Frank's Running Log

Running update...

2009-12-27T21:24:00.003-06:00

So I haven't been sitting on my butt for the past few months, I just haven't taken the time to update here. I've been training for a half marathon at Disney in January and just finished my 12 mile run this week! So now I'm all set! I'll be heading back to Chicago tomorrow for 9 days and then I'm back to Orlando to meet up with my friend Alison and run the Disney World Half Marathon! It should be awesome!!

As a quick update, races I've run this year:
Disney World Marathon (January)
Shamrock Shuffle 8k (March)
Bastille Day 5k (July)
Tower of Terror 13k (October)

I wish I could have run a few more, but it was a very busy year travel and work-wise. 2010 is looking to be a bit less hectic (maybe) :)

So this week's training runs included two in FL on the same route around my parents' development, an 11 mile and a 12 mile run.

Monday - 11 miles (9:55 pace)
Sunday - 12 miles (10:04 pace)

Week 20

2008-11-09T20:26:00.002-06:00

This was a busy week and I was unable to get in all my runs. But it was a fallback week as well, so I guess I just fell back a little more than I wanted to :) Let's see if I can get back up to where I'm supposed to be next week - which includes a 15 miler!

It's also the first week of frigid-coldness in Chicago (it snowed today!) so that may have a bit to do with my lack of motivation.

11/5: 3 miles - track * 5 and back (9:40 pace)
11/7: 7 miles - treadmill (9:40 pace)
11/9: 8 miles - treadmill (10:00 pace)
Total: 18.0

Week 19

2008-11-09T20:24:00.001-06:00

Week 19 included some recovery time from my food poisoning, but got right back into the swing of things with a 13 miler on a beautiful 70 degree sunny day in Chicago! It's good to be back in it again and moving along towards 26.2!

10/30: 3 miles - track * 5 and back (9:25 pace)
11/2: 13 miles - lakefront path (9:40 pace)
Total: 16.0

Week 18

2008-11-09T20:20:00.003-06:00

Week 18 was a bit rough. I had hoped to get in some nice running along the beach in CA, but ended up being very very sick and needing to take about a week off. So the mileage is pretty light...

10/22: 3 miles - treadmill at hotel in CA (9:40 pace)
10/23: 3 miles - loop in beverly hills (olympic/la cienega/pico/beverly) (9:04 pace)
Total: 6.0

Week 17

2008-10-22T11:25:00.002-05:00

It's been a really busy week at work and hard to get runs in. Good thing this was a fallback week. Next week will be even tougher, but may include some running along the beach in CA which will be nice. The cold runs in 40 degree chicago weather are starting to get to me :)

10/14: 3 miles - track * 5 and back (9:08 pace)
10/16: 5 miles - track * 13 and back (9:34 pace)
10/18: 3 miles - smith, 14, quentin loop (9:01 pace)
10/19: 7 miles - palatine trail to dundee, then to library, then track *2 and home (9:23 pace)
Total: 18

Week 16

2008-10-11T20:02:00.002-05:00

It's been a really great week of getting back to the training plan. 21 miles right on schedule and I'm feeling great. Today's long run was along the lakefront path which is always my favorite run.

10/7: 3 miles - treadmill at work (raining) (9:30 pace)
10/8: 5 miles - 2 laps of Motorola trail (9:21 pace)
10/10: 3 miles - track * 5 and back (9:30 pace)
10/11: 10 miles - lakefront path from grand to recreation and back (9:22 pace)
Total: 21

Week 15

2008-10-07T20:20:00.002-05:00

Back to running this week and feeling better both in terms of my cold that's gone, and with my new running shoes! Starting slow to get back into things, but I'm back on track with the 9 mile run on Sunday.

10/2: 3 miles - track * 5 and back (9:13 pace)
10/5: 9 miles - 4 laps of Motorola + 1.5 on the treadmill when it started raining (9:34 pace)
Total: 12

Week 14

2008-10-07T20:19:00.000-05:00

I didn't run this week as I was horribly sick with a bad cold.

Week 13

2008-09-21T12:40:00.003-05:00

16 weeks until the marathon and I decided to take the week off of running before the crazy training started. Since I'm in shape to run a 1/2 it seems reasonable. The only running I did was the 5k on the Runway which was a fantastic race with a new PR!

Here's the rundown...

9/21: 3.1 miles - Athens Sister City 5k on the Runway (8:08 pace)
Total: 3.1 (goal 0)

Week 12

2008-09-21T12:36:00.002-05:00

So I ended up not running the Chicago 1/2 last weekend. We just had 10" of rain in the city, roads were flooded, and the remnants of hurricane ike were coming through that day with 22 MPH winds and heavy rain. The taper was nice, as was the weekend off of running before hard-core marathon training starts.

Here's the rundown...

9/9: 4.0 miles - palatine trail (library), track*1, and back (9:21 pace)
9/10: 3.0 miles - track*5 and back (9:03 pace)
9/11: 2.0 miles - track and back (9:13 pace)
Total: 9 (goal 22)

5k on the runway

2008-09-21T12:35:00.002-05:00

I think I should keep running 5k races. Everytime I've done one this year, I've shaved about 45 seconds off of my time on the previous one!

Today was the Athens Sister City 5k on the Runway at O'Hare. Yes, like the airport. O'Hare just finished a giant new runway so that they can have 3 simultaneous takeoffs/landings going on at the same time instead of 2. It's set to open soon and mayor Daley is having this all day celebration there today, beginning with the run.

