The Running Mike

Paleo / Primal Coach, Runner, and Triathlete

Archive for the category “Status Updates”

16 Jan 2013

My Half Marathon Bucket List

Soooo many races, so little time!  I’m doing mostly local halfs this year (plus a couple adventure races, and a couple utras) but the half will always have a special place in my heart.

Here are some on my half marathon bucket list:

  • Rock N Roll Las Vegas – Run the strip at night?  Where do I sign up?
  • Rock N Roll Seattle – I lived in Seattle when I was less than athletic…would be cool to see a different side of the city by running it!
  • Disney – In a couple years my nephews will be old enough to enjoy an amazing few days at Disney and I might be able to sneak in a “goofy run” (Half on Day 1, Full on Day 2)
  • Canyonlands Half Marathon - the entire area around Moab, Utah is amazing – just to get a chance to run in Canyonlands would be a great check for the bucket list.
  • Race to Robie Creek – This race in Boise, Idaho is close enough to where some of my family could come watch…plus, I like that it’s tough as nails with 8.5 miles of climbing and a temptation station around mile 12 with cigars, Twinkies, and 25 kegs of beer waiting at the finish.
  • Mayor’s Half Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska – I’ve never been to Alaska, but I understand June is a great time to be there…and I’d probably run faster if a moose was chasing me.
  • Semi Marathon Int’l de Paris – Even if I never get to say it, I might have the chance to say “Would you like some cheese with your wine?” during the race.
  • Fiji Bula Half Marathon – yep. Fiji. I believe every water stop has fresh mango available.
  • Great Ocean Road Half Marathon – the name says it all…except that it’s in Victoria, Australia – I’m sure the great ocean view would stay with you forever.  plus with the number of JRR Tolkien movies getting made in Australia
  • GöteborgsVarvet Half Marathon – I’ve never been to Sweden, but I’ve been to Ikea and one thing is clear: the meatballs are delicious.  This is also the largest half in the world.  Over 44,000 finishers in 2012 and they are increasing the registration limits to 62,000 runners in 2013!  If you can be part of a record breaking event, do it!!!

So that’s 10 from my list.  Did I miss any?  What are your must do events?

Posted by The Running Mike in Status Updates, Training | Leave a Comment
02 Jan 2013

The start of an Amazing Year

Can you feel it?

This year is going to be incredible!!!!

I am pretty excited about the possibilities of the new year.  Two big things:

1. I am going to continue to offer free half marathon coaching and training plans for as long as I can.  I can’t promise I’ll be able to do this all year, but will as long as time and money allow. :)

2. I know this is from a relatively recent post, but I like to start the year with a schedule of planned races.  Pretty excited about these – looks like a very fun year! Here is what I have coming up:

  • Jan 5 Beyond: Run Saguaro West 5 miler
  • ? Jan 27 Sunrise at Old Tucson – 4 mile trail run
  • Feb 9 – Spartan Sprint (5k mud run)
  • Feb 24 – Phoenix Tough Mudder (12.5 miles)
  • ? March 2 – Marana 10k
  • March 24 – Arizona Distance Classic Half Marathon
  • April 13 Sabino Canyon – 7.4 miles
  • ? May 5 – Cinco De Mayo 10k
  • June 1? Meet Me Downtown 5k (Gabe Zimmerman Triple Cross)
  • ? Jun 2 PVT 17 mile trail run
  • ? June 9 Teton Dam Full Marathon
  • September 2? Saguaro 8 miler (Gabe Zimmerman Triple Cross)
  • September 21 Javelina Jangover 50k
  • ? Oct 7 PVT Trail run
  • Oct (Date TBD) Get Moving Half Marathon (Gabe Zimmerman Triple Cross)
  • ? Nov 11 PVT 21 mile trail run
  • ? Dec 9 Holualoa Full Marathon
  • Dec 31 – Across the Years 24 hour race (50 mile goal)
Posted by The Running Mike in Status Updates, Training and tagged | Leave a Comment
24 Dec 2012

Happy Holidays!!!!

