As we wrap up 2011, I’ve made a commitment to one of our Charity Partners, the Conductive Learning Center to run the race and try to raise some money for them.  I’m working on the money…the running is tougher!  Ha

I’m back up to six miles, will try to go longer this weekend…and hopefully add some miles while in Hawaii for the Honolulu Marathon (yea, I throw that in to make you all jealous! Ha)  I also plan to try and make more Saturday morning runs at John Ball when I get back, I’ve always found those enjoyable when I get my lazy behind out of bed….plus, I have practice for the high school kids right after!

So, I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving, and are preparing for Christmas and the new running year!  35 years!  God I’m old…I remember the first one!

As I’ve started back running a few days a week, and event got on my bike a little this summer, it made sense to try the Honey Creek Inn Duathlon yesterday!   I felt like a young rookie again…found myself whining about the hills, the wind, why large people were passing me…but all fun!  I haven’t had my legs cramp up like that in years, but the Founder’s Brew at the finish help relieve some of the tension!  Just a blast…it felt like an old-time neighborhood race…which it was.  Food, beer and music tent at the finish…I did hear someone say the only thing missing was a giant hot tub and a massage person…

On another note, the kids from the West Michigan Harriers Training group have opened the cross country season strong.  Kenowa Hills, Kent City, Cedar Spring…and others are off to great starts.  If you’re a runner in the area and never been to a high school cross meet, try to go see one.  Young runners busting their butts… and unlike other sports, it’s over in about an hour!

Plans are already being developed for next years 35th 5/3 River Bank Run!  I can’t believe I’m that old…wait a minute, after the duathlon yesterday, I can believe it…but this should be a great year.  Kristen Aidif and her staff will tweak the event again just enough to always make it fresh and top-notch.  I can’t wait until the 2012! 

Hope everyone is healthy…

Greg

Summer’s here and while I’m back to a little jogging, the high school runners in the summer program are already a week into training…building strength for the fall cross country season.  Last week we had almost 30 kids from Kenowa, Cedar Springs, Kent City, West Catholic and others who showed up.  Its a great group of kids, who run hard and laugh a lot…which makes it perfect.

Tonight’s our typical hill work out, although I worry about the weather…its hot and humid, with possible thunderstorms.  We run at John Ball Park near the Coke plant…after a 2-3 mile warm up the kids attack the hill for 4-5 repeats (eventually some will get to 8-10 hills).  The hill is about 450m in length, but it feels longer!  On Thursday we’ll be back at Riverside Park for a 3-4 mile tempo run.  We may need to run earlier that day as I have an event that evening.

All this is about building strength and running with other athletes who share the same passion.  We have some really really good runners and some young runners who I’m guessing are still asking themselves what the heck am I doing here!  In a couple of weeks they’ll get their legs under them and it’ll change for them.

By the way, the unofficial name of this training group is the West Michigan Harriers…some even have t-shirts…I’ll try to get more if necessary.  It’s free and open to the any high school runners who are interested in training in a group.  Only requirements are that you’re nice to eachother and you try your best.  There’s no cost…yes some would say you get what you pay for…but be prepared, because I volunteer to do this, I am very open in saying what I think about running…hard to fire a volunteer!  Ha

Good running,

Greg

Just over a month away…the weather is breaking (dear God, I hope so) and more and more people are out on the streets.  Now’s not the time to fall off your training.  One way to keep focused is to check out some of the upcoming clinics.  I’m especially excited to see Katie McGregor coming to Kalamazoo on April 12 and Grand Rapids April 13.

The Kalamazoo clinic will be at the Kalamazoo Public Library (no, this wasn’t planned just to get me into a library) and it goes from 7-8:30 pm.  I heard a rumor there may be a fun run before the event sponsored by Gazelle Sports in Kzoo…call there and get the details.  Katie is one of the top female runners in the country and is the defending 5/3 River Bank Run US Champion.

