Happy Anniversary!

Albeit not a running topic, I'd like to wish my parents a happy 35th anniversary! That is itself an accomplishment and shows a great deal of dedication. I hope that you have many more happy years together in the future.

My turkey marathon

I had another solid week last week so I'm pretty confident that my conditioning hasn't slipped too much despite the lack of training in October. My weekly mileage was 45. Included in that was my own personal post-Thanksgiving marathon where I ran from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Grabill, Indiana and back. Okay, it was actually only 24 miles since a lack of windproof gloves numbed my hands so badly that I called it quits early. Still, I put in the 24 at a 9:56 average pace and without any knee problems or soreness the next day. Nice. If I get through either the 50k or the 50 mile run at the end of December, I'll definitely feel set for a 100 miler in 2008. I'll probably do another 25 to 30 mile training run in a couple weeks to get ready.

Finally, a decent week...

I finally managed a decent week of running last week. I put in a total of 40 miles that included one 15 mile run, two 10s, and one 5. My average pace was just about 9 minutes/mile so I feel like I haven't lost too much conditioning since the ultra. This is important as I just got the race information for the Fat Ass 50 in Hell, MI. There are several Fat Ass races around the country. Their motto is:

NO AWARDS, NO ENTRY FEE, NO AID & NO WIMPS

That's pure running with no frills. It's set up so that I could do a 50k or a 50 mile run. We'll see how much running I get done around Christmas. I figured I'd do a 25 mile training run this week to burn off some turkey and see how that goes before deciding.

100%!!!

I'd like to give a special thanks to Alyn for her very generous donation that takes us up to our goal of $5,000. Thank you very much!

Lupus Live Chat

Lupus Live Chat www.lupus.org Wednesday, November 14 3:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time Aging and Lupus

As individuals age, they increase their chances of developing a chronic disease. Individuals who develop a chronic condition at an earlier age, as do many people with lupus, must take extra precautions to manage the health problems associated with aging. The next Lupus Live Chat will be on the subject of Aging and Lupus and the special needs and health issues of people with the disease.

About Our Guest Speaker: Dr. Ronenn Roubenoff is Senior Director of Molecular Medicine at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in Cambridge, MA, where he directed research on biomarkers and personalized medicine. In January 2007 he became Sr. Director, Translational Medicine, at Biogen Idec, Inc. Dr. Roubenoff has done pioneering work on the interactions of nutrition, exercise and hormonal and immune regulators of metabolism in aging and chronic disease. He has published more than 200 scientific papers and is co-author of a New York Times Bestselling book on exercise and nutrition for the treatment of joint pain and swelling.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007 3:00 p.m. Eastern 2:00 p.m. Central 1:00 p.m. Mountain Noon Pacific 11:00 a.m. Alaska 9:00 a.m. Hawaii Login to Live Chat (bookmark this URL) Submit a question in advance Read transcripts from our previous Live Chats Upcoming Chats: December 12 -- Teens and Lupus Dr. Peter Chira, Stanford University School of Medicine January 2008 -- New Year's Resolutions February 2008 -- Women's Heart Health March 2008 -- Kidneys & Lupus April 2008 -- Gastrointestinal Issues & Lupu

Treadmills and Bill Clinton

Well, the blog posts as well as running haven't been terribly consistent since the ultra. I've had a few 30 mile weeks and many 10 to 12 mile runs so I think I'm holding on to my conditioning even if I'm not doing any improvement. There is a 50k Fat Ass run in Hell, MI at the end of December that I might just target to give me some winter motivation. For those of you that are unfamiliar with Fat Ass runs, they are a class of run put on by ultrarunners. They generally have no shirts, no support, and no awards. Yeah, basically its just a bunch of people out running in the woods.

Right now I'm in Chicago at a Green Building conference. It's been a bit more corporate than the conferences that I usually go to. I was excited because Bill Clinton was the keynote speaker. Disappointingly he only spoke for about a half an hour and most of that time he just went on and on about his foundation. Oh well, it was still kind of cool.

So I did some speed work on the treadmill in the hotel last night. I only ran 6 miles. Even though I had the same novel that I've been listening to at home, I just got bored so quickly. Really, I'd planned to go farther, but finally settled on a goal of 6 miles as a compromise. Of course, to reach that goal quickly I kept setting the speed of the treadmill higher and higher so I guess I'll get some benefit from it. Oh well, better than nothing.