Shaking it out before the Chicago Marathon

Here are my last 24 hours in photos:

Shuttle to Marathon Expo- In a School Bus - No leg room

Welcome to the Expo

The motto of the training - to early mornings.. but it was rarely that bright

I got upgraded!

Erica and Sara - Local Bloggers

The Pain is Nothing Love Birds

Group shot!

Erin and the kids!

I graduated from physical therapy!

Birthday Party Saturday Morning

Knock Knock

Reading to the birthday girl and my daughter

Race outfit with Clif Shots pinned

Added my bib

 And to everyone running the marathon or just in general tomorrow, remember this:

Still wishing on a star that my big toe flexor tendon relaxes for tomorrow!

Take care everyone! I hope to see a lot of you tomorrow and good luck to everyone running the Chicago Marathon!

Easy Run and Marathon Contingency Plans

(does my title even make sense? eh it is a blog, who cares)

Today: 6 mile easy run. Again I went out with an off stomach. I've been running out a bit quicker than I do during the rest of my training, but as the distances this week have been short, I choose to just live with the icky gut.  The upside, it keeps me going REAL slow.

I've been seeing my buddy Mr V (Personal trainer) out with one of his clients, and he has been giving me high fives and a cheer every day this week with the count down. The lakefront path has been pretty quiet this week as well. This morning I saw maybe 5 runners. I saw thumbs up guy, a few randoms, and a lady (~my age?) that I've seen pretty frequently since last year. When I saw her this morning, I was curious if she was running the marathon, she said no, but wished me good luck! A dedicated runner!  Probably my last time hitting the path pre-dawn for a few weeks (I have a 3 mile easy run tomorrow, but I'll do it after I sleep in)

Before I get into the next part of exploring the darker part of my running mind, I end it with this reminder (replace lift with run)

Now for Marathon Contingency Plans. As I've mentioned before, these last.. 10 days I've had some rough tightness that won't go away through the middle/bottom of my calf, down to my ankle

Post Physical Therapy Edit: Therapist says I had a lot of tightness with my big toe flexor that goes up, crosses over my achilles, and goes up my calf. Explains the exact area issue. Says gripping and pushing off on my big toe will cause it to heat up. Just a really tired tendon.

When it flares, it is just one of those feelings that you say, damn that ain't right. Shin splints and knots are one thing, this is just.. off.

I imagine some of you are like, oh god..here he goes again:

I don't feel it walking or easy running.  I noticed it BAD when I tested a one legged squat hold.  Therapy helps, but I've also stayed a good 90-100 seconds slower than pace for all my runs this week to stay loose and not flare it up. I'm trying to stay positive about it. That adrenaline, a long period of loosening up, a lot of rest tomorrow, and so forth will help.  Hell, I'm probably going to have to start taking Ibuprofen tomorrow afternoon to get as much inflammation down for the race, and bring some to the race. With all this, I'm just hoping I can safely get through the marathon and be mentally happy to do that.

So close to recovering fully! Everything else feels great. I feel very energized. I'm not afraid of the distance, just of literally popping (not bands) (and of course, runner's trots).  It doesn't help to have some taper crazies making me extra dramatic about it. I fully trust my training, I know I haven't lost my capabilities, I just hope I don't have to run on used duct tape

The most frustrating part is knowing my capability, how I'm about at 90-95% of it right now, but even maintaining that could pose an injury hazard. I really don't WANT to settle into a slower pace at any part of the race after spending 100% of myself nearly every day since March...

But you go into war with the legs you have, not the legs you want.

First marathon learning experience.

Could I be full of complete dramatic crap and have it just go numb and crush it Sunday? Totes.

Running through rehab brought me through a LOT of runs where my first 3-6 miles were painful pieces of crap, but I still rocked my runs. I'm hoping to use the experience to get myself through any flare ups (and more advil..)

I just need to get this down in writing, to remember this last step of the journey to the race.

Thankfully I'll be running with some amazing people (see Annabelle, Erin, and Pete) to keep me motivated to push through. I just hope structurally my body will let me keep up with these local running celebrities and not get lost in a falling pace and a crowd of strangers.. or this dark zone:

And I am thankful for everyone that will be out cheering for us and myself, including my wife, friends, family, and even my Physical Therapist! My reaction when I realize people are cheering for me!

And for those of you asking, umm where the heck are the pictures of your adorable daughter? Sorry! I haven't taken any this week, but she is hamming it up every night and is hilarious (and VERY SASSY).

And because this post has been rather doubting debbie like, here is everyone after running a marathon:

Now if you don't mind, I must go back to being on work without pay and look forward to the marathon expo this afternoon!

