Catching up, and moving right along.

I've been running around so much lately! I can't believe it's been over 10 days since I've written anything, and the time seriously has flown.

I seem to be intensifying my running. Not only that, I've found some regular yoga practice sessions that I look forward to. I'm realizing that the bigger picture seems to be one of personal growth, learning how to improve my health overall, as well as how to improve my running abilities and now yoga (it's definitely "sticking" to me).

My runs for the last several days have pretty much consisted of my regular routes at the usual evil early hours of the day. There have been a couple standouts, though. Last Wednesday things were all "on" for me. I don't know what it was - a good pasta lunch, the right amount of fluid, the addition of Gu2O to my now-habitual water bottle strapped to my hand, or the nice air that night.... I was tight for time, so I was only doing "4 maybe 6" as I told my neighbor as I ran into her. I cranked out a great 8 miler that night for some reason. Everything was just sync and flowing. This is one reason why I do this, without a doubt.

The Gu2O was added because I had a lousy 10-miler (10.85 per sporttracks) the Sunday before. When I got back in, I did some reading and learned that I had pretty much encountered classic dehyrdation (it was a mid-70s humid day). I'm learning a lot about how my body likes to be fueled. I picked up the powder on Tuesday night and was going to try it on a quick run Wednesday morning, but lightning in the AM killed that idea....which of course brought me to my smooth Wednesday night cruise.

Today (Sunday) I had a great lakefront run, even going out around the Montrose bird sanctuary for the truly stunning view of the city to the south. The wind was seriously howling out there, as the weather was threatening the whole time. Some sun, big dark clouds, and wind were the ingredients. It was a nice low-60s temperature, though. I didn't have a set plan for how much I was going to run, but I knew I wanted to go farther than last week. At the decision point (Fullerton) I could go in for about 12, or continue south and get a couple more or so (I wasn't sure at the time). I decided to go for it, and I'm glad I did. I realized at that moment I'm not going to improve my endurance by running the same distances (ok, not entirely true, but still). I was rewarded with 14.5 for the day. Also, I didn't take any walking breaks (i.e. to down a gel shot). In the interest of training I figured out how to get the shot and dispose of the wrapper while on the move. I even refilled my bottle while on the move. I carried a couple of 10oz bottles in this Amphipod belt, and dumped them into my handheld when it was empty. I guess that's cool to me because I did the whole run running. I mean, that's the point, ultimately...I don't think there's anything wrong with walking, but personally it seems like an improvement.

I had a yoga session with Jody a couple hours later. I'd not done a run of this length and then gone in for yoga, so I was a little nervous about burning out. Happily the opposite happened, and I'm hooked. I got a great workout, some excellent stretching, and I feel pretty close to fully recovered. I did a headstand, too!

Finally, I have to mention that I went to a hydration seminar on Friday night, presented by Krissy Moehl and the Piper's Alley Fleet Feet. I was actually relatively familiar with what she was talking about, thanks to the reading I'd done since my near-bonk from the week before. What I *really* liked about the presentation was hearing her talk about the ultrarunning that she does. I keep saying to myself that "I have no goal but to run," but I honestly want to be able to perform (which is to say "survive," perhaps) at those levels. To be able to run those distances. I'm very glad I went. She was a great speaker, had cool pictures and interesting stories, and provided an awesome inspiration. Wow. Thanks!

One reason why I run

I came across this great runner's-view writeup of "runner's high" at A Trail Runner's Blog. Here's a link. I'll make it a point to follow up and check out his links into further research. Regardless, I've experienced that feeling described (also at around the 8-mile mark, curiously, and later as well) and for me it's definitely something I strive to experience.

Thank you Scott Dunlap for publishing/posting that great article.

Did a week just pass by?

I feel like I'm recovering quite well in this second post-marathon week. I've been running a bit, trying to get myself back into my early morning routine. That's been tough because I've been working a lot lately, consequently coming home late and then ending up not getting into bed until late.

I missed my intended Tuesday night body elongation session (aka "yoga"), but I did take advantage of the awesome weather and went for a killer run on the lakefront. 70F out! Since I was "recovering" I only intended to do a quick 4, but because it was so nice and my spirits were good, I ended up doing a smooth 6 miles.

I don't know if it's some kind of irony or some kind of joke Ms. Nature is playing, but I ran again on Wednesday night (little sleep before, couldn't wake up for my regular time) in something that might have been rain, or hail, or freezing rain, or sleet. The wind was pummelling me with this stuff - it was terrible. But, I ended up on a decent run anyway. It seems like my split times are all coming down in general. I'm not training for speed or anything. Well, on this night I was probably just wanting to get it over with.

I finally got my morning run on Friday!

Saturday (today) I made it up and out in time to get to that yoga for runners class. I'm new at that, of course, so I'm likely doing stuff wrong. Nevertheless, I feel good when I'm there and I really like the instructor. Yoga's kind of a trip - it works me out but relaxes me at the same time. I think? I know there are times when I'm pushing myself (which is probably not the "yoga way"), but I'm getting some excellent stretching there. The feeling I have after a good session is not unlike how I feel after a good massage, in fact.

Now I'm off to my weekend! I finished the novel I was reading, "The Historian." Good book, strong story.

