Shorter Days, Longer Runs

I've been noticing something's different lately when I walk out early in the mornings - It's dark.

The days are getting shorter, but my runs are getting longer.

It's harder to get out of bed at 5, so often I'm waiting until 5:30. Even 5:30 was pushing it this week.

In order to run 8  miles before I head home, get ready for work, and then commute in, I have to get up pretty damn early. Or start picking up my pace.

Which leads me to think I may need to transition out of the morning runner in to the evening or lunchtime runner again here soon.

Which reminds me that in 6 weeks, it's race day.

[Anxiety starting to build]

Now Training Gets Serious.

Week 11 of 18.

No more staying up late, drinking beer and eating light. 

Training now gets serious.

I need lots of water and tons of sleep.

More food and bring it often.

The foam roller and fuel belt are my best friends.

I'm tired of my running playlist from overuse.

I'm going for calorie consumption, with some limits.

The Wednesday mid-week run this week is the same distance of our Saturday long run the first week: 8 miles.

Saturday's long run is 18. It is the 3rd longest run I'll do before race day.

Scary to think training's already at that point.

Run Because... [motivation we all need]

Run because you have to. Run because you love it. 

Run because you want to be fast. Run because you want to be skinny. 

Run to find some quiet time. Run to sweat. Run to eat. 

Run hear your heart pound in your ears. Run because you're a runner. 

Run because you gotta keep the streak. Run because you don't know why the hell you're running. 

Run because you fought with your partner. Run because your job is shitty. 

Run because you got no money. Run for the sunrise. Run for a race. 

Run because it's impossible. Run because it's easy. Run instead of doing the laundry. 

Run instead of watching TV. Run because no one else understands. 

Run because the cool kids do it. Run because you're tired of talking. 

Run for numbers. Run for feel. Run to prove something. 

Run because it f-ing hurts. 

Or don't run...If you got something better to do.

 [Borrowed from i <3 to Run's facebook page]

Darth Vader does Yoga

In the spring, I discovered a yoga studio with the help of GroupOn.

It's a few blocks away from my place, which is quite nice. There are classes that start shortly after I usually get home from work. You can pre-register online to save your spot in the class which is ingenious.

After trying out a few classes, I found a vinyassa flow class with an instructor I liked quite well.

I was enjoying getting back in to a routine of yoga practice - finding my inner self and all that good stuff - until he appeared.

On the outside, he appeared to be your average man in his early thirties. He sat next to me in the seated position as we relaxed and waited for practice to start.

The instructor welcomed us to practice and then asked us to start lengthening our breath. That's when I noticed something wasn't right. Instead of the sound of even tempered, rather quiet breathing, I heard heavy, labored breathing. Like that of Darth Vader.

Certainly DV couldn't continue like that for an entire class. Maybe he was warming up?

Nope.

I tried my very best to block him out and enjoy the practice.

Exactly a week later, the same thing happened. I should have memorized what he looked like the first time, then I could have avoided this!

A week later, I try setting myself up at the far end of the room from him to no avail. DV can fill the entire room with his breath.

So I've stayed away for awhile - partially because marathon training has picked up but mostly because I can't enjoy a yoga practive with DV.

I plan on going back to yoga tomorrow. We'll see if the dark side still rules practice.

SARA Training

CARA (Chicago Area Runners Association) is the non-for-profit group I've been training with for the last four years.

Sara is someone I met in 2008 while training for the first marathon.

SARA Training is when one takes three years of CARA training and does their own thing. Not because they don't love CARA, but because, for one reason or another, it's easier to take a different approach.

For example, to avoid 90 degree heat, SARA training will start at 5am (or 6am, pending trenchal downpour)whereas CARA is stuck with their schedule. SARA training can start anywhere, but chooses to start at Sara's house.

CARA's program has announcements and large groups of people divided by pace group. SARA training gets down to business. A pair runs together, picks up a third on the path at Foster, and what remains of our CARA group around North avenue.

Instead of post-run gatorade, there's iced coffee.

Brunch is just as important to a post-run routine as stretching, and the SARA program takes it quite seriously. There's pre-run logistic emails that start on Tuesday. Brunch is a hot topic - where we will go, what time we will get there, if there will be a line, and, most importantly what we will eat. Nothing is off limits. During the run, brunch plans adapt for the late start due to weather. Post-run, we speed up stretching and showering, forego sleeping. And head to brunch.