I arrived about an hour early and all was amazingly well set up. Free parking in lot G, clearly marked packet pickup and t-shirt tables, D-tags (disposable RFID timing chips) taped to the bibs, no line at gear check. These are the same people who put on the horror that was the Bastille Day 5k, so I was expecting the worst :) No one had an idea what the course would be, since they told us that for security reasons they couldn't tell us and to just follow the course officials. It started about 15 minutes late due to other unnamed "security issues" but other than that, it was all pretty fantastic.

As I feel a cold coming on, I wasn't expecting to go very fast. I planned for just a nice little fun run along the runway. But I ended up lining up a bit towards the front of the pack and decided to just go for it, and if I felt tired, I could just slow down. It was about 3/4 of a mile out to the end of the runway and as I turned the corner, the clock showed I was going a bit faster than planned. I hit mile 1 at about 8:10. The race continued as an out-and-back on the runway and as I turned to come back I was still feeling great. I ran past the aid station and hit mile 2 at about 16:25, still on a great pace. Coming off the runway there was a bit of a downhill to get back to the parking lot and I stepped it up a little, figuring why not? As I made it to the 3 mile mark, they announced that it was coming up on 25 minutes. It was a good thing he repeated it twice because I was sure he had to be wrong. Putting it in high gear, I crossed the finish line to end at 25:30 clock time (25:18 chip time).

Water, gatorade, and bananas were to be had after the race and gear check had no line. All in all, a very wonderful race and fun to have another PR as the race running season comes to a close. Of course for me, the personal running season is just getting going as it's 16 weeks to the Disney Marathon!

Week 11

2008-09-07T12:32:00.002-05:00

It's just one week now until the 1/2 marathon. The cooler weather this week was greatly appreciated after that crazy upper-80 degrees run for the Nike Human Race! It was a very busy week and hard to fit my runs in, but I did...even doing one on the treadmill because it was pouring rain outside.

Here's the rundown...

9/3: 5.0 miles - palatine trail (library), track*5, and back (9:31 pace)
9/4: 5.0 miles - treadmill at MOT (9:33 pace)
9/6: 10.0 miles - lakefront train from Grand to Montrose and back (9:28 pace)
9/7: 3.0 miles - track*5 and back (9:25 pace)
Total: 23 (goal 23)

Nike Plus Human Race Chicago

2008-09-01T09:43:00.004-05:00

Last night I ran the Nike Plus Human Race in Chicago. It's a worldwide event that was going for setting a record on the number of runners in a one-day event. They had about 500,000 which is pretty amazing, 15,000 of which were in Chicago.

I took the train/el down there and got to the stadium about an hour before the race. Gatorade and Ice Mountain were sponsors, so there was plenty of water to hydrate with which is good since it was still about 87 degrees outside. Gear Check was inside soldier field and super-organized. Nike really knows how to put on a race!

The start corrals were a bit packed while we were all waiting for the race to start. There were a lot of last minute sign ups and they didn't quite realize how many people would be there. After Wayne Messmer sang the anthem, and the US top finisher in the olympic marathon wished us good luck, we were off!

The course followed LSD down to Oakwood (about 40th st) st and then came back on the lake front path. I went out a bit fast, but really wanted to try to set a PR on the race which I knew would be hard after my awesome napa-sonoma 10k time. I hit the first few miles at 8:30 pace which I knew I couldn't sustain, but also knew that I only needed a 9:00 pace to hit my goal. Around the halfway point I was just so hot and not feeling extremely well but kept going on. My last few miles were around a 9:30 pace, so all averaged out well in the end. As I turned the final corner, I knew I could make it and set a new PR with a time of 56:08, 9 seconds better than my old PR.

After the race there was the usual gatorade, water, etc. but following that was a Fall Out Boy concert in Soldier Field. They put plastic mats on the grass and all 15,000 of us made our way onto the field for a great concert! So much fun!

Week 10

2008-09-01T09:24:00.003-05:00

It's just two weeks until the 1/2 marathon. I definitely learned that I'll have to slow down a bit from my crazy 10k pace...or at least hope it will be cooler out that day! I ran the Nike Human Race yesterday (more on that soon!) and had a wonderful time despite the crazy heat yesterday. A new PR by 9 seconds!!

Here's the rundown...

8/26: 5.0 miles - palatine trail (library), track*5, and back (9:27 pace)
8/29: 5.0 miles - palatine trail (library), track*5, and back (9:37 pace)
8/30: 3.0 miles - hills by the reservoir, 2.5 laps (9:46 pace)
8/31: 6.2 miles - Nike Plus Human Race Chicago (9:02 pace)
Total: 19.2 (goal 19.2)

Week 9

2008-08-24T10:10:00.003-05:00

It's three weeks until the 1/2 and I'm cruising right along. I had a little 3k race in here this week to practice some speedy running and show me how well my training is going. And it's going well! Today's long run was split into two parts because of the 3k, but the 2nd part still went well.

Here's the rundown...

8/19: 5.0 miles - palatine trail (library), track*5, and back (9:32 pace)
8/20: 3.0 miles - track*5 and back (9:05 pace)
8/21: 5.0 miles - palatine trail (library), track*5, and back (9:38 pace)
8/24 1.86 miles - Palatine Feet Fest 3k (7:24 pace) - that's not a typo!!
8/24: 8.14 miles - lake arlington * 4.25 laps (9:42 pace)
Total: 22.0 (goal 21.0)

Palatine 3k

2008-08-24T10:04:00.002-05:00

This will be a short race report for a short race :) Every year as a part of our little neighborhood "street fest" in Palatine, they have a 3k race. Now 3k is barely worth putting on a good pair of running shoes, but I use it as a nice warm-up for a longer run later in the day. And it goes right past my front door, so how I could turn that down!!

