Runs #27 and #28

Run #27 Sunday morning

11 miles; 2:39:00; run/walk with a ton more walking than I wanted. It also involved stopping and sitting on the curb at around 9 miles, crying. In retrospect, I have to stop beating myself. I knew run/walk sti wouldn't be easy in trying to do this half marathon in 8 weeks after about 4-5 months of solid inactivity. It'll get easier. Pace: 14:27. Eeeww. Hopefully I can reign my half marathon in to under the 3:00 mark. We'll see. (BB: this was supposed to be a goal of a PR run. That will have to come later. I feel like I've let you down. Or myself down.) Anyway this was outdoor run #4. Breathing is still crazy, but getting better. Also, because the girls were home, I didn't feel comfortable straying too far. I did the entire 11 miles in this area bounded by Devon to the north, Broadway to the east, Ridge (diagonal) and Glenwood to the south, and Ravenswood (the street 1 block east of Ridge) to the west. It was mind-numbing.

Run #28 Tuesday morning

2 miles; 25:51; pace 12:55; still run/walking. My legs were so sore this morning, still from my 11 miles on Sunday and a tender hamstring, and then hitting my legs and shoulders yesterday for strength training. I added a set, so now 4 sets of 10 on the leg press, and did each set at a higher weight: 255-270-285-300. My legs were mad at me this morning, but that's ok. With each step I imagined myself getting stronger, and better prepared for the running season ahead. Outdoor run #5.

Miles this month: 30

Miles this year: 105.27

(Maybe I should cut myself some slack on feeling horrible while running.last month I only ran 32 miles. This month I'm at 30 at the halfway point. Of my total miles this year, nearly 30% has been in the last 14 days, including my two wretched longer runs. Ok. Letting that sink in. I'll be ok. I'll just keep at it. Yeah, that's the ticket.)

Run #24: It's not called the long, slow run for nothing

Re-titled: Long, slow and ugly run

Yesterday: Sunday, April 5th, 20 days and counting until the half marathon.

9 miles; 2:04:29 (pace: 13:50) <----INSERT FROWN FACE

Had a great weekend with BB as the girls are off to the Dells with their dad and cousins, fast forward to my Sunday afternoon convo with myself. (I talk more to myself than to any other person. You probably do too, I think that's normal, right?)

Me: Maybe I should wait until tomorrow morning and run. I'm a morning runner more than anything. I can go into work a little later than usual since I don't have the girls, and stay late if need be.

Self: You friggin loser, stop making excuses!! You should go run now. It's nice out (60 degrees). Why are you always making excuses for yourself? Run now and you can recuperate for the rest of the day. You won't have those 9 miles hanging over your head.

Me: Yeah, but you KNOW you prefer morning runs.

Self pulled me up from the couch, got the running gear on and headed to the lakefront. 60 degrees! Can't beat that! This would be only my second outdoor run. So I finally get out there, get the Garmin all fired up and decided NOT to do the interval thing because it seems to throw off the pace thing. I'm not sure, since my Garmin is messed up anyway (new one coming soon.) So I got going and once again, being outside was like one big long OOOOOOOOOMPH. My leg muscles felt like lead. My breathing was all out of whack. Oh my GAWD, look at that incline (of like .5%)!! By the 2nd mile I was over my treadmill run/walk pace of 13:00. At 2 miles I thought "turn around now and make this a 4 mile run. You can run your long run on Tuesday morning." Said the same thing at 2.5. 3. At 4 I thought, "make it an 8 mile long run." NO, DAMMIT. RUN THE STUPID 9 MILES YOU SAID YOU'D DO. And that age-old "well if you have to, you can walk all the way back" logic hit me. Yeah, I suppose.

At 4.5 I finally turned around. Thank GOD the Chicago Park District had turned the water on already. Typically this is an April 1 kinda thing, but it's never a given, especially when it's off and on cold like it has been. I had no water. I had no Gu. What am I, a rookie? Anyway, I turned around and was all like YAY...I'd taken the other side of the path farther from LSD (Lakeshore Drive), but when I merged back over to the other side, HOLY CRAP...that wind was something else. In a walking break, I looked at the temperature. 52. Great. I'm out here in a t-shirt, in the wind. I keep shuffling along, the wind seeming to suck the life out of every step. During another walking break when I was especially shivering I checked again and it was 47. :( I stopped to stretch a lot on the way back, my lower calves and hamstrings hurt.