I order eggs benedict AND a bacon cinnamon roll.

What's crazier than running at 6:30 am on a Saturday?

Running at 6am.

Nah, let's make it 5am.

It's been in the upper 90's the last few days with high humidity, and Saturday looks to be no different.

If this was my first summer training, I might think that I'd be finished with a 14 miler before it really got hot by starting at 6:30am.

Truth is, I know better.

In 2008, there was a particularly hot Saturday where our long run was 16 miles. I'm not the only one that remembers the day. I guess you could call it one of our war stories from training.

I don't recall the run south to the loop being all too bad. It was the journey back that got us. That's the day I learned how much I dislike the lakefront between Ohio and Fullerton. It's an uncomfortable mass of concrete being continuously blasted by the sun.

Between Ohio and North Avenue, we went from two groups of ten to groups of 3 or 4. Each person was doing whatever they could to keep moving forward, but it wasn't pretty. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't call it running. But we finished the run and learned a valuable lesson.

Check the weather and run earlier.

Which leads me to thinking about the last few days of intense heat. Remember during the blizzard we were wishing for this? Now we have all the heat we could ever dream of but we don't want it. In lieu of complaining, I read a facebook status from Salute Inc. which I found to some things up quite nicely:

I was going to complain about how hot it is, then I realized that: 1.) It isn't really 109 degrees; 2.) I'm not 5,700 miles from home; 3.) I'm not dressed in a full BDU uniform and helmet and carrying 70+ lbs.; and 4.) There is very little chance that anyone will shoot at me. Thanks to all that serve!

Thanks for reminding us Salute, and, thank you Dan.

Return of the Morning Runner

Shortly after October 10th, 2010, Laura, the morning runner, retired.

Right around that time, Laura, the afternoon or evening runner, returned.

I find the morning version, although someone resistant to getting up at 6, or maybe 5am, tends to be more productive with a run out of the way in the morning.

But, as we all know, if you go out too hard too early, you might be in trouble.

As was the case last Friday (before the 4th of July weekend).

Skilling's prediction was humid and growing warmer throughout the day.

So much for knocking out 11 on my way home from work, thought the afternoon runner.

Then the afternoon runner had an epiphany: What if I turned (back) in to a morning runner?

We're not talking about the morning runner who wakes up a half hour earlier than normal to run three miles.

We're talking two hours earlier. 4:45am

The sun wasn't yet up when I headed out. I ran for about a mile before I passed another runner on the sidewalk.
Once on the lakefront path, I noticed something quite unusual. No bikes.

By the time I made it down to Diversey, bikes were whizzing by and the path had a fair number of morning runners.

Morning runners, even in a city as big as Chicago, will smile or wave at you. Afternoon and evening runners do not. Why is that? Does it have to do with sleep deprivation or is there a common belief that anyone out at that time in the morning must be doing it for the same reason you are?

By the time I reached my house, I had just enough time to get ready, eat a quick 2nd breakfast, and head to work on the bus.

As I stood waiting for the bus, I realized how tired my legs were. Thoughts of taking a nap on the bus, as per usual, crossed my mind.

Then the bus came. No seats were left.

I thought of how it would be better to walk then to have to stand still. So when the bus reached it's first stop (about a mile and a half from work), I got off.

I walked to work, beginning to think of all the things I needed to do. Once I did sit down, however, I found it very hard to do much of anything.

I was beat.

It was 8:30am.

Intermediate Training Schedule

Many would think a novice training program would be used by a person preparing for their first marathon.

Or 2nd.

Or 3rd.

But not 4th.

So this time around, I'm training with an intermediate schedule.

What's the difference?

You run more. More miles during the week, more days a week and longer long runs.

Instead of doing 3-3 mile runs during the week, I'm scheduled to knock out 16 before an 11-mile long run this Saturday.

Why?

Because you can, and, for some reason, want to. You've at some point decided that the novice program isn't beating you up enough or that it's leaving you with too much free time. Hours spent sleeping or relaxing should be, of course, replaced with more running.  More running which will likely require more stretching with our favorite friend the foam roller, sleeping, and the best benefit of training, eating.

Now that I made the intermediate program sound so appealing, I am wondering why I waited so long to do it.

This year, many of my friends are running the Berlin Marathon which is two weeks before Chicago. They are all experienced marathoners who are masters of the novice program. The intermediate program will allow them to get a 20 mile run in two weeks earlier than the novice program and from there, they will taper for Berlin. Me on the other hand, I'll run 20 twice. That's my punishment for not traveling Berlin and repeating Chicago a 4th time.

