Finally!

Jason and I took the day off yesterday because we got back late from work. The schedule for the week had yesterday off anyways, so we figured it should be ok. Go Figure that it was the right thing to do. We ran 8.5 miles and I felt great. My left quad hurt for awhile (I did take two aleve though before we left so I could get through the run) Anyways, by the end I was feeling strong and wow, it just felt good to get through a longish run a big faster and a bit stronger. Don't want to slump through every run from now until the marathon. We stoppped quickly for water 3 times which was an alright thing to do.

Alright, we'll see how the legs fend in the morning.

Recovery

Yesterday we just walked (ran a couple of blocks only) 3.5 miles. It was suggested in the book we are using to train for the marathon that one day a week should be cross training and that walking counts. So my quad has been bothering me and didn't want to do more damage to it, so we just walked the distance. kinda lame, but don't want to get hurt before the marathon.

Catching UP (again)

We tried to run 8.5 in Bloomington on Thursday. You might say that it was bad, and if you did you would be right. hmph. We made it about 4 miles and it was so hot and so hilly that we just walked the rest of the way back to our friends apartment where we were staying for a total distance of 5.5 or so.

After this we decided to run only 12 on Sunday so that we could get in a long run and hopefully feel a bit better.

So we ran 5 miles on Friday and felt ok, and then this morning made it through 12 miles fine which was nice. I think it really helps running these long runs back in Chicago where we know the course there are plenty of water fountains along the way. Knowing exactly how much farther 2 miles is, is nicer than knowing that there are 2 more to go. Plus another shout out to Fleet Feet for having the water/gatorade stands out at certain points along the lakefront. This is about the most helpful thing, because I know I can always make it to one of these and get a shot of gatorade and get back on it.

Another note we ran to the 8.5 mile marker today which is right past Navy Pier. There was a Triathalon happening downtown so there were tons of bikes locked up along the path. They still kept a path open right along the lake front so that was nice. But I would just like to reaffirm that it doesn't look like fun at all. So we ended up going between 12-12.5 miles today. Nice.

Recent 3.5 milers

On Monday we ran 3.5 miles. Felt good, my left quad muscle is a bit sore and I think it's from walking around NYC for 3 days. The schedule had us with a day off on Tuesday, (which was good because we had a softball game....which we ended up getting slaughterd at!) but then 8.5 today, 3.5 tomorrow. Because we were driving to Bloomington, IN today we flipped the two days. We did another 3.5 miles this morning and did it very quickly, somewhere around 30 minutes....leg still hurting. Jason suggested some ICYHOT and might try that if it keeps on bother me.

It's been awhile

Well, just need to update what's been going on with the runnin' even though I don't really want to. Jason and I went on a 10 day vacation that had stopping points at Niagara Falls, Cooperston, NY for the baseball hall of fame, New York City and finally philadelphia. So we tried to get all of our runs in, but didn't really succeed. We did run a couple times and I would say did about 35 miles total. We tried to do a 16.5 mile run while in Cooperstown, but wait what happens when you don't really eat anything all day, don't drink any water, sit in a car for 7 hours previously.....you don't run 16.5 miles. We did walk run the whole distance though, so at least got that in. We stopped at a restaurant for water because we were dying, and then also at a motel on the way back.

We did walk our freakin legs off though on the trip, so it's not like we just sat around and at pringles. We did 3.5 yesterday and felt "ok". We have the day off today and then we'll be on it for the nex three days.

This Sunday brings an 18 mile run, so we'll just have to see how that goes.

Here is a nice/nasty picture of Jason's black toe.....EWWWWW. This is what happens when you train for a marathon....needless to say i am keeping my toes off the blog!

Yesterday we ran 5 miles and my legs felt great!!! I am so happy but still cautious about my ankle. We will take today off due to a softball game and then try an 8.5 mile run tomorrow morning. I think this will be the major test so I'm excited to see how I do.

I'm back

Well after taking about 5 days off from running and icing my ankle like it was my job, I went out for a 3.5 mile run. I felt fine. my ankle didn't hurt while I was running at all, and didn't hurt on the walk home. If I move my ankle in a certain way I can feel some minor uncomfort. I am going to keep icing the ankle after every run at least once and twice if I can fit it in time wise.

So nothing new to report, it felt great to be back out there. about 2months until the marathon. woof.

Hmm...my post got eaten so here's version #2

Wednesday I had to run by myself after Leah hurt her ankle. This was, to say the least, an interesting experience. I hadn't run by myself in over a year.

