Update

So where have I been?

A month ago, my doctor decided it was time for me to try custom orthotics. He took molds of my feet, then said it'd be about 3 weeks.

Today I was able to pick them up! I brought in my running shoes to the doctor's office and got them cut and fit to my shoes. I'm wearing them now. They feel a little weird, but that's normal for the first week or two. I have an appointment in another month to have any remaining pressure ares trimmed down, but already they feel pretty good. I'm going to let my feet get used to these for about a week, but then hopefully I'll be able to go for a run and see how I feel. Wish me luck!

First run back!

Statistics:
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 33:03


Observations:

Well, I finally couldn't wait any longer, and I went for a 3-mile run tonight. Oddly, I don't have much to say. The run felt good. My feet didn't hurt inordinately, at least not any more than my legs. In other words, I'm a little sore following my first run after not running for two and a half months, but hopefully that's all.

Pace-wise I did great! I was right on my 11-minute per mile pace. I wasn't pushing it to stay at that speed, it was just my natural speed. So that's a positive thing. I'll check in with my foot tomorrow and make sure it's ok.


Next:

The tentative plan is to go for a run on Saturday morning. I'm thinking 4 miles. Then re-assess and see about building up some mileage in the next few weeks. If I'm going to do the New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon in February, I don't have tons of time to coast, so hopefully I can be aggressive and careful at the same time. We'll see...

Injury update, shoes, long-term plans

It's been a while since I've updated here, mostly because there hasn't been much to update. But now I do have updates, so here they are.

I still don't feel like my foot is 100%. It's definitely better than it was a few weeks ago, but every now and then, I'll notice something not feeling quite right. I'm still taping it up every day, though, and I think that helps.

I have a follow-up doctor's appointment on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to seeing the ultrasound to see if things are better on the inside.

I went to Fleet Feet on Friday to get new running shows. My doctor had given me a list of shoes he recommended for my foot type, so I took that in. We went through the list and I tried the different brands on. Most of them didn't feel like they fit my foot right, except for one style of Saucony that I liked. Unfortunately, they didn't have that style in my shoe size (I have wide feet). They had to special order them and it's going to take a couple weeks to come in. So I'm going to take that extra time to let my foot recuperate that much more before I start running again.

Well, taking that extra time off means I don't have enough time to train for the Monster Half-Marathon I was planning to run on October 31st (it was going to be pushing it to be ready for 10/31 as it was if I could have run this week). There just aren't enough weeks for me to get back to 13 miles after losing my conditioning during this injury. But, this leaves me with a certain clarity of purpose. My ultimate goal has been to run the New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon in February. So once I get my new shoes and my foot is better, I'm going to make that day 1 of training for the marathon. Once I figure out my training schedule, I'll get that posted up here. Wish me luck!

Injury update - my new doctor!

I met yesterday with Dr. Chin from The Running Institute, recommended by my coach, Jenny Hadfield (who also happens to be a writer for Runner's World magazine, so she knows what she's talking about).

I'm so happy I went there! The first podiatrist I saw, back in July, gave me about 5 minutes of his time, told me to buy inserts, and that was that. In contrast, my visit to Dr. Chin involved an extensive history so they could understand the likely causes of my injury. My foot was then thoroughly examined by hand. Then he did an ultrasound and was able to see that I didn't have plantar fasciitis at all, but a muscle contusion. My plantar fascia tendon was not inflamed, but normal size. But there was a knot of muscle that should not be knotted when I flex my foot, and we could see it on the ultrasound as I flexed my foot. Very cool! I forgot to ask if it was going to be a boy or a girl, though.

Then Dr. Chin taped the arch of my foot with this super-sticky athletic take, Leukotape, that would help spread the impact of my foot across the whole arch as it struck the ground. Then he had me run on a treadmill and filmed it, so we could watch my gait in slow motion. We could see how my foot hit the ground and what my shoes were doing to/for my feet.

As it turns out, Fleet Feet didn't give me the right kind of shoes for my feet, which surprises me, given their supposed expertise. They'd given me stability shoes, when Dr. Chin said a neutral shoe would be best. My previous shoes were apparently giving me too much support in my arch. Thankfully the new pair of shoes I bought are still within the 30-day window, so I can return them. Then when my foot is healed, I can get the right kind of shoe for me. He gave me a list of shoes specifically for me.

My healing regime is three-fold. 1) Tape my foot up every day like he showed me. 2) Massage my foot, especially the heel, to work out that knot. 3) Stretch out my calves, which are apparently fairly tight. I now have a sort of rocking chair cradle for my foot that I stand on that helps me stretch out my calves, one at a time. I'm supposed to do this ten times for each leg, for 20-30 seconds each time. And if I do all that, I should be 85-90% healed in the next two to three weeks and can start running again.

I've got a follow-up visit in a month so Dr. Chin can evaluate my progress.

All in all, I was very pleased with the amount of time and attention that Dr. Chin gave me. In retrospect, it's clear that the other podiatrist I'd been to didn't want to spend the time to properly diagnose me and give me the right advice. So, if your doctor isn't doing everything that Dr. Chin did, find another doctor!

Gotta (re)start somewhere!

Statistics:
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 33:35


Observations:

Since my foot was hurting with the old inserts, on Saturday I went back to Fleet Feet and got re-assessed and ended up getting new shoes and less extreme inserts. So I decided to take them out for a test drive last night. During the day yesterday, I was thinking six miles, but at night I decided that four would be a little smarter for my first run in two weeks. The extra two miles wouldn't do that much for me, and might just make things worse. So I aimed for four miles. After two, my stomach was cramping up, I think from late lunch/early dinner, so I decided to cut my run to 3 miles.

My feet felt pretty good. My foot isn't 100% better yet, but I just couldn't stand to sit around anymore. Of course, I had an old blister on my big toe that wasn't quite healed, apparently, and the run re-aggravated it. I swear, if it's not one thing, it's another. I hope that heals quickly. Neosporin and band-aids to the rescue!

In other news, I signed up for the October 31st running of the Monster Half Marathon! It sounds like a lot of fun, and a good bridge to keep me in shape as I transition to training for February's Mardi Gras Marathon!

I haven't disappeared

I'm not being lazy about blogging. It's just that I haven't run since the half-marathon.

I was feeling good after about a week and was ready to start back, and then my foot started hurting, in the heel. I haven't been doing anything strenuous, just the walking that's required to get through the day. But the front part of my heel, where it meets the arch of my foot hurts now and then, kind of like a bruise, but there's no bruise visible.

So I am waiting for that to go away before I start back. It's one month until the second half-marathon, so there's still time to get some good training in, but I want to not hurt my foot any more before the race.

Sucks!

Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon

Statistics:
Distance: 13.1 miles
Time: 2:46:33


Observations:

Well, my goal was to finish, and I did. After missing almost a month of my training because of my foot injury, I knew that I was going to have to revise my time estimate and goals for the race, so really, my intention was to finish. I knew that I was going to have to push myself, and that the prudent thing to do would be not to run, but I made a decision that I wanted to do it, so I did.

On Sundays, the brown line starts running at 5:00 AM, so there wasn't any need to get up earlier than 4:30. I'd arranged all my clothes and gear the day before, so I wouldn't be scrambling last-minute for stuff. So all I really had to do was get dressed, eat breakfast, and go.

I caught the train on time, and switched to the red line at Belmont, which was packed with runners. I was lucky to get a spot on the train, because at the next stop, the now-full train stopped taking riders. Anyway, I got down to Grant Park and met up with everyone at the CES tent, checked my gear, and got situated.

I went over to my start corral, where I met up with a few other CES people who would be running with the CES pacers. I was going with the 2:30 pace group, which I knew might be a little aggressive, given my lapsed training, but I wanted to see how my legs would hold up. If they did, I'd stick with them. If not, I'd drop back and take it a little slower.

I struck up a conversation with a guy I'd met during training named Hirsch, and so he and I ran together, following the pacers when we got to the starting line.

I could tell pretty soon that I wasn't going to be able to keep up that pace for the whole race. It's interesting - some days my legs feel good and I can settle into a state of modest bodily discomfort, with the knowledge that I can keep that up for however far I need to go. And other days, I can tell not long after I start running that my legs are tired and the energy is going to have to come from somewhere else. Unfortunately, race day was the latter. After about 2 miles, my legs were either going to wake up and let me run, or they were going to stay feeling like they were still waking up. And they felt like they just weren't waking up.

One cool aspect of the race was that they had bands playing at every mile. My favorite was at mile 4. The guy was a tall Norwegian blond guy, dressed in tight white pants, white button-down shirt, and pink tie, singing Queen's "Another one Bites the Dust". While I think I'd have felt differently at mile 12, at mile 4 it was an amusing song to hear, and a real character singing it.

Despite my tired legs, I kept up with Hirsch and the pacers until a little after mile 5. Then I decided that I was going to walk for a minute or two, and told Hirsch that. He was glad, though, because he was thinking the same thing. So we walked together, then went back to running.

We kept that up until about mile 6.5 - the half way point. I needed another walk break, so I told Hirsch I was going to walk, but that he should keep running if he wanted to. So he kept going and I walked. I revised my plan to walking for a minute every mile or two, as needed to give my legs a little rest. So that's what I did. I'd walk through the water stations, get plenty of fluids, cool down with water on my head and down my back, then go again.

