Race Report: Shamrock Shuffle 8k (subtitle: Run #21)

8k (4.97 miles); 1:07:23; run/walk my 4:00/2:00 ratio, but walked twice for 4 minutes in the wind; pace 13:33. 32 degrees (wind chill temp of 23) and winds between 20-30mph, gusts up to 40mph.

Slept not so great last night, slept a lot in the evening and then was up for a few hours in the middle of the night. Set my alarm for 7 and said "f it, just go do the race."

Gear: running pants; tank top; long sleeve running shirt; zip up hoodie i bought in NY when I realized it'd be cold and windy; dunkin donuts fleece hat that they passed out at NYC when they realized it was gonna be cold and windy.

Other non-wearable gear: Garmin (which is still a challenge to use bc it's broken); fitbit (gotta make those steps count; fully charged iphone; earphones; pink armband

Getting there: In a new twist, I decided it was fine to leave the girls at home. I leave them now for shorter bits of time, they'll be cool. I drove over to the train (it's only 6 blocks but I didn't wanna be cold on the way back.) no parking spot in sight. So I drove down to Belmont and there was plenty of street parking. The irony, as Lakeview is a thousand times more crowded than my neighborhood. Pay parking spots don't start til 10, but with the city's handy app, I could set my alarm to remind myself to pay. (Did that in one of my walking breaks!). Best thing I EVER did, the train was so quick, and no long lines to get outta downtown.

Corral: in my sometimes present anti-social corral behavior, I wasn't chipper. I wasn't all pre-race chatty. I put my earphones on but wasn't listening to music--just the people around me. I listened to a teacher talk about a student who's been skipping class almost since January and her mother just found out.

I listened/watched some dude who was clearly "personal space challenged" hop all around and talk about his race strategy to his girlfriend. In my head, I punched him in the face several times. Hahahahahaha!  A few times when the wind blew, my hands felt really cold, but for the most part, the wind was holding off. I got to my corral at 8:45, corrals closed at 9am, and Wave 2 started at 9:15am...only they started us a few minutes early.

Mile 1: I was a bit concerned about the temps since I hadn't run outside and since cold air can jack my lungs up. And we're off...cue the Eminem playlist. The first 4:00 my lungs were breathing. My legs were burning on the slight incline that I hadn't afforded myself on the treadmill. "You're going to fast! Your legs are like lead" We went under that wacker part where it cuts over tonLakeshore drive my Garmin wasn't the same again. Pace? What's that? Said my pace was at 1:30/mile. (Biggest side eye glance EVER.) I struggled to tell how fast I was going because my lungs and legs were reacting to different conditions. Walked and then ran again when my interval setting beeped. At the mile 1 course marker I was at 12:00 on the dot time wise, so I knew I was running a bit faster, since my run walking to date has been between 12:50 and 13:00.

Mile 2: kept on doing my thing, time was falling away, that "hill" (hill is a funny term in Chicago...we call slight inclines "hills" here in flat country.) anyway, that hill on state as we head towards the bridge was a little rough. Ran right past the first aid station. Hit Mile 2 at about 25:45, so my second mile was slower.

Mile 3: I kinda zoned out in here. For the first time in i don't know how long, I paid no attention to the crowds. I didn't find any one person to pace myself with, it was just me. I don't remember much at all about this mile, other than walking an extra 2 minutes. I hit Mile 3 at about 40:00, which means despite the extra walking, I was just a minute off of my 13:00 run/walk pace.

Mile 4: so we're heading south on Franklin and as if to rebut the claims that Chicago's Windy City nickname comes from its "windy" talking politicians, the wind whipped up something fierce, we were running head on into it. It was draining! I stopped and walked more. I couldn't win. This south facing running stretch was windy all the way from Randolph to Harrison. I reached Mile 4 well after 52:00 (which is the 13:00 pace), like somewhere around 54:00-something. 

The last .97 mile: As we got closer to Michigan Ave, I started seeing people who'd already finished. It didn't bother me at all. I was in a "these 4 minutes" mode. Just finish. I was moving pretty slowly now. My two minute walking stints were more like 2:10, and I wasn't walking as quickly, either. When I turned into Roosevelt, I said "you can run up this hill, Lindy." And so I did. Slowly. Finally there was Columbus and the finish line. It seemed to take forever to reach it.

Done. 

Apparently there were only 22,847 finishers. There are normally 45,000 that register, it's the country's largest 8k. Well not today, apparently. The only smaller showing (to my memory) was in 2009 when it was snowing/freezing rain and like 15,000 and some change showed up.

Post race scene: Mariano's hooked UP the post race vittles. Took all of it and ate none of it. (Gave it to the girls later.) got my "medal," only its not really a medal but a bottle opener, so I'm ok with that. (Not a big fan of medals for short distances.) my phone was at about 56%. I went to FaceTime Jada and tell her I was heading home and my phone went dead. If there was any thought in the back of my head about staying with iPhone when my contract is over, it died with my battery life today. Anyway....

Post-post race: got chocolate milk. Got back to Belmont at which point it started sleeting. Whew! Glad we dodged that bullet! Went home...had a few coughing issues today from that cold air...the whole train ride, and a few times this afternoon. I've also had a fever for most of the evening. 101.1 sounds like a radio station.

This is why I didn't eat my post race food though: 4-berry bliss pancakes from m.henry, with mascarpone creme. 

Other stuff: I gotta hand it to Bank of America. I have been dogging them for years now about their plainer than plain race t-shirts and lack of freebies...especially because LaSalle Bank had it down to a science. (I have bottle openers, coasters, nice shirts and hats, etc.) This Chicago skyline and bottle opener medal is a serious come-up for Bank of America. 

Now no backsliding, BOA. We've seen you can do better!

And that's that. The running season has officially begun. Now if only the weather can behave appropriately.

Race Report: Chicago Marathon also known as Run #123

Well...it's over. Marathon 1 of 2 this year is over. (Pls excuse any initial typos...I wrote this over a few days from my iPhone. I'll check for typos later...)

Before the start: BB and I parked at my job and the blue line from Greektown to downtown, a short 5 minute ride. We ran into a 1st timer who was on his way. Speaking of rookies, it was when my eyes spied his Garmin that I realized I left mine next to the TV. Dammit!!!!!! I'd done almost all of my long runs using run/walk, totally relying on that--run 1 mile, walk about a tenth. But more importantly, it helps me stay on pace. Anyway...Coincidentally of the 45,000 people at the start line, later I saw dude from the train right behind me in my corral. Weird how the world works sometimes. I was nervous but feeling good as BB and I said our goodbyes. I'd armed him with a race map and we had plans for various places on the course (I'll get to those later.)

In my corral: I ended up chatting with two ladies, one from Atlanta and another from Bourbonnais (south of the city about an hour from the south side.) Atlanta lady is 50 and hasn't run a marathon since she was 43. She was having hip issues after stepping off of a curb wrong on Saturday. Bourbonnais chick was not running her first either. She and I started off together and that lasted about 1 minute. :)

Start line:  I didn't find the start line as annoying and nerve racking as usual for some reason. Maybe I'll try being social more often, I usually don't say a word to anyone at a race corral unless I came with them, which has been rare these days (compared to back in the day when every race was with someone.) Because it was chillier than past races there were huge mounds of discarded clothing. (Later on the course I saw a runner drop a sweatshirt and a homeless man who'd clearly been on the prowl ran out onto the course and snagged it almost before it hit the ground.) I took my running jacket off about 5 minutes before we got to the start line and tied it around my waist.

Mile 1-3: (dontgotoofastdontgotoofastdontgotoofast) My first mile was right at about 12:00 and then I had to force myself to walk as planned. The cardinal sin of run/walking is to run until you feel tired (if you've been training the run/walk way) because if you wait, you'll be sorry. I couldn't quite gauge what was about a tenth of a mile. I also used this time to readjust my jacket. It was falling all over and annoying me big time.

I walked a bit then got back to running. I was very excited because I knew BB would be right by the Chicago Theater on my left. I love love love seeing him at my races. He was there and I handed him my jacket. He cheered me on, and off I went. First aid station was shortly thereafter. I continued with my run/walk.i love the "canyons" of LaSalle Street but this time I didn't look around much. Approaching Lake Street I looked for BB again, who'd merely walked across two blocks for our 2nd on-course meet up. 

