temmett

Coming off a dismal 2015 AND 2016, my 2017 goals were pretty simple: Be more consistent, build my mileage back up, and see if/what PRs I can track down. The goal to be more consistent began November 23rd, 2016, when I started my running streak. I certainly achieved the goal of being more consistent. I ran at least one mile every day since then and finished the year at 404 straight days of running. That consistency also propelled me to a yearly mileage PR of 1,804 miles, beating my previous best in 2014 of 1,662 miles. A few other great adventures of 2017: I was asked to pace a friend in the Big Sur Marathon. I turned it into a long family trip to San Francisco, Monterrey Bay (Big Sur Marathon), and LA. The scenery of the Big Sur Marathon was absolutely breath-taking and I am extremely grateful I was able to pace my friend because it allowed me to soak in all of the views. I signed up for a 6 hour race in July called Get Your Butt Kicked at Route 66 State Park. Summer in St. Louis is known to be hot and humid and this race has had some rough temperatures despite starting at 6pm and ending at midnight. My previous single run distance PR was 33 miles for a 50k that ended up being long. My goal for the race was to beat that distance and see if I could get to 40. As I crossed 30 and 35 miles, I had to really battle my mind telling me I had done enough but I kept going at broke 40 miles with a minute and change to spare and took 2nd place overall. I truly believe this race was the turning point in my mental toughness. I was asked to join a Bourbon Chase Team as people got injured. My plan was to use my three legs of the relay as tempo training runs for the marathon in 3 weeks. Despite my first leg being 75 degrees and my 3rd leg being 81 degrees, I was able to average 6:59/mile for my 19 miles. I circled the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon as my next Marathon PR attempt. While my running was consistent all year, I still struggled logging the long miles needed for a BQ. I still went to Indy with a BQ on my mind (officially need a 3:05 but I know to actually get in, need a few minutes faster). I settled in at about a 7:00/mile pace (pace for a 3:02:30 or 3:03 marathon) but was very unsure if I could hold on to it. At about mile 20, the wheels fell off and the 3:05 pace group passed me by. I relied on the mental toughness from that 6 hour race to hold on for a 30 second PR and finished in 3:09:23. I am certainly happy for the PR. It is a big improvement from where my running was in 2015 and 2016. What does 2018 have in store for me? First and foremost, continue the running streak and see if I can finally run 2,000 miles in a year. Get faster over short distances: PR in the 1 mile – Plan to sign up for a 1 mile race in St. Louis in June because I rarely go all-out at this distance. PR in the 5k PR in the Half Marathon – If the weather cooperates, I will take my first shot January 27th on a very tough course in St. Louis. Then I will find a faster course between May and September. PR and BQ in the Marathon – Need to find a fall marathon that fits my schedule. KidfromtheLou is planning a trip to run Rim to Rim for his birthday in October. I’m going to do everything I can to fit this into my schedule.

First it was the left knee. Then the left quad. Followed by the right hamstring and you get the picture... I'm not actually injured and I'm not usually bothered by the taper. It has been three years since I was truly in good enough shape to set real goals for a race, let alone, a marathon. I want to believe I am ready to achieve the time I have set for myself but the doubt keeps popping up. And now the 10-Day forecast is available and I will be stalking it daily. I used the Bourbon Chase a week and a half ago as a gauge on my fitness. I averaged at the top end of my goal pace at Bourbon Chase. I keep telling myself it would have been faster if it wasn't 75+ degrees for 13.3 of my 19 miles. I should have cooler temperatures in Indianapolis. I just have to pray for no rain and minimal wind. I will consider a PR a successful race but I will still be slightly disappointed if I don't get a BQ, in which a 5-minute PR is needed. Honestly, my ultimate goal is to PR by 10 minutes to almost guarantee that I not only get to register for Boston but actually get accepted and can run it.

Just completed my second Bourbon Chase. It is a great event, just make sure you are ready for some hills!

The rest and recovery in between legs can be tough, especially riding around in the van. And you also have to hope for a drama-free van. We did see a couple of ladies arguing with each other in a parking lot!

Ragnar actually bought Bourbon Chase a year or two ago. The rules say absolutely no drinking along the course. Maker's Mark had samples but other than that, there wasn't much. I think a lot of vans bring beer for after each runner's final leg but still try to be discreet about it.

Mike has done it at least twice and I was on the Ultra team with him 4 years ago. He didn't join us this year. He just had his third kid a few weeks ago so this trip would have been a bad decision for him lol. Not sure if you remember Clynn from the loop many years ago but she was on my team this year and was one of the two ladies that organized it.

I don’t remember the last thing I even blooped about on the old Loop so I’m probably due for a reintroduction. I started running 7 years ago after I had graduated college and needed some kind of exercise. I live near St. Louis, MO and have two young buys that love to go running with me! If you want to know anything else, just ask. I traveled to Kentucky this weekend with 11 friends for the Bourbon Chase (200-mile relay race for those that may not be familiar with it). My prior Bourbon Chase experience was on a competitive Ultra team. While that was still fun, this trip was with a more laid back group of runners not looking to win any awards and there was plenty of fun to be had. I’ll start with the running I was in Van 2 so I didn’t run until Friday afternoon. While our team was not expecting to be very fast, I still had some lofty goals for myself. With Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in 3 weeks, I was using this as a “tune up” to see where I am at. My goal was to run below goal marathon pace (my marathon goal is a BQ, sub-3:05, but really 3:01 if I want to actually get in). Basically, I wanted a sub-7:00/mile pace and 6:45/mile would have been great. Leg 1 (I was runner #8) – 4.8 miles with a little over 400 feet of elevation gain. It was 75 degrees when I got to run this so it was too warm for my liking. I still pushed through it with a 6:55/mile pace and passed 13 runners. It was way too hot to hit the 6:45/mile I would have liked but still a great effort. Time to recover for my next leg… Leg 2 – 5.7 miles with a little over 200 feet of elevation but a slight net downhill. This run was at 3am in the morning with 50 degree temps and the hills were long gradual hills that were very runnable. I put the hammer down and passed 19 runners with a 6:36/mile pace. I knew this would be my easiest run and the pace shows it. It felt great to hit those times! My legs were sore after this so I had to try to recover for leg 3, the longest run of my three… Leg 3 – 8.4 miles with about 450 feet of elevation gain, including a 1.5 mile uphill finish. This run was at 2 in the afternoon and it was a brutal 81 degrees. I was maintaining my 7:00/mile goal through 4 miles when the wheels started to come loose. My pace slipped but I still kept it together pretty well. I still wanted to pass as many runners as I could. One of my teammates was challenging me to see how many I could get. I ended up with a 7:16/mile pace for the 8.4 miles but passed 42 runners. There were a lot of people that were walking up the big hills in the heat and I kept pushing. I was very happy when that was over! And the fun and festivities… We drank a lot… Of course, we picked up a few cases of Yuengling along the way because we can’t get that in Missouri. We also had some great craft beers, some of which had some entertaining names: Cougar Bait, No Talent @$$ Clown, KY Cream Dream, Goodwood Gose, and Peach! Give Me My Money were just some of them! Of course, we also enjoyed some great Bourbon! We spent a good amount of time walking around Maker’s Mark and saw all of the Chihuly Glass Art, which was incredible! Our team carried around a crying baby face so we could always find each other in the crowd. Oddly enough, the crying baby put a smile on everyone’s face. The rest of the trip was filled with many laughs and new friendships (I only knew about half our team before the trip). Events like this are always a blast and I would recommend them to any runner!