On it again

Back out there today after a pretty disappointing Sunday and much better today. I ran north again all the way to Montrose. I walked up to the water fountain then farther north and than ran around the hill and back to Montrose. From there I ran/walked back on the lake side. I LOVE that path. you're running between the lake and Waveland golf course. The course looks great for all you golfers out there. Hardly anyone out there too. When I played the course back in the 80's it was OK but they had mats to tee off from as they would get so worn. Nice grass now and very well kept up.

I was jogging along then by Belmont Harbor when a guy passed me. Jeez HE looked slow. That ain't right. So, I tailed him for a bit and passed him back. Pretty sure I didn't slow after that but he passed me again. Oh this is getting fun. Again I laid in behind him but could see him slipping away. I accelerated again and went way too fast for me and put some distance between us. Then I stopped and turned around. He was laughing and so was I. We high fived and he said, "Come on! Don't stop"! but I was done. Good way to finish.

I'm off to Portland OR. tomorrow by TRAIN! Hope they don't mind me running up and down the aisles for 30 minutes or so. I'm expecting the trails in Portland to be not as flat as Chicago but we'll see.

Minor Setback

I really look forward to my Sunday runs with my coach. Supposed to be 5.5 today and we had a new route. After about a half mile I said, "I feel really bad". I did. I stopped. We walked some, jogged some but I just didn't have it today. We turned back. Pisses me off too because on Saturday I was really good. Drank tons of water. Only have 2 beers (and more water). Ate spaghetti for dinner and went to bed early.

You never know. Well, since I barely ran at all I'll try this one again tomorrow morning. I will run a little later (I'm NEVER much good at 6 AM) and see how it goes.

Boy, this is hard!

Another 2.5

Got my 2.5 in today on a misty cloudy day. No real problems. I started to feel a little stiff and bad with about 3/4 mile to go and what song pops up on the shuffle?

BILLY JEAN! Hooooo

Yeah! You GOT to get going when you hear that one.

Coach and I are running 5.5 on Sunday and picking a new route to the north and around the sledding hill by Montrose. Looking forward to that.

I live. . .

. . . through another Wednesday speed workout! I didn't want to run yesterday. I just didn't. My coach 'encouraged' me to run anyway. She has a way. So we ran an easy mile at my usual pace around 11 minutes and then we ran 'fast' mile at what turned out to be just over a 9 minute pace and then a mile jogging/walking/running. That middle mile is tough but in retrospect it is mostly tough mentally. Brain is saying, "you're running too fast!" but in fact a little check of how body is doing, brain finds out that body isn't actually breathing all that hard. Speed is staying up. Legs are not too stiff. It is only the panicky baby brain that tells us to slow down!

Big baby!

Thanks coach! I think these speed workouts (and anyone out there who is sniggering at a 9 minute pace being called speed work can just spend a day in my 59 year old body!) are doing the most for helping me get in better condition and run farther on Sundays.

Back on the Path

Wow, missed the weekend run as I was 'busy' sailing! Back on it today with 3 miles in the morning. That's not far but it is at 5:45 AM! Nice day though and lots of other runner out. It's 1.5 miles from my starting line in the park by the play lot to Grant's statue just north of the pedestrian walkway over LSD. There's a fountain there too so makes a good turn around spot.

I want to get a decent watch now. I don't have a very good sense of my pace and feel like I keep adjusting my speed when I run without my coach. Any suggestions?

Hi Lisa

Sunday Five

What a beautiful day in Chicago. Not a cloud. About 50 degrees and no wind. Coach and I took the EL downtown and walked over to Buckingham Fountain. From there to near Belmont Harbor is 5 miles. Great run along the lake. No stopping. No pain in my right foot. We ran in 55 minutes with the last mile being 10:47. This is similar to times from the Shuffle several weeks ago. Seems like a good pace and I think the Wednesday "speed work" ( or, let's see if I can kill Dad) is really helping with overall fitness and endurance.

10k in South Bend is coming up! Only 4 weeks from yesterday. That distance will be no problem but running in less than an hour might be un-realistic. Either way should be a fun race.

Making Big Strides

Exactly. On Sunday (my favorite running day) I ran with my 'college of coaches' (Leah AND Jason) for what turned out to be about 4 miles. We ran south to the pedestrian bridge over LSD and then turned back north along the lake. At this point I just tried to open my stride some. Of course this makes you go faster but it also made me feel more balanced, in tune, and relaxed. Brief stop for water at Fullerton and then on back to the start line.

This is good but I've learned to not get too high nor too low. I'll try this again with my weekday runs and see how it goes. Certainly makes sense that with less up and down movement the run might be smoother and more energy efficient. We'll see.

As usual the ice bath was awesome.