Time to Move On

So now you've run the Frostbite Festival 10-mile race. You've conquered one of the toughest courses in the area.

What do you do now? Train for the Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon, probably.

Luckily, there's a group for that. It's the HalfWits, and they have their own blog. Click here to see it. The HalfWits are doing things very differently this year, and you have to read to blog to get it.

If you're planning to run the half marathon, you might as well register now. The registration page is here.

Good luck with your running. You were great Frost Toes!

Good Luck Sunday!

Good luck to all the Frost Toes who are running the Frostbite Festival 10-mile run Sunday!

The current forecast for the 9 am start is 29 degrees with a 9 mph wind for a wind chill of 20. However, gusts could be as high as 17 mph. The frost will be with you!

Have a great run!

Oh, the Frost Bites . . .

The National Weather Service forecast extending through the weekend is now online, and it's beginning to look a lot like Frostbite.

They're saying Saturday night's low will be around 26 and Sunday's high will be near 39. But Sunday should be sunny. No prediction yet on wind speed or direction.

Click here to see the detailed forecast for Springfield. And check it Sunday morning!

Winding it down

Race day is a week from today, which means we're in the final week of preparation. For a challenging 10-mile course, that means we wind it down this week.

At this point, you've either fully prepared for the race or you haven't. Nothing you do now--whether it's distance or hills or speed work--is going to make a difference on race day. Your body simply doesn't have the time to rebuild after a tough workout and be ready for next Sunday.

So Tuesday night we'll take it easy. We'll meet at the usual spot in Washington Park for two laps around the park. We'll go the easy way; from the shelter, we'll go down the hill toward the lower duck ponds and then clockwise around the park.

Anyone getting together Thursday to run should keep it under 4 miles.

Packet pickup will be 4-7 pm Friday at the SportsCare facility at Chatham Road and West Washington.

Leading the Frost Toes this year has been a real hoot. Thanks for participating!

Final Two Weeks

How did Saturday go? Did you like the course? Did we have a good group?

Thanks again to Bill Stokes for taking over. Now we're heading into the final two weeks.

Tuesday night we'll do a final speed--or pace--workout. We'll do the negative splits again because so many people liked them the first time around. Meet at the shelter at 5:45 pm.

Thursday morning you can join the Cold Duck Run. This is an extremely informal get-together at Washington Park that features running, food, wine, a bonfire and the traditional singing of Thanksgiving carols. Okay, I made that last part up. If anyone knows the earliest that someone will be at the park, please spread the word.

Saturday morning is our last long run before the race. We'll meet at the fairgrounds by the Grandstand for the annual Abe's Turkey Trot. We'll run the Abe's Amble course just to show you how easy that course is once you've trained for the Frostbite Festival course. We'll also be giving the chip timing system another workout.

By the way, if you have not yet registered for the race, what are you waiting for? Do it now!

Hope everyone's training is coming along nicely. Post a comment and share your experiences!

Flat Saturday Coming Up!

This Saturday the Frost Toes will tackle a nice, flat, almost-8-miles workout as a cutback after running the actual Frostbite Festival course last Saturday. This week's route is a tweaked version of the flat nine miles we did a few weeks ago.

Here's a link to a map of the route.

Bill Stokes will be the leader on Saturday, because I will be heading to Green Bay to see Sunday's game against the 49ers. Bill has run with the Frost Toes and the Half Wits, and he also organized a group that trained for a very successful run at this year's Chicago Marathon. He's also going to be the co-director of the Half Wits in 2010. Thanks for taking charge, Bill!

We're almost to the end of Frost Toes training, which means Race Day is coming fast. Register now if you haven't registered for the race!

Good luck on Saturday, everyone!

Final Hill Workout

That's right, Tuesday night will be our final hill workout. Next Tuesday we'll do a pace workout, and the following Tuesday we'll do an easy run as we taper toward Race Day!

So let's have some fun. We'll do a warmup run around the east side of the upper duck pond, but instead of taking Williams to MacArther, run down the short hill and turn left. Everyone gather at the base of the hill that runs along the west side of the pavilion. We'll run up that hill, jog down, then run over to the short hill, run up that hill, jog down, and return to the base of the pavilion hill.

Here's a link to what I mean. We'll do six repetitions of this loop.

Unfortunately, I'll be watching you guys do this workout. I'm still recuperating and have to rest if I walk up a flight of stairs. Bummer.

Saturday's Route and Stuff

Saturday we meet at FitClub West, which is just west of Veterans Parkway on Lawrence. Do NOT park in the FitClub parking lot unless you're a member. Park on the street or in the parking lot of the nursing home across the street from FitClub.

At 7 am we'll run the course. Here's a map, with a correction. After starting from Lawrence, we go past Victoria and turn right on Mill Bank Lane and then left on Victoria. Take Victoria to Koke Mill, right on Koke Mill, then left on Washington. Take Washington all the way past Bradfordton Road, through the hills, and turn right on Old Covered Bridge Road. Stay on that until you reach PEC Road. Turn left on PEC as it meanders through the country. The turnaround point will be marked; retrace your way back to FitClub.

