Titleless Tuesday

Yesterday evening I made it to my daughter's first toddler gymnastic class. Pretty sure I was having more fun at first during free play time. (Mandatory photo)

My tot is on the far left

Random story, while I was washing my hands when I had arrived this little boy was recruiting me hard to play dodge ball, I barely escaped the effort but felt Adam Sandler set up the interaction.

Take the hit like a man kid!

This morning I had 9 miles on tap with 6x800 and 400m run in between.  If you have been following me, you know I complained like an angry child about straining my calf hitting my marks doing 400s, which took me off schedule and speed for a couple weeks. I don't have confidence yet to push my intervals to hit the suggested times. So I am settling for slightly slower times and peace of mind that I won't hurt myself again.

Another random thought, running 6:30s at 5am takes a lot more effort than my Sunday runs where I have more time to warm up and coffee. I've hit 6:15-6:30s in long runs just being in a groove and throw on the breaks knowing that is a really bad speed to be doing before the last mile. But ask me to do that when I wake up? And I'll respond, girl you crazy. Slightly aggravating.


Anyways, should I stick with slightly slower intervals or push it again? Ideas why good intervals knock my calf out just about every time?

The run today was fine. First four intervals went smooth. I got a high five from a professional, some people beat me to the wave today, and I had one runner finally wave back after about 5 different attempts. Going south also felt like I was in a gnat party.

Going north, I didn't noticed the gnats, but my stomach instantly started churning. Maybe there was a change in breathing with the wind in my face. The wind was enough to knock me off a little as well. I  made the most of it and finished with a smile. 

Two shout outs today to non runners.  The first is this older Asian lady that walks around one of the soccer fields and hits golf balls. I thought that was pretty cool ( only if she picked them up after!). The second is a slightly older lady who I've seen before walking her little dog in a stroller, but today she was jogging with the dog on a leash and pushing the empty stroller. That was EPIC. 

One last thought, nice thing about all this outdoor running, people think you went on vacation from how dark you've gotten.  

Have a great day! 

Federal Friday!

Happy Friday Everyone!
My replacement phone came in and everything works minus the actually PHONE part, not that I actually talk on the phone much. Looks like I'm going to get a loaner today until my second replacement.

Yesterday evening I took my wife and daughter to Argyle Nights to meet up with +Erin A.M.G. and her family unity. To keep consistent with our luck, it began to rain even though it was a 0% chance of rain (do you even try anymore weather.com?) As I chased my tot back from running away, she stopped to blab and play with a young lady and a gentleman. Peekaboo, dancing, and sharing her pride flag started. The lady looked familiar, but I didn't say anything..But she did.. Declan?

Kelsey??

Yes, Mrs Fueling Strong was there. What are the chances? Why would my daughter pick her out of the crowd to randomly play with? Three times now in about three weeks. A mini blogger meet up. I got to meet Mr. Fueling Strong as well, both very nice people! I couldn't help but question the coincidence and my wife told me - (I think quoting Long Island Medium) there are no coincidences. With that I struck up another Lord of the Rings reference:  Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum she has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before this is over.

The evening wrapped up good, rain moved out. Although I could not fall asleep until after midnight. Awesome when you have want to wake up at 4:15 to get a longish run in. My stomach was a bit iffy (bahn mi and an egg roll don't make my list of the best fuel the night before a strong run). I got out the door and once I hit the path, I ran through many large families of gnats that I couldn't see in the dark that felt like someone throwing fine sand in my face.. so gross. Less gross, I ran into the Ruminator and did part of my run with her. Today was a tempo run day, but my stomach was borderline warning level, so I was happy to do a longer warm up distance. After she finished her run and ran home I was trying to figure out how far I should go back out and just picked Belmont. I did some tempo miles (a little slower so my stomach wouldn't explode) and ended up doing about 11.5 miles. I had to stop for water every water stop the last 3 miles. When I got home, I tried a gu recovery mix that you put in water.. kinda gross. Equally gross? Looked in the mirror and saw the cemetery of gnats on my neck and chest.. sigh.

(I was not paid by any Gu competitors to say that)

Here is a photo from the run:

Also, with this run I broke 1000 miles for the year running! Glad to hit it before July. Funny how sometimes the runners high hits you later. I felt a bit worn out on my last few miles today, half stomach issues, half not eating enough yesterday, but once got to work I felt like I transformed and was ready to go hard again.

Who is going to the Blackhawks parade today? (We'll obviously see each other in the crowd)

Do you ever think coincidences are a sign and not just random?

