Shillelagh 4 Mile Race

Start of the Race...



I decided to run the Shillelagh 4 mile race in flushing, I did It a couple years ago where I I got 2nd place in 21:20. This year I thought I might be able to run 22:00 If I was feeling good and if it wasn't to cold/windy.

I had to work the night before the race so I wasn't sure how I was going to feel with only a couple hours sleep. I got up and was really tired, luckily I didn't fall right back to sleep after my alarm went off. I picked up my buddy scott, and I wasn't feeling all that good. We got there, I warmed up 3 miles and my legs didn't feel real bad but I knew there was some competition there so I wasn't even thinking about winning it. I got to the starting line and saw there was more competition there then I had thought there would be. Now I was thinking "great I might get 3rd or 4th place if I'm lucky."

The race started and I decided I was just going to go with the leaders for however long I could and just try to finish from there. We hit the mile in 5:03 and I wasn't feeling real bad but I knew I couldn't keep that up so I decided to let them go and I sat back 5 or so seconds. The second mile I hit in 5:18 and they were coming back alittle so I decided to try to get back up to them, I caught the second place guy around 2.5 miles and the other guy was 5-10 sec up then. I hit the 3rd mile in 5:13 but the whole last mile was into the wind, which was very gusty and knocked me back a couple times. I kept that distance on the leader till the last 1/2 mile where I was staring to get closer but he still beat me by 6 sec. I finished the 4th mile in 5:33 and 21:09 offical time. The winner won it in 21:03... I P.Red and was happy even tho I didn't win, I wanted to see what kind of shape I was in and I'm in better shape then I had thought.

Cool down with Jerome who got 3rd place for 4 miles .... My next race will be about a month from now in April at the Memorial Steps for Courage 5k ....just a little race but it was fun last year.

Finishing...

Starving for a Race...

Well I need to start updating this more...

I've been super tired the last few months now that I've been working more at Krogers. I'm all alone now on 3rd shift so I've been really busy every night plus I've been puting in on average 65-70 miles a month. Doesn't really sound like a lot of miles but the past few years I've average around 55-60 miles. I haven't put any speed work in yet except a few tempo/steady state runs when I feel good but nothing really to write about. It's getting harder and harder to get out and train, myself and my buddy are going back to Flushing in a few weeks to run the 4 mile shillelagh run in on March 10. I ran it a few years back and got second place by less then a second. I feel like I'm in great shape right now and can't wait to see what kind of time I can get!!!

I'm getting excited for High School Track season to start up in a few weeks... The winter hasn't really been the winter this year, its been more like fall... It's felt like track season ever sence XC season was over.

-I also just found out we have been invited to the Greater Lansing XC Race which only took 4 years. I'm just glad we are able to run in it. I feel like this will help are kids get more competition and push to be like the elite teams in are league. Each year we are getting closer and closer and with the girls getting back to the state meet, I feel the guys will be there with the girls next year and Owosso will be talked about how fast they are instead of how slow they are.

Run Happy Every one!!!

Winter Has Arrived in Michigan!!!

Quick little update on my training from the past few days... Last week I finally got back up to 75 miles. This week I plan on going down to 70 for a "recovery week" then back up to 80 miles next week. I decided to do a few extra things to help stay healthy with the increase in miles. Doing push-ups daily and some kind of core work and using my foam roller when I start to feel extra sore or more tired then normal. I feel like all this is helping me with my running form, now that we have snow and ice we have to deal with.
Congrats to all the Olmpic Marathon Qualifier from this past weekends race!!! Hall,Meb, Abdi and Flanagan,goucher and davila

“The unspoken and shared understanding of what it means to be a runner can be seen in the kinship between runners. When 40,000 people line up to run the Chicago Marathon, or when 130 line up at a high school cross-country race, they can look each other in the eye with a certain respect, awareness, and comprehension that is prohibitively elusive for the non-runner. Before, during, and after the race, the fellowship between runners is tangible and real. The brotherhood and sisterhood of the running community can be felt in the air as they inhale a collective like-mindedness. To be a runner in the midst of other runners just before the start of a race is a mystical experience that can no more be captured in words than can the color blue.”

Jan 6th 2012 and it's over 50 degrees!!!