Miles 3-6: somewhere in here my right knee started feeling a twinge of sorts but I carried on. Right around the 5k mark some idiot decided that the crowded course was a great place to run in front of everyone while holding hands with his girlfriend. I pushed him and if I hadn't, I'm pretty sure he would have stepped on my feet. I shoved him hard. People, don't cross the course if you can't do so safely and quickly! Everything else felt uneventful as we ran through Lincoln Park and onto Sheridan... On Sheridan I waved an entire block to the nursing home residents who'd made it up and windowside to wave at the runners. They are so sweet. A few had signs of their own, and one older woman in a walker was out standing at the bus stop with her sign. Sweetest thing ever! ❤️

Miles 7-9: turning on to Addison is usually my favorite time in the race. Sheridan doesn't have huge crowds, so there is quite a contrast. It was loud, but as i turned south onto Broadway, it didn't seem as festive as usual. My knee was getting more noticeable, so I knew seeing BB at Mile 8 would include Advil. As I approach BB I see that his friend is with him. Very cool. We talked for a sec and then I was on my way. Just a few steps upon leaving them I hear someone screaming my name like a lunatic. Nicole!! My former co-worker! We screamed and hugged, she told me where she'd be next, and off I went. What's funny how close as BB and she were without even knowing each other. Here's a pic Nicole took of me, and just steps behind in the background I can see BB's hat and part of his hoodie, and his friend. 

That's me in the black pants and teal running short, and you can see the top of BB's black and white hat behind the woman in the gray jacket. His friend is in the black coat and jeans. Small world.  Anyway Nicole will also be in NYC--she's from NY so it's a trip home for her. 

The friend-fest doesn't end there, though. I hadn't mentioned on my blog already (and will explain more later) but as part of my run I got to test/pilot a device called "ampy" that is able to harness the energy I create from my movement. They, too were on the sidelines. I think the device had gps because they were on it. They screamed my name and I looked back. I was ahead of them and on the other side of the street. When I turned to keep running forward I must have stepped awkwardly because my knee buckled something fierce. It hurt a lot. Kept going, but started to wonder...

Miles 10-12:

Ugh, this knee of mine! Started to walk a lot. Started to wonder how I could finish if I'm already having trouble this early. Kept thinking that BB was probably like where on earth is Lindy?! Was embarrassed to be taking so long and was wondering what his friend must be thinking. I was exasperated and super annoyed. Angry.  "Maybe I'm just not cut out for this distance." I finally was approaching Mile 12 where BB was to be and he met me. I was not happy and wanted to give up, and he gave me the pep talk of a lifetime. From then on i said no matter what, I would finish. I wouldn't stop. Not to stretch. Not at the medic tent to get some biofreeze or be told to stop. I mean, hell, one foot in front of the other, run, shuffle or walk, I'd finish.

Miles 12-19:

Heading westward now, I headed towards my old stomping grounds of the near west side. As I approached Damen, i remembered my first marathon when 3 year old Jada and 1 year old Zoe came to cheer me on in 90 degree weather. At the time I lived just a few blocks from the westernmost portion of the course. A few years before that I remember watching and cheering on runners in that same spot, thinking to myself "i wanna run a marathon someday."

I ran, shuffled my way back towards Greektown, approaching where I work. It still feels new to me after only having been there since June. The Chicago "chapter?" of Black Girls Run was heading up Aid Station 12, so I knew I could look for some added encouragement here.  :) 16.5 miles done. I got a text from co-worker Caroline telling me that she and Malory were near Taylor/Laflin...that's right at Mile 18 and right by Jada's school. I continued to shuffle and walk and finally reached them. You may recall me mentioning them before, both injured and unable to run. I had the presence of mind to ask Caroline about her doctor appointment that she'd had on Saturday and she was happy to announce her stress fracture is healed. She ran with me to the next block and sent me on my way. I texted BB that I was coming to him at Mile 19:

I tried to run/shuffle the whole way but when that dear sweet kind lady offered me orange slices I walked and ate those orange slices in an ugly way. Bless her souuulllllll!

When I turned the corner, Pilsen was an instant party. Being offered beers, fruit, candies, pretzels!!!  All glorious things this late in the race. Kids. Teens. Grandmas and grandpas. College students who easily could have been doing better things like sleeping off a hangover or something. It's a family affair in Pilsen. I didn't see Tequila shots being offered this time--not that I'd take one, I just think it's hilarious. Finally there was BB, he was by himself again but looked to be having a blast. He went to school in Pilsen so I knew he'd love it here. I walked a few and talked a bit and then I went on my way.

Mile 19-24:

By far, I had the most fun on 18th Street from Ashland to Halsted, mostly all of Mile 19. Turning into Halsted I was approaching Mile 20, heading towards Chinatown. There was nothing too great here. Shuffle walk shuffle walk.  My friend Annah was texting me telling me she'd be ready to "run me in" at Mile 21. So i get to Mile 21 and no Annah. Shrug. Kept rolling. Then she's calling me talking about "where are you?" She said I could have passed her. (Side eye glance) and then she found herself running to catch up to me. She brought tons of stuff (candy; orange slices, a bruised banana, just in case.) we kept moving. 

We got to Chinatown in what seemed an eternity and they were still kicking it there. Two big Chinese dragons were dancing "the wobble" which I found to be a rather hilarious cultural crossover. We kept rolling and by rolling I mean snail's pace-ish. We kept heading south under the belly of the Dan Ryan- the expressway on the southside. This area of the course is notoriously sucky. Fewer crowds (though still people around) and at that time in just about everyone's race (unless you're from an East African nation) when you're like "what in the heck am i DOING." And that period is there because in my head it comes off much more like a statement than an actual question, despite its rhetorical question-like nature. I kept telling myself "just make it to Michigan (Avenue...one long 2.5 mile shot back to the finish line.)

And dear God, FINALLY I made the turn onto Michigan. And there were Heather and her husband Howard (only everyone calls him June.) I've known her since college and she's always cheered me on. They were in the same spot in 2012. She's running half marathons these days and we'll be running the Illinois Half next April down in Champaign at our alma mater (and also where BB lives.) we already agreed to celebrate afterwards, this time. Anyway, Heather had candy too...these cherry things

tasted like a million bucks. I turned on the guns (aka shuffled a bit faster.) 

Miles 24-26:

BB texted and asked where I was so that he could be sure to see me. I tried to go faster, my legs were cramping up, knee occasionally rebelling. My friend Tony had texted and I only now noticed. He and his wife Tasneem live at 13th/Michigan, just one block from the Mile 26 mark. I let him know I was nearby too. The blocks seemed to go quicker...25th street...24th...20th...for some reason I looked behind me and saw the car a ways back--at least 4 blocks...the car with the clock on top that basically means "the course is closed, you didn't make the cut off" (although they don't kick you off right away.) At18th we saw Kim, who grew up in the 'burbs with me and Annah. At 13th there were Tas and Tony. I've known Tony since 1991 and we've been friends ever since...when I met his then girlfriend we instantly became friends to the point that she and I talk more than me and him. Ha! (If you're cringing at my grammar, please do know that I am well aware of the appropriate rules, this is just my casual talk. Meh. Sue me.)

At this point I was approaching Roosevelt  Rd/Mile 26. Annah turned off and we said our farewells and I scooted over to the far left of the course because BB was going to be there...only I didn't see him! Wahhhh! (I knew he was there and somehow we just missed each other. No biggie, I knew I'd see him in a bit! He was a SAINT for being all over the course for me!!!!!!!!!!)

Mile 26-26.2:

Roosevelt Road between Michigan Avenue and Columbus is a notorious hill, and by hill I mean Chicago's version of a hill. I ran halfway up, looking for my black and white hat...I walked a bit to the top, and as I got to Columbus I ran again. Slowly...there's the finish. 

Done. Finally. What a long, long day.

Post-race:

I was handed my Mylar blanket to keep warm and honestly, I really did feel cold almost instantly after I stopped running. Got my medal. And instead of making my way down endless tables, they handed me a Mariano's bag with all sorts of goodies. I grabbed a beer, and kept walking. And walking. And walking. BB and I talked and agrees where to meet. I'd noticed he's called and texted--he hadn't realized I'd passed until he got the notification that I'd finished. I made arrangements to meet he and the Ampy folks at the same spot.

Turns out I burned over 4000 calories and ran up about 18 hours worth of phone charging time with my Ampy...more than the other two runners, since I was out there on the course longer. This is not the greatest picture but hey.