I suppose this is the downside of all of this. The only way to get to a half marathon this quickly (for me) is to run/walk it. And to ramp up in miles when I'm not quite ready (meaning run/walking it is IDEAL.) And to get outside. None of this means it will all be pretty. I'm not in that kind of shape yet where I can just pop up and amaze myself. BUT....I'm out there, doing what needs to be done. It'll happen. It'll come back. ~*epilogue*~ I came home and was so cold that I sat in the car with the heat full blasting for awhile. At least I had a hoodie in the car. Then I got out and went in. My apartment is a basement unit and it's pretty chilly now when the steam heat isn't on all day in the building, and it's not yet super warm out. I put a heavy fleece blanket on the couch and laid down it, because taking a shower seemed out of the question. That cold air upon getting out seemed too much to bear! I laid there for an hour or so, sorta stretching (while laying down) and shivering. Sipping ice tea and my favorite chocolate milk after a run. Finally I got up and took a super hot, long shower and put on layers, and then got under two heavy blankets and watched tv. This morning, the only thing that hurts is the tips of my toes.

Run #18 long run

Total: 7 miles; 1:31:43 Pace 13:06; run/walk using my 4:00/2:00 ratio, except I did an extra 2 minutes of walking at around the 40:00 mark, which bumped me up over the 13:00 pace. No biggie.

So I was actually considering running outside but that went out the window when I realized it was still in the 30's. I've done cold(er) running, I have nothing to prove. Plus those kind of things without prep/practice can send my lungs into a fit. Treadmill it is!

Particularly pleased, point 1: On weekends I'm with BB, sometimes I want to spend every second of it with him. (And that's not a bad thing.) But I knew that running in the afternoon wouldn't be good (had work stuff to do) and that I really should get it done. Besides, he totally supports my running, so just go already! Do what ya need to do! And I listened to that voice inside. And guess what? BB was super supportive as always. He's my #1 cheerleader. (Thank you, babe.)

Particularly pleased, point 2: after a long week of very little sleep (work; big cookie order), having had two nights of 8 hours of sleep felt great. Legs felt fresh. "You should speed up," my ego said. Common sense replied "No. Just stick to the pace for your 'long slow run.' It's not called that so you can speed up." So I stuck to the plan. Now is not the time, you need to make sure you cover the distance...speed training can come later, after this race.

Particularly pleased, point 3: I was a bit nervous about this run. I haven't run this far since NY. When it started to feel a little tough, I used a similar mantra that I did for that marathon--"this one mile"--focusing only on the immediate and not the larger task. Only this time I would say "this 4 minutes. You can run for these 4 minutes, right?" And it worked!!! 

Particularly pleased, point 4 (last one): I'd said that I'd run between 6.5 and 7 miles, knowing that a 2-mile increase from last week's long run is a bit higher than the recommended 'no more than 10% increase in miles each week.' But I got miles to put in before this half marathon. At 6.5, I berated the notion of quitting, KNOWING I could make it to 7, and knowing that looking back at that 6.5, I would know that I could have gone on but didn't. And so I did it. And it's also nice to know that at 7 miles, that's more than half the distance of the half marathon.

Feeling good. Slow, but good. Good progress.  Yay!

Miles this month: 23

Miles this year: 65.8

18 Miles...done!

Subtitle: I Get By With a Little Help from My Friends

Yesterday (Sunday)I did my long run "off-site" from my beloved Chicago lakefront. I was already planning to visit someone just a short drive away, and in complete support of my need to get in this long run, they devised an awesome 18-mile route for me! How sweet is that? This same friend also picked up some GU for me. And Gatorade. A girl could get used to that, eh?

So here's the breakdown of my 18 miles:

The run started out overcast and seemed almost perfect, or maybe just a bit humid.

Mile 1 10:36

Mile 2 10:26

Mile 3 10:47

In a little bit of a funk for some reason, felt like I couldn't get it together. Maybe it was the random hills on the route. Illinois flatlands version of hills, not real hills, I suppose. This is when it started to sprinkle a little bit.

Mile 4 11:16

Mile 5 11:02

GU time. It was delicious, too.

Mile 6 11:17

Around this time it started to rain harder, and it was really refreshing. I entered into a really nice park where there were quite a few other runners. The 2-mile loop went along an Illinois prairie restoration area that I could easily run on every day.

Mile 7 10:37 An Eminem-inspired mile.

