Listening to my body

My legs still felt tired this morning when I woke up, so I decided not to do the run today. While I would rather not have missed a run on my schedule, I think it's more important to listen to what my body is telling me and be open to adapting my schedule to how my fitness is progressing rather than adhering to a rigid schedule and potentially doing damage to my legs.

Tomorrow's 5-mile run is still on. Weather should be awesome, and I'm looking forward to it!

short update

Ugh, my legs are tired today. Kind of weird because they felt better than normal last night. But also I was standing in the kitchen for 2 hours last night after the run, so maybe my legs didn't get the rest they needed.

Also, due to a scheduling mix-up, I can't do my run tonight as planned. Perhaps I can do it later, like before bed, or I may get up early tomorrow morning and do it then. That'd be a first!

...set an open course for the virgin seas

Statistics:
Distance: 3.2 miles (made up my .2 miles from last time)
Time: 33:21

Course Map/Stats


Observations:

Cold day again. Temp says it's 38 degrees outside. I'm still learning what (and what not) to wear. I wish I owned a pair of long-leg technical pants - the skin-tight kind. Those would have been perfect with a pair of shorts over them. I actually stopped in Fleet Feet before my run to see what they had, but surprisingly they had very little selection for men. So instead of buying something unideal and probably overpriced, I just left, and elected to wear sweatpants for my run today. I'm hoping that today will be my last day in sweatpants. Tomorrow should be about 10 degrees warmer, so I'll leave the sweats behind. On top I wore my long-sleeve technical shirt with a T-shirt over it, and a light windbreaker over that. Pretty good choice there, though I was getting pretty warm by the end of the run.

Oh, I almost forgot. New shoes! I went to Fleet Feet yesterday for a fitting/analysis/diagnosis, and came away with some new Sauconys. The shoes I had been using for the last couple months were comfortable on my feet, but they weren't giving me the kind of support I needed, which was probably causing some of the soreness in my legs. I've got to hand it to Fleet Feet for knowing their shit! First the guy examines me in my current shoes, then he gives me a pair of neutral shoes and has me job down the sidewalk to analyse how my feet hit the pavement. From that he can tell what kind of support I need in my shoes to get the most stability, and I ended up with the Sauconys. I should have taken a picture of the sign on the wall at Fleet Feet that read "When buying running shoes, you can NOT choose color". My apologies to Michael Kors and Neeeeena Garcia.

Anyway, today was my first run in the new shoes, and I feel pretty good. The knee soreness is gone and the calf soreness is a lot more minor than before. It will take some getting used to because the shoe sole really does make my feet hit the ground in a slightly different position than before, which is causing certain leg muscles to be used more than they used to. But in the long run I think this will be an improvement. Also, if they don't feel right, I can return them up to 30 days after purchase and try a different pair.

As for the run itself, it felt fairly challenging despite the short distance. First, it was a bit colder than my last run, and I had more clothes on. Also, I don't think my food intake was ideal today. I kind of forgot I'd be running tonight when I got a heavy meal for lunch. Ideally I'd have had a lighter lunch and then a snack in the afternoon. Oh well, live and learn. Despite that, I pushed myself on the pace. I didn't want to feel complacent at any point on the run, so I tried to keep my pace just that little bit on the pushing-it side. According to the stats, it was the same pace as Saturday, but I'm still a bit dubious about the exact measurements with this GPS tracker. Anyway, I'll be running the same course tomorrow, so I can compare my pace again tomorrow (sans sweatpants).


Street Shout-out:

Shout-out to the sneaky black ninja dog that scared the crap out of me on Wilson Ave!


Track List:
The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani
Under Pressure - Queen
St. Elmo's Fire - John Parr
Come Sail Away - Eric Cartman (South Park cover)
Let Me Clear My Throat - DJ Kool
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughn
I Know - Save Ferris
(warmdown)
Walk Like an Egyptian - The Puppini Sisters
Sure-Bla-Di Shot-Bla-Da - The Beastles
Yeah Yeah Yeah Song - The Flaming Lips


Next:
Tuesday - 3 miles

End of Week 1

Statistics:
Distance: 2.8 miles
Time: 28:05

Course Map/Stats

Week 1 total distance: 12 miles


Observations:

Well, somehow I mis-measured my route. According to Google Maps, it's 1 mile from Irving Park to Lawrence, and .5 miles from Damen to Ashland. So a route using those as my boundaries should have been 3 miles. But I guess Google fudged a bit, or perhaps my GPS cut some corners, or both. Anyway, the running tracker says I did 2.8 miles. No big deal, but I wish I'd notice while I was running so I could have added a couple more tenths on there. I wanted to see if I could do 3 miles in under 30 minutes. I think I'd have been right at/just under 30 minutes.

