18 miles = REDEMPTION!!

This weekend was a total 180 degrees from last weekend when I made my 1st attempt at 18 miles. The weather this morning was a lot cooler than the past few days with my wake-up temp at 53 degrees, but it's PERFECT weather for me. It brings me back to my days with Team in Training and all of the training runs while running along the lakes and Mississippi River. Once I started running, everything came back and felt alive. My breathing was much better. My legs felt fantastic considering I took a Zumba class on Thursday and did a lot of squats in the class. My mind was completely focused. Everything was perfect. Now that I have this mileage done, all I have left is to complete the BIG 20 miler in two weeks at Busse Woods in Elk Grove Village. I know that I am ready and excited to complete it to go to the home stretch before the Chicago Marathon. I AM READY!

Mile 1 9:33
Mile 2 9:29
Mile 3 9:39
Mile 4 9:55
Mile 5 9:38
Mile 6 9:47
Mile 7 9:40
Mile 8 9:37
Mile 9 9:34
Mile 10 9:39
Mile 11 9:41
Mile 12 9:36
Mile 13 9:41
Mile 14 9:44
Mile 15 9:45
Mile 16 10:01
Mile 17 9:54
Mile 18 9:53

Avg Pace - 9:42/mi

The Exodus: Completing 16 miles

I have not much an opportunity to run this past week due to a week of stress involving Josh's surgery and now positive cancer diagnosis that was out of my personal control. My main focus was completing the miles instead of speed, which helped a lot for me this week. The weather was absolutely perfect and starting to look forward to the weather improving to make longer long run more comfortable. I felt the stress from the past week roll off of me as I ran. The splits may not have been what I wanted, but at least I finished my run with a smile on my face.

Mile 1 9:38
Mile 2 9:42
Mile 3 9:45
Mile 4 10:07
Mile 5 9:57
Mile 6 10:03
Mile 7 10:08
Mile 8 10:21
Mile 9 10:14
Mile 10 10:26
Mile 11 10:23
Mile 12 10:13
Mile 13 10:01
Mile 14 10:24
Mile 15 10:25
Mile 16 10:26

Avg Mile - 10:08/mi

15 miles.....slowly!

This is my 2nd "long" run this week - if you include Sunday's HM - and was hoping that I would do well. Well, I knew that I would be struggling when I started my long run. But I was determined to finish this long run. My legs felt like lead...PERIOD! I struggled and struggled. I started to not care about my splits as long as I finished. The weather was great, my lungs were not suffering from the d*** humidity, and happy to be running with Josh at times. I was happy to finish and to know that I properly hydrated during the entire run. I plan to do MUCH BETTER next week.

Mile 1 9:20
Mile 2 9:30
Mile 3 9:20
Mile 4 9:47
Mile 5 9:54
Mile 6 10:04
Mile 7 10:08
Mile 8 10:22
Mile 9 10:02
Mile 10 10:39
Mile 11 10:55
Mile 12 10:29
Mile 13 10:58
Mile 14 11:20
Mile 15 10:47

Hot and Humid 13 miles - DONE

It was a cloudy, hot and humid morning for my long run. The weather was originally supposed to be dicey because of storms rolling in later in the morning from Iowa. I started out way too fast for the 1st mile and have a feeling that it played a part in finishing my long run. I didn't mind the clouds because it kept the heat of the sun away, which would have made things much more difficult for me. I ran all the way to McCormick Place before I turned around and heading back. I managed to see a very mad momma duck by the bridge at Solidarity Drive, who was protecting her nest of babies. I managed to see another momma duck on the way back in Lake Michigan with her babies near the Ohio Street Beach. I was angry that the Fleet Feet people right after I crossed Randolph St heading SB around 8:30 AM. When I headed back, I thought I missed the water stop, but quickly realized that they closed shop very early. Now I am gearing up for my HM in two weeks with a 11 miler long run set for Saturday morning before heading to Milwaukee with Josh. My plan for tomorrow is hit the pool tomorrow morning for 10 laps in order to loosen up my legs.

Mile 1 9:05 <~~ TOO fast!
Mile 2 9:25
Mile 3 9:28
Mile 4 10:11 <~~~ Damn wind!
Mile 5 9:36
Mile 6 9:45
Mile 7 9:43
Mile 8 9:39
Mile 9 10:28
Mile 10 9:38
Mile 11 9:47
Mile 12 9:49
Mile 13 9:25

Strong 11 miler

This week's long run went much better than previous weeks. The humidity was low even though the temps were pretty warm. I was able to maintain a mostly steady pace throughout the run. I didn't have part of the run where I thought I was in trouble or started bonking out. I even made sure that I hit all of the water stops so I was properly hydrated. It made a huge difference in the quality of my run. I hope that my next week's run goes well like today.

