October 2007 - Posts

• Train with Tim FAQ

  By Tim Cigelske
  Friday, Oct 26 2007, 04:44 PM

  This blog looks pretty funky. Who blew up the fonts and messed up the layout? Pardon our dust. The blog is being rebuild from the ground up, and when it's done there will be a brand new shiny Train with Tim complete with an actual reader comment function... Read More >> With 2 comment(s)

• The new heating pad

  By Tim Cigelske
  Thursday, Oct 25 2007, 12:59 AM

  We used to have a hand-me-down hot pad. Man, that thing was old fashioned. It was literally a sack of grain covered in thin fabric decorated with designs of coffee mugs. I could tell when Jess heated it up in the microwave because of the distinct cream... Read More >> With 1 comment(s) Filed under: gear, Jess

• Molly Fay's Costa Rican adventure

  By Tim Cigelske
  Tuesday, Oct 23 2007, 05:55 PM

  The week Kelly and I were on "The Morning Blend," co-host Molly Fay was down in Costa Rica running up a volcano, whitewater rafting, ziplining and completely not acting like herself. "I'm a mom of three," she told me after she... Read More >> Comment on this post

• The Cult of Pearl Izumi

  By Tim Cigelske
  Friday, Oct 19 2007, 04:39 PM

  I've always been an ASICS man. It's not that I discriminate. Whenever I buy running shoes, I try on a ton of styles and brands. But 95 percent of the time I come back to ASICS. The few times I've deviated, usually because of lower price or... Read More >> Comment on this post Filed under: gear

• Fit on vacation

  By Tim Cigelske
  Thursday, Oct 18 2007, 01:36 PM

  The vacation dilemma probably dates to prehistoric times. Trog and Mrs. Trog visit that picturesque den overlooking the exotic tar pits. They lay around on saber-tooth tiger pelts and gorge themselves on mammoth. By the time they trek back to their cave... Read More >> Comment on this post Filed under: Jess

• The Big Lessons

  By Tim Cigelske
  Wednesday, Oct 17 2007, 01:10 PM

  My history teacher Mr. Kittel used to call them "broad significant themes." These are The BIG Lessons. They were way more important than just the date of this or the place of that. They were ideas monumental enough to change history. And, as... Read More >> Comment on this post Filed under: Marathon, motivation

• 'Blame our expectation of service'

  By Tim Cigelske
  Friday, Oct 12 2007, 02:31 PM

  A perspective from Al DeLeon, who ran the Chicago Marathon and "saw the panic stricken runners as they approach an empty table that used to be the aid station." Mike Downey is an idiot! Keep in mind he is paid by the Chicago Tribune, a major... Read More >> Comment on this post

• Racing for the swag

  By Tim Cigelske
  Friday, Oct 12 2007, 12:55 PM

  Swag isn't enough to motivate someone to enter a race. But it's nice. Most races offer at least a t-shirt. The Grape Stomp 5K gives out purple shoelaces. The Riverwest Beer Run hands out Lakefront Brewery microbrews - while people are actually... Read More >> With 1 comment(s)

• The thin line between hardcore and stupid

  By Tim Cigelske
  Thursday, Oct 11 2007, 05:43 PM

  A perspective from Tyler "Bone" Byrnes. Hey, I just read some of the responses to that Downey article, after reading the post about the harowing experince of the guy with the "ice pick" in his leg. I think taken together they sorta point out the problem... Read More >> Comment on this post

• Another harrowing marathon story

  By Tim Cigelske
  Wednesday, Oct 10 2007, 02:35 PM

  Photo by Peter DiAntoni Every runner needs an insane I-lived-through-this running story. I think everyone who finished a marathon this weekend got that. Here's yet another crazy story, this one from MKE contributing photographer Christopher Bluhm... Read More >> Comment on this post Filed under: motivation

• More responses on the Downey column

  By Tim Cigelske
  Wednesday, Oct 10 2007, 01:58 PM

  (Click here to see the original post on this topic) From Buddy Storm, who ran the Chicago marathon I was not overly pushing myself. But, I still became dehydrated. Should I be blamed that there was no water or Gatorade to be found at the water stations... Read More >> Comment on this post

• The poor man's Everest?

  By Tim Cigelske
  Tuesday, Oct 09 2007, 04:52 PM

  Jon Krakauer 's book "Into Thin Air" recounts the worst disaster on Mt. Everest, a storm that killed eight climbers. His cautionary thesis was that people were getting too overconfident when it came to mountain climbing. An increasing number... Read More >> Comment on this post

• Blaming the runners

  By Tim Cigelske
  Tuesday, Oct 09 2007, 02:40 PM

  Did you suffer through dehydration, pass out or get hospitalized from a marathon this weekend? You have no one to blame but yourself , says Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Downey. And quit whining while you're at it. My immediate thought: Wow, what an... Read More >> Comment on this post

• Seven hours to the finish line

  By Tim Cigelske
  Tuesday, Oct 09 2007, 12:24 PM

  What do you call the last place finisher of a marathon? A marathoner. Jenny Anderson was the third to last official finisher of the Lakefront Marathon, sneaking just under the 7-hour cut-off. Being out there that long, she may have worked harder than... Read More >> Comment on this post Filed under: motivation

• 'Hell' in Minnesota

  By Tim Cigelske
  Monday, Oct 08 2007, 10:45 PM

  The Milwaukee and Chicago marathons weren't the only ones that sucked on Sunday. The Twin Cities Marathon hit 82 degrees and was almost called off. Former Milwaukeean and current Minneapolis resident Robin Pfeifer gives her account of breaking out... Read More >> Comment on this post Filed under: motivation

• Battling the heat

  By Tim Cigelske
  Monday, Oct 08 2007, 01:36 PM

  I ran into William "Wild Bill" Hollihan before the start of Sunday's race. I wrote about Bill years ago when I was a summer intern at the Beaver Dam Daily Citizen. He was 72 when I first met him. Bill started running for something to do... Read More >> Comment on this post Filed under: motivation

• Finished!

  By Tim Cigelske
  Sunday, Oct 07 2007, 08:37 PM

  We made it. Kelly and I crossed the finish line after 26.2 miles and unofficially 4 hours and 56 minutes. Kelly was in the zone when she finished. The last mile she didn't talk, didn't look around, I don't even think she blinked for the last... Read More >> Comment on this post Filed under: motivation

• Ready for it

  By Tim Cigelske
  Friday, Oct 05 2007, 02:31 PM

  I remember sitting in the shuttle taking us to the start of the Lakefront Marathon two years ago. We left Milwaukee and headed up 1-43. Then we kept going. And going. And going . That's when it hit me that 26.2 miles was a really long way. But because... Read More >> Comment on this post Filed under: mental training, motivation

• Less than three days

  By Tim Cigelske
  Thursday, Oct 04 2007, 01:55 PM

  It's hard to believe there's less than three days until the marathon. Here's a flashback to what Kelly wrote back in June, when we asked readers to tell us why they should train with me: "If you tell me to jump, I ask how high. You need me to be at our... Read More >> Comment on this post

• Making our list

  By Tim Cigelske
  Tuesday, Oct 02 2007, 03:41 PM

  So we don't have to remember everything on race day morning, we're making a list. Things to bring, things to do, things to remember. Here's 5 items that are on the list so far, in no particular order. Clif shots There will be energy gels on... Read More >> Comment on this post Filed under: mental training, gear