Anyway, I decided that I was going to give it all I had and really run through it. I mean, it's only 3k. So I line up right behind a bunch of high school cross country kids that I know I can't beat and try to stay up towards the front for most of the race. They ended up a few blocks ahead of me, but I kept going strong and didn't let up. As I turned the corner towards the finish I saw the clock at 13:20 and was a bit shocked. I kicked it up a bit and finished in 13:50, which is a 7:25 pace! My fastest race to date!

It's also really nice to walk to the start of the race and leave home 15 minutes before the gun :)

Week 8

2008-08-17T20:28:00.002-05:00

Just four more weeks until the 1/2 and all is going well. This was my first 20+ mile week and I decided to keep on going and make it 21. The 1/2 training plan I'm doing is a little light at the end, so I'm trying to increase the long runs a bit as I near the end.

Here's the rundown...

8/12: 4.5 miles - palatine trail (library), track*3, and back (9:22 pace)
8/13: 3.0 miles - track*5 and back (9:12 pace)
8/14: 4.5 miles - palatine trail (library), track*3, and back (9:26 pace)
8/17: 9 miles - lake arlington * 5 laps (9:42 pace)
Total: 21 (goal 20.0)

Week 7

2008-08-10T13:15:00.004-05:00

Week seven really brought up the mileage! But so far so good. Actually I'm feeling really excellent for just having a 19.5 mile week. This training thing is definitely much easier the second time around!
Here's the rundown...

8/6: 4.5 miles - palatine trail (library), track*3, and back (9:31 pace)
8/7: 3.0 miles - track*5 and back (9:12 pace)
8/8: 4.5 miles - palatine trail (library), track*3, and back (9:33 pace)
8/10: 7.5 miles - palatine trail (dundee, library), track*3, and back (9:39 pace)
Total: 19.5 (goal 19.0)

Week 6

2008-08-01T22:20:00.006-05:00

Week six was a fun one and included a morning run through Central Park in NYC on wednesday morning. That was a wonderful run that I really wish I could do more often. I'm super jealous of anyone who lives right there!! This was also a fallback week, hence the easy "long" run.
Here's the rundown...

7/30: 4.0 miles - NYC - 6th ave to Park Dr to The Lake and back (9:34 pace)
7/31: 2.0 miles - track and back (9:17 pace)
8/1: 4.0 miles - track * 9 and back (10:11 pace)
8/2: 4.1 miles - palatine trail (9:29 pace)
Total: 14.1 (goal 13.1)

Week 5

2008-07-27T21:58:00.002-05:00

Week five was pretty busy and it was hard to fit these runs in. But I made it and got in the mileage I needed even if I had to juggle a lot of things around.

Here's the rundown...

7/22: 4.0 miles - track * 9 and back (9:56 pace)
7/24: 4.0 miles - track * 9 and back (9:53 pace)
7/26: 2.0 miles - track and back (9:24 pace)
7/27: 6.0 miles - evanston lakefill, lakefront path, city streets to central and noyes (9:44 pace)
Total: 16.0 (goal 16)

Week 4

2008-07-19T10:35:00.002-05:00

Week four was a good one, ending with a nice 5 1/2 mile run in Boston! I can't tell you how much I love running in this city. The lakefront path in Chicago is nice, but it's nothing compared to the Charles River path in Boston! It was hot out though, and halfway through I ducked into MIT for some water. And then out and across the bridge to return to brookline. (The Smoot Marks really need repainting!)

So here's the rundown...

7/15: 3.5 miles - track * 7 and back (9:47 pace)
7/16: 2.0 miles - track and back (9:24 pace)
7/17: 3.5 miles - track * 7 and back (10:00 pace)
7/19: 5.5 miles - brookline streets and Harvard/BU bridge loop (9:43 pace)
Total: 14.5 (goal 14)

Week 3

2008-07-12T11:58:00.002-05:00

Week 3 was nice and included a 5K PR! Here's the rundown...

7/7: 3.51 miles - route 14 loop (9:48 pace)
7/9: 2.01 miles - track and back (9:25 pace)
7/10: 3.1 miles - bastille day 5k (8:26 pace)
7/13: 5.62 miles - lakefront trail (9:45 pace)
Total: 14.34 (goal 14)

Bastille Day 5k

2008-07-11T18:26:00.003-05:00

Last night was the Bastille Day 5k. The sole reason I signed up for the race was that I had tied my previous 5K PR at Race to Taste and I knew I could beat it. Unfortunately, it was raining all afternoon yesterday and I was having serious doubts if I'd be able to make a PR in a downpouring thunderstorm. I jumped on the train downtown in all the rain, and magically when we pulled into the station downtown the sky to the west was bright and sunny! The race started (to French music!) in beautiful weather and I was feeling great.

The first 1/2 mile or so was a little rough since a bunch of packs of very slow running 20-something girls had decided to start at the very front of the pack and were running 5-wide down Jackson St. After getting through that, it opened up and really was not too crowded of a run. For those not familiar with the course, it's a dumbbell shape with lots of turns every few blocks. Thankfully I never really got in too many bunches of runners and was able to make it through. At mile 1, I was just about on pace to break my PR and I was feeling great, so I decided to kick it up a little bit and just give it what I had in me. I approached mile 2 a bit winded, but generally feeling good. Unfortunately, the clock at mile 2 was a bit off (reading 4 hours and 13 minutes). I knew I wasn't running a marathon, but had no idea how fast I was actually going. I continued at probably an even quicker speed towards the end. As I turned one of the final corners with about 1/4 mile to go there was a giant bolt of lighting a few blocks away and the sky just opened up with rain. I stepped it up a little faster and saw the 3 mile clock at 25:30. That surprised me a bit and I started running even faster!

