Wurs(t) Moving Day, a Good Run

Lots of stuff to post, but I'll try to condense it and actually read ya'lls blogs too (if you have one).

First Topic: Moving
We were only moving about a mile away. The issue yesterday was due to building management. I had lived in a condo building, so I had to schedule my move out time with them. Another lady had the morning blocked off from 8-12:30.  This means the freight elevator and the alley was at her domination for the entire time.  I asked the movers (I think Windy City Movers?) throughout the morning if they would be done in time. Of course they said yes. NOPE! They weren't done and out of the alley until almost 2:00pm. I had a quick trip to our new place with a light amount of stuff, including our TV for Comcast installation.

This late start sucked because - I only had help for a finite amount of time and had a limited time with my U-Haul. So once 4pm hit, I had to call U-Haul to get my time extended. Unfortunately my muscle help had to go, so I was going to have to pick up the slack. My wife had her mom and aunt in to help out, and they really did a lot too, but I can only ask them to push so much.

At least my kid enjoyed the move (see - didn't listen to anything we told her to do)

Fast Forward: We didn't finish moving out. I had to take a break to get the kid's crib back together by memory and had to undo it once as I mixed up half my screws. I also missed lunch and got at least a sandwich and yogurt near 9pm. My legs were toast by 10pm, I had trouble just shuffling. At least I got our bed together too. We did forget to buy the rings for the shower curtain (we had a glass shower door previously), so this morning I had to try to not get the entire bathroom wet.

Hopefully we can finish up the move on Saturday.. Why Saturday? Next Topic.

Government Shutdown:

Some of you know, I am a federal government employee. I do at least get to go into work and get IOUs. Bad part is, you can't take any sick leave or vacation time, it all is changed to leave without pay right now. So moving on Tuesday..no pay. Thankfully, I was told if I made up the 8 hours by end of week, I can get my full IOU. So that means a few 12 hours days to wrap up the week... Gross. I especially feel bad for my wife stuck with a new home full of boxes and bags, and one restless child with no help. blah! It is also why I have to wait until Saturday to finish moving.

Running:
Tuesday was a scheduled 6 one mile intervals at 10 seconds below marathon pace, 400m jogs in between, and I did a 2 mile warm up and 1.5 mile cool down. Last run from my old building.

I had the plan saved in my Endomondo interval trainer, and I decided to boot it up, but not have on the notification of how fast I am going. I was just going to do effort or the miles, I didn't want as much speed pressure. During my warm up, I didn't feel anything "bad", just fatigue and some soreness in my calves. I stopped to stretch to be safe, and then gave the run a go. It turned out rather well, but I will admit I cheated and looked at rough start and end times of my miles on my stopwatch. Here were my splits:
6:56,43,50,53,47,50 . I was able to keep then from going wildly too fast, which was nice for a chance.

Wednesday: Recovery speed 7 miles. After yesterday's intense run, and being on my feet almost all day moving, and the lack of food intake, I was WIPED out for this run. So I just did it really easy. First time running from my new place felt odd as now I have to learn all my new distance markers. I also need to find my phone armband and my red LED light for my last hard run Friday (well, do the miles or do the plan), then taper starts officially this weekend for the Chicago Marathon!

Still a lengthy post, but as short as I could make it. I'll get on my blog reading in my breaks today! Take care all and thanks for commenting as always!

And if you need a funny video, 8 stages of Marathon Running:

Quick Recap of 3 Runs

Okay... so to continue from my last post (Doom and Gloom)..

I'll say upfront, I don't use my blog to write coherent thoughts and sensibility after I think through my feelings.  I want to log my raw reactions to not forget it was all candy and sausage when the training season is over.

Okay, now lets get the run recaps over.

Saturday: Easy paced 10 miles on plan. I got out around 5:15am.  My calves just felt like trash. Every step sucked. Sadly, this was an upgrade from yesterday.  I stopped to stretch at mile 1.2 and it seemed to help a tiny bit. I couldn't get my pace under 9 minutes for the first 3 miles. I was begging my legs just to give me the tip and let me move a little smoother. I just couldn't do it, I wanted to just say F it and toss this garbage of a run away.