I decided I'm going to start writing in this again. I don't remember what I wrote about the last time I updated this. I'll use this as a update about my running the past few months.
I haven't really raced much after the Crim 10 miler. I ran with the Playmakers B Racing team at the Detroit Marathon Relay which was a lot of fun. We had 2 teams in the Open Division which we took 1st and 2nd place, we had a team in the girls race which they won, and we had a team in the Co-Ed Division and they also won. The team I was on took 2nd in the Open Division, I ran the longest leg 6.7 miles or some weird distance. I had no Idea how fast I was going, I just wanted it to be over and keep my place for the team. Overall I was happy with the race, my legs kinda cramped up the last mile but I averaged around 5:10-5:15 pace. With getting 2nd place are team won 500 dollars so each of us got 100 dollars. I guess I'm not a recreational runner any more and now I can be consided a Pro or sub pro runner.
After that race I got sick so I took a couple down weeks and now finally getting my mileage back up to 70 this week. I'm feeling great with long runs again and getting some longer tempo/fartleks and legs are healthy. I had a lot of problems in college with my legs and injuries so I'm going to keep increasing my mileage but taking it easy and not pushing myself to much.
-I hope I keep updating this and I'm thinking about running a marathon so if anyone has any that they think should be my first please let me know.

2011 Track and Field State Meet

Regionals we qualified 3 runners for the state meet. First we had a Freshman 100m runner Mackenzie Jones in 12.80 seconds. Then Soph. Claire Gilbert won the 1600 in a sprint finish 5:10 which is are school record. Claire sister, senior Chloe Gilbert won easily in a new school record 11:31.

The State meet myself and the Head coach got there early for the prelims where Mackenzie was in the 2nd heat 7th lane. She got out well and ran alittle faster then what she usually runs in prelims, however this time her time didn't qualify her for semi. She didn't get out of prelims but only being a freshman it's good experience to be around that kind of atmosphere and next year with alittle bit more strength training she should be back and go after it alittle more.
Next was the 1600, we found a shade place to get out of the heat/sun. It was over 80 degrees now and the track even hotter, you could see it was starting to take a toll on all the runners. Claire got out alittle fast 1:11 and she was still with the top 5 on the second lap, the third you could see the first lap plus some alergies where starting to bother her, the forth lap she came back alittle bit and finish 7th with 5:15. It wasn't what we wanted but it still All-State and her second best time ever. She came back alittle later and tryed to double in the 800 which probably wasn't the best idea, She was at 1:09 first lap but could tell she wasn't in it at all after the 1600. Finish way back in 2:28 but I was very proud of the way she ran the whole year.
- The 3200 was crazy hot, the track was over 105 the officals were saying, so they allowed the coaches to splash their runner if they wanted and the track also had a hose that was misting the runners. Chloe got out great and was with in the top 6 the whole race, her mile split was 5:33 which before the season would have been a P.R itself. Each lap was looking good and was in close to second place but with the heat she started to slow the last couple of laps and just didn't have anything on the final 2 laps and finish in 6th place. This is her first All -State honor in Track but 4th counting Cross Country which puts her as the best runner ever at Owosso High School. Only running 2 full years after switching from soccer and finishing with a school record is a great accomplishment and I am glad I got to coach her for 3 years!!! She is heading to U of M running for the Wolverines!!!

Runyan Relays

Jon Runyan Classic is named after a former football player who went to high school at Carman-Ainsworth then went on to star at the University of Michigan and continue on in the NFL.

This meet is a fast, fun, relay style and something alittle different for the High schoolers. It started off sunny with a little wind, then it started to rain and wind, then 5 min later sunny, then rain again, it seemed like the first 45 min it continued to switch back and forth. Finally it stayed Sunny but got pretty windy in the middle of the meet which slowed down the times. Overall this is more of a sprinters meet but its good for the distance guys to get some speed in also. Overall Owosso Boy's got 2nd overall in the Small Schools which included Flint Hamady, Lake Fenton, Owosso, Flint Powers, Flint South-Academy, St.Clair and Flint Northwestern. The girls got 3rd overall with lots of new P.Rs. It was a fun meet and turned out to be nice day overall.

