It's aaaaall about the support

If you follow my Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook then you already saw the big surprise of the day. I ran a 10k PR. And unlike 2 weeks ago where I only did so by a few seconds, this time it was nearly a full minute! Pumpkinfest 10k 2007 I ran 55:14. Today it was 54:18 (54:16 Garmin) in the NITRO 10k. I can't even tell you how much I hurt while running the race but it was still great! I kept telling myself to fight the burn, ignore the burn. :-) I also blame my friends for helping me. And the weather too!

The race setup couldn't have been better. Parking was so easy to get to. The volunteer at the entrance was helpful. And the bathroom being NOT port-o-potties were nice. It was held at the Sycamore Speedway which has a compacted dirt/mud track. With the rain that we've been getting off and on, it was more mud than dirt. I heard someone say that it look tacky out there but it wasn't bad. I sat in my car since I got there nearly an hour early. It was another cold race! I wore pretty much what I wore in the 8k 2 weeks ago; more specifically my arm warmers! :-)

My BFF Rob decided to sign up for the 5k on Thursday night. He & another friend of our Melissa came together and we all met up at the Speedway. Then Rob and I headed off for the start line with Melissa waiting in the stands. Rob and I kinda started off together around the track. That I think was the hardest part of the entire race. The track was very uneven and had marks in it from the tires of the cars, I guess or tractors.

A friend came running up behind me, surprised me and we chatted a bit about running. He had signed up for the 5k with a friend. We talked a little bit about our fall marathon choices. At the split off, Rob and I bumped fists and he went right and I went left.

I sped up at that point and got back to my pace. I settled behind a guy and 2 girls all running together. They had race timer people at every mile. And a water station well equipped with enough volunteers that I didn't have to worry about whether or not I was going to get a cup.

Oh, did I mention that I received Phil the night before in the mail??? :-D YAY!!!! He's ALIVE!!! So around 26 minutes I made note of when the first people were coming by me. There was a biker leading the way which was again awesome.

They also had volunteers at the road crossings which I think was 2 or 3 roads. They actually had to stop a truck and as I went past, there was enough of a gap between the to and fro runners that they were able to go through.

Unfortunately, since I received it the night before, I didn't have too much time to play around with it and get it back set up and going. I forgot one main thing to do; mainly the Auto-Lap feature. Luckily, I remembered that about .81 miles into the race! So at every mile I had to click the button to mark another lap down. Things were pretty even until mile 4 and that when it started to show more on Phil. But that could be because I was on the outside of the track as we circled around.

The group of 3 soon became the group of 2 not soon after the turn around and those two took off. The lone one left was behind me as she walked through the water stop at Mile 4. Soon she passed me again. That was fine. I was trying to pass this other woman near the 4 mile mark but I just couldn't catch up to her. At Mile 5 still no luck. Finally, as we turned onto the main entrance off of the bike path into the Speedway, I caught up and passed her. I was dying by this point. Up a small hill (cruelty at it's best!), down the other side, up another hill going into the track. Now at this piont, I again, didn't know if it was "fair" for me to run on the inside of the track. So I stayed as close to the middle as possible and went around the track. Again, the worst part was the track. So uneven and since my legs were already dead, it was hard to keep my footing. I paused my music by this time. I spied Rob and Melissa standing at the fence. They yelled out "Go Red Barron!" and I crossed the line at 54:18!! Woooo!!!


I stopped to grab a water bottle and manage to walk my way back through the runners entrance to the track. I couldnt' quite believe what had just happened. I spied Rob and Melissa and went over there. Stretched out very little. Then we turned around and on the backside of the track, a runner had fallen. Now, he passed me early on the bike path and then I passed him again. And as I exited the track, he was coming up that hill and he stumbled a bit and looked like his feet weren't quite under him. So it was just him being tired I'm sure. They had the ambulance out there and gave him oxygen.

I got post food (I LOVE races that have oranges at the end!!!) and we headed out to the cars to get my clothes. We waited around for the awards. I told someone in the NITRO group that I ran in 54 and she said that I might place. I didn't really believe her but there was a glimmer of hope. But I knew that you have to run in the 40's to get a place in a 10k. But I'm cool with just getting a PR anyway. But I swear if I find out I came in 4th place again, I'm NOT going to be happy!! Come to find out I came in 5th. But the age groups were a little weird. Instead of doing 25-29 it was 25-30 and the first 2 in my age group were age 30. So then if I don't count those 2 (one was the overall winner) then I would have come in 4th. :-)

I left the awards early to get to my volunteer shift of pouring the runner's free beer at the Beer Garden. Unfortunately, about 20 people took advantage of that. But soon after when it seemed enough runners left, I left myself to hit up China House Buffet with my Wolverines friends (Rob, Melissa and another friend Chris). Then I quickly caught the 2:40p showing of Pixar's Up! Great but stressful movie! And a little sad at the beginning and end. Yes I cried. :-)

Now for the stuff that I truly miss; my stats!