Not even the garbage man wanted to deal with my trash

But I kept telling myself, just try to easy into this, at least heal up..there is no pace goal for these runs..

Fine, one mile at a time. I eventually warmed up a little by mile 5 and was at least going a decent easy pace rather than a much slower pace. Run done.

Home note: Most of the weekend has been spent preparing to move, so no fun stories to share.. We did make it to Target and got our daughter the normal Halloween candy bucket, this is her CHEESE face:

She also still has a cold, which makes her sound like a raspy old smoker and had been waking up multiple times over the nights, making all of us a bit tired. She is improving though!

Much to the suggestions of Xaarlin, I've been using the tennis ball a lot to help with some trouble spots that stretching and the stick don't seem to help. I think it is helping or just a very big coincidence. 

Sunday: Another easy paced 10 mile run. This run with a bit smoother, I also had a lot more time to warm up at home before my run which may have something to do with it.  I focused a lot on this run with trying to not lean into my right hip, kick back enough and try to keep my strides straight rather than crossing over each

other.

Monday: Recovery pace 8 mile run. I overslept a bit this morning, almost to my second alarm. Doing this basically killed 15 minutes and removed time I like to have for a better warm up, cool down, and any bio emergency. I made sure my stomach would be okay and shuffled out the door. I started my first few miles pretty slow, and kept reminding myself to take it really easy today.  My calves were somewhere between sore and tired, and took a good 4 miles to warm up. No biggie.

I took a couple photos as there was a tiny bit of light as I finished my run:

Now comes the big question for me. 

I still have two more hard runs left this week on my training plan. Tomorrow is a strength run and Friday is the last pace run. I know logically I should say, the benefits from those last two runs might be what, a few more seconds? But to me, it isn't as much about the finish time, as the journey to get there, to prove to myself that I can do the training.

I"m probably still going to attempt to do the runs, even if needs to be at a realistic pace, rather than the extra fast goal pace I did all season, but I certainly won't push it until it hurts..much. If nothing more, I'll at least do the miles.

I'm also waaaaaaaay behind on reading everyone's blogs (and even responding to comments on mine) so hold tight! (Actually don't, I'll probably fall behind more as I move tomorrow hopefully)

Also - Are there talks of a blogger dinner meet up for the Chicago Marathon over the next 10 days?

Professional High Fiver.... and I need to grab a straw

Yesterday evening my family unit went out to see the Wurst Running Club Ever make our debut at the St. Michael Oktoberfest 5k.  I wasn't running it, as it is my scheduled rest day and Lord knows my danger zone legs needed it, I decided to at least bring some moral support. For a recap of the race, see Pete @ The Lakefront Trail's recap here (I'm also stealing some of his photos).

I made a sign, and I couldn't even take the time to check my spelling...Wurs(t) sign ever:

And here is a photo of the kid and myself:

And a group photo at the end of the WRCE:

my wife and kid make a little cameo in the back

I had fun giving out high fives to the runners, i'd say after the sub 19 minute finishers went by, I had a really high success rate. I felt like the Todd on his best day ever:

I loved that my daughter, loving to mimic, was trying to hand out high fives too. She got a high five from one lady who then said lets run! And she took off with her.. I had to quickly wrangle her back! woops.

Now here are some of the WRCE members running (I missed Jennifer's photo as we were taking pictures by who had on the team shirt, and she hadn't gotten hers yet, but I did high five her!)

Not WRCE, but funny

Can you name them all?

Okay, now that the fun part is over, lets get to today. I need to grab a straw cause this run suuuuuuccked.

I went to bed around 9:45pm seeing that there would be a good chance of thunderstorms starting at 3am F.......

I woke up at 1am hearing rain and felt defeated. I checked my phone's weather app and saw a giant mass of storms heading our way, double F. I may have to do the run right after work, blah.

3:20am, alarm goes off. Check radar - all clear and nothing in the state. SCORE! Wait, am I really that happy to be awake at 3:20am?

Hanson Marathon Method called for a 10 mile run at marathon pace, and include a warm up and cool down. So today's goal was to do 10 miles in 1:10:30. Last Friday I did my 9 miles at pace with ease and like a minute to spare...but the weather was also a lot better..

