Pint Night Run: Lincoln Square

Tuesday night the Wurst Running Club Ever gang got together for another Fleet Feet Pint Night fun run. Eric over at ThisHobbitRuns provides a great summary, so check out that link for the details.

I will just add a few pictures to his story. I was "running" late as usual and had made it nine tenths of the way to the store, when I saw WRCE members running down Lincoln Ave. I tried to whip out my camera and snap some pics, but they were whizzing by so fast that it was hard to do:

Declan and Maggie running so fast it's all blurry

Anne and Eric having fun at the start of the run

I ran and chatted with Anne until the turnaround. I got this pic when the leaders were stopped and we ran up to them at a traffic light at Lawrence:

Mo, Declan, Eric and Mo's BF

Declan photobombing Mo photobombing Maggie!

Soon enough we got to the turnaround at the river:

The gang at the turnaround at the Chicago River Trail

After we got the photo, Declan and I ran the last 1.5 miles together and pushed the pace. On the last section of Lincoln Ave (the Brauhaus side of the street) Declan and I went into an all out sprint. We narrowly avoided crashing into surprised pedestrians right before we reached the Fleet Feet store. My GPS registered a 4:03/mile pace for those 200 yards or so. It was completely awesome, that end of a race feeling when you have some juice left in the tank. Good prep for the Oktoberfest 5k Thursday night! Then it was off to The Grafton for a pint and some dinner.

My Profile in the Chicago Tribune's Marathon Section

Last month I was injured and was 50/50 on whether I would tackle the task of running the Chicago Marathon. One reason I was considering running it was the fact that I was going to be interviewed by the Chicago Tribune for their 2013 Chicago Marathon section. I was mulling the pros and cons of a marathon attempt despite my ankle injury, and one of the pros went something like this: "How could I possibly be profiled in a major newspaper for a marathon that I wouldn't even be running?". I know, fantastic logic, but there you have it!

A few days later, I was interviewed by a Trib reporter. After the interview was over, my head was swimming with memories of marathons past. I think it was at that moment that I decided to throw caution to the wind and start a nine week crash course training for the marathon. I'm still hanging in there with less that four weeks to go.

Yesterday, my profile was posted in the Trib on-line. You can read the whole thing here.

Screen shot of my Chicago Tribune Profile

One of the highlights was that I was able to get in a mention of our newly formed running club "Wurst Running Club Ever" and our Pint Night runs at Fleet Feet. We are becoming famous. My seven year old nephew even knows about our club now after reading the article.  He even got the play on the word "wurst" right away. I guess great minds think alike!

So, there you have it, my 15 minutes of running fame. Hopefully, the next time my name is in the Tribune is when it's in the list of all marathon finishers on Monday, October 14th! 

Chicago Marathon Training: Week #5

Nice Start
Unlike week #4 of my Chicago Marathon training, week #5 started out relatively smoothly. Sunday was my first Hansons Brooks 16 miler. I was a little apprehensive about this run because I feared a repeat of my crummy run a week prior. I thought that this run was destined to be better because at the very least, I remembered to apply my Nip Guards before I headed outside! My goal was to head to Navy Pier and back and try and run the whole thing (i.e. no run/walk).

In my first mile, running down Berteau Ave. towards the lake, I stumbled upon this door:

1815 W. Berteau

On closer inspection, there is not only a distiller in the building, but also a brewery! 

A future running blogger destination?

Who knew? I will have to investigate Spiteful Brewery and LTBD tours.

The humidity was getting to me, but I was determined to not fade on this run. I eventually made it to Navy Pier where I took a short walk break to drink some water. I also saw remnants of the Chicago Half Marathon expo (held the day before) in the Navy Pier garbage cans:

Chicago Half Marathon poster on Navy Pier

I turned around and snapped this one of the low clouds over the city:
I

You can see how muggy it was!

After drinking some fluids, I headed north again. Near North Avenue beach, I saw Declan flying by me heading south. He was also doing his Hanson's 16 miler. So, for a little fartlek work, I turned around and headed back south and ran with him for a few hundred yards.

Trying to keep up with speedy Declan

We chatted briefly, said see you later, and I turned around to head north again. Unfortunately, soon thereafter my Nip Guards fell off, and sure enough the bloody nipples returned once again. I think the glue was bad on them. I am going to open a fresh box to use in week #6!

Sunday total (including one walk break): 16 miles @ 8:13/mile

Track Work
Once again, I went to the track for some Hansons Brooks mile repeats on Thursday. You can read about it here.

One thing I can add to what I wrote is that I really felt it the next day in shin pain and in fatigue. In fact, a few days later and I am still recovering from that workout.

Summary
A solid, week where I upped my mileage and upped my track work all at once. Note to self: This is a dangerous combo which can lead to injury. Next week, I will just focus on mileage (except for my 5k time trial Thursday). I am feeling the strain on my legs now, and I am starting get feel the weight of my constant training in the form of fatigue. At this juncture, I just need to relax and do some decent training. Not shoot for the Olympic time trials! Oh yeah, and I learned I need to use "fresh" Nip Guards with good glue!