This was an easier run, which it's designed to be. Shorter distance than before, but also nicer weather - about 48 degrees and only light wind. Also, partly sunny. The only negative aspect of the run was the fact that I was running on sidewalks, which are inconsistent - sometimes they rise and fall, sometimes they slant left, sometimes they slant right. The left and right slopes are the worst, and I read that it could be part of the problem I had on Thursday with my knees afterward. I may start driving to the lake and running on the lake path just to have a smoother path. Also, when you run by Popeyes, it smells like fried chicken.

I stopped by Fleet Feet earlier today to pick up a couple pairs of running socks, and they were having a clearance sale on some of their cold-weather apparel. I got a long-sleeve technical shirt for 30% off, and promptly put it to use this afternoon. (Technical is runner-speak for synthetic, apparently). Tomorrow I'm going back there to check out a new pair of shoes. While the pair I have now is only a month or two old, they're on the cheap side, and if I'm going to be running more seriously, it makes sense to invest in quality shoes. They are, after all, where the rubber meets the road.


Street Shout-out:

I ran into Bryan B. on Leland and managed to recognize him without the beard.


Track list:
Golden Years - David Bowie
Vogue - Madonna
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood - Kill Bill Soundtrack
Don't Stop Believing - Journey
Dead! - My Chemical Romance
Tiny Dancer - Ben Folds
Elevation - U2
(warmdown)
Goodbye, Goodbye - Oingo Boingo
Don't Stop Me Now - Queen


Next:
Monday - 3 miles (GPS willing) and my first two days in a row of running.

First run done

Statistics:
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 43:52

I'm trying to figure out how to insert this cool widget into my blog that will show the map of where I ran and also give statistics, but I haven't gotten it figured out yet. It uses my Droid and its GPS to track me while I run. It computes speed, distance, and draws a map of where I'm running. I think you'll even be able to follow me live while I run if you really want to. It's actually pretty cool, so hopefully I'll have it figured out by my next run.

For now, click this link for my course map.

Some notes about the link: the GPS is a bit choppy, so it might think I'm going way faster at times than I am, balanced by times that I'm going much slower than I am. The average, though, should obviously be pretty accurate. Pretty freaking cool technology, though, huh?


Observations:

Tough.

Harder than the Shamrock Shuffle, even though it was 1 mile shorter. But there were good reasons for that. First, I hadn't run since Sunday, so it was a longer rest than optimal. Second, the wind! It was nuts today! I had a headwind on the longest leg of my course - the northwest leg - and also portions of the east leg. How that happens I don't know. Sucked, though! Also, it was cold. colder than Sunday. It's 30 degrees now, while Sunday was closer to 40. So I was wearing heavier clothes to keep warm, which made me a heavier person to drag around the course.

I imagine that in July when I'm sweating my ass off in the heat, I'll look back at an easy 4-mile day in the cold and wonder WTF I was complaining about.

The lower part of both of my calves are sore - the part below the big chunk of meat, just above the Achilles tendon. It's probably because that's what takes the initial impact of my running step, and it doesn't normally get that much of a strain in daily life. I'll keep stretching it, and hopefully in time it'll strengthen and not be as sore following a run.

But, I did it, and I kept it under my 11-minute per mile pace. I basically do two laps of a triangular wedge course through Lincoln Square. It's just under two miles per lap. I managed to force myself to make the turn onto the second lap and not stop at two miles, since that's the toughest part to not stop.


Next:
Saturday - 3 miles

Soldier Field 10-mile training schedule

Here's my first attempt at a training schedule for the Soldier Field race. I got it off a marathon trainer website. It's actually a half-marathon training schedule that I've modified to fit the 10-mile run goal. This might change as I read more and learn more about training, but for now, this is the plan.