Right around mile 9 I made an unpleasant discovery. My nipple guard covering my right nipple had come loose, and I started to feel chaffing. There wasn't anything I could do about it. It didn't really hurt much. I just knew it would hurt later when I showered. But like I said, nothing I could do, so I just kept on. You can see the effect if you click here. Warning, it's not pretty. Sidebar - it looks worse than it actually was. Yes, it stung while showering, and it's kind of tender the day after. But it's not a disfigurement or anything.

I ended up catching up to Hirsch just before mile 10. He'd had to start walking as well, so I guess we equaled it out on time. So we started running together again. We got to about a little after mile 11, I think, and he wanted to walk some more. I was still feeling ok as for running, so I kept going.

About a half mile later, I started to feel some foot pain - right in the bottom of my feet. Not muscle cramping or anything like that. Just...pain. Basically, it felt like someone had been punching me in the feet for two and a half hours, which I guess was pretty close to the truth. Remember, this is the farthest I'd ever run. My previous longest run was 10 miles, so it wasn't unexpected that I'd have some issues with the longer distance. Anyway, I had to do a decent amount of walking for the last mile and a half. I stretched out my legs and feet a bit during this part, and that helped some. Also, a random CES member, a girl named Amy, stopped and walked/ran with me for a little while. We talked, and that helped distract me a bit from my feet.

Finally, I was rounding the bend by the Adler planetarium, which meant I was very close to the home stretch. There was one last uphill climb, which I decided to walk, and then the turn to the finish line. So I made the turn and ran it in to the home stretch. It was a great feeling to cross the finish line. But really, after the initial elation of finishing, I was just focused on recovering. I grabbed my finisher's medal, a bottle of water, an orange wedge, Clif bar, popsicle, and an iced towel, and proceeded to start bringing my body back to normal. My feet still hurt, so I was glad to get back to the CES tent and sit down to stretch for a while.

I have to say - one thing that really helped was running with Hirsch. While I am sure I'd have been able to do the race on my own, it definitely helped having someone with me.

One thing I did well was manage my fuel intake and hydration. The race only offered Cytomax and water, and I always trained with Gatorade. They say you shouldn't try something new on race day, so I wanted to avoid the Cytomax.

So I filled my fuel belt with 32oz of Gatorade (4x8oz containers). And I took 2 packets of Gu with me as well. So basically, at the water stations, I'd drink water and pour water over my head, and between stations, I'd drink about 4 oz of Gatorade. Then when one fuel belt container was empty, I'd fill that with water at the next water station, so I'd always have fluids with me.

I took my first Gu packet around mile 5 and the second one around mile 10. I ran out of Gatorade around mile 9 and just drank water after that.

That seemed to work pretty well for me.

What really sucked was the walk back to the train. When I finished the race, I think the endorphins were still kicking in, helping me ignore my feet. But after resting, I was walking pretty gingerly to get to the red line.

Anyway, that's about it. I'm glad I did it. I'll be more glad to finish recovering and get back to my regular training schedule. I've got my next half marathon in 5 weeks, and I want to be better-trained so I can finish faster and finish in better bodily shape than this time.

From Drop Box

quick update

No run this morning. I got up, got dressed and went out in the rain, only to get to Fleet Feet right as they decided to cancel the run due to rain and the impending more rain and possible lightning.

With the half-marathon a week from tomorrow, I'm not going to be doing any major runs between now and then, Probably just a four-miler tomorrow.

Pay for what you get

Statistics:
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 2:05:28

Observations:

I knew my first long run coming back after my injury was going to be tough, and I was right. Damn, it was tough! It was long. It was taxing. It was hot. But now it's done.

I waited until 9:00 PM to let it cool down as much as it could, and I'm glad I did. It was still about 82 degrees when I started. Maybe about 79 when I finished. But without the sun in the sky, it helped a lot.

Not sure what to say, really, other than it took all my determination to finish. I had to use a lot of mental and physical resolve to get myself through this run, but I'm proud that I did it. The course I ran was five laps of my regular neighborhood 2-mile course. I did that because I knew I was going to have to stop and refill my drink belt, and I wanted to play it safe and be able to do that when I needed to. Anyway, because the course kept taking me past my apartment, it took a gut check every time I passed it, not to let myself call off the last couple laps.

I took the speed very safe. I started out on an 11-minute per mile pace, and I walked 1 minute after most miles. This gave my legs a chance to clear out some of the lactic acid that was building up, and it let me cool down a little, too. I wasn't concerned with time as much as I was completing my goal distance of 10 miles. This ties the longest run I've done yet, and is the longest time I've spent running.

I really would have liked to have gotten in another one or two long runs of 11 and 12 miles, but there's just not enough time before the half-marathon. So the race is definitely going to be a challenge. But I think, come race day, I'll have the fortitude to finish. Cardio-wise, I'm good to go. My pace is generous enough that I could keep going longer than 10 miles. It's clearly going to be a test of leg strength and endurance, though. That's going to be the factor that most affects my performance at this point.

Tomorrow or Friday I'm going to do my best to get to the pool and do some lap-swimming. I'm bound to be sore after this run, but I want to work my muscles out to help clear the lactic acid so Saturday's group run is a little easier.


Next:
Saturday - 6 miles

Good news, everyone!

I saw a podiatrist today, and he agrees that all I have is a case of mile Plantar Fasciitis. Even better news is that he thinks the best thing is an over-the-counter insert from Fleet Feet, not a custom orthotic. For people with high arches like me, the over-the-counter ones are better, he says. The custom ones are more for helpful people with flat feet. So yay for not having to spend money on a custom orthotic. And yay for being able to pick up what I need on the way home from work today!

Two posts for the price of one!

Well, I was out of town last week, so I'm going to combine my run Thursday with this morning's run. Thursday's run was in Central Park, in New York City, and I was backin Chicago for this morning's...attempt.

Statistics:
Thursday Distance: 4 miles
Thursday Time: 43:17

Sunday Distance: 2.3 miles
Sunday Time: 26:20


Observations:

I was in New York all week last week, and I brought along my running gear because I really want to run through Central Park. Also my cousin, Ashley, brought her running gear so we ran together on Thursday morning. Our hotel was on York and 62nd, so we basically ran west along 62nd to the park, which was about a mile, then we just picked a path through the park, aiming to do four miles and end up back at the park entrance, which we did. The GPS says we did 3.68 miles, though with the clouds, trees, and curvy path, I imagine it clipped a fair amount of the run. I think it was pretty close to 4 miles.

The park surprised me a bit because I wasn't expecting it to be as hilly as it was. the streets of New York are pretty flat, so I assumed the park would be as well, but no. Hilly. So that was a new challenge, and I felt a bit sore, but not horribly so. My foot was fine, which is a good sign. All in all it I was really happy with the run and glad that I got the chance to run through the famous Central Park!


Today (Sunday) though, was a different story. I wanted to do the CES group long run yesterday (12 miles) but when I woke up Saturday morning, I felt really stiff and my legs felt pretty tired. I'd been walking and running around New York all week, spending a LOT of time on my feet. I didn't think my legs were ready yesterday, so I decided to postpone for today. I felt a lot better today when I woke up. No soreness or stiffness. The weather report called for rain this morning, so I was looking forward to that.

However, it didn't work out like I'd hoped. First, there was cloud cover but no rain, and I'd woken up later than I planned, so it was hotter than I expected. Nevertheless, I started out at about 9:30. After a half mile in, my legs felt fairly sore, but they normally do during the first mile or so. After the second mile, though, it was pretty clear that my legs weren't yet recovered from New York. There was no way I was going to be able to do anywhere near 12 miles this morning. Then, the sun came out, and I knew I should stop. I could have pressed on for a few more miles, but I decided to conserve my legs and make another attempt at a longer distance on Tuesday or Wednesday, somewhere between 10 and 12 miles.

My next group long run will only be 6 miles on Saturday, so I'm not too worried about doing the 10 to 12-mile long run with only a few days until Saturday.

So, I'm bummed out that I wasn't ready today for a long run, but I feel confident that a couple more days rest will leave my legs refreshed and ready for the last long run before the Rock N Roll Half Marathon on August 1st.


Next:
Tuesday - 10 to 12 miles

Best. Run. Ever!

Statistics:
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 44:00

*No map/stats - pouring rain tonight so I didn't want to take my phone out where it'd get wet. Besides, with the clouds, I wouldn't have gotten a GPS signal anyway.


Observations:

I enjoyed tonight's run SO much! It was a combination of things that led to it. First, the fact that I was running at all was a major reason. Not having run for the last three weeks was really getting me down. I was hating the fact that I had been so good about sticking to this regime, only to have an injury keep me from being able to keep it up. I had been contemplating doing yesterday's 11-mile group run with CES; I told myself that if my foot started hurting, that I'd just stop and turn around. But I knew that with my whole group there, I wouldn't want to stop, so I decided that discretion was the better part of valor and stayed away from the temptation.

But I was feeling good today. I was out at the park all afternoon, and I wore my running shoes and socks to see how my foot felt in my running shoe. It felt good, and I even ran on it for a little while to test it out and felt good about it. Also, it was raining pretty constantly tonight, and the temperature was a really comfortable 70 degrees, and it just seemed like it'd be fun to run in the rain.

So, putting that all together, after I got about a mile into the run, knowing my foot wasn't going to collapse on me, I just started feeling ecstatic! It was dark, I was running in the rain, soaked, not caring a bit about it, my body feeling good, and it was just awesome!

