@seechrisrun

seechrisrun replied to your post: Just put my name in the lottery for the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon on November 18th

Wow. Might be hard to run back-to-back, but at least you don’t have to worry about time on the Monkey. Probably will be quite liberating.

I’m actually thinking (or hoping) that getting into this race is going to be a long shot. Otherwise it will be a crazy October and November with 3 marathons and 1 half marathon in a 6-week stretch. If I do get in, I’ll be pleased with anything under 4 hours. I’ve run at least 22-miles of the course in a training run before, and it is brutal.

Just put my name in the lottery for the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon on November 18th

If selected, it will mean I’m registered for two marathons on two successive weekends for the first time (Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon is the Saturday before). Also the Flying Monkey is one of the hardest marathons (non-trail) in the United States, and is located within our very own Percy Warner Park.

I have no idea what I’m thinking, but this has been on my bucket list for quite a while now. Hoping that Nathan will also decide to sign-up and be crazy with me (he’s also registered for Chickamauga). Last year the race sold out in 4-minutes, thus the lottery this year, so there’s always hope that I won’t be selected 🙂

The following is a description of the race from the event website:

A Tough Little Run in the Park

Ours has become an age of flat and fast marathons on city streets and in urban jungles, with more focus on times, course certification, gadgets, charities and putting on a big show than on running. Many modern marathons have become spectacles rather than athletic events. But it was not always this way. Marathons used to be about running for the sake of running. They were about pushing oneself beyond the physiologic limits of the human body. While running.

The Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon is meant to be an antidote. Featured in Marathon & Beyond and in Runners’ World magazines, it is a marathon that is about running. Running hard. Running over big and memorable and painful rolling hills through dense woods. Running with other like-minded athletes. The Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon is about the joy and pain of running a unique, and uniquely challenging—some would say beastly—26.2 mile course in the beautiful and historic Percy Warner Park, nestled among the Middle Tennessee Harpeth Hills.

We will time and measure the distance, but the course will not be certified and it will not be a Boston qualifying event. If you get to the end and you (or your gadget) believe the route to be long, we won’t charge you extra; if you believe it to be short, just keep running. There will be no bands, cheerleaders, wave starts or crowds. We promise no marathon Personal Records, but we guarantee every runner a PR – a Permanent Remembrance of a well-earned marathon finish. We promise to give you approximately 26.2 tough and memorable miles, with a total of over 3600 feet each of elevation gain and loss, or over 7200 feet of overall elevation change.

Sure, there are other road marathons out there claiming to be America’s toughest. But they are no Monkey. Come out and join us in Nashville. We look forward to seeing you.

Quest for Boston – Cowboy Running

This morning I got in the first run in my new Saucony Hattori LC shoes during a 40-minute easy effort through the streets of Bellevue and on the new section of the Harpeth River Greenway. As we were texting back and forth yesterday to organize the run, Nathan told Josh that he would have to make sure and be there to see my new shoes. Josh responded that he would also have some new running shoes called “Brown 4-Minute Milers.”

When Josh got out of his truck this morning, he was wearing cowboy boots (he did change back into running shoes). This led to Nathan saying that Josh would have to write a book about running in cowboy boots, and that it would be the next running sensation. After talking through all of the possible benefits of running in boots, I suggested that it should be called “Cowboy Running,” so be looking for it soon at a book retailer near you…

In all seriousness we had a very good 4.25-mile run this morning at a chill 9:22 average pace. Overall the new Hattori LC felt similar to the original Hattori, though it was weird to have to stop during mile 2 to retie my shoes. I’ll have a full review of the Hattori LC once I’ve gotten a few more runs under my belt.

Beast Mode….ON! Cowboy!

Quest for Boston – Shakin’ Things Out in NYC

After yesterday afternoon’s 9-miler, this morning’s 40-minute run was just a nice-and-easy shakeout effort. Since it was only about 12-hours between runs my legs felt a little stiff at the start, but progressively got better throughout.

Just like yesterday I started out on the Hudson River Park Greenway, but this time I headed south toward Battery Park. Once I passed the Staten Island Ferry I kept going north along the East River, under the Brooklyn Bridge, and finally turned around once I reached the Manhattan Bridge.

One thing about this morning was that the conditions felt very similar to being back in Nashville. The temperature was 72º at 6:00am with 90% humidity and a dew point of 70º. This made for a rather sticky effort. In total I finished 4.25-miles with an average pace of 9:26 per mile.