On April 13 she will be doing a clinic at Gazelle Sports in Grand Rapids in their amazing new community room!  I’m bummed I have to miss this due to travel, but if I know Ken Sung at Gazelle, it’ll be a great evening.

Speaking of Ken, he’s been telling me for years about the trails at the Canonsburg Game area.  Its been a real oversight on my part that I never explored them….until last weekend!  What was I thinking.   While they are used extensively for mountain bikes, the trails are great for running.  I love running trails, and this area is pumping new life into me.  I’m even thinks of getting a mtn bike, just so I can crash and have cool scares like Ken!  Check that area out…just amazing.

The running community was hit with horrible news last week that Sally Meyeroff, the 2009 US 25K champions here at the 5/3 River Bank Run was killed will training on her bike in Arizona.

Sally had become a good friend since she came to Grand Rapids two years ago.  She later came to Crim as well.  She had an energy about her that was just wonderful.  She was the life the the party after she won here, and was really excited to be coming back this year.

If you have a chance and the inclination, say a prayer for her and her family. She will be missed.

Greg

I’m back…sorry for the pause!

Yes, I’ve been running, and I have to say, its tough!  I’ve reduced myself to thinking about the 10K distance, the 25K isn’t really a posibility for this year.  Between my lack of fitness and other commitments, I’d rather have an attainable goal than one that will just depress me!

I’ve been traveling a bit, and a few weeks ago was in Florida…some fun (Visited Denny Scully’s condo in Key West) and mostly work for Aquinas all around the state.  With the nice weather, I was out running every morning.  While the first mile is just horrible each day, it gradually gets better.  The killer is I know what its supposed to feel like, and it just hasn’t happened.  When I returned to GR and the cold, I hit the new fitness center at Aquinas, and got in some running on the treadmill and even started lifting a little.  Just an FYI…getting old isn’t for sissies…its nasty.   But I’m finding I like the lifting and if I’m going to get healthy and get around this bad back, I need to strengthen my core.  What’s weird is when I was running, the core was the center of an apple.

Last week was frustrating…Aquinas was on spring break and they shut down the fitness center.  How rude!  I need to speak to someone about that…we couldn’t even use the showers, and I’m a noon kinda workout person.  It set me back.  Thankfully, its open again and I have my bag packed today.

This past weekend I was invited out to Boston for a fundraiser for an organization raising money to fight childhood obesity.  Great time and great cause.  While there, I had to return to my former town of Hingham and go on my favorite run around Worlds End.  This is a park that jets our into Boston Harbor.  Great trails along the ocean, and a wonderful view of the Boston skyline to the west.  This is such a great place to run, even a cheap guy like me paid $5 to enter the park.  (When I lived there I used to cheat and just run by the attendant’s shack and wave like I was a member.  Now I’m afraid at my pace the old guard could run me down!)  If you are ever visiting the Boston area and find yourself on the south shore, visit Hingham and take a walk or run in Worlds End.  I have great memories as two of my kids ran cross country there in high school, in fact my son Jay had the course record.  It was a VERY tough course, hilly, rocky trails.  I emailed him after I ran out there and told him his record was still intack…I didn’t threaten any records…actually thought I might croak going up a couple of the hills!

So…sunny and fifty this week…I may head outdoors at noon.  I’m up to 40 minutes of running and when I hit the hour mark, I know some more of these pounds will disappear.

Finally…I heard a great quote at the event the other night from a non running comedian…

he said “how can you tell its spring in Boston?….the saps are running again!”  made me laugh!

Stay healthy

Greg

I hope Christmas treated everyone well, and they got whatever running gear or gadget they needed from Santa.  All my kids were home, and the discussion came up about running Boston again on my 35th anniversary.   Ugh…I better begin training now, its only 2.5 years away.  The good news is this time my kids can wait for me at the finish line.