This time I'll get it right (I hope). Whatever that means...

Ragnar Recap

On Thursday, June 9th, a twelve person passenger van pulled up outside my house with a Scottish driver - Joanne. Don't let the driver position fool you, she's really a quite fast marathoner and a member of the Universal Sole team!

Joanne and I drove up the North Shore, picked up Jessica and Jackie, and then headed up to Madison. We spent the car ride getting to know each other. The fifth member of our van would meet us at the start line the next day. The sixth member of our van was Kim, who sadly couldn't participate in Ragnar due to a stress fracture.

We checked in to our hotel that evening, had a bite to eat and then headed to bed. Our van (#1) would arrive at the start at 8:30am for a 9:30am start. Van #2 arrived in Madison later in the evening and would not begin their legs until the afternoon. I had a hard time falling asleep. I had so many questions. How would this all work?

Friday morning we grabbed breakfast and headed to the start. That's when we saw the true size of this event. Hundreds of passenger vans, suvs, and mini vans were parked at the start, transporting their respective teams. The start line was staggered depending on your team's overall predicted pace. The faster overall pace your team had, the later you started in the day. We heard of some teams starting at 6:30am and others starting at 1pm.

After a few safety briefings, the gun went off and Jessica began her first leg of the race. Our van would meet Jessica at the first exchange point, where I would take the baton (er, slap bracelet) from her and run the second leg (in place of Kim).  The van would continue in this leap frog fashion until we reached exchange point 6 where van #2 would take over legs 7-12 with their runners.

I started leg two (my first run) around a lake in Madison. The 4.5 route took me through a few neighborhood streets and then in to a church parking lot where I passed off the baton. The first run felt good. I had about an hour and a half break before run 2 (leg 5) started.

Run two started at a high school in Cambridge, Wisconsin. The 6.4 mile run started down Liberty street in Cambridge. The street was lined with American Flags - fitting for a small town. Then I turned on to the Glacial Drumlin trail. After a short distance on the trail, I ran across the path of a possum.  No worries, he was more scared than I. Then on to country roads where I saw farms and dairy cows for a few miles. At one point, a cow ran along side me. This kind of stuff just can't happen running along the lake in Chicago!

At the conclusion of my second run, I took was was the first of many baby wipe baths of the relay. Let's just say I'm glad I bought the biggest container Target had. The bath made a world of a difference and I thought of how my brother went for weeks without a real shower the first time he was deployed to Iraq. Putting on a fresh pair of clothes seemed ok now. No point in taking a real shower anyway - I was running again in less than 12 hours.

After Jackie ran her first leg, we headed forward to exchange point 12 where we attempted to get some sleep. Trying to sleep outside in a sleeping bag in the middle of the day does have it's challenges, but we caught what little sleep we could, or couldn't.

It was reaching dusk when our team's runner came in to exchange 12 and Jessica was on her way again. This time, she was outfitted with a headlamp, tail lamp, and safety vest. By the time she finished her leg, it was dark out. As the night carried on, the relay became more challenging. Signs were harder to see. It was easy to lose sense of direction. Not to mention, we were sorta getting tired. But we pushed on.

Around midnight I prepared for a 4.3 mile run through a park in Greenfield, Wisconsin which would take me into Milwaukee. I have never had a run quite like this. This was the first time I was running with a headlamp. With no street lights. With no cars passing by or barely the sight of any other runners. I was scared. Scared of what else was out in the night and also scared of falling on my face. As I started running, all I could hear was the sound of my footsteps and the faint echo of other runners footsteps. No sirens, no horns, no crickets, nothing.  Weird.

After arriving at exchange 18, Jackie had to run one more leg before the van could rest for a few hours. When she finished, it was after 1am. We drove to a church somewhere in the Milwaukee area and parked in a field with hundreds of other vans. We tried to get comfortable in the van to take a catnap. I managed a short baby wipe bath and put on my compression socks. We had lights out for a about two hours, then it was time to pack up and head out to Racine where we'd meet up with van #2 again.