I also got to run at this meet, In the middle of the meet they have a race for who ever wants to run. The race is called "Worlds Fastest Meet" which in total is a mile long. There are 4 races total tho, You run a 200 as fast as you can and if you win you get a medal. Then you run to the 400 mark and if you win you get a medal. Next you run another lap for 800 meters and if you win you get a medal, finally you run 2 more laps to make it a mile and if you win you get a medal. The Girls team first asked me run this the day before hand and I said I would. The race starts and it was pretty wind and the first 25 meters 4 guys almost fall trying to win the first 200. I just stayed in 8th place because I knew I wouldn't win that part. I came through in 30.5 sec and 6 guys stopped but I was now 10 meters back so I tried to get closer. Got to the 400 and I was pretty tired now from the first 200 (latic acid) and now I'm going into the wind. I'm now right behind the leader and we get to the 800 and I don't even try to win the 800 thinking the guy in front would stop but nope...he kept going and I'm thinking I'm dead and I don't know if I can continue this pace. I use the wind on the last lap try to pass the guy but he won't let me so I decide to slow down and wait till the last 100 but the wind is horrible. I then decide give it one last shot so I put my head down and dig the last 80 meters and the guy is coming back so I pump my arms and I lean at the line. I win the race and in 4:52 haha, It felt like I had run 4:30 mile but overall it was a fun race. I also got my picture taken by Mlive.com with my brooks Id jersey on and I think the Owosso track team thought it was fun to cheer on one of the coaches instead of the coaches cheering for them.... Run Happy !!!

Here's the video of the race... http://videos.mlive.com/flintjournal/2011/05/great_finish_to_worlds_fastest.html##

Steps for Courage 5k/High School Track

Steps for Courage is alittle local 5k that has around 100-200 runners/walkers that helps the local hospitals cancer center in Owosso, Michigan.

I haven't raced at all this year and I was sick of just training every day and not racing... so, I wanted to see what kind of shape I was in. The last few weeks of training hasn't been the best, ever sense I rolled my ankle and got sick. I haven't been able to get long runs in and only a few tempo runs, no speed workouts.
So today I decided to get the Brooks Jersey out with the Brooks half tights and the Brooks racing flats, sense it was pretty nice out although it was pretty windy at 15-20 mph SW so I knew unless someone showed up to help push the pace I wasn't going to go under 16 min. I got out in the race pretty slow at 5:16 (I wanted to get out at least 5:10) but it was dead into the wind. I was already alone with next guy 50 meters behind me, so then I got to the 2nd mile and hit that at 5:16 (10:32 -2mile) and the guy behind me was still 50 meters or so. The course goes through a little sub-division after the 2 mile and we turn and head back to the start/finish line with the wind at are back. I wanted to try to get under 16 min still so I thought I was picking it up but I hit the 3 mile at 5:10 (15:42) and finished at 16:14. I won by 30-40 seconds and I felt like I had just ran a tempo run. I think I need to start getting in tempo run with my long runs to help with fighting through the latic pain you feel in the middle to tale end of the race. I know I slowed down/settled on the 3rd mile when I should have been pushing through the lactic pain on the last hill.

Overall I wasn't happy with the time but I won and I came out feeling like it was easy and I learned what I need to work on in the next few week. Hopefully the weather will allow me to get in good training runs without all the wind, rain and snow.

OWOSSO HIGH SCHOOL TRACK SEASON RECAP SO FAR:
-Overall the distance team has been doing pretty good with improving each meet. We started out at CMU with a win in the girls 3200 and should have had a win in the 1 mile but somehow are top girl was put into the slower heat and the first heat girl ran 2 sec faster.
-MSU was the next meet where we got some good runs in the 3200 with 12:00 and 12:16 then are girls miler ran well with some good runners from the lansing area.
-Jackson NW. Both boy's and girls won this meet...pretty windy and chilly out
-Corunna Relay: Girls got 4th place best placing in a few years.
-Mason/lakeville- Boys and girls went (1-1 )losing to mason which is the top team in the CAAC Red division, The Mason boys has 3 in the 3200 sub 10:00... Highlights for Owosso was we had 2 boys go sub 5 min in the mile (4;47 and 4:57 -first time going sub 5min) and another that was 5:03.
*School Record in the girls mile with a 5:25...4 sec faster then the previous record of 5:29
then she came back and ran a 2:29 (800) and a 1:03 in the 4x4 relay*
Next week we have a double duel vs. Lumen Christi/Lansing Waverly then friday we have a fun Invite we look to win at Webberville...