In the end, I crossed the finish with a chip time of 26:11 (8:26 pace) which was almost a full minute off my previous PR from the Taste. As I got my bagel, banana, and Gatorade the rain really started coming down hard...in torrential downpour fashion. It seems that all of the people handing out food and beverage had gone home and we had to pick them up ourselves. I went over to gear check to find all of our bags in the street covered in water and muck from the backed up sewers. Fun.

All in all though, it was an awesome race and I'm quite happy with my time. I just wish it would have been nicer at the end for the post race block party with french music, wine, and lots of friends who ran the race. I ended up just getting a ride with a friend home and trying to stay warm and dry after being soaked through for a good 1/2 hour after the race trying to find my bag.

By the way, throwing my time into McMillan gives me a 4:15:15 marathon...which would be awesome!!

Week 2

2008-07-06T13:25:00.004-05:00

Week 2 of training came along just as nicely as week 1 did. So far so good! Here's the rundown...

7/1: 3.01 miles - route 14 loop (10:08 pace)
7/3: 2.01 miles - track and back (9:47 pace)
7/4: 3.01 miles - route 14 loop (9:41 pace)
7/6: 4.01 miles - red trail at moraine hills (9:33 pace)
Total: 12.03 (goal 12)

Week 1

2008-07-06T13:16:00.004-05:00

Week one of 1/2 marathon training was fairly easy going. It just called for a 3-2-3-4 which I modified a bit since I had Race to Taste on the weekend day. Race to taste was fun and I tied my PR which was somewhat unexpected as I'm far less trained right now than I was when I set that in 2006 smack in the middle of marathon training!

So here's how it all worked out...

6/23: 3.12 miles - route 14 loop (9:45 pace)
6/24: 2.0 miles - track and back (9:26 pace)
6/27: 3.08 miles - route 14 loop (10:13 pace)
6/29: 3.1 miles - race to taste 5k (8:44 pace)
Total: 11.28 (goal 12)

Running is back!

2008-07-06T13:13:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the long absence here. I'm back in the training cycle again and I'll be using this site to log runs and discuss races this year. I've already missed a bunch, so I'll use the next few posts to catch up.

So what am I training for? My '08 race schedule looks something like this:
march - shamrock shuffle 8k
june - race to taste 5k
july - bastille day 5k
august - nike human race 10k
september - banco popular 1/2 marathon
october - tower of terror 13k (maybe)
january - disney marathon

Welcome back and enjoy another summer of running!

2007 Running...

2007-03-27T12:11:00.000-05:00

So the 2007 running season has started! I ran Shamrock over the weekend, race update to come, and am sitting down to think about what I'll be running this year. After a lot of thought, I'm pretty sure I'm taking this year off of marathon running and just sticking with a half or two. So here's the list:

Shamrock Shuffle - completed
Race to Taste - registered
Carneros Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon - maybe (and need to start training like now!)
Nike Run Hit Remix - likely
Banco Popular Chicago Half Marathon - likely

It should be a nice easy summer of running with still enough free time to do other things. I'll likely bring the full marathon back into the routine for 2008!

back to running...

2006-11-05T15:12:00.000-06:00

It's so nice to not be on any sort of schedule and just run when I feel like it, however far I want to go, at whatever pace I want to go at :)

Today was a nice easy 4 miler at 9:45 pace through the hills by my place. The weather was wonderful (except a little windy towards the top of the hill!) and it just felt so good to be back out there running!

The next race is a little 5 miler Palatine puts on for Thanksgiving! Should be fun if it's not freezing out!

Splits...

2006-10-23T17:10:00.000-05:00

For those who might be interested, here are my splits/paces from the marathon...

5K 30:42 (9:52)
10K 31:31 (10:08)
15K 31:07 (10:01)
20K 32:01 (10:18)
25K 33:17 (10:42)
30K 34:43 (11:10)
35K 37:45 (12:09)
40K 36:34 (11:46)
42.16K 15:37 (11:38)

Not so bad for a first attempt. You can totally see where I got bogged down between 30 and 35K though. It was all mental and once I fought through that I was ok agian.

Chicago Marathon!

2006-10-22T16:26:00.000-05:00

ZoneTag Photo Sunday 6:21 pm 10/22/06 Chicago, Illinois
Originally uploaded by bentley79.

So here's the post you've all been waiting for! The marathon recap...

A final check of weather this morning convinced me to do layers, which was a good choice! I packed up my bag and got on the 5:40am train downtown. Why do races have to be so crazy early in the morning?? The train ride was a lot of fun as it was all runners eating their powerbars, drinking their gatorade, pinning their numbers on, and talking about running!

I made it down to grant park with plenty of time and waited around for my friend Zack. I never saw him, so just checked my gear and lined up between the 4:30 and 4:45 signs. That was a good move as you'll soon discover. The race started and I was across the starting line in a little over 7 minutes which I thought was pretty awesome. I was expecting like a 20 minute wait. All went well with the run itself and I was really feeling good pretty much the whole time. No cramps, no sharp pains or anything...about as good as you could expect.

The course itself was good, except for a crazy blast of wind on Addison and heading out to the United Center. It was great to see all of the neighborhoods and people lining the street cheering!

Around mile 18 I started feeling the distance a bit, but after a quick gel break I was feeling great again! My parents came down to Chinatown and it was a good boost to see them!

