Brandy, Jen, Z, Rood, and Marty getting ready to get dirty

Wow! Two posts in a row that have a “Dirty” race.  This weekend brought along the annual “Dirty Dog” 10k run in Cortland/ West Mecca.   Jocelyn Rood got some photos up on Facebook.  Even though the location may be difficult to find on a map, SSSMST was out in force.  Here are some first hand accounts…

From Kevin Krol

Yeah, I love racing in peanut butter.  Talk about going to extremes – two years ago Patrick and I were up at 5AM trying to figure out if they cancelled the race in the middle of a snowstorm.  They did. Last year, snowstorm hit two days prior to the race, so trails were partially packed down, at least where hikers went.  Made footing atrocious and probably upped my dosage of Doan’s Pills for a couple weeks.  This year – it was like the Monster Jam – wet, muddy, mucky, and legs, tires, bodies, spinning every which way and churning things asunder.  Did not go into this expecting much as it was my first race since last August.  I expected to feel smooth and somewhat aerobically comfortable.  Smooth, hardly.  Comfortable, not so much.

Joey, have you ever tried..................running in peanut butter?

Jen P’s thoughts

This was my first Dirty Dog 10k! I recalled seeing the picture of many teammates and hearing stories from last year so I made sure I would be able to participate this year. I’m working on building some training volume so I was not rested at all for this event. That bit me in the butt late in the first mile when somehow my stride got caught up in a stick and I fell. After that I just settled in to a decent pace. It was definitely dirty! There was a part that went out from the trail onto the “beach” which was just mean and I thought “this is not what I imagine when running on the beach.” Fortunately after that the terrain improved and I was able to pick it up and pick off a few people the last couple miles which made me happy with my effort. Of course, the guys were already finished and enjoying their recovery beverages by then! I enjoyed the sign in the parking lot speaking in regards to Mosquito Lake. It said something about “not being number 73. That 72 people have died in the lake as they did not think they needed a personal floatation device. They were dead wrong.” Wow, that is to the point! Anyways, Rood’s parents, who live nearby, (which is why this nonsense really occurs) were very welcoming offering hot showers and a delicious breakfast!

Aaron Roods thoughts

Wet, Muddy and Totally Fun

Scott Z’s take

Another great Dirty Dog. This is the first time it was not covered in snow or ice. It was wet and muddy. Its always a fun event and the breakfast was delicious as usual.

And Anne’s kind comments -

“Another great Dirty Dog 10K.  Chaz and Donna Rood had all of us over to shower, get warm and feast on french toast, mimosa’s and my personal favorite Aunt Jan’s oatmeal…I love it!  It is always good to hang with Jackson and Noah Rood.  Jocelyn’s running bud Lonnie was impressive knocking down the muddiest of 10K 5 months pregnant with her 5th baby!  I feel like an underachiever who needs to get busy….Krol Daddy!..
I recommend The Dirty Dog to everyone!  Cheers to The Roods! “

Read below to get the scoop from Brandy, Aaron, and Brian.

From Brandy at the Dirty Snowflake (great name by the way):

“This was the first of a series of trail races to be held this year.  The race was called the Dirty Snowflake Prediction Run – I had to predict my time when I picked up my race number on the morning of the race.  Not being much of a trail runner (yet) I totally guessed a number: 43:43.

The race was beautiful, and very fun.  Since the weather has been so warm, the trails were very muddy (so Dirty Snowflake was an approrpiate name!).  I had a great time running and enjoying the sites – I really think running without a watch is my favorite way to do it!!  I expected to see a clock at the finish time to know how I did with the prediction, but there was no such thing (to keep people from waiting to finish, maybe??).  It wasn’t until the awards were given that I learned I was SIXTEEN seconds off with my prediction, which was good enough for third place! ”

Aaron Rood made his way down to Houston to take in the Olympic marathon trials first hand;

“Watched the best in the world race real fast.  That is all I need to say”

Right to the point!