Week #4 Total: 53 miles
Average Pace: 7:54
Other Training: 4 strength workouts and 1 yoga session

Five weeks down, four to go!

Chicago Marathon Track Workout #3

When I went to the track last week, I ran too fast. So, my goal today was to run a bit slower. Last week, I only ran four of the prescribed six mile repeats on the Hanson Marathon Plan. My goal today was to run five.

About to start the heavy lifting

The Workout: After a 1.75 mile warm-up run, I arrived at the track at about 8am.

According to the Hanson plan, I can run any combination of miles from one to three per repeat. I thought I would get the heavy lifting out of the way and run a three mile repeat at the beginning. Then the plan was to do a two mile repeat. After completing the three miler, and a recovery walk, I started my two mile repeat. At the end of the first mile of the two miler, I was gassed. I decided it would do more damage to try and force the second mile as my form was getting shaky and legs were straining, so I cut my 2 mile repeat to one mile. Then I did a recovery walk to get my legs and lungs to recover.

I crossed over the bridge next to the track on Argyle and did my last mile on the North Branch River Trail. After I was done, I got this photo from a familiar spot. Anyone recognize it?

At least I'm smiling at the end of my repeats

It's the turnaround spot for the Fleet Feet Pint Night run:

Same location a few weeks ago...

Anyway, here are my splits:

1.75 mile warm-up

3 miles at 6:43, .25 mile recovery

1 mile at 6:58, .25 mile recovery

1 mile at 6:57

1.75 mile cool-down

Analysis: I started too fast, running the three mile repeat about 20 seconds too fast, and paid the price during my last two miles. These runs should be done either at a steady, even pace or with the last interval faster than the first. So, I really need to dial it in and focus on starting slower and finishing faster. If I do this, I will get more benefit from my track workouts, as I will be fresher near the end and have better form. As much as I want my repeat pace to be slower, I have a problem of reigning the speed in early. Maybe I need a coach to yell at me to slow down, especially early on? Anyone want to yell at me at the track?

Next Week: I am going to skip my track workout next Thursday morning and run a time trial at the Oktoberfest 5k in the evening so I can figure out my marathon pace using the McMillan calculator.

Chicago Marathon Training: Week #4

Rough Start
Week #4 of my Chicago Marathon training started out roughly. Sunday was my first run in the teens: Unfortunately, that didn't mean the temperatures, but the mileage, which was 14. Why did this run go so wrong? First of all it was hot 'n humid out and I got overheated at around mile eight and had to do lots of walking. Second, I forgot my Nip Guards and had bloody nipples for most of the run (I'm sure passerbys were grossed out)! Then to top off this craptastic run my Garmin deleted any trace of my splits after I turned off the watch. So, I was unable to analyze my run fail. On the bright-side, who wants to look at the results of such a run anyway? Also, on the bright side, I'm pretty sure that with this run I got the worst training run out of the way until the marathon. They should all be better than this one from here on out (knock on wood).

At the turnaround, not feelin' it!

Track Work
I went to the track for some Hansons Brooks mile repeats on Thursday. They are supposed to total six miles run at 10 seconds faster than marathon pace.

In the middle of doing my mile repeats at the track

1.5 mile warmup
2 miles at 6:52, .5 mile recovery
1 mile at 6:44, .25 mile recovery
1 mile at 6:39
1.5 mile cooldown

Analysis: I ran my mile repeats way too fast and ran only four of the six miles. However, my legs are not ready for six yet and I need to work on pacing. Better to work on these things now, rather than in October.

Summary
A solid, unspectacular week. Trying to not run 60 miles/week is my biggest struggle, but the general health of my legs is the big benefit of the lower mileage. Oh yeah, and I learned I need to remember Nip Guards on long runs!

Week #4 Total: 43 miles
Average Pace: 8:23
Other Training: 3 strength workouts and 2 yoga sessions

Chicago Marathon Training Week #3

During my last Chicago Marathon progress report for Week #2 I had a big reveal: My Chicago Marathon "A goal" was to BQ and run a sub-3:25. What I had actually done was kinda pick a number "out of the air" and thus put some pressure on myself to hit that number. However, even though I did this, sometimes I feel that picking an arbitrary goal number is not always a good thing.

Marathons are almost exclusively training dependent and weather dependent*. If I don't train correctly, or if the weather on race day is too hot, my final time will suffer. Right now, I am working with a compressed training schedule, so there is a real risk of doing "too much, too soon", or at the other end of the spectrum doing "too little, too late". Also, what will a 3:25 mean for my recovery post-marathon? Maybe a "smooth" 3:35 will be a lot easier on my body and allow me to recover a week or two sooner than a "forced" 3:25. The faster I can recover, the sooner I can build a decent base for a full 18 week cycle for a spring marathon.

