Detroit Zoo Run

Congratulations on great race to all the STR racers, pictured above, who lit up the course on the Detroit Zoo Run this morning. Race results are now available (click here). It was great to see everyone out enjoying the beautiful weather. A special thanks needs to be handed out to Ralph and Annette for getting up early to set up the tent and hosting a great post-race barbeque. What a day! STR ROLLS ON...

STR keeps on rolling and rolling

I am proud to announce that two members of STR have set new personal bests for their longest runs! Todd "Z" made it 3 miles during his training run to prepare for his first running race ever! Vinnie kept on pushing and made the entire 8 mile loop at Kensington to get ready for his first ever 10K race next week. Nice work guys. Thank you to everyone who came out for STR's first group training run! We are just getting started! See you at the Zoo.

STR Training Run

Saturday, September 8th STR will be hosting a training run at Kensington Metro Park at 10am. We are meeting in the parking lot of the east boat launch. Look for the new STR blue tent! Kensington has a wonderful 8 mile paved loop that goes around the lake. You don't have to run the whole 8 miles. The trail is marked every .25 mile. Run as far as you like and turn around if you do not want to go all the way around. Everyone is welcome, even dogs (but they must be on a 6 foot leash). Bottle water will be provided. There is a $4 daily fee to get into the park.

Come and run, walk or bike with STR. Bring the family and enjoy the day. For more information about Kensington Park you can go to http://www.metroparks.com/parks/pk_kensington.php

Two turds roll down hill…

Ok, Spare Tire Racers, it’s time to get real. Have you ever had a training run, or a race for that matter, go from good to really bad? Well let me share my latest training torture.

For Kimmy B and I, Saturday is our long run day. We are in the heart of a marathon training schedule and today’s run required an 18 mile effort. When we started, we felt fairly strong. Perhaps our legs were a little tired from another week of running 30+ miles but when we start our long runs our legs are usually a little heavy. Well, about halfway through the run we both were feeling it. Our legs were already a little sore and Kimmy B’s back was starting to tighten up. Last week, we felt fine at this point! How could this be?

After 15 miles and our third Gu each, we both were exhausted. The 3mile route we usually finish with kick our butts! At one point Kimmy B thought she was going to “leave it all on the course” and I was really struggling with the hills. Overall, we both went from Strong Runners to Two Turds rolling home! What happened?

Now I know there are all sorts of physiological reasons that might explain why our nice run went south. Our nutrition wasn’t right, our training schedule was too intense, not enough sleep…and on and on. I’m sure we will have plenty of those types of discussions in the future. But for now, I want to hear about your run, bike or swim that turned from good to bad. Give it to me! We can’t be the only ones who have finished a run feeling like two turds!