These shoes were made for running

...and running, and running, and running.

Folks, I am here to tell you that Saturday was our 16-miler, and both Agnes and I finished it with relative ease. Which is to say: it was really hard. But compared to my 14-miler agony, it was a breeze! What a difference the weather makes...

Saturday was overcast and drizzling a bit as we made our way to the 31st-Street Beach running location. This is not where we usually go, so I was simultaneously looking forward to a change of scenery and dreading the unknown. The weather actually gave me hope, as I was (and still am) convinced that I was knocked out during the 14-miler by: a) the sweltering sun and b) improper hydration in the week leading up to the run. This last week I did a much better job of drinking water and I could tell the difference even as I was getting ready Saturday morning. I felt more energetic, and I didn't feel thirsty at all. And when I saw the weather, I was heartened because I wan't going to have to deal with the sun so much. The temperature was mid-70s.

Right away when we started I felt pretty good. To run 16 miles starting from the 31st-Street Beach location, we first run 4.5 miles north to Oak Street Beach (just north of Navy Pier), then back past our starting point, then 3.5 miles south (just past the Museum of Science and Industry)

...okay, apologies... I started this post days ago and got to that last bit before I got interrupted, and I only now have been able to get back to it! The thrust of it was that the 16-miler went really well. We took the gels that we knew that we liked and hydrated really well and all in all it was great. The one thing that I wish that I had done differently was to have done a better job applying sunscreen. I run wearing a racing singlet, which exposes the backs of my shoulders to sunlight, but I forgot to apply sunscreen there. So I ended up with a totally sexy patterned sunburn that looks kind of like this:


Anyway, tomorrow is a recovery distance run of only eight miles. Thank goodness!

And a quick fundraising note... look up there! > $4000 and there is still time! So if you haven't donated, or you want to donate again, or you want to pass this along to someone else, now is the time. Thanks so much for reading and for helping me to raise this money!

Take care and I will talk to you again soon...

Holy crapola

Okay, so maybe the fourteen-miler kicked my ass. Maybe.

The truth is that the fourteen-miler kicked my ass, rubbed my face in the dirt, and made me say "My name is Kenny and I like to eat poo poo" until I finally burst into tears and started begging for my mommy.

I don't know for sure what it was, though I have theories. For one, I'm pretty sure that I was dehydrated. I did an okay job of hydrating the day before, but I think that throughout the week before I was having too much caffeine (a diuretic, though there is evidence that it might not have as large of an impact on hydration as previously thought) and not enough water. Another thing was that the heat and sun were just brutal. The third possibility (and the current front-runner in the race for Kenner-ass-kicking causation) is that I am fat and still not in good enough shape.

Whatever the reason, I was really struggling. We ran from Foster down to Oak Street and back, and by the time we were turning around to head back I already knew that I was in trouble. My group was good to walk a full interval with me to let me try to get back in my groove, then we ran again. But in the last mile, after a bird defecated on my shoulder, I decided to walk again. The ignominy! Agnes walked with me and then we ran in the last quarter mile or so.

It bears mentioning that Agnes was in strict contrast to me; she seemed like she could have gone on for miles. She only walked because I was walking.

Yes, I like to think that I function as the anchor in this relationship. Get to know me and I can drag you down, too...

Anyway, I plan to bounce back. I am hydrating better this week and this morning's 40-minute run felt pretty good. This weekend we are scaling back again to just do seven miles, and I am glaaaaaad. The next week is sixteen miles, and I'm hoping to handle that a little bit better.

Fourteen is only two times seven

Howdy, kids. Welcome to another installment of Kennerpiece Theatre.

Just got back from this morning's run, about to hop in the shower. Agnes and I really did not feel like running today, but we did it. And, as usual, we are glad that we did. As I've mentioned, the weekday runs are only forty minutes, so it's not really the distance that's the problem. It's the getting up out of bed so early! Evening is not a good option so our only real choice is to do it in the morning. That means we have to haul ourselves out of bed while it's still dark, and that is just not my nature.

Anyway, the run didn't feel very good at first but I loosened up over time and by the time that it was over, I was feeling pretty good.

I have skipped over a few updates (sorry!), so to bring you up to speed... we ran our 12-miler a couple of Saturdays ago at Mount Magazine State Park in Arkansas. Hold on, though, before you get to enthralled by the majesty and wonder of running along beautiful nature trails; we ran it in the workout room at the lodge there. It was just too difficult to try to measure out twelve miles precisely up on the mountain, so we opted to do it where we knew that a) we would do the correct distance, and b) we would not be attacked by bears. Anyway, it went pretty well. The only lowlight was afterwards, when I (gross) finally lost that toenail that was giving me trouble. Things have actually been a lot better since it came off, so I don't really mind. That toe hasn't hurt at all. But... now the same toe on the other foot is having the same problem. I'm pretty sure that it's my shoes that are causing this phenomenon. In any case, I'm actually just sort of hoping that the other toenail comes off soon, too. Because it's really no big deal, and that puts a stop to the pressure pain on the toe. (end gross)

In gel news, for the 12-miler I had Powerbar's Double Latte, Gu's Orange Burst, and one other that I forget. I really liked the Double Latte one; it was less like a gel and more liquid-y, making it more like doing a shot of coffee than a throatful of gel. Plus, it has 50mg of caffeine, which punched up my run a bit. The Orange Burst one was less enjoyable.

Last Saturday was a six-mile recovery run with our pace group, who we rejoined after a couple of weeks' absence. It was good to get back with our group. We will definitely all need to support one another for next week's run: fourteen miles. Get ready.

