Chicago Marathon Registration Closed

5 months 1 week and 5 days (who's counting right?) until the 2008 Chicago Marathon and registration closed today with the exception of a few charity slots. Registration closing somehow makes it seem that much closer..... my recovery is going well, I just need to continue taking it slow and easy building my mileage base back up. I'm looking forward to running my 3rd marathon this October with 45,000 of my new best friends.

Running with a Garmin

The thing I like about running with a Garmin is that you can just go whereever and have immediate feedback as to the distance that you ran. I wasn't sure where I was going when I headed out today at lunch. I wound up running from Timberloch down Grogans Mill to South Millbend. I crossed Grogans Mill then went behind the WAC and followed trails to the Nature Trail entrance on North Millbend. I took North Millbend back to Grogans Mill and Timberloch for a nice 5 1/4 mile run.

I don't usually see but one or two people during these weekday lunch runs and I was sorta counting on that today. I was running late this morning and just made sure that I had one each of my running gear. When I went down to the fitness center to change, I realized I had burgundy shorts, purple socks, and orange shoes (and a white shirt). It was a truly a fashion police alert and of course I saw more people on the trails today than I've seen combined since I started running at lunch weekdays back in October. C'est la vie!

TV Alert: Ryan Shay Special Tonight

I just got an email from Dan Jordan with the following content:

It's been nearly six months since Ryan Shay collapsed and died during the Men's Olympic Marathon
Trials, sending shock waves through the running community and leaving his wife,
Alicia, a widow just months after their marriage.
Tonight at 7:00 p.m.,
Eastern time, ESPN's sports news
show E:60 airs a segment on Ryan and Alicia. (The piece on the Shays is about 20
minutes of the one-hour show.)
A press release offers the following
description:
E:60 reporter Lisa Salters sits down with Ryan’s widow, Alicia,
to explore Shay’s promising running career and sudden death. Alicia
recalls her last words to Ryan and her impressions of him when she saw him
running barely a mile before he took his last steps. She also recounts her
struggle to move forward without her husband and best friend while she continues
to train for the U.S. women’s Olympic trials in the 10,000 meters.
“I just think about him all the time,” Alicia says, “I’d like to say that I feel
his presence with me all the time, but in all honesty there is a huge void
…”
If you can't catch the first airing, ESPN2 will re-run the show at 11:00
p.m. (EST)

I'm going to try and catch this tonight; may have to be ESPN2 at 10 because I have a conference call here at work scheduled til 6. The clip that I saw on ESPN looked really sad. Alicia is scheduled to resume her racing this Sunday running the 10K at the Cardinal Invitational. That's gonna be a tough race for her as Sunday would have been Ryan's 29th birthday.

It's hard to believe its been almost 6 months since the US mens Olympic qualifying trials in New York. I remember trying to watch the trials that Satursday morning online but couldn't connect for some reason. I was shocked when reading later that day about Ryan's death. I was still feeling bummed about his death the following Tuesday when I discovered that we share the same birthday (just 15 years apart). His death along with the 3 everyday non elite runners the month before (Chicago and Army 10 miler the hot weekend and Boardwalk 1/2 in Atlantic City the following weekend) prompted me to schedule an appointment with my cardiologist. I have a heart condition (WPW Syndrome) and a family history of high blood pressure and I had not followed up on my condition in about 10 years. I underwent a nuclear imaging stress test and an echocardiogram in December and just started taking blood pressure meds earlier this month.

I went for a run during lunch today; it was absolutely gorgeous weather out there today. It felt so much better out there compared to last week.

Sunday Afternoon Long Run

I ended up the week with an 11.5 mile long run from the house up Branch Crossing to the Alden Bridge loop late this afternoon. The weather was a pleasant change from the humidity earlier in the week. I had planned on a marathon pace run Saturday but ended up not running due to blood pressure issues. For the first time since I started taking blood pressure meds at the beginning of the month, my pressure was much lower than normal Friday evening. I woke up Saturday morning with it 96 over 67 and not feeling like doing much of anything. So I didn't take the pill Saturday or today. I checked the bp an hour or so after running and its still in the normal range.
I still have some pain in my left achilles; I probably should be icing it now.

