On The Trails

Met Mike Keller, Daniel Bellinger and Don Baun this morning at 7:00 for a trail run at Mohican. The temperature was about 27 degrees at the start and my right hamstring was bothering me so I didn't know what type of run it would be. It turned out to be a very fun and relaxing run! We started out running along the river until we reached the covered bridge. From there, we headed up to the firetower and ran on the road until we got to the gorge overlook. It's been a long time since I have been at the overlook so it was a real treat to see and enjoy the beauty of it all. We then, headed down some trail that was to intersect the bike trail, according to Don. Sure enough, we found our way to the bike trail for the last three miles. I have never ran on that part of the bike trail so it was nice to do something different. It was a really nice morning and great conversation:) Never a dull moment with those guys! Thanks!! Of course, I couldn't stop there, so I came home and lifted weights:D

Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day! Thank you to all those who are serving or did serve our country! It's because of all of you that we have this great place to live in! We should all be so proud!! On rte. 39 going into Perrysville, the cementary had hundreds of flags honoring the fallen. It was really cool and I wish I had my camera for all to see.

Yesterday, I swam a mile and a half with 450yd pull.

After two days off of running, I got in 5 miles this morning. It was a very slow 5 miles but at least I got it done. I'm still tired and it's not a sleepy tired , more of a physical tired. I think the last month of racing has finally caught up to me. I just need to be patient and let my body heal along with my mind. LOL After my run, I lifted weights and after talking to a very wise ultrarunner, Mr. Ron Ross, believes that strength is very important to a runner especially as you get older. I probably over do the lifting part but I really enjoy it! Crazy, I know!! I then went to the Y and swam a mile and a half.

The plan for tomorrow, is to meet a group of people at Mohican for a run. I think we will be running around 14 miles. Hopefully, it won't be a very hard run but I'm always up for running with others on the trails.

Bobcat Trail Marathon

The weekend started out with a trip to Tiffin,OH to watch Corey play at Heidelberg College on Saturday. It wasn't a very good day for the Marietta Pioneers on the gridiron. Marietta lost 42-14. It was a far cry from last week when they beat Otterbein. Corey however, had a good game with 8 tackles and a fumble recovery. One more game left for his football career and then I'm going to try to turn him into a runner:D

Sunday was the Bobcat Trail Marathon in Glouster, OH at the Burr Oak park. It was a beautiful day for a run on the trails! I have never ran a marathon race on the trails, so I had no idea how to run it. I started out with a 50k pace which was nice and relaxed since I was not too sure how recovered I was from the 50 miler two weeks ago. I got in a real nice group of about five runners and met a woman named Cassandra McCune. Her and I stuck with four men for about the first 10 miles. The leaves were thick and the terrain was pretty rough and I only went down once in the first 10 miles. Thank goodness the leaves were down to cushion my falls! After we left the first aid station, there were about five or so runners ahead of us and we soon discovered that we had all made a wrong turn and were off course. We ended up running a half mile off course by the time we were on track again. At that point, I was running 4th for the women but was able to catch up with the 3rd place woman because she was in the group ahead of us that also got lost. Her and I picked up the pace and passed the woman that was in second. Everything was going just fine, even after a couple more spills in the leaves and I was able to pass the second place woman at about mile 18. I even got tangled up in prickers and had blood running down my arm and leg. I probably was quite a sight at the end of the race!! For a course that was suppose to be flat and fast there were a lot of hills and it seemed that they were all in the last six miles. By mile 21, I was starting to suffer a bit but I knew I had to keep pushing. I was told that the leading woman was about 15 min ahead of me. I knew I probably wouldn't catch her but you know me I had to try! At mile 22, I caught up with Kevin Martin, who was also struggling a bit, so we stayed together and kept each other going. With 2 miles left, I was really hurting and the hills just kept coming. Everytime I came to a hill in those last couple miles, the curse words would come pretty easily. Thanks, Vince! (the race Director) I was able to make up some ground on the leader and I managed to pass a couple more male runners, but it was TOUGH! I finished 2nd female and 11th overall with a time of 4:41.23. So much for a fast, flat course!

I think at this point, I'm more physically tired then anything. I'm not sore, just tired! This old body can only take so much! Overall, it was a great race and a perfect day to be out on the trails. I'm glad I did it but glad it's over! Good job to all those who ran the race! A prayer goes out to Ron Ross who turned his ankle at miles 10 and had to stop. Hope it is ok!

The next couple of days, I will take it easy. I swam 1 and1/4 miles today and will probably do the same tomorrow. I will try to start running on Wednesday.

A Little Bit of Everything!

Well, it's Friday night and nothing to do. Mark and I did go out but neither one of us wanted to go far or do anything fancy, so we went to East of Chicago for pizza right here in Loudonville. Kieth is out on a date with his girlfriend, Shelby, Corey is on his way to Heidelberg for their game tomorrow and I have no idea what Kyle is doing since they do not have a meet tomorrow. Hopefully, he is behaving! I am really looking forward to having everyone home for Thanksgiving break in a couple of weeks. Corey and Kyle will have to go back to school for finals before they are off for Christmas. Then, they will be home for a month and I will probably be ready to send them back at the first of the year.LOL Very proud of Keith's grade card, that was sent out today. He has an cum. grade pt. of 3.7 and this nine weeks he had all A's with two B+'s. Next semester, he will really have to buckle down because his classes will be a lot harder. I can't remember if I already talked about this but Keith has decided not to go out for basketball and instead will be running indoor track and lifting for football. He really was quite a good basketball player and would probably have seen some varsity time this year as a Sophmore. However, he really loves football and wants to get stronger and faster so Mark and I gave up trying to persuade him to play on the court.