Update: Track and running

So far my first year coaching distance with Owosso High School Track team has gone great. The distance runners have been giving me 100% every practice and after the first two meets everyone has improved or stayed pretty much the same. As a coach all I can ask for is everyone giving me their best, and so far it has been paying off already. I don't have to many girl distance runners but what I have is pretty good. I've had two individual wins and another one that should have been a win if she would have been placed in the right heat. I won't have to many at practice this next week due to Spring Break which sucks because the Tuesday we come back we have are first CAAC meet vs. Jackson Northwest. One of my top runners won't get back till wednesday so I hope the rest of the team is ready after spring break!!! My running has been up and down the last 3 weeks.... I was going really well building up my mileage for over 12 week then we got a bunch of snow and I sprain my ankle (rolling it on a piece of ice). Then the past week I was doing well again, building up my mileage back to 70 miles and I get sick/allergies and was forced to stay home and not run the Martian elite 10k. I was forced to back down again and only get 40 miles which sucks. Now I'm starting to feel back to normal and got a 10 miler in under 6 min pace. I hope this week goes well and get in 70-75 miles. Then the week after possibly find a good road race to test my fitness. Run Happy !!!!

Update Time

On my last post, I said I was going to run this Shillelagh 4 miler over in flushing like I did the year before...Well the Sunday before I rolled my ankle pretty bad during my run. The pain went away a few minutes after I rolled it so I finished the run and then monday I wasn't to sore just alittle bit but I wasn't to worried about it. Tuesday's run was a different story tho, my left lateral side of my foot was so sore I though I might have broke a bone. I could barely put any pressure so I decided to rest the rest of the week and hopefullly it would be better by Monday. So each day I pretty much did nothing but sat around and iced my foot. This past Monday (First day of High School Track practice) I decided I would test out my foot. It was still sore but a I would say around 90 %, so I warmed up a mile before the practice to see. I felt like I hadn't ran in months but, my foot felt pretty good running. I then ran some 800 meter repeats with the guys and called it good. Yesterday (Tuesday) I warmed up 2 miles to see if it felt any better and then did 4.5 miles nice and easy with the guys at practice. Today I wanted to see if I had lost any conditioning plus it was amazing out (50 degrees and sunny), so I warmed up a mile on the track and went right into my 4 mile tempo run. I started out pretty easy 5:20 pace then I had the wind at my back and I wanted to see what I had so I push the last 3 miles and I got done and looked at my watch and I saw (20:05). I've mapped this loop so I know its legit 4 miles, I am surprise I did it that fast and my foot felt pretty good for the most part... NEW PERSONAL RECORD... I just need to get my mileage back up to where it was before I hurt my foot. Hopefully I can get it back going tomorrow and I didn't over do it today...Crossing my fingers!!!

Run Happy!!!

2010 -2011

I want to start this off with GO BLUE!!! I just got done watching a great basketball game, Michigan vs. Michigan State. Usually Michigan state destroys Michigan in basketball but this year Michigan took the series 2-0.

One week till I start my 2011 season off for road races. I've got a few races in the next month with the Shillelagh 4 miler next Saturday and then a Elite race down by Ann Arbor "Martian 10k " the first week of April. I was looking back in my running log from last year and comparing paces and workouts to this year. Workouts have been about the same with a lot of fartleks and tempo at 5:45-550 pace and my average run is down to 6:10-6:15 pace. Compared to last year I was around 6 min pace for fartlek/tempos and my average run was 6:25-6:30. I feel like my runs have been easier at that faster pace compared to last year. The only big difference is the weekly total where I was training for half marathon and I was up to 80 miles last year but this year I have been at 70-75 miles. My long runs are the same as last year but 10 sec /mile faster and feels a lot easier. Next week I'll back it down a little bit for the race in flushing and I'm going to go for a big P. R. which would be 21:20.

Run Happy !!!

M.I.T.C.A. Track and Field Coach's Clinic

It's been a few days sense I've updated on what going on. I've been keepin busy with running, snowmobiling, Coach's clinic. Last week was my 10th week at 70 or more miles which is the most/longest I've done ever and I feel pretty good. The only thing is my average pace is to fast, atleast I think it is....6:10 pace average and when I try to slow it down for easy days, it feels like I'm going about 8 min pace but I guess its a good problem as long as I can stay healthy (knock on wood). My Long runs are starting to get up to 14 miles and I starting to feel pretty good the whole way. I've also been running with one of my XC/track girl runner 3 times a week for a slower second run trying to get her base up for track. Today we did a 4 miler at steady state pace (6:34 pace) which is good for having 30+ winds.
Last Friday all the track coaches went down to Lansing for MITCA Coaches clinic. I got to listen to Mike Parker from Iowa. He's won multiple state titles in XC and Track and won multiple coach of the year awards. He ran for Kansas and he was great to listen to. He talked about 1600/3200 training, Distance-Mental Training for Peak Performance and The art of Coaching-You can be Successful. The most I learned was from the Distance -Mental Training for Peak Performance, He talked about visualizing the race days in advance from how to get out the first 100 meter, to the smell of gun powder, what position/time you want to be at. I started to do this while I was in college I felt it helped me not be so nervous for the big meets like XC regionals and Nationals. I also listen to Jason Robiner about some Injury prevention and rehab for distance runners which was helpful because a lot of my runners get shin splints and knee/hip pains. Jason talked about how to help relieve some of these pains with simple foam roller.
Hope everyone is stayin healthy and Running Happy