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 0 ft Location: Virgil, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 05/30/09 Up/Downhill: [+0/-0] Time: 09:03 AM Difficulty: 0 / 5.0 Weather: Overcast 56 F temp; 74% humidity 56 F heat index; winds SE 5 Performance Distance: 6.23 miles Time: 0:54:16 Speed: 6.9 mph Pace: 8' 43 /mi Calories: 647 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 42 -0' 01 6.9 +0.0 -- ft 2 8' 44 +0' 01 6.9 -0.0 -- ft 3 8' 40 -0' 03 6.9 +0.0 -- ft 4 8' 35 -0' 08 7.0 +0.1 -- ft 5 8' 47 +0' 04 6.8 -0.1 -- ft 6 8' 54 +0' 11 6.7 -0.1 -- ft end 8' 01 -0' 42 7.5 +0.6 -- ft Versus average of 8' 43 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: friends, NITRO 10k, pictures, races

Here they are!

Finally I have them framed and hung up!!!


Sure they might be a little crooked here and there but considering how MANY frames I had to hang up, it was crazy. I actually did use a laser level and also a measuring tape to make sure I had it right so I was pretty close! I'm digging it.

There's also a pretty big empty wall space between my St. Louis Marathon frame and my bookshelf. I think once I get my medals engraved (I have them all labeled and in a box ready to go, I just need to get my butt up there) I'm going to put in 2 nails and hang them from there. Instead of from my closet's door handle. Actually show them off a little bit.

On the wall to my left is a sign that my family made for me for one of my races. I have another sign that they made and would like them hung up too but don't have the room unless I take other stuff down. Then I also have a stained glass item that a boyfriend made for me. Supposed to be me running. I think it's pretty cool. She's wearing blue and has reddish hair! Sounds like me!


Pretty soon, this room will be called my running room instead of "the office" or "the cat's bedroom" or "the guest room."

Also, I'm pretty excited because it looks like there's a very good chance that I'm gonna have cheerleaders at my race on Saturday morning! My BFF Rob may run it. If he doesn't, he still wants to head up and cheer me on! Our friend Melissa may also join in the cheering section. So Yay! They've never seen me race, ever. And of course there's the China House Buffet afterwards for lunch!! SCORE!

Categories: friends, medals, memorabilia

Biking on LSD

Sunday I rode for 30 miles. My first big bike ride of the season. And first one with my new bike. I did 6 miles and 4 miles on it previously! With many more to come hopefully! If this weather ever warms up that is!!! Grr... perfect for running, not for biking (when all you have is biking shorts, no tights).

I got up at 4am to leave DeKalb at 4:30a and headed into Oak Brook to meet up with a friend of mine, Kevin. We both were going to ride on Lake Shore Drive in downtown Chicago, called Bike the Drive.

It was a fantastic day all together. Air was a little chilly in the morning. Good thing I brought a jacket with me. I wore that all morning long, actually. Kevin was smart and wore a long-sleeved wicking shirt. Wished I would have brought one of mine with me.

We parked in a Michigan Ave parking garage and rode our bikes out of the underground garage. That was cool. Rode over to the start, where Kevin picked up his stickers & shirt. He had to stick it in his jersey back pocket. Brightroom was all over the route taking pictures of us. Those aren't up yet but they will be soon. I doubt I'll buy any unless there's a really cool one of Kevin & I.

From the start there were two options; north or south. We opted for north first. Boy are we glad we did! The wind was coming directly from the north and really slowed us down. My cyclocomputer was also not working the ride so I wasn't sure how fast or far we were going. I was also using my clipless shoes & pedals for the first time. It was a little difficult to put clip them in the pedals at first but once they were in, they stayed in nice & easy.

We eventually got to the turn around and rested up, got some water, bananas, I grabbed a couple mini-muffins and headed on out again, going south. This way a LOT EASIER!!! The wind was behind us, pushing us along. I fixed my cyclocomputer at the stop, the sensor was turned so of course it wasn't reading it!