And Brian Kostura reminds us that it is always Tri season.  He dusted off the tri gear at the University of Akron indoor tri;

“First time doing an indoor tri, and I found it to be a lot of fun!  The University of Akron has a great facility, and the treadmills we used for the race were awesome!  They were described to me as the “Cadillac of treadmills”…I agree!  Being a last minute decision, not really knowing what I was getting into, or how it was going to work, it ended up being an overall success!  Bridget and I both took first overall!  The journey down the road to Ironman has begun…”

“The snow finally came this year, just in time for the “”Ohio Championships”"  It was the usual format – 5K classical followed by a (separate) 10K skating-style race. I was unable to defend my title as the 2 elite guys from PA got the best of me this year (in both races). I’ve been cross-training more this year, and NOT training for ski racing – and it showed!   It’s really hard to “”fake it”" in ski-racing, especially on such a hilly course, with back-to-back all-out efforts!  I was happy to be able to “”dig deep”" and hang on for 3rd OA despite a pretty good challenge from Mike Foley (some of you know him from local running/tri scene) – he’s retired this year and training every day, so Watch out 50ish age-groupers!. I was sore for 4 days, but I think i regained about 4weeks of fitness in one day!
The lack of snow hurt the turnout (especially for our SSSMST group! – c’mon guys!)  BUT it was so great just to be on good snow for once,and the kids race was inspiring as usual  The sport is really catching on, as we have 53 kids in lessons this year, and about 20 came from PA for the race.  I’m gonna have to start training again to stay on the podium in years to come!!!
Your next chance to ski-race here is the Paintball Biathlon at Chapin Forest (Feb 25th) – HIGHLY recommended and very fun. “

We just wanted to be like these guys…..Passo di Gavia

Any of you have good winter ride stories?  Bring em’!

Jen and Brandy, running the Run for Regis

Apparently some people are motivated to get off the couch this time of year.  Rumor has it Mr Rood logged over 101 miles in the first week of the new year.  Nice work!  Others were up to big things as well. Here is Jen Petkovsek’s report from the Run for Regis…

“Late fall there was talk of this “Run for Regis” trail race on January 15th. That’s my birthday! So of course I thought it’d be a good idea to sign up! I was able to talk Brandy into signing up too! We had heard this was incredibly tough but also very laid back. We went into it as a fun training run. The morning started off very cold-like 10 degrees! A group of 4 of us stayed together and chatted and helped one another move along. It was gorgeous! Definitely the slowest half marathon I’ve done but it was on snowy trails with great friends and one heck of a fun run!”

from http://trisaratopsimadventure.blogspot.com/ Sara's blog

The first big race of the year…the race to the altar…its official, SSSMST legend Tim Walsh is off the market (sorry ladies) and 2012 is here!  Congrats to Tim & Kim! The new year was rung in with the annual CTC polar plunge.  Brian Kostura reported that is “was a fun crazy time” and the “first dumb idea of 2012!”    If you are interested in joining Cleveland Triathlon Club check out their web site: http://www.clevetriclub.com/members-menu/become-member-menu.html

Sunday

• Willoughby CX (Willoughby, OH)

Anything else going on?

Links to event websites are on our calendar or at Second Sole.

As always, keep abreast of upcoming races and SSSMST events with the calendar. The calendar has links to all event websites. Have a great weekend!

Racing off road?  The time to do that is Sunday.   With Solon CX, two trail marathons and a 5 Mile cross country race, your choices are endless.  Just hop on the nearest trail and spin your legs.

On the horizon (next week) is the Willoughby CX race.  Hopefully this one won’t be water logged.  Have a look at the flyer below.

Saturday

• Westhaven Run for Shelter 5k (Edgewater Park, OH)
• Wishbone 5k and 1.5 Mile Doggie Dash (Euclid, OH)

Sunday

• Solon CX (Solon, OH)
• Inland Trail Marathon/Half Marathon and 5k (Elyria, OH)
• Bobcat Trail Marathon (Glouster, OH)
• Autumn Leaves 5 Mile Cross Country (Kirtland, OH)

Anything else going on?

Links to event websites are on our calendar or at Second Sole.

As always, keep abreast of upcoming races and SSSMST events with the calendar. The calendar has links to all event websites. Have a great weekend!

On Saturday, the City of Painesville is hosting a Fall Fest at Veteran’s park.  At the park, there will be trunk or treating, a lightbulb exchange, a costume parade/contest, food and much, much more.  In conjunction with the Fall Fest is the Run for the Parks 5k.  Make your way to Painesville for a full day of activity.  On Sunday, the Dyslexia Dash will be run in Sagamore Hills.  They have a unique category called the prediction run.  The top ten people who race closest to their predicted time will receive awards.

Saturday

• Fall Fest (Run for the Parks) 5k (Painesville, OH)
• Bay Village Heritage Run 5k (Bay Village, OH)

Sunday

• Blue Sky (or Not) II CX (Euclid, OH)
• Dyslexia Dash 5k (Sagamore Hills, OH)

Anything else going on?

Links to event websites are on our calendar or at Second Sole.

As always, keep abreast of upcoming races and SSSMST events with the calendar. The calendar has links to all event websites. Have a great weekend!

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