Also, I could not have paced myself better. I was aiming for 11-minute miles, and I was so on target with my pace, that when I stopped my watch at the end, it was at 44:00 exactly! Yeah, I'm pretty awesome like that. ;)

Also, props must be given to Fleet Feet for fitting me perfectly with shoes and to Balego running socks (and myself for choosing the right size socks to fit me). By the end of the run, my shoes and socks were drenched, but my feet were so secure that I didn't get a single blister!


Next:
It's a surprise! ;)

Into the deep end

I still haven't gotten back to running. My foot is definitely feeling better than before, but still the pain isn't entirely gone, and I don't want to do anything to prolong this injury.

After talking with my doctor, I think the problem is Plantar Fasciitis. I have the names of some podiatrists I can see, but I don't have an appointment set yet. I'm going to set one up tomorrow for as soon as I can see one. I don't think I need the doctor to heal, as I'm doing that on my own, but I might need one to tell me whether or not I'll need an orthotic insert to prevent this problem from returning.

So, to try to keep up my cardio fitness, I went to the Welles Park gym this evening to get a swimming pass for the summer and went for my first swim. I've never swam laps before, so it was definitely a learning experience. I had to re-learn how to breathe while swimming, find a rhythm that met my oxygen needs and worked in time with my arms cycling. Eventually I got the rhythm down,though. Next time I'll get some ear plugs, though, because I got real tired of shaking out the water after every lap.

The swim wasn't hard on my legs at all, but my arms were certainly working. And I was breathing deeply between laps, which is definitely something I wanted. Not too hard, but enough to get my heart rate up. I swam for about 45 minutes and called it a day. I figured that was a good first day. I estimate I'll be going for the full hour on my later swims. I didn't keep track of how many laps I swam, mostly because I forgot to start counting. I was just eager to get in the water and go. Also, I don't know how long the pool is, so I have no clue how far I swam. I'll see about finding that out next time.

The plan is to keep swimming for my cross-training on days that I don't run, so this isn't just while I'm rehabbing my foot. The plan is to make it a permanent part of my training.

But definitely ear plugs before next time. ;)

Foot update

An update on my foot. Well, the pain hasn't gone away. It's basically the same as it has been for the last week. Slightly better than the first day I had it, but not gone away like I'd hoped. I haven't run now for a week and a half, which really sucks. I really don't want to get behind on my training, but if it turns out that this is a stress fracture, then I really do need to stay off the foot until it is healed.

The bright side is that my half marathon is still one month away, so there is time to get back up to speed. But only if I finish healing, like...now.

The frustrating thing for me right now is that the foot specialist my coach recommended can't see me for two weeks, which is ridiculous. I have an injury now, not in two weeks. I suppose next time I should plan my injury in advance when the guy is available. Can you tell I'm pissed off?

Anyway, all I can do right now is stay off the foot as much as possible. So no running. I still need my foot to get to and from work, and to move around while at work. A pair of crutches might help me keep the weight off it, but again, not until I can see a doctor. I'm going to try swimming to keep in cardiovascular shape in the meantime. Tomorrow will be my first opportunity to try it out. I hope it works out.

Ugh!

Pain in my foot

Just in case anyone's wondering why I haven't updated my blog since Saturday, it's because I haven't run since then.

I've had two pains in my right foot - one in my heel and one where my little toe meets my foot. Same pain both places. Dull pain when I put weight on it, especially barefoot. It's not gone down much in the last few days, and I'm not even sure I'm going to run tomorrow morning, though I really really want to. We'll see.

My coach didn't think it was anything serious a couple days ago, though I'm going to update her today and see what she says.

Very frustrating.

Saturday morning 9-miler

Statistics:
Distance: 9 miles
Time: unknown*


Observations:

Well, I'm glad we get started at 6:30 AM, because it's supposed to get up to 90 today. Our path today took us south down the lakefront path from North Ave. almost to Soldier Field, and back. It's a nice, scenic route right along the lake for sections, but also a lot less shady than the northbound path we'd been taking on previous weeks. I went through a lot of water and Gatorade today, but finished ok. I was definitely more spent today than I was for the Soldier Field 10-miler a few weeks ago.

The path itself is more narrow than the one we'd been taking, and it's bounded often by rails and walls, so we had to go single file for several sections and were on our toes for other runners and bikers. But all in all, it wasn't too difficult to negotiate the people.

Definitely glad it's over, though. I'm gonna eat some jambalaya and rest for a while.

*BTW, for some reason my GPS couldn't get a fix on the satellites. I guess the skies were just TOO clear. ;) So it only recorded a little over 6 miles of our run. I think it missed the first 3 miles, but you can still see the full length of the route on the map since it caught the entire return trip.

Next:
Monday - 45 minutes

45-minute "easy" run

Statistics:
Distance: 4.3 miles
Time: 45:22


Observations:

Our group run tonight was supposed to be 45 minutes at whatever your long run pace is. If you do the math, you'll see that I did more of a 10:30 pace than 11:00. But, the good news is that I was pretty consistent. I ran 22:30 out, then turned around, came back, and stopped my recording. It took me about 10 seconds to actually turn off my recording, so I was pretty good at keeping the same pace on the second half of the run.

The odd thing is that I was more tired after this run than I was on Saturday after running 8 miles. I'm going to attribute that to going through a full day of work. Even if my job isn't very physical, it takes energy out of you.

Anyway, that's all for today. I'm hungry, and the water's boiling for my spaghetti.


Next:
Saturday - 9 miles

Extra, extra!

I don't have a scale at home, and I generally don't keep close track of my weight. However, while at a friend's house this weekend, I used his scale and weighed myself to find that I actually weigh five pounds more than I did when I started running/working out this year.

I don't feel like I'm eating more, and I'm certainly burning more calories with all the running, and yet I gained five pounds. I'm kind of hoping that it's because I'm adding muscle while reducing fat. Muscle is more dense than fat, so if I'm trading one for the other, I could gain weight from that.

Still, kind of disheartening.

On top of that, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to run tonight. My legs are still somewhat sore from Saturday morning's run, and running too soon is just going to prolong recovery. On the other hand, I can't be skipping my Monday run every week, can I? Maybe I can get into the habit of swimming at the gym instead of running on Monday, so I still get my cardio done but without the impact that running is causing to my legs. That might be the best thing to do.

Muggy run, but done

Statistics:
Distance: 8 miles
Time: Approx. 1:30:00*

*It looked like rain this morning, so I didn't take my gps/phone with me to track my route/time. We were on an 11-minute per mile pace, though, so figure about one hour thirty minutes.


Observations:

This was a gut-check morning for me. I went to Ribfest last night, ate yummy pork products, and drank beer. Didn't get to bed until about 12:30, and I didn't sleep well, either. So getting up at 5:30 this morning was pretty ugly. I felt like a mouse trying to push a car through molasses. Plus, the weather was 75 and very humid, the combination of which made it the most challenging weather we'd have to face yet, and I wasn't looking forward to that.

But I made it out of bed, scraped together my stuff and carted myself off to the train to get down to Old Town for the run.

The run itself started out as expected. I was sweating a lot, trying to keep my fluid intake up without running out too soon. Thankfully, Fleet Feet had a water/Gatorade station set up about 1.5 miles in to our run, so we could also top up our bottles there. Also thankfully, the weather gave us a bit of a break. It was very overcast, and looked like it was threatening rain. A breeze came up from the lake that was about 10 degrees cooler than the ambient air. It didn't last but it helped.

The path was crowded today, too. CARA (Chicago Area Runners Association) started their training today, so we frequently had to contend with other groups and stay alert. Really, though, the groups aren't so much of a problem. They know path etiquette. It's the single runners, or the groups of three that take up the whole path and don't know that they should collapse down when overtaking/being overtaken by another group. Add to that mix the bikers trying to thread the needle between two packs, and it makes for a crowded path. We got through it without incident, though. Like I said, just being alert is really all there is to it.

On the plus side, the 8 miles wasn't that hard, really. Sure it took a long time, but I feel good about my pace, and can sustain it through the whole run without difficulty, which is what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm not going to say it's easy, because it's certainly tiring and sweaty, but neither am I destroyed at the end of the run.

Oh, and I tried the Gatorade "recovery 03" formula drink (strawbetty/kiwi flavor). It's got protein added, which would help with muscle recovery after a run. Also, it's awful! Tastes really bad. I'll stick to protein-rich food after my runs, thanks.


Next:
Monday - 45 minutes (about 4 miles probably)

Chip runs, Blackhawks win!

Statistics:
Distance: 4.2 miles
Time: 45:45


Observations:

After all the craziness of last night, I completely forgot to write up my run report. For those unaware, last night was the NHL finals Game 6, and if the Blackhawks won that game, they'd win the Stanley Cup!

I had my group run scheduled for 6:30, and basically the deal is you just run for the prescribed time, not any set distance. My group was supposed to do a 45-minute run. It's not as organized as the Saturday runs, where they set specific pace groups. This was just a less formal run.

So I set out following some people that seemed to be on pace with me. I didn't know anyone in the group, but I eventually partnered up with a girl named Cory that was running at my pace. So that was nice, to have someone to talk to during the run.

It was pretty hot, at about 80 degrees and sunny. I had forgotten to bring my fuel belt, and I forgot to drink any water at the start, so I had to resort to the water fountain on the course. I ended up just fine, but I'd have been in less discomfort if I'd had more water. Live and learn, I guess.

