By Popular Demand

Just in case any of you thought I skipped the Chicago Marathon finish line extravaganza to go relax in a spa - here is proof that I actually spent some time in the famous County Hospital. And note that the medal only came off of my neck during the chest x-ray....

Fall Frolick

After an overly crazy last week and a pathetically sick weekend, I realized that 9 days after the half marathon, I had yet to exercise. period. that stinks. after months of training, am I willing to throw it all away!?!?!? Well, I didn't do a whole lot. But I was able to dash out for a quick three miles before it got dark. I was shocked at how cold it became once the sun was no longer direct. I dashed through Swisshelm Park and down into Frick Park where the leaves were holding on to the glorious colors of fall. It was a nice run, but reminded me that I definitely need to invest in a head lamp so I'm currently looking into lightweight options that will actually stay on my head. I'm not sure if I'll really like the headlamp since I don't even like wearing a hat, but we'll work on it.

60 Years of Marriage Earns One Night of Luxury [at the Palmer House Hilton]

In 1947, Larry and Mariam Orenstein honeymooned at Chicago's posh Palmer House hotel. They could never afford the current asking price for the hotel penthouse — $1,600 a night — but thanks to a long-standing hotel policy and their original 1947 receipt, the couple just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in the Palmer penthouse for $10...

Listen to their story.

Katie & Brian Set Their Wedding Date

Katie Troxell and Brian finally set their wedding date - no races to be planned the weekend of October 11, 2008!

[I had to do some weird math on figuring out how October 11 was a Saturday...Lisa got married on a Saturday, October 7 in 2006, so this year, October 6 was a Saturday. Next year, October 4 is a Saturday (its a leap year)...which means that October 11 is also a Saturday...]

Jessie Finishes the Frankfurt Marathon

Jessie Akpan finished the Frankfurt Marathon in 3:54:59! I couldn't tell much else about the race as most of the site was in German.

Columbus Photos

After the race - Lisa and Megan in their foil, posing with the lifesize picture of Lisa.

The National Guard Reserve brass band which was set up right near the finish line for extra support!

(I could only do really small pictures because I took them directly from the photos my mom posted on Snapfish.)

That 70's Jogging Craze

Just noticed that both the Chicago Marathon AND the Great Race celebrated their 30th anniversaries this year. Must of have been the jogging craze of the 70's that got these races up and going!

Volunteering at Boston & Other Olympic Time Trial Info

Amber - to fill you in - we are considering going to the Women's Olympic Time Trials in Boston and then volunteering to help with the actual Boston Marathon the next day. Would you be interested?

I found out that applications for volunteers aren't accepted until January 2008, so I have a reminder for us to look into it then.

For the Men's Time Trials in NYC, the Today show will broadcast the start, (7:35 am on EST) then stream the remainder of the race on its website nbcsports.com. You would think they might also want to broadcast the ending, but hey...brunch at the Troxells?

Bummer

Hood to Coast is already full. They typically fill up on the same day that registration opens. I won't go into the details, but there are pretty specific rules as to how to submit the registration, etc. I just called the office to see if they were truly full and they are. We're going to have to look to the 2009 race and have everything pulled together by mid-October next year.

2 Cool Websites Spotted in Columbus

Notakenyan.com - 4 big dudes from Columbus started this running club...I either saw two of them or saw the same guy twice, but this was a funny one!

Team413.org - I've often seen Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." quoted on shirts in marathons, but have never seen a website attached. The group seems to be quite organized and shirts have been worn at races in all 50 states.

We Qualified!

We qualified! Granted its not for anything all that spectacular - a seeded position in the Kentucky Derby Festival mini Marathon - but it was a great race and we got well under our goal time of 1:52. Pictures to come...

Pre-race Meal at D's

Enjoyed a hot dog, fries, beer and a Dum-Dum at D's tonight. Ready to run the Columbus 1/2 Marathon in 46 hours!

Another hot one?

Per correspondence from the Columbus Marathon: "It's looking like it will be a nice weather day – even a little on the warm side with a low of 47 and a high of 72. No matter the weather conditions, the Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon and ½ Marathon is equipped to provide more than enough fluids for our participants." We'll see!

I say our strategy is to run fast and be done before it hits 65 degrees!

Call Me CRAZY!