We'll have hydration stops at Bradfordton Road and at Jan Wilosn's house on PEC Road.

How'd you like to help out one of the nicest people in the SRRC? Last week Nancy Sutzer and Tim Mullady told me that Carl Benton is now the grandfather of twins--and they're living at his house! Along with the joy of newborns is the expense of keeping TWO babies in diapers. Nancy and Tim thought the Frost Toes might like to lend Carl a hand by bringing disposable diapers Saturday morning. What do you say? Either Nancy or Tim will be collecting, so if you want to help out a fantastic person, bring some diapers with you!

See ya Saturday!

Tuesday Plan

The flu got hold of me Monday afternoon, so I won't be at the park tonight. Jenni Gardner will be your leader for the evening.

We're going back to our first hill workout so we can see how much we've improved.

We'll warm up by running from the shelter to the pavilion and then down to the carillon. From the base of the hill, we'll do 6 hill repeats--run up the hill almost to Fayette Avenue and then walk or jog back down. Then we'll cool down by running back the way we came down to the carillon.

Have a good one!

Wanna Be a Star?

Now's your chance! Jenni Gardner is already making plans to revamp the Half Wits blog (see the link to the right), because some people plan ahead while I sometimes post the night before what the plans are for a day.

One of the additions she's planning to make to the blog is video. Yeah, Internet video. But here's what she's thinkin:

"The theme of this particular spot is 'Why do we run?' I'm looking for 2-10 second spots, single or teams. Some examples: fitness, fun, social time, relaxing, cute clothes, etc. I know this group is full of enthusiasm, smiles, and humor, so I'm reaching out here first. I'll have the camera in hand before and after the run if anyone wants to be a star."

So be thinking about why you -- or you and your buddies -- run. Then touch base with Jenni on Saturday. In just seconds you'll be besieged by autograph hounds and paparazzi!

See ya at CMT at 7 am Saturday!

Quick Update

Thursday night--Cassie Pollard is leading a group starting in Lincoln Park. Remember to meet at the "Abe's Army" shelter instead of the Nelson Center. Mary Tuttle is in Washington Park at the "Tuesday Night" shelter. Both groups meet at 5:30.

Saturday we'll do 7 miles. Here's the route.

Great Job!

All the Frost Toes (with one notable exception) did a great job Saturday! You ran 9 miles and donated at least a ton of food to the Central Illinois Foodbank. Way to go, Toes!

BIG thanks to Melanie Reynolds for collecting the food and delivering it to the Foodbank. A second BIG thanks to Mel for providing the tailgating goodies.

Saturday was also the day that Linda Jones was practicing on the SRRC's chip timing system. So we had a LOT going on!

This is a cutback week--we'll do 7 on Saturday--so Tuesday night we'll mix it up a bit. We'll warm up by running from the shelter to the MacArthur-Williams intersection. Then we'll do some negative split runs of 8, 12, and 16 minutes. That means for the first one you will run out 4 minutes then immediately turn around and run 4 minutes back. The idea is to get past the starting point, so you run farther on the way back...therefore getting a negative split. Next we'll run out 6 and back 6. Finally we'll run out 8 and back 8.

This workout means that everyone gets done with each run at the same time. If you've done this before, you know how enjoyable it can be.

See you Tuesday at 5:45. BTW, I was the notable exception Saturday morning. I got dehydrated. I didn't get enough fluids before we started running and I hadn't thought about getting any sort of gel--GU or CarbBOOM or anything--to take during the run. I should know better. So the lesson for everyone is: hydrate adequately.

Saturday's Route

So I had a few people Tuesday evening demanding that I come up with a flat route for Saturday. That means one thing--we have to go west of Veterans and south of Lawrence. Click here for a map of the route.

Saturday is also the Trick or Eat Social for the Springfield Road Runners Club. Here's a flyer about the event. Basically, bring canned or non-perishable food to donate to the Central Illinois Foodbank. Then run with the Toes. Please note: Donations are completely voluntary; you are not required to donate in order to run with the Frost Toes.

Saturday is also Halloween, so if you absolutely want to run in costume, feel free. Keep in mind that you'll be wearing that costume for NINE MILES, which may be a pain if you haven't run that distance before.

See you Saturday at 7 am!

Hard Core

A night like Tuesday shows who is the hard core Frost Toe. We ran a hill workout in the rain, proving that it's never too wet to run, just like it's never too cold to run.

Everyone did a great job. I picked up a lot of confidence by being able to run up those hills.

If you're looking for a Thursday night group, remember that Cassie Pollard has a route planned out that you can see here: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=332425. Meet at Lincoln Park at 5:15 for that one.

Mary Tuttle will run Washington Park with anyone who is interested in meeting at the shelter at 5:30.