We stopped for a photo op near the Hancock building. This was the first of two times in which I forgot to unclip my shoes before I stopped. Luckily, there was a fence so I was able to hold myself up while I twisted my ankles.


At this stop is when we met three people. They wanted us to take a picture of them with their cell phone. I offered up my camera and we exchanged email address so that I could email him with it later. While the guy and I were talking, Kevin was talking with the other two. They're from Milwaukee! So they talked for a little while. We parted ways and Kevin and I were off again.

Across a bridge where there was another photo op (we didn't stop) the guy saw me again and thanked me again. Back to the start and we had to drive to the west, then south, then back east. It was a little weird snake thru. I didn't unclip my pedals even though we were going slow during this area. But I was conscious of them just in case! We decided not to stop and just continued our way down.

It was so very nice and we were avg about 18-19 mph on this north to south stretch. We rode by the Museum Campus, Solider Field and we ended up seeing signs for the Skyway and then we stopped at the Museum of Science & Industry. Again another break and rest. I enjoyed the grass and the sun under my helmet and jacket.


The ride back north was again harsh. But we managed to get through it. Kevin and I stopped again for another photo op of the skyline. We were a little far away. If we were on the bike path, it would be better. I AGAIN forgot to unclip my shoes before I got off. This time though, I didn't have a fence to keep me upright. Only by the grace of God was I able to unclip my right foot last minute and throw my foot out and caught myself up on the curb before I fell completely over. Like I was seriously sitting on my butt when I caught myself. Some guy was being sarcastic and said that he couldn't tell that I was new to clipless pedals. Pfft.

The group of three caught back up with us and wanted us to take more pictures. Somehow we are really easy to see I guess. I got a good shot of them with the Sears Tower behind them. Really cool.

We all took off at the same time and they were way faster than us but I was talking to Kevin about them and he said that the girl does triathlons. So I caught up with her and I told her that I signed up for a marathon in Milwaukee in October. She also said that she signed up for her first marathon in October but she's doing the Nike Run Like A Girl in San Francisco. So we talked a little about that race. She even said that I could stay at their place for the marathon. I'm sure she needed to talk that over with her husband first though! We also talked a little about triathlons. She has done a few Sprint Tris so I asked her about the transitions and then also the suits that people wear for them. I got my answers!


So then they took off again when I had to slow down to pass other people. But we saw them again at the finish line and she took a picture of us with the skyline. I also noticed that right when we were coming to the end, with just a few miles left, my right knee started to rear it's ugly head. So with nothing on my knees for support, they can only go for a 30 mile ride.

Kevin and I decided to walk around with our bikes in Grant Park for a bit. Then we saw that there was a FREE bike lockup and we dropped off our bikes there and went for breakfast instead of waiting in line for the pancake breakfast. We stopped at Corner Bakery and enjoyed a hearty french toast and omelet. We then headed over to the Buckingham Fountain. They turned it on a few weeks ago, I think. Then we decided to hit up Millenium Park so Kevin can finally enjoy The Bean or The Cloud as that's the official name. We did the touristy thing and take pictures. Lots of people around doing the same.


Back to the bike lockup and decided to head on down to the garage and off we were back to our meet up place. On the way home to DeKalb, I was getting sleepy!! It was bad!! I took a 45 nap pretty much when I got home at 1pm. I was awake for 9 hours at that time. Kevin and his wife Jess and I met up in DeKalb for some yummy Fatty's food and then they headed on up to Madison, Jess driving the entire way!

It was fun and it got me looking for new rides to do. I have one set for August in Dixon, IL with camping the night before. Then I found one June 7 near Marengo in Union, IL that is called Udder Century. They have a 31 mile ride that I might do. Then of course I have the TOMRV second weekend in June. And in July I have Biking with Beanzie. Next on my plate is to figure out what to do with my knees...

Categories: Bike the Drive, biking, pictures

Am I a fish or a runner?

I get enjoyment out of the little things in life. Most days it's wearing the most annoying colour combination while running. :-) Today it was a red shirt with lime green shorts. TeeHee!

I started out with a short sleeve shirt on and those shorts. It was 61 degrees so I figured it was a good outfit. First time wearing this shirt. I got it from the 8k I ran a few weeks ago. I ordered a small but the sleeves nearly came down to my elbows! And it was waaay baggy on me. Must be a small unisex. I couldn't get comfortable in it today though.