10-Week Half Marathon Training Schedule

(Week 1 starts with the Shamrock Shuffle 5-mile on Sunday)



Also, I've read about different types of running workouts I can do to improve my overall pace. I will probably work that into these runs.

I guess that's all until tomorrow evening's run. Until then!

Shuffling Shamrocks - race day

*pre-blog-entry note. I realize that the nice thing about blog entries is that they're quick-to-read tidbits. I will keep to this for my normal training updates, but for actual race entries, I'm liable to be more verbose.

Sunday morning rolled around and I woke up early. I had all my stuff set up the night before so I wouldn't forget anything. So it was quickly getting dressed then out the door. On the train platform waiting for the brown line, I met several other people heading down to the race, so we all started talking about the race and the weather, random chit chat. When the train came, I ran into my friend, Kyna, (also running) so we talked for a while until I got off to switch to the Red Line. Then when I got off the train at Harrison, I ran into Jessica, also on her way to the race. Then, after she and I split up, I ran into Roger and Erin. So yeah, many coincidences.



Oh yeah, the weather. It was cold! Probably upper 30's. I honestly forgot to check. But the crappy part was the timing of the start. I had a jacket and sweatpants to keep me warm before the race. They had a place to check your gear in, so I wouldn't have to carry it during the race. However, you have to check your gear by 9:00 AM. And my start corral wasn't to start until 9:30. So for 30 minutes, I was wearing very light clothes in windy Grant Park.




So I dove into the crowd and used them to buffer the wind.



Slowly we started working our way up to the start line, and I crossed it right at the 30-minute mark, making it very easy to keep track of my pace. Once I crossed the starting line, things got warmer pretty quickly. Pretty soon we went through an underpass heading north towards the river, and runners started whooping and hollering in the tunnel, which was pretty cool. Everyone was clearly excited! Then on the other side of the tunnel we emerged onto one of the bridges crossing the Chicago river. Great view! Then through a bit of River North and I hit the 1 mile marker. I was on an 11-minute mile pace. Considering my vague goal was to break 1 hour, that was a good pace. I hadn't actually ever run a 5-mile race before, so this was going to be unknown territory as far as evaluating the condition of my body through the race. I had set a conservative pace, something I thought I could keep up for 5 miles, and doing that first mile in 11 minutes while feeling good was a real boost for me.

The start of Mile 2 took us back across the river and along Wacker towards West Loop. We hooked around the corner where the river bends, then under the green/pink line tracks and before I knew it I had finished mile 2 at 22 minutes. This was also very reassuring because I hadn't lost any time or slowed down since mile 1 and I still felt fine and on a sustainable pace. Oh, and somewhere in that second mile, the skull cap and shamrock headband got tucked into my belt waistband. I was plenty warm enough by then.

Here I should add that one thing that was really helping me out was my iPod. I had made a 50-song playlist (many more than I'd need) of songs that I knew would keep me pumped up and jazzed. I had it on shuffle, so every three minutes or so I'd get a little uplifting surprise when the new song would start. I should also add that the various people cheering along the route were awesome! It's a big mental help to help you keep going.

Next was the 2.5-mile mark, where we hit the aid station (water and Gatorade). I honestly wasn't that thirsty, but I remembered that you should drink before you need it to avoid becoming dehydrated. So I had my cup of Gatorade and kept on. Knowing I'd hit the half-way point was another motivator that kept me going. I don't know about other runners, but for me, I need several shorter goals to focus on to keep me from thinking of the race as one long ponderous thing. The mile markers and aid stations were part of that, and the 3-minute songs on the iPod were also significant in helping me break down the race into digestible chunks.

Before I knew it, I had hit the 3rd mile marker. It was somewhere downtown after we'd come back from the West Loop and heading towards the Sears Tower. Again, I was still on pace right around 11-minute miles. The fourth mile was relatively uneventful as we cruised through downtown. The second aid station was during this portion, so I got another cup of Gatorade and kept going. Finally we turned onto Columbus around Dearborn and started heading towards Michigan Ave and Grant Park.

