Fall Into Fitness 5K

I ran the Fall Into Fitness 5K Saturday. It was my final race (#15) of the 2014 season.

It was a chilly and windy day. As I was sitting in my car removing all extra clothing, it started to rain. That rain turned into a rain/snow mix shortly after. Standing at the start line, I was just thinking about running this race as quickly as I could so I could get back into my car.

After a few brief announcements, the starting horn went off. I took off and was able to find a nice race pace. I was happy to be able to stick with a few guys for the first mile of the race. But I wasn't sure it was actually a mile or more. The miles were not marked. I thought they were in previous years, but not this year. Since the miles weren't marked, I didn't even look at my watch.

Having run this race for the past three years, the course hasn't changed. I knew where I was on the course and how many more streets were left. I did pass a few people with probably a mile to go. But then a huge group of guys and ladies passed me. The guys in that group weren't guys that I already passed. My goal was to hang with them for the final six blocks, but they ended up running away.

With four blocks to go, another lady ran up beside me. It was the lady that I beat to win a race earlier in the year. I stuck with her and we ran side-by-side for two blocks. Then she ended up pulling ahead of me. With a block to go, I was able to see the finishing clock. It read 26 minutes. When I read that I actually thought I was running faster. Maybe I should actually look down at my own personal watch and look at the time. That might give me the boost I need to kick myself into gear sooner. Live and learn. The lady I beat in the earlier race finished 9 seconds ahead of me. I finished in 26:35, placed 3rd in my age group and was the 13th overall woman.

I'm happy that the racing season is over. I have had a great year. I won five races this year and placed in my age group in most of them. I'm looking forward to a couple months off from racing as I started my season back in late January. Can't wait to see what the racing season of 2015 brings.

Abraham Lincoln's New Salem III - Petersburg, IL

Big Ten Cross Country Championships

msuspartans.com

uwbadgers.com

Michigan State Spartans women's cross country team won their sixth Big Ten Cross Country Championship Sunday in Iowa City, Iowa at the Ashton Cross Country Course. Michigan State's Leah O'Connor won the 6K race in 19:26.3. MSU teammate Rachele Schulist was third (19:54.4) and Lindsay Clark was fourth (19:59.7). Michigan State won with the team score of 26 points over second place Wisconsin with 55 points. Wisconsin's Sarah Disanza was runner-up in 19:28.1 and Molly Hanson placed fifth in 20:02.9. Michigan Wolverines placed third with 93 points and ran without sophomore Erin Finn. Finn was out due to injury. The highest place Wolverines were Shannon Osika in sixth (20:03.4) and Brook Handler was eighth (20:10.0).

Wisconsin Badger's men's team won their 47th Big Ten Cross Country Championship with a total of 47
points over second place Michigan with 77 points. The Badger's Malachy Schrobligen was the winner of the men's 8K race in 23:35. Teammate Michael Van Voorhis was second in 23:37.6. Michigan's Mason Ferlic was fourth in 23:41.3. Ben Flanagan was 13th for the Wolverines in 23:58.8.

Big Ten Network will broadcast the Big Ten Cross Country Championships on November 12 at 5 p.m ET.

Women's Individual Results
1. Leah O'CONNOR Michigan St. - 19:26.3
2. Sarah DISANZA Wisconsin - 19:28.1
3. Rachele SCHULIST Michigan St.- 19:54.4
4. Lindsay CLARK Michigan St. - 19:59.7
5. Molly HANSON Wisconsin - 20:02.9
6. Shannon OSIKA Michigan - 20:03.4
7. Julia OTWELL Michigan St. - 20:04.1
8. Brook HANDLER Michigan - 20:10.0
9. Katie BORCHERS Ohio State - 20:16.1
10. Gabi ANZALONE Wisconsin - 10 20:17.1

Women's Team Results
1. Michigan St. 26
2. Wisconsin 55
3. Michigan 93
4. Ohio State 127
5. Minnesota 139

