Pretty simple.  Show up. Sign up.  Race.  Use these as a tune-up for summer racing in July and August.  Maybe a way to get some speedwork in without doing a formal workout on your own.

Proceeds go towards LNS XC and Lincoln Food Bank.  Email me if you have questions.  Everyone is welcome and encouraged to come and run.  Bring a friend, tell a friend.

Doughnut Race continues to be a Lincoln tradition.

Lincoln All Comers Track Meet

Thursday, June 8th  (Lincoln North Star)

 Thursday, June 29th   (Lincoln North Star)

600-800pm. 

 Registration starts at 5:20pm

 Cost is $2 per event, $10 for donut race (see below)

Runners of all ages and abilities (seriously, the more people there are the better) are welcome. Get ready for an upcoming race, get in a workout, meet some folks, whatever.  Volunteers are always welcome to help time and cheer.

 Events (in order)

6:00 pm-400m

6:10- 800m

6:15- Predict a 1600m (prizes given)

6:30- 200

6:40- Mile (true mile, no 1600m)

7:00- 3000 or 5000 (only by request, so please email me)

 7:35pm- DONUT 2k

(This event will be at 7:00 if no one requests for the 3k or 5k)

Eat a donut, run a lap format, specific rules given at event

Presented by LRC, Hy-Vee, Pink Gorilla Racing, simplesoleproject.com

6 donuts, 5 laps total

 Pre-Registration will get you a customized coffee mug.  NEED TO EMAIL ME BY JUNE 12^th TO GUARANTEE A SPOT. 

 There will be extra doughnuts for day of registration, but limited.

 CONTACT BRIAN WANDZILAK:  bwandzilak@gmail.com

Let’s get the name drop out of the way first.  Ivan Marsh. He recently continued one of the most unsung streaks in Nebraska running by winning an 11th straight Trek Up the Tower in Omaha.  Unreal on so many levels.  It also inspired me to get back on this horse of trying to write on a regular basis.  So let’s get to it.

Running has brought me so many things in my life.  A whole laundry list of personality traits has been drawn out, highlighted, exposed, sharpened, and appreciated.  Many friends and a whole mess of acquaintances in a wonderful shard experience.  Experiences and travels and starting lines to many to list but somehow come back to me when sharing the stories during miles.  Even a little peek into what I might be capable of via a little big thing where I try to move as fast as I can over a set distance.

Continue reading →

Just a little taste.

For the third year in a row, I am proud to be bringing the Trails in Motion Film Tour to the Lincoln Area.  In cooperation with Lincoln Running Company and the Lincoln Track Club we will be hosting a viewing on March 18th.  Doors open at 6pm with a foam rolling clinic, food, coffee, and beer sharing (bring a selection of brews to toss in a cooler and we can share them out).  Raffle prizes will also be handed out with raffle and ticket proceeds going towards the Lincoln Food Bank and LNS Cross Country (75/25 split).

Stay tuned for updates as we get more sponsors and more info.

The Living History Farms Off-Road Race is one of the most unique events in the region.  Its blend of a no-frills feel with a course of indeterminate length over widely ranging terrain (everything from farm roads to corn fields to knee deep creek crossings to treacherous leaf covered trails) and throw in a hearty post-race spread with solid competition in a format of straight up racing and you have the elements for a great race.  This doesn’t even mention the unpredictable weather and the costumed masses.  There are a few feelings that I have come to associate with the 7ish miles in Clive, Iowa (ahh yes, a list.  The low hanging fruit of blogs all over the Web):

• dry socks after you get done
• hot shower when you can find it
• beef stew as soon as you can get to the tents
• satisfaction of earning crockery awards
• running with a bunch of your good friends

That last one has been new for me in recent years.  Not sure how long I have been racing LHF.  Seems my first was in ’06, maybe ’05.  While I have had a number years as a solo racer, my best memories are synced on racing with a team.

Continue reading →

(Writer’s note:  It has been 4 months since my last post.  My apologies.  A busy life, plus some much needed thinking time lead to a lack of insight.  Since I am not one to write for writing sake.  With a head full of ideas I am back at it with this post about starting lines.  I will continue with my update of my favorite things as well.  Look forward to more low hanging fruit with my Top 10 best things about running.)  

I don’t care how good your training cycle went.  What a tune-up race might have told you about your fitness.  The fact that you are exactly at “racing weight” means nothing.  The weather is might be meaningless.  The bottom line of a race, big or small, is that everyone who is serious about the upcoming miles is not completely sure of themselves.  Of course weeks of consistent training, a fast effort a few weeks previous, and dialed in nutrition are going to  put you in a really solid mental and physical state.  But how many times have you controlled those factors to your favor and the race still went sideways?

The point of course is that all committed runners share some version of the same emotion.  Some cover it with self-deprecation at the start line.  Others look to false bravado.  A few use their good luck tokens and routines to get themselves right.  There is a whole litany of weird, sensible, and very personal tricks that racers engage in when prepping for a goal effort.  I have seen wily veterans tie and retie their shoes a certain way.  Borne witness to rookies in their race t-shirts and crooked numbers embrace the excitement of the event.  Everyone is doing something to prepare themselves for what they are about to put themselves through.  You hope, heck you know, you put that work in.  But still, in the back of your head, in the back of all our heads, is that little question mark.  That tickle of what didn’t I do to prepare for this?

Even the most confident of runners has this emotion.  While running is an incredibly simple pursuit,  it is a really remarkable thing that we are able to even partake.  Think of all the factors that come together to get you to that start line; physiological, mental, social, the sacrifices and support of loved ones.  Just so you can run a damn race.  All you want is to run in a way that honors your efforts and those around you.  That honors the runners before and those that will come after.

In his book BRAVING IT, James Campbell is describing the Alaskan mountains and wilderness as he and his daughter fly in to the backcountry.  There is a word he begs from the Inupiat to describe the emotion going through his body looking out the window of the small plane.  UNIARI. No word like it in English, but loosely translated into the phrase “nervous awe”.  How incredible a phrase is that?  How appropriate.  How accurate for the those of us that love to race and know the emotions of a starting line?  It is an odd experience that is both shared with hundreds, yet one that is as individual as the ways we train.

Races since my last update have been sub par feeling.  Thunder Run 5k, Buffalo Run, Woody Greeno XC (8k), and Des Moines Marathon.

Hoping to bring it back around in the following weeks with Halfsy, Nike Regional 5k, Living History Farms, Feast and Feathers Half-Marathon, Holiday Run, and crewing the Hitchcock 100.