From the marathon and getting to and from Grant Park, I logged over 62,000 steps according to my Fitbit. 

After we left Grant Park there were nachos. And fries. When I got home there was a shower. And chafing. And my  toenail on my big toe is cracked. 

I've been working on this race report little by little since Monday and it's now Wednesday. My quads have finally stopped hurting. My knee has the occasional twinge. My chafing is still bleeding, getting re-irritated every day.

I don't even know what to make of this race or what it means for NYC which is in less than 3 weeks now. I don't want to let it mean anything. I'm glad that while I was exhausted and hurting, that pretty much after Mile 12 I did not have any serious bouts with my debilitating negative self-talk. That's pretty big given past experiences.

So there you have it. (And I am so grateful for my BB and all my friends who came out on the course, and for Annah who ran me in from Mile 21.) thank you to those who are reading this!

Chicago Half Marathon Race Report

It’s that time again. Another race report. Sometimes I don’t like writing them, especially when the race wasn’t fun and wasn’t good and was a poor performance, even though I suspected that it wouldn’t be great. I’ll keep it short. HA, yeah right! Later when I look back, I appreciate my race reports, good or not-so-good races.

Pre-race: Not as much sleep on both Friday night and Saturday night. I didn’t realize how late it was Saturday when I dragged BB out to a birthday party under the guise of “we’ll stay just a bit.” Not cool. Not cool at all.

RING RING…alarm time. Let’s go!

We get down to Jackson Park, my old neighborhood,and parked easily, then walked over to the start line. I’m often a ball of nerves, but this time I wasn’t. Chill people make for a chill me. Where’s my cousin Briget? Normally this would drive me mad…this time I was like “I know I’ll see her.” Because 9 times out of 10, we spot each other during the race. Those of us in the back of the pack tend to do that, that’s one thing I’ve learned over the years.

So nothing hurted, per se, my hip wasn’t hurting as it had been, or none of the other various ailments were present that have been around this weird running season. We ran the first mile, according to my Sportstracker app, in 10:23. I was EXHAUSTED. I walked and BB went on. I felt I would do nothing but slow him down. So then I went into a run walk of 5 minutes/2 minutes. Watching the clock is a helluva drag. Around 3.5 miles in, and my app lap’ping repeteadly as if to taunt me, I turned it off. Fuck the clock. Every early mile hurt. By around 4 I started to feel better and just agreed (with myself) to walk when needed. I would NOT make myself feel bad that the last time I ran this course, I was motoring through and on my way to an AWESOME PR of 2:22:00. What’s the use?

And just as I said, I ran in to Briget around 5 miles. We basically tagged back and forth for the entire race until the very end when she went ahead of me for good. I think. Not sure. We didn’t talk again after about Mile 11. It “be’s like that sometimes” when you’re running. No harm, no foul…but you’re not there to talk. We don’t even wait at finish lines anymore. It’s understood…and it’s all good.

So I’d hit a stride of sorts and was feeling decent and running along. Somewhere after Mile 7 I was looking and looking for BB, surely he was on the return south. Just as I gave up looking for him—I could have easily missed him in spots where the out & back course were not exactly side-by-side—but suddenly there he was. “LINDY!” Standing in the weeds (or those more environmentally astute would say—native plants.) I ran over to him, said whatever and we went on our merry ways. He's pretty awesome, eh?

Shortly after the turnaround, we reached 39th (Oakwood) and were shuttled off the course. I thought I wasn’t at a 13 pace, but apparently my results say otherwise-I was clocking in at a 13 by the 5-mile mark. Shuttled off to the southern end of the lakefront path, my old friend. My old running territory. We were the FIRST people to be shuttled off the course. I could see them just steps ahead running on the course. But you know what? At the end of the day, being in that position is on me.

The rest of the race was random water fountains, and at one point, volunteers had made their way over to the path with bottled water. I finally finished, legs cramping mightily. I got asked twice if I needed the medic tent, so I must have looked rather unfortunate. After pausing a few times, I found BB waiting, the proud owner of the medal of his first half marathon!! Woo-hoo! And that was that. I finished. In hindsight this is good, considering that a few weeks ago I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to run.

I’m happy to report I have no more scheduled races in 2013. I told friends I’d do the Title 9K, but I haven’t registered yet. I’ll think about that. Not today though.

By the way, this was my 12th half marathon. I hadn't realized it was that many. Pretty cool!

Race Report: Esprit de She 5k

Person who really pays attention to my blog/upcoming races section: What?! You ran a race and didn't tell us ahead of time? Me: Yeah, I guess I did. Sorry. So about a month ago, my favorite Chicago Public School Pre-K teacher, former owner of a daycare where my girls went to for awhile, and current part-time employee of the world's awesomest women's feminine but functional athletic apparel store...and employee pretty much for the discount as her entire casual wardrobe is Athleta...she texted me and asked if I wanted to run the 10k in Athleta's Esprit de She, the first time they'd be hosting the race in Chicago. My response?

Fast forward to the weekend prior to the race, when in Chicago the devil and a witch made love and had a baby named "HOT AS F*&% OUTSIDE." Upper 90's and humid. Humid like my hair took on another life, humid. Heat indices were in the 100's. Thursday, the day of the race, was Day 4 or 5 of the madness. I'd missed the packet pickup for my race because...well because who does weekday packet pickup from 10am to 12 noon only on the day before? So of course, the dreaded "race day pickup" was in store for me. As the day progressed, I thought strongly about maybe switching over to the 5k. What do I have to prove? But I sorta fretted about it, as I had been hand-picked to run and represent the awesomeness of Athleta! (Which turns out later all that meant was show up, participate and finish.)

But then like a magic fairy, and email popped up on my screen saying that due to the weather, only the 5k race would occur, all 10k'ers would now do the 5k.

Glory hallelujah!

So I picked up the girls from day camp early and headed on over to Lincoln Park at about 4:30, 2.5 hours prior to race time, crossing my fingers that if I found a good (translation: FREE) parking spot, we would just have to leave the car there. BOOM. parking spot RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from the packet pickup tent. Picked up the sweet bag and tank top and we were done. No lines, no nothing. Only the buzz of tow trucks towing the cars on the side of the street. (sho hate it!)

Self: You really need to leave your car here, you won't find better parking than this, and if you go to take the girls to eat and come back, you might not find anywhere to park.

Self: It's HOTTTTTTT. and these girls are gonna bitch and moan the entire 6-8 meandering blocks from the park to decently priced food.

So we drove over to Lakeview, sorta DePaul sorta boystown area. Ate. Enjoyed the air conditioned space. Bought Gatorade. Then we went back to the race around 6:15. Went to the Diversey lot and paid $5, which was well worth it, in my opinion.

With no one watching the girls....(DAMN. is this a RACE report or a PRE-race report?) So with no one watching the girls I staked out a spot that was somewhat surround by post-race tents, but right by the start/finish line. They were tall enough to peep over the advertising. After instructions about not moving at ALL, I made my way over to the start line. There weren't that many people there, probably only the crazy ones.

You're awesome...blah blah blah...HEAT....take it easy....then they broke it down and said they even changed the route of the race so that it would go by more fire hydrants for misting stations (or something like that.) And that this new route was different from any 5k in Chicago. (Well amen to THAT as I'm sick of all the races starting to use the same courses---a direct reflection of the over proliferation of races in Chicago.)

So the first mile was ok, ran the whole thing--though very slowly...and right at 12:00. But then came the walking. And stopping for water. And by George, the course WAS different. So I took a few pictures, this one being my favorite, with the contrast of native wildflowers and the John Hancock building off in the distance:

At the end it said my time was 45:23. My SportsTracker app, which is pretty good, had me at 3.32 miles, which is entirely possible due to the last minute course change. The girls were there cheering me on, we all took Gatorade and popsicles, finished them on the way to the car, and then stopped for frozen yogurt, too.

So there's my race report.

Girls on the Run 5k "Race" Report

So I’ll just say 5 things about the Girls on the Run 5k:

1. The afterschool training program 2 days a week was AWESOME and combined running with confidence-building activities that ALL girls should have access to. Our team of 14 girls was excited and ready.

2. Race day came and my runner rode the bus, while I drove.

3. Traffic at the suburban location was terrible, but as a facility for a professional soccer team, it HAD to be traffic that they’d seen before. (Note to organizers: Traffic management is worth the cost.)