I had decided to run about 40 minutes total. I pushed myself hard the first bit. I knew I was running WAY fast. But I realised that 40 minutes is still 40 minutes no matter how fast/far you go. That's the difference between running miles & minutes. 4 miles will be different times depending on the day. So I tried to slow it down but I couldn't tell exactly how fast I was going. I MISS PHIL!!!

About 10 minutes into my run, things got hot. I pulled up the front of my shirt and tucked it under my sports bra. Then about 10 minutes later, I couldn't take it any more and I took my arms out of it but left it around my neck and tucked it under the shoulder straps of my sports bra. So then I was just running in my sports bra pretty much. By the end of my 40 minute run, my back was DRIPPING. It was a little misty out but it wasn't that. I'm pretty sure it was sweat or moisture from the air. I got home and checked weather.com. Yea, 95% humidity. Wow! No wonder why my lungs felt like I was swimming out there. And that's why I got so hot so fast. I only passed 2 people on the course and actually one of those came to the meeting that I'm going to talk about now.

This Saturday my running group, NITRO, is putting on their very first race! A 5k & 10k plus a kids race I know that I've mentioned it before but just wanted to get one more plug in. There's still time to sign up or you can do race-day registration for a few bucks more. Anyone wanna join in on the fun?? :-D

What's gonna be even better is that I'm also volunteering (I am in the group after all!). They put me in the most awesome position EVER. Beer Server (or as 2 people called me tonight Beer Wretch! HA!). I'm the only one so I'll be pretty busy. And it's gonna be easy, I just need to take their ticket and check to see if they have their hand stamped (to prove that they are over 21). Luckily, it'll all happen after most people are done with their run so I don't need to push and practically kill myself to finish fast. Which is good cause I don't think I could. I'm guessing I'm gonna go 57-58 minutes. I wish I could say 55 minutes but I haven't done that in a 10k since 2007 when I was training for my first half. I was in super-duper shape then.

I also got to talk to someone before the meeting about heart rate and the difference between anaerobic and aerobic. I can read that stuff all day long but it won't stay in me head. But when someone TELLS it to me and explains it, then I'm fine. That's why I SUCK at online classes. I need to hear it rather than just read it.

I don't know if I'll do anything tomorrow for exercise. It's too cold to do any cycling (um, Mother Nature you DO realise it's the end of May right??) and I can't really run since I'm getting a tattoo tomorrow afternoon. I shouldn't run immediately after getting it. I probably shouldn't run on Saturday either but I'm getting more Yes' than No's on Google so I'm gonna do it.

Categories: clothing, NITRO, tattoos, volunteer

Marathon Memorabilia & Tattoos

Today's run was a 60 minute run. It was OK on a scale of Great to Awful. About 20 minutes into it, the middle of my back was hurting. Like I had to pop it or something. It would even hurt taking a deep breath. Not under my lungs but in my back! So at 25 minutes, I stopped to twist and WOW, did it EVER pop. But unfortunately the soreness never went away. I think the damage had been done by that time. I managed to stick with it until the 60 minutes. And of course as soon as I was done, I didn't feel the pain anymore. HA!

I did do the biking of the 4.4 miles last night. My thighs were shaking by the time I was done. Though I was going at like 16-19 mph nearly the entire time. Once I headed north, I got a head wind. Then when I headed east, same thing. Come to find out, the winds were coming from the NE at 14 mph, gusting up to 18 mph! Yay DeKalb winds. This bike ride tomorrow is gonna KILL MY thighs!

I do have two random things to share:

I FINALLY got a memento frame for my St. Louis Marathon. The certificate, picture, medal, map and bib. I can't believe I fit that all in there! They're also all taped using scotch tape to a flimsy piece of cardboard. But it seems to be staying in place. I haven't hung it up yet. Trying to figure out placement on my wall.

I also got a couple frame sometime ago for my first half and first marathon. Since they were both St. Jude, I wanted to get them something that matched. I have a picture already printed for the marathon, just need to take it out of the double frame that I have it in.



The other thing is that eventually I'm going to get a running tattoo. Specifically one of these or something similar that I haven't found yet.

I know, I know, all you nay-sayers out there about getting a tattoo in general. But listen, this isn't my first one. I have 8 total, they could be counted as just 5 but I have several in the same area at different times so I count them as separate. And I've been running since I was in high school with my college years off but I wanted to run then just didn't have the motivation. And no matter what I do, whether or not I finish my 50 marathons in 50 states goal or run a 30k race or even tackle a 100 mile, I will still run and run I will enjoy doing. So I want to get something that celebrates that I want to get off my ass unlike most people I know.