Men's Individual Results
1. Malachy SCHROBILGEN Wisconsin - 23:35.0
2. Michael VANVOORHIS Wisconsin - 23:37.6
3. Matt MCCLINTOCK  Purdue - 23:39.9
4. Mason FERLIC  Michigan - 23:41.3
5. Caleb RHYNARD Michigan St. - 23:47.8
6. Kevin LEWIS Iowa - 23:52.2
7. Aaron BARTNIK Minnesota - 23:52.6
8. Matt FISCHER Penn State - 23:52.8
9. Jason CRIST Indiana - 23:52.9
10. Matthew SCHWARTZER Indiana - 23:54.9

Men's Team Results
1. Wisconsin 47
2. Michigan 77
3. Penn State 92
4. Indiana 95
5. Michigan St. 117

TCS NYC Marathon

Associated Press/Kathy Willens

The TCS NYC Marathon took place Sunday in the five boroughs of New York City. The runners and wheelchair racers had to deal with strong winds all over the course.

Getty Images/Jewel Samad

The wheelchair racers started first. For safety reasons, those races were 23.2 miles this year. The winds were gusting 35-45 miles per hour, so they started on the other side of the Verrazano Narrows bridge in Brooklyn. Winning the men's race was Australia's Kurt Fearnley over South Africa's Ernst Van Dyk. USA's Tatyana McFadden was the women's winner. Switzerland's Manela Schar finished second.

Kenya's Mary Keitany won the NYC Marathon in 2:25:07 over fellow Kenyan Jemima Sumgong. Desiree Linden was the top American in fifth place running 2:28:11. Annie Bersagel was 10th, Deena Kastor 11th and Kara Goucher finished 14th.

Wilson Kipsana of Kenya won the men's race in 2:10:55. Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa was second. Meb Keflezighi was the highest placing American male in fourth with a time of 2:13;18. Ryan Vail finished just ahead of Nick Arciniaga in ninth place to Arciniaga's tenth place.

Women's results
1. Mary Keitany 2:25:07 KEN
2. Jemima Sumgong 2:25:10 KEN
3. Sara Moreira 2:26:00 POR
4. Jelena Prokopcuka 2:26:15 LAT
5. Desiree Linden 2:28:11 USA
6. Rkia El Moukim 2:28:12 MAR
7. Firehiwot Dado 2:28:36 ETH
8. Valeria Straneo 2:29:24 ITA
9. Buzunesh Deba 2:31:40 ETH
10. Annie Bersagel 2:33:02 USA
11. Deena Kastor 2:33:18 USA
14. Kara Goucher 2:37:03 USA
15. Lauren Kleppin 2:39:13 USA

Men's results
1. Wilson Kipsang 2:10:59 KEN
2. Lelisa Desisa Benti 2:11:06 ETH 
3. Gebre Gebremariam 2:12:13 ETH 
4. Meb Keflezighi 2:13:18 USA 
5. Stephen Kiprotich 2:13:25 UGA
6. Geoffrey Mutai 2:13:44 KEN
7. Masato Imai 2:14:36 JPN 
8. Peter Cheruiyot Kirui 2:14:51 KEN
9. Ryan Vail 2:15:08 USA 
10. Nick Arciniaga 2:15:39 USA

Men's Wheelchair
1. Kurt Fearnley 1:30:55 AUS
2. Ernst Van Dyk 1:30:56 RSA
3. Tomasz Hamerlak 1:30:56 POL
4. Masazumi Soejima 1:30:57 JPN
5. Kota Hokinoue 1:30:57 JPN
6. Pierre Fairbank 1:30:59 USA
7. Joshua George 1:33:09 USA
8. Denis Lemeunier 1:33:36 FRA
9. Hiroyuki Yamamoto 1:33:53 JPN
10. Jorge Madera Jimenez 1:34:08 ESP

