Oak Lawn 3.5Mi Loop x3

Early run on the streets. My pace felt fast, but surprisingly I was faster on the trails on Thurs. Well at least I finally hit my monthly goal of 140mi., haven't done that since Sept of 2011.

Country Lane Yellow Trail

Great run on the Yellow trail today! Must be the cooler temps, two minutes faster than Tuesday's run. 9 miles more to hit my monthly goal of 140mi that I haven't hit since training for the Marathon last year.

Country Lane Yellow Trail

Great afternoon run on the Yellow Trail! One of the many great things about running trails is that the wind has little impact on you. I was glad to be able to run the full distance without stopping, now I can focus on picking up the pace.

Argonne WaterFall Glen

Great sunny afternoon run at the Argonne Waterfall Glen trail. This is a gorgeous trail, a wooded, winding, wide limestone trail. I feel like I have my mojo back, back to my average pace after starting up weight training two weeks ago. This trail is easier than the Yellow Trail, so I will have to see how I do Tues and Thurs when I return to the Yellow Trail.

Country Lane 5mi Loop x2

Maria, Andy and I at Country Lane. Misty and cool, good morning for a run.

Country Lane Yellow Trail

Another tough run on the Yellow Trail, disappointed in my pace, but at least I did the distance. Surprisngly I acutally felt better today than Tuesday but I was even slower Today. Well, at least I have 4 more weeks before my next half marathon, so I have time to get ready.

Country Lane Yellow Trail

My favorite trail kicked my butt today. The first 4mi were on pace, after that it was a 6 1/2 mile struggle. My personal rule(my wife thinks I am goofy) is no chocolate milk recovery drink unless I run at least 10mi, so at least there was that one highlight!

Country Lane 5mi Loop

Nice leisurely run with the Saturday morning group, Angelica, Maria, Andy, John and Daisey. Beautiful morning on the trails!

Country Lane 5mi Loop

Ran Country Lane again today, better than Wednesday but still a struggle, Hopefully I will be ready to do 10 with the Saturday Morning group.

Oak Lawn Loop

Short run around the hood, still recovering from Tuesday's workout with weights.

Country Lane 5mi Loop

Solo on the Country Lane trail, tough, tough run today. Yesterday, I resumed weight training after stopping last October after running the Marathon, and added lunges and squats to my routine. Needless to say I was very sore. Plus, I donated platelets last night. Both of these things probably contributed to my difficulties today. I am hoping that the lunges and squats will help in the long run because it was my quads that did me in during the marathon. So no pain no gain, I am looking forward to the gain : )

Oak Lawn 3.5Mi Loop x2

Solo run around the neighborhood. It was raining on the drive home from work, perfect excuse to not run. After snacking on chocolate covered almonds and deviled eggs, the sun came out, and then guilt set in, so I laced them up and went for a run. Note to self: never, never snack on choc covered almonds and deviled eggs before running, not a very pleasant taste the second time around. Despite the poor food choice, it was still a nice run at a respectable pace.

Swallow Cliff 6mi Loop

Andy and I at Swallow Cliff running the 6mi loop.Nice leisurely Saturday morning run. Nice sunny morning, spring must be close, saw lots of runners today.

Country Lane Yellow Trail

Nice sunny, sort of warm run on my favorite Yellow Trail. It has been almost a month since I last ran this trail. A little muddy in spots and several downed trees making for more obstacles! The best thing about this trail is that you have to concentrate so much on the trail that you lose track of the time and the miles that go by....

Danada County Trails, Herrick Lake

Lunch time run, sunny, warm and windy, nice run overall. This will probably be my last lunch time run until the fall. Once the clocks change this weekend I can return to my after work runs on some of my favorite trails without worrying about the darkness.

AdventureMax Half Trail Marathon, Innsbrook, Missouri

March's Half Marathon brought us to Innsbrook, Missouri for a Trail Half Marathon. A better description would be HILLY Trail Marathon. All of the HILLS made for a very tough course, along with the muddy grassy trails. Several runners tripped, fell and stumbled, including myself, two times. Nevertheless, I finished second for my age group! Good thing, because there was no Finisher's Medal, just a cool etched class, except for the runners that placed who received a cool medal! As we were registering for all of these half marathons, I didn't realize that not half marathons hand out Finisher's Medals. I love running trails, but this Trail Run really humbles you!