Tomorrow I will heading out on my bike for the 1st time in 9 months. It will be a test ride to see if my wrist holds up okay. I will be pacing Josh as he makes a second attempt at his long run and serve as the mobile hydration station.

Mile 1 9:22
Mile 2 9:31
Mile 3 9:17
Mile 4 9:40
Mile 5 9:36
Mile 6 9:44
Mile 7 9:47
Mile 8 9:27
Mile 9 9:46
Mile 10 10:01
Mile 11 9:24

Avg Pace - 9:35/mi

11 miles that kicked my A**!

This week's long run was a challenge. I was awaken at 4:30 AM by another round of frequent thunder and lightning. I determined right away that I will have to wait a couple of hours to head out to run. I then went back to sleep until 7 AM.

When I woke up, I got ready for my run. Before I left the house, I discovered that my run bottle had mold it that did not get clean properly. I was forced to not take it with me during my run. I was bummed about that. When I reached the lakefront, the start of my run was humid, but the temperatures was comfortable. I had a very nice breeze from the lake. I had excellent splits up until mile 8 and thought I would be able to finish my run stronger than last week. But the wheels completely came off and I struggled to finish my run. I had to walk portions of my run, which I do not do anymore. I also dealt with leg cramps during that portion of my run. When I finished my run, I walked off the leg cramps and continued to obtain fluids while walking. The intake of fluids did not help with cramps and I ended up walking into the ER where I used to work. I was given a bag of fluids to help me rehydrate, which helped a lot.

Now I am home relaxing and plan to take it easy tomorrow. I have a longer run schedule next weekend, which I plan to take some of the hydration lessons with hopes that the weather's more cooperating.

Mile 1 9:28
Mile 2 9:10
Mile 3 9:17
Mile 4 9:29
Mile 5 9:18
Mile 6 9:25
Mile 7 9:26
Mile 8 9:28
Mile 9 9:56
Mile 10 10:07
Mile 11 10:21

Avg Pace - 9:35/mi

Here comes the DOUBLE DIGITS!

Yes, it's that time in my half-marathon/marathon training - DOUBLE DIGITS! And I was ready to bring it on.

Well, the weather felt nice when I arrived to start my run. But I could still feel the humidity in the air. The run started out very nice. As I reached the turn around point, I started to feel like I was struggling. By the time I had two miles left, I felt like I was running with two lead legs. I still powered through it and finished.
Since I postpone this run until today, I will have a second double digit run scheduled for Saturday morning. I will have to adjust my training schedule this week to allow that. I am ready to try this again on Saturday.

Mile 1 9:35
Mile 2 9:34
Mile 3 9:29
Mile 4 9:58
Mile 5 9:51
Mile 6 10:04
Mile 7 10:01
Mile 8 9:54
Mile 9 9:48
Mile 10 9:43

Avg Pace - 9:48/mi

Humidity....what humidity?

It was supposed to be a very hot and humid run this morning. It was talked about on the news for days. Josh and I prepared ourselves by waking ourselves up at 5 AM this morning and starting out our run very early by the lakefront. We had a long day ahead of ourselves and wanted to get the run out of the way.

When we got out to the lakefront after a 30 minutes delay by the other half, the conditions felt so comfortable. I start feeling like I could do this without any discomfort so we started running southbound on the lakefront path. The wind behind really helped us as we ran. We saw a lot of CARA pace groups doing their 1st training run for the Chicago Marathon. By the time I got to the Oak Street Beach, I knew that I had it made. When I made the turnaround at the Ohio Street Beach, I immediately felt the mist in the air along the lakefront. As I ran along the North Avenue, I started running into the wind and felt the resistance. I didn't stop with only 2 miles to go. I kept on going and finished. Now I have a rest day tomorrow that I will get to enjoy. It's officially less than 4 months until Marathon Day.

Bring on the marathon training!

Mile 1 9:25
Mile 2 9:34
Mile 3 9:05
Mile 4 9:37
Mile 5 9:33
Mile 6 9:45
Mile 7 9:39

Lakefront 4 miler

It was a nice day to do a run. Josh took the day off and ran with me. We ran 4 miles. Out of the entire run, we ran 1.5 miles right into the wind and ran strong during this portion. I even hit a nice sprint towards the end with a speed of 5:22/mi. Tomorrow workout will my 1st first speed workout. I am looking forward to finishing it before Josh and I fly out to Boston for his stepbrother's wedding on Saturday morning.