Anyway, when I get back to Fleet Feet, the Blackhawks game is on their TVs so I watched a few minutes before I met up with Jess and her friend. I hitched a ride with them back to my neighborhood to watch the rest of the game. And the Blackhawks ended up winning, so that finished out the day pretty nicely. Congrats, Hawks!


Next:
Saturday - 8 miles

Got me a fuel belt!

Statistics:
Distance: 5 miles
Time:54:33


Observations:

I ended up not running yesterday with the group. My knees had been feeling kind of weird on Friday, so I was a little concerned about that. Plus, I ended up having to work on Saturday morning, and it was gonna be iffy if I'd be able to get home, shower, change, and get down to work in time. So I went today instead. I'd have preferred to run in the evening when it's cooler, but there's a Blackhawks game coming and I'm not missing that!

So I went out today at 11:00 instead. Weather was upper 60's, so not horribly hot, empirically, thought the sun was out, and it definitely felt hot. I picked up a new Fuel Belt this week, so today was my first day to try it out. Long story short, I like it. It feels comfortable on me, with the adjustable velcro that lets me make it just the right length. It's the 4-bottle version, which will hold four 8-ounce bottles for 32 ounces. I split them, half Gatorade and half water this time. The water was nice to have because I could splash some on my head and neck to cool down.

The good news is my legs felt fine after resting last week. No shin problems at all, and that's a big relief. So the rest did good for my legs. But I think I paid for it a bit in fatigue. Part of that is surely the heat and sun, but I think some of that was the fact that I hadn't run in 7 days (besides the 1-mile aborted attempt I made on Monday). So just for that reason, it's good to have the first run behind me so I can be back in the habit of running again.


Next:
Monday - 45 minutes easy run

No running til Saturday

I checked with my running coach about the pain in my shins, and she recommended I refrain from running for a week, so I won't be running until Saturday morning's 5-mile run. The pain was most likely from not taking enough time to recover following the longer 10-mile run I did Saturday. So I just needed a few extra days to recover from that. There won't be any huge increases in mileage from here on out, so hopefully that means that recovery won't take me away from running my scheduled runs in the future.

Tried a run today

Well, the plan today was an easy 40 minute run, but it didn't turn out that way. I waited until the evening to give my legs the most time to rest up since Saturday morning, but they just weren't ready yet.

I had gone about a mile when the outside of my shins started to really burn. Not just the normal wake-up-my-legs strain, but something more. I stopped running, stretched out my shins as best I could (they were really stiff) and walked back home, slowly. Even walking was aggravating my shins.

So I guess I just wasn't ready to get back running after the longer distance from Saturday morning. I'm going to lay off until Wednesday evening's group run.

Boo!

Soldier Field 10-mile

Statistics:
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1:49:37


Race Recap:

I managed to get myself to bed early on Friday night despite being at a Beatles Rock Band party that was lots of fun. Good thing, though, because I had to wake up at 5:00 AM, which isn't easy. I ate a small breakfast, grabbed my stuff, and headed out to pick up my friend, Mel, who was also running. It was nice that there was a lot of parking at the stadium, because driving to the race was much easier than taking the CTA and walking a mile from the Roosevelt station.

Got to the stadium at about 6:15 (race started at 7:30) so I had some time to look around. This was actually my first time to Soldier Field. Seemed appropriate I was visiting there on Memorial Day weekend.

I went inside the stadium and got this shot:

As you can see, they hadn't even hoisted the finish line apparatus yet. Thankfully, they seem to have finished it before the racers got there.

Finally it was time to line up in the start corrals. First of all, the weather was absolutely beautiful! Clear skies, temperature in the mid-60's, light breeze. So here I am waiting during the pre-race program. There was a nice bit honoring our soldiers on Memorial Day weekend, and a really beautiful playing of Taps by two bugles, that felt particularly poignant this morning.

Eventually, it was race time, and the first two start corrals were sent off. We in the open corral started out shamble to the start line. Eventually I reach the start line and the race is off!

There was no timer visible at the start line, so when I got to mile 1, the clock read 28:30 but I had no idea what my first mile split was. Thankfully, I'd started my gps tracker right at the start, and it said I'd been running for 11:30. That was slower than I wanted to be running (I estimated somewhere between 10:30 and 11-minute miles) but at the start, it's so crowded that I basically had to go at whatever pace the crowd would let me.

Then I hit the first water/Gatorade station, and that was kind of annoying as well. There were not enough tables, or the volunteers weren't fast enough at refilling cups, so I had to wait about half a minute to get a cup of Gatorade. The Shamrock Shuffle didn't have this problem despite having over twice as many runners.

Generally, the first two miles of the race were a little taxing, as it always seems to take a couple miles for my body to start delivering energy to my legs at the rate they require. Thankfully by mile 3, I was back to feeling good, and was basically in cruise control, just enjoying the nice weather. Then, amazingly, I started seeing the front-runners on their return trip, so I thought I'd grab a shot.

Pretty great shot for a camera phone taking a picture while I'm running, don't you think? (OK, I slowed to a walk to grab the shot...)

Anyway, that's basically the way it went for the next few miles. I hit the turn-around point in another couple miles, still feeling good. There was a guy there with a mic and a sound system shouting encouragement to the racers, and they were playing Chelsea Dagger, the song that the Chicago Blackhawks always play when the Hawks score a goal, so that was a nice little pump-up moment.

Thankfully, the water stations got a bit less crowded on the back half of the race. I guess by then, the crowd was spread out more, so the cup-fillers could keep up. I was basically doing miles between 10:30 and 11:00, based on the timers I saw at the mile markers. I think I tended towards the 10:30 side in the middle miles, making up for the slow first mile and the time it was taking at the water stations.

Then I hit the 8-mile mark, which was significant because 8 miles was the farthest I'd ever run in a single stretch before. I guess my legs knew that, too, because that's when they started feeling a bit more tired. At that point, though, I didn't care because I knew that I was just 2 miles from the finish. I wasn't slowing down, I was just feeling it in my legs a bit. The temperature was climbing a bit, too, probably in the mid 70's at that point. There was a nice breeze off the lake, though. Really not uncomfortable at all. And then a little after the 8-mile mark I saw my friend, Fuzzy, and I ran with him for a little while. 

Then I hit mile 9 and I could easily see Soldier Field in front of me, which felt really great. I think I might have quickened my pace just a little bit. I didn't want to sprint it out and screw anything up, so I just kept cruising, but it definitely felt good to know I was almost done.

As we worked our way down the road  alongside the stadium, two things happened. One, I saw some finishers walking around, and they had medals around their necks. I didn't know we were getting medals! I was excited about that. And then I heard the following announcement on the loudspeakers: Attention racers, the course is now closed. The course warning system is now at Condition: Black. Please stop running, and walk through the finish.

BULL...SHIT! If they were going to stop me from running through to the finish, they were gonna have to tackle me. Nobody that I saw stopped running, not while we were right alongside the stadium. I thought it was a pretty bad over-reaction. If running at 75 degrees with moderate humidity and a nice breeze are race-closing conditions, nobody in New Orleans would ever get to run! I'm curious to know if there was something more to it, but if it was just concerns about heat, then it was really a bad overreaction.

That silliness aside, I soon turned left and entered the belly of the stadium. Then, one more left turn and I could see the field from the tunnel. Then before I knew it, I was on the grass of Soldier Field, and the stadium loudspeakers were playing "Sweet Home Chicago", which was an awesome song to hear, coming home to the finish.

And then I was done! According to the chip timer, I finished in 1:49:38, which is just a hair under 11 minutes per mile. That's just about what I figured. I think without the delays of the crowd and the water stations, I could have done a 10:30 pace without a problem. But all in all, I was satisfied with my time and the way I felt at the end of the race.

Walking through the finish area, I picked up one of these beauties:

I wore it all day! :)

Finished the 10-mile!

Full race recap coming in a while. I've got a pretty busy day, so I need some time to sit down and write it all out and upload some pictures. Just wanted for now to say that I did finish, and it was a great race!

CES 5K run

Statistics:
Distance: 5K / 3.1 Miles
Time: 28:24

*no map today - I forgot to turn on the tracking. Oops. At least I still got an accurate time!


Observations:

I am so psyched about the 5K race we did today! After Monday's run, I was really anticipating a slower run today. The coaches had asked us to predict our times, and I had made what I felt was an aggressive prediction of 28:30, which didn't take into account the hotter temperatures of this week.

So I set out on the run at what I knew was a challenging pace, but one that I thought I had a decent chance of sustaining. Not 100% sure, because I wanted to challenge myself, but not unrealistic either.

I wasn't sure whether or not I should bring my water belt, but I was really glad I did. I drained that sucker dry!

It was a little weird to not have mile splits. I had no idea if I was going faster or slower than I intended. But when I got to the half-way turnaround, I felt good because it seemed sooner than I thought it would be.

On the second half of the course, I tried to pick off runners one by one. I slowly reeled them in, not so much because I was increasing my pace - I felt like I was still being consistent - but maybe they were slowing down and I wasn't. Anyway, as a point of pride, nobody passed me after the turnaround. :)

I was definitely ready for the run to be over when I got to the last quarter mile or so. I have a way of measuring my breathing by seeing how many steps I take for each inhale and how many for each exhale. At the start, it was 3 steps in, 3 steps out. At the finish, it was closer to 1 in, 1 out. But then it was over, and I found out my time was 28:24! So that was a pretty great feeling because 1) I had accurately predicted my time to within 6 seconds, and 2) the prediction was one I'd considered aggressive for me, even had the temperature been cooler than it was. So I really couldn't be more pleased with the outcome today.