Full Disclosure: I'm planning on running the marathon for a 3:10 finish, which is about a 7:15 minute mile. But pre hammie strain, I was aiming for a 3:05 which is a 7:03 minute mile. I have not changed any of my training paces to reflect a 3:10, but instead still aim for 3:05 goal for my pace chart and so forth.

4am, out the door. Get GPS signal and start stopwatch. Time for the daily game of - does anything hurt?

The bottom of my left calf was tight as was part of my hamstring on my right leg, noted mostly for PT purposes. Stretching after 10 minutes helped.

Now just to keep stay fully honest. I was mentally b*tching the entire warm up. I felt creaky, I wasn't sure if I should bag it and rest. The humidity was rising, near 90% at 4am, almost 100% when I finished. Breathing ended up being the hardest part of the run.

I convinced myself to at least try to do the work out.. I asked myself, what if the marathon is under these god awful conditions? I can't give up then... so I went.

I got a stitch in my first marathon pace mile.. I was ready to just say screw it.. but I didn't. The path was mine. Nobody was out to see me have a fit or whatever emotion I let out.

My main goal for today was to internalize my pace again, but the breathing issue was throwing me for a loop.  My first 6 miles I was able to hold it, but then the last 4 the humidity and heat settled in and my pace started to flubber. I stopped a few times for water after I realized how much I was sweating and my sneakers were like sponges.

End result? 10 miles at marathon pace in 1:11. So 7:06 average... I'd like to say, oh if it wasn't for the humidity, I would have hit my goal, but how often do we get the perfect run? Try harder next time.

At least my energy is amazing, yay runner's high. Physical therapy today and the results of my video gait analysis will be given to me as well.

Long enough post, Happy Friday!

Edit: AND:

Thanks Xaarlin and Erin for letting me know!!

Edit 2: Almost forgot -crushing high five from Erin as well this morning!

Boring Title Thursday Post

Combining Wednesday and Thursday posts into one simply because I didn't have enough for blog post on Wednesday morning.

Wednesday: Hanson Marathon Method called for an easy 7 miles. Tuesday night I was thinking of sleeping in and doing the run in the afternoon with the jogging stroller, but I checked the weather and saw scattered showers possible and didn't want to miss my run due to rain with the kid. At least I got to sleep until 4:20am! Got out the door at 4:50 and start trotting along... and woah are my legs tired.

(Writer's note: As everyone in Chicago experienced, it did end up raining like the end of days, so good call on my end to run early!)

The short recovery period between Monday and Tuesday's runs finally took its full toll on me this morning. Thankfully I had no pain to start, but my first mile was like a 9:50, but after stretching and getting going I at least did the rest of my miles under 9.  I was in no rush and didn't want to push my body to do anything on an easy day.  I did have some periods of aches, fatigue, and tightness in the legs, but I expect that with this plan and knowing I have kinks to work out with therapy.

Physical Therapy went well, most of my complaints seem to stem more off fatigue on my strained muscles than the actual strain themselves. Still some wincing knots, but progress is good.

--
Thursday - Rest Day.

Here are a couple more photos from Pete @ The Lakefront Trail:

LOOK AT Me! no me! NO MEEEEE

Your Thursday Motivation:

And for those days when you have a bad run/work out, just remember:

Yesterday while at therapy I saw the official program for the Chicago Marathon! I was pretty excited. I'm not sure if they have been out long, but I snagged one and felt proud:

And are you feeling short on freedom? Read this red, white, and blue interaction at Five Guys:

Training Chatter:

Tomorrow is my first of three 13 mile Friday runs with 10 miles at marathon pace. The biggest concern after my rehab is getting the feel for my pace again.  I had it down pretty well pre injury, now its more of an accordion style run, constantly trying to speed up/slow down until I hit the zone late in the run.  I'm going to go back and try counting my steps which tends to end up in my marathon pace.

fin

Happy Friday Eve!

Don't Stop, Get It Get It

Spare some energy sir?

