Catching Wind of Sugar (Language Warning)

Hey you..

This is how I feel I need to approach people when I want them to run with me. Okay, now that we are clear, let's start this post.

Sunday morning, my morning to catch up on some sleep, so 7:15am! I started my run about an hour later. My goal this morning was 8 miles or 1 hour, whichever happened first. Considering the entire week I haven't been able to really run faster than 8:15s, I figured 1 hour was more likely going to happen. But as I went out the door, I decided it would be 8 miles, no time constraint.

I was happy to see people again running, as the entire week consisted of 1-2 people total each morning. My first  mile was pretty normal, about 8 minute mile, I decided to try to increase my cadence a bit, just to poke at my lungs to see if they were breathing a little bitter.. I know I know, you are saying:

I hit mile two, check my watch, 14:30. I felt comfortable, I pretended I was listening to a metronome in my head and hit my pace to that. The next 6 miles I looked like this:

And I felt like this after I realized I was doing 6:45s with relatively normal effort:

Averaging in my slower first two miles, it was 8 miles in about 55 minutes. I was happy with it, but I should have done jog for a mile afterwards to cool down, but I did stretch and use the tennis ball for awhile afterwards.

In the afternoon, I went to the Andersonville Dessert Crawl with my ladies and Jeannie at I Drink Soda While I Run and her hubster Jeff (Who I just realized I never had his blog on my feed, added now!).

The theme of the afternoon was:

My plan was to take a photo of each dessert.. yea didn't happen. There were two routes to choose from, my wife got one, I got the other so that we could try everything. We took the crawl a lot slower than previous years, and shared with our toddler, so for once, we were able to finish all 11 places! Score.

I very much enjoyed it!

I need to look back at the flyer that got lost somewhere at home to recap what I even ate (TWSS). And to my stomach..

Afterwards, I still had a sweet tooth and bought:

Jeannie and I discussed getting into running and exercise while in line for one exercise, and I thought I'd share my thoughts on it as well. This focuses more on morning exercise.  I would like to say, people ask me how do I do it.. but nobody does. You have to want to do it first to be interested right?

Anywho, this isn't a capture all statement, just one argument for just doing it..I began thinking about it after seeing this:

That is half the battle, but the first half is getting out of bed. I know people love their sleep, and that  60-90 minutes of less sleep just seems like the worst thing in the world.... But you know what is wurs(t)? Spending the next 15-16 hours of the day saying you'll exercise later, or tomorrow, and it doesn't happen. Then feeling bad about yourself and starting a sedentary pattern that is hard to break. To me, that one less hour of sleep to exercise and feeling good about yourself is worth way more than a little extra sleep... Unless you are Winnie the Pooh:

And this hit me pretty strong as well, feeling like you are just never on par with your friends or other accomplished runners (in this sports arena at least)

And it is almost time for the Bull's season opener!

Need another photo of Lil Smokie? Here she is at a friend's house!

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!

Almost a DNS

The wildly hot weather in Chicago yesterday called for a visit to get frozen custard at you know where. Here are a couple photos to be jealous of.

I went to bed with my calves giving out. I don't think I had more than 10 steps left. I was beat.

Get up at 3:40, let's get this party started. After yesterday's great run, I was hoping for a repeat leg confidence for a fun run with Erin and Corey.

I step out of bed and had a cramp in my left calf.  Doesn't feel like the current strain I'm rehabbing.  I pause and think.. your move leg, are we running today or not...

I proceed to get ready, drink coffee, and bio break. I use the stick and foam roller to see if I get any reaction... Nope feel fine. Mentally I'm nervous, physically I can't reproduce the cramp. I just feel that inner oddness in my calf. At least it is a recovery run. I had to decide by 4 if I was running to let Erin know my final start time or if at all.  Lets do it.  At least my mind wasn't on my gut.

I don't bother with my GPS today and just go at what I feel safe with. Slow first mile. Stretch. Already sweating a lot, but it is cooling off and getting foggy.

I meet up with Erin and give her a heads up that I'm half expecting to get a flat and have to walk home.  We do a more gentle pace than normal thankfully. The easy pace combined with talking the entire run helped keep my mind off my fear and let me enjoy the run.

We pick up Corey and have a delightful run. The breeze from the north felt great, and it was fun watching the sky go from clear and full of stars to full on mist/fog. I think I forgot to pause my timer a couple times, but does it really matter if you are having a good time and not for a fast time?

Got home, plenty of time for stretching. Leg holding together. Physical Therapy this evening and rest day from running tomorrow. Good timing!

What was your hot weather comfort food/drink?

Do you mentally make mountains out of mole hills?

And your inspirational photo for the day - replace "Landing a plan" with running your goal race:

And funny running read: What's your running confession? 