Street Shout-out:
Shout-out to the flock of geese that decided to migrate across our path in the middle of the race. I was happy to see them all safely on the other side of the path by the time I passed by on the return leg.


Next:
Saturday - Soldier Field 10-Mile race!

Thanks, Duncan Keith!

Statistics:
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 42:15


Observations:

Phew, it was hot today! Temperature played a significant factor in today's run. While my legs felt fine, I was definitely breathing harder and working harder to keep running. While last Thursday's 4-miler felt decent, today was a challenge. I had to take a walk for half a block at the end of mile 2.

I was really tempted to call off my run after my first 2-mile lap, but I managed to keep going, thanks to the Chicago Blackhawks, specifically number 2, Duncan Keith. See, he took a puck to the face yesterday in the Blackhawks playoff game 4. The puck took out SEVEN of his teeth, and guess what? He STAYED IN and finished the game, helping Chicago go on to win their first appearance in the Stanley Cup finals since 1992. Anyway, the guy is a hoss! So I figured, if he can play hockey after losing seven teeth, the least I could do was run one more 2-mile lap.

I should have taken my water bottle with me. Normally I don't take it unless I'm going 5 miles or more. But I should have thought more about the temperature and how much more I'd be sweating. Oh well, live and learn. Also, now I have a better idea what to expect on Wednesday night for the timed 5K race. I am a bit concerned that the heat is going to affect what kind of time I get, but there's not much I can do about it. Plus, it's only going to get hotter, so getting my first timed run in the heat will probably be more accurate in the long run.

One nice thing was that a couple people were watering their lawns with lawn sprinklers, which provided a refreshing blast of cold water to the face.


Next:
Wednesday - 5K CES race

Foggy day

Statistics:
Distance: 6 miles
Time: 1:06:00

*Sorry, due to thick fog, my GPS couldn't get a lock on any satellites, so there's no tracking today.


Observations:

Really foggy this morning! Couldn't see very far, especially close to the lake. It was kind of neat, though. Definitely gave a different feel to the morning as opposed to last week. One difference was that we were all getting really sweaty by the end of the run. I guess the high humidity was the cause. But it was still cool, so that was nice. I'm trying to remember to enjoy the cool weather while it lasts!

Otherwise, not much to report. Run was easy, as it should have been. It does feel good to be calling a 6-mile run "easy".

I'm looking forward to next week. Monday will be my normal run, but Wednesday after work, they're timing us for a 5k, so I'll get to run hard and see how much I can chop my time down. They can use my time to figure out what kind of pace I should run for longer races. Then, Saturday is the Soldier Field 10-miler. Really looking forward to that!


Next:
Monday - 40 minute run

Running in the Rain

Statistics:
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 39:51


Observations:

Light drizzle throughout the run, but not unpleasant. I didn't end up running yesterday, so I had to make up for it today. 6:00 AM at Diversey and Lakeshore is just too early for me, and I had tickets to see Conan O'Brien last night at 7:30 PM so a run after work, before the show wasn't really feasible either.

Anyway, I was thinking a 10:30 pace would be good, so I set out at what I thought was that pace. Turned out I hit mile 1 at 9:55. I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep that pace up, but I thought I'd try and see what happened. At mile 2, I was at 20:10, so I'd lost a few seconds, but pretty much still on pace. Mile 3 was at 30:15, and at that point I decided I wanted to finish in under 40 minutes, so I just turned it up ever so slightly and brought it home in 39:51, which felt really good to do!

There's just something about the first 2.5 to 3 miles that sucks, though. It's like my legs are still working out how best to distribute the workload. I'll get slight cramps or pains here and there, which end up working themselves out. Nothing bad, just little facts of life for a runner, I guess. Mile 4 felt pretty good, though. Partly because I was focused on maintaining my pace, but partly because I think my legs had finally worked out which muscles would be doing what.


Next:
Saturday - 6 miles

Run long and prosper

Statistics:
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 41:56


Observations:

If you look to the right, you'll see a little box with a recent course list. So, instead of me having to put a link into every post, the links will be right there every time (as long as I continue to use this particular GPS app). Also, at the moment, their website seems to be down, but hopefully that is temporary.

So that's nerd exhibit A. Exhibit B is the GPS tracker itself, that I've been using since I started running. And tonight, just for a change of pace, I decided to load the Star Trek movie onto my iPod and listen to that while I ran. I will submit that as exhibit C. And now I'm blogging about my run - exhibit D.

As for the run, it was so-so. I didn't do a very good job of keeping a consistent pace. First mile was about 10 minutes, the second was about 11 minutes. The last two averaged to about 10:30. It's not too big a deal, though. The point of my training group is that I'll learn how to pace myself. That will happen over time. The point of today is basically to log my miles to improve my endurance and strength, and I accomplished that.


Next:
Wednesday - 40 minutes

Group run number 1

Statistics:
Distance: 5 miles
Time: 57:11

Stats/Track map


Observations:

Well, getting out of bed at 5:30 is not easy, especially when I wasn't able to get to bed early. The problem is that I wasn't tired early, so I fell asleep somewhere around 1:00. So, not much sleep.

But, I did get myself going, ate a quick small breakfast, and jumped on the train. I was supposed to get there at 6:15, but my train got there around 6:25, so I was a bit hurried. Not a big deal, though. I got to Fleet Feet by 6:30, stashed my gear, and headed out to the start, which is near the Ben Franklin statue in the park (see the map). We had a short introduction, and grouped up according to our pace teams.

The weather was just about perfect. Mid 50's, partly-cloudy, pretty. So we started heading out to the path and started our run. The way it works is you run two-by-two with your group so there's room on the path for people to pass if necessary. The first person I was next to was listening to her headphones, so I didn't really have anyone to talk to, which kind of sucked. Thankfully, we got shuffled around after a mile or so, and I ended up talking to a guy named Bernie. After talking for a while, I came to discover that Bernie was a contestant on The Biggest Loser a couple years ago, which was pretty awesome. He'd lost 130 pounds! I thought that was really impressive. Now he travels around the country giving talks about motivation and fitness and lifestyle. He's training for his third marathon! Wow! After the half-way turnaround I got to talk to someone else, who turned out to be a producer for WGN radio, and it turned out we had some mutual friends in the improv world, so that was cool.

Anyway, it was an easy run. I chose the 11:00 per mile pace group because they said that the Saturday runs should be easy. They're just about logging distance, not pushing speed. I think we ended up doing more like 11:30, according to my timer, but that's not a big deal. It just felt really good to be out by the lake, running with the group. I'm already looking forward to Wednesday's group run. Normally I'll be doing the 6:30 PM group run, but I have tickets to go see Conan O'Brien that night, so I am going to try to make the 6:00 AM morning run. Crazy, I know, but you gotta do what you gotta do!


Next:
Monday - 40 minutes easy run

Timing

Statistics:
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 42:15

Stats/Track map


Observations:

I debated whether or not I should run today or wait until tomorrow. My training schedule does allow for adjustments like that. The main reason I considered waiting was that I was feeling a little twinge in my left ankle from my run Monday or Saturday or both. Running tomorrow would have given me two days of recovery since my last run, but then would give me only one day of recovery before my 5-miler on Saturday morning. That, plus the weather says it's supposed to storm all tomorrow. Actually, it was also supposed to storm tonight, but that hasn't happened yet. Anyway, I decided to go today and then give my legs two days to rest until Saturday.

I didn't do the cross-training yesterday, but my training program does allow for me to take a rest day instead of cross-training. Since I'd been pushing my long run distance lately, my legs have needed more recovery, and so I am electing not to cross-train this week. I'll decide what to do next week once I get to talk to a coach on Saturday.

My big question for them is how far I should be running. I'd been working on increasing my endurance so I can complete the Soldier Field 10-miler on the 29th, but my training program only calls for 5 and 6-mile long runs between now and then. So I want to ask if I should increase those long runs to better prepare for Soldier Field. If I do that, I may go with rest days instead of cross-training. But like I said, I'll wait on that until I talk to my coach on Saturday.

Oh yeah, so my run tonight. 4 miles. the only remarkable thing was that my lower legs got really tight on mile 3. By outer shins and calf muscles just felt tight with a little burning (lactic acid build-up I think). They felt better during mile 4, and they felt pretty normal on my warm-down and post-run stretch. Still, not pleasant on an otherwise good run.

And it's starting to rain now. Good timing!


Next:
Saturday - 5 miles - my first group run! Looking forward to it! :)

CES Run 1 done

Statistics:
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 41:10

Stats/Track map


Observations:

Wasn't sure how today was going to play out. I had a twinge in my left calf from Saturday's long run. I was debating doing my cross-training workout today and running tomorrow instead, but decided I wanted to push through it and see how it felt to run today (after looking at the weather forecast).

The training program called for 40 minutes of running, rather than a prescribed distance. Knowing my runs lately, I figured that'd be a little under 4 miles. Maybe 3.5 or so. Anyway, I set out at a brisk pace, but nothing too taxing. At my first mile marker, I had done about 10:10. I felt like I'd slowed down a bit for the second mile, but when I hit that distance, I was still cruising at about that pace, perhaps a bit slower with a 10:20 or so.

