It's been awhile

Last Saturday my wife Brandy and I had the pleasure of directing our first race, The Summer intro 5k. I've been active at most of the Trail Nerd races over the last several years with course work and marking, etc, but this was the first time that it was totally my baby. We had 106 runners show up to run, which was awesome. The race was held on one of my favorite sections of the Psycho Wyco trail system, the Shane's Debacle/Megerson mound loop. The race was won by Andy Henshaw. Tom Murphy and Paul Shoenlaub rounded out the men's podium. The women's race was won by Sarah Hiller( who was also 4th overall!) with Victoria Thomas in 2nd and Hadley Osborne in 3rd. I felt like everyone had a great time and I'd like to thank everyone for coming out and supporting our events. complete results should be up soon HERE.

Atayne Sportswear

I just won a $50 gift certificate from Atayne Sportswear through a drawing on the iRunFar website to promote Earth Week. Atayne seems like a very cool company and free gear is always good. I'll post a review as soon as I've had a chance to wear the chothing a few times. Thanks again to Atayne for the free gear and their commitment to the environment.

Rockin K marathon

I finished. Not sure of my exact time. I stopped my watch accidentally during the race and I didn't pay attention when i finished. I thinkI was around 5:30 something. Super windy all day, but the temperature was pleasant and the water crossings weren't too deep. I traveled to and from the race with a cool group. More details and photos later...maybe.

Psycho Wyco and no Leadville 100

I recieved my rejection letter for the Leadville 100 mountain bike in the mail last week. There is a lottery to get in and I didn't make it. Bummer.
My Psycho Wyco 50k finish streak ended at three. I opted for just the 10 mile version this year. That turned out to be a good thing because after being sick all week, one loop was about all I had in me. Jackson ran the 10 miler again this year too. He finished around 2:45 ish. Pretty good for a 9 year old. To see how this event has grown and matured these past five years is just amazing. The KC Trail Nerds are an awesome group. We have kickass sponsors and volunteers. Thanks Everyone! I think I might have to start a new 50k streak next year. I'm still trying to decide if I should keep my PsychoStache until then.

Psychopathic 5k

Sunday Feb 1 was the Psycho 5k. Went out Saturday with Kyle, Jim and James to mark the course. This is one tuff 5k. I decided to go ahead and race. I was pleased with my result (23: 56/15th overall and 3rd in my age group). Jackson ran it as well. He finished in 34:43. Those times sound slow until you try it. Caleb won in 19:18 with Kyle close behind. We had over 100 runners, which I thought was a great turn out. Separating the 5k from the longer distances was a great idea. Much more enjoyable and will make Feb 14th much less hectic and crowded. good start to the season for me. The only thing that sucked about yesterday was that te Cards lost the Super Bowl.

I mailed in my entry for the Leadville 100 mountain bike race. I'm supposed to find out by Feb 9th if I'm in or not.

It's 2009!

Did 2008 fly by or what? I've been meaning to do a new year post and while I was running today I was trying to come up with a list of highlights from 08. I had a pretty crappy year as far as my running and racing. I did bad in every race that I entered so I kind of stopped during the summer.

We started out 2008 on a good note by moving into a new house right next to the Wyco trails.

I'd say the highlight of 2008 was our trip to Colorado last July. The trip started with the Lunar Trek in Scandia, KS and a lovely stay at the Chatfield Inn. From there we spent a few days with Ben and Allison. Ben showed a few local trails and we climbed Mt. Bierstadt.. I think he had fun torturing me on the climbs We also spent a few days up in Steamboat with Brandys Aunt and Uncle. The trails up there are SWEET! The trip also had the years biggest lowlight. On our last day there we were all riding bikes on the path and Josie crashed, knocking out her front teeth and smashing up her face in the process. Luckily she was wearing a helmet. Yesterday was the first time she'd been on a bike since then. One other highlight of the year for me was helping coach Jackson's 4th grade football team last fall.

So back to the present. I had a good run today. I went out for around 1.5 hrs on the Wyco trails. I'm guessing around 9 miles. Felt decent actually. I rolled my ankle on the 1st playing basketball so I had my left ankle taped. I started out slow and took it easy on the downhills. It didn't bother me too much.
I've actually been out on the bike a decent bit due to the good weather we've been having. Once it gets below freezing I'd rather just go for a run. I'd really like to get a pair of winter mountain bike s shoes. Yesterday(1-3) I went out for a ride on the singlespeed. I left wearing shorts and by the time I got back the temp had dropped probably 20 degrees. Crazy weather!
I've been playing chess and doing some art as well. This is a charcoal drawing of a buck that was harvested last fall by a friend. He got to spend the holidays in Afghanistan.

Red Fang