The final mile was just so awesome, running up Michigan, over Roosevelt, and down into grant park. It just felt so great to make it to that finish line. And my final time...4:43:17

So yes, in case anyone was still in doubt, I'm hooked on this Marathon thing now :)

ready to run!!

2006-10-20T08:11:00.000-05:00

I just finished up my final training run of the year...a nice little quick 2-miler at pace and more importantly at temperature. This was my final check that what I'm choosing to wear on Sunday won't turn me into a popsicle :) The final verdict, a long sleeve nike+ shirt and shorts with my special $9 Target track pants over them to start the race, probably coming off around mile 2 or 3 depending on the weather. Oh, and most importantly dri fit gloves and a headband/earwarmer. Good luck to everyone running!!! Maybe I'll run into some of you at the expo tonight!

one week to go!

2006-10-15T18:39:00.000-05:00

It's one week until the 22nd! And you know what that means??? Only seven more days to donate miles to the Northside for Cubs Care!

Yes, and it's also 7 days until I run 26.2 miles! I can't wait!!!

I had a nice 8 mile run at pace today and all feels good! Now just repeat twice and add in a few miles for good luck and that'll be next weekend's run! :)

Good luck to everyone else who is running!!!!

taper funness...

2006-10-08T20:28:00.000-05:00

So the taper continues! It's been nice to start to get a little more free time in my life with some shorter runs this week. The mid-week long run was down to 8 miles and today was a beautiful 12 along the lakefront path on a rare 74 degree October day in Chicago! That'll probably be my last lakefront run until next spring. It's just so amazing to me that I can run 12 miles with almost no thought to it at all. Just about a year ago I decided to run the marathon this year. At that time running 3 miles was a stretch for me. I didn't run much over the winter and by the beginning of April, 5 was still a stretch. Now I can go out on a random sunday afternoon and knock out 12 without getting tired and with no pain at all. It's just so amazing what some training can do!!

Two weeks until the marathon!!

Banco Popular Chicago Half Marathon...

2006-10-01T14:06:00.000-05:00

So this morning was the 1/2 marathon! Besides having to get up at 4am to make it down to hyde park in time, the day couldn't have gone better! Traffic was super light getting there and I had some time to eat an odwalla bar and get some water before wandering over to gear check. There were about 14,000 runners, so it wasn't too big of a race and there were no lines for anything. About 20 minutes before start time, they closed off the roads and everyone lined up. I decided to stand around the 9 minute mile section because the last time I started with the 10s and everyone was really runnings 11s or 12s. Yes yes, you can say that I was doing the same thing to the 9s people, but you can't...read on...

The race started and I crossed the start line about four minutes into the race (nice compared to the 20+ I'll have to wait for the marathon in three weeks!). I was all ubicomp'ed out - the nike+ accelerometer on one foot, the RFID timing chip on the other, and an ipod with the nike+ antenna plugged into it. I still haven't found a good way to carry a phone, so that was left behind :) Although there were a ton of things I wanted to ZoneTag along the way. Anyway, I got moving and hit the little center button on my ipod to hear my pace. It was sub-9. I was like, ahhhhh too fast! But kept going anyway :) I didn't slow down much from that except for the water/gel breaks where I just walked through the water stop and started up again on the other side.

It was a beautiful run through the park and up along the lake. I was feeling so good I had time to appreciate the views of the skyline and the lake. 13.1 miles later with no complaints at all I made it to the finish. As you can see on the graph, I was pretty darn consistent!

Pace:
Mile 1: 9:14
Mile 2: 9:18
Mile 3: 9:21
Mile 4: 9:21
Mile 5: 9:21
Mile 6: 9:20
Mile 7: 9:23
Mile 8: 9:29
Mile 9: 9:08
Mile 10: 9:25
Mile 11: 9:36
Mile 12: 9:36
Mile 13: 9:29
.1 Mile 13.1: 9:15
Total time: 2:06:29

After the race they had some fruit and pretzels and gatorade. Pretty standard fare. Yes, they had bananas. I still can't believe that race in CA that didn't have bananas! After all that fun, Vertigo USA, a U2 cover band had a little concert. I thought they were much better at Run Hit Remix, but oh well, it's a free show :) All in all, a great run! I can't wait for the Marathon in three weeks!!!

playing with nike+

2006-09-27T21:13:00.000-05:00

So I've been playing a bit with my new toys tonight as a break before getting back to work. And I have to say that the Nike+ system is pretty darn awesome. I ran a mile warmup, then trained the system using a mile run on the track down the street, and then took a nice 3 1/2 mile run to finish things up. It's just so cool to see your pace as you're running and not have to worry about GPS coverage like with the garmin. I'm so glad I went this way instead of getting the garmin! Oh, and in case you were wondering about accuracy, it was within 2% for the mile after the training run, so that's pretty darn good!

And possibly the coolest part....the graphs!!! :) Yes, I'm an engineer ;)

Running update for 8/23

2006-09-24T21:25:00.000-05:00

So I haven't updated in a while but I've been running a ton lately. Let's just skip to the current week...

Tuesday: 4 miles, treadmill at the hotel
Wednesday: 10 miles, Upper Newport Bay Regional Park, and Balboa Island
Sunday: 20 miles, chicago lakefront from the Aquarium to the north end of the path and back

Total: 34 miles

Only four weeks until the marathon! With today's run I feel totally confident! Is anyone else running the Chicago 1/2 next weekend??

update...