Friday Eve - Rest Day Post

 Two Part Post - 1: Motivation 2: Stuff
1.
Are you someone that always tries to motivate people, encourage them, tell them they are doing awesome, but don't give yourself the same pat on the back? Most of us huh. Well this post is about us.
This is feeling proud about yourself, myself, we are pretty great.

(Except you, yeah I see the Nutella smear on your face and you haven't brushed your teeth yet today, you aren't that great)

The thought started crossing in my head as I chatted with a coworker who signed up for her first half marathon. She started the early phases of, what the hell did I just do, but I can't back out now. She got a legit plan set out from one of her runner friends beforehand and isn't backing down. I added what extra value I could and try to encourage her whenever we talk running, reminding her the dedication to training is what makes those motivational videos and posters we all wish we were in. News flash, we are those posters.

I forced myself to take a look at my own training. About 6 weeks into the Hanson Plan. Plenty of days where I feel like I'm not doing enough. That I set my goals too high. That I should lower my expectations for my first race. You know the downward spiral. But then that day I pretended it wasn't me I was looking at.

You know those videos of people running in the dark, running 10 miles Friday, to wake up just as early on the weekend to knock out god knows how many more. The people that can tell you about running at -10 degrees or 90 degrees. That is me I'm looking at. What values to you honor in other people? I bet you have them yourself, but don't like to admit it.

The speech in this video has been around for awhile, but as I love the Bulls, I'm giving you it as a backdrop to a Bull's video. 

“Here’s the thing that makes life so interesting. The theory of evolution claims that “only the strong shall survive”. Maybe so, maybe so.

But the theory of competition says, “just because they’re the strong doesn’t mean they can’t get their asses kicked”.

That’s right. See, what every long shot, come from behind, underdog will tell ya is this: the other guy may in fact be the favorite, the odds may be stacked against you. Fair enough. But what the odds don’t know is, this isn’t a math test. This is a completely different kind of test. One where passion, has a funny way of trumping logic.

So before you step up to the starting line, before the whistle blows, and the clocks start ticking just remember: out here the results don’t always add up. No matter what the stats may say and the experts may think and the commentators may have predicted, when the race is on, all bets are off.

Don’t be surprised be if someone decides to flip the script and take a pass on yelling “Uncle”. And then suddenly as the old saying goes, “WE’VE GOT OURSELVES A GAME”.

So you know what? Game on. I'm going to keep dreaming big and so should you. You inspire me.

-
Annnd Stuff:

Got my new sneakers in! Same ones I have now, just different color (New Balance M890v3)

If you see these bad boys on the path, it is probably me and I expect a side five.

And my foam roller is still getting use:





For people dealing with gnats while running:

And some photos from the Rock and Roll Half Marathon:

Okay, that's enough for one day. Have a great day

Link it Together Thursday

No run today, scheduled day off. Miss the morning push and body wake up call, at least there is the gym at lunch where I will look a lot like this:

I don't have a lot of deep thoughts or topics for today, so here are some of my favorite links from reddit.com/r/running over the last few days:

• Interviews with average runners who've run a Boston Qualifying Time - A bunch these are a little older before BQ times got cut down, but still insightful. From a discussion on this, the host intends on adding more participants to it. 50+ MPW seems to be a common theme. On it!

• In response to that thread, someone asked - what is the most direct way to go from a slow beginner to BQ (not marathon training, but training to train for a marathon), and the top response was great - see here - a small piece from the response:

 Before I give you my advice, you need to realize that there is no 'right' path to get to a BQ. You can do it in many different ways, but likely what's holding you back is the commitment to do it. It's what separates a Boston marathoner from the rest. Anyone who is willing to sacrifice a Sunday morning every week for a long run for a few months and can get in a few 3-5 mile runs per week can run a marathon. To BQ, you need to NEED to qualify. You have to be hungry for it. You need to be willing to get up at 4:45AM the next day to run a 9 miler despite how tired you are from work. 

        BQ is still my pie in the sky goal, and I'm sure as hell giving it my commitment and will try.

• On a lighter note - Sympathy Cards for Runners

• Chicago Marathon Update Email, ended up in my spam folder, so if you missed it too, check it out.

• Comic on everyone's favorite part of running, a skill I haven't used yet.

• Aaaaaand a Monthly Motivation Thread

Now if you still need something to comment on, lets talk about Vanity Running! You know the type, they worked hard for their summer bodies and are beasts in the gym, but more than a few miles of running is just not what they train to do or enjoy. Two miles along the beach though? Lets strut run! This may be more a guy thing for once.

How do they make you feel? Do you honestly think they are out there for a solid cardio work out? Or doing a bit of showing off?

I've seen them running too hard, legwork is bad, and they are somehow not sweating yet...I realize I'm a bit more negative on them and kudos for anyone that gets out to exercise, but don't you ever feel like the gym is their kindgom and we can feel prouder of our work on the trails?

Happy Friday Eve!