Anyway, with all of that said, for the moment I feel fantastic! Now that I am nearing 40 mile weeks, I seem to have hit my running sweet spot. After my extensive downtime in "Injury Jail", my legs and lungs finally feel like they are "home". My right ankle still makes occasional clicks, and my right foot feels like it may have very minor PF, but I will take the trade-off for the increased lung capacity and faster legs. Oh yeah, and the daily shot of post-run endorphins isn't that bad either!

I may be destined to keep a base of 35 miles/week for the rest of my life, just to keep this feeling going!

Week #3 Total: 35 miles
Avg Pace: 8:15/mile
Other Training: Three gym workouts and one yoga session

Last year at the Chicago Half Marathon

* They are also dependent on running your ideal marathon pace, but if you know your fitness (which is a direct result of training), you can figure out your pace.

I Went to the Track and the Track was There!

Remember way back in May went I went to the North Park University track, only to find this?:

I went to the track but the track was gone!

Well, three months later the track looks like this!

The former green track surface, which must have been at least 10 years old, and which had lots of burn marks and holes from fireworks has been resurfaced. It's new color is red, although you can still see the old green track in certain places, like here:

Remnants of the old green track on the left

Last year, the areas just inside the track straight-aways were covered:

The track in 2012, notice the green covered area to the right

This year, there is just blacktop, so don't fall!

The track today, notice the unfinished blacktop areas now on the inside

 The soccer field inside the track was also resurfaced:

The track and soccer field in 2012 (note the bad drainage)

The track and soccer field now with new surface

Soccer field now

Also of note: There is a long fence separating the river area from the track. Maybe they are trying to prevent the casual bikers and strollers from ending up on the track. It may also be easier to keep the fireworks off the track by locking it down near the 4th of July. Here's hoping they don't start restricting access to runners, however.

New Fence

Locked gate that used to be open

Despite the fence, you can still get a glimpse of the waterfall from the track.

Waterfall view from the track

They also added a small grandstand for spectators:

New Grandstands

The only people not happy with the rehab, will be the long jumpers. The long jump pit looks worse than it did before the rehab:

The long jump pit is now a garbage pit!

Anyway, after all the picture taking, it was time for my track workout. Since I'm just starting to build my base mileage, I did not want to overdo things today with a brutal workout like 6 x 1 mile repeats. So, I decided to do my trusty old half marathon track workout of 1 mile, .75 mile, .5 mile and .25 mile with .25 mile breaks.

Getting Ready to Run!

Warm-up 1.8 miles:

1.0 mile @ 6:55/mile, .25 mile walk
.75 miles @ 6:29/mile, .25 mile walk
.50 miles @ 6:22/mile, .25 mile walk
.25 miles @ 5:17/mile, .25 mile walk

Cool-down 1.5 miles

Total: 6.75 miles.

Analysis: Today's workout was just to get my "track legs" back. I may have gone a little too fast considering my marathon pace is in the 7:45 range, but I don't think I did too much damage!

The last .25 mile run I did while shooting a video, I was going to post it, but it is super shaky. If anyone has read this far and wants to see it, let me know and I will post it.

It's nice to have the North Park University track back, especially a new and improved one. Hopefully, I will get one or two "mile repeat" workouts in before the Chicago Marathon! If anyone wants to join me, I'll be there most Thursday mornings, but since I'm a late riser, please don't look for me there too early!

Chicago Marathon Training Week #2

When we last took a look at my Chicago Marathon training, I had just finished week #1 with a relaxed 16 miles. In week #2, I completely ignored the "10% Rule", and I almost doubled my miles from 16 to 30. And the results are in: So far, so good. Even though it would appear that I am overdoing it, I am consciously trying to avoid the "too-much-too-soon" syndrome that I often fall prey to when training. I am alternating medium runs with short recovery runs and that seems to be working well. However it's quite difficult to hold back on the mileage, especially when I read about other runners who are already in the 60+ mile per week range at this stage of the game.

I know what great confidence boosters those 60+ mile weeks are, and how I can feel the huge fitness gains after they are done. However, the potential injury downside to those high-mileage weeks is too great. I don't want to return to "Injury Jail" anytime soon, so I'm trying to stay focused on training for a fun and moderately-fast Chicago Marathon, and then start really training for a fast spring marathon. I have to keep reminding myself to not "let loose" in my training until I get to those fantastic runs by the lake in January and February.

My marathon P.R. finish line photo (March 2011)

In any case, I do have an "A" goal for the Chicago Marathon which I will share for the first time here: BQ at the Chicago Marathon. If my training goes according to plan, and if I run a smart, conservative race, I should be able to go sub-3:25, and BQ. I already have a BQ time from last year's race (3:10), which I could theoretically use for 2014. but it would be nice to know that I did it again. My "B" goal is to finish with a smile.

In other week #2 news, I worked out at the gym three times and did yoga twice. Week #3 is in progress...