The sun had yet to rise as Jessica started her last leg. Once she completed her leg in Racine, Joanne ran two back to back 6 mile legs (one for Kim and one of her own). Amazing! Around 7:30 it was time for me to run my last leg, which was just 2.9 miles through Kenosha. The run was labeled 'easy' which, I would agree, it was the easiest of all my runs, but after the day I'd had, it felt like the last six miles of  a marathon. I think that's what kept me going - the debate of if the way I was feeling at that time was better or worse than the last few miles of the marathon. Then, somehow, I was at the exchange point and my part of the race was complete.

Later in the day, we met the runners of van #2 down at Montrose Harbor at the race's finish line. Our last runner was about to come in the home stretch of the race at 3:30pm on Saturday. As our runner approached, we jumped in with her and ran to the end. Volunteers offered us snacks and metals which double as bottle openers (now somebody's thinking!). We took a few photos, had a few laughs, said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways.

It's 4pm on a Saturday. I've run over 18 miles in the last 24 hours. I'm on about three hours of sleep in the last day and a half.  But I had a great time, and I can't wait to do it again.

Ragnar; It's like Bonnaroo...with Running.

After carefully reading through the Ragnar Relay Race Bible a few days ago, I've started packing.

So far my pile consists of:

• Sleeping bag
• Yoga mat
• Instant oatmeal
• Flashlight
• Cargo shorts
• Glow sticks
• Tarp
• Crocs
• Hand sanitizer
• Baby wipes
• Sunscreen

I pause for a moment realizing I've packed like this once before - for Bonnaroo.

Bonnaroo is a four day music festival held in Manchester, Tennessee. Two summers ago, I went with a group of friends. It was the incredible journey. In four days, we saw every type of weather possible - torrential downpours, tornado-like winds, blazing heat, and chilly nights. Oh, and we saw a lot of cool bands too.

Much like the Ragnar relay, we didn't get much sleep and we were camping.

One thing we certainly were not doing at Bonnaroo was running. I'll be interested to see how Ragnar parallels Bonnaroo...or doesn't.

[Ragnar Relay Chicago is a 200 mile relay race from Madison, WI to Chicago. My team will start at 9:30am on Friday and will run continuously until arriving in Chicago, sometime around 3:30pm on Saturday.]

One Month til Ragnar

A month from today, I'll be one of twelve making up the Universal Sole team at Ragnar Relay. Ragnar Relay is a 200 mile relay race from Madison to Chicago (formerly called the Madison to Chicago 200).

Unlike a regular road race, there are thousdands of unknowns with a relay race and a million logistics. How can one even begin to strategize?

Here's what little I do know:

I will be in runner position 5. I will run 12.4 miles in three legs.

My first leg will be in the afternoon on June 10th.

My second leg will be somewhere around 2am on June 11th in a town nearby Milwaukee.

My final leg will be somewhere around 10am. I will run the team over the state line.

This morning I ran three miles. I plan on heading home this evening and running another 3 or 4, just to get my body used to the idea of running twice in a day. I'm not sure how much this is going to help me since I'm on a good night of sleep. I imagine it's the sleep deprivation that really gets to people. Oh, and I'm running a course I know very well. Unlike when I get dropped in Wisconsin. I'm about as familiar with Wisconsin as I am with Brazil.

Here's a cool video that one team did of their Ragnar Relay experience in D.C.

Excerpts from the Ragnar Relay Race Bible

The Ragnar Relay Race Bible (yes, that's it's actual title) is 22 pages long.

It contains a lot of good information. Especially for my team, since, well, none of us have done this before.

Page 9: 
Each van must have two flashlights or headlamps, six reflective vests and two LED tail lights.
Crap...We are running at night.

Slap braclets will be used as batons.
Sweet!

Page 13:
In the event of an injury, any of the remaining runners can replace the injured runner...If an IV is administered, the injured runner is no longer eligible to run.
Note to self: Don't trip over own feet.

If a runner gets off course, they are to return on foot or in their support vehicle to the point where they went off course and continue from there.
I hope we don't get lost!

Page 16:
Each van will be required to have a safety officer/navigator that is awake and alert at all times. The safety officer is responsible for helping the team behave safely during the race. He or she must be seated in the front passenger seat and must have the safety guidelines and rules within reach at all times.
Sounds like a lot of responsibility!


Page 18: 
If a runner encounters flooded areas that cannot be ran through, have your runner get into the support vehicle, drive the runner ahead where the road is no longer flooded and continue running his or her leg.
Good thing I know how to swim. Now.