Beast Mode…ON!

2012 Olympic Track & Field Schedule: Short Distance & Hurdles

As a follow-up to my post on Tuesday with the schedule for the middle and long distance runs at the 2012 Olympics, the following is the schedule for the short distance runs and hurdles. All events should be available via live stream on NBCOlympics.com.

London Time (CDT)

Friday, August 3

  • 10:40 AM (4:40 AM) – Women’s 100 Meters Preliminary Round 
  • 11:15 AM (5:15 AM) – Men’s 400 Meters Hurdles Heats
  • 12:00 PM (6:00 AM) – Women’s 400 Meters Heats
  • 7:05 PM (1:05 PM) – Women’s 100 Meters Heats

Saturday, August 4

  • 10:00 AM (4:00 AM) – Men’s 100 Meters Preliminary Round 
  • 10:35 AM (4:35 AM) – Men’s 400 Meters Heats 
  • 12:30 PM (6:30 AM) – Men’s 100 Meters Heats 
  • 7:00 PM (1:00 PM) – Men’s 400 Meters Hurdles Semifinal 
  • 7:35 PM (1:35 PM) – Women’s 100 Meters Semifinal 
  • 8:05 PM (2:05 PM) – Women’s 400 Meters Semifinal 
  • 9:55 PM (3:55 PM) – Women’s 100 Meters Final

Sunday, August 5

  • 7:00 PM (1:00 PM) – Women’s 400 Meters Hurdles Heats 
  • 7:45 PM (1:45 PM) – Men’s 100 Meters Semifinal 
  • 8:40 PM (2:40 PM) – Men’s 400 Meters Semifinal 
  • 9:10 PM (3:10 PM) – Women’s 400 Meters Final 
  • 9:50 PM (3:50 PM) – Men’s 100 Meters Final

Monday, August 6

  • 10:05 AM (4:00 AM) – Women’s 100 Meters Hurdles Heats 
  • 7:20 PM (1:20 PM) – Women’s 200 Meters Heats 
  • 8:15 PM (2:15 PM) – Women’s 400 Meters Hurdles Semifinal 
  • 8:45 PM (2:45 PM) – Men’s 400 Meters Hurdles Final 
  • 9:30 PM (3:30 PM) – Men’s 400 Meters Final

Tuesday, August 7

  • 10:10 AM (4:10 AM) – Men’s 110 Meters Hurdles Heats 
  • 11:50 AM (5:50 AM) – Men’s 200 Meters Heats 
  • 7:15 PM (1:15 PM) – Women’s 100 Meters Hurdles Semifinal 
  • 8:25 PM (2:25 PM) – Women’s 200 Meters Semifinal 
  • 9:00 PM (3:00 PM) – Women’s 100 Meters Hurdles Final 

Wednesday, August 8

  • 7:15 PM (1:15 PM) – Men’s 110 Meters Hurdles Semifinal 
  • 8:10 PM (2:10 PM) – Men’s 200 Meters Semifinal 
  • 8:45 PM (2:45 PM) – Women’s 400 Meters Hurdles Final 
  • 9:00 PM (3:00 PM) – Women’s 200 Meters Final 
  • 9:15 PM (3:15 PM) – Men’s 110 Meters Hurdles Final

Thursday, August 9

  • 11:35 AM (5:35 AM) – Men’s 4×400 Meters Relay Heats 
  • 8:20 PM (2:20 PM) – Women’s 4×100 Meters Relay Heats 
  • 8:55 PM (2:55 PM) – Men’s 200 Meters Final 

Friday, August 10

  • 7:10 PM (1:10 PM) – Women’s 4×400 Meters Relay Heats 
  • 7:45 PM (1:45 PM) – Men’s 4×100 Meters Relay Heats 
  • 8:40 PM (2:40 PM) – Women’s 4×100 Meters Relay Final 
  • 9:20 PM (3:20 PM) – Men’s 4×400 Meters Relay Final

Saturday, August 11

  • 8:25 PM (2:25 PM) – Women’s 4×400 Meters Relay Final 
  • 9:00 PM (3:00 PM) – Men’s 4×100 Meters Relay Final

Quest for Boston – Unleashing Beast Mode in NYC

I flew out for NYC at 6:00am this morning, so my scheduled run had to come later this afternoon. When I originally found out I needed to be in New York today and tomorrow, I really didn’t think I’d have much time to run at all. I told John last week that I might be able to squeeze in runs Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning.

