2010 Expectations!

Here is a brief year in review for 2009:

I managed to pull in 532 miles which was 200 short of my goal. It has been difficult to find time to run since welcoming Baby Aubri into the family in October!

In 2009 I ran the St. Cloud Earthday 20 mile run in preparation for the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon. I finished both races (one of which was with bronchitis which was stupid!) I completed my 2nd marathon in Green Bay using the John Bingham method which I decided was not for me. In September I ran my 4th consecutive Bear Water 10 mile run and achieved my time goal which was rewarding. Several weeks later I completed The Twin Cities 10 mile race for the 2nd year in a row and ended up with some intense leg pain. Aubri was born shortly after and I ended up taking the last few months off to adjust to life, healing, and being with my new family!

In 2010 I am setting some lofty goals. I am currently hoping to run several races including St. Cloud Earthday Half Marathon, Minneapolis Half Marathon, Twin Cities Red, White, and Blue Half Marathon, and Bear Water Run 10 mile. I am planning to take the year off from marathons and will register for my 3rd marathon when I drop 35 lbs. I am shooting for 1000 miles on my feet and 100 miles on the bike! Wish me luck!

Cellcom Green Bay Marathon

Well, marathon #2 is complete! The weather was in the low 50's and sunny! It could not have been better! The run started outside of Lambeau Field at 7:30 am. The first half of the course was through several neighborhoods in Green Bay. At the half way point the 4000 runners veered to the 13.1 finish and 1800 of us continued on to the 2nd half of the course. The 2nd half was along the Fox River. There was fairly decent crowd support throughout the whole marathon. The wall party at mile 20 was quite impressive with a giant inflatable wall and people that cheered several deep. I felt really good until mile 22 and all of a sudden locked up. The next 4 miles I was reduced to a hobble and a walk. The last half mile wrapped through Lambeau Field. Upon leaving Lambeau I noticed the finish line at the horizon and sprinted through the rest of the way. I finished with a time of 4:33:05. Although it was slower than I had hoped, I kept repeated the Pre mantra which held true, "I don't run to see who is the fastest, I run to see who has the most guts." Although I was no where near the fastest, I pushed myself beyond my perceived abilities which is what the marathon is all about!

Training so far!

First of all, I am training to raise money for charity while I train for the Green Bay Marathon! My goal is $250 and I am currently $30 short. Please go to http://www.firstgiving.com/danielverbout and donate a few bucks to help me get closer to my goal!

Training has been going fairly well. Long runs are up to 18 miles right now and they have been tough. I suspect this is because weight is up slightly and I have not had a medium distance run in the middle of my week. I am around 24 miles a week and am hoping to get up to 30 miles by the end of April. The only race on the calender is the St. Cloud Earth Day 20 miler in 3 weeks. So far so good!

Cellcom Green Bay Marathon

Six months ago I said I would never run another marathon again. Well, I signed up for the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon on May 17, 2009. I am currently working on my base mileage and hoping to get up to 20 miles a week before the training begins in February. Goal is to lose 15 lbs before the marathon so back to the diet I come!

2008 Year in Review

Looking back on 2008 brings fond memories. I accomplished several life goals such as buying a house and getting married in October. I ran my first run longer than 13.1 miles. In fact, I ran 26.2 miles at Grandma's Marathon. I completed several half marathons, a 30k race, and several 10 mile races. Running was not all good during the year however. I learned the ins and outs of IT band syndrome that kept my mileage below my 800 mileage goal. Overall it was a great year and I look forward to what 2009 may bring!