Page 19:
If a runner encounters any wildfile that is aggressive on the course, get your runner off the road and into your support vehicle. 
Are we talking dogs or bears here?

One week from today, Joanna and I will be on our way in the van!

CARA Marathon Training & Charity Fundraising

Wow, it's Memorial Day weekend.

Summer couldn't come fast enough (actually, I'm not even sure if it's here yet) with the winter we've had.

I know it's summer when I am counting down my last weekends of freedom. Freedom in the sense of not having to wake up at 5:30am on a Saturday, every Saturday until October.

Why would I do something like that to myself?

Marathon Training. I'll be training again this summer with the Chicago Area Runner's Association - www.cararuns.org

Training kicks off on June 11th, the weekend of Ragnar.  It's safe to say I'll be up much earlier on that Saturday.

A few weeks ago I agreed to fund raise for Salute, Inc.  - www.saluteinc.org 

It's a great local cause that's easy to support. I enjoyed being a part of their Marathon team last year. I feel like it's the least I can do considering that so many volunteer to serve in the U.S. Military to protect our freedom.

Which just so happens to be a much greater freedom than sleeping in on the weekends.

A Tale of Two Left Shoes

A story from Nashville.

Kim and I flew in to Nashville from Chicago. Tracy met us at the airport. She came in from Texas.

We took a cab to our hotel early in the morning. We couldn't check in yet, but the hotel held our bags while we walked around downtown and went to the Expo.

While at the Expo, Tracy mentioned she didn't like the shoes she'd been training in. She said she was pretty sure the running store by her house had put her in the wrong shoes. She felt like her form was off. She's always had Sauconys, so when we approached the Saucony booth, she went to talk to the guy about her shoes.

One of the rules of distance running is "Don't do anything new on race day." Which includes buying new shoes the day before at the Expo.

Kim and I waited and watched as Tracy talked with the guy and tried on a series of shoes. Then, to our surprise, we watched her buy a pair of shoes.

After leaving the Expo we went to lunch. Tracy said she was almost positive the shoes she bought at the expo were the same as the shoes she had had before her current pair, which she loved. Kim and I were skeptical.

We got back to the hotel, checked in to our room and relaxed for awhile. Shortly before heading out to dinner, Tracy began unpacking her bag. This is when she discovered she had packed two left shoes.

It was after 6pm on Friday, the day before the race. Had she have not bought the shoes at the expo, we would have been pounding on any athletic store's doors to get Tracy shoes for the next morning.

Tracy opened her new pair and compared them to the two left shoes she brought. She was right - The pair she'd bought at the expo was the same as her older running shoe, which she liked.

Despite any concerns Kim and I may have had about Tracy running in a new pair of shoes, she showed us on race day. Tracy ran the fastest half marathon of the four girls, coming in just over two hours.

A PR for her. She said she felt great.

Sometimes rules are meant to be broken.

Country Music Half Wrap Up

Destination races can't rightfully be compared to hometown races. Nashville is no exception.

Take people from Chicago and insert them in to the rolling hills of Nashville - A challenge within itself - and we haven't even started talking about logistics.

As if I didn't know what we were getting ourselves in to, or, more likely, forgot to remember what the course was like, we landed in Nashville on Friday morning optimistic.

My goal was to show up and run a decent race.

The question is, how is a decent race defined?

Walking around Nashville on Friday, in addition to attending the completely packed expo, caused uneasiness on Friday evening. Which lead to some anxiety Friday night that carried in to Saturday morning.

4:40 a.m. came pretty fast. Kim, Tracy and I got ready and met Brian at LP field at 5:40.

We boarded shuttles to take us to the start line. It was a cool morning. We talked on the way to the corral, hoping for the best. It wasn't until we stood on the side of the corral #13 gazing at the flag for the National Anthem that it really hit me.

I'm remembering more of this race now. Shit. This is going to be hard.

We walked our way down the massive hill to the Start line. Once crossing the start line, we would work our way up a hill for close to a quarter mile, then down, then back up, before crossing the first mile. This pattern repeated itself, in it's entirety, for the first 8 miles.

What started off as a cool morning seemed to get warm awfully fast.

Very early on, I could tell my 2:15 goal time was not in the cards. I'll admit it, I could have focused more (ok, maybe the right word is 'some') efforts on hill training. I probably could have ate better. It would have been great to not have been sick for a few weeks. Or for it not to have rained every day in the last two weeks. Or if the Easter Bunny hadn't been so good to me with those delicious Cadbury Eggs.

