Chicago Marathon

So I got this email yesterday that went a little something (exactly) like this:

Registration Expected to Close Before the End of the Week
Less than 5,000 entries remain for the 2011 Bank of America Chicago Marathon and registration is expected to close before the end of the week. If you want to be a part of the 34th annual event on Sunday, October 9, register now to secure your spot in the field. Registration will close when the 45,000-participant capacity is reached. For more information on the race and to register, go to chicagomarathon.com.

Really? Registration just opened on February 1! How could it be. This will definitely be the fastest sellout ever. What to do, what to DOOOOO?

So at 7am this morning I went ahead and registered. For ages now I've been entered in the lottery for the NYC Marathon, which is exactly 4 weeks later, although I realize the likelihood of getting in is slim to none...but just throwing that out there, that there could actually be TWO marathons I'm running, when in fact two days ago I hadn't made a decision on running even one. Anyhoo....

I won't be joining any training groups or anything. I can't be confined to those schedules. I will continue to do my runs at 5am, which means for now, the treadmill. All in all, I'm pleased with my progress so far. You may be mystified at my low total to the right (my year goal is 1200 miles, which translates to 100 miles per month), but those miles will ramp up later on in the year. Also, please note that this includes walking--which has been and will continute to be pretty much most of my cross training. (Well, that and my new weight-training regimen, 3 times/week.)

Blah Blah Blah, boring post, I know. But so far, I've been on schedule with my "long" runs. My other huge new thing is that I refuse...hands down, no way no how, I REFUSE to stop and walk, even just a second, during these shorter early runs. That was my downfall before. Now I know there are proponents for Jeff Galloway's run/walk method. I think it's cool, but it's not for me. But make no mistake, I wasn't even doing that kind of walking. I'd kinda just be like "I think I'll walk for a 1/4 mile." I don't just walk, I lollygag. Especially at aid stations (which I started to do all the time) and then I quickly lose steam. And my so-called 12-minutes per mile pace becomes 13:30 or 14:00. And I'd wonder why I coudln't seem to hit 12:00 pace on my long runs anymore. Well, it was because I wasn't hitting 12:00 on any training run, because I'd b.s. and stop for water, or "stretch" (I put that it quotes, because really I was just catching my breath.) All of this was shortly before I took my hiatus. I never really quite got back on track after hurting my knee in 2008. So last year I stopped pretending and just didn't. I ran Shamrock, and walked a 5k. WALKED A 5K. :-/

Again, no personal indictment on walkers or run/walkers. I'm a penguin, after all. It's really a comparison of where I once was, to where I'd ended up.

I'm very happy with where I'm at, so far. :)