Cow Chip Classic 2012

Thankfully, not an actual cow chip for a bib.

I ran Cow Chip Classic back on September 1.  I didn't post about it because it was a last minute decision to run, and I didn't have a goal for this race. 

The Cow Chip festival takes place each year in Prairie du Sac, where people gather and watch people compete to see who can launch a cow chip the furthest.  The novelty of this festival lies in the fact that cow chips are dried cow dung.  Good ole Wisconsin with their cow tipping and dung throwing.  There is even a "tournament of chips" parade that goes through town with a "Trojan Cow" named Cowabunga.  She is a 13'6" tall cow whose head moves from side to side and lifts her tail for the "chip."  While entertaining, we were there that morning for the run/walk event.

The Cow Chip Classic has two distances: 5k and 10k.  The 5k and 10k starts together and takes the racers through a charming little downtown.  Then the 5k racers turn off  right before the 10k runners go up a daunting looking hill.  The event was small enough that there's only a timing mat at the end.  We all cross the finish line within seconds of each other.  I believe there is only about 900 or so runners total. 

Turkey Trot 2012

Sadly, not prime. 

This was my first trail race.

The Turkey Trot is a cross country race put on by MATC and held in Warner Park.  There are two options for the run: 5k and 5 mile. The 5k seemed to be the more popular choice, and there were only about 40 some runners for the 5 mile.  The 5 mile route does a 1.9 mile route before they end up on the same course as the 5k.

The route is actually really nice through wooded areas.  It's essentially two loops.  The first loop has a daunting looking hill that we approach head on, but on the second loop, the route takes us on a more gradual ascent up the same hill.  Turns out I totally prefer the first loop and facing that hill head on because then it's over in seconds.  A gradual uphill ascent takes a mental toughness that I had little of this morning.   

On the road to the marathon

Well, I registered for the Flying Pig in Cincinnati. It will be my first marathon and I am a bit nervous. I'm worried about injuries, being well trained enough, and of course, things out of my control like the weather. Fingers crossed.

Haunted Hustle 2012

The Haunted Hustle half marathon was tougher than I had expected.  I signed up for this one back in May because my friend Joe had told me it was a flat beautiful course through the woods.  In August, they changed the course.  Did you know there are hills in Middleton?

About two weeks before, I went to a good form running clinic at a local shoe store.  I was tired of injuries from the half I've been doing and I didn't see how I'd be able to train and complete a marathon if injuries keep cropping up and keep me from running for a week or more.  Hell, I'm starting to think about possibly completing an Iron Man someday.  So my friend suggested I attend this clinic and figure out what some of the issues are.  It was a 2 hour course that had a lot of information that I already knew, but the 15 minutes of information I didn't know were pretty valuable.  I tried this out at my next run and I was a convert.

They warned us, however, that there will need to be some retraining of muscles since we haven't been using them.  I had gotten up to 8 miles running this way, but nothing in the double digits. The 8 miles felt good, almost easy, so I figured 13 would be okay.  Even for the Mini-Marathon in August, I'd similarly only gotten up to 8 miles the week before.  What was perhaps a mistake was me going on a couple of long bike rides the week before.  The weather was nice and I knew I didn't have many more opportunities for my bike, so I went out for a 16 mile ride.  I should've worked up to 16 miles.  My hip flexors were sore up until the day before the race.