8/16

Today was supposed to be a rest day but I ran six miles (makes sense, right?)  I opted to run tonight because I'm hoping to go hiking Saturday, and I figured that I would have more free time tonight than I would tomorrow.

Pretty tired, so I didn't push incredibly hard.  Ran at a level 1 resistance and threw in some hills of 2, 3, and 5 resistance.  Stopped at 2.2 and 4.7 miles for water.

Six miles; right around 9/mile...not great, but not bad considering that it was a treadmill run at the very end of a day where I was so tired I fell asleep reading to the kids...multiple times!

8/13

This is the farthest I've run in the last ten months (since that half-marathon I ran in my first trimester).  And it was hot--yuck!  The weather really cooled off so it was kind of a shock having it comparatively hot (plus let's be honest, I'm not one who loves running in the evening).

Neil and I ran together which was great--we haven't been able to do that since December.  It was really nice to spend some time on the trails with him, even if it wasn't the best performance run ever--it was hot enough that we stopped twice for water and then probably every mile or mile and a half we walked for a minute to just try to keep our core temperatures down (Neil was pretty bushed by the end of the run since he has been sick and hasn't exercised much since Luke was born, but he was a trooper and stuck it out!)  We also ran a LOT of hills--4 miles on the roads and 2 miles through the woods. 

6 miles, not sure on pace--probably around 9ish?

10/8 & 10/9

Starting tapering!  Hurray!  We're almost there.

Ran three last night; I was pretty tired so I didn't really start to enjoy the run until the last half-mile, at which point I thought about continuing, but I still had a ton of grading to do and it was dark enough that it was hard to see.

Ran a lovely seven this morning.  I'm not timing myself anymore, on the advice of more experienced pregnant runners, so I don't really know what my pace was, but it took me 71 minutes to run 7 miles, stop for water 4 times, find someone to unlock the nature center bathroom and then use the bathroom.  So I think that's pretty good. 

In our original plan we were going to run 12 today, but I'm glad we decided to just do 7 (Neil actually only ran 6, haha I won!) because all our kids are so sick that we couldn't have left them with anyone else, we have the longest to-do list today that we've had in months, and I just plain don't want to run run 12 miles by myself.  So I'm really happy with today's run.  Now I have to go mow the lawn.  The end. 

STATS:  3 miles 10/8, 7 miles 10/9

9/25

Ten long, hard, painful miles tonight.

We had our friends' children overnight, and it was an exhausting day (their parents picked them up at 6 pm this evening after dinner).  I was dreading the run all day.  And it was pretty bad--both Neil and I were just tired and worn out.  Running in the evening is always really hard for me anyway, but today was especially difficult.  The first five miles were pretty good, then we stopped and got a drink and it started raining.  And it was completely dark by this time.  So it was raining and dark and cold (55 degrees, which is normally pleasant but in the dark and rain was a little chilly). 

My knees and arches were aching by the time we finished the next four.  We needed to get back to relieve the friend who was watching our kids (did I mention we watched their kids too last night, so we had 9 kids?) and so then I ran the last mile on the treadmill.  It was a really miserable mile, but it was standing between me and my no-missed-runs record for training for this race.  Kind of like how I didn't miss a single day of early-morning seminary until the very last day of junior year, when I had a required field trip that left at 5:00 AM.  I guess it's a mental thing.


Sidenote:  Neil is at the store right now buying bacon.  I have been craving BLTs since I picked tomatoes earlier today and realized that it's a long time until next summer's tomatoes, since we've quit buying them from the grocery store for the last couple years.  I have had bacon exactly twice in the last two years (on my birthday in 2009 and on my sister's birthday this June while we were camping--the burned nasty I had at IKEA doesn't count) so I am really looking forward to this.  There's very little I miss meat-wise about being vegetarian, but I do miss bacon. And sausage.  (you know, those super-healthy high-quality meats.)

STATS:  10 miles; deliberately did not time

9/10

AWESOME run last night.  Seriously.  The picture is not mine, but that's pretty much exactly what it looked like.

We got out of our temple session at about 8 pm and sat in traffic while we watched the sun go down.  I sighed and said to Neil, "It's going to be completely dark."  And he peered glumly out into the dusk and said, "Yep."