2006-09-11T21:39:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates! I've been running off and on these past two weeks, but haven't been sticking to plan. I had hurt my foot again a little bit and was taking it easy. The plan was to jump right back in yesterday with a 16 miler, but due to the rain and much work that had to be done, I never got to it. So tonight I went out for a nice 7.5 mile run at Lake Arlington. It's just wonderful to get out and get in a nice bit of mileage. This will be a busy week, but hopefully I can get in a few more longer runs before a 17 miler this weekend.

Running update for 8/27

2006-08-27T20:00:00.000-05:00

8 weeks until the marathon!! And I hit a new record high number of miles for the week! It was a good week of running including a huge 15 miler today. Man. I can't imagine how far the marathon will be :) But I'm doing well after the run. I took the train downtown and ran on the lakefront path from randolph to hollywood and back down to oak st beach, where I took a tip from leah and jason and took a dip in the water as a quasi-ice-bath. :)

Tuesday: 3.2 miles at the reservior
Wednesday: 7.4 miles at lake arlington
Thursday: 3.8 miles at the Motorola parking lot
Sunday: 15.0 miles on the lakefront path in the city

Total: 29.4 miles

Another race...

2006-08-27T10:42:00.000-05:00

So I just signed up for the Chicago Half Marathon. Yay for another race this year before the marathon!! :)

Running update for 8/20

2006-08-20T14:28:00.000-05:00

So the running is definitely back on! That heel pain just magically disappeared last Sunday and all has been great since. I'm loving my new shoes (and learning to love the color) :) Today's 10 mile was nice and easy and relaxing. No pain at all, so I feel confident to keep going with training and get that mileage back up there! So it's 9 weeks until the marathon! I only need to double my longest run! ;)

Tuesday: 2 miles at the reservoir
Wednesday: 3.2 miles at the reservoir
Thursday: 5.0 miles at Nike's Run Hit Remix
Sunday: 10.0 miles at Moraine Hills State Park

Total: 20.2 miles (not so bad for coming off of an injury and taking it slow!)

Run Hit Remix: the 90s

2006-08-18T08:36:00.000-05:00

The skyline
Originally uploaded by scrapplequeen.

Last night was the Nike Run Hit Remix: the 90's race. It was such a great time! I showed up to Grant Park a little bit early for some pre-race goodies...mini clif bars, jamba juice, trying out the nike+ shoes and ipod thing, and just walking around a bit to get warmed up.

Around 8:30pm or so, all 10,000 runners headed up to Columbus drive to line up. It was very well organized! As you walked up to the street you got a mini bottle of Propel and all along the street were signs for the pacing that you wanted. I camped out just in front of the 9 minute group thinking that sounded like a good pace for a Thursday night fun run :) The whole time they have a DJ playing 90s music. It was just like I had brought my iPod with me :)

Right at 9pm, the race started! It was a good course out and back to 31st st via lake shore drive and the lakefront on the way back. We got to run past soldier field, mccormick place, the aquarium, the field museum, and back in to grant park. And every mile there was another 90s group playing. We were entertained by Digital Underground, Young MC, a local U2 Cover Band, and another local generic 90s cover band. Lots of great music to keep you going!

The running itself went well, and I'm glad to report that no heel pain returned. I was keeping up a slightly sub-9 pace for the first three miles or so but then took a quick water break and fought off a little cramp and lost a few seconds in the last two miles. All in all, I finished with a respectable 46:03 which wasn't bad for taking the past week and a half off of running :)

After the race, there was more Jamba, more Clif bars, free Goose Island Beer (nike doesn't skimp on the beer, only the best for them!), and a concert by De La Soul. I stuck around until about quarter to 11 and then walked back to the train. All in all a very fun night and something I must repeat again next year!

Oh, and thanks to Random Flickr User for the great picture of the skyline from last night with "RUN!" written out on the Blue Cross Blue Shield Building!!

back to running...

2006-08-15T21:28:00.000-05:00

So my foot was feeling much better these past few days and I decided to try a nice easy two miles today. The plan was to take it easy, nice 10 or 11 minute pace just to feel things out and make sure my foot didn't go back into horrid pain. Well, I got moving and all felt really great! I started moving a little faster than I though I'd go and 18 minutes later found myself at the 2 mile point. Needless to say, it was a successful run! The plan is for 3 or 4 tomorrow, and then 5 at the Run Hit Remix on Thursday night. The training is back on! Yay!

a pause in the running...

2006-08-12T10:29:00.000-05:00

So as many of you know, I hurt my heel last week. Lots of stupid things put together added up to a painful experience. My shoes were approaching end of life and ran on them anyways, I added 15% to the mileage and swapped two weeks of the training because I knew the next weekend would be busy with a friend in town, and I ran a little faster than normal because it was getting hot outside and I wanted to finish before it got *really* hot.

In the end, it hurt, and hurt badly. I saw the doctor yesterday and he labeled it a "contusion" although he wouldn't rule out the slight possiblity that it was the start of a stress fracture even though he couldn't see anything on the x-rays. In any case, I took the week off of running and probably need another two weeks off. So sadly, no CDC for me this weekend :( But I think I'm going to use that free 1 month bally's membership that came with Race to the Taste and get in some pool running these next two weeks combined with some good bike time.

July Summary...

2006-07-31T16:43:00.000-05:00

It's the end of another month of running and here are the stats...

Total miles: 87.57
Shortest Run: 3.0 miles
Longest Run: 12.0 miles

Races Run: Race to the Taste 5k (27.08), Carneros Wine Country 10k (56:17)

That's 1.4 times as many miles as I ran in June! Yay!

