

Thinking about my mom, Betty Ludlow, and missing her today. 

Virtual Marathon

 Note to self:  run virtual marathon on or around the date of the Chicago Marathon- October 11th. 

How does someone stay motivated and stay focused when running a solo marathon with no support and no goal other than to go as fast as they can?  I have no idea! But I'm going to try this. Maybe I can find some sap willing to do this with me? Maybe music is the key? Listen to pod casts and music the whole way as motivation???   

Virtual Duathlons

I've done two virtual duathlons in the last two weeks. When Duathlon Nationals was cancelled, they set up a virtual race with similar distances and I did the standard distance (10K run, 25 mile bike and 5K run).  That was fun, but it was just me out in a corn field.  Then this weekend, my coach and I set up a virtual du with the distances 1 mile run, 6 mile bike, 1 mile run, 6 mile bike and 1 mile run.  We got 7 people together to do it at COD and it was a blast.  Everyone running and biking past each other. Here are my splits. I hope we can do this again.

First Virtual Half-Marathon Race

Last Saturday I ran my first virtual race.  I chose the 3 mile loop of the Fox River Trail between Batavia and Geneva because that has always been one of my favorite places to run (this is the old Batavia Triathlon run course).  I set up an aid station in a little park with Gatorade and gel on wall so I could just run by and grab some.  It was actually fun and I have a very fast time.  I never even came up with a goal time. I just ran the first mile at what felt like a fast, but comfortable pave (with my Nike Zoom-Fly4% shoes). I went through the first mile in around 6:20 something. That felt good so I just told myself to hold that pace. Also, I made up a play list on Spotify and that really helped.
I ran a 1:24:26 (according to my GPS) for the half marathon race!  My best time in 5 or 6 years for that distance!

Run with Lance, Saturday 4/11

Lance and I ran 4 miles yesterday on the loop along the Fox river between Batavia and Geneva. This is one of my favorite routes. Sunny and 60 degrees.
It was a great day!

Coronavirus

This S-U-C-K-S! I feel trapped in my own house. The only thing that is any relief is getting out for a bike ride or run.  Thank God they haven't banned running. 

Planning to do my first virtual race this coming weekend: The Tower Social Distancing Championship. We will see how tricky it can be to organize your own personal race and how inspiring it is (or isn't). Planning a half marathon on Saturday 4/18. 

Coach Early

I'm very happy with my new coach so far.  Nick is able to balance prescribing work outs and his expectations with listening to me and what I think I need in terms of intensity, frequency and blend of swimming, biking and running.  That's a tricky thing to pull off!  From my perspective, the one concern I have at this point is over-training.  Last year on about March first, I was at the same point in my build up.  But last year the race I was training for was mid-April.  This year the race I'm training for is May 30th, 6-weeks later.  I'm a little worried I'm going to over-do it and develop an over-use injury, peak too soon or just get burned out by mid-May. 

Yesterday was the first time I got outside on my bike. Raf and I rode 36 miles and it was really nice!  Can't wait till all the workouts are outdoors.   

New Coach

I'm starting to plan out my 2020 racing season and planning to hire a new coach.  So far, I just have an outline of the big races for this year:

May 30th, USAT Duathlon Ge Group Nationals- Huntsville, AL

August 6th, USAT Triathlon Age Group Nationals- Milwaukee, WI 

September 6th, ITU World Duathlon Championship, Almeria, Netherlands

Not sure what I will do in between these races or earlier in the season. I plan to finish off the season with the Chicago Marathon in October, if I can still run by then. 

Kids Homecoming 2019

Here are some nice photos from Homecoming 2019

Chicago marathon-4th in age group

The marathon was just a little over 2 weeks ago.  My time was 3:04:30 and I finished 4th in my age group, my best age group placing in 17 tries! I guess all the guys my age are retiring or have died!  I'm very happy with that time because its 4 minutes faster than last year when I thought I had a good race and could never go faster.