So we decided that we'd at least run four miles, which was our short run for the weekend that we were planning to do Saturday, and if necessary we'd run the ten on Saturday.

Here's the thing:  we live in the country.  Running after dusk there means it's pitch-black, you can't see anything, and you're falling all over the place.  Nobody else is out and quite frankly, it's not very safe.

Running after dusk in Chicago means all the streetlights are on and there are a gazillion people out everywhere just beginning the night.  It was crazy bright!  I seriously felt like the little country mouse gawking at all the lights.

We parked near Children's Memorial Hospital, where Neil's brother used to work.  We ran down Fullerton looking at all the gorgeous row houses, then looped through Lincoln Park and around the lake (which was completely dark with no lights.  A little exciting).  We passed a fancy restaurant right on the edge of the lake--with all its windows and doors open to the gorgeous night air--which was only accessible by foot.  Which I thought was really cool.

We left Lincoln Park and ran along the beach for almost three miles.  This was SO cool, because there was quite a lot of wind, and we were running along the breakwater, and the waves were pounding against it and breaking up over the breakwater near our feet (we ended up running higher for most of the time so we didn't get wet, but oh my goodness, it was so gorgeous).  There were all these boats out moving around in the harbor--enormous yachts, tall-masted sailboats, and tiny little speedboats.  Chicago rose up in front of us and the skyline was absolutely beautiful.  I wish I'd been able to take a picture--it was amazing.  I used the enormous fancily-lit sign of the Drake Hotel as my goal for about two miles!  We were running right next to Lakeshore Drive most of the way, so we were about 100 yards away from the high-rise apartment buildings and hotels lining Lakeshore.  If you've ever driven that at night, you know how spectacular it is; from our perspective near the lake with the light reflecting into the crashing waves, it was just beautiful.  

We ram out to Navy Pier, which was kind of crazy and carnival-esque; I've been there during the day but never during the night, and it was totally different.  The air reeked of fried dough, which smelled good from about a mile away and was totally nauseating up close after I'd run five miles.  We ran past all the beer gardens and the Ferris wheel (wish we'd brought some cash!) and out to the very end of the pier away from all the lights and the noise, where we paused for a minute and watched the tall ship Windy sail away from the pier and out into the harbor.  Then we ran back again.

Some cool things we passed right on the beach--built-in chessboards, a whole bunch of Muslim women on the sand with their babies dressed in gorgeous saris and jewels (at 10 pm, which I thought was kind of cool), about a gazillion runners and bikers, lots of fountains, a roller-hockey rink (with a heated game in progress), and a restaurant with live palm trees that looked very unhappy in the Chicago wind.

We ended our run at Noodles in the Pot, one of Neil's very favorite restaurants.  We ordered a couple of curry dishes to go (it was about 10:30 pm by this point), drank a lot of water, then drove back to our hotel and took extremely hot showers (great showerhead, thank you hotel!!) and ate our curries while we watched an episode of Glee, then we both completely collapsed into instant sleep at 1:15 am (it took awhile to get back to the hotel).

Long story short:  we ran through Lincoln Park, along the beach for three miles with the waves and the wind and the gorgeous Chicago skyline lit up just feet away, and out to the end of Navy Pier.  And back.  Seriously, it was SUCH an awesome run.

STATS:  10 miles; 1 hour 34 minutes, about 9:24/mile--slower than I'd like, but then again, it was pretty late and we were pretty tired.

image

9/3

We did our long run tonight, since it was the only time we could find someone to watch our kids.  I'm definitely not a fan of the evening long runs; I'm always tired (plus it's hot!).  But better an evening run together than a morning run alone.

Nasty wind tonight--very, very nasty.  It was blowing so hard that I felt like we could have gone faster at a walking pace some of the time.  But on the other hand, the wind kept it cooler (about 66 degrees) so that was the silver lining.

Same long run as the last couple weeks; we'll probably keep running that and just adding length, since it's got a good mix of hills. 