Running update for 7/30

2006-07-30T11:33:00.000-05:00

T-minus 12 weeks until the marathon!! It just keeps getting closer. Today was a super hard week to fit in runs as there was lots of traveling and seeing friends. But I got the total number of miles in, even if they weren't in the suggested increments.

Tuesday - 3.0 miles on the treadmill at the MIT Z-Center, followed by 200m of swimming
Wednesday - 3.5 miles at the reservoir
Thursday - 4.5 miles on the treadmill at work
Sunday - 12.0 miles at Moraine Hills State Park (red loop + yellow x 4)

Total: 23.0 miles

Run Hit Remix...

2006-07-27T23:18:00.000-05:00

I just signed up for Nike's Run Hit Remix, a 5 mile run on a random thursday night in August. I've been so excited to find a night run for a long time as these 6:30am starts are just not my idea of fun. So yay! Should be a good time. All of you in Chicago should sign up too!!

Running update for 7/24

2006-07-25T08:46:00.000-05:00

It's been a really busy week. This past week and coming week will be the two hardest to get runs in over the summer, but so far so good! This week included a 10 mile run while I was in DC, which involved running indoors since outside was just way too hot and humid. We thought that UMD had a 1/4 mile indoor track, but it turned out to be 1/10 of a mile. So 100 laps later...I was done! :)

Tuesday - 3.0 miles treadmill in sunnyvale, ca
Wednesday - 5.0 miles treadmill in sunnyvale, ca
Thursday - 3.0 miles treadmill in palatine, il
Saturday - 10.0 miles on the track at UMD

Total: 21.0 miles

Carneros Wine Country Napa To Somoma 10k

2006-07-16T16:41:00.000-05:00

Today was a great day to run in Northern California. At race time it was about 58 degrees and sunny and quickly warming up. I was running the 10k at a half marathon in napa valley, and the 10k was only about 350 people compared to the 1/2's 2000 so things weren't quite documented so well. In any case, I found the place where the buses came to take us to the start line (point to point races are so difficult, I've only run loop races before). I ask at the registration table by the bus if there's a gear check. They say there's one at the start of the 10k. So a bunch of us get on the bus with bags full of stuff. Of course we get to the start and they are like, nope, no gear check here. But sice it was a small race, one of the organizers had us throw everything in the back of her truck and she left it at the finish line for us. How nice! :)

We got started right on time at this auto body shop with a big parking lot so everyone could line up (see picture). Since it was so small, they had no chip sensor for the start so everyone went with gun time. With only 350 people, this was no big deal. We head out and merge onto the road the 1/2 marathoners are running on...only problem...we're runninng 9ish minute miles and the 1/2er's are running 6's. So we get passed, and passed, and passed. :) The run was amazing and went through a bunch of vineyards with the mountains in the background. The 10k even took a little out and back detour right into a vinenyard for about 0.4 of a mile and then back out to the road. All in all, I was feeling great and kept moving at about a 9 minute pace. Of course I had no idea what the pace was since I don't own a watch and they seemingly don't believe in split time clocks in Sonoma :) I was running behind this girl from WI who kept looking at her watch and seemed to be moving at a good pace.

Speaking of midwest people, I was waiting for the race to start and standing right next to me is someone who looks really familiar. I look at her bib and it says she's from Hoffman Estates, IL and is 27. I'm sure I met her sometime growing up or at someone's party or something at some time. Anyway, we thought that it was pretty random that people who live in towns right next to each other 1/2 way across the country randomly run the same 350 person 10k in CA. :)

So back to the race...all was good for the whole run and when it was over I was like, really, that's it! I want to keep going! :) Still probably better that I didn't run the 1/2 but man I wanted to keep running...it was so nice outside! I finished with a nice 56:17 which was a 9:03/mile. Not bad at all.

The race ended in a park where they had wine tasting from a bunch of local vineyards. All very very tasty :) They also had lots of fruit, but no bananas. What, a race without bananas? Yes! They seem to do some things different out here. Including the champion chip (see photo). It goes around your ankle. Bizarre. :)

So yes, the race is highly recommended. Maybe I'll come back next year for the 1/2!

Running update for 7/16

2006-07-16T16:24:00.000-05:00

14 weeks until the marathon! It just keeps getting closer and closer! This was another good week of running ending in an awesome 10k today up in Sonoma, CA. Look for full details on that coming soon. These next two weeks are going to be really hard to get in the runs I need as I'll be traveling in California, Boston, DC, and NYC. I *will* fit them in, I *will* fit them in!

Tuesday - 3.2 miles reservoir 2 loops
Wednesday - 4.05 miles reservoir 3 loops
Thursday - 3.2 miles reservior 2 loops
Sunday - 6.21 miles Carneros 10k

Total: 16.66 miles

Running update for 7/9

2006-07-09T20:04:00.000-05:00

15 weeks until the marathon! Another good week of running is complete. Although today's 9 miler was hard to get in among wedding activities for my friend Richard's wedding, I was able to get it done. These long runs are going to get harder to squeeze in as they get longer! Next Sunday I'll be running a 10k in napa valley. Should be a lot of fun!!

Tuesday - 3.5 miles moraine hills red loop
Wednesday - 4.05 miles reservoir 3 loops
Thursday - 3.2 miles reservoir 2 loops
Sunday - 9.01 miles moraine hills all loops

Total: 19.76 miles

Running update for 7/2

2006-07-02T14:51:00.000-05:00

16 weeks until the marathon! It just keeps getting closer and closer. This week was a busy one with work and other things going on, and it was hard to get all the runs in there. But I made it! The late night run tuesday paired with the early run wednesday wasn't so nice, but it worked. Today I was faced with the question of how to get in a 7 mile run while running a 5k. Answer, run four more miles when you're done :) It was fun to run into other Chicago running bloggers at the Race to the Taste today! And for those curious, I finished in 27:08.