Mile 1 9:19
Mile 2 9:30
Mile 3 9:29
Mile 4 9:09

Avg Pace - 9:22/mi

It's a HOT, HUMID 6 miler...

...but I got it done. It felt great when I started my run, but things changed quickly when I reached mile 2 on the path. I quickly forgot how far the lakefront path got when I run northbound. The shade and breeze felt good when I felt it, but the heat and humidity got the best of me. I even took a salt packet before I started my run with a sip of water. I even did the wet sport bra trick at the water fountain to cool myself off. It somewhat worked because I was able to finish in the shade.

Mile 1 9:02
Mile 2 9:15
Mile 3 9:28
Mile 4 9:32
Mile 5 9:35
Mile 6 9:34

Total Time - 56:28
Avg Pace - 9:24

Gotta love post-rest day runs....

...even if I forget my Garmin at home and don't realize this until I am right near where I will be running. I tried out my Android Sport GPS application on this run. After I finished, even though I missed the little inspiration beeps from my Garmin, I really loved what I saw.

36:00
3.89 miles (just short of 4 without knowing where to stop)
9:15/mi avg pace

I run consistantly the entire run without any water stops. I guess I have tapped on what works to get me to run faster.

Gotta love it!

It's a WINDY run....

...but someone had to do it.

D*** Wind!

It was a very difficult run to do. I was already feeling a lot emotional and needed this run in order to feel a little bit better. By the time I was finished with my shortened under-3 mile run, I was tired and covered with buckets of sweat all over. Rest day tommorow before doing one last indoor cross-training session.

Another lakefront 3 miler

The weather was just completely beautiful and perfect for this easy run.

1st Outdoor Run since August 2008

This Firefly is back and ready to conquer 2010 as a Running Comeback Year.

My tribute to a friend on a bike

I dedicated my long bike ride today to a former employee and friend, who lost his battle from cancer on Monday morning. It was a cool ride with a lot of wind resistance in the beginning of the ride. But 1/3 in my ride, I kicked some serious a**. My goal for my bike rides for the last few weeks was to go over 17 mph. I completely topped that. Not 18 mph, but at 19.1 mph. Then reality hit when I had to turn around and turn back. I managed to complete 12.09 in slightly over 53 minutes.

It made for a sweet ride today.

Lakefront 10 Race Report

Well, my race day started at 5:30 AM. I immediately developed a major case of pre-race jitters when I woke up. I could believe how strong I would feel this.

I ended up eating my pre-race sandwich consisting on PB&J on rice bread. I needed to make sure that I ate it two hours before the race to prevent any GI reactions. I then took Sadie for a walk so she takes care of her business before leaving.

The weather could not be more perfect for this race. I was able to catch a Broadway bus right away to take me to Montrose. After I got off the bus, I walked towards the Lakefront.

Upon my arrival, I obtained my chip and placed it on my shoe. After I put my chip, I found my friend, Jolene, who entered the race too. She helped me to my hair up into a ponytail as we stood to wait for the start of the race.

We ended up doing a warm up run to keep our legs loosened up. Then it was time to head to the starting line. Before we knew it, it was time to start.

I knew that I started off way too fast the first two miles. I paid the price starting around mile 5. I was so happy to see the people handing out the Clif Shots. I have never ripped anything faster than today.

The hills after mile 7 was absolutely brudal. I was already starting to lose steam and didn't need anything to take any strength away. The last mile seemed to take forever. I wanted to walk part of it, but kept on going.

Mile 1 - 8:44
Mile 2 - 8:55
Mile 3 - 9:19
Mile 4 - 9:19
Mile 5 - 9:26
Mile 6 - 9:27
Mile 7 - 9:37
Mile 8 - 9:36
Mile 9 - 9:30
Mile 10 - 9:28

Finish Time - 1:33:46
Avg. Pace - 9:20/mi

When I finished and obtained my finisher's medal, I looked for my friend, Jolene, who dropped me off at home. I was so happy to be home where I can relax. I ended up taking a nap on the couch when I was started to get sleepy.

After my nap, I went out to Goose Island for my free beer. I ended up with having two pints of Cubby Blueberry Ale, which was wonderful.

Tommorow - 30 minute recovery run (and a good massage!)

A view of Downtown Chicago

During our 14 mile walk along the lakeshore...and THREE blisters (and a bad facial sunburn) later in 4 1/2 hours.