Name the movie:  Our little boy is all grows up tonight. You know what big boy? You’re grown up. You’re grown up! Yeaaaheyha! Dig that! Is this a fuckin’ production for ya? Cuz you’re growns up and you’re growns up and you’re growns up!

Happy Friday!

Loves labour almost 10

Biggest news of the day: Today is our 5th Wedding anniversary! I won't get all Facebook on you, but It's wonderful to have the perfect companion to journey life with and keep you in line. Our story is twice as long and unlikely, but love has made it happen and I can't be happier. We typically do some fancy dinner, but this year we want to be full for under $200 so we are thinking dmk burger and then someplace else.

Now the less fun part of the day. Wtf is going on gut. Get your shit together, literally. I have not had one good run since Sunday because of you. Today was the worst. I planned an easy run of 10 miles. Weather was gorgeous, but the gnats invaded the entire area and I choked multiple times on them.

When I woke up at 4:30am, felt ok. In case you haven't already learned, always go #2 before a hard or longer run. Didn't skip that, but stomach was still iffy. Wasn't sure what was in store, but I have a time limit, let's go.

First 3 miles, manageable. Stopped to get a quick picture before sunrise.

Next three I start to worry. Pressure and aches more constant. Already half way done, just make it home. ( don't worry, I still put on a brave face and waved/nodded to people, priorities) The sunrise was perfect and I almost stopped to get another photo, but I was worried that stopping and starting again might make my stomach angrier.

Miles 6 to 9, my face started to grimace more now. Had trouble jogging. Ugh. Worst run to date. Hit mile 9, come on Declan, don't give up. I couldn't keep going without going. I stopped a run early for the first time. Breathed deeply. Walked most of the last mile home, which was also a challenge. I tried to jog a couple times just due to time constraints.

Not a pretty run, but I'm glad I did it... now I know I can eat normally :)

Alternative? Could have stayed in today with the warning signs I had or do a short run... Naw. Rather hate myself for a little while than beat myself up all day.


Tomorrow morning I'll do the same route, hopefully I have a better experience. Plus, I need to make sure I keep a look out for Bethany @ Accidental Intentions and Kelsey @ Fueling Strong when I cross paths with their running groups with CARA and offer a motivational wave. Do I need to look out for anyone else running between 5 and 6:30am on the Lakefront north?

One link for you today:
Rules of Running - It got pretty popular yesterday, so I imagine it made its way to a lot of you already, but still a nice list.

Lots of beach weather in the forecast! Will I see any of you around Hollywood beach or early morning runs on Sunday as well?

Any weekend plans?

How do you deal with stomach issues during training? Skip/push/cut?

Happy Friday!

Feliz Pre Friday Eve

Greetings runners and weekend warriors! Today is Pre Friday Eve, can you feel Saturday calling yet?

I must first share a photo from yesterday evening when I took my daughter to the beach, although it was a little cooler than I expected.

She was actually protesting a photo here

Onto today, 4:40am is no longer scary. Wake up, check temp, 71, score! Recovery run today, do 7 miles and keep between 8 to 9 minute miles.

Nice thing about early running, is you can shed the shirt and not feel too self conscious, this saves on laundry, tan lines, and most importantly, no nipple chafing protection needed.

The first half of my run I saw a total of 5 runners, little odd. I saw my fellow dad friend biking to work, he was early and hearing my name that early caught me off guard.

In bigger news, I got my first high five today. A group of 4 20ish Asian/Oriental guys were biking the opposite direction and were a bit rowdy. One guy stuck out the hand and it was on. We have high five contact! He was cheering so hard afterwards you could dump Gatorade on him and it would be appropriate.

I stopped to get a couple photos today, about 8 minutes apart:

~5:25am

Annnnd Sunrise

Won't be long before I need sunscreen for my longer runs.

In the last two miles I ran into some swarms of those tiny black bugs (gnats? I think) and had to wave them out of my face. I started singing in my head Tupac Back by Meek Mill, but replaced it with- Bugs are Back.

Get home, look down and initially think, I don't remember these freckles... Oh right bugs. Get to the bathroom mirror, they committed mass suicide on my chest and neck (A similar example from reddit/r/running here). Gross. I definitely got the loofah out for this shower.

Small tip for today that I noticed in more runners today: If you hear your footsteps hitting the ground hard or shuffling, you need to fix up your form. Loud? You are running too hard and you will get hurt faster. Shuffling? Try to pick your feet up, I have to believe that extra resistance on the ground isn't great for you.

Have you faced these genocidal bugs yet this year? I think it should be a photo challenge +Maggie MagMileRunner

Do you want to get high fived while running? Have you?