Remember that Saturday we will run nine miles. I've already been threatened with possible death if I map out a hilly route ... so we'll just see what happens. I'll get that route posted as soon as I can.

Did ya love the hills?

The Frost Toes who love running hills -- you know who you are -- had a good time Saturday morning. The rest of us, well, we finished the six miles. I know I wasn't the only one who had to walk up a part of two hills.

Next week we bump the distance up to nine miles. I'm going to try to find something a little flatter.

But Tuesday night we're doing hill work again. We'll warm up by jogging to the Park street entrance and then past the pavilion, down the hill. and then over to the base of the Carillon hill. We'll go up that hill, then down the hill, then up the hill to the shelter where we meet, then back down and back up the Carillon hill. So the circuit is up the Carillon hill, down, up the shelter hill and down. We'll do that circuit four times and see if anyone wants more.

Thursday night Cassie Pollard has a Lincoln Park route ready to go for anyone who can show up at 5:15. Here's her email:
Thursday night, 10/29/09 at 5:15 PM sharp, Lincoln Park, I have put a route together that is about 5.5 miles. There will be a water stop at my house at mile 3. Route has wide roads and sidewalks mostly. Hope a lot can make it. See route here: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=332425

If anyone has a plan for Thursday night at Washington Park or any other location, send me the details.

A personal note: A HUGE thank you to all the Frost Toes who kicked in money for a new cooler. You really didn't need to do that. Now the challenge is going to be finding a replacement. The only coolers Sam's Club has are the ones big enough to hide a body in. LOL! Thanks, everyone.

Quarters and Cutting Back

Well, I was certainly stiff Wednesday morning after the quarters we ran Tuesday night. How did you feel?

This is our first cutback week; Saturday we will run a little more than six miles on the actual Frostbite Festival course. Click here to see a map of the route, and notice that we're starting from CMT again instead of FitClub.

We'll go west on Washington across Veteran's Parkway past Bradfordton Road all the way to the T intersection with Old Covered Bridge Lane. We turn around and come back on Washington to Koke Mill, which is just past the railroad viaduct. Turn right onto Koke Mill and then left onto Victoria Lane. Stay on Victoria as she curves to the right, then turn left onto Lawrence. We'll cross Veterans and then take a left onto Durkin Drive back to CMT.

Please note that Washington is essentially a narrow country road between Bradfordton and Old Covered Bridge. Keep an eye out for cars and pickup trucks. If you insist on wearing headphones, turn the volume down so you can hear if someone is yelling that a car or truck is on the way.

I'll set out water near the intersection of Washington and Bradfordton and hope that nobody steals it this time.

We might do some tailgatin' again if anyone is interested!

8 Miles? No Problem

So everybody did a great job on a hilly eight-mile course. At least you all appeared to--we didn't lose any runners.

I know that several people I talked to were just a bit worried about the distance and the hills. All that worry for nothing! You found out you could do it!

Sorry about the loss of one hydration stop. I had set out a cooler with water and Gatorade at the bottom between the North Grand hills, but it was apparently stolen before the first Frost Toe got there. When you consider that we all did an eight mile run with a single water stop, we did really well.

Next Saturday we cut back to six miles on the course. Remember when six miles was your running goal?

Also, we'll meet at the CMT parking lot instead of FitClub. The CMT thing is working out quite well.

Tailgate Time!

How about a little post-run tailgating tomorrow?

I'm bringing along a crock pot of beef vegetable soup for any and all to consume (my wife made the soup so there's no need to worry).

Feel free to bring your favorite snacks or foods to share. If everyone enjoys this, we could make it a weekly event.

Hills & Chills

Great group of Frost Toes came to Washington Park Tuesday evening to dodge a couple of rain drops and put in a little bit of hill training. Thanks, everyone!

Don't forget to run on Thursday. Run on your own or take advantage of Cassie Pollard's 5k in Lincoln Park at 5:15 pm. See the post below for details.

Saturday we've got 8 miles to cover and I've found some more hills for us to practice on. Here's a link to the route. We're basically heading to Chatham Road, then north to North Grand, then east to Monument Avenue to the entrance to Oak Ridge Cemetery and then back. We'll take Monroe on the way back to CMT.

Be aware that there's quite a bit of construction at the intersection of Washington and Chatham, so use the NORTH side of Washington street. And keep an eye on the weather so you dress appropriately. We'll get started at 7 am.

After all, it's NEVER too cold to run!

Thursday Night Group Run

Frost Toe Cassie Pollard is offering the following option for Thursday night:

I have a 5K planned at Lincoln Park, meet where we meet for Abe's at Pavillion, it will take a loop of park out to 5th north to Ridley, over to 8th, north on 8th to Fair Grounds entrance west on Sangamon, south back down 5th street, back into park past the water up short hill to Pavillion and finish at Nelson Parking lot, this should be about 3.08 - 3.1 miles.

If anyone is interested. There will be Cassie, Amanda, and Jim there around 5:15.