4. I worried that I wouldn’t make the start line, but I was one of the lucky ones and made it the 2.5 miles from the interstate in 40 minutes. Others that drove from our team never made it. There were reports that some buses took 4 hours to arrive, and were then told they couldn’t race, and NO they couldn’t have snacks because they were for the runners. Girls were crying and upset, some girls had bathroom accidents after spending 3 and 4 hours on bus rides, and others ended up using it in cups—all because GOTR-hired bus drivers wouldn’t allow them to exit busses. Buses were arriving even as we were leaving at 11am and after being on those buses for hours, were told they couldn’t run. I’m told the last of the buses arrived at NOON…for a race that started at 8:30. (Note: GOTR hired buses, that picked girls up at schools at specifically approved times. Buses arriving at noon had left their locations in most cases, no later than 7am.) It’s these stories that make me the most upset.

5. Girls on the Run Chicago needs to GET IT TOGETHER. While it didn’t happen to MY girl, it’s simply not acceptable for ANY girl, especially when the answers are fairly simple. There are plenty of races larger than 14,000 participants (and however many spectators) and they generally run smoothly. I know I’d be willing to pay more for the program if it meant a successful event. I think what’s most troubling is that this is not the first time they’ve had trouble with the event. It’s not rocket science, it’s just good event planning.

5b. I’m not even going to trip on the race distance that I came up with at the end of the run.

The girls and their assistant principal in the school staging area.

Bubbles on the course.

We may or may not have chilled a little bit...she'll run the full distance the next one she does. Or not, whatever, as long as she's having fun!

Some of our finishers. (awwww...sniff.)

Soldier Field 10 Mile Race Report and Bike The Drive Memorial Day Weekend Wrap-up

Sometimes, when I have a bad race, I don’t like to write about it. BB asked me if I’d done my race report (NO) and said “well now you’ve lost the magic feeling from the race” or something like that. Truth is, I didn’t feel much of that. Race morning we got to Soldier Field in plenty of time to score a free parking spot downtown (what could be wrong with parking over a mile away?) and make it to our corral so we could wait for 45 minutes. Corral starts make tight courses more navigable, but sometimes the wait is troublesome.

Truth is, I was pretty disappointed that to-date, my best success has only been utilizing a run/walk method. My heel has continued to hurt. I ran/walked a half marathon a month previous and was pretty sure I hadn’t improved much over that time.

So the first 8 minutes or so, BB and I ran together. I decided to keep running through the dark tunnel at the beginning of the course just to stay with him a bit longer. After the tunnel, I walked, he went on his way. I quickly tapped into a 4 minute run/2 minute walk thing, and stuck with that for miles. Even after a complete 10-day break, there was that nagging pain in my heel.

At around Mile 2 I saw a runner down on the ground, not moving. That’s never a good thing to see, I think this is my third time having seen something like that. Hope she was ok. Approaching the turnaround point, I saw BB on the other side. Actually, he saw me and even came over to me for a second. What a sweetie. I was glad to see him, he looked good. Strong. Glad I could provide a training plan that worked for him even if my own plans fell through. Disappointed that I couldn’t run with him longer…even though he didn’t need me, and didn’t seem to mind one bit. (Sorta like the mama bird who says “I’ve taught you all I can, now FLY! FLYYYYY! And the baby bird is all like “Psshhhht…been flying!”)

I walked more during miles 7 and 8. I was on the lakefront path on my old stomping grounds…the forgotten south side of the path. Weird how I still know every twist and turn. I miss it down there a little bit. The path, not much else. I started to get down on myself. Will my heel ever stop hurting? What if the success I had last summer will never come again? What am I doing wrong? I know that some of this weight that I gained back is dragging me down? How much is my running confidence playing into this?

When I’d been running 1:50 I knew that BB was finished or closed to finishing…I tried to send good vibes out to the universe…what were the thoughts HE was thinking in his first ever race??? I was pretty sure he was fine, he has this solid-as-a-rock mentality when it comes to physical challenges.

Finally I was less than a mile to go…I tried as hard as I could to stay running past my walk times. I was WAYYYYY over 2 hours. When I crossed the finish line, there was BB. He’d been waiting awhile, and did GREAT. 2:17:56. An official 10-mile PW (personal worst) for me.

And then we walked the slow long walk to the car, silently cursing the fact that it was pretty far away…and that dammit, why was it barely in the 50’s on Memorial Day weekend.

But the story doesn’t end there…Every year on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, almost the entire Lakeshore Drive is shut down from Hollywood at the north end to 57th at the south end. This was my 3rd year of participating, and first year as a northsider. Year one, I started at 57th and went as far as Belmont (3200 north). Last year I started at 57th and went all the way to Hollywood… I was just 10 blocks from the end (right around 47th) when I got a flat tire and was shooed off the course because it was too close to the time they needed to clear people off of the road to open it back up. THIS YEAR would be the year that I finished.

So BB and I hopped on the Drive at Hollywood shortly before 6am. It was very different starting on the hilly part of the Drive, and I wondered how tough it’d be on those hills as the last part of the ride. We rode and had a blast, stopping only twice downtown in Grant Park, once on the way down, and once on the way back, and skipping the south end rest stop at the Museum of Science and Industry.

(Yes...bogus proof-snatching of photos going on...)

I was still nervous about those hills at the end of our ride. But as we approached them I felt great. There’s a certain deep-down burn in my thighs that I don’t get from running. My legs are strong and I felt the need to prove to myself that I could do these hills. Maybe I couldn’t run a straight 10 miles yet this season, but I could muster up the strength to power through these hills. It came to a point that I was going faster, not slower, on the up-side of the hills…. Pedal-pedal-pedal/dig-dig-dig! Don’t stop don’t stop don’t stop. Coooooooaaaaaaaaaaast down the hill…then just as the decline was about to end, I’d pedal fast again…incline ahead. Pedal slower at first, then fast fast fast, dig-dig-dig! You got this! And this went on, as it turned out later when I looked at my sportstracker app, for about 4 miles. My fastest miles of the whole 34 miles we rode were Miles 30, 31, 32 and 33!

I felt like I redeemed myself somewhat from the day before! BB caught up to me and said he enjoyed watching me ride. I felt free. I felt strong. It was what I needed mentally, my ego has been taking a beating these days on the running path.

Much of the rest of the day was sleeping and eating. But even as I was drifting and dozing and grazing, I wondered what else I could do if I could find that strength inside to do those hills like that? I can power through this running “SLOG” period that I’m having. I can do more. What kind of runner would I be if I did everything possible to be the best runner I can be?

I love Memorial Day weekend in Chicago and I look forward to a more athletic me for the next one. Next race (not including Girls on the Run 5k) isn’t until 7/21, the Rock n Roll Chicago Half Marathon.

Race Report: Illinois Half Marathon (warning...long-winded)

The Illinois Marathon/Half Marathon takes place each year down in Champaign-Urbana, home of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC), my alma mater. The race is in its 5th year and it already seems pretty popular in the community. People were out along the course cheering, businesses had signs up (both on and off the course, for the record) and the general atmosphere was one of support for all runners—the speedy ones and the “penguins.”

BB dropped me off close to the start line, and by close I mean, I walked less than half a block and was at my corral. ?!?! Never experienced that before! I immediately thought “I may never race in Chicago again.” I’ll spare the description of race day in Chicago…I’m sure I’ve talked about it in past race reports. Before parting ways he reminded me for the 100th time—because I needed reminding for the 100th time--“No negative self talk. All positive.” “Yes.” (He knows me.) So anyway, I waited around, trying to decide if the regurgitation of Boston this, Boston that bothered me or not. Speaking of that, I noticed a bit more security, cops milling about looking serious.

Eventually my girl HD, also UIUC alum found me and we chatted until the race began. The Marching Illini played…somebody sang. Somebody said “OskeeWowWow” and I tuned out because I’ve never been a fan of the whole “Chief” mascot shenanigans. HD and I talked and talked until our corral, the last one, was ready to go. I barely noticed we’d been inching up to the start line, so I had to quickly start my Garmin. As the run began we continued to chat during the first few minutes. It was HD’s first half marathon ever (and one I’d talked her into doing last fall.) I told her I was doing a run/walk 5:2 ratio, and would try to catch up with her later, even thought I really didn't think I would. So 5 minutes in, I walked. It felt weird to walk when I didn’t necessarily need to, and I wondered if I would hate my watch by the end of the race, but I did it for the sake of the future me at Mile 10 who would curse the undertrained past me.