The last two miles also felt good. I was able to keep that pace up without difficulty, and I think I could have done two more miles at that pace had that been on the agenda. So all in all, a good run. Oh, and I did it without bringing my water bottle, so that's pretty cool.

OK, an added bonus. On my run, I saw this, and I had to stop and take a picture.

I believe there may be a bucket. I do not believe it contains honey. This ranks right up there with previous favorite port-o-potty names "Lepre-Can" and "Drop Zone".


Next:
Tuesday - cross-training (strength training/weight lifting)

CES Training Week 1 of 19

Here's my training schedule for the upcoming week:

Sunday:
Rest/stretch

Monday:
Run - 40 minutes - stretch

Tuesday:
Cross-train - 30-40 minutes - stretch

Wednesday:
Group run - 40 minutes - stretch

Thursday:
Cross-train - 30-40 minutes - stretch

Friday:
Rest/stretch

Saturday:
Group run - 5 miles - stretch


I get the feeling stretching is important. ;)

Highs and Lows

Statistics:
Distance: 8 miles
Time: 1:28:55

*No track map this time. There was a problem with my track mapper app. Thankfully it still recorded time accurately, but the distance was way off. If you're really curious, lemme know and I'll send you the map link.


Observations:

Preamble to the run - I ambled my way down to Piper's Alley in Old Town at 8:00 this morning for the CES (Chicago Endurance Sports) packet pickup/orientation. This is the running/training group I joined (see last entry). It's a pretty cool organization and I was pretty pumped to get my training schedule and other info. I'm looking forward to next Saturday for our first group run! I already picked up some good tips from the meeting today that I employed on my long run this afternoon. So let's get to that.

The weather today has been kind of ADHD. It started out overcast in the 40's this morning, but by the afternoon it was 50's and sunny. Then overcast and drizzly, then sunny, then raining. I'll get to that.

I ended up waiting until the afternoon to go because the weather was supposed to improve. It did, somewhat. It was in the 50's instead of the 40's, but still really windy. I stepped outside, then came back in to grab my running windbreaker.

For the 8-miler, I decided to do 4 laps of my 2-mile course. I thought about doing two 3-mile laps plus one 2-mile, but somehow that feels longer in my head. It feels easier when I can tic off the laps in my head.

So I did the first two miles, and that's when I realized that the mapper was acting weird. Also, after I got my body warmed up, I was a bit too hot with the windbreaker, so I ducked in to drop off the jacket at my apartment then came right back out to continue.

The first 4 miles went fine. One thing I learned this morning is that you're supposed to specifically run slower on your long runs so that your body can recover easier by your next run. So I didn't push pace at all. I gave myself an easy pace for the first 4.

Starting at mile 5, it began to sprinkle...weirdly. The wind was clearly blowing from the north, which is where the rain was coming from, but looking above me, it was blue skies above me and to the north. The only clouds were slightly south of me. I guess that's just evidence of the complexity of physics in a complex entropic system.

After I finished mile 5, I noticed that my body definitely felt more tired than it had been during the first 4 miles. Not so much that I needed to stop, but enough that it sucked a little more. Also, during mile 6, it rained. Not sprinkles, but moderate rain. It was cold, windy, and raining. When it was happening, though, I was determined that I would finish my distance. So in a bizarre way, it gave me strength to finish since I was now running for spite of mother nature.

I guess she gave up because the rain was gone by the time I finished mile 6. But that's when I had my first real gut check moment in a while. I'd gotten about a quarter mile into the last lap and my lower calf in my left leg started to cramp up a bit. I'd noticed earlier that I'd been scuffing the soles of my shoes earlier, which isn't a good thing, so I had been consciously avoiding that, and that put extra pressure on my calves, I guess. So I had to stop and stretch them out for a minute. But then I kept going.

After 7 miles I was pretty ready to be done, but I knew I could do another mile, so I did, and I'm glad I finished it. I'll still have two more miles to go on May 29th for the Soldier Field run, but I'll be ready for that. It turns out that the race is actually part of the training program, so that's cool!

I'm pretty sore and stiff right now. I'm stretching my muscles every now and then, and I'll be walking some tonight, which should help. Mostly, though, I'm just really glad I finished my distance, a new record distance for me!


Next

I now have an actual schedule from my training group. Next workout is Monday - 40 minutes of easy running. Sounds nice... :)

Unglamorous topic

Statistics:
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 41:11

Stats/Track map


Observations:

Good run, yada yada. Chilly, yada yada. Progress, yada yada.

OK, now that that's out of the way, I'm going to talk about a topic that is not pretty, but present nonetheless. Snot. Where the crap is it all coming from?!? (yes, my nose, I know). When I run, it's like my nose knows and it decides to run, too. I don't know if it's the increased breathing I'm doing through my nose, or increased heart rate that brings more fluid to the mucus glands, or increased internal temperature, or WHAT, but damn, I wish it would slow down. I'm going to have to start carrying kleenex.

Otherwise a good run. If you check the map link, it says I only did 3.85 miles, but that's incorrect. I did a route with more turns than normal, so the GPS clipped the corners. I've established that each lap is exactly 2 miles, so I did 4 miles, and my pace was about 10:17 per mile, which feels good. I'm still getting used to that general level of discomfort and coming to terms that I'm going to have to put up with it for longer and longer amounts of time.

However, I did do something today that should help. I joined a running group. The Chicago Endurance Sports group, CES, is a training group that works with people for distance running. My friend Jessica has been running with them since last year and she really likes the group. They do both marathon and half-marathon training, and so I joined a training program specifically designed for completing both the Rock & Roll Half-Marathon and the Chicago Half-Marathon. I'm going to be getting an individually-tailored training plan. I'll be going on two group runs per week (plus normal solo runs). I'll have coaches to talk to and ask questions of. I think it's going to really be helpful. Plus there's the social aspect of it. It'll be nice to meet some new people. Yes, it's a bit pricey, but I'll be getting a lot out of it, so I feel like it's worth it.

Orientation is Saturday morning, so I'll know more about my training plan then. Oh, yeah, that reminds me...the Saturday morning group runs start at 6:30 AM. I know, right? Me waking up early...to run. Hah!


Next:

Saturday - 8 miles

First run with a buddy

Statistics:
Distance: 3 miles + 2 miles
Time: 29:27 + 24:21

Stats/Track map 1

Stats/Track map 2


Observations:

As you can see, I split my run into two parts. The reason is that my friend, Amy, wanted to come along. She's a newer runner and didn't want to go as far and as fast as I have been running, so I had her join me for the end of my run. I did 3 miles on my own at a fast pace, then Amy and I did two miles at a more moderate pace.

I'm pretty happy with my results today. I did 3 miles in 29:27, which is the first time I've broken 30 miles for 3 miles since high school! It was definitely a more aerobic-intensive run than normal, but my pace was consistent, and I feel good about it. The pace was about 20 seconds per mile quicker than my 7-mile pace from Saturday, so that sounds decent.

Then it was about 10 minutes until Amy met up with me, so I stretched a bit, then we did two miles at about 12 minutes per mile. So the total was 5 miles, and I felt fine at the finish. I'm feeling good about my training pace for the Soldier Field 10-mail on Memorial Day weekend.


Street Shout-out:

Shout-out to the little (actually kinda big) stag beetle on the sidewalk.


Next:

Thursday - 4 miles

Becoming comfortable with discomfort

Statistics:
Distance: 7.15 miles
Time: 1:12:27

Stats/Track map

Observations:

If you look back a few weeks you'll see me wishing there were a tangible way to measure if I'm getting better. Well, this run ought to do it. New distance record - 7.15 miles, and in a time that averages out to 10:13 per mile! I felt pretty good that I could do 7 miles, but I had no idea I'd do it in that kind of time, and I'm really psyched about that!

This was a tougher run, and not just because it was a longer distance. I kind of did it up last night after my improv show with a few beers, and my lunch at taco bell today wasn't exactly the most run-friendly meal to have. I guess I just like to give myself a challenge. ;) Thankfully I had a lot of Gatorade at home, so I started re-hydrating from the beer when I got home last night, and then through the day today. Still, I could feel the difference between today and Thursday's 4-mile run.

Interestingly, the first three miles were the most difficult. I guess that's because my body was still getting used to the sudden increase in activity during the first couple miles. Then I got into a groove and cruised after that. Somewhere around mile 5 I decided that distance running probably means coming to terms with feeling comfortable with a certain level of discomfort. Not discomfort as in injury, thankfully, but just the general discomfort of performing a taxing activity that increases stress on your legs and body in general. So yeah, right around mile 3 I felt like I got into that groove where more distance wasn't making me feel any better or worse, the farther I went.

Also, I ran out of Gatorade at mile 5. I have a 20-ounce container on a belt that I bring with me for longer runs and take a few swigs at every mile. So I'll have to figure out what to do as I go for longer and longer runs. Perhaps pre-hydrating a bit more when I leave the apartment so I don't start drinking from my supply until a couple miles into my run. We'll see.


Track list:

I did bring along my iPod today. I figured with 7 miles, I might want a little distraction. I downloaded Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog (for those familiar with such things) to the iPod and listened to that to help the time pass. So I listened to that...twice. It's shorter than I remember it being. ;) I think I'll try my next long run without the iPod, though. It does distract me a bit from concentrating on regular breathing and consistent pace. But fine for my run today.