So now comes the hard part of where. I was thinking the side of my left foot. But no one would see that. This is one that I actually want people to see. Then I was thinking my outside left ankle but I was wanting to save that for something family orintated (if I ever get it) and I already have something on my outside right ankle.

I was at Daytona Beach, at the beginning of the month and in a Harley Davidson store of all places, I saw a guy wearing shorts that had a winged foot tattoo with, I think, a date underneath. I knew right away that he was a runner. I wanted to ask him about it. His was on either the side of his right calf. That was an interesting place. No matter what he was doing, as long as he was wearing shorts, people would see that and know.

I was reading Runner's World the other day and saw the story of the University of Texas guy and saw where his tattoo Long Horn logo was at. Directly under his running shorts on his right thigh so that they would just show when he was wearing them. Ryan Shay had the same thing on his thigh of his alma mater, Notre Dame. It would be kinda weird to get a winged foot on a thigh though I do like the idea of it showing when I have my running shorts on (just which ones since they all meet my thigh at different points).

So the calf might be the best place. But at the same time, I don't want it on my calf for the same reason why I don't want any on my arms. I love my arms & the way they look too much! Same with my calves. But it would be a great place! Even if I was out doing errands wearing shorts, people would see that tattoo and know that I'm a runner. I do not have any plans on getting anything underneath it like 26.2 or a date. Just the winged foot.

Decisions, decisions. That's why I'm going to sit on it for a while. Probably after this October marathon. Hell, maybe if I do horribly bad in this marathon, I'll call off running all together and then I won't even get it! :-)

Categories: Go St. Louis Marathon, medals, memorabilia, tattoos

Catching up is hard to do!

OK, let's see my runs for this week have been: 2.

Run #1: Monday I ran with my BFF Rob. He was out here visiting from Lincoln, NE for a few days. So we went on a little jaunt before a meeting I had to get to. I knew he needed to blow off some steam. It always helped me and he says that it helps him too.

So I came home from work as quick as I could, we got dressed and decided that we would go a mile and see how he feels. Luckily, thanks to Phil, I knew where a mile was at and I knew a 3.1 mile course too. We did a little bit of talking on the way down, next exactly a good idea but he wanted it slow. Unfortunatley, he did most of the talking. Once we got to about 3/4 of a mile, I picked up all the talking. We completed the mile in 10 minutes. Then we went to the bridge that would get us to 1.55 miles, halfway to the 5k goal. Again, I was doing all the talking. It was a conversational pace for me.

At the bridge we walked back to the 1 mile mark and picked up running again. Once we were on the last 3/4 mile again, I picked up the pace a little for me. I teased him and grabbed my ass a few times, encourgaing him to goose me! I thought I heard him running faster so I picked it up again, not wanting to let him pass me. This was fun! Eventually he stopped and walked before the stoplight so I stopped as well. He didn't want to just stop at the stoplight and wait. He knew he needed to walk a bit. So that was that run. It was pretty fun running with someone, even if they are slower than I. I got a lot of talking in! But it was also good that I ran that slow. Technically it's the pace that my training runs should be done in anyway!

Run #2: Was at work during lunch. Actually it was at 11am. And it was um, weird.

I got dressed in the locker room which was AWESOME. At the Daily Chronicle I had to get dressed in a storage closet in the women's bathroom. Not cool. I left the building and decided NOT to run on the roads. I didn't want to die on my lunch break after all. So decided I would try around campus. I found a sidewalk. I ran on that until it ended. Then into the grass I went. Did that for a little bit and remembered what a co-worker said about a path around the lagoon we have. I headed back to there and did that about 6 times around and got really BORED with that fast. So again, I took off in the grass, heading to the outskirts of the campus and found the edge because I saw a fence! Luckily there was a strip of grass between the trees and the fence so I did that to the very back of campus and came across a guy mowing the lawn! Didn't think I would find anyone back there! Ran around the corner, past horticulture and their compost and greenhouses and then back to the lagoon where I did 2 more laps to complete 30 minutes. It was the longest 30 minutes ever.