Snowy wonderland

The past few days has been really tiring not just with running but having to shovel the 6+ inches of snow. Recently, I've just been getting in the miles and when the road is clear pick up the pace like a fartlek type of workout but it hasn't been that easy. The past few days after the big snow storm has been pretty nice considering how crappy it was. I was able to get 70 miles in even tho taking last Wednesday off and most of the runs were under 6:20 pace, which made me happy.
Today I was able to get out for a long run although I was lazy and didn't get out till a little later and it had already started to snow. Mentally the snow made it tougher but I did a two loop course today, which was lyons loop (6 miles) then my 8 mile North st. medical loop in town. My legs felt pretty good but this is the longest I've ran in a while so I wanted to take the first loop pretty easy with it being mostly rolling hills. It turned out to be around 36:45 then the second loop was 48:54 but that was .2 short so I added on at the end to make it 14 miles. The total time was 1:27:35 (6:15 pace), which is 3 min 49 sec faster then 2 years ago where I ran the exact same loop, and 2 min and 25 sec faster then last years 14 miler. I can't wait to do a race in the next few weeks and test my fitness. Hope everyone is staying healthy and RUNNING HAPPY!!!

SNOW IS COMING

Finally starting to feel better after my food poisoning episode last week and now we're suppose to get over a foot of snow tonight/tomorrow. I used to love the snow but now if we get anything over 3 inches I have the hardest time running. It never used to be like that, just the last few years. Maybe it's because I run alone everyday and I just want the run to be over with?!?! Who knows!!!

Update on my Training the last 2 days: Yesterday I just ran a easy 7.5 in the morning at 6:07/mile then later one of my high school athletes (Chloe) wanted to run. I meet her up at the high school and did a 3.5 miles at her pace, she hasn't been running sense the end of XC season. I let her go any pace she felt good at and even tho she was tired (out of shape tired) she ran 6:56/ mile. I wish I had that kind of talent and not really run and just come back and go sub 7/min on icy sidewalks. TODAY: I ran my 8 miler at easy 6:31/mile it was pretty windy and chilly so I just took it easy. My second run was alone, Chloe had a school thing that was out of town so she suppose to run on her own. I ran a 4 miler at 6:11/mile; It was a out and back into the wind at 6:15ish pace then Steady state coming back, wind at my back but it was hillier going home. Felt good going 6:05 average on the coming back part. TOMORROW: It's going to be hard getting out and running but I'm sure I'll be out there twice, Maybe if we get all that snow people will get out and shovel the sidewalks and the city will plow/salt the roads...I'll keep my fingers crossed!!! Hope everyone stays safe and RUNS HAPPY!!!

Long Run

Sundays usually = Long run for me and seems like most other people. The reason I get the longer run done on Sunday because I run alone and I want to get the run done early in the week. The second reason has to be most people are either sleeping in or in church so I don't have to worry to much about crazy drivers who don't like runners.
I'm trying to get my long runs back up to 15-16 miles by late feb/early march so last week I did a 12 miler and this week I wanted to get in 13 miles. I didn't want to do the normal loop out in the country which is pretty hilly, so I kinda made up a loop where I don't normally run which usually makes the run go by a lot faster with different things to look at. I started the run out wanting to go around 6:30 pace but the first 1/2 mile I was at 6:15 pace and it felt like I was jogging, so the 6:30 pace idea was out the window. I decided to just keep going at the nice pace because usually I slow down towards the end of the run. I got over by Meijers and I was feeling awesome (last week I felt terrible on the long run), so I continued at the pace I was going and figured I was going to be a little short so I had to figure out where I was going add on. I got over by the Honda store and I added on around a mile on and continued back over by down town and back home plus a couple min to make sure it was a total of 13 miles. My time was 1:20: 07 which is 6:09 pace, a little faster then what I wanted to do but I think it helped because it was a different area to run at which made the time go back faster.
The rest of the week I want to get back up to 75-80 mile range and try to get in some longer tempo/fartlek workouts. Were suppose to get 6+ inches of snow Wednesday so that might not happen. Wish I had a treadmill sometimes so I could get a good workout in with out having to worry about ice/snow. Hope everyone winter training going well...