All excuses set aside, none of it matters when you're running the race. In that period of time, you're just trying to get through it. That's the part that was tough. Somewhere after 3 but before mile 5,  I had an overwhelming feeling to stop. I felt like my body was not acclimating to the conditions. I remember thinking to myself, 'The next medical tent, you're out.'

But here's the problem - Brian was next to me. Brian was having an easier time than I, but he admitted it was by no means an easy race for him either. So in this race, more so than in the marathon, I found myself mentally defeated early on. But it was Brian who guided me through it, whether he realized it or not.

We decided later on the in the race that we were in fact pulling each other through the race. Eventually we would reach the end. Most importantly, thank God we weren't doing the full. Those people are truly crazy.

In the end, I beat my course P.R. in 2009 by two minutes. Maybe it's not the win I was thinking of, but it's certainly not a loss. And four people in our group, including Tracy and Brian, had P.R.'s at the half marathon distance. Just goes to show one person's bad race is another person's 'A' race.

Now, entering May, I have a half under my belt for 2011. Not a bad position to be in.

The Country Music Half Marathon Pack Job

It's Wednesday at 9:30pm.

60 hours from now, I will be finished with the Country Music Half Marathon.

There's not a lot of time, and there's lots to do.

Maybe I should be panicking.

The race is 450+ miles from Chicago and we're at the travel mercy of O'Hare airport.

Destination races are fun, right?

I printed off the confirmation email for the race. The Competitior Group must think I still live with my parents. That's cool. I can run this race as Laura from Mokena.

Then I was on the phone with Kim determining how we're getting to the airport. Our flight is early Friday. I'm still looking for the confirmation email from the airline.

I am in the process of packing. That is, if you can call an empty suitcase with four packets of Gu, a empty fuel belt, running shorts, four packets of oatmeal and a hat thrown on top of it packing. What a random list of crap. Pretty amazing I am thinking of Gu and oatmeal before I'm thinking of other essentials like running shoes or socks. Then again, depending on how well you know me, you know 'I gotta eat!'

This is only my second destination race. My first was this race two years ago. I enjoyed it enough to do it again, but first I had to give myself two years to forget about the hills.

Packing isn't coming along so well since I'm blogging and making up a list for stuff I need to do when I get back. This is part of my OCD while tapering. Tapering for a full will take control of your life for two weeks. A half, well, maybe you can get away with just a few days. I've been worried all day that I'm not hydrating enough, so I know that the taper mentality has certainly set in.

Here's the course map:

Looks like a tangled web of insanity. And it looks really hilly. Somehow.

This race is a half marathon and a full marathon. I'm running the first 11 with the big boys and then I'm taking a sharp right and wusing out. And I'm completely ok with that.

I looked up my time from last year 2:22:something-or-other. Do seconds really matter anyway? If I can do a sub 2:25, I'll call this race a success.  And even if it's not sub 2:25, it's still a success because I had fun, I ran, went on a vacation, and I wasn't sitting on my couch eating (insert favorite Easter candy).

12 Mile Run and the Nashville Taper

Last Saturday, Katie and I had plans to start our 12 mile run (the longest run in preparation for our Half Marathons) at Foster and the Lakefont. When I arrived at 7:45, the street was closed.

As soon as I saw the squad I remembered - CARA (Chicago Area Runners Association) Lakefront 10. Kim S. had asked the week before if I wanted to do it. Had I not needed to run 12 that day, I would have.

I called Katie and we relocated a few miles north to my neighborhood. I guess that's the nice thing about running. It's easy to find alternative places to run if your place of preference is taken.

By the time we worked our way down to Foster, the street was back open. We got to see a good number of the Lakefront 10ers working their way north to the finish. It's not often I get to see the fast people that win races. Scanning for familiar faces certainly helped pass the time. We saw Kim around Belmont on our way south and then saw Sara on our way north around the same spot.

We also saw a group of familiar faces out running that morning - Ken, Carl, and Laura. Ken and Carl were pace group leaders for CARA last year. Laura and I met in 2008 through CARA while training for the marathon. Seeing so many running friends, well for sake of a better word, running, made me start thinking about summer and training. It was the first time I'd been excited about starting in on the summer commitment of marathon training.