Happy Holidays!

christmas-costume-5k-run-by-The-US-Army

I just wanted to wish everyone a most excellent winter running season…..er… or a Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Kwanza/Festivus or at the very least a nice, warm day to run!

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20 Dec 2012

December and the new keyboard

51soq5woZ8L__SL500_AA300_I can’t believe how fast this month has been going! I’m way behind on blogging, holiday shopping, and even running.  My mileage is hovering around 20 miles per week for the last few weeks and should really be closer to 30.  On the plus side, I’ve had some great trail runs that have been incredible (and thankful for the milder Arizona weather that lets me be outside this time of year).

This is still a very exciting month…avoiding the end of the world, the Christmas/Hanukkah holiday, and New Year’s which is a great time to reflect on the past year and the possibilities of the next.

As for me, I’ll take a minute to explain the “new keyboard” – a self improvement project just for me.  As many of you know, old typewriters didn’t want you typing too quickly (the key arms would tangle up) and they wanted salesmen to be able to easily type the word “typewriter” on a single line.  Hence today we have QWERTY (first 6 letters on the top row) keyboards on 99.99% of computers worldwide.   The 0.01% use Colemak or dvorak keyboard layouts.

I type quickly…but decided to make the jump so I could potentially type at ludicrous speed.

I chose Colemak since many of the keys are the same and it’s easy to install the layout via a software download.  $2 in keyboard stickers later, I’m partially hunting and pecking my way through every email, blog post and newsletter.  If you’re curious, it’s a major change for me, but am making good progress.

That being said, I hope things are going well and that everyone is ready for the holidays.  Have a great weekend and get out there and run!

Coach Mike

 

Colemak_vs_qwerty

 

 

Posted by The Running Mike in Status Updates and tagged | Leave a Comment
28 Nov 2012

Mike’s Running Schedule 2013

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

It’s been a crazy couple months, but I’ve already been putting a lot of thought into this next season. I know it’s a bit early for me to do this, but it means I’m excited about what’s coming up! It will be a challenging year, but I’m already looking forward to it! Some items are tentative, but will confirm those when I can register. They are:

  • Dec 16, 2012 – Winterhaven 5k
  • Jan 5 Beyond: Run Saguaro West 5 miler
  • ? Jan 27 Sunrise at Old Tucson – 4 mile trail run
  • Feb 9 – Spartan Sprint (5k mud run)
  • Feb 24 – Phoenix Tough Mudder (12.5 miles)
  • ? March 2 – Marana 10k
  • March 24 – Arizona Distance Classic Half Marathon
  • April 13 Sabino Canyon – 7.4 miles
  • ? May 5 – Cinco De Mayo 10k
  • June 1? Meet Me Downtown 5k (Gabe Zimmerman Triple Cross)
  • ? Jun 2 PVT 17 mile trail run
  • ? June 9 Teton Dam Full Marathon
  • September 2? Saguaro 8 miler (Gabe Zimmerman Triple Cross)
  • September 21 Javelina Jangover 50k
  • ? Oct 7 PVT Trail run
  • Oct (Date TBD) Get Moving Half Marathon (Gabe Zimmerman Triple Cross)
  • ? Nov 11 PVT 21 mile trail run
  • ? Dec 9 Holualoa Full Marathon
  • Dec 31 – Across the Years 24 hour race (50 mile goal)

What’s missing? There are a few trail runs I’m going to do and there are still quite a few question marks on the list…but I’ll make it happen! You may also notice that I don’t have any triathlons on this list.  I will likely do a  couple shorter distance triathlons here and there this season.

As things firm up more, I’ll update the list!

Coach Mike
Offering FREE Half Marathon Coaching and Training Plans
http://www.stuffmyrunnerloves.com   

Posted by The Running Mike in Status Updates, ultrarunning and tagged , , , | Leave a Comment

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