I didn't like the running in the grass part because I had to keep looking down to make sure I had good footing and they had just mowed the grass so I kept getting grass clippings in my shoes & under my socks! It sucked! After I was done, I tried getting back into the building and then I realised that last sumemr they locked all but 10 doors around campus for security reasons. I never made note of where any open ones were! I went to about 5 different doors until I found one that was open near the locker rooms. I didn't want to go through the buildings looking all red, sweaty and with my running outfit on in case I ran into a co-worker or worse yet an Administrator! I got back in and saw that the locker room had showers. Which means, I could do a quick rinse after a run! (If I decide to do that again!) Just have to remember to bring a towel. I was quite sweaty. I cooled my face & neck down in the sink as best as I could. I was walking around in my underwear so I was hoping that no one was suddenly going to come in but since it's the summer I should have been good. Took me about an hour to cool down and stop sweating I think.

Tomorrow morning I'm hoping for Run #3 of the week. 60 minutes of running! I have a 10k on May 30th to prepare for! Then Sunday is a 30 mile bike ride on Lake Shore Drive! I have plans a 4.4 mile ride. It'll be nothing but at least it's something. Plus, I get to try out my new biking shorts (which I'm already wearing and not that fond of) and my new clipless shoes!

Categories: biking, running at work, running with friends

A Running Vacation

I know that I'm well over 3 weeks late with this post but as the old saying goes "Better late than never." :-)


I went on vacation beginning of May!! To sunny, hot, humid Hilton Head Island, SC! I had picked this week to start running. Unfortunately, Phil, my Garmin is still out of commission so no luck running with him down in SC. And my Nike+ is not calibrated right (no surprise there) so I decided to run via time instead. Figured 30 minutes of running will be me over 3 miles each time and that I'll be happy with.

I was worried about finding a place to run but when we arrived (at 10pm Sunday night) I saw a bike path. I asked the front desk about it and she said that it goes all through the island. Sweet deal!!

On Monday, the morning after we got there I was up, bright and early to go running. I brought down a couple long sleeved shirts with me just in case it was cool in the morning. Yea, that was a waste of space. I wore sleeveless shirts every time!

So I found that the bike path is directly across the street from our building. I got on and started running. I eventually turned a corner and saw a post that had an umbrella and water logo with an arrow on it. It caught my attention. I looked across the street and saw another post; Alder Beach Public Access. Who-ha!!

I ran over there and walked down the sidewalk. Walked onto the boardwalk and there was the beach! Holy Moly! I didn't know I was so close! The wind was so intense off the Ocean. Near the boardwalk the sand was very soft and mushy and I was thinking there's no way I could run on this. But then I saw bikers go by! Um, OK, walk out a bit more and there was hard packed sand! YAY! Then I saw a walker and runner go by. By that time I had ran for about 20 minutes already but I couldn't miss this chance. So off I went on the beach. I headed one direction which I thought was south and away from the sun and then I turned back around for another equal time running into the sun and the wind behind me.

I saw lots of starfishes and a few jellyfish washed up on shore. Lots of bikers, a few runners & walkers. Sun was just a few fingers in the sky so I missed the sunrise. I figured there's no way that I could ever see it though. I woke up at 7a that morning. That was 6a Central time. That's freaking early!!


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I ran for a total of 15 minutes on the beach. Best thing EVER. I even went into the water a little bit!! Then I had to run back to the villa. I took the same route back. That was when I started feeling a bit of a twinge on the outside of my right thigh again. Same place that was hurting during and after my marathon. Craps. My IT Band never fully healed I guess.

John and I went to another public beach further down from where I ran later on that afternoon. I didn't have on my sneakers but another pair of shoes and I ran across the street and I felt a pain in my knee. Not my Runner's Knee pain but another type. Same as my marathon knee pain. Oh joy. I really did hurt it bad! I was thinking of it all day long. It hurt to go up and down my stairs to get the bedroom.

Tuesday I was off of running but walked a lot on the beach in Daytona, FL.


Wednesday I got up early to run again. This time I took a shortcut I saw on the first day. I avoided a lot of the bike path and it took me straight to the entrance to the public beach I ran on. I ran for the majority of my run on the beach that morning. It was great! But the humidity was a lot higher today. 100% already at 7am. Yuck. but the breeze on the beach felt terrific!

On Wednesday I also went parasailing for the first time too. I know, I know, has nothing to do with running but it's something I wanted to mention. :-) It was GREAT fun too!


Thursday I walked around Savannah, GA nearly all day. So yay for that fun!