Moving my feet again

I did my first post-LA run on Saturday morning, to a "yoga for runners" class. I had every intention of taking it easy (for me), but I completely underestimated the distance from my place to the studio and had to really push to get there on time. It was a great class, and I'll make it my routine for Saturday mornings. That'll give me at least 6 miles, but really at least 8 since I'll do the 4 out & back along the lakefront path. I'm sure I'll be leaving the class and going for my long run Saturdays soon, after giving myself appropriate marathon recovery (and I'm only figuring that out).

On that subject, I'm limiting myself to easy 4-milers this week, even though I really want to do more. It has only been a week since I ran my first marathon! Regardless, the weather on Saturday was awesome, the path was populated with runners (I even heard someone say they had run LA last week!), and I was feeling good to be back out.

I'm going to try to put in this route image.....



Not bad (if I was able to post the image correctly)! By the way, if you use a Garmin GPS (i.e. Forerunner) I recommend checking out SportTracks - it's a great program, and for my purposes much better than Training Center. And, you can edit routes - removing spurious waypoints and such - which TC doesn't let you do. Having said that, ignore those directional indicators....at this zoom level they seem to get confused.

Anyway, the yoga class was really cool. I think I said somewhere that I took my first class from an instructor-friend out in LA, and immediately recognized this as a Good Thing. I've always been curious, honestly. Perhaps nervous about going, even (for stupid reasons, like "what if I'm the only guy"). Now that I've experienced a few, I'm so glad I'm doing it. Without fail I've felt better at the end of a session. If only my schedule and wallet would allow me to do more.

In unrelated news, I'm totally enthralled with this book called "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova. It's a fascinating historical fiction involving Vlad Tepes, the Count Dracula.

A series of "firsts"

My first marathon - success. I finished, in about 5:12 according to the chip (that's pretty darn official, huh?). My GPS has me at around 5:08 or so. Whatever. I finished. It was a hot day, and the hills were all in the last 5 miles. I had a ton of fun. I trained seriously for a couple of months in our dread Chicago winter, so I don't have any reason to complain at all.

I also experienced yoga for the first time. What a great feeling that was! I've been to 3 classes now, 2 out in LA and one here in Chicago last night. I felt a lot better after last night's class (I'm definitely in need of some recovery).

I was also in a car accident, my first. No injuries, no fault, just an unfortunate event. I'll always get the rental car insurance though, that made everything easy.

I really wanted to break 5 hours on Sunday. My good friend Kevin (whom I blame for putting me up to doing the marathon) paced really well together through most of the race. He's truly faster and leaner than I am, but I went ahead on the hills going into Boyle Heights after about mile 22. We didn't care. We had to walk some just because the constant sun beating down on us was really draining. We were both feeling really thirsty yet full at the same time. The gatorade needed to be chased by water.

I was wearing a Universal Sole shirt (my local store, excellent place - http://www.universalsole.com), and a few people recognized Chicago - that was very cool. It was also really cool having people yell out your name in support. I wonder who that brunette around mile 1 was...I never saw her again.

I've already signed up for Chicago on October 7.

Frozen stride.

I've been doing my easy runs leading up to my marathon on Sunday. Except that these runs have been nothing short of frustrating. Frustrating (capital F). There's hard ice, black ice, slippery ice, frozen snowy ice, and some actual ground here and there. I can't get anything going on when I'm out trying to run. I think the noticeable lack of other runners is telling me something - these conditions suck, don't bother. But I have to.

I keep feeling myself annoyed at some unknown responsible party for apparantly doing nothing about the paths. No salt, for instance. I can only assume they go around checking, and do it during the day when what I encounter as slick black ice is only seen as snow meltoff. I guess it never occurs to anyone that this "water" stuff freezes at some point. It's so bad out there that I could only really open up my stride and get some freedom in movement for about a 1/4 mile on the "back stretch" (approaching Fullerton from the north, on the lakeshore path).

Oh well. My next easy run will be in sunny Southern California! I just hope the weather here is a %1000 better when I get back.

final countdown

I ran on Saturday, and was going along just fine. The weather wasn't brilliant, of course, but it wasn't stormy or even snowing (yet). I did my 10+ out and back along the lakefront. The "out" part was a nice cruise, the "back" part was hell. It felt like a strong steady headwind off the lake the entire way back. I was actually thinking that I'd end my run feeling real good, like I didn't work too hard. The wind changed all that. I was only too eager to finish.

It occurred to me that no matter what I seem to set out to run, it's always "hard" somehow. Last weekend I ran for 20, and yeah, it was hard. This week I ran for 11, and yeah, it was hard. I was running 7s in the morning, and yeah, they were hard. Running is hard. For me. It's work. It's a workout! Wait, it's supposed to be, right?

Now I'm less than a week away from Los Angeles. Normally I'd be excited about going there (I am, honestly), and eager to get away from this lousy weather we have here. Trouble is, I know I'll be doing something rather painful when I'm there. I confess, I'll be glad when it's over, but I'm looking forward to getting better at this.

I didn't run this morning - another late night out, eating some fine homemade Bulgarian food....too much of it. Since I'm in taper, I'll only go out for an easy (yeah, right) 4 after work. I always have trouble falling asleep when I run at night, so I'm going to try to get out as early as possible.