The Chicago Marathon's registration opens February 1st. Race day is October 11th, just over 8 months later. This year, the marathon sold out (45,000 registrants) in a record 31 days. As you can imagine, a lot can happen in 8 months. When I signed up, my thinking was that I wanted to have the option to be able to do it again. I couldn't think far enough in the future of actually doing it again.

The Country Music Half Marathon is April 30th. After our 12 mile run, Katie and I began tapering for our races (Katie's is on May 1st in New Jersey). I started it off right by having a huge celebratory burger where I out-ate Dave. But in all seriousness, hope the starts align for me on race day. My training hasn't been perfect this time around.

Once this race is over, and certainly once the weather turns, I'll start setting my sights on the next big thing: Rangar Relay. You thought I was going to say marathon, didn't you?

Elmhurst, You Almost Killed Me.

Instead of running the Shamrock Shuffle last Sunday morning, Kim and I met up and headed to...Elmhurst.

Why Elmhurst?

Well, Elmhurst has a hill. It's actually a sledding hill, but it's a mean looking sledding hill.

We sized up the hill for a few moments, then went over to a soccer field where a group of people were doing a boot camp type class. It was lead by a guy who was Kim's high school trainer. Turns out that he knew my high school trainer, Aaron, very well.

We participated in the first half of boot camp. Kim fared much better than myself. Young kids were running faster and doing more push-ups than me, which goes to show that being a runner doesn't mean you're in tip-top shape. If Kevin (my former personal trainer) and I do meet up in May as we've planned, he is going to beat the you-know-what out of me.

After boot camp had handed us our asses, we headed over to the hill, because, well, we needed to be tortured some more.

So why do I keep coming back to the hill?

Nashville is hilly. Chicago is not. You can figure out the rest.

Kim made up a loop. A wide circle around a soccer field and then up and down the hill. Repeat and repeat...until we reached over 5 miles. It was brutal. It reminded me why I stay away from stair-steppers and stair climbs.

Had I not done the Country Music Half two years ago, I would be pretty freaked about the rolling hills of Nashville.

I can't decide if it's confidence or ignorance that's going to see me through on race day.

Good Running Form

Saturday I was at the Shamrock Shuffle Expo and heard a representative of a popular Chicago running store speak. He had some great insights on proper running form, and gave some simple tips to correct bad form.  Here's the Cliff Notes edition I'd written into my Blackberry -

Proper running form allows faster speeds, most efficiency and less injuries.

When you run, you shouldn't be able to look down and see your feet.

To bring your pelvis and spine in line while running, put hands above your head and your body will adjust  to take out leaning at the waist.

Keep arms on the sides of the body. Don't allow them to cross your center plane. Otherwise you are turning at the trunk and causing over or under pronation. Can also lead to tightness in shoulders.

Over striding and heel striking causes strain, uses three times as much energy AND slows you down.   Plus it can lead to shin issues. To see how it feels to land on mid-foot, try marching in place.

Try shortening your stride when running. Aim for 180 bmp cadence to create quicker turn over. Do this by counting for 30 seconds on one foot - it would strike the ground 45 times.

When Fitness Became Part of my Life

I was watching The Biggest Loser earlier this week and thought back to my life before fitness played such a large role in it.

I had recently graduated college. I was shopping for jeans one day at a local Gap. The jeans I had were too tight. I didn't see the next size up on the shelf, so I asked the sales associate for help.

In a very nice way, she told me I'd have to go to another store to get that size.

That's when it hit me.

A few hours later, I was at Lifetime Fitness talking with a personal trainer.

My trainer, Kevin, and I formed a great relationship. I was one of his first clients. We liked the same kind of music. He pushed me to do things in the gym I didn't think I could do. We had an agreement that I would take photos of myself every 6 to 8 weeks to show progress.

More than the strength and physical appearance, training gave me the knowledge of how to properly resistance train and weight lift, not to mention boosted my self esteem.

Personal training is the best money I've ever spent. I've told countless people that.

After Kevin left Lifetime, I continued training on my own.

I went from being someone who wasn't very active to someone who was at the gym four or five days a week. I knew my way around the free weight section of the gym. I took nearly every class Lifetime offered, from yoga to spin to boot camp, and loved them all.

Since that first day of training with Kevin, I've never forgotten that it takes a lot of work to stay fit, but it's all worth it. It makes me feel great, and positive attitudes are contagious.

I still think about those days when I'm pushing myself on a run, realizing how far I've come.

I know that I wouldn't be where I am today without the personal training experience. I'm grateful for that.