9 easy miles

Yesterday nothing interesting happened besides running. You know what this means, don't you? I have to write about running. On a running blog. Crazy.

After another ordinary day at work, we were going to swing over to Mike and Barb's to partake in a little running fun. We were slated for 9 miles and Mike and Barb were planning on doing around 4 or 5 and then going swimming later (Mike has a Tri coming up, which is clearly insane). Anyway, we got to their place around 5:15 or so and...no Barb!

That silly lady had gotten stuck at work. Well, since she was busy and they were going swimming later anyway, Leah and I figured we'd just head out on our own. So, in effect, we ended up just dropping our stuff off at their place and heading to the lakefront path. That's how cool those two kids are. "Hey mind if we drop our stuff off, change, hit the lakefront path, come home and leave?" "Sure, happy running."

Well, it's all fun and games now, but I'm just waiting for the day they want to reclaim their independence and we find our bags in the hallway. Ha, I kid of course, that would never happen cause MIKE AND BARB ARE THE COOLEST PEOPLE EVER.

Anyway, regarding the run, it was, in a word, awesome (I think that sentence needs another comma). We started out a little slow at a 9:22 mile but then stepped it up into the 8:30's for mile #2. From there, we maintained that pace for...a really long time. It wasn't easy, though. Or rather, it was easy for 4.5 miles while the wind was at our back but, funny thing about the lakefront path, the wind doesn't turn around when you do. So, swinging around brought the wind right into our face and things got a bit tougher. Not slower, mind you, just tougher. We maintained a strong 8:30ish pace for the last half of the run, excepting a little garminy trouble between miles 5-6 (apparently the perfectly clear skies and lack of tall buildings confused the watch). The last mile we pulled off at 8:05 for a pretty impressive finish. I don't know when we got so fast, but I'll take it.

After our run, Barb was back so we chatted for a bit and Mike showed me how to stretch my back. I've had recurrences of the back pain that sidelined me before the marathon which I've been ignoring, but I think I should try to address the problem before it actually becomes a real problem. So, if you see me using some yoga techniques, it's for my back. I'm not some kind of hippie or anything.

Damn hippies.

Alright, today's an off day (thank god) and then Saturday and Sunday are GMR practices. 6 miles Saturday morning, 6 miles Saturday night, 6 miles Sunday morning. Terrifying.

Oh, and one last thing. Last week Leah and I were both exhausted beyond exhaustion by the time Thursday rolled around. I think that was partly because of the really tough weekend but also largely because of the walking/biking downtown. The extra 6.4 miles a day were really starting to add up. However, we've cut that down to 3.4 miles a day by walking to the Kedzie stop and it's made a big difference. Our legs feel fresher and we're not always about to pass out. It makes sense as we've essentially reduced our weekly mileage by 15 miles. So, good thinking on our part.

Cubs and Sox today. Go Cubs!