Let's get straight to business. Last night was Pint Night at Fleet Feet. Hanson Plan called for 8 easy miles.  I left at 5:40pm and took a long way to Fleet Feet in Lincoln Square, 5.5 ish miles in about 43 minutes. I got to meet Eric (This Hobbit Runs), I Heart Pikermis and her boyfriend, Jake...from State Farm.  The Wurst Running Club ever grew in size and we had a group photo + 1 random person running near us that jumped in for the photo:

The first half of our fun run, ~1.5 miles was done at a group jog, and the return trip Pete and I threw caution into the wind and decided to start booking in.  Here was our little progression:

Note: Lincoln Square is not the ideal area to sprint

I knew I was burning fuel that I would need for my strength run, but I felt I had some to spare. My stomach had started acting up all evening, so I went light on the food.

Note on status of my leg: No hard pain to start, but my problem area felt a bit fatigued/weak with some occasional aches.

Got home around 9pm and went to bed to sleep around 10:15pm.

Alarm time: 3:40.snooze...3:50 okay okay I'm going...

Hanson Plan for Tuesday: 3 x 2 mile repeats at 10 seconds below marathon pace. I should be hitting about 13:46 splits.

I was tired this morning and my stomach was a mess. I was going to be flirting with danger this morning.  Not even having 9 hours rest since my last run finished, my energy was questionable. I popped some stomach medicine and crossed my fingers.

The highlight of the run was to get in part of my warm up miles with Erin.

The run was one of those runs you just want to get out of the way. The wind at first wasn't too bad, but once I hit Belmont, the wind out of the south felt like something fierce. I was determined to not let any of splits fall due to wind. Dig deeper, don't stop, get that ****.

My stomach started to get mad and the bathroom alarms started to go off. My breathing was a little off as I tried to keep my head turned to keep my breathing normalized. I thought for sure my pace dropped, but I got it.

On the turn around, I was hoping to feel that wind at my back...but the wind felt like nothing at all, blah. At least the effort was much easier.  More bio flares were going off and I just wanted to get to the restroom, I wasn't sure I'd hit my time...dig deeper, got it.

Restroom reached! Let's finish this run off.

My 2 mile split times: 13:35, 13:44, 13;42. Add a +/- few second margin of error for the GPS and  I still hit my goal time or ran it even faster.

My stomach still isn't very happy and I'm exhausted. Gotta muster a little more energy for my lunch time gym visit for core and weights.

I'll update this blog if any more photos surface from last night.

Have a great day!

These streets will make you feel band new

Second time writing this. First one got lost in draft...

I hesitated writing this post in the thought that I'll jinx myself. Since my run on Friday morning, I have felt... normal.. Like pre injury normal.. at least when I am not running. I walked around after my run Friday with that feeling I so dearly missed.. Feeling like I wanted to run again, not crawl into bed feeling like crumpled tin, hoping my body would repair itself in time for my next run.

I did my 90 minute physical therapy session, and then did my video gait analysis.

My review: I was already fatigued from my morning run and therapy.   They had me warm up then do some marathon paced miles. I was impressed by their stance on this.  They didn't want to push shoes, inserts, or doctors.  They wanted to see the problems and work with you instead. Good feeling to know they had no sales agenda.  The gait analysis therapist and my physical therapist talked about the inserts I bought and said that is basically to get me through the marathon if I find that I'm still getting strains without them. We'll see what happens!

Preliminary Findings: My legs, my right more than my left swings around and causes me to run with one foot in front of the other, causing the knee tapping and that fraying of the inside of my sneakers I find. Initial suggestions, increase my steps per minute by 5%, from 180 to 189 during my marathon pace, this should help me not have time to do that swing and fix up my pace.  I follow up next Friday to get the full analysis.

Saturday: 10 miles at easy pace per Hanson Marathon Method. I get out around 5am. And for the first run since July... I had no mountain of rough pain or strains to break through to run. I'm going to pause and let that feeling hang there...

I was normal, at least to start. A big mental relief.

I still had some periods of tightness and aches through my run, but that happens in all my easy paced runs.  I saw Mrs Fueling Strong as she started her CARA run and we exchanged our normal cheery hello!