To accommodate my travel, John moved some things around a bit and only had me down to do 40-minute easy runs today and tomorrow and a 70 minute easy run for Friday after I get back. However, by mid-afternoon today I knew my meetings were going to finish early, so I texted John about doing the 70-minute run today and moving the 40-minute to Friday. He gave me the ok, so I got ready and headed down to the Hudson River Park Greenway around 4:30pm.

It was nice to have milder weather than I’m used to in Nashville. The temps were around 73º with overcast skies and a light rain. The humidity was really high, but it still felt better than Tennessee. I started the run just above Battery Park at the south end of Manhattan and headed north on the greenway. From the first step I felt really, really good. My first two miles were both 8:10 splits, and then every one after that was under 8:00…

This was one of those days where I felt like I could run forever. I got into a rhythm quickly, and just continued to feel better and better throughout. After spending so much time running in parks and residential areas this year, it was a nice change of pace to have a good urban run in my second favorite city. I’ve never run on this greenway before, but it was really nice (aside from the occasional NYC pungent smell).

I made it as far north as West 48th Street before turning around and heading back south to the financial district. The really neat thing about the return trip was getting to see the rising One World Trade Center tower for almost the entire way. Very inspiring.

I ended the run staring across the harbor at the Statue of Liberty in all her glory. In total I finished just barely under 9-miles in 70 minutes at an average pace of 7:50 per mile. I’m really excited about how good I’ve felt this week, and that is a BIG confidence boost.

Beast Mode…ON!

2012 Olympic Track & Field Schedule: Middle & Long Distance

I’m totally getting geeked up for the 2012 Olympic Track and Field events on Friday. Here’s the schedule for the middle and long distance runs. All events should be available via live stream on NBCOlympics.com.

London Time (CDT)

Friday, August 3

  • 1:00 PM (7:00 AM) — Men’s 3,000m Steeplechase, First Round
  • 8:05 PM (2:05 PM) — Men’s 1,500m, First Round
  • 9:25 PM (3:25 PM) — Women’s 10,000m, Final

Saturday, August 4

  • 11:35 AM (5:35 AM) — Women’s 3,000m Steeplechase, First Round
  • 5:00 PM (11:00 AM) — Men’s 20K Race Walk, Final
  • 9:15 PM (3:15 PM) — Men’s 10,000m, Final

Sunday, August 5

  • 11:00 AM (5:00 AM) — Women’s Marathon, Final
  • 8:15 PM (2:15 PM) — Men’s 1,500m, Semifinal
  • 9:25 PM (3:25 PM) — Men’s 3,000m Steeplechase, Final

Monday, August 6

  • 10:50 AM (4:50 AM) — Men’s 800m, First Round
  • 11:45 AM (5:45 AM) — Women’s 1,500m, First Round
  • 9:05 PM (3:05 PM) — Women’s 3,000m Steeplechase, Final

Tuesday, August 7

  • 10:55 AM (4:55 AM) — Women’s 5,000m, First Round
  • 7:55 PM (1:55 PM) — Men’s 800m, Semifinal
  • 9:15 PM (3:15 PM) — Men’s 1,500m, Final

Wednesday, August 8

  • 10:45 AM (4:45 AM) — Men’s 5,000m, First Round
  • 11:35 AM (5:35 AM) — Women’s 800m, First Round
  • 7:45 PM (1:45 PM) — Women’s 1,500m, Semifinal

Thursday, August 9

  • 7:30 PM (1:30 PM) — Women’s 800m, Semifinal
  • 8:00 PM (2:00 PM) — Men’s 800m, Final

Friday, August 10

  • 8:05 PM (2:05 PM) — Women’s 5,000m, FInal
  • 8:55 PM (2:55 PM) — Women’s 1,500m, Final

Saturday, August 11

  • 9:00 AM (3:00 AM) — Men’s 50K Race Walk, Final
  • 5:00 PM (11:00 AM) — Women’s 20K Race Walk, Final
  • 7:30 PM (1:30 PM) — Men’s 5,000m, Final
  • 8:00 PM (3:00 PM) — Women’s 800m, Final

Sunday, August 12

  • 11:00 AM (5:00 AM) — Men’s Marathon, Final

Quest for Boston – 220 Miles Baby….Yeah!

