Bucket List

Everyone has a bucket list that they want to do during their lifetime before they die.  I have so many things I want to do when my time comes.  To make this short and sweet, I will list my top 10 that I want to try to accomplish and hope to accomplish.  So here is my list:

1)  Race The Boston Marathon & Other Major Marathons

2)  Watch the Pre-Classic in Oregon

3)  Travel around East & West Coast States

4) Meet Si Swimsuit Models Samantha Hoopes & Camille Kostek

5) Go to a Super Bowl

6) Go to a PGA Tour Major- Masters, Ryder Cup or PGA Championship

7) Marry a women who I will love and spend the rest of my life with

8) Meet famous celebrities in LA.

9) Buy a house

10) Have two kids.

Recap of Crazy Legs Classic

Well I have to say it was a great Crazy Legs Classic 8k race.  Coming in to this race I wanted at least better than last year.  This year I was running in the A wave when the previous year I was racing in the B wave.  That time I was in sort of decent shape but this year I knew I was capable running in the A wave and able to run a fast time.  Well the race started off fast when I was going 5:20 first mile, I knew we were cooking it from the start.  As the race was progressing was started to slow down a bit but able to stay in pace.  At around 3rd mile was at around 16:30 or so I knew I have a good chance of racing a good time.  The last few miles was tough but was able to hang on.  When I got to Camp Randall to the finish I saw the time and I was really thrilled.  My final time was 27:43, average pace was 5:35, not bad of a 8k road race time with the mileage I've done so far this year and the difference of my strength & conditioning.  I feel now as I train for my upcoming full marathon I have the confidence and capability to run a great time & go after my dream: Boston 2018- making this dream into a reality.  Going after Greatness.   

 (Photo Credit Crazy Legs Classic)

                    (Photo Credit: Crazy Legs Classic)

Long Long Overdue Blog Post

Been a very long time since I have written my last blog.  Well here's my full recap.  Last year 2016, my training was one of the best I ever had.  My main focus during the whole training process is the building of pacing plus working on my strength and conditioning.  During my long runs I mainly worked on getting out in good pace and continue to build that as the run goes on. Then as I get near the end of my long run I go faster and faster, it helped me tremendously.  I did Crazy legs last Spring basically as a workout but still went out as a competitor, ran upper 29's in the 8k.  I new I had some more speed work to do.  In late August, I went for a 17 mile around Verona and man my legs were feeling soo tired after I was done.  I enjoyed the run because I know I can handle these kind of runs especially training for a Full Marathon.  My goal was to run the Full Marathon but had a minor setback with my sister getting married and plus being busy with work.  I decided to do a Half Marathon in Madison this past fall.  Coming in to this race, my plan was to get under 80.  If I did that I would be very happy.  As the race progressed I was right in to the top 10 early from the start.  I was thinking man this could be the day I will be able to hit a PR.  In the middle of the race I was feeling it but I still hang tough and kept grinding.  When I got to the last few miles I kept fighting and pushing then as I saw heading up by the Capitol Square seeing the clock & I thought wow I have a chance to hit a massive PR. I sprinted as hard as I can and after I crossed the finished line I was soo thrilled that I PR'd.  I ended up 7th overall with a time of 1:16.16.  It was the best half-marathon I have ever ran in my running career plus this was my third half-marathon.  After taking time off from half-marathon, slowly back into training and ran at UW-Platteville for 3k at Alumni, basically ran the same time I did back in college, shows I'm in decent shape.  Right now I'm getting ready for Crazy legs this Saturday & plan is sometime later this summer or early fall do a Full-Marathon.  The goal is making Boston 2018.

      

Half Marathon # 2 Recap

After putting some solid mileage in the past few weeks, was feeling pretty confident going into the Half Marathon this past Sunday.  It was a perfect ideal fall day for my second half-marathon.  Had high goals and expectations going into the race, my main goal was breaking 80, second goal was to finish top 5 and my lastly if all possible win the event.  Went for my normal warm up and feeling good of myself and thinking that the goals are in sight and this is what you have been training for.  After finishing the warm up and doing drill and strides, got up front of the start line and ready to go.  Horn went off and was ready to get after it.  Start off pretty good and had one individual in front of me the first few miles.  When I got past the 2nd mile I felt going a little slow pace the person who i was racing with and so I decided to take off.  If I was ever going to get a big PR, I had to make a move and I did.  Throughout the whole race, I was leading the whole way.  Had nobody with me, basically was just me & the biker.  I kept pushing myself, feeling the pain but was feeling really good. When getting to 7th or 8th mile, was a long hill and kept thinking to push it and get over the hill.  At the 9th mile is where I start to grind and keeping the pace.  Was hitting low 6:00 minute pace and was starting to feel stomach pain around 12th mile and I knew I'm not slowing down and had to stay tough.  Kept pushing mentally and physically.  When I saw the finish line and their was nobody behind, looking at the clock seeing 78 and go wow I am going to PR today and I'm going to win.  Once I crossed the finish line I was tired and feeling the pain but it was worth the race. I was so proud of my accomplishment and it was hard to believe that I won.  I knew I wanted to be in the thick of things but a win was an icing on the cake.  Had so much encouragement during the race from those that were racing the marathon, a lot of spectators and also my mother.  It helped me tremendously and appreciated the support.  Got my goals accomplished and now is on to taking some time off and after that getting ready to start training for my first Full-Marathon next year, spring 2016.  Goal is to qualify for Boston Marathon 2017.     

