Lost Valley Sunday!

This weekend was a good one for running, at least for me anyway.  Saturday I got to run in the falling snow with the Red9Runners.  I hadn't really thought about how far I was going to run and ended up doing 13 and change with Darrell, Miriam, and Gloria.  Darrell and Miriam were running 18 and I really wanted to finish with them but I knew the next day at Lost Valley was going to be tough so I decided to cut it short.  The route we ran Saturday had some really cute hills that really illustrated the difference between road hills and trail hills.

As for Sunday, check out Robin's and Kate's blog for all the details.  I could have written a detailed report but when you run with other bloggers sometimes it is just easier to blogjack them instead.

Trek Mountain Girl - Robin

What's on my mind today - Kate

In The News!

The Red9Runners, a local running club I belong to was featured in an article that appeared on the Suburban Journal website.  It is good to get some publicity for the club.  I was also thankful to be mentioned specifically even though it wasn't for running.

Below is the article:

Madison County runners compete in events across region

Posted: Thursday, December 9, 2010 12:00 am

Members of the red9runners run club from the Collinsville Maryville Troy YMCA have been busy going the distance. Twenty members of the club decided to take on the challenge of a fall marathon or half marathon.

Dan Keeton, Jeremie Lavrack and Holly Lavrack traveled to Dayton, Ohio, for the Air Force Marathon. Holly Lavrack competed in the half marathon while Keeton and Jeremie Lavrack ran their first marathon, completing the distance in under four hours.

Fifteen red9runners were at the Lewis and Clark Full and Half Marathon in St. Charles, Mo., with two tackling the 26.2 mile full marathon and 13 red9'ers putting in 13.1 miles in the half marathon. Thirteen of the 15 runners set personal records that morning. The other two red9'ers were first-time half-marathon runners Jeremy Jones and Sheila Acuncius who set a great pace to beat in the future. Completing the full marathon were Darrell Meek and Miriam Bell. Half marathon runners were Brandon Bell, Chuck Toennies, Chris Muenter, Debbie Sury, Erick Larson, Gloria Jones, Jeremy Jones, Julie Schottel, Kari Ulrich, Melissa Schmitt, Sarah Williams, Sheila Acuncius, Stephanie Renner and Tiffany Jenkins.

Cheri Becker and Donna Polinske took a road trip to Ashland, Wis., to take on 26.2 miles of the Whistle Stop Marathon.

To finish off the fall distance season, Chuck Toennies competed in the Monumental Half Marathon in Indianapolis on Nov. 6.

While many in the club were busy with long-distance, our multi-sport adventure racer, Patrick Albert, completed the Berryman 36 Hour Adventure Race in September as part of Team POW/MIA. This was his first year on the race and Team POW/MIA finished very well. In October, Albert successfully finished the BT Epic 50 Mile Mountain Bike Race. Both events were held in and around the Berryman Trail in Potosi, Mo.

The red9runners Run Club at the Collinsville Maryville Troy YMCA has a thriving group of more than 40 runners of all abilities and who run varying different paces and distances.

The club meets four time each week to run together. They also host regular meetings and social gatherings as well as run races together. The club volunteers at the YMCA and for other community activities and charities. The group is lead by personal trainer and member of PowerBar Team Elite, Cheri Becker.

The red9runners are made up of regular people not elite athletes and truly has runners and run/walkers of all paces. Everyone is encouraged to run at their own level with members running everything from 6 minute miles to 13-plus minute mile run/walk. While some members prefer not to race, other members run races varying in distance from the 5K (3.1 miles) all the way up to the full marathon (26.2 miles) and beyond.

The red9runners did their first triathlon as a team in August 2010 and have planned future multisport events for 2011. The club sponsors a First 5K Program and Young Runners Club at the YMCA where kids and adults are coached to run the 5k distance. There is also a marathon and half marathon training program which fully prepares runners to take on an endurance event.

The Collinsville Maryville Troy YMCA started a new marathon training program on Dec. 4 geared toward the Go! St. Louis Marathon and Half Marathon on April 10, 2011, or another spring distance event.

For more information about the club or to participate in a training program, please contact the Collinsville Maryville Troy YMCA at 618-346-5600.

Slacker

So lately I have been seriously lacking motivation.  I have been taking a lot of time off and when I do get off my butt and do something I feel like I am just going through the motions.  My recent bought of Toxic Malaise may be spurred on by my constant nagging back pain.  The pain is not debilitating like it used to be but I would welcome an occasional flare up that takes me out of commission for a week at a time over the constant low level pain that is always there reminding me that something is not right.

My Chiropractor told me that my pelvis is out of alignment because my hamstrings are too tight.  I need to stretch to increase my flexibility so that my pelvis will get back where it belongs.

At Thanksgiving dinner I made a wager with my Sister-in-Law that I could lose 20lbs before she lost her final 7lbs.  I was doing ok until I got sidetracked.  Currently she has 4lbs to go and after initially dropping 4lbs I gained it back.  Since then I am back down a couple.  If I win she has to run the St Louis Rock-n-Roll Marathon if she wins I have to pay her entry fee.  The stakes are higher for her, either way she will be running her first marathon.

Tonight I went downstairs into the dungeon and put in one of my Insanity work out DVDs.  I was ok at first but about halfway through my back started to hurt more so I just did what I could and tried to modify the rest.  When the work out was over I skipped their stretching and did my own routine focusing on my hamstrings hopefully if I keep this up I will drop down to my racing weight, and fix my back problem at the same time.

So I have been slacking quite a bit but not for the sake of being lazy.  Hopefully I will be able to turn things around.  I have a great support system between the Red9Runners and the Metro Tri Club, not to mention my ROCK Racing team mates.

Now it is time to go eat a sensible dinner.
Wish Me Luck!