Last Rest Day before the Chicago Marathon!

The last rest day before the Chicago Marathon!

Random topics. First off, read Annabelle's post on why Running is HARD. Great read and much better supported by training events that my daily musings and debauchery.

And one thing I'm taking with me from this training, aside from follow your training plan and don't hurt yourself like I did, is that your body is capable of amazing things.  The things motivation does for you, gets you out of bed.. before 3:30am just to run at 4:00am. Why? because you can. Because you are bad ass.. Because you owned the paths before most people every took a morning piss. Don't think you could do it?

This is also how tired I look by the time my kid goes to bed. YOLO? (I think I used this gif before..)

Maggie, stop looking for more Ryan Reynolds GIFs, I will not give you what you are looking for

STOP LOOKING

Few more gifs to cover up for my lack of writing ability:

What a lot of runners will look like when they realize that they are going to break more than wind at mile 18:

My face as I eat carbs all day:

My reaction when someone compliments my sneakers as I have on dress slacks today:

And with all the goodies you bring for the marathon, don't forget to bring one of these:

And if you actually want to READ something, check this:
What is your running mantra?

Okay, I'll catch up blog reading soon!

Take care and Happy Friday Eve!

Diddle Diddle Dumpling, my Run Song

No, not Sun Song

(Note: I kept my Soulfly flag until I moved this month)

Deep in the heart of taper week for the Chicago Marathon, my runs Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were done at a very easy pace and the miles were 6,5, and 6.

Monday I felt that continued.. ache that sometimes flared up at the bottom of my calf. No bueno, but it wasn't enough to stop me. I just took it easy. Also, I'm running from a new starting point, so I haven't gotten the feel for all my new mile markers yet.

Internally, this is my reaction to still trying to do last minute patchwork to my body:

Tuesday and Wednesday I had a rather unhappy stomach. I didn't give myself enough time for it to finish its business and I consequentially was making this face while I ran:

Tuesday my pace followed the pathetic feeling I had on my face, and dropped to a slow trot. I didn't kill myself over it, I was also trying to not feel any flare up in my hot spot in my calf. Tuesday evening I spent mostly unpacking, so my legs really didn't rest as much as I would have liked.

Wednesday went a little smoother, I decided to take some ibuprofen on Tuesday and right before my run, to see if it helped my ache/inflammation. It did. I still kept my pace slow as my stomach could react badly.

Highlights included a a side five with Erin @ Running Ruminations  (a soon to be extinct thing in Chicago... BOO!!!) and I got to meet a super speedy runner I've been seeing for months 1-2 times a run. He caught up to me ( I heard the insane cadence as he approached - run without headphones folks if it is dark out!) He is aiming for a sub 3 Chicago Marathon, and judging by how fast I've seen him go, it'll be easy. Reminded me of how I was peaking in July. I'll get back there eventually.

I was looking forward to my physical therapy visit today, knowing they would calm me down and remind me I'll be okay. I got to the office, and explained my aches at about 180 words per minute, freaking out, and observing my therapist maintain a collective face through it all.

She does some checks on my subjective complaints and says that it is very tight.. my reaction:

She then works her painfully magic fingers on the tight muscles and scar tissue. I could feel the crunchies.. My reaction probably looked like this.. just with a little more pain:

She gave me some extra tips on how to loosen up the area, hopefully it helps!

And because Maggie @ Mag Mile Runner asked for more Ryan Reynolds Gifs.. my response:

Now for the rest of you reading, you are reading right? How is your week going?  What is your go to meal the day before the marathon? Now respond!

The Running House that Ikea Built

Quick blog to tell you about all my...adventures lately.. they all ended with this look obviously:

Actually no they didn't. I've been assembling way too much stuff from Ikea (still not done), but after finishing a 38 page set of instructions for a TV stand, this was me:

But getting to this senses of accomplishment, there was a lot of this:

Now to the running portion of this blog:

Saturday: Easy 8 mile run. I ended up going out for my run around 1pm, as we finished moving in during the morning. It was 80, sunny, humid, and just way too hot.

Bye old home

Sunday: Easy 8 miles with Pete and Annabelle.

Temperature was 55, and we may or may not have coordinated out outfits.

Monday: Easy 6 miles. Temperature 44 degrees. I feel like I've ran through multiple seasons in 3 days. Only thing bothering me is a nerve or some tight spot in the middle of my calf, probably just from never really kicking back for a good week. Keeping an eye on it.

And I just want to use this gif.. maybe it can be for what Congress is doing or everyone's mental fight with the taper?