Here are some photos from the run:

And for those of you who are here for a photo of my kid, here she is rocking her new fall jacket:

Only down side to the run, I focused too heavily on trying to watch my feet and how my legs were moving and flared up something in my upper glute. Some foam rolling has since helped.


Sunday: Cut back weekend, so just another 10 miles at easy pace. It was raining today and I started pain free again, which was great! My pace was felt fresh, and I just ran at whatever felt good for that mile, and ended with a sprint for the last few blocks which felt great. No blogger sightings today.

Will I be pain free again tomorrow?

Tomorrow is also Pint Night at +Fleet Feet Sports - Chicago , who is going and if so, at which location?

Now for your Sunday motivational picture:

I hope everyone had a great weekend and thank you for your feedback on how to race the marathon.  I have to fiddle around with the comfort level on the sliding scale of  enjoyment speed vs training speed, as it is my first marathon.. but I don't know what I'll do in the future for races.  I haven't found myself addicted to them yet. I love running, but I'm not sure I like races yet..

Edit: Also! BIG NEWS EVERYONE! Yesterday I went to Lickity Split for my 70th time Since October 2011 while checking in with the Belly Card! I'm kind of a big deal.

I'm not that Groovy Baby

Last night my family unit went out for some tasty Ethiopian food then some frozen custard with another pretty famous running family.

Mrs Speedy holding A and K!

My last few attempts of running after Ethiopian food doesn't produce the most amazing results, but hey, maybe I just ate the wrong dish that didn't give me wind beneath my wind the next day.

This morning I had a pace run on plan per Hanson Marathon Method. Warm up, 9 miles at marathon pace, cool down.  I got out around 4:20am, so I would only be able to do 12 miles and have time to stretch after my run. This at least would be what the plan called, but I was hoping to get a longer warm up and cool down in.

When I was walking around before my run, I felt surprisingly....normal.  I began to feel a slight glimmer of hope that I would be on the upswing finally of my rehab period.

Get outside, temperatures dropping, run started at 62 degrees, was 54 when I got home. 10-15+ mph wind out of the north.  The waves were angry, frothing with strength, and eating the beach.  The path just south of Fullerton was not safe until you hit the sand again.  The waves engulfed the entire path like it was a game.

I felt a little brisk, but quickly warmed up. First few steps, that glimmer of hope quickly faded as I felt giant knots in both of my calves.  Neither were in areas that I had pain/aches in over the last week. New day, new trash to deal with. First mile, they barely get better. I start thinking of a plan B for the day. Maybe I'll just do some easy miles today, and hope that therapy works out the kinks in my legs, and I can try the pace run again tomorrow. I stop to stretch, try to calm my brain down, and tell myself I'll try speeding up slowly at 1.5 miles and then make a last minute call.

Legs slowly warm up better... I'm not saying they were normal, but they didn't hit the danger zone.  Time to man up and just do it. And do it I did.

The first 4 miles of my pace portion of my run was pretty unstable. Maybe it was because the wind was at my back, but I couldn't get in my pace groove. My half mile splits were going like 6:40, 7:11, 6:20, 7:15, 6:18 and so on. I tried to settle in the zone, miss it, then think I just sped up a little, but apparently I threw on some nitro.

I couldn't find my groove baby!

On my turn around, it was an entirely different game. The wind was now my foe. At least the wind evened out my pace. The extra resistance to running was overshadowed by the change in breathing as the wind continuously punches your throat.

I had one near fall down near North Ave, I didn't see the sand spill over into the path and nearly last my footing/twisted my ankle! Yikes.

The run went well on the way back.  Took a bit more effort, but I had it in my to give.  I also saw one boss of a runner, who is very friendly, knocking out 6:45s like he was just having a fun old time! You go bro!

When I was about to get off the path, I took a moment to soak in the sky. The lake looked like it was on fire, the dark black clouds, and just a small open window of red breaking off the lake made it a magnificent view. As usually, my phone doesn't do it justice.

And for those interested in the actual stats, here are the splits:

Total time for my 9 mile pace portion, 1:02:48.

Today I also have physical therapy and my run gait analysis. I may be needing a nap by dinner time!