Women's Wheelchair 
1. Tatyana McFadden 1:42:16 USA
2. Manuela Schar 1:43:25 SUI
3. Wakako Tsuchida 1:44:49 JPN
4. Christie Dawes 1:52:39 AUS
5. Amanda McGrory 1:52:40 USA
6. Sandra Graf 1:52:40 SUI
7. Susannah Scaroni 1:57:55 USA
8. Shelly Woods 2:03:15 USA
9. Chelsea McClammer 2:03:17 USA
10. Arielle Rausin 2:12:07 USA

Books read in 2014

Death's Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm Where the Dead do Tell Tales, William Bass & Jon Jefferson
The Big Roads, Earl Swift
Never Suck A Dead Man's Hand: Curious Adventures of a CSI, Dana Kollmann 
Confessions of a Surgeon, Paul A. Ruggieri M.D.
Lincoln's Grace Robbers, Steve Sheinkin
Why Your Prescription Takes So Damn Long to Fill, Drugmonkey
Beyond the Body Farm, Dr. Bill Bass & Jon Jefferson
The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession, Mark Obmascik
True Hollywood Noir: Filmland Mysteries and Murders, Dina Di Mambro
Island of Vice: Theodor Roosevelt's Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York, Richard Zacks   
Mortal Evidence: The Forensics Behind Nine Shocking Cases, Cyril H. Wecht
Amelia, Nancy Nahra
Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures, Robert K. Wittman & John Shiffman 
The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
Hot Lights, Cold Steel, Michale J. Collins, M.D.
Blue Collar, Blue Scrubs, Michael J. Collins M.D. 
Dark Dreams: A Legendary FBI Profiler Examines Homicide and the Criminal Mind, Roy Hazelwood & Stephen G. Michaud 
Swim, Bike, Run: Our Triathlon Story, Alistair Brownlee & Jonathan Brownlee
The Stranger Beside Me, Ann Rule
Beauty, Disrupted: The Carre Otis Story, Carre Otis & Hugo Schwyzer
House of Versace: The Untold Story of Genius, Murder and Survival, Deborah Ball
Trama: My Life as an Emergency Surgeon, Dr. James Cole
Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies, J.B. West
Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain
Back of the House: The Secret Life of a Restaurant, Scott Haas 
Shooting Stars: My Unexpected Life Photographing Hollywood's Most Famous, Jennifer Buhl
Trauma Junkie: Memoirs of an Emergency Flight Nurse, Janice Hudson
You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again: The True Adventures of a Hollywood Nanny, Suzanne Hansen
NYPD Confidential: Power and Corruption in the Country's Greatest Police Force, Leonard Levitt 
The Things That Matter, Nate Berkus
Chicago Cop: Tales from the Street, Star #14931
The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America, Michael Ruhlman
Monica's Story, Andrew Morton
All Too Human: A Political Education, George Stephanopoulos
Flowers in the Attic, V.C. Andrews
Petals on the Wind, V.C. Andrews
If There Be Thorns, V.C., Andrews 
How I Helped O.J. Get Away With Murder, Mike Gilbert  
Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan, Del Quentin Wilber
Standing Next to History: An Agent's Life Inside The Secret Service, Joseph Petro & Jeffrey Robinson  
Intensive Care, Echo Heron
Condition Critical: The Story of a Nurse Continues, Echo Heron
Cabin Fever: The Sizzling Secrets of an Virgin Air Hostess..., Mandy Smith
Dancing with the Devil: The Windsors and Jimmy Donahue, Christopher Wilson
The Season: A Summer Whirl Through the English Social Season, Sophie Campbell
Joe and Marilyn: Legends in Love, C. David Heymann
Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies and the Making of a Medical Examiner, Judy Melinek, M.D.
Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents, Cormac O'Brien
Secret Lives of the First Ladies, Cormac O'Brien
The Man Who Made Vermeers: Unvarnishing the Legend of Master Forger Han van Meegeren
Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General, Bill O'Reilly & Martin Dugard
Gone Girl, GIllian Flynn
The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art, Don Thompson
Julius Caesar, Philip Freeman

Currently Reading: The Painted Word, Tom Wolfe

Abraham Lincoln's New Salem II - Petersburg, IL

Abstract painting

Finished my second painting over the weekend. I have never tried an abstract painting before, so that is what I did. This is the result. I spread paint over the canvas with a pallet knife. It was fun.