We tried to keep the pace under 9/mile, and were pretty successful most of the time, but we ended up stopping to walk twice and once for water:  stopped around mile 5.5 and walked for a few hundred yards to ease the weird leg cramps from running up the suicide hill against the wind, stopped about mile 7.5 (after running two miles straight into the wind; both of us were having trouble swallowing because our mouths were so dry, so we walked and coughed for a ways, and then we stopped about half a mile after that at a drinking fountain.  Thank goodness, because we were completely parched from the wind; I don't know why either of us didn't think to grab a water bottle.  I'm not too stressed about the stops, since I can't run while I drink anyway (unless I want to be coughing and spitting for the next half mile), so I'll have to walk through the water stops. 

STATS:  9 miles; 8:55ish/mile (started out at 7:52/mile, running around 9: 13/mile at the very end).  Extremely strong winds!!

8/24

We're watching our friends' kids on Saturday while the wife does a triathalon, so we did our long run tonight (not ideal, but that's just how it worked out).

We ran mostly the same course that we ran on Saturday, but we were both definitely more tired with more aches and pains--it was a pretty grueling day for both of us today, especially since it's one of the two days a week that Neil goes to the lab at 6:30 am so he can get in lots of quiet worktime before anybody else gets there.  And it was a pretty hectic day here too (doctors' visits in both morning and afternoon, fun fun).

When we first started running I felt terrible.  At the first quarter-mile, I honestly didn't know if I'd be able to finish.  Around a mile and a half, I was focusing on not throwing up (partially because the bog at 8 pm REEKS).  So we detoured for water, and walked for a minute around the drinking fountain, and then I felt a lot better.  We ran steadily for another couple of miles, then down through the glacial ravine and back up again, and when we reached the top of that hill--which honestly, I have never in my life come across a steeper hill on a trail; it's like a total scramble (Happy Hollow to the Indian Trails trailhead, if you're local)--when we got to the top of that, Neil wanted to walk for a minute.  Which is the first time that's ever happened since we've been running together, so that tells you something about how tired we both were.  At this point we were about five miles in.

So we walked for a minute, and then we started running back home again.  We passed a lot of people with grocery sacks in their hands (like seriously a million) and I made some comment about root-beer floats that practically killed Neil for the rest of the run...I think he was dreaming of fizzy happiness for the next three miles.  Poor guy.  I kept saying, "Just remember!  Carbonation is bad for distance running!"  and he would say things like, "But I'm not going to drink it...just eat it."  Then he asked if we could make samosas when we got home.  I guess having Chicago restaurants as our main topic of conversation was kind of a tricky choice...

We detoured for water again, then we started running back through the woods for the final leg, and oh my goodness--it was practically pitch black.  Neil suggested we turn around, but I get really fixated on running a mapped course rather than freestyling...so we just kept going, albeit quite a bit more slowly  I could barely see the ground under my feet, and we kept warning each other about roots and dead branches and exciting things like that.  So that made the end of the run quite exciting, and when we were out of the woods, I was totally in my zone.  Too bad we only had a mile left, right?  By the time we were back in our neighborhood I seriously felt like I could have run forever.  I kept picking up the pace and by the time we hit our driveway, I was running faster than I had the rest of the night.  Go figure.  It only takes 8 miles for me to start feeling good.  Plus it probably helped that it was MUCH cooler by that point.

STATS:  8+ miles, very hilly, trail run, not sure on time (somewhere around 85 minutes with  2 drink and stretching breaks, 1 walking break,  and woods-trail slowdowns)

8/21

Best run EVER this morning.  We ran a new route that we haven't done before, and we talked about parenting and goals and creating a more purposeful family the entire time.  At one point when we'd run about four miles, Neil said, "I can't believe we've gone so far--the time has flown by!" and that was pretty much how it was the entire time.  It was great--this is one of the main reasons why I like training, since it's just awesome to have my husband all to myself and do something that energizes us so much (hurray, endorphins!) and talk the entire time and work things out and feel so positive afterwards, both mentally and physically.

Of course, all the talking means we're not running super hard, since we were still talking comfortably, but it was worth it.  And we ran a pretty challenging course today--we parked near the beginning of the bog loop trail, so we ran up the hills to the bog, through the woods, which has some pretty steep hills, up the mogul-type hills by the golf course where the bog has made the sidewalk swell (in moguls), and then we ran downhill for a mile through a glacial ravine, and then back UP that glacial ravine trail, which is steep enough that it's quite difficult to do just on a bike.  There's a bit at the very end where I always feel like my nose is going to bang into my knees.  And then back again over the whole course.