Happy Friday everyone!!!

Toasty!

Two days, two hot runs.
Monday plan, 6 miles at recovery pace. I took the day off from work to tend to some things.  This allowed me to sleep in and took the kiddo with me for my run.

That is a dragon in her arms

Nothing to note about this run.

Side note, I flaked on my physical therapy appointment. I thought I had it on Wednesday and Friday... Had it this morning... Woops! Rescheduled.

Later in the day we went to +Fleet Feet Sports - Chicago  in Old Town so I could get a run gait analysis. The recommended some Orange Superfeet Insoles for my sneakers which seem to work nice. Time will tell.

The kiddo missed her normal nap and with 95 degree weather... She started getting cranky. She fell asleep for like 20 minutes on the way home, woke up like the Kraken.

Tuesday, Hanson Marathon Method called for 2 x 3 miles at marathon pace minus 10 seconds, with a 1 mile recovery jog in between.
Got outside at 4:20am... 82, SW winds around 8mph. The air quality sucked hard.
My will was there, energy, strength as well... But breathing was shot.

The breeze was at my face both ways which dried my mouth bad and my lungs just weren't having it. I was tempted to switch today to my easy run and do the strength run tomorrow, but the weather would barely be better. Let's just get this done.

I managed to pull a few miles at recommended pace. But this run was better measured by effort. I won't bother giving you the screenshot of my splits.  On the second set of three miles, even doing marathon pace +10 felt like hell. I was giving it my all and the weather just wasn't letting me have it. Mental strength right?

I calmed myself mentally by telling myself how much time you can lose with heat. The run was a struggle for sure.

I reminded myself to live to run another day. The run was exhausting, but am glad it is done. Looking forward to Friday with highs in the 60s rather than mid 90s.

Another story I forgot to share, Friday on the way home from work, a lady on the bus came up to me and asked if I run... I was recognized from my morning runs! I'm pretty famous. She starts her run when I am ending mine. Autographs will be given folks.

Did you skip to the end cause it was too much to read? Well this is what the runs were like:

I'm going to nail this run hard...nope

Have a great day!

(P.S. I'm behind on my blog reading, I'll catch up soon!)

Weekend in Review

Weekend review time!

Saturday - 8 miles @ easy pace. Gentle run. Not too many kinks to work out. General fatigue and tightness from the previous day's hard run. Got out around 5:15am. Still trying to figure out if my ankle is rolling and if so at what speeds.  I fiddled with my foot planting and found the strikes that cause it in my right calfish area.

I saw Mrs. Fueling Strong start her long run and we exchanged a side five! I also got to finally meet Bethany @ Accidental Intentions on my way home.

After my run, I rounded up the household and we went to Ikea for the day to buy some new furniture for our place when we move. Upon trying to collect the couch, there was a second couch that was stuck to it and made the task a bit of a scare. I felt like this trying to hold it up:

My stomach was a bit of a blah in the evening, so my dinner was rather small.  My energy levels for my long run would face the consequences.

Sunday Plan - 16 miles @ 7:43ish pace. End Result: 16 miles @ 7:40 pace.

My first 10 miles were a little fast as I tried to ease into the pace. The slightly faster speed resulted in better posture and foot planting.  The small dinner and humidity at this point started to bear down on me.

My splits started going on pace or maybe a little slower.  I didn't mind as this would help my overall time get closer to the target time rather than finish too fast (TWSS).

I also got to run for a minute with Pete who took another graceful photo:

 

I got back home with drenched sneakers and have been slowly refueling since.  I'm hoping to make it out to Runner's Edge this evening to get a recheck on my sneaker needs.

Have a great evening!

Heart, Hustle, and Stubborn Muscles

Hanson Marathon Plan run for the day: 9 miles at marathon pace with a warm up and cool down.

Woke up at 3:40am, feel okay. GI system takes a few extra minutes to give me the all clear. Oddly enough, today I have a few wacky spots on my right calf.  Already rolling my eyes. Tempted to just go back to bed, but I just drank a cup of coffee.. Let's try to at least do a couple miles to see how things warm up.

