Boston Store to Pine Lane

I met my brother at the Boston Store tonight for an 8 mile run to Pine Lane and back. The weather was great again (sunny, low 70s) and the forecast says it's supposed to be nice all the way through next Tuesday. These kind of days make it very hard to not get out and run. My legs and body felt great tonight and I'm happy to be getting in a lot more consistent miles lately.

Here are some photos I took from tonight's run... the Cuyahoga Valley is always so beautiful...

Highbanks 7 with Mike

Today I drove down to Columbus to watch Tami run her first half marathon tomorrow (Spirit of Columbus) and stayed with my friend Mike in Reynoldsburg. We went for a nice 7 mile run in the Highbanks Metroparks near him and enjoyed beautiful scenery and cool fall-like temps in the upper 60s. Mike is currently getting back into the shape that he was not too long ago and it was good to see him pushing it during different parts of the run, including our photo finish together up a short, steep incline. We had a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to my return trip to C-Bus in October when Tami does her 2nd half marathon.

Beautiful sunset

Money Run

Last night my friend Derek said he'd be getting off work early today so we decided to meet at Happy Days at 1:30 for a trail run. My plan was for us to head to Kendall Hills, doing the Pine Hollow loop along the way, and then adding in the Salt Run trail. Considering all the hills, we ran at a pretty good pace the entire time (around 10 minutes/mile avg.) and I was surprised how good my legs felt. It was one of those days where I could tell that I had some extra spring in my step. The only problem was the humidity. Derek and I both commented numerous times on how terribly thick the air was and how hard it was to breathe. I think when I left my apt. the humidity was almost 90%. By the time we were finished our shirts and shorts were completely soaked and we ended up with a total of 10.5 miles.

The highlight of today's run though came towards the end. When we were heading back from the ledges area and flying down the last hill en route to Happy Days, Derek spotted a 5 dollar bill laying on the trail! It was pretty funny because at the beginning of the run we were talking about tonight's Mega Millions drawing, which has a jackpot that is now up to a whopping $333 million. We both said that finding money on the trail was a good omen so Derek agreed to use the money to buy 5 tickets for tonight's drawing. Good luck Derek!

Run through Warren

After work this evening I met Bob Combs and Gavin White, who had just recently moved into town, for a run through both Packard and Perkins park in Warren. We were moving at a pretty decent pace but my legs felt sluggish. I think it was just because I was pretty hungry and tired from work. Glad to start getting in the mileage again though. Finished up with 7 miles.

Run with Jamie

This morning my sister and I ran from Happy Days to Kendall Hills for a total of 7 miles.

Happy Days to Kendall Lake

Ran 6 solo miles this evening in 60 minutes, from Happy Days to Kendall Lake. Had my iPod on and felt strong throughout the run!

2009 Burning River 100 Miler

I did it!! Today I finished the Burning River 100 Miler in Cuyahoga Falls in exactly 29 hours. Despite 85 degree temps over the weekend, an all night rain, and barely being able to walk towards the end due to blisters, muscle tightness, etc., I somehow willed myself to my first ever 100 mile finish.

Here is a video of my first 100 mile finish...