Carlos Jones at Howe Meadow

I met a bunch of people over at Howe Meadow tonight for the free Carlos Jones concert which was rescheduled from earlier this month. It was a perfect night out with cool temps. After, we went to the Winking Lizard for some drinks.

Frazee House to Viaduct Park

My brother, Greg Murray, and I met at the Frazee House this morning at 9:00 for a 16 mile run. Bob Drake also showed up, so it was nice meeting and running with him.

We took the Buckeye Trail 8 miles northeast to Bedford, past the Egbert Pavilion, and to Viaduct Park. At the viaduct, Bob, Brian and I crossed the stream and went through the tunnel. The water wasn't very high, but still moving quickly through the viaduct. Greg told us he would meet us on the otherside, but we couldn't find him and decided to head back thinking he might have already left.

The heat was starting to tire us out on the way back, so we did a mixture of walking and running. I had a good time out there and enjoyed seeing some new parts of the Buckeye Trail I've never run on.

Click here to view all the pictures from today's run.

It's Getting Hot In Here

Tonight Brian and I planned on meeting at Happy Days at 6:30 for a run. I got off work early today so I drove over to Pine Lane at 5 to get some extra miles in. I ran to the Boston Store then took the Towpath back to my car for 7 miles. It was 85 degrees outside and very humid. I was beat! I turned on the air condition in my car full blast and drank some Gatorade. It turned out to be a good idea not to take the Buckeye Trail back for 8 miles because I would've really cut it close to 6:30. I had 15 minutes to relax before heading down the road to Happy Days.

I then headed over to meet Brian. We ran 5 miles there which gave me 12 total for the day. I was exhausted afterwards, but happy to get the distance in on such a tough day.

Father's Day MCP Run

This morning I woke up at 7 and drove over to the Lily Pond at Mill Creek Park to go for a run with Taylor and Kyrsti Sowers at 8. I was still a little tired from my long run on Friday, so I didn't plan on doing too much today. We ended up running a loop to the steel bridge. It was nice to get the run done early and beat the heat. This run gave me 38 miles for the week so hopefully I can build on that next week.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

18 Miles

Today was a beautiful day so I decided to take a half day at work. I went over to my brother's pool to relax for the afternoon. After that around 3:30, I went for a run starting at Pine Lane. The plan was to go to Snowville Rd and back for 18 miles. Once I got to Boston Store, I ran with a couple guys my age from Medina and southern Texas. We ran to Blue Hen Falls then split from there.

At every stream crossing, I poured water over my head and soaked my bandanna. The heat was starting to wear on me, especially since I was stupid and didn't bring any water or fuel along.

It wasn't until I got back to Boston Store when I really started feeling pooped. My legs felt pretty tired and I could tell I was low on hydration and salt. I ran for a bit, but after tripping on a root and falling hard, I decided to walk the rest back.

I finally made it back to my car and was thrilled to be done. The first 14 miles were good training physically and the last 4 were good mentally. I would've rather not crashed, but it should help me later for Oil Creek if things get tough. Good lesson learned - Always bring fuel for a long trail run.

Keep Up

After work, I went for a run over at Firestone Metropark. I was half-thinking of running down Main St. into downtown Akron, about 4 miles, but I decided to leave that for another day since it was really humid out and the Metropark scenery would be much better.

I didn't have a set distance I wanted to do and definitely did not plan on pushing it. However, right when I crossed Main St and got into the park, this guy, probably in his lower 40s, was turning the corner about to head up the big hills at Firestone. I said hi to him and then realized he wasn't walking up the huge hill. So I decided to hang with him and have him push me along. He told me he had some arthritis in his feet, but he was moving pretty good. I ran and talked with him for a loop around the park (about 2 miles) and then split off to do the hills again.

Halfway through the second loop, I caught up to a younger runner who looked like he was in high school. I was feeling good and passed him, but heard his footsteps following behind. We ran for half a loop and pushed each other along. He was a senior at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary training for his final cross country season. He had big goals this year of dropping his PR by a couple minutes and getting into the 17s.

We finally split off and I headed back home. I was sweating like a pig and exhausted, but it felt great! It's amazing how much faster you can run when running with someone else.

Mill Creek Park

This morning I drove over to the Lily Pond parking lot at Mill Creek Park to go for a run. I started at 8:30 and decided to do an 8 mile YUT-C loop. Even though it was pretty humid out, it was great to be back on home ground. Click here for all the pictures from today's run.

The Moose is Loose

Right after work today, I quickly got changed and drove over to Pine Hallow parking lot. Joe Novicky (aka Moose) and my brother met at Happy Days at 4:45, so I planned on meeting up with them. We ran some on the Salt Run Trail then back to their cars for about 5.5 total (for me). Afterward, we stopped by the Winking Lizard in Peninsula for some brewskies and food.

Pine Lane Group Run

Tonight I met Shaun Pope, Bob Clark and my brother at Pine Lane for a run. I knew this would be a quick one with Shaun there. We had a good time on the trail tonight and finished 8 miles in about 1:26. Shaun and I sprinted the last section of Pine Lane back to our cars. It's amazing how easy a fast pace feels when you run with someone else who pushes it.

Afterward, Brian and I stopped by the Winking Lizard in Peninsula for a beer. We both got a Sierra Nevada Torpedo and sat outside on the deck.