Around the first mile I turned on to Green Street. “You’re fine. You got this.” I noticed a rather old gentleman…smelled him first. He was running in cotton shorts (like regular shorts) and a t-shirt…but in some old dress shoes. At first I was all like WTH, but then I thought…this dude is out here running, who am I to judge what he’s wearing? During the stretch heading east I bumped up against him (ran ahead/fell behind) due to my run/walk. (Especially who am I to judge when this dude at least 30 years older than me was at the same pace as me.) Maybe about 2.5 miles in, I noticed myself feeling winded at around 4:30 for each of my 5:00 run stints, so without much thinking I simply decided to change my run/walk ration to a 4:2. Whatever…one foot in front of the other, right? This WAS NOT a race about time today.

The miles started to go by and I felt decent. This run/walk think ain’t half bad. Shortly after the 5 mile mark I got a text. Because I was walking at the time, I looked and it was BB wondering where I was. Traffic around the course was not easy to navigate, apparently. Halfway to Mile 6 I saw him pull up, so I grabbed some of my favorite Gatorade, chatted for two seconds, then off I went.

I started to get a little tired after about 6.5, so I turned one of my walks into a fairly long walk break. Not sure how long, but “up ahead at that turn” was longer in distance than it initially seemed. Whatevs. This part of the course was ok. I could tell that there had been more people out earlier in driveways with the discarded signs and lawn chairs still out, but only a few remained. I said thank you to everyone within earshot, and refused to leave any kid hanging that had his hand held out to give runners a high-five!

Soon we were upon Meadowbrook Park, and after a quick 2nd sip of Gatorade from BB, I wound through this lovely park. I was a little teeny bit sore at this point, my knee was feeling funny. Not horrible, just like a “hello, I’m your right knee. Just wondering if you knew that you are pounding me into cement and asphalt? Ok, you do? Ok…well carry on then.” At the southern end of the park there is a cool woman statue and somebody…race organizers or humorous vagrants…had wrapped her in a mylar marathon finisher blanket. Made me smile. I love runners—we’re a special kind of dork.

I took a few more extended walking breaks of 3 minutes each or so, and up ahead I saw HD walking. Came upon her and she told me that her Achilles and IT band were hurting…such runner terms for such a newbie runner! Impressed!! So I asked her if she wanted to run/walk it in with me, and we could go at whatever she felt comfortable with. Eventually we settled into what amounted to about a 3:2 ratio, although sometimes I let it go longer on either end. Whatever…just moving forward was the modus operandi.

The aid station right at Mile 10 was the best by far. Zombies at the “zombie station” handed water and Gatorade out with bloody faces, half eaten flesh and tattered clothing. Do they do this every year? Do they come up with something different and equally creative each year? Don’t know, but it was a nice diversion at that point in a half marathon distance when you sometimes start to question “Wait…WHY am I running this again? And we PAY to do this?”  We kept going and came across Mile 11. BB was here yet again, cheering me on. Sigh. Told him I’d see him at the finish. And after heading off again, just for a brief moment—and this doesn’t count as negative self talk because I wasn’t beating myself up—but just for a moment I threw a mini silent temper tantrum. “OH WTH I don’t wanna run 2 more miles! No!!!” but then I got a hold of myself and said “It’s two goddam miles, STFU, you can do that even if you crawled.” That silenced the thrashing and flailing of limbs during my silent, internal temper tantrum.

The frat house blasting Gangam Style also helped silence the inner monster, too. Back on the campus now, there was more to look at. More to reminisce on. Suddenly we were at Mile 12. Passing by the Education Building where I took Educational Psychology and loved every minute of it, and emptied trash cans during my 3am to 7am shift for the physical plant that paid a whopping $8/hour. That was some serious loot back in 1990. I’m just sayin. Next came one of the College of Business buildings where I took Econ 101 and 172 and knew I’d never ever really have a shot at being a numbers girl. There’s the Armory and why are those ROTC sailors ringing that damn bell so loudly???????? Crossing over 4th street, we reach the Champaign dorms, where I lived in not 1, not 2 but FOUR different dorms as well as an apartment building across the street. Scott, Van Doren, Garner and Clark to be exact—yes, Clark was a dorm at one point. I moved a lot, like once a semester, practically. Nostalgia took over and graced my every step. Next thing I know we’re finishing our last walking break and running down the side of Memorial Stadium, where football dreams come to die. (I kid, I kid! Please don’t be mad at me, my heart always lives with the Orange and Blue.) Anyhoo, I crossed the finish line on the field, which I doubt is EVER something that would get old, got my medal and nixed post-race snacks because I didn’t really feel like climbing stadium stairs at the moment. (UGH.) Besides, BB, the blessed saint, had my favorite post-race snack: CHOCOLATE MILK!!!!!!! (Not that I knew he would, but I didn’t mind so much having missed the post-race vittles once he handed me that.)

All-in-all, I thoroughly enjoyed this race and will definitely do this one again. Told BB I could see doing this race every year. The organizers put on a well-organized race, and it’s not too crowded but yet not so slim in numbers that I’m the very last slow runner out there. Getting to the race was easy like Sunday morning (only it was Saturday.)The course is nice and I suspect as the race becomes a mainstay in the community, it will only attract more supporters. The course traverses through a nice balance of campus, residential and parks that is refreshing. Just when you’re tired of the scenery, it changes. Plus, they don’t gouge you in race fees. I don’t recall ever having graded a race before, but I’d give this one an “A” in my book.

Last but not least, my run/walk mile splits are as follows…I just looked these up and while I guess this is fairly obvious, I really dig how my race reports in text are clearly reflected/verified in the mile splits as well. They ain’t pretty, but at the end they result in the completion of my 10th half marathon:

Mile 1-11:55

Mile 2-12:39

Mile 3-13:39

Mile 4-13:27

Mile 5-13:30

Mile 6-14:55

Mile 7-14:59

Mile 8-13:43

Mile 9-14:03

Mile 10-16:40

Mile 11-14:46

Mile 12-15:27

Mile 13-15:44

.1-10:30

Total 3:06:39. 14:14 pace. Nowhere NEAR my PR from last September (10:49 pace) and Nowhere near my worst half marathon time ever, when I walked 9 of the 13 miles. Now On to appropriate training (like more than 28 days for a half marathon) and my next race. I’ll be back in running shape soon.

Race Report: 2013 Shamrock Shuffle

So it wasn't a PR (personal record) race for me...in fact it may have been my worst-ever Shuffle. (glancing on down the right-hand side to see if I've ever run a slower 8k - hold on - CONGRATULATIONS, you've run your slowest 8k ever!) But my training for the season officially kicked off just 1 week prior and after this race, I'd run 17.96 miles in one week. From 0 to 17.96.

But back to the race report: This was the first time heading from my new northside digs to a race. It felt weird. Would there be traffic? Should I just take the train? I drove down with my running cheerleader and had plenty of time to spare before meeting Lou and my cousin Briget at around 8:30 near Jackson/Michigan. When I finally met up with Lou at Corner Bakery, come to find out she was as equally unprepared as me! But we were gonna throw caution to the wind and run. We'd been at the start line for this race many times, and we were just gonna see what happened.

So we head to the start line, stopping for a short wait at the luxurious port-o-potties , and found/chatted with Briget before heading to our corral when we heard "IF YOU'RE NOT IN YOUR CORRAL BY NOW (you suck and) YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE VERY LAST CORRAL." We looked at each other like "yeah right" and proceeded to hop the fence very ungracefully right into our corral. (Thanks for the assist, lightpost!)

Anddddddddddddd. we're off.....like 35 minutes later. Sigh. Wave starts. I think they're here to stay.

Lou's chillin. I'm chillin. We're taking it real slow. Neither of us with any timing device. Neither of us particularly ready. Mile 1 seems to come up quickly! Then as agreed upon, we stopped and walked, picking out a place ahead where we'd start running aagain. I noted that the course had taken a slight turn from previous years. I'M SO RACE-COURSE ASTUTE.