First half mile. Yikes. My calves feel like a giant mess. My right calf has some tightness at the top portion, and a spot a few inches above my ankle on the inside.  And my left calf had a few spots on the top and outside as well. I was close to just saying F it and turning back.

But then I thought of all the food I ate yesterday and the buffet of food I prepped for today. I gotta at least earn some of that.

Second half mile, not much better. Feeling depressed. Can I go back to bed now? I start thinking I'm going to pull a muscle in both legs, this is it, this is the end Charlie Brown.

But I kept going.  Maybe stretching will help. By the time I got to my stretching area, my legs felt a tiny bit better. I started seeing a fools hope.

Start again, hit mile 1.5.  I think I can at least do an easy set of miles today. Something is better than nothing right? Or maybe I should call it a DNF early and rest..

My ego kicks in. I remind myself, how many runs have I had in the last month where I don't get my legs until mile 3 or even 6? I know what a pull feels like, I can still run this smart. I have to at least try.  I look at the time. I can still pull out 9 miles at marathon pace and sneak in a 1 mile cool down after.  Okay, lets do it.

I start to speed up before my two mile marker so I can ease into my pace. Speeding up was like poking a sleeping bear. I felt the strength was there in me, the energy was there, but my confidence in my calves was not cooperating.  But I was willing to tempt the giant in me. This run was going to happen on pure heart, hustle, and maybe muscle.

The aches in my calves start break up, there is a little more strength being used on other parts of my legs.  Maybe I have poor running posture when I go slow?

I start to feel good. And the numbers back me up:

Ideally, I would have liked to warm up and cool down a little longer, but I run with a time constraint. At least I got my full work out in. My pace miles start at mile 3 and it took me a little to get the feel for the pace. 

Going south there was a bit of a headwind.  It was strong enough off the lake to add resistance to the run, and to give me a lot of dry mouth.  The lakefront path was very light on runners this morning. I only saw 6 people in the first 6 miles, two couples, and two solo runners (between Ardmore and that bridge at North Ave).  I think that was a new record for fewest people out running for that stretch of time and distance.  Maybe it is the darkness? Maybe people have short or no runs today with a lot of long runs happening tomorrow? Or tapering for the half marathon on Sunday?

I need to make a comment about waving to people, at least in the dark. (Note: Please invest in reflective gear, arm band, or a running light if you are going to run before 6) If you want a successful dark wave, you need to commit to it from much farther away. Success rates drop, so don't be too sad. But I made two new categories of reactions to a wave:

1. Did you REALLY just wave to me? who the hell do you think you are?  - This person looks at you with that vapid look in their eyes as you wave, they see it, but they choose to be a bitter Betsy.

2. Uh, wait do I know you? umm HI!!!!!!!!! - This person notices you wave at the last moment and doesn't have enough time to figure out of they know you in any way so they put in 100% enthusiasm in saying hello just in case they do. (They don't!) but now they do!

Some random notes from the run:

I was pretty successful at stopping for water without pausing my GPS and not dropping pace.

Near the end of mile 9, this older middle aged Asian man on a bike (not a speedy type bike) was rolling along, when he suddenly goes into my lane. He was going south, I was going north.  I think he  will go back after he realizes he veered off.. He is now right in front of me, 20 feet and closing. umm WTF. I slow down, hoping he moves, he has no fear in his eyes. DUDE??? He stays the course to go at me. Did he see some imaginary pot hole? I have to stop my run and jump into the grass. He goes on by, staying in the wrong lane and I look back and glare at him...then realize my time is ticking and this mile is now off! Hence the slower mile at 9.

I was getting tired for the last mile at marathon pace, but my legs still had it. When the GPS sung out that it was over, I did a mini fist pump and heard in my head - I DID IT! - in my kid's voice.  She says this many times a day for any task she accomplishes.

I stopped to take a picture at the end as well just so this blog would have some color:

Now for non running stuff:
This is how I feel when I try to amuse you guys and your subsequent reaction:

My day was made yesterday when WBEZ (Chicago branch of NPR) read this tweet on air yesterday. They said it was their favorite response *Swoon*

Annnnd the official trailer for the next Robocop movie!


Happy Friday!