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!

Lucky number seven

So our group (minus Agnes -- please come home Agnes!) completed our 7-miler yesterday, and this was really my first tough run. I mean, not that there haven't already been challenges. But this was the one where I really hit a point of fatigue and didn't recover well. We were at around mile five and I just started to notice that I had NO energy. I hadn't thought to bring a gel or an energy bar or anything, but that was definitely the time for it. Instead I just struggled through. I finished all right, but I really didn't feel very good when we were done.

No more running without gels! You're supposed to take in some carbs about every 40 minutes or so, and this was a pretty clear reminder of why that's a good idea. Also, I need to do a better job of doing the recommended cross-training. I'm still failing to keep up with that very well.

Oh, one other thing about yesterday's run... and this is sort of gross so if you are squeamish at all, just skip this paragraph. Okay, for those of you that are left: I got my first bad blister. I first noticed it after my run in Ireland, but I thought it was just a bruise on the second toe of my left foot. I remember occasionally having those from last time. But after I took off my shoes on Saturday I realized what it really was. The reason I was confused was because it was sort of (start gross part) black and blue and under my nail. Ew! Anyway, it's drained now (end gross part) and doing better. ...What, what? Too REAL for you??! Awwww hell. Kenner be sharin' ALL the nitty gritty details!

Anyway, things have been a bit hairy since I got back from Europe. Work and dog drama have led to me being a bit frazzled, but I'm happy to use running as an escape from it all! Once Agnes gets back things will be better.

Okay, I'm trying to get some work done so I have to get back to it. Tomorrow morning is another 40-minute run, we'll see how it goes. Have a great week, everyone.

K

Feet back on the ground

Happy 4th of July, all! I hope that you are all out there celebrating safely and having a lot of fun.

I have returned to the US and just wanted to update you on how everything is going. On Saturday I was still in Paris, and I had to check out of my hotel by 11:30am. Running that day's 6-miler before then wasn't really an option, and of course I didn't want to run it after that because I couldn't take a shower anywhere. So, I just burned some time wandering around the city until my evening flight from Paris to Dublin. And, when I say "burned some time," what I really mean is "moped around because I missed my girlfriend, who left earlier in the morning to continue her vacation." I was very seriously bummed.

Anyway, my flight to Dublin was delayed and when I finally got there, the hotel where I had my reservation told me that -- despite the aforementioned reservation -- there was no room for me at the inn. They shunted me off to a different hotel, a lot further away from Dublin proper. This one was still in Dublin county, in a small little town called Ashbourne. The hotel was gorgeous (only 3 months old!) and my original hotel paid for my stay even though it was more expensive than what I had paid them. So that was nice.

I didn't have a map of Ashbourne or any readily identifiable way of estimating distances, so instead of trying to measure out 6 miles precisely, I just went for a 70-minute (ended up being about 72 minutes, actually) run in and around Ashbourne. The hotel was outside of city limits, so I got to see the Irish countryside as well as the town and its lack of much to see at all. The run felt really good. The temperature was moderate, and there was a light mist in the air. I would have taken the camera but for that mist and the weatherman's promise of scattered showers. But I did take a photo in my room, before I took off:


Why do I always have to try to make it look like I'm running? Did I think that anyone viewing this would actually think that I was running through my hotel room? I'm a dork.

Anyway, as I said, the run was great. But then, once I was cleaned up and ready for some lunch, I realized that I was just too tired from a week spent traipsing around Paris and then running that morning to take the bus (~1-1.5 hours) to Dublin, and Ashbourne didn't really have anything to entice me. So, as lame as it is, I ended up just hanging out, reading, in the hotel bar. I had both lunch and dinner there, as well as two (I chose moderation, as I am in training...) of the best pints of Guinness that I have ever had in my life. I wasn't sure if I'd even notice a difference between what I drank there and what I get here in Chicago, but it was no contest. Sweet, sweet nectar of the brewing gods... Guinness. Love.

So, I returned to the States and have actually been confronted with some pretty serious health issues with my dog that came up while I was away. Too much to go into here right now, but I'm really wrestling with some difficult choices and just thought that it bore mentioning.

Lastly, I went for our normal 40-minute run yesterday evening. I ran a little bit faster than normal (and missed Agnes a great deal - I have really grown accustomed to running with her) but still felt pretty good when I was done. It was good to get back on the path here lakeside, but hardly anything can beat running along the Seine and under the Eiffel Tower. Not to mention that the flies were out in FORCE on the path last night. Yuck!

Okay, that's all for now. Sorry for the long post but I just wanted to bring anyone who is following all of this up to speed. Tomorrow is another 40-minute run, then Saturday is the 7-miler!

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to check back later!