It was around here where Lou was questioning whether or not she should continue on...not prepared for the run distance, the late start/babysitter concerns for the sweet cherub at home, so she said she would dip out of the race at about Mile 2. It didn't bother me one bit...we have all been there before. Well, those of us trying to maintain a race schedule with babies at home. (Sometimes I look back in amazement that I kicked off my REAL running days while still nursing. Must of been INSANE.) Plus anyway her hubby was in the first wave of the race and was likely done before we even started. I get the wave start thing, but it has it's definite drawbacks.

So we come up to my #1 race cheerleader (let's call him BB) and he's all smiles and that made me feel good. I dug out my phone (sweet new white iPhone 5, i might add) pulled out my so-new-it's-musicless phone, dropped it and rescued it as one foot came way too close, and turned on my favorite podcast, The Steve Dahl Show. By the way, it took me FOREVER to untangle my earphones--like 2 whole blocks of walking. Very frustrating.

So between Mile 2 and about 3.5, I felt the lack of training kick in. Run. Walk. Run. Walk. Just keep going. Saw Dale, a marathoner and race volunteer cheering folks on with the megaphone...said hello and he megaphoned me. :) Walked through the second aid station for a cool sip of Gatorade...And then around Mile 4 I felt better and turned on the "jets." Mind you, "jets" at this stage in the training game mean continous forward movement over 4.5mph. WHAT?!?!?! I know that sounds crazy, especially with all my PR's last year, but I didn't even care. I'll get back there, and when i do, I'm STAYING there.

So I get to the infamous hill known as Roosevelt Road, also NOT known as a hill in other cities. But in flat-ass Chicago, we call these slight inclines HILLS. Sue us. Anyway, there's BB, waiting for me, reminding me of my promise to absolutely no matter WHAT, not walk any part of this hill. So I said "I'll see you at the finish!" And I set my eyes to the top of the hill and motored on, dodging walkers every which way. "(I've so been there! But today, I. Am. Not. Stopping. THIS will be my victory for today. This and finishing...) So I'm about halfway up the hill, thinking "I can walk after I turn the corner..." and I don't know why I looked back over to the sidewalk, maybe he said something, but there was BB running next to me in regular streetclothes, saying (or willing me?) to keep going, you got this. i don't know if I smiled outwardly, but I sure did on the inside! And then I realized I MUST run the rest, "you can walk when you're done."

And that was that. Another race done. Nothing stellar about the time at all. But I had fun. And not once did I have negative thoughts that tend to creep in when I'm unprepared. I'll get there. I'll be back. And I'll keep running till it feels better again, and I will run (or run/walk) this upcoming half marathon at the end of the month. And I will have better-no, GREAT races to come this year.

Here are my race splits, and I think it pretty much matches my story above. Nothing pretty, but it was all about one foot in front of the other for me. Next up? more training runs this week.

START 00:00:00 9:41:14 am

1M 00:12:01 9:53:15 am (pace 12:01)

2M 00:25:17 10:06:31 am (pace 13:17)

3M 00:39:28 10:20:42 am (pace 14:12)

5K 00:41:13 10:22:27 am (pace 16:23)

4M 00:53:12 10:34:26 am (pace 13:25)

FINISH 01:05:47 10:47:01 am (pace 12:58)

Avg. Pace 13:14 (per mile)

A pretty great race for a not so pretty time. :) When I got home, I filled in my Girls on the Run sticker that Says "Running makes me _____________." Wrote "WHOLE."

Glad to be back running on the road of (not TO) continuous improvement. It's not a destination, it's a journey.

Did I ever do a race report for Chicago's Perfect 10k/10m Race that was, uh, not-so-perfect?

No? Well here it is: IT SUCKED!

Is that it? Yeah, pretty much. It started a half hour late because parking was too crowded. Because numbskulls apparently didn't think that getting into Navy Pier would be something that they should consider some sort of time factor for. Race organizers: The race was on the lakefront path. let them suckers start when they finally get there, don't penalize the rest of us WHO HAD TO PAY REGULAR PARKING RATES BECAUSE THE THOUGHTLESS RACE ORGANIZERS DIDN'T ARRANGE FOR DISCOUNTED PARKING FOR THE THOUSANDS OF RUNNERS HEADED THAT WAY. tick tock tick tock, dollar here, dollar there. And before someone goes all sustainability-guru on me, transit to Navy Pier is terrible during the middle of rush hour, let alone on a Saturday morning.

I don't even need to rant anymore. I got a medal. I don't even want a medal for a 10K. That's kinda lame to me. I gave it to my youngest and haven't seen it since.

I don't plan on running this hot mess of a race ever again. I could bitch and moan more, but what difference does it make? None. Race Report: DONE.

++++++++

It's 1:39 am, and who the hell knows why I'm wide awake. I was looking at my blog and realizing how NEGATIVE this post sounds. So in case you're thoroughly disgusted and ready to cross my blog off of your reading list, might I point you to my favorite race report of the 2012 running season to change your mind? Click here. Aaah. THAT was a good day.

Race Report: Title 9k, Chicago Edition, 10/21/12

First race after the marathon, and longest run to date as well. I felt…well…MEH about describes it. Hadn’t slept well the night before and seem to be fighting off some kind of cold. Not nearly enough to keep me from running, though. So hopefully you saw my previous post about the awesome race good bags for this race. LOVE! I intend to run this race again. I forgot to mention in that post that participants also got a coupon for $20 off any purchase over $100. I’m strongly considering a new shirt or something, as I love Title Nine clothes almost as much as I love Athleta…although technically I will save more many by not spending a dime. Sigh. (This moment brought to you by “personal growth.”)

Anyhooooo, it’s just a 9k…is all I kept saying to my “coach” whom I will now refer to as BB. It’s just a 9k, I also told myself. I’d planned to leave the house by 6:30am (with a 9am race start) because Lincoln Park is terrible for parking. But since I was up in the middle of the night from about 1:30 until sometime after 3:30, 6:30 turned quickly into 7:20ish. Traffic was a breeze and I soon found myself winding up Stanton Drive at the southern end of Lincoln Park. I spied a spot immediately south of Fullerton, and just a block or so shy of the start line. And with one try, BOOYA! (Don't sweat the technique--I got skills, baby!)

It was already a great day. I’ve never parked so close to a race start line. So since I was still early, I sat and chilled, listening to a podcast and eventually talking to BB. In complete obliviousness—hey, I’m a block away from the start line—BB asked if I should be headed over to the start line. Details, details! So I moseyed on over at about 8:45ish.

As the race was kicking off, I realized in talking to BB that I hadn’t set up my iTunes (or even put my phone in my armband, nor had I gotten my Garmin ready to start.) Done in a flash, I was ready to roll as I crossed the start line. We had the old school timing chips on our shoes, which gratefully were not as old school as the few races I’ve run where people with clipboards took down numbers at the finish line…

So the course was ok, simply on the lakefront path. But it was a nice fall day for a run. Just shy of 50 degrees. The first 3 miles were eh. I wasn’t feeling tired or anything, just blah. And in the last 2+ miles I kind of decided that I’m done with races this season. I’m ready for my rebuilding phase that BB has helped me map out. I’m ready to come back stronger, but yet I’m also ready for a break from races for the time being. This isn’t a decision about the Chicago Perfect 10 race coming up in a few weeks, but that’s where my head was at yesterday. During the last ½ mile I saw a woman’s family meet her. Her two boys and a girl started to run with her. The two younger ones ran about 2 minutes before turning back for their dad, and the mom and older son went on to finish. That was really nice to watch.

At the finish line there was one last surprise….Title 9k finisher bottles. Sweet!

Everything about this race had a nice “woman’s touch,” dare I sound sexist. I grabbed a banana, several orange pieces, a piece of bagel, water…and that was all she wrote!

2012 chicago marathon: a race report

I guess I’m not in the mood for a race report. Am I ever when a race doesn’t go my way? But I should. It’s only fair that if you’ve followed me THIS far on my marathon journey this year, this I tell you about the race. And maybe it will be therapeutic.

So as you know, I hadn’t run since my 12 mile run when afterwards, my shin hurt horribly for two days and I was barely able to put pressure on it. So I made the executive decision, with lots of input from people I trust, to just not run anymore until the marathon, and RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevate.) Only I didn’t really compress until the early part of last week. It seemed to get better and by the middle of the week (last week) it seemed to be good enough to run.

I won’t go into my pre-race shenanigans, I probably didn’t get enough rest the last few days…but that didn’t play in to anything here. Race day was here! I was in Corral J of the second wave. While I was skeptical of the wave start, I didn’t have to wait 35 minutes to cross the start line! HOORAY!! I was super excited!