Yes, please call me very crazy. Two days after a disastrous run and trip to the ER, I am still strongly considering doing the Columbus Marathon. It might be the masochistic attitude of all runners or the hope for redemption for a reasonable marathon time. Hal Higdon has a very easy two-week program that I am going to stick with - and if I only do the half marathon (which I have gotten approval for at least that) I will have maintained my level of fitness.

Wed - 2 miles
Thurs - 3 miles
Sat - 6 miles
Sun - 1-2 hours of running/cross training/ resting - whatever the body needs most
Tue - 4 miles
Wed - 2 miles
Sat - 2 miles

Listen to the NPR report on the Marathon

NPR report

Picts from the Chicago Fun Run

Before the race...and before the heat of the day was upon us
Pacing tatoos!

The G-spot in the Runner Reunite area. Didn't actually work out as the designated reunion spot.

We were planning on having a nice finishing picture in front of the fountain, but instead, we just got the matching GOTR t-shirts.

$20 Worth of Popsicles

Wow - lots of angry people posting comments on the marathon forum and the Trib articles. I'm glad we were in the group of faster runners that had access to supplies throughout the whole race.

Best part of the race was seeing a bicycle ice cream stand and salivating over the thought of having a popsicle. Lisa quickly reminded me, "That's what emergency cash is for!" So we raced up to the vendor and bought $20 worth of popsicles and handed them out to the overheated runners beside us. That took our minds off of the heat and sluggish legs for probably a whole mile!

Final Track Workout

Tonight I really wanted Amber to be here and doing our workout so that I could experience her overjoyous reaction to the last track workout before the marathon. Nonetheless, Megan and I met up at Avonworth HS to do 6x400 - the quickest and easiest workout yet. My how I love the taper. Megan ran off to dinner and I am off to some arts and crafts - as if I needed to add anything to my schedule - when am I going to pack again????

Tuesday Morning

It was a 7 miler for me this morning. It was a nice morning, very cool. Ryan ran with me for about 2.5 miles, then I finished it up on my own. I passed a girl on the bike trail that had the same under armor top as me, in hot pink (same as mine). It was kind of comical.

The day for me today was pretty annoying. I had to run many errands. I had to get my car inspected and it passed the SMOG test. Surprisingly. Tomorrow I hope to get plates at the DMV. That place is repulsive.

I hope you two are doing well!

Sat. 10 Miler

Saturday was the designated long run day for the weekend jaunt. Ryan actually ran with me for this one. I think I was a little phobic about him pushing the pace, but he really didn't, which was nice. We were fine. I tried the Espresso Love gu. It was yummy! Although I must have some kind of lactic reaction because I had so much phlegm in my throat afterward. Nasty. We saw the typical boaters, fishers, and farmers. Tomato season is still here! They continue to harvest them and therefore we see tomatoes all over the road from flying out of the truck. And they start to smell...

I'm getting stoked for the marathon, or as stoked as I can be. It will be awesome to see you all!!!

Beating the Mayor

Completely forgot to mention in my posting about the Great Race that we beat Luke Ravenstahl. After our initial observation of him at Run Around the Square, we thought we would have no problem beating him and even challenged Geoff to try to beat the mayor. But he brought his A-game for the Great Race, nearly squeaking by us. We will let everyone know that he got to fire the gun and then actually start a mere 10 seconds after the clock started, while our differential between chip and clock was more like 4 1/2 minutes.

Chip time for Great Race: Lisa 45:57, Megan 48:00, Luke 49:21
Clock time for Great Race: Luke 49:31, Lisa 50:33, Megan 52:36
Time for Run Around the Square: Lisa 24:19, Megan 24:56, Amber 25:56, Luke 29:18

Luke should get a round of applause for his first 10k completion, though!

Gold Member Status

While making renovations to the Silver Member locker room we have to use the gold member locker room...darn :-) Code is 513...they don't have that posted anywhere - you have to go ask.

The Great Race

10k results - should be noted that Lisa and I had substantially higher clock times than those other finishers around us...this represents our elite football moves when it comes to starting at the back of the pack. [Next year we'll start closer to the actual start line.]

5k results

Injury reports - on the televised news this morning they made it sound like loads of people had dropped due to the heat. This report is a little more tame and while it was sunny on the Boulevard, I, personally, think that it was a fantastic day for a run!

Top finishers article