Mile 8 11:26

Around the end of mile 8, my friend met me by bike with Gatorade and GU. It was raining harder now, so that makes that nice gesture even better, right? So I put the music away and dig this...said friend rode with me THE ENTIRE REST OF MY RUN! WHAT?! How awesome is THAT? I kept watching and thinking of how grateful I was for the company and the support. I haven't had a lot of support at home over the years, so seeing the exact opposite of that kinda blows my mind. "blows my mind" is a really lame, old term, but adequate for how I felt.

Mile 9 11:59

Mile 10 11:50

GU time. More deliciousness. Well...delicious as delicious could be out of flavorless goop in a packet Mile 11 13:35

Here's where things got tough for me. I really struggled for the remaining miles with a lot of self doubt--especially the last 4. My chest felt tight, also. Not like heart attack tight, but definitely asthma tight..or hyperventilating tight, HA! My every-2-mile Gatorade walking breaks got longer. My last GU break was stretched out. I was kinda mad. Mad that I was tired. Mad that I felt like I couldn't finish. I banished my bike-riding "coach" up ahead a few yards for a bit. I messed around with my iPhone, listening to music for a mile or so. But never could get back into a good pace.

Mile 12 12:11

Mile 13 12:25

Mile 14 12:17

As the rain stopped, it seemed to get really humid. I'm not sure if it actually was, but I was feeling HORRIBLE.

Mile 15 12:38

Mile 16 13:28

Near tears. That deadly thinking of "if I can't run THIS, how on earth can I run the marathon?!?!" popped into my head several times. On the bright side, I didn't hear that voice say even once that "you're not a runner." Progress, even in baby steps, is good.

Mile 17 12:47

Mile 18 12:24

Total: 3:33:03, pace 11:53. I guess that's fine, but not happy with the end of the run. I was in a funk that I couldn't seem to get out of. I don't like that Miles 11 through 18 were all over 12:00! That's not so great. Clearly I'm still having trouble with the concept of pacing at a solid rate throughout.

And as if my accompanied run wasn't enough....today they sent a text to me: "Be not afraid of going slowly, be only afraid of standing still."

Thanks! I needed that. My quads and knees were pretty sore yesterday, but I'm feeling pretty well recovered today, another assurance that my training really is pretty on-point. And on that note...DUDE...I just ran 18 miles!!

Thank you, Pacific Grove, California!

This week I was on the central coast of California for a work conference, chillin at Asilomar Conference Center (pronounced uh-SILL-o-marr), a California state park and beach that’s located in this “micro climate” where the temps never got into the 60’s. That’s all LOVE! (Sweet Jesus, I might have to move! -kidding) But you DO know that running in any kind of sun/heat is not my thing…that I love the fall best of all…it was running perfection that made up for the spotty internet connection, the NO TV thing, and the “rustic” room, which is code for “me no like.”

I'm so proud of my running this week. I've given every run EVERYTHING I had. Everything. I pushed myself hard. It's a good feeling to know that you did your absolute very best. You know we always make these parallels to running and real life, but it's true. Why would you not do your best? Shit's always gonna be hard, at least sometime in your life, right? But I SOOO don't wanna go through life and at the end, know that I didn't give it my all. That I chose the "easy" way out, but in the end I shortchanged myself. Life is yours for the taking. I'm taking mine, I'm gonna push myself as hard as I can to get the things that I truly want/need...I don't feel I deserve any less. And I owe it to myself.

In the words of Spike Lee: "Sho Nuff * Ya Digg?"

Here's a breakdown of my runs this week, followed by some pics from my long run:

Sunday Run: 4 miles along the coast (10:05 pace)

Monday Run: 4 miles along the coast (10:14 pace)

Tuesday Run: 4 miles along the coast (9:45 pace)

Thursday Long Run: 16 kickass miles! Here’s the breakdown:

Mile 1 10:04

Mile 2 10:24

Mile 3 10:45

Mile 4 11:02

Mile 5 11:08

Mile 6 11:06

Mile 7 11:06

Mile 8 11.28

Mile 9 10:50

Mile 10 11:50

Mile 11 11:57

Mile 12 11:30

Mile 13 11:11

Mile 14 12:03

Mile 15 11:48

Mile 16 11:35

Total: 2:59:45 (pace 11:14)

Now of course, I realize I did a terrible job at maintaining any remnant of a pace. But an 11:14 pace overall? O. M. G. I have NEVER had a run for that long at that kinda pace. I'll work on a better pace next time and just bask in the glow of my kickassery ways right now. For those of you who consistently run at the back of the pack with the 12:00 pace groups, you gotta know how big this is, right? I'm GEEKED. GEEKED enough to use the word GEEKED without feeling like one.

