2 mile races

Last week I kind of jogged the 2 mile race in 16:29. It had been a late night and I was not feeling so great, but once again it was a chance to run faster than I do during the week.
Today was a little different, though cold. I did not feel like I was running fast and in fact was quite comfortable, but my time was 15:36. Which I am happy with at this time of the year. This is now 89 days straight and in a few days will hit the 3 month mark.

World Trophy 50k Championships

I became friends with Amanda Stickel in February of this year and was lucky enough to see her run in the US Nationals 50k championships on a very cold day in March, in New York. She finished 3rd in New York, her first real ultra race. She has battled with an eating disorder and a lack of self confidence, but through all this she has continued to do the one thing she loves strongly and that is run.
This past weekend in Gibralter she ran in the IAU World Trophy 50k Championships, in conditions completely opposite to those in March. For a brief time she ran in second place, behind the leader and eventual winner of this race and the one in March, American team mate Kami Semick. She would eventually fade back into 5th place ( second American woman ), in a very respectable time of 3:52:38. Certainly showing the World that she belongs there. Congratulations Amanda! Job well done.

Ljubljana Marathon

After being sick the last 2 weeks with a cold and also a sore right calf, I had decided not to run the marathon. Nataliya, sister of Dima ( both of whome ran with me on the World Harmony Run in May)had come from the Ukraine to run and was in good shape. There were about 7 Africans who had been invited, plus a couple of Ukraine and Russian women. So the field was quite strong. Nataliya was in about 11th or 12th place as she came through the 1/2 marathon in 1:23 right on her target pace. When I saw her with about 3 km to go she was in 10th place, which is where she finished with a personal best time of 2:48. She was of course very happy!

Did not take gloves

I am back in Ljubljana after almost 3 weeks and the weather is much different than it was when I left. I went out for a run this morning with a full track suite and a warm hat. I noticed right away that I could see my breath and though bright and sunny it was quite fresh. After just a few minutes I realized that my hands were cold and I had not thought to bring gloves. My right calf is bothering me a little, which has been on and off for the last 2 weeks and I was still sore from playing football for an hour on Sunday. All in all I feel quite strong though.

50 Days

I arrived in Sarajevo, Bosnia this afternoon and it is quite warm here. I went out for a 20 minute run from the place where I am staying, to the famous Holiday Inn and back. It was a landmark run, in that it is the 50th straight day on my current running streak.

World Harmony Run

Tomorrow afternoon I will take a train to Belgrade with my friend Milan. We are going to join the World Harmony run. He will be with them for about 5 days, but I will be there for almost 2 weeks.In May I was on the run in Slovenia and Italy. This time I will be going to Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia and Bulgaria. You can check out the website worldharmonyrun.org and get some information on it and see daily reports. If I get a connection and the time I will post something during my trip.

Oh yeah! I signed up for the Ljubljana Marathon, it's on October 25th

15 minutes

The weekly 2 mile race in Ljubljana is on a 400 meter track. This morning the weather was overcast and quite mild. There were the usual 3 runners and believe it or not, this week I was 2nd. I was working herd to go under 15 minutes, but as I crossed the line the clock rolled over to 15 minutes. Of course this is an improvement and I am happy with it.