Dead Legs

Running hasn't been easy this week. I think it may have something to do with the 10 pounds or so I'm carrying around due to the inactivity earlier this year. Hopefully that will come off quickly as the running progresses. I'm going to shuffle my schedule around based on the timing of the front that is supposed to come through Sunday to cool us off one last time this spring here in Houston. Monday and Tuesday looks to be awesome running weather.

Nature Trail Weekday Lunch Time Run

I ran the Nature Trail again from my office on Timberloch at lunch today. I reversed the direction to see if the Woodlands Pky/E Panther Creek intersection worked better from the other direction. It worked well; only problem was that the Southshore Park water fountain came a little over a mile in the run instead of with just a little over a mile to go.
Its gonna probably take a week or two to acclimate to the warmer, humid weather that we are starting to experience here in the Houston area. That said, I'm already looking forward to the first cool, fall weather we get over 6 months from now!!!! Oh well, maybe we can squeeze one more cool snap before the summer heat settles in.
I need to start stretching after running, especially these lunch runs. That will give me time to ccol down in addition to improving my flexibility. I was still sweating after showering and getting back to work upstairs. It kinda felt like I forgot to dry myself off after the shower.

Flintridge "Hills"

Ran the 4 mile Flintridge out and back route tonight at an easy pace. I was totally soaking wet after running even taking it easy. I ran into Nora Wilson after the turnaround point. I congratulated her on her Ironman Arizona finish and heard how she crashed at mile 86 on her bike. She then mentioned that she ran Boston yesterday..... that's totally awesome!!!!

Race to Robie Creek 1 Year Ago

Saturday April 21, 2007 I ran the toughest 1/2 marathon course that I have run to date and it showed. Race to Robie Creek is advertised as "The Toughest Half Marathon in the Northwest." The race starts at Fort Boise Park in Boise, Idaho and goes into Rocky Canyon climbing over 2000 feet to Aldape Summit at about the 8.5 mile mark. There is then a 1700 foot drop to the finish over less than 5 miles ending at Robie Creek.
This was my 5th consecutive weekend traveling and I had a head cold mainly due to all the tree pollen in the air here in The Woodlands. I also had my first taste of outer hip pain either due to bursitis or an IT band issue earlier that month. This has been the only race that I've traveled to out of state and seriously considered not starting. The factor that got me to the start line morning of was knowing that I'd have to return to Idaho if I didn't get this race done.
I started the race slow and got slower as the race wore on. I was joined by the majority of runners that walked the steeper inclines in the 8.5 mile ascent. Once over the summit, the last 5 or so miles of the race were pleasant with the steep descent. Around mile 12 I got a minor nose bleed that had me wanting to see the finish line so bad. The bleeding was minor but with less than a mile to go in a 1/2 marathon I had nothing to wipe the blood with so just sort of had to deal with it. That's the only aid station that I had to seek after a race.
After eating my baked potato at the finish (it was Idaho) I caught a bus back to my rental car to get back to my hotel. I slept the rest of the day.

Chasing Weekend Sun

I took advantage of the cool mornings both Saturday and Sunday this weekend to sleep in instead of get out and run. I did run both days but they were both late afternoon/early evening runs. I ran 4 Saturday a little slower than what my target marathon pace will be for Chicago and 9 today at a slower long run pace. Both felt decent; I plan on following one of the Higdon intermediate marathon training programs which calls for this shorter distance marathon pace run on Saturday and a longer run on Sunday.

Ricos but no Ritas

Seven of us met up at Ricos in Alden Bridge Shopping Center in The Woodlands for our Thursday evening social run. These Thursday evening social runs began a little over 2 years ago during Woodlands Fit off-season. Attendance is usually higher during or closer to the Woodlands Fit/Houston marathon training season.