Then we hit the 4-mile mark, which was a big boost for me, knowing I only had 1 mile to go. I was on the same pace and felt fine, so I decided to increase my speed. It was really cool when we hit Michigan Avenue, turning south towards Roosevelt. There were people all along the street cheering, including many racers in earlier corrals who'd already finished. Very cool of them to come out and cheer us recreational runners on!

Finally we turned east onto Roosevelt. This was the last big hurdle because the street rises into a large overpass over the Metra trainyard. Basically an uphill climb. I decided to keep my same pace and use more energy so as not to slow down. I was able to do that, and then when I hit the top of the overpass I could look down into Grant Park and see the finish line in the distance. From there, it was down the overpass then one more turn into the final straightaway and then I hit the finish line in a total time of 54:20 according to the electronic timer chip, 40 seconds under an 11-minute mile pace.



The only annoying thing about the race was the post-finish line setup. They have these big fences set up to funnel you north, but it's so crowded that you can't even walk at a normal pace. The crowd slowly plodded north, and all I wanted to do was walk normally and warm down. That kinda sucked. But eventually I got out of the crowd and went straight to my gear check for my jacket and sweats. I was able to meet up with my friend Josiah and his pals. We got our free post-race beer, then headed up to Ann Sather for a post-race brunch.

All in all, it was a tremendously positive experience and is what jump-started me into the running season. In the wake following the race I've now signed up for the Wrigleyville 5k, the Ravenswood 5k, the Soldier Field 10-Mile, the Rock and Roll Half Marathon and the Chicago Half Marathon.

So the next big step is to start training for the Soldier Field 10-miler. I'll be posting my training schedule soon. My first run will be tomorrow, Thursday. I'm planning on 4 miles.

Shuffling Shamrocks - the prologue

So here's how the Shuffle went down. The weather during the week preceding the Shuffle was gorgeous! Perfect running weather! 50's and sunny. However, the forecast for the weekend was crappy with intermittent shittiness. By that I mean Saturday was supposed to be 40's and raining, and Sunday was going to be 30's and snowing. My motivation to do this race was waning.

To further complicate things, I had to pick up my race packet on Navy Pier either Friday after work or Saturday afternoon. Now, I was planning on going Friday after work, while the weather was nice and while I was already pretty close to Navy Pier. But then Rachel asked if I wanted to go pick up our packets together on Saturday afternoon. So I decided to head there with her instead.

Saturday morning I woke up to about an inch of snow already fallen. So when afternoon rolled around, it was cold, still snowing/sleeting and pretty nasty. When we got out to the Navy Pier area, the wind was blowing straight from the east, which is straight off the lake. It was cold and the ice crystals were stabbing us in the face like tiny needles. Not encouraging. But I was determined to do the race at this point. Fuck the weather, I'm doing this!

The packet pickup was at the runner's expo happening at Navy Pier. There were tons of displays and booths ranging from shoes to other clothing items and gear, medical things, etc. Pretty cool. I got a synthetic fabric skullcap and some good running socks for the race the next day. Oh, and a pair of sunglasses that would keep ice shards out of my eyes, should the conditions be similar to Saturday's weather.

I did make it out to a party Saturday night, but I retired early (at midnight) to get some rest for the big day.

Gotta start somewhere

And as it turns out, I already did the starting part, so the hard part is done. By that, I mean starting to run. I started going back to the gym in January. I know, cliche. But it was NOT a new years resolution. It was a new job resolution that happened to coincide with the new year. I started using the weight machines and running on the treadmill, gradually increasing the duration of my runs from session to session.

I happened to post on Facebook that I'd been running, and was immediately urged to sign up for the Shamrock Shuffle, an 8k (5-mile) race through Chicago's downtown area. So, I did! More on that later.

The point of this blog is to help keep me honest about my training regime. After the success of the Shamrock Shuffle (more on that later, I said!) I've signed up for some challenging races this year, and I need to train to be ready for them. I know I can do it. Inspired by Neil's fitness blog, I am betting that this blog will help keep me honest about my schedule. That's where you come in! If my friends and family can follow my progress here, I'll be more motivated to stick to the schedule. Got it? Good!