Run Happy

Brooks update / Running

Just received a email from Steve from Brook ID program saying
"Sorry for the radio silence and thank you for your patience. We have run into technical difficulties in setting up your Brooks ID account, discount, and free product on BrooksRunning.com. We expect to have your account and discount working by end of this week. Your free product code should be ready by the end of next week. We apologize again for the delay and any inconvenience. We will send another email when we have an update. Thanks for your understanding."
-I can't wait to be able to start ordering the best running gear in the world again. I'm already making a list off of Brooksrunning.com website of what I'm going to get!!!

I'm starting to feel better after my 2 1/2 days of having Food Poisoning, I got in another 12 miles today. My first run was nice and easy 8 miler at 6:39 pace which is pretty easy, just to get my legs feeling better after yesterday I didn't know If I would be able to walk today. I was really sore in my Quads/back/stomach/head/neck from getting sick and my fabulous Idea yesterday to do a 12 miler in the morning then 3 mile at night. However, today at the beginning I was just a little sore in my quads but I think most of that was running on the slushy snow. The second run was a lot better and I took it easy again with a 4 miler up by Baker College. Tomorrow I'll probably just go nice and easy again and try to get around 10 miles. This weekend I might try and find a low key race if the weather is halfway nice and not snowy.
--Run Happy

**** Just got down watching U of M vs. Michigan State Basketball game and it was a pretty good game. Luckily U of M was hitting a lot of 3 pointers with the biggest one at the end by Stu Douglass which sealed the game **** Hopefully this is the turn around point for both the Basketball and Football team vs. Michigan State !!! Go Blue!

Start of 2011

Hello again, I'm going to try and do this blog again. It's been a long time sense I've wrote on here.

I've been running smarter and better then I've ever had before. I'm not running a ton of miles but I'm more consistent then I have been sense back in college which is almost 3 years now. I ended up 2010 with 2,929.5 miles which is the second most miles I've ever had. It's been almost 2 years sense I've been injured (knock on wood). I haven't really looked to much into it yet but I want to try to run a marathon this year. The first one I just want to finish because I know if I go for a certain time I will "die" and I know mentally I wouldn't be able to do another marathon.
I'm also really excited to be running for Brook ID program (PACE), Second year with brooks Id but first on the PACE team. I hope I can inspire more and more people because Brook running is the best shoe I've ever ran in. I am also running for GU energy which is exciting because with training for a marathon you need good recovery after each run and on the long run and hard workouts the Gu gel helps so much. I hope everyones 2011 year is going well and please follow me if you want on twitter and facebook....(johnsonxc) Run Happy!!!

Week update

I'll start off with my middle school coaching, We have are first meet this coming wednesday vs. Portland which should be interesting cause we really don't know how any of the kids are doing. It's really hard to share the track with the high school team doing workouts. I am doing the girls/guys distance coaching and I have two girls that are going to be pretty good. One of them I knew was going to be good, she's one of my high school xc runners sister and I got another girl that came out of no where that just doesn't want to stop running. Other then that the sprints/field events should be really interesting. I'll update about it next wednesday.
My training has been pretty good this week I upped it back to 60 miles last week and plan on going up to 65/70 miles this week. I've gotta start doing tempos and fartlek because all i've been doing is easy/steady runs everyday. I'm feeling "blah" the last 2 1/2 weeks so maybe i'll get a faster tempo in the next couple days.
Yesterday we had a SVSU reunion at Chris and meagans house in midland which was pretty fun. I got to see some people i haven't seen in a long time. We plays some word games and then later on in the night they played some drinking games. Some of the girls and a few guys made some cookies haha which were pretty good. So overall it was pretty fun, but didn't get out of control like I thought it may with some of the people that were there can make it real crazy. Run Happy....B. Johnson