I’ve been getting out, slow but sure on long walks and short runs.  Today was 4 miles, and I wore my “shoe shoes”…the ones with the sheet metal screws in the bottom.  Gosh, always exciting to live in Michigan.  I had the good fortune of seeing Buzz Wybeeck on my run this morning, and like I encourage others to do, we made a plan to meet tomorrow morning to run together.  Buzz is semi retired now, so he is much fitter than I…this could come back to bite me, but it gets me out.  I’m also planning to jog the Resolution run on the 31st in EGR.  Many of the high school kids I coach will run it as their weekly tempo, so I’ll go too.  These kids are a great motivator by the way.  We always here about kids being lazy or sitting in front of a computer, but these kids show up all winter and all summer for a voluntary training program just to get better.  Their enthusiasm is terrific.  We’re trying to come up with a name for the group…I like West Michigan Harriers…kind of a British feel…some of them like West Michigan Elite…I think that’s a little forward.  If you have ideas, send them in.  IT has to be W. Mi based…since it seems all the kids are coming from outside GR proper…wonder why???

So, I’m working at this, plan to try and hit some Saturday mornings (8am) at John Ball…gives me an excuse to go to the West Sider for breakfast after…great potato pancakes!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Year.

Well, my week at the Honolulu marathon is over.  What a great time, great place and great people.  No surprise on the winners…Kenyan for men, Ethiopian for women…under really tough conditions….90% humidity…with sun.  I was happy to be doing radio in a tent at the finish!

I only ran once while here, but I walked my rear off most days with my old teammate and current women’s distance coach at UM, Mike McGuire.  A series of 8 mile walks early in the morning…followed by breakfast then I’d plop said behind on the beach.

The walking was great, and while I wasn’t sore like if I had tried to run, my ankles for some reason seemed to get tight.  No matter, I’ve begun, and when i return to the snow and cold of GR I’ll begin the running and the lifting.

Mike and I had some interesting discussions about American distance running, and I will be offering up my opinions on that in my next blog.  Remember, opinions are like noses, everyone has one…just some are prettier than others!

Burrrr…back to the cold.

Well, tomorrow is the first day of training based on the 53 River Bank Run training program…and all good intentions aside…I know I’ll miss the first day!  Such a slacker am I.  I do have a reason, and most of you would like to have this excuse….I’m traveling all day for my annual trip to the Honolulu Marathon.  I promise, at least once I’ll work out twice in a day to make up for it.  (Could be two trips to the bar just off the beach…but whatever!)

This is sort of do or die for me this year. Last year I started, but the back never let me get going.  In addition, and its hard to admit this, I never scheduled my time to actually get my runs in.  I had all the excuses….my leg hurt, I didn’t have a shower at Aquinas for noon runs, I was too busy.  All excuses.  Now my only excuse is I’m really out of shape…not just cardio wise, I seem to have added some winter padding to keep me warm.   On the positive side, Aquinas has its new Sturrus Fitness Center…and more locker rooms and showers than I need…so all I need to do is make the time!

Like many of you, I’ll be complaining and cursing at the training schedule…gosh it was so much easier when I was young and thin….but I need to do this…for my health!  As many of you may have read, Rob Lytle, the former UM great running back passed away just before Thanksgiving.  He died of a heart attack.  I met Rob through his wife my sophomore year at UM, and talked him into running track.  For the next two years I was also his roommate.  As we sat in church in Fremont, Ohio, it was a wake up call to many of us as to how things can creep up on you.   So I promised myself…it begin again.

I’ll start slow (I think I walk faster), try to eat better, and really work on strengthening my core to help the back out.  My kids are talking about another marathon….so that is a motivator too.  Even my youngest son Dan…out of the blue, said he wanted to start up again.  (That could kill me…he was good!)

So…tune in to see how I’m doing, listen to me whine…I’ll listen to you too….and we’ll see how this goes.  I’ll try to write from Hawaii….I’m guessing there will be one cloudy day.

I hope so see you on the roads, either Saturday mornings at one of the group runs, or on the White Pine near my house…and remember, smile when you pass me, and hold your giggles until you’re out of ear shot!

Greg

I’m looking forward to sharing inspiration as you work towards May 14, 2011. Enjoy the day!