Hope all's well with all of you out there... thanks for stopping in and reading! Have a great day.

Double digits

Hello again, friends. Hope you are all having (or, did have) a great weekend. On this end, Agnes and I ran our 10-miler today! We normally run with our pace group on Saturdays, but because of various things that we had to get done in a very small amount of time, we had to miss yesterday's group run and instead do it ourselves today. Anyway, it really went pretty well. We are both groaning and complaining about various aches and pains now, but I think that we really did a pretty good job and don't have that much to complain about.

But don't get me wrong... I am sore.

This week we are starting to really step up (read: "start") our cross training. So far we have been running almost exclusively, but we really need the cross training both for additional endurance and to strengthen our respective core muscles. We have put together a plan to make this happen, now it's just a matter of execution!

As I said, the run today was pretty good. Part of this was that yesterday we went by Fleet Feet and bought scads and scads of different flavors of gels. For those of you that don't know, "gels" are little packets of... gel. They are very accessible carbs and other nutrients like sodium and (in some) caffeine. The prescribed method for running these long distances is to consume carbs about every 45 minutes of prolonged activity. So, in today's run, we had half a Clif bar each before we started and then we had two gels during the run. Now, gels are not the kind of thing that you would ever reach for when you want a snack, but they are just the ticket when you need that quick carb boost during your run. I like those with caffeine, as well, though you have to be careful because, of course, caffeine is a diuretic. Anyway, today I had the "Espresso Love" and "Lemon Sublime" flavors of GU brand gel. I'm here to say that the Espresso Love was pretty tasty, and maybe it was the 2x caffeine content, but I definitely felt a little bit of a boost. Later, the Lemon Sublime was somewhat less satisfying. It tasted okay, but it made my water (which you always want to use to chase your gel) taste a little bit funny. But later, when I had to (gross) belch (end gross), it actually lent a pleasant taste to an otherwise generally un-pleasant-tasting occurrence.

I will keep you informed about gels. Because I know you want to know alllll about them.

I realize now that I mentioned gels before, so I probably didn't have to give the whole "Gels: what are they?" description. But oh well.

Anyway, otherwise, I'm not having any significant pain in my training so far. Fingers crossed!

More later. Have a great week, kids.

K

40-minute clank

That was how I felt about my 40-minute run Tuesday morning, like I was a big bucket of clanking, rusty metal parts. It always feels a little bit rough at the outset, but usually things improve as the run progresses. Not yesterday. It was just an off day, and they definitely happen from time to time.

Part of it was that my stomach was a little bit upset and the city parks bathrooms are always somewhat of a crapshoot (no pun intended ...well, maybe a little). One was missing toilet paper, another was infested with flies. And meanwhile I continued to feel like I was going to physically fall apart at any moment.

Hopefully my next run (with Agnes again!) will be better. Until then...

K

8 miles down

Well, after checking in with Agnes (after my last post), we decided to go ahead and run separately this week. Because of her travel schedule it made more sense for her to go ahead and run her 8-miler while still in Poland. So, I went ahead and ran with our pace group on Saturday.

This weekend's run went so much better for me. I remembered to bring a gel this time and I seriously think that it made the difference. When we finished, I still felt pretty good, and that was after a pretty hellish two weeks, the details of which I will mostly avoid here. But I will share that the night before I had undergone a very emotional experience--giving up the dog that I raised from a puppy for the last 5+ years--and I was pretty emotionally exhausted. But while I started the run with creaky bones and rusty joints, by mile 2 I was feeling pretty good. By the time it was over, I felt great.

And, even better than that, Agnes got back safe and sound, which has been terrific!

Anyway, one of the people in our pace group has a friend who is a photographer, and he has been taking some photos of us while we've been running. If anyone is interested in checking those out, they can be found by clicking here.

Have a great week, everyone, and thanks for checking back in. And, thanks to everyone who has donated! I really appreciate it.

Yesterday, and sunburn

So work has been rough since I got back from Europe. We had a really big deadline and after some loooong hours we met it on Tuesday. So my boss told me to take Wednesday off.

I spent the day doing some errands and hanging out with my dog. And, of course, running. Because of the crazy work schedule of late, I hadn't run since our 7-miler on Saturday. Not good. And boy, could I feel it. My joints were very stiff, and I had difficulty getting into a good rhythm. I took it a little bit slower than I've been running lately, and after about 2 miles I started to feel okay again. By the time I was done (40 minutes, so ~3.5 miles because of the 5:1 intervals), I was feeling pretty all right, and like I could definitely have kept going for a while. Because I need to get a second run in this week, I am going to run tomorrow (Friday) instead of taking the day off like we normally do before a big run. Then, I am going to miss Saturday's 8-miler and hopefully run it the next day with Agnes!

That's really good, because I have missed her a lot while she has been gone. But one thing I also have to confess to her: I got a sunburn. She and I have gone back and forth about when we need to put sunscreen on and when we don't. I never wear sunscreen for early morning or late-afternoon to evening runs, because that's not when you get burned. But for the long runs, it's pretty necessary because even though we start at 8 a.m. we won't leave to return home from the run site until about 10:30 at the earliest, and to return from there we are generally walking about 1.5 miles, fully exposed to sunlight. And that's burnin' time, folks.

Well, as could be expected, this Saturday I forgot to put on the sunscreen that Agnes is always reminding me to wear (see how I need her?) and by the time I got back to my condo after the long run I was a little bit cooked. It's actually been a couple of years since I had a sunburn, so it's been interesting to re-experience.

Okay, have to run, but just wanted to do a quick update. Hope all's well with you all!