Back on track 2, electric boogaloo

Statistics:
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 42:19

Stats/Track Map


Observations:

This run was actually Wednesday night. Sorry for the late post. My internet crapped out on me last night and won't be up until Saturday when the repair guy comes, so I had to wait to post until I had internet here at work.

Felt very good about this run. I wanted to try out a new running app on my Droid, so the stats/track map link is different than the previous ones, you'll notice. I like the new app because it keeps me updated about my distance and pace as I'm running. Also, it uses the motion sensors in the Droid along with GPS to provide a bit better accuracy. How it does that, I have no idea, but it's cool!

I wanted to push my pace a bit on this run, and I did. Despite having to wait a good 20-30 seconds at Montrose for the light, I still managed a 10:34 per mile average pace. I feel like it was pretty consistent throughout as well, so it's good to know that I was both consistent and faster.

Also, I feel great today! No major pains, and my knees feel fine walking down stairs! The new shoes must be doing the job. Also, I was paying attention to my stride and my body mechanics during the run, so good form probably helped with that as well. So, all in all a very good run with good signs for the future.


Next

Saturday - 7 miles

Ravenswood 5K

Statistics:

Distance: 5K/3.1 miles
Time: 33:10

Stats/Track Map


Observations:

Well, if nothing else, this was the most convenient race I've ever run in my life. I step out the front gate of my apartment, take a left, walk 3 blocks, and I'm at the starting line. Also, the home stretch of the race goes right past my apartment, which is kind of cool.

The temperature was mid 50's and overcast. The forecast also called for a chance of rain, but that didn't happen, which was nice. For some reason, I thought it would feel colder than it did. Consequently, I dressed a little warmer than I should have, but not terribly uncomfortably. One less layer would have been ideal.

The course was nice - mostly residential streets with only a brief jaunt onto Irving Park. I do think, though, that the combination of overcast skies and tree-lined streets didn't treat my GPS very well. If you look at the course, the second half was a bit wonky. The GPS says I ran 2.93 miles, but that's obviously wrong. Sadly, that means I didn't get a split time on my third mile, which was when I decided to turn up the pace. If I calculated correctly, based on the 10:25 it took for the last 1.1 miles, I think I ran about a 9:30 final mile, which is pretty cool. And all of that before 9:00 AM.


Street Shout-outs:

Shout-outs to Fuzzy and Erica, who I saw on the course somewhere on Leland during mile 2, and also to Becky, who I ran into at the finish line. Also, shout-outs to all my friends who ran the race but who I didn't happen to see. I know there were several of you out there, based on your Facebook status updates.


Next:

3 or 4 miles on Tuesday, though I'm gonna check in with my knees in the next couple of days to make sure things are ok. I'm shifting the long runs to the weekends when I'll have more time, so next long run will be next weekend. Probably Saturday.

The better part of valor

Well, the short version is I decided not to do the Race to Wrigley 5K this morning.

The long version is that I was still not feeling quite 100% on my knees. Knowing I also have the Ravenswood 5K tomorrow, I didn't want to run today and not be able to run tomorrow. Of the two, I'd rather run the Ravenswood race. Plus, an extra day would help my knees rest up a little more.

I'm a bit bummed out that I missed the race, but my goal right now is being ready for the Soldier Field 10-mile on Memorial Day Weekend, and that means not injuring myself between now and then.

I still got my race t-shirt, and it's a nice one, so that's good. In fact, that's a whole other story about the worst race packet pick-up setup I've ever seen. The Wrigley race people never sent out an email letting us know where/when to pick up race bibs/T-shirts, so most of the racers looked this week at the website only to see that there were three dates we could do so - two of which were last weekend, which had already passed. The final date (other than picking up the packet at 6:30 AM this morning) was from 9:00 - 6:00 Friday. So I rushed from work to some Andersonville running store. When I got there, the line was down the street and around the corner for half a block full of people, like me, who had just gotten off work and didn't want to be picking up their packets at 6:30 AM the next day.

The line was moving very slowly. There were only two people handling the packets for everyone. Then the store closed and kicked the people out, so they started handing out the packets on the street, all the time threatening rain. There was one really bitchy lady who kept threatening to send everyone home despite the fact that it was their fault they were so woefully unprepared. Eventually, some kind-hearted racers volunteered to help out to get the line moving. It took about an hour and 15 minutes to get my packet - enough time for me to have run the actual race...twice!

Anyway, I'll know to avoid that race next year. But I did get a nice technical shirt out of it.

Tomorrow - Ravenswood 5K!

Good quote

Since I'm not running until Saturday, I thought I'd share a quote I just read. It's by Lance Armstrong, from the movie "Dodgeball".

"Quit? You know, once I was thinking of quitting when I was diagnosed with brain, lung and testicular cancer all at the same time. But with the love and support of my friends and family, I got back on the bike and won the Tour de France five times in a row. But I'm sure you have a good reason to quit."

New shoes!

I took my old shoes (the shoes I'd gotten 3 weeks ago) back to Fleet Feet to get a second opinion. I had a sneaking suspicion that they were at least partially responsible for my outside knee pain. Sure enough, the wear pattern on the the soles suggested that the outside of my foot/leg/knee was taking the brunt of my weight when I was running, and that's not ideal.

The guy said that those shoes had too much support, basically, which oddly enough was doing the same thing to me as too little support. So I got a new pair of shoes with "just-right" support. (They came with a bowl of porridge and a can of bear repellent.)

The new pair is also made by Saucony. They feel comfortable on my feet, but I won't be giving them a true test drive until Saturday morning. I'm giving my legs a chance to rest and heal so I'm not just re-aggravating anything from the old shoes. so, adieu until then!

Tight legs today

Statistics:
Distance: 2 miles
Time: 21:58

Stats/Track map


Observations:

This was going to be a 4-mile run, which obviously was cut short. It was cold out. Not freezing, but just cold and breezy, and when I got running, my legs just felt tight. I wasn't out of breath or anything. Just didn't think I should push it. My friend Jess suggested I work in some strength training, so I think I'm gonna try doing that this week. I'm signed up for two races this weekend, both 5K runs, so nothing bad. Just adding some fun to the training.

Anyway, one thing I did was run the 2-mile track without cutting the corners into the cross shape. According to the tracker, it's pretty much exactly 2 miles, which means that I was right that cutting the corners is making the tracker think I'm not running as far as I am. So on the recent 4 and 6 mile runs, I actually went about .2 miles farther than the tracker thinks. Oh well, no big deal. I'll just have to take that into account when checking my time in the future. I'm basically running faster miles than it says I am.


Next:
like I said, I'm gonna try to work in some strength training, possibly tomorrow night. I'm busy Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and I'm not going to do it Friday night, with the race Saturday morning.

Woohoo, 6 miles!

Statistics:
Distance: 6 miles
Time: 1:13:16

Stats/Track map


Observations:

Well, let's start with the main observation: I ran 6 miles! This is the longest distance I've ever run in my life! :) I've walked 6 miles before (probably farther) but never run that far. So yay! I'm also happy because this is the first tangible proof that I'm getting better and that my body is developing the running muscles and endurance that I want it to. A couple weeks ago, I was pretty wiped out after 5 miles. Tonight after completing 6 miles, I still felt like I had reserves, and that fact is very reassuring!

If you look at the map, it might be confusing, but it's basically 3 laps of a 2-mile track. The outer square is 2 miles, but I vary it up by taking side streets, making the cross shape. The distance comes out the same, but it's a little less monotonous. That makes it a bit easier to have regular, shorter goals to get to. Also you may see that some of the corners are a bit tapered/clipped because my GPS is having to interpolate where I went if it has a weak signal. That causes it to slightly underestimate the distance I ran, and probably added a couple tenths of a mile by the time I got to the last lap. Just to be safe, I added a little tail to my third lap so that I'd come out at 6 miles at the end.

Not much more to say, really. The weather was perfect! The sun had gone down, and the temp was in the 70's with a slight breeze. Very nice.


Street Shout-out:

Shout-out to Charlotte, the spider, who decided to try to spin a web across the sidewalk on Ashland. Or maybe she was trying to weave me a finish line, which would be really sweet of her and quite astounding for an arachnid. In any case, running through a cobweb is not pleasant at any time.


Next:

Gonna play this one by ear and see how my legs feel after a couple days. I'm sure they'll be somewhat sore tomorrow and Saturday. Perhaps 4 miles on Sunday.

Back on track!

Statistics:
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 45:58

Stats/Track map

Observations:

Man, it felt good to get back out and running. This was kind of a put up or shut up day. After a not-so-good week as far as running was concerned, I felt like putting this run off until Monday would have been a mental slip on my part. The long and the short of it was that after the weirdness on Monday, I was less certain of where I was in my conditioning. If I was winded after 1 mile, what did that mean? And then I noticed slight but present twinges in my knees when I'd walk down stairs at work. Nothing that I'd call pain, but enough that I wanted it to go away before I ran again. Because my schedule was so busy last week, Thursday would have been the next day I could have run. But as you may have read, the weather was really ugly, and I decided not to run. I was booked up Friday night, and I had work on Saturday, which left today as my first opportunity to get back on the streets. I wanted to do something today since any delay would have been an excuse at this point.

I started out on this course, which is a 2-mile lap course I came up with. I called it the Swiss 4-mile (bonus points for the first person to figure out why I called it that). Anyway, When I started tonight I actually hadn't yet decided if I was going to do 4 miles or 6. Since it's a 2-mile course, I thought I might play it by ear and do a third lap if I was feeling saucy.