So I got dressed and stretched and all that stuff and then it was time to start...

and it was weird. I just thought, "okay, I guess I start now." It was just very strange starting myself, by myself. But I got started and then I became very concerned about my running. It wasn't a short run, 8 miles, so I didn't want to start out too fast. I was very concerned about my pace and then it seemed that my steps were too loud...things I never normally worry about.

Very strange stuff. I really prefer to run with Leah. I kept seeing things that I wanted to share with her, but she was stuck at home. Sure, it's nice to have things to tell her, but I just wish she could see them too. Like the father running while his daughter rode her bike next to him. That is something that Leah used to do with her dad and is something she would have appreciated.

But, anyway, I made it. It was hot and my legs were heavy, but I made it. I went waveland to the lake, lake out to the 6 mile marker, and then all the way back to Clark. I figured that was at least 8 miles. I'm glad to know that I can keep going on my own, though. I prefer to have a running partner, but I can live without one.

On Friday I ran again - 3.5 miles. Nothing much to report except some shin pain which I iced. It is a little easier to run alone when it is a short run. Less to worry about.

Today we get to run again! 3.5 miles, but an important 3.5 miles. This is Leah's triumphant return from the sidelines.

Cross your fingers.

Well after the long run, I felt great but had an annoying pain in my lower right leg. The inside of my ankle is very sore and i am a little concerned about it. Monday we ran/walked 3.5 miles as we ran 15 miles the day before anyways and so thought it would be a good idea to take it easy. We ran 5 miles yesterday and although my leg didn't hurt until about mile 2, by the end it was screaming. The area is right at the ankle and it does look slightly swollen (although as Jason says it's hard to tell because due to previous ankle sprains i have quite a bit of scar tissue there)

humpf.

I don't know the best course of action to take here. Luckly this week in our training schedule has a race planned for the long run. The recommended distance is 5-10K so even though I'm not signed up for a race this distance is very short and so I guess it's a good week to have this twinge of pain. I will probably take today off and keep icing, and try and run tomorrow and see how it feels. After training for the past 8 months, I DO NOT want to screw my chances of entering the marathon by being stubborn on a so called easy week. I am very frustrated and I don't know the best thing to do here. Taking time off requires pushing back my training runs (i don't have room in the schedule for this really). Not taking time off could make the whole thing worse. Well, I'll just have to see what happens.

The long run according to Jason:

I thought the run went very well, especially considering we were adding 1.5 miles onto the end of our longest run instead of just a mile. I'll left you read below for the details of our loop, but one neat thing about it is that it took us past McCormick Place. Yes, that McCormick Place...the one on 22nd street. Considering we started out on Waveland, that is quite a hike. That was definitely one of the highlights of the run. Other highlights?

• Swimming afterwards: felt awesome and was a great reward
• Popsicles: great reward #2
• getting to say: "I just ran 15 miles...and it's not even 9am yet"

The only negative thing of note is the dime-size blister on my heel, but if that is the worst thing that happens, I can live with it. I think the swimming in the cold water was really good for the leg muscles as my legs feel really strong the next day. I also iced my knees and so far my knees don't ache. In general, a pretty solid day after so far.

In summary: Good run. 15 miles is very far.

I'm Behind Again

7/29/05
Today we worked from home and ran 4.5 miles around 3pm. Everything felt fine. We had a nice surprise on the way home. The Cubs were down by one in the top of the 9th when we ran by Wrigley Field at the start of the run. We figured they had lost, but as we were coming back we noticed the W flag flying and found out that they had won the game in the bottom of the 9th. GO CUBS.

7/31/05
Well today was the big 15 mile run. I had been worried about it all week, and I had a lot of problems falling asleep the night before. We got up around 5:30 am and were out the door by about 6:00. We decided that we were pushing too hard in our long runs timewise and thought it would be a good idea to slow down a little and try and enjoy the run. We took some water and gatorade breaks (thanks again to Fleet Feet for having Gatorade stands out there!!!) and ended up having a great (!) run. We paced 9:15 miles for 15.010 miles. Awesome.

We planned on ending our run at North Avenue Beach so that we could swim when the run was over. This was a great idea as the lake is a perfect temperature, and cooled us right off. It felt so good just to float in the water. Of course after this little swim we realized we had about a 4.5 mile walk home! Oh well, the swim was totally worth it and will try and do this from now on.

The Route:
G&W->Waveland->Lake Front Path->11.5 mile marker (this is a bit past McCormick Place! aka....this is far)->Back to a little past Oak St Beach (there is a ramp on the RHS where we stopped)