After our tempo workout yesterday, Nathan and I met at the start of Old Natchez Trace this morning for a scheduled 70-minute easy paced run. The temperature break we got yesterday was gone today and the humidity was through the roof with a dew point of 74º. This made it quite a bit harder to breath, especially in the early minutes of the run.

We ended up running the entire length of Old Natchez out-and-back, on what turned out to be a steady progression effort. Every mile split was faster than the previous except for one…

At the start of the route my legs felt a little heavy from the workout yesterday morning and doing P90X Legs and Back with Olivia last night. However, this faded pretty quickly and left me feeling really good. Because of this our pace kept getting faster and faster, and we finished with a 7:06 final mile.

In total we finished 8.45-miles in 70 minutes with an average pace of 8:18 per mile. Also for the month I completed 221-miles, which is my best mileage month ever by almost 9-miles. This makes 4 out of the 7 months in 2012 with at least 200-miles. Before 2012, I had only eclipsed 200 miles one time. Yeah Baby!

With this run I’ve now completed exactly 1,400-miles for the year, which is 503-miles ahead of where I was on the same date last year.

Beast Mode…ON! Baby!

P.S. – Nathan just finished 170-miles for July, which is his biggest month by approximately 35-Miles. Glad to have someone to share all those miles with me. Nice work my friend!

Reverence for the Presence of God (Ecclesiastes 5:1-7)

 

“Reverence for the Presence of God” (Ecclesiastes 5:1-7) – Audio recording of my Sunday evening sermon at Maple Hill Church of Christ in Lebanon, TN on July 8, 2012.

Looking at the seriousness of approaching God, and how we will do it if we truly have the proper reverence for Him.

Copy of the Handout referenced in the sermon

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 (ESV)

1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. 2 Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. 3 For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words.

4 When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? 7 For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear.

A Blessing in Disguise (Questioned by the FBI)

A few weeks ago my wife’s car was hit in the parking lot at Publix supermarket, and since last Tuesday it has been in the body shop getting repairs. Well, in somewhat related news, just a few minutes ago I was questioned by an FBI Task Force officer who came to our house investigating a robbery in southern Kentucky this morning.

Apparently the robber drove a car that was the exact same make, model, and color as my wife’s car. Also they were able to get the last two characters from the license plate, and they matched her car as well. While the accident seemed like such a hassle at the time, it was pretty nice to be able to tell the officer that the car had been in the shop since last Tuesday and give him the information on how to confirm it.

While the officer was very nice, I’ve never been questioned by the FBI before (and hope I never am again), and I’ll have to say it was quite unnerving. Even now I still feel a bit unsettled by the whole thing.

Quest for Boston – I’m BAAAAAAAAACK!

♫ I’m BAAAAAAAAACK! I’m Back in the Saddle Again! ♫

When I got today’s tempo workout from John last night, I knew he was setting me up for success, and figured I would feel better than I did during my tempo workout last Monday. However, I had no idea I would feel FANTASTIC! Last week was tough with an abysmal workout on Monday and a crash and burn during my long run on Saturday. All of that left me feeling a bit nervous for the effort this morning.

Here’s what was on the schedule…

  • 30-minutes easy pace
  • 6 x 4 min at 6:50 to 7:00 pace with 90 second active recovery
  • 30-minutes easy pace

In addition to this being a shorter and slower workout than last week, we also got a little break in the temperatures this morning. All of this added up to getting a little bit of my confidence back.

Nathan and I again met at the Edwin Warner Park Nature Center, and completed our first 30 minutes at a very chill 8:46 pace. We started the tempo repeats on the Harpeth River Greenway, and I felt like myself again. With every interval the biggest thing I had to fight was going too fast. Honestly, this was a battle that I lost on all but two of the six repeats (just barely). My legs and energy felt great from the first interval to the last. Also, since this is my schedule and not Nathan’s, he is not restricted to running my pace, and frequently put a little distance on me during the repeats. As I’ve said before, he is running stronger right now than I’ve ever seen him run.

Once we finished the intervals, my legs still had a bit of jump in them, and it was hard to get geared down during the final 30 minutes. Because of that we ended up with a 7:50 pace for the last segment, but this felt extremely comfortable.

In total we ran just over 93 minutes and completed 11.83-miles at an average pace of 7:54 per mile. Glad to be back in saddle again!

Beast Mode…ON!

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