   

Update Training Progression & Life

Been a while since my last blog post.  But here is my up to date of my training and life.  Been rough finding a job in my field.  But able to find a job to at least make money, I work at Kelley's Market, which is part of Mobil gas station as a Sales Associate.  Also working at Dok's Klassik, restaurant at my hometown (Verona) doing busing and help cook.   Early in the year, I worked at Madison City Channel, as a production assistant, being Camera Operator and setting up audio equipment during and after production.  Helped me gain some work experience and able to help build my resume.  Still continuing to finding my real career job in my media field and hopefully full-time. Running update, my training is going pretty solid.  Mileage has been around between 45-55 miles a week.  Been hard training while working crazy hours but still keep pushing to go run.  Feeling well prepared for my 2nd Half Marathon coming up next month on October 25th.  Looking forward to it and the goal is to break 80.   

2014 Year Recap (Runner Edition) Final Part 2

2014 running for me was great, but the best part was watching some of the great meets, including the Wisco Adidas Invite and the first time ever watching the Great Lakes Regionals.  Got to hang with the Hub of Distance Running Derek Rubis, he's an inspiration to the running community.  I got the greatest surprise ever and I didn't expect it, Mandy Perkins, the former Florida Gator who is working with Nike, got to hang with her while she was helping with flotrack covering the Adidas invite.  I was very happy and it made my day, thank you again Rubis, it was the best surprise I ever got.  Got to finally meet Chris Chavez, who was helping with Flotrack and works for my favorite tv show (SportsCenter).  Also met Gordon Mack, who also works for Flotrack, he was very awesome to chat with and told him I would love to someday work for Flotrack.  During the meet I got to meet a few awesome distance runners, first was Leah O Connor, Michigan State Spartan who won the steeple this last outdoor track season.  She was amazing and very sweet.  Their team had an amazing season, captured there first XC National Title and she got an All-American.  Also got meet Shelby Houlihan, the Arizona State 1500 meter National champion this last outdoor season who got All-American this last XC season.  Also met Reed Connor, who was part of the 2011 National Champion Badger team.  The Wisco Adidas invite was fun to watch and got to meet a lot of amazing people.  Got to watch an amazing Great Lakes Regional meet, very cold but was still worth it, got to meet the whole Michigan State Spartan team who won the Regional and said earlier that won there first National Title.  Got to hang with others as well, the Badger cheering section, the Badgers had an amazing where they finished runner up in the region and finished top 10 at Nationals as the men who had a very young squad won the BIG Ten title and brought back the Great Lakes Regional title plus finishing in the top 10 at Nationals.  Sarah Disanza, had an incredible year who finished runner up at Nationals as well as Malachy who won the BIG Ten's and All-American at Nationals.  Another successful year for the Badgers.  2014 was fun watching meets this year, hope to go to more meets in 2015 and meet more of my distance running faves. 







 

               

2014 Year Recap (Runner Edition) Part 1

Well 2014 is definitely a year to remember, I graduated from an amazing University (UW-Platteville), walked on in the Spring and finish my internship this past Summer, and was able to run my last indoor and outdoor seasons with my fellow Pioneer Track & Field teammates.  One of my breakout races for my last season of track was definitely the 10k- Outdoor, I knew coming in I wanted to hit a lifetime PR, it was an unbelievable race, I felt really good, ended up running 33:21, dropping a little over 2 minutes, the iron helped me significantly and the training paid off.  I am sure going to miss competing on track and being with my awesome teammates, they mean so much to me. My biggest race of the year was my first Half-Marathon this last November, where I was very close of hitting my goal, that was to break 80 minutes, ended up with 1:21.49 despite of the chilly conditions, placed 14th overall in the Madison Half Marathon, overall very pleased and happy with the result.  My goal for 2015 for my Half-Marathon is to break 80 minutes and that I'm capable of reaching.  Hit big miles this winter and do some good strength work in order for that to happen.  Yes 2014 was a very good year for running, 2015 will be even better, as you are trying to achieve your goals, always go after greatness.