And my shoes were great--my feet didn't hurt at all, and because I was so wrapped up in talking with Neil, I didn't notice the heaviness one bit.  It was seriously a fantastic way to start out the weekend--I LOVE running with my husband.  Love, love, love it.  It's nice to look forward to the long runs so fervently.  :-)

STATS:  8.12 miles, around 9:50ish a mile (definitely under 80 minutes, but we weren't really worrying about time), very hilly

8/13

I woke up at 5:45 today to go running.  I was out by six, it was so dark I could see about ten feet of sidewalk in front of me.  Fog swirled across the path, and I watched the sun rise.

I ran a mile and a half to the trailhead where I was meeting my running buddy (who ended up being a little late this morning, so I had time to eat the banana I'd carried over, get a drink from the fountain, and run around the trailhead loop).  When she got there, we ran four miles (down to the end of the road and back).  Then we said goodbye and I ran the mile and a half home.  I did the long run today since we're planning to go to the beach tomorrow, and I don't want to fall asleep in the sand. 

Running felt good today, but I did not necessarily feel so good.  This isn't the sort of thing I normally go around talking about, but since it affects my training, we'll just say that it's that time of month, so I am really proud of myself for running at all.  Slow though I was, at least I didn't have to stop and throw up.  My goal today was simple:  just keep running.  Slow is just fine today.

STATS:  7 miles, 9:04/mile

8/7

Three years ago today, I was in labor with Juliet.  Today I ran six miles (hot, long, and boring); I almost think I'd prefer labor if I'd asked for the epidural earlier.

Neil and I were up laaaate last night canning and freezing (yesterday I processed 30 lbs of beans and a case of dilly beans, then Neil and I canned salsa last night when the kids were in bed).  So we didn't really want to get up at 6 am this morning to run, nor did we want to switch off running earlier in the morning, since it was Juliet's birthday and we were doing all the presents and hoopla there.

So I left about 10:30 to start running, and it may have actually been 77 degrees, but man, it felt so hot! When I ran through the woods it was pure bliss to be in the shade.  By the end, I had cold chills, which is never a good sign in the heat...

I finally got my Nike + calibrated and the sensor taped underneath my laces--I ran a mile this morning and it actually measured it as a mile (8:23).  Then I ran another five miles, and it kept turning off on me when I accidentally bumped it or something.  I can see now why everyone straps it to their arm; holding it in your hand or tucking it in your clothes seems to not work with the sensitive sensor.

So I'm not exactly sure how long my 6 miles took me, since I had to restart the workout 4 times, but the first mile was 8:23 and the last mile was 9:09, so if I just average that, it comes out to 8:40/mile.  Not too bad. Now I have to go mow the lawn, since I'm already sweaty.  Need more water!!

STATS:  6 miles, hills, 8:40/mile

7/31

There's something just wrong about getting up at 6 am on a Saturday to go run in the drizzle, but up we got.
My running buddy came over at 6:15 to watch our kids (we're trading back and forth; I'm going over there tonight) so that Neil and I could go together.

This was our first long run; we ran 3 miles down to campus and 3 miles back.  It was beautifully cool for a change, and thanks to the sprinkling rain, it felt like practically zero humidity.  We ran all the hills we could find, including the big one by campus.  The elevation change is 135 feet; the elevation change on the first half-marathon hill looks to be about 150 feet, so I'm hoping that if we just keep running this hill every week that the half-marathon hill won't be so bad. 

Actually, that hill was much easier than I expected.  I'm hoping this is a good sign--I didn't ever feel like I needed to stop and walk, and I didn't have any cramps or twinges in my legs.  The callus on my left foot started to bother me at the end of the run, so I'm wondering if I should go see if there's something I can do about that...

We went pretty slow this morning, since we were both tired (and did I mention a bunch of hills?).  I'm going to calibrate my Nike sensor this week so that I can actually start telling how fast we're going, instead of checking watches every so often.

STATS:  6 miles, a little under an hour but I'm honestly not sure