Anyway, here's some awesome pics to end this post:

Kicking off my 16-mile run in the "micro climate" along Sunset Drive:

Heading into Monterey along Monterey Bay on a bike trail. The sun is out and about 15-20 degrees warmer:

Moving away from the bay, the bike path wound around into a shady wooded area. So pretty, right?

These plants lined the bike path (although I took these during one of my shorter runs):

Sigh. For God so loved the world that he created the Pacific Ocean Coastline:

Farewell, Pacific Grove, goodbye, ocean! I won't forget this week, and especially that kindred soul who was here, but not here...pushing me through every run. Thank you.

Long Run stepback week meets progress

So this past weekend's long run was a stepback week, just 1 week before my first half marathon of the season. And yes, I'm a bit nervous, but I've put in the miles, so I should be fine. This damn HEAT... :( Anyhoooo...

So I was up for 7 miles on Sunday. Woke up a bit late, as you know I like to get an early 5am start, but ended up getting out there right at about 6am. I started off kinda fast and ya know what? It felt good, so i shrugged it off and figured it'd even out eventually.

Here's a breakdown of my run:

Mile 1--11:12.13

Mile 2--11:10.06

Mile 3--11:26.24

Mile 4--11:11.13

Mile 5--11:05.32

Mile 6--11:22.25

Mile 7--11:07.14

Total 1:18:37, pace 11:14. Too bad this wasn't a race, because that'd be a PR. So as of Monday, here's the extended forecast for this weekend's race. Damn you, Chicago! Granted, it won't be 93 degrees at the time we're running, but conditions certainly won't be good.

Long Run: 9 Miles

It's been toasty in Chicago this week. We even hit the 100-degree mark for the first time in 7 years. Since running in the heat has always been my kryptonite, I decided to go out early. It must have rained last night, the back steps were wet, and there were random puddles all over the lakefront, though I never heard a THING. Slept like a rock.

I ran with my new Garmin which I've actually had for at least 6 months, but found it confusing, and so I continued to use my old one. To FORCE myself to use the new one, I gave my old one to my bestie. Anyway, here's how it all panned out:

Mile 1- 11:33

Mile 2- 11:51

Mile 3- 13:01 wardrobe malfunction begins here (combined with Garmin USER malfunction)

Mile 4- 12:09 (thirsty, when should I take my Gu)

Mile 5- 12:03 (tried my peanut butter flavored Gu. It taste just like PB. And quite frankly, that was kinda weird. Think I'll go back to my tried and true vanilla bean.

Mile 6- 12:14 (the devil on my shoulder: OMG 3 miles to go?!?! the angel: you'll get her done and you'll be that much more awesome)

Mile 7- 12:06

Mile 8- 12:19

Mile 9- 11:54

Total run, 1:49:10, 12:08 pace. So that wardrobe malfunction. I need new running shorts. I only have 1 pair because I like them a lot and haven't really ever found a pair that suit me besides those. But that was 50+ pounds ago that these truly fit. And then a few weeks ago when washing them, the elastic started to come out of the waistband. But they still seemed wearable. I pinned the waistband the other day and wore them on a 3 mile run, so I figured this would get me by until I decided to torture myself by trying on endless pairs of shorts at Title Nine, Athleta, Lululemon and wherever else to find ones that aren't too short, don't make my butt look big, don't put a spotlight on my fat knees, etc... Because of course, the ones I have aren't made by the manufacturer anymore.

Well, sometime in Mile 2 I noticed them falling down a bit. Later I glanced down and saw the blue and white stripes of my cute undies peaking out! WHAT??!?!?! So at the top of the hill on 47th St, I stopped my Garmin and re-adjusted. Or so I thought. My Garmin was running! Dammit! And 1/4 mile later I'm tugging my shorts up again. DAMMIT! This went on until I took my Gu, when I REALLY stopped the Garmin and re-pinned that sucker up so it was built to last for the rest of my run.

So 9 miles down. Wasn't quite at 12 pace and I would have LOVED to go a bit faster, but all things considered, I'm quite happy. Half Marathon is 3 weeks from tomorrow.