Not really tapering for Sunday's marathon and I will probably regret it half way through the race. I ran 5 miles this morning and swam 1 mile that included 450yd pull. For some reason, my right hamstring was bothering me. I don't think it's a big deal because once I got warmed-up, it was fine. I'm alittle nervous about Sunday, I just don't want to get lost and I want to run if not a respectable time than at least a respectable place. I'll let everyone know how it turns out! Until next time...........

On The Trails

Ran 6.3 miles this morning on the trails in Mohican. Did it alittle different this morning by starting at the Firetower instead of the Covered Bridge. From the Tower, I got on the bike trail and ran north until I hit the horse trail and then ran on it, up to the Bridle Staging area. From there, I ran back to the Firetower and then headed south on the bike trail. I have never been on that part of the trail so it was a nice change of pace. There were hills and switchbacks but nothing too hard. The leaves are off the trees so foot placement is not as hard as it was a week or so ago. I ran between 10:30 and 11:00 min. miles which was very comfortable. I will probably try to run 10:00 min. miles or better during Sunday's Marathon. I really don't know how to run a marathon on the trails, alot will depend on the course. After my run, I went to the Y and swam a mile that included 300yd pull and 150yd kick. On the way home, I just had to stop at Wal-Mart to shop. LOL

Tomorrow, we will finally have a free night because High School football is over for us. Maybe Mark and I will go on a date!! Corey play's at Heidelberg on Saturday, Kyle has the weekend off and I will be running on Sunday. It's going to be a slow weekend!LOL

First Snow of the Season

Got up and out the door by 8:30 this morning without paying attention to what the weather was doing. Had on tights, a long sleeve shirt and glooves. I decided that I would be tough and not wear a hat or head band which was a big mistake. About a mile and a half into my run, I noticed it was starting to snow, but no big deal, I have ran in snow before! It started to snow harder and harder and it was that big, flake, wet snow that feels like rain. I couldn't believe it! The longer I ran, the more it started to snow and the wetter and colder I got! I think I looked like a snowman running down the road because the snow was sticking to me, my ears were freezing and my nose probably was fire engine red! I even had on my new road shoes that were delivered yesterday, so they got wet, which really pissed me off! So much for keeping my new shoes clean and dry! The other bad thing was, I had left our dog, Rollo, outside and he was soaked by the time I got back. Poor thing, I kind of felt sorry for him! Not only did I get wet and cold running, but I felt horrible! My legs were tired and I tried a heel lift in my right shoe that the foot Dr. wanted me to try, BIG MISTAKE!!! I had to stop and take it out at about mile 2 because it was making me feel unbalanced and my right leg was hurting. Maybe I have to just get use to it, don't really want to find out. I have enought problems with injuries without adding to them! Anyway, ended up with 6.5 miles, lifted weights and swam a mile and a half. I then went to Sam's Club to shop and spend money!!

Yesterday, I ran 7 miles and felt a heck of a lot better than today. Did weight lifting and then cleaned all the wood floors in the house. I need to start tapering for Sunday. I have never ran a marathon on the trails so I have no idea how to run it or what type of pace I should shoot for. I guess, I'll just go with the flow!!!

A Lemke Weekend

I haven't had any time until now to write anything about the weekend until now, so here goes.

The weekend started out Friday night at the Redbird Stadium. The Loudonville Rebird football team, which includes my son Keith, played the undefeated Fredericktown Freddies. As you can see from the first picture, it was parents night since it was the last home game. Unfortunately, the Redbirds lost in the last 30 sec. of the game with a score of 31-28. It was quite a great game but it just wasn't in the cards for us to win and of course , we made our share of mistakes! Keith had a good game on the defense side of the ball with 6 tackles. I am so proud of him this year. He worked very hard and did a great job all season. He loves football, like his older brother, so this winter he has decided not to go out for basketball and instead, he is going to lift and run indoor track. He wants to play football in college so that will be his concentration.

Saturday, turned out to be a great day! First of all, Kyle who runs for OWU, ran in the All-North Coast Athletic Conference C-C meet at Liberty Park in Powell, OH. He had quite a day running! Conditions weren't the best because it was cold, rainy and muddy! He was able to break into the varsity squad for the second time this season, placing 4th for the team and 30th overall out of 109 runners. For the 8k course, he ran a 27:56.3. The top four runners for OWU, were all sophomores! The team placed 4th behind Allegheny,Wabash and Oberlin. Good job, runners!
I don't have any pictures of Kyle at the meet because I was at Marietta watching Corey play his last football game at home.

Corey played his last home game of his football career at Marietta. It was Senior Day and they honored all the senior players and their parents. The picture above is us on the field before the game. Out of about 67 players that came in with Corey as freshman, there are only 6 left. I am so proud of Corey that he stuck it out!! At times, it was very rough for him, but he is my son and he knows how to stick things out!! They played Otterbein, who was undefeated and ranked 7th in the nation, until Saturday. Marietta hung tough to the very end and won!! Everyone was in total shock!! It was such an upset!! Marietta had only won one game until then! It was a great victory!! Sometimes, that's what it is all about, winning the one special game!! Corey had 6 tackles and 1 pass break-up. Great job, Corey!! It was kind of sad however, because that was his last game in Marietta. He will only have two more games and he will be done. He will miss it terribly because for the last 12 years of his life, he has gone nothing but eat, sleep and breathe football. He will adjust and move on to the real world!! We are so proud!!

My running went pretty good this weekend. Friday, I ran 6 miles, lifted weights and swam a mile and a half. Saturday, I ran 6.5 miles. On Sunday, I ran 15.5 miles on the trail at Mohican. Today, Monday, I ran 6.5 miles, lifted weights and swam a mile and a half. I have also decided to run the Bobcat Trail Marathon this coming Sunday, which should be my last race of the year, unless I decide to run a 5k here and there!!