Here's what happened. I wanted to pay special attention to my pace, so I decided to run without my iPod. No music, just the rhythm of my shoes on the pavement and my breathing. I feel like that helped me keep aware of not going too fast too soon. I felt good at the 1-mile mark - much better than on Monday at the same place. As you can see on the stat page, I did the first mile in about 10:30. At 2 miles, I was at an 11:00 per mile pace. I'd slowed down a bit, but I felt good and sustainable. At mile 3 my pace had slowed again by about another 45 seconds, but I felt fine, and at the 4-mile mark I'd slowed again, but still felt fine.

At that point I felt like I could easily have done another 2 miles. I wasn't breathing any more labored, and my legs felt no worse than the 2-mile mark. Knowing I could have gone 2 more miles was enough for today. It meant that stopping at 4 miles was a conscious decision to avoid injury and not a cop-out because I was tired. So I stopped there and feel good about the run. Not thrilled at the slowdown in pace, but I do think that there is a bit of inaccuracy with the GPS that accounts for some of it. Next time I'll pay a bit more attention to my pace throughout and try to stay a bit more consistent. All in all, it felt really good to have run today and I do feel back on track after overcoming a physical and mental hurdle of last week's inactivity.


Street Shout-out:

Shout-out to my mom, who called my phone right around mile 2 to talk about airline miles and to tell me not to overdo it. ;)


Track List:

No track list tonight. Just me and the road. I may keep it like this just because it helped me focus, mentally a bit tonight. It did feel nice to know that I could run without needing music to distract me. The time actually passed pretty quickly. That's a good sign!


Next:

Thursday - 6 miles

By the way, I am redoing my schedule based on the last few weeks. Cutting down to 3 days a week to give my legs more time to rest in between runs. I think that will do more good for me long term than the extra miles on the 4th day.

Postponed for a day

It was 40 degrees and raining when I got home from work, and my knees were kind of weird today. So I'm gonna see if tomorrow's any better. Next run is 6 miles, whenever it is.

No running til Thursday

My legs are clearly tired and needing a rest. After that short run yesterday, they're definitely sore today, which means that they just need to rest and recuperate. Probably why I couldn't go very far yesterday.

I'm also probably going down to 3 days of running a week, at least for the next couple weeks. Then reassess and see if my legs are stronger and more ready for more runs per week.

Not a good day

Statistics:
Distance: 2 miles
Time: 28:47

Stats/Track map

Observations:

Ugh, dunno what happened, but something was way wrong today. I'm going to be working Saturday, so I was able to take today off, and I thought I'd do a mid-day run instead of tonight. The weather is nice, about 60 degrees, sunny but with shade. I ate a decent breakfast and drank some fluids before the run.

But once I got out there and running, I had an empty tank. I have no idea why. I was out of breath at the first mile at what should have been a normal pace. So I walked for about a quarter mile and tried running again, but then I had a cramp in my lower calf, so I just kept walking until I got back home.

My best guess is lack of fluids, but I just don't know for sure. I had some wine last night, but I drank plenty of non-alcoholic fluids after that, and this morning as well. I ate plenty yesterday, but not too much, and like I said, I had a sensible breakfast this morning. And I had a good night's sleep. But I just had no energy. It's really bizarre. I'm going to chalk it up as a fluke and hope that tomorrow will be better. This doesn't bode well for Thursday's 6-mile run, but what else can I do?

In touch with the ground

Statistics:
Distance: 3 miles*
Time: 32:20*

Course map/stats

Week 2 total distance: 11 miles


Observations:

Not sure where to start on this one. Should I start with the GPS malfuction, or the fact that I am still having trouble going too fast too soon? Well, let's start with the fact that the weather couldn't have been more perfect, because that's true. Blue skies, sun setting in the west, and 58 degrees with a light breeze. No excuse to not be outside in it! And I was, so yeah!

Now, on to other stuffs. Something went wrong with the GPS. I started the tracker going on Wilson and Wolcott, for those who know the neighborhood. But for some reason, the tracking didn't start until Damen and Lawrence. The timer started there as well, so the measurements are accurate as far as my pace per mile, at least. Now, take into account that I didn't know any of this until the end of my run. When I got to where I thought my first mile should be, I checked my distance and it said I'd gone .68 miles. That felt pretty bad because I felt a bit more tired than I thought I should be after .68 miles. Of course, I had actually gone a mile by that time. I just didn't know it. Anyway, when I get to the one mile mark on my GPS, I was still going a bit faster than I had planned, so I slowed it down a tad. Not that I couldn't keep that pace up, but I want to know that I can control my pace. In a race situation, I don't want to go too fast too early and then lose it at the end.

Anyway, I get to where my finish line should be - Wilson and Damen - and the GPS says I've only gone 2.6 miles in about 27 minutes. Sonofabitch! So, I turn down Wilson and just keep going until it says 3 miles. Of course, in reality I'd gone about 3.5 miles in total. I didn't know any of that until I got back home and looked at the map on the computer.

So I feel better now knowing that I went farther than I thought, but let me tell you, it really sucks to cross the finish line and then find out that you still have .4 miles to go!

I'd like my body to wake up and realize that it's going to be doing these runs several times a week. I don't want 3 miles to feel tiring. I want it to feel like a nice jaunt. To clarify, I'm not feeling tired afterward. Just during. I'd like to feel like these shorter runs are cruises, so that I can push faster in order to get my heart rate up. I guess that will come in time, and I'm sure progress is happening. I'd just like to be able to measure it empirically, I guess. But I'm not gonna pay some medical center to measure my VO2 max every couple weeks, so I'll just have to be content with hitting my distance goals on my runs. That's going to be a challenge starting Thursday with my first 6 mile run - the longest distance I'll have run yet in this training schedule. You hear that, legs? Time to man up!

Also, it may be time to swap in some new songs on the running playlist. I'm getting some repeats already (and yet some songs haven't played once). Suggestions are very welcome!


Street Shout-out:

Shout-out to Ken B. on Damen, who said I was "lookin' good"!


Track List:
If I Ever Leave This World Alive - Flogging Molly
Nobody But Me - Human Beinz
Hungry Like the Wolf - Reel Big Fish
Let Me Clear My Throat - DJ Kool
Dead! - My Chemical Romance
Don't Stop Believing - Journey
St. Elmo's Fire - John Parr
Panama - Van Halen
Pennies From Heaven - Louis Prima (dedicated to Maw Maw and Paw Paw)
Golden Years - David Bowie
(warmdown)
Vogue - Madonna
Whole Lotta Rosia - AC/DC
A Little Respect - Erasure


Next:
Monday - 4 miles

That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit

Statistics:
Distance: 5 miles
Time: 56:06

Course Map/Stats


Observations:

Did I say July was when I was going to wish for an easy 4-mile run in the cool air? Well, I underestimated that by a few months...what a difference 40 degrees makes! This was definitely more of a challenge than the Shamrock Shuffle. No fellow runners, no cheering crowds, no water stations, and lots hotter! Also, windy, but not in a good way. I experienced two conditions. Running against the wind, which feels like running uphill. Or Running with the wind, which feels like a cloud of dead hot air that hangs around you. Neither is exactly pleasant.

I had a lot more difficulty regulating my pace on this run. I had a decent idea in my mind where the mile markers were, and checking my GPS at mile 1 I was at a 9:45 pace. Not good! That was not a pace I'd be able to keep up, and I didn't want to burn out my legs after two miles. So I ran my second mile at what I felt was a slower pace and managed to get it to a 10:45 split, which is about on target for what I wanted. But the last three miles were all slower - 11:59, 11:27, and 12:11. I think that's attributable to a couple factors, namely the fast first mile and the heat.

I had to take two short walk breaks for about 100 feet - one around mile 3 and the other at about mile 4. I had purchased a bottle that straps to my waist with a belt, so I was able to carry fluids with me, and drank some Gatorade while I took the two walk breaks.

Honestly, the hardest part was the first mile and a half, as far as how my legs felt. I was concerned with how I was going to be able to finish at that point, but after I found the slower pace I was looking for in the first place, it wasn't too bad.

OK, I've got 8 weeks to go twice that distance. I'm trying not to think too much about that right now. I don't think it's productive. I'm trying to focus on the concept that my legs are getting stronger with every run and learning how to burn fuel more efficiently. Keep me thinking positive, people, I could use the help!


Street Shout-out:

Shout-out to the cute girl in the Shamrock Shuffle t-shirt (the same one I was wearing)


Track List:
Turn to Stone - Electrical Light Orchestra
Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
Dead! - My Chemical Romance
Underground - Ben Folds Five
Whole Lotta Rosie - AC/DC
I Know - Save Ferris
Misirlou - Dick Dale
Groove is in the Heart - Deee-Lite
Sure-Bla-Di Shot-Bla-Da - The Beastles
Come Sail Away - Eric Cartman (South Park Cover)
First Push - Little Miss Sunshine Soundtrack
Yeah Yeah Yeah Song - The Flaming Lips
Fuel - Metallica
I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones
Golden Years - David Bowie
Larger Than Life - Backstreet Boys
(warmdown)
Anyone Seen the Bridge - Dave Matthews Band
Come On Eileen - Save Ferris
Elevation - U2
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
Virtual Insanity - Jamiroquai



Next:
Saturday - 3 miles