Breaking records during a workout?

I certainly wish I could break some records but then again I am not an elite athlete.

This is just amazing stuff:

Dathan Ritzenhein exceeded the U.S. record for 10 miles on Monday in a workout.

The U.S. record holder in the 5,000 meters is gearing up for the World Half-Marathon Championships in Birmingham, England on Oct. 11.

Ritzenhein covered the 10 miles in 45 minutes, 3 seconds -- running 4:30.3 per mile. He did half the workout on the track and half of it on the road. Alberto Salazar administered the workout.

How good is that?

Consider that Deriba Merga's world record for 15K was recently ratified at 41:29. That was en route to a half-marathon. Ritzenhein ran 41:45 for his final 15K on Monday's 10-miler.

I would be willing to bet that something very special is going to happen at the World Half-Marathon Championships. Let's just hope the weather is good for running.

Wisconsin Half-Marathon

That is the medal I received for finishing the Wisconsin Half-Marathon yesterday. The slogan of the race was "Embrace the Cheese". Fits right in with Wisconsin... I should know because I went to Carthage College right there in Kenosha.

It was an excited race with nearly 2000 participants along the lakefront in Kenosha. The course began near the museum and pushed through the path along Lake Michigan and turned around at the main entrance of Carthage. It found its way back to the old downtown area to the finish line. (Marathoners continued past the old downtown towards Pleasant Prairie and back).

While I was not that diligent on my training for the race I still managed to do a combination of run/walk to finish in three hours and three seconds according to the official time keepers.

Here is what my Nike+ had to say:



As you can see it needs to be calibrated a little bit. But you can also notice how I fared at the beginning maintaining a nice pace and then how I was up and down the rest of the way through. It was just that kind of day.

Honestly, I am surprised I was able to finish. I was lucky enough to be able to run with a friend for 12 miles of the race.

Some of the lessons that I learned from the race. That is definitely need to be more diligent on training for something along these lines. It takes practice and patience to be able to do it well. The other thing is that I will be doing another one of these. It was a great feeling to cross the finish line.

Big Announcement!!!!

So what is up with the new training program - why is there one you may be asking? Was the old one not working? Well, no it wasn't because I am going to be running in the first annual Wisconsin Half-Marathon on May 2nd. Yup, a half- marathon in about three months time and thus the need for a new training regimen. I am going to be running in the half-marathon for Salute Inc., a non-profit organization that benefits our veterans. I did their 5k last Memorial Day and it is a wonderful organization. I would like to raise money to help them out. Can you chip in?



So here we go, just over three months and I will return to Kenosha and run over 13 miles around my old campus. Sounds like fun if you ask me.