Abraham Lincoln's New Salem I - Petersburg, IL

Books read in 2014

Death's Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm Where the Dead do Tell Tales, William Bass & Jon Jefferson
The Big Roads, Earl Swift
Never Suck A Dead Man's Hand: Curious Adventures of a CSI, Dana Kollmann 
Confessions of a Surgeon, Paul A. Ruggieri M.D.
Lincoln's Grace Robbers, Steve Sheinkin
Why Your Prescription Takes So Damn Long to Fill, Drugmonkey
Beyond the Body Farm, Dr. Bill Bass & Jon Jefferson
The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession, Mark Obmascik
True Hollywood Noir: Filmland Mysteries and Murders, Dina Di Mambro
Island of Vice: Theodor Roosevelt's Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York, Richard Zacks   
Mortal Evidence: The Forensics Behind Nine Shocking Cases, Cyril H. Wecht
Amelia, Nancy Nahra
Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures, Robert K. Wittman & John Shiffman 
The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
Hot Lights, Cold Steel, Michale J. Collins, M.D.
Blue Collar, Blue Scrubs, Michael J. Collins M.D. 
Dark Dreams: A Legendary FBI Profiler Examines Homicide and the Criminal Mind, Roy Hazelwood & Stephen G. Michaud 
Swim, Bike, Run: Our Triathlon Story, Alistair Brownlee & Jonathan Brownlee
The Stranger Beside Me, Ann Rule
Beauty, Disrupted: The Carre Otis Story, Carre Otis & Hugo Schwyzer
House of Versace: The Untold Story of Genius, Murder and Survival, Deborah Ball
Trama: My Life as an Emergency Surgeon, Dr. James Cole
Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies, J.B. West
Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain
Back of the House: The Secret Life of a Restaurant, Scott Haas 
Shooting Stars: My Unexpected Life Photographing Hollywood's Most Famous, Jennifer Buhl
Trauma Junkie: Memoirs of an Emergency Flight Nurse, Janice Hudson
You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again: The True Adventures of a Hollywood Nanny, Suzanne Hansen
NYPD Confidential: Power and Corruption in the Country's Greatest Police Force, Leonard Levitt 
The Things That Matter, Nate Berkus
Chicago Cop: Tales from the Street, Star #14931
The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America, Michael Ruhlman
Monica's Story, Andrew Morton
All Too Human: A Political Education, George Stephanopoulos
Flowers in the Attic, V.C. Andrews
Petals on the Wind, V.C. Andrews
If There Be Thorns, V.C., Andrews 
How I Helped O.J. Get Away With Murder, Mike Gilbert  
Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan, Del Quentin Wilber
Standing Next to History: An Agent's Life Inside The Secret Service, Joseph Petro & Jeffrey Robinson  
Intensive Care, Echo Heron
Condition Critical: The Story of a Nurse Continues, Echo Heron
Cabin Fever: The Sizzling Secrets of an Virgin Air Hostess..., Mandy Smith
Dancing with the Devil: The Windsors and Jimmy Donahue, Christopher Wilson
The Season: A Summer Whirl Through the English Social Season, Sophie Campbell
Joe and Marilyn: Legends in Love, C. David Heymann
Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies and the Making of a Medical Examiner, Judy Melinek, M.D.
Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents, Cormac O'Brien
Secret Lives of the First Ladies, Cormac O'Brien
The Man Who Made Vermeers: Unvarnishing the Legend of Master Forger Han van Meegeren
Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General, Bill O'Reilly & Martin Dugard
Gone Girl, GIllian Flynn
The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art, Don Thompson

Currently Reading: Julius Caesar, Philip Freeman