Friday was my last day on the beach for running. I woke up and headed on down there. I ran and ran and ran. I finally decided, oh what the hell I'll run through the water with my shoes on. I wanted to run through it without shoes but I didn't want to walk back with sandy, wet feet. So in I ran through the water, not caring about my shoes because they were older shoes (but still good for running). I was getting myself wet with the backsplash. It was fun! Was tempted to dive into the water but I just felt weird with my clothes still on and I didn't feel like running for 40 minutes qualified for a cold water bath!


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Never really felt my IT Band issue again besides that first day of running. So now I'm thinking it was because I was not wearing good sneakers when I did that quick jog across the street. I've ran plenty since then, even did that race and still no pain. So not sure if it was just my muscles getting used to the whole forward motion thing or not.

In any case, here's my update of my running from 3 weeks ago! HA! :-)

Categories: vacation

First race of the season

Yesterday was the Kishwaukee Sunrise Rotary 8k. It was a pretty good race. This is my 3rd time running it. I managed to set a PR in it as well. But still came 4th in my age group, making me 1st loser. Made up for it for being the first to win a random raffle drawing and I choose Kane County Cougar tickets!

On Friday night, I took my Garmin off of it's charging dock and hit the buttons to unlock the bezel just to see what it would do and it worked! The bezel unlocked! Then I turned off the GPS that worked too! OMG! This is awesome! I guess just leaving it alone for a few weeks worked! I was able to go through all the settings. I was sooo excited! So I put it with the rest of my stuff.

I woke up at 6:30am, ate a bowl of oatmeal and looked at the weather. 54 currently with winds of 19mph and gusts of 26 from the NW. Fantastic! Just like last year with the wind all blowing then too. And so cold! I wore shorts and a sleeveless shirt with arm warmers. Am I thankful for those arm warmers!! My shoulders were cold waiting for the start. Now as I said I had no real goal in mind. I wanted under 50 minutes and was worried about if I could do that since I have only ran 5 times in the past month. We'll see. I started to put on Phil and then I hit the button and the digits faded again. Oh shoot. Well, guess it didn't fix it after all. Back in the box it goes and on my everyday watch.

I got there late but managed to make it to the line with a few minutes before start. Chatted with someone I know. Then we were off. It rained quite a bit the night before so the gravel road that we run on for nearly a full mile was kicking up mud behind me and could feel it get into my shoes a bit.

Once we ran out of the wooded area and onto the road, heading north that's when it got to be difficult. I ran with a girl for a little while then she went in behind me and was running right behind me. I didn't want her to draft off of me so I moved over to the left. Yea, I'm mean, I know. First mile in 9 minutes even. Pretty sweet. After that the girl started taking off like crazy. Picking people off one by one.

Eventually we turned right and headed east and the winds were at our back. Yay! Mile 2 in 18:20. A little positive split but nothing too worried about so early. I lost track of the girl definitely by this time.

Turned right and headed south. Winds didn't seem AS strong as when heading north. More houses so maybe they were blocking the winds more. Mile 3 in 26 something. I spotted and smelled lilac bushes along the road. That made me smile, my favourite smell in the whole entire world! I grabbed a water cup from a volunteer and spilled it on his hand a little. I said Thank you and sorry at the same time and he just laughed it off. Then when I poured out the rest of the water and tried to put in in the garbage, I missed the sack so again I yelled out thank you and sorry! I passed about 3 girls after the water table. I know 2 of them weren't in my age group (younger) I don't know about the third.

Turned the corner again right and heading west. Couldn't even feel the winds now. Last year I was dead by this point and was walking. Today, I was feeling pretty good. I couldn't believe it. I knew that Mile 4 was coming up soon. Turned the corner again right and there it was! Mile 4 was 36:35. Wow! There's only .97 miles left and if I run that in 10 minutes then I'll get under 50 mintues and beat my time from last year! Then I started thinking, if I run a 9 minute mile then I'll have a 45 minute run that's fine with me too!

Turned into the park again and onto the gravel road. I started approaching a guy. I said to him, you don't want to get passed by a girl do you? He said ah that's OK, you're like the 10th one. But he said that he would try to keep up with me anyway. So we ran and talked. I asked questions, I guess I'm a talker. His name is James. Asked him if he had a goal. He said no, just to finish. This is his first race EVER. Not even any 5ks before. I told him this is the longest part of the race! Told him that they were many cookies at the end. He said that he couldn't even think of food right now. I told him to leave it all out on the course. I guess I was getting motivational here!