Tuesday - 3.08 miles smith/nw hwy/quentin
Wednesday - 3.2 miles reservoir
Thursday - 3.2 miles reservoir
Saturday - 3.1 miles Race to the Taste
Saturday - 4.05 miles reservoir with an extra lap

Total: 16.63 miles

June summary...

2006-06-29T20:47:00.000-05:00

A special mid-week post here due to the fact that it's the end of the month. And the stats are....

Total Miles: 61.59
Total Time: 10:11:30
Shortest Run: 2.74 miles
Longest Run: 7.1 miles
Avg Pace: 9:56

Yay! I'm excited to see that mileage and time rise as the summer goes on. It's been fun so far!! :)

Running update for 6/25

2006-06-25T13:58:00.000-05:00

T-minus 17 weeks until the Marathon and all is going well. I just finished up a wonderful 7 mile run up at Moraine Hills State Park. It's a beautiful place to get in some nice gentle hill workouts and they have 10 miles of trails that all go in loops so it's easy to add on another 2 or 3 mile loop if you want to go farther. I think I'll be doing a lot more of my weekend runs up there. Oh, and it's crushed limestone as well which is nice on the knees :)

Tuesday - 3.08 miles smith to nw highway to quentin
Wednesday - 3.0 miles on the treadmill at work (boo for thunderstorms and hail!)
Thursday - 3.08 miles smith to nw highway to quentin
Saturday - 7.1 miles at Moraine Hills State Park - Red and Blue trails

Total: 16.26 miles

Running update for 6/18

2006-06-17T21:11:00.000-05:00

So here I am...18 weeks until the Chicago Marathon and the official training plan is starting. I'm still a bit nervous, but am excited that I got to meet a bunch of fellow Chicago runners last night at the first CRU beer meetup :) See my "normal" blog for more info. It's good to know there are some people I can go to if I have questions. Anyway, running went well this week. I drove down to Evanston to run along the lake this evening hoping it would be cooler. It was still 91 degrees when I started, but all went well and I was able to get in a nice six miles which is what I was hoping for.

Tuesday - 3.08 miles smith st to nw highway to quentin
Wednesday - 3.08 miles smith st to nw highway to quentin
Thursday - 2.88 miles neighborhood run in palatine
Saturday - 6.08 miles around evanston and by the lake

Total: 15.12 miles

Running update for 6/11

2006-06-10T21:32:00.000-05:00

So today ends week two of light regular running before the official training schedule begins. I tried to take it a little easy this week since I already proved to myself that the first week of training will be no problem and I don't want to give my knees any more impact than they really need.

Tuesday - 2.75 miles park and neighborhood
Wednesday - 3.08 miles up to northwest highway
Saturday - 5.75 miles on the Eliza Furnace Trail in Pittsburgh

Total: 11.58 miles

Running Update for 6/4

2006-06-05T23:26:00.000-05:00

Regular running has started. I'll be making posts here each Sunday as a rundown of the week's runs! This was a good week and the first when I ran more then three days in a week. I took it easy, with a few 3 mile runs and a nice 6 miler on Sunday. The Sunday run took me up into the forest preserve on Dundee Rd which was really nice. I had never really been back there on all the trails.

Tuesday - 3.2 miles 2 laps around the reservoir
Wednesday - 3.08 miles up to northwest highway
Thursday - 3.2 miles down to Palatine and up to Colfax
Saturday - 6.0 miles up in the woods

Total: 15.48 miles

updates...

2006-04-13T07:53:00.000-05:00

So yeah, obviously I've been running a lot and not updating this blog. Once I start my hard-core marathon training I think I'll start updating this again. I did have a really excellent run along the Charles in Boston the other day. Man, I miss that route!

yay for direct tv

2006-01-01T23:04:00.000-06:00

5.0 miles on the treadmill at work to MythBusters. Having DirectTV at the gym will totally change my workout times!! :)

Treadmill

2005-11-14T21:01:00.000-06:00

2.5 miles - so bored and nothing on TV. Never watch the show Surface! It's so bad.

Margreth Riemer Reservoir

2005-11-12T16:19:00.000-06:00

2.02 Miles - Forced to stop by heavy rain! It started out as a nice jog in some mist, but then started to pour!

Treadmill

2005-11-05T23:17:00.000-06:00

6.0 miles on Treadmill while watching Law and Order :)

Margreth Riemer Reservoir

2005-10-29T17:02:00.000-05:00

2.8 miles. Listening to Lawrence Lessig talk about the future of DRM and copyrights :) It was such a beautiful day too, 63 and sunny! And almost November!

Treadmill

2005-10-23T20:51:00.000-05:00

6.0 miles while watching West Wing! TV and working out is totally the way to go!!

Treadmill

2005-10-20T07:39:00.000-05:00

2.5 miles.

I looked at the marathon training guide today in the gym. I don't know how I'll ever be able to increase the mileage that fast....good thing I have a super long time to get ready!!

Lake Arlington!

2005-10-16T18:57:00.000-05:00

3.1 miles (5K). So nice to be running on familiar ground again!! And to be outdoors in mid-october!

Treadmill

2005-10-14T19:14:00.000-05:00

2.7 miles.

Treadmill

2005-10-12T19:35:00.000-05:00

2.62 miles (all I have to do is move that decimal place in one year!)