I ran the 4.4 mile Alden Bridge loop backwards; we started out slow and ended up with an average pace of 8:45. I felt good again tonight but kept reminding myself to take it easy on the comeback. My mileage for the week is already higher than last weeks with what I consider to be better quality runs as well. Afterwards we grabbed a bite to eat on the side patio at Ricos. I've laid off alcohol since I started taking blood pressure meds earlier this month so had my other vice of choice (diet coke) instead. Grant didn't join us for dinner so I was the only guy there tonight. Heard way too much information on spandex, running bras, and what not. Guess guys have it way easy.

Gonna take today off and see if I get Saturday and/or Sunday mileage in. Should be a great weekend for it!!!!

One of My Favorite Running Quotes

"Perhaps the genius of distance running is its supreme lack of utility. It makes no sense in a world of space ships and supercomputers to run vast distances on foot. There is no money in it and no fame, frequently not even the approval of peers. But as poets, apostles and philosophers have insisted from the dawn of time, there is more to life than logic and common sense. The runners know this instinctively. And they know something else that is lost on the sedentary. They understand, perhaps better than anyone, that the doors to the spirit will swing open with physical effort. In running such long and taxing distances they answer a call from the deepest realms of their being -- a call that asks who they are ..."
Kevin Tiller, Sydney Australia

I feel like I'm starting to get my legs back after battling this tendonitis the last 3 months. Now I just need to build up a base the next couple of months in order to start my mid June Chicago marathon training. It's gonna be a long, hot, sweaty summer!!!!

Nature Trail Weekday Lunch Time Run

After blowing off running Monday and finally getting out the door after 7 yesterday evening, I brought my running gear to work and went out for a run at lunch time today. The weather has warmed up from the past couple of days but it felt nice out there. I ran from my office near Timberloch down Grogans Mill to North Millbend and took the Nature Trail to Glen Loch then headed back to Timberloch via Panther Creek and Woodlands Parkway. I began using the free running log at Runners World sometime last fall and just discovered that there's a way to link the PR's and recent workouts from there to here. Technology is awesome!!!!

Nagging Achilles

I wrapped up last week with a couple more runs with Waldo and a couple more on my own. I was planning on doing a long run either Saturday or Sunday but my calves were somewhat tight so I just listened to my body and did 4.5 miles on my longest run. I'm ready to get over this achilles tendonitis issue so I can get back to serious miles. I was able to take advantage of the great weather and had this weekend and do some much needed yardwork at least!

Easy weekday running

I signed up for the 50&DC 1/2 Marathon Group late last week. I usually don't but I went ahead and included my race last weekend in my stats. Kinda like wearing the event shirt on race day, I never do that. This group counts 1/2 or longer distance in getting to the 50; half2run is all about the 1/2. Since I don't plan on running 1/2's in states where I'm running fulls, I'll be able to complete all 50 in this group unlike half2run. Plus there's another shirt involved :-)
I picked Waldo up from Dogs Day Inn on the way home from work yesterday afternoon. He was excited to see me. We went for a mile and a half run around 6 last night; he slowed on me near the end but seemed to enjoy himself. My achilles is feeling much better than it was a month or 2 ago; the soreness post run doesn't last nearly as long as before. Just need to continue taking it easy on the recovery.

Journey to Mars

I picked up another state in my 50 state half marathon or greater distance quest this past weekend. It was my first new state in almost 6 months and it will be a little over 6 months before I complete state number 33 in Chicago this October.

The Martian half marathon is held in Dearborn, MI just outside of Detroit along with the final 1.2 miles of a kids marathon, a 10k and a marathon. They had around 2200 people running in Sunday's marathon/half marathon combined start. The tech race shirt given at the expo was clearly the most colorful race shirt that I have received to date.