We eventually crossed the start but had to go a few more yards to the finish and that's when we kicked it in. I saw someone at the DJ station that I knew so I waved and smiled at him. I was surprised that while I was kicking in my last energy I still had my head on straight to think of that! James started to pass me, I told him to go go go, pass me! He said come on! I stayed with him then he said you go first and I crossed the finish line first. That was nice of him. I stopped my Nike+ and gave him a high five and his friend came over to him. That was when I went to see my time. My Nike+ gave me a time of 43:11!! Wooo PR! I started about 5 sec after the gun.

This race is awesome enough to tack up the tags from the bibs as soon as you finish. Then you can count all the girls in your age group before you. I counted. I was 4th. What?! Damn. Better than 6th last year but come on! I got some eats and a drink. Chatted a bit with a few people from the NITRO group. Then I went back to my car to change into warmer clothes. Stayed for the awards ceremony. Several people in our NITRO group won medals. That's awesome! Then I stayed for the raffle. I was the first name called. Woo! I got my choice of prizes and of course I chose the baseball tickets. Yay!

Then I headed to Rockford for some antiquing! At the Winnebago County Fairgrounds an antique/flea market was being held. They had booths covering all over the grounds! Even inside the barns too. It was quite huge! I got a Rainbow Brite lunchbox, Rainbow Brite 2 plastic glasses and a 1972 Kentucky Derby glass. Then I watched the Cubs game at Old Chicago and came home to watch a filly win the Preakness over all the boys! Finally, I got together with a friend to tip back a few beers and talk & catch up. I stayed up until 2am! All in all it was a good day!

By the way, I found out that I didn't set a PR by as many minutes as I thought I did. I thought in 2007 I ran in 45 minutes. Well, that's what time I was estimating finishing. I actually ran 43:19 (8:42 min/mi). That's the official time, from gun to finish. My 43:11 yesterday was my Nike+ time of when I crossed the starting line to finish. We'll see what the official time has to say. So I doubt that I made that big of a PR. I want to get down to 42 minutes but we'll see. I mean a 8:41 min/mi pace yesterday was pretty darn impressive for me! I doubt I'll be able to go 8:30 which is a 42:14 finish!

Categories: Kishwaukee Sunrise Rotary 8k

I'm alive

I miss PHIL!!!!!!!!!!!!

I miss Phil mainly because I have to run by minutes now. My Nike+ is horrible uncalibrated and I even calibrated it via my Garmin with 1.25 miles and it's STILL off!! So I give up. Tuesday I ran for 40 minutes with 1 walk break up a slight hill near the end. Today's run was 50 minutes with 0 walks breaks.

Today was 2 degrees cooler than Tuesday when I ran but I still wore the same type of outfit. Sleeveless shirt and shorts. Walking to the start, I was cool but by the middle of the run today, I wanted to strip off my shirt!

My first race of the season (marathon doesn't count) is coming up this Saturday. It's an 8k (4.97 miles). We'll see how I do considering that I have only been running the last 2 weeks and only twice this week! At least I ran for 50 minutes today which I'm guessing is a little over 5 miles. Last year I ran this race waaaay undertrained and got 47 minutes out of it (with a horrible wind howling at us!). Year before I got 45 minutes. I'm still just hoping for under 50 minutes. :-)

Lately I have been running past the (former??) DeKalb County Sheriff, Ron Klein. At least I Think it's him. I've seen pictures, seen him in person before, so I'm pretty sure it is.

During the neighbourhood part of my run today, I came up behind a guy on the sidewalk. I saw that he had an iPod in his hand. I yelled at him "Behind you" no response. Then I saw that he was floating tot he middle left of the sidewalk, so I yelled it louder this time, still no movement or glance behind him. So I yelled at him "On Your Left" as I passed him and then he finally heard me. He said "Whoa..." has I went by. I said outloud "Don't have your iPod up so loud!"

A biker went by me without saying a damn thing. I yelled to them "On Your Left would have been nice!" I got a glance over the shoulder. Grrr... Made me jump out of my skin!

I ran past a wooded area and suddenly smelled pot. I was like nah, that couldn't be right maybe it's just the wet woods from last night's storm. Then as I ran back past the same place, I see kids sitting on a log in the woods and I smelled it again. I laughed! No wonder why I smelled pot! If I had seen Ron Klein again, I would have made mention of that to him and made him go scare the kids! :-)

An update (with video) of my vacation running and getting back into running after my marathon is coming up this weekend. Preview: I RAN ON THE BEACH!!!!!!

Categories: DeKalb Nature Trail, Kishwaukee Sunrise Rotary 8k, vacation