Martian 10k

Yesterday I ran the Martian 10k down in Dearborn Michigan. I was signed up as one of the elite runners for the 10k race. I was almost going to not show up because it was so far away, but I did go and it took me 1 1/2 hours to get there so I had to leave at 5:30 am. I got there and didn't know where to park and where the sign in place was. So luckily it was right there by the park so I could find it easy. I went to sign in and I found out I was to sign in in the "Elite" tent, lol I was like ok, where is this at. I'm looking everywhere and I find it by the start/finish area. I get a tag that says "Elite Athlete" and I get a warm tent to get ready and they had free food. I was waiting and I was like holy crap theres 4 Kenyan runners and a bunch of D-1 runners and finally I find another "playmakers" runners and we get warmed up and we got to cut to the front of the race.
The start I am up with the top guys but I knew I was in trouble when I hit in 5:00 which is to fast for the shape I'm in right now. I fall back and I got lucky another guy was with me to help push myself most the race and we go through 5k in 16:00 which is to slow and I'm dying with 2 miles left I just can't go any faster, I could go forever but couldn't go faster. (I only done one speed work out in the past 4 months) I keep trying to drop the guy with me at the end and then I do on one of the up hills in the last 1 1/2 miles. We are within the last 1/2 mile now and I look and i have about 5-10 sec lead on the next guy so I wasn't to worried but the 5k/half marathon runners are finishing with us so i lost track of the guy behind me but luckily I had enough left to beat him by 3 sec. I felt great at the end and got in 5 mile cool down with playmakers guys and some other elite guys. winner was 30:20's which is flying, but the weather was awesome and very little wind. I was 14th overall and 33:04 (5:19 pace).
The next few weeks i'm going to increase my mileage and try some speed work and try to get in a fast 5k by may or june....I want to get my middle school kids going so hopefully some speed work will get them going.

Hope all is well and Run Happy

Quick Update

Hello everyone, hope you had a great easter weekend like I did. Now its time to get back at the hard training and get rid of all the candy you may have ate. Last week after my half marathon was pretty tiring because I wasn't use to all the hard pounding for 13.1 miles. It got better by the end of the week and now I feel back to normal. I only got 60 miles in with some 800 repeats at 10k pace but I feel pretty good for my upcoming race on Saturday April 10. The race is called the Martian 10k down by Ann Arbor Michigan, I was invited by the people running the event so I get to run it free for Playmakers Racing. I just hope I run a good race and not get blown out by the elite runners in the field. It's spring break so I get to get in some good runs this week even tho its a down week but I'm only having middle school track practice on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Well I'll write more on how the race goes on Saturday. Hope everyone's training going great and RUN HAPPY!!!! B. Johnson

Flushing Half Marathon

I want to start off by saying sorry it's been so long sense I last updated this. I been pretty busy now that I have started coaching the middle school track team and I live a boring life.

Today was my first half marathon down in Flushing , Michigan which is close to Flint Michigan. It started at 9:30 in the morning it was a brisk 32 degrees out which is not my favorite running weather. Also the wind decided it wanted to show up also, most the race was either into the wind or at the side of us. I wasn't to nervous at this race, I just wanted to get it over with and see if I like it or not. This is the longest race I have done so far.
I get warmed up with two miles nice and easy and then do some strides and I am freezing with the wind and cold weather. I wore my Brooks ID jersey with a pair of arm warmers and my new Brooks T6 road shoes. We start off and the first mile I feel great it goes out and do a out and back in a small sub division and then we rejoin the 5k loop. I was leading up till the mile then a local kid who now runs for Eastern Michigan university joins me at the front of the race, I feel good till we get to the 3 1/2 mile mark and we are running average 5:22 /mile pace and it's a little to quick for me so I back off because I have no idea if I can keep this pace or am I going to "die" at mile 11. I fall back around 15 sec back from the leader and just chill and I am a little a head of pace then we get to the 2 loop finish. The course finished with two 4 mile loops which I do not like, I get to bored and I fall into a relaxed pace and never can get out of it. Which was the case plus we had to watch out for cars that didn't want to move or stop. The second loop I have to contend with the other runners and cars which wasn't very much fun. I end up 2nd overall with a unofficial time of 1:13:18, the computer didn't want to work I guess so the official time I might never know. Cool down was only 2 miles...calf/solus very very sore. Overall I was happy with my race, the conditions were cold and next time I will know more of a pace I can run and not be scared I might "die' towards the end of the race.-Run Happy
Brandon