Mile 1 is usually a mile where I struggle to find my pace, and this time it didn’t happen. At about the 1.5 mile mark, my friend Annah jumped in to run with me. She’s running the Marine Corps Marathon in 3 weeks and was going to make this her 20-miler. If you’ve read my blog long enough, you know that we’ve known each other since we were 9 years old. I had another friend who was there too, and gave him my jacket. He’d see us again later in the course…like plenty of times over…with an array of race goodies…pretzels, oranges, good vibes, positivity….and Advil.

So we went on our way, saw Lou around 2.5 miles. (WE STILL NEED TO GET LUNCH ON THE CALENDAR, I OWE YOU GUYS AN EMAIL!!!) So Annah and I were moseying on our way heading up to Lincoln Park. I noticed my right foot felt like it was going numb…was that the compression sock? Oooh I know better than to run with something new for such a long race. So I pushed it down. Then a bit later it started to hurt. With every step, just a little more. No worries, right? I can take some Advil when I see my friend at our next designated point on the course…at around 8 miles. Annah ran ahead when we were close and got him prepared to hand over the Advil…and so that’s what I did. This area of the course, Boystown, is lots of fun. Only this time it didn’t feel as much fun. In retrospect, maybe I was worrying about my leg. Not sure.

So we headed down to the halfway point. I was looking for Lou as she’d texted where she was, but I must have missed her. I continued to employ my “walk thru every aid station” and did this religiously. Annah is a much fast runner than me, it seemed like this might be annoying her. Eh…my race, right? Just shy of the halfway point, my shin really started hurting again. And maybe I had been running differently on it, because my LEFT leg seemed to start cramping up. Maybe in my being careful with my right leg, my left leg was taking a hit? Dunno…but as we approached on-course meeting point number 3 for my Marathon Angel, it was cramping a lot. Stopped for a second and gulped some of his Gatorade. And then we were off…

At the next aid station, Annah went to check and see if the medical people had salt. Nope. Drink Gatorade, dude said. So noted. And this was where I felt things start to go a little downhill. It’ll get better, right? Although my experience has always been that once my pace slows, it’s really hard to pick it back up. Cramp Cramp Cramp.

Miles 16 through about 23 were more of the same, only more pronounced. Shuffling along…walking…shuffling…walking. And totally demoralized. After such a great training season…THIS??? I’d rather quit than have yet another terrible marathon time. So we met Marathon Angel at stop #4 right at 35th street, the southernmost part of the course, where all that remained was a straight shot up Michigan Avenue…Annah made her exit at this point. THANK YOU, ANNAH!!!

So just 2.5 miles to go, I can do this, right? At this point, I was gonna be happy just to beat 6 hours. It was not going to be the 5:15 goal I’d hoped for, and not even 5:45 unless I managed to pull out an all out run from here on out (not likely.) But I was going to do it. I turned the corner and heyyyyy….my cousin Briget! She had been out there since 10:30 and it was now well after 1pm. She wasn’t in running gear, but she shuffled along with me, mostly walking for a half mile. I saw Heather, a friend from college, at this point too. Always nice to see familiar faces. Heather took a picture of me that according to my phone alerts, a bunch of people have commented on Facebook—haven’t really read the comments. I looked fine even if I felt like crap. I actually only looked at the picture to make sure I didn’t look like complete and total crap, because I will veto a bad picture on Facebook in a New York minute.

So I started “running” (shuffling) along…run a little, walk a little, and this was going to be my method for the rest of the race. I can do this. Shortly after Briget left, her comes Rudy. Rudy is another friend from college. I figured he’d be running…but guess what? INJURED. Not running. He runs a training group and has run a ton of marathons. He was all cheers and hugs for me. Good people.

Keep going.

So I approach Michigan and Roosevelt. Marathon Angel was there…right on point….I didn’t stop, I just kept going. Here was my hill. The hill I thought about almost every time I went up the hill at 47th. My shin was hurting so bad…don’t stop…don’t stop…look down…look down….Run. This. Hill. And I ran half of it…and then I felt like that if I didn’t walk, I would be walking across the finish line instead. And in a split decision, I felt like I couldn’t bear to do that…so I walked up the second half of the hill…at almost the top, I started running again….200M….100M….FINISH. 5: 52:46. According to the cool runnings pace calculator, that’s a 13:27 overall pace.

I wanted to do so much better. I’m disappointed that after all that hard work I’m still nowhere near my race goals. This morning my right leg hurt soooooo bad, I couldn’t stand at all on it, and it was horrible pain. I’ve found as the day has gone on, it’s bad when I’ve been immobile for a bit…like driving, or sitting or whatever. It hurts for a bit when I put pressure on it. Stairs are hard. Driving is a task. This is what happened two weeks ago, only it hurts worse this time. I’m going to give it a few days, and if it’s not better, I will go see a doctor.

In the interim, I’ve decided that I will work harder to fit the pieces of this puzzle together…weight training…better stretching. Let’s face it, I hate to stretch. That’s stupid. Improving my core…eating better. And then after my next marathon, we’ll see where I go from there. All this analysis is exhausting after every race.

Here is my pace breakdown according to the marathon’s official website. These are point to point, meaning the pace is between each point..so the pace at 15K is the pace between the 10K and 15K. Got that? Here’s the tale of the tape:

5K 10:57

10K 11:28

15K 11:31

20K 12:21

HALF 12:36 (total elapsed time 2:32:16)

25K 13:28

30K 14:07

35K 16:48

40K 16:57 (really???)

FINISH 14:05

Overall pace, again, 13:27.

Lastly…Zoe is feeling/mocking my pain. This morning she hobbled down the stairs and said she couldn’t go to school because her leg hurt. This evening she’s been hobbling around, and playing with this old walking stick that we have. Every once in awhile she takes a step and yells out “OWWWWWWW.” She’s 6 so I guess it’s kinda cute.

Race Report: Chicago Half Marathon 9/9/12

2:21:59 (pace 10:50) Another PR, totally blew my 7/22 PR outta the water by 12 minutes and 7 seconds! Report coming soon....

Uh, oops? So the website updated my time: 2:22:00, and my pace according to them was 10:49. (I swear yesterday it said 2:21:59. Whatever.) My 5 mile split was 53:40, 10 mile split 1:48:03. My Garmin was a bit off the entire race, distance-wise, but I will post the mile splits later anyway, it's close enough, I suppose.

************************************************************************ So, I was hoping to post my mile splits, but something funky happened with my Garmin and every run has been erased. But I had looked at the mile splits a few time in several moments of obsessive compulsive behavior, so I can generally report that the first few miles were clocking in at around 10:30 to 10:45, then around 6 through 10 I started creeping up a bit, clocked a few 10:50's in a row (is this my new pace?), clocked a few in the 11:05 to 11:15, and even had one around 11:25 when i took a GU.

But the rest of the race, there isn't that much to report. Why? Because I was in a zone...running on auto pilot. The weather at the start was perfect. I had absolutely zero doubts that I would finish and finish well. I literally just kept putting one foot in front of the other--even got a text from my biggest cheerleader reminding me to do that.

Speaking of cheerleaders, I saw Anthony, a former co-worker near Mile 1. Then I saw Melba, my neighbor and fellow runner (who wasn't running this race), close to Mile 11.

It was around Mile 11 when I realized that at the solid pace I was going, I was totally gonna smash my previous PR of 2:34:06. I started to feel a little anxious but pushed that right outta my head.

KEEP GOING.

Holy sh*t, is that 12 miles already? My watch was at around 2:11 or 2:12 and some change and I KNEW I had it in the bage. BIG TIME.

DON'T SMILE! KEEP GOING!!

Got a text somewhere around here that my favorite person was at the finish line. Stop thinking about that and run!!

3/4 mile to go, said the neon orange sign! KEEP GOING! 1/2 mile to go said the next sign. There's the turn up ahead! OH SNAP, I'M ABOUT TO BLOW THIS PR OUT OF THE WATER!!! Run! Run! RUN!!! I looked down at my Garmin and the pace was 8:58 at which point I was sure I was about to pass out. I was passing runners and wondering if I might have an asthma attack. I slowed it down a bit with my hyper self. No need to pass out right before the finish line.