The course was mostly flat on roads that had many potholes; I guess they would call these craters on Mars. In my calendar on athlinks.com, I predicted a 1:59:00 finish time due to my low mileage since mid January due to tendonitis in my lower left achilles. My finish time was 1:58:42... within 18 seconds of my projected time so I guess I should be alright with the performance. The achilles injury plus related weight gain due to inactivity have really slowed me down from just a year ago. I hope to get back in shape in time to begin my June training for Chicago. My mile splits from Sunday along with my 1/2 PR splits last February were:

Mile 1: 9:22/7:52

Mile 2: 8:53/7:33

Mile 3: 8:47/7:35

Mile 4: 8:50/7:13

Mile 5: 8:42/7:10

Mile 6: 8:48/7:30

Mile 7: 8:49/7:28

Mile 8: 8:50/7:22

Mile 9: 8:53/7:32

Mile 10: 9:29/7:42

Mile 11: 9:22/7:35

Mile 12: 9:26/7:30

Last 1.1: 10:24/9:02

Total: 1:58:42/1:39:05

I've been reading alot lately about the airline industry's poor record in flight on time arrivals and such over the past couple of years. I traveled to at least 10 half marathons in 2006 and 2007 and only experienced weather related delays on a couple of instances. I experienced first hand in both my flight to and return from Detroit this past weekend how tight airlines are operating these days. My Continental flight out of IAH Saturday morning was supposed to depart at 10:20 putting me in Detroit mid afternoon with plenty of time to check into the hotel and make it to the expo to pick up my packet. Due to unknown mechanical issues (I guess it's better not knowing sometimes) the flight was delayed over 4 hours. The one good thing about the delay is that the plane was being worked on in a hangar and we were not on board the plane. I ended up getting in my rental car at 7:30 and rushed to the expo to get my packet right before it shut down at 8:00.

My return flight was on Northwest. I got to the airport early and was able to get onto an earlier flight. We boarded the plane about 10 minutes later than planned, taxied to the runway, had a sensor fail and had to taxi back. A quick fix was performed while we remained on board and we taxied out a 2nd time only to have the same problem and had to taxi back to the gate again. A more extensive repair was done while we remained on board and after over a 2 hour delay spent on board the aircraft we taxied a 3rd time and finally took off. I'm glad I have over 2 months before my next scheduled trip. It really amazed me that both Continental at IAH and Northwest in Detroit, both major hubs for the respective airlines, did not have standby planes available.

The Other Boston Marathon

DisneyRunning.com forum had the below link posted.....

http://boston.going.com/event-271119;The_ULTIMATE_Beer_mini_Marathon

The event brings back memories of the Barathon held every May in uptown New Orleans. That event has 6 bars and about 6 miles; there is no set course but every bar must be visited in the assigned order. A beer every bar and many more post race always made for a great run!!!

http://home.earthlink.net/~rayward7/tchoupitoulasbarathon2004/

Last night was our Thursday night social run from Rico's in Alden Bridge. I did the shorter route.... still on my comeback/taper schedule and thought the 4 miles were pretty tough last night. That will most likely be it until I run the Martian 1/2 in Dearborn, MI Sunday morning. I need to keep telling myself to treat it as a training run. I need to recover so that I can start my Chicago training healthy in June.

More Garmin Issues

I remembered to bring my Garmin in my workout bag to work this morning; forgot my towel instead today but thats another issue..... I charged the Garmin using the wall plug last night cuz it was still charging when i shut down my computer; it was fully charged this morning. The issue I had today was that the unit never exited the "Locating Satellites...." screen. Usually it goes to the default screen display once it locates the satellites. Was cloudy; hopefully that was the issue. I did run with it and it did seem to be accurate. I ran the same course as Monday in order to see what that mileage was; 2.56 miles for both Monday and today. This is the longest streak that I've had in some time; 5 consecutive days albeit short distance and slow pace. I'm calling it my comeback/taper combo.

Flintridge

I met some of my Woodlands Fit friends at Forestgate Park this evening to run Flintridge. Still dealing with shin splints from Sunday's run at Huntsville, I ran the less hilly part of the course. My Garmin battery died before I started the run so not sure what kind of pace I did tonight. I did drive it after and it was about 2 1/2 miles. The Garmin must've been on when I removed it from the dock because I'm sure it was fully charged when I removed it. Glad it happened tonight and not this Sunday in Michigan. I'm looking forward to my last few days of cooler weather when I travel up there Saturday. Forecast highs in upper 40s and lows in mid 30s is so different than the heat and humidity that's already starting here in the Gulf South.