13 MILES, .1 to go!!! At this point I was talking to myself. Go, go go go go you got this, go go go, you got this....my breathing seemed so loud. Go go go go FINISH...

OH HELLLLLLL YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! (As in Oh Hell Yes, I'll take that water, and Oh Hell Yes, as in my frikkin watch says 2:22:22..but that was due to a little mishap at the beginning of the race.) Official time 2:22:00.

And for once I didn't doubt myself during the run. Almost zero negative thoughts. For a brief moment I thought "how the hell am I gonna run 20 miles next week?" and then I said to myself "you'll do it the same way as this--one foot in front of the other--but worry about that after this race!"

And then suddenly my texting friend's face magically appeared, just as happy about my run as I was. So that person now has my medal because really....having a solid support system and someone who knows exactly where you're coming from is a gamechanger.

E P I L O G U E

You know how at the end of books there's this (sometimes) profound ending and you're all like "wow" and what not? So my whole medal thing has got me to thinking. I have TONS of medals, but I honestly don't think I have given running my all until now. I've run before, and I've had long training runs, sure. But ever since that 2007 marathon debacle, I've never been as committed as I am now. I've always set artificial limits for no reason at all. I'm contemplating getting rid of all of those medals...not sure...but I feel like I am at a new starting point. They are symbols of half-ass trying, of so much negative thinking and beating myself up...not sure though. My first marathon one and first half marathon medal have some meaning. But the rest? I'm not that girl anymore.

Thoughts?

Race Report: Chicago Undie Dash 5K

I'll keep this short and sweet. So the race was on my birthday...me and my cousin Briget met downtown and walked over to DuSable Harbor, adjacent to the Chicago Yacht Club, a great place to be reminded that your liberal arts major didn't lend much to the pursuit of the almighty dollar...

As we picked up our packets (because there was ONLY race day packet pickup) I was confronted with two unfortunate things: No official timing and there were a GANG of biting flies in this particular area near the lake. So for 90 minutes, we swatted away flies and watched the crowd roll in, including my bestie Annah.

The premise of the Chicago Undie Dash is to raise money for an organization that promotes awareness of women's breast and ovarian health. I certainly wasn't gonna go out in my drawers, and a whole LOT of people could have done the same--but didn't.

The course was on the lakefront path, and even in the grass at some points. Runners were probably more there for the underwear gimmick, because there were lots of people who were walking within the first mile on what was a crowded "course." So while it was fun enough, I probably won't do it again next year. Not much else to report other than there was an ugly headwind for about the last mile and some change.

3.1 miles/34:14 (pace 11:03)

(Birthday Gear courtesy of Briget!)

Rock-n-Roll Chicago Half Marathon Race Report

***********************RACE REPORT*******************RACE REPORT*****************

So today was the Rock n Roll Chicago Half Marathon, and of course it was forecasted to be hot. And it was. But who cares…I mean, of course I don’t like running in the heat, but I was fairly ready for it. I left at 5am and picked up my neighbor M who was also running. We rolled on downtown, and found a parking spot in my secret “free parking” area that I tend to park at for all races. (And no, I’m still not telling anyone where this is. Space is limited! Find your own!) On the way downtown we were talking about the course and we both agreed that coming out of Grant Park heading north to Grand Ave sucks…so for once, I decided that maybe trying to fall into pace while running with the crowd, getting my music going, going under the Wacker tunnel, going over the bridge, etc…maybe it was all too much. So I decided to try something different and just absorb the race by not putting any music on. That was A-OK, it wasn’t bad at all. Didn’t turn the tunes on right at the 3 mile mark.

Start to 5k

So of course, that first tunnel threw Ye Olde Garmin into a tizzy that it never recovered from. Shortly after that tunnel, it told me I ran a 6 or 7-minute mile. Yeah, right. I thought maybe it’d balance itself out, but it never did, so I was only able to gauge my minutes-per-mile as a just that, and not an actual mileage covered. It remained about a half mile off the entire race. Towards the end of this “split,” I turned on my tunes. Official Race Time Split--36:15 (11:40 pace)

5k to 10k

Zoom Zoom, digging the tunes. I skipped the first water station because I was going to grab a Gatorade instead. Wait, wha?! No Gatorade? Strangely, some stations only had water, or vice versa. Whatever. Kept rolling. Shortly after Mile 4 the course started heading east back into downtown and the sun was merciless, like a smackdown on my face. Next water station I came across, I downed a GU—delicious vanilla goodness! We twisted and turned through downtown. Boom. Official Race Time Split—1:12:01 (11:31 pace)

10k to 10m

The sun went behind some clouds, and while it was still hot, it wasn’t beating down my face. Thank you, Mr. Golden Sun. It was about the beginning of this stage that I start looking at Ye Olde Garmin at my total run time and calculating my potential finish time. “10k at 12:00 pace is 1:14”….”9 miles is 1:48”…..and I knew I was doing well enough to beat my PR of 2:37:10, an 11:59 pace race back in September 2007. I was hitting each mile marker under that pace, and I was excited. Cautiously optimistic, hoping I wouldn’t have a meltdown. At the water station near Mile 8, I grabbed a water and for some unexplainable reason I gasped for air when taking a sip…water all down the wrong pipe, so I was sputtering along for a minute. (wth? Drink much?) At around Mile 9 I downed my second and last GU. Official Race Time Split—1:56:53 (11:52 pace)

10m to FINISH

The 10-mile marker was on 31st street, shortly before we made our turn north heading back to the finish line in Grant Park. I was kinda starting to get tired here. At the water sponge stage (somewhere between 10 and 11) I grabbed the icey sponge, squeezing water down my back. It was deliciously cold! I walked about 200 feet after that. In fact, given the heat, I took the approach of walking through all of the aid stations (except for the very first one which I skipped.)

Between the 11-mile and 12-mile mark, we were under the tunnel of McCormick place. The ground seemed so inky black after being in the bright sun that I thought for SURE I was going to fall. I had to force myself to look straight ahead to the light at the end of the tunnel…literally and figuratively. There were quite a bit of hills in this last part of the race…NOTE: CHICAGO version of hills, so uh…slight hills. But yeah, hills on the ramps going over Lakeshore Drive, heading into the tunnel at McCormick, heading out…you may recall from my blog that I’ve been hitting that hill on the lakefront path at 47th Street that I’ve notoriously avoided in years past, and it paid off! The hills didn’t bother me one bit. Ran ‘em all except what turned out to be the last one, and that’s because I decided to grab a bit of water from my fuel belt (and as I said, I walked when sipping water).

Coming out of the tunnel and hitting the 12-mile mark at 2:22, I knew that unless there I had a complete and total breakdown, I totally had this PR in the bag. I was really feeling tired but just kept putting one foot in front of the other. At 2:31 I looked down…and I knew I was close to the finish but for some reason couldn’t see the finish line. Smiled anyway. And there it was……DONE! PR!!! Official Race Time Split--2:34:06 (11:59 pace for the split).

OFFICIAL RACE TIME: 2:34:06, 3 minutes and 4 seconds faster than my (previous) best half marathon time. Race pace: 11:46

WOO HOO!

The Color Run "5K" Race Report

Note the quotes. This was supposed to be a 5K run...but it DAMN sure wasn't any 3.1 miles. Couldn't have been, although I didn't have Ye Olde Garmin on to tell me if my instincts were right. But I know it wasn't. And not because I was having so much fun that it just zoomed by. Quite the contrary. I mean, don't get me wrong. It was totally fun, but I was TRASHED. TRASHED!!!! Not from a night of boys and boozing, but at least 12 hours on my feet on Friday for cookie orders, and about 3 hours of sleep. UGH! I was so tired, my head was pounding, etc...and knowing that once I finished up, I still had to go back and package 240 cookie favors and deliver them by midday. (complain complain...no, I'm not really complaining. It's just what happens sometimes when three worlds collide: The full time job - the dream job - the rest of my life.) I must have stopped like every 1/4 mile to walk. I was running with someone from Black Girls Run! Chicago, and I know she was probably like wth?! She's cool though. So all that tired-ness plus some real irregular, inadequate running.

Anyway...the pictures are pretty freakin awesome.

Some of the ladies from Black Girls Run! Chicago

Yours Truly.

Yellow. Here's where it just got inSANE.

Photo Credit: Zoe, Age 6

Photo Credit: Same 6 year old.

FUN TIMES. So...marathon training begins NOW.