One mile for each hour on the train

To spoil the surprise, I didn't get 18 miles in on Monday night.

Come to find out, the train out to Nebraska actually stops in Naperville. I was so excited to see that cause that meant that I didn't have to arrive in Chicago, wait an hour and get back to Geneva at 5:30p. I would instead arrive in Naperville at 2:23pm. Luke said he was willing to pick me up in Naperville too though he might have to go back to work after dropping me back off. I could actually have my run started by 3:30pm!

Well, for those that know Amtrak, they don't run on time. At all. Ever. We were late arriving in Nebraska. And taking off on Monday? Ha. We were supposed to board at 1:34 am, it ended up being 3:10 am that we got on. I was not happy about that. Then with more delays on the train, I ended up arriving in Naperville at 4:43 pm.

Yep, that meant I didn't get my run in until after 6pm. I had a headache getting off the train so I took a long hot shower to try to release my muscles. Then I got dressed so I would feel like running. I originally wore a short sleeved shirt & a running skirt but I quickly changed into my winter tights.

Luke is sick, he picked a cold on Friday, so he wasn't going biking with me. So it was me, all on my own out there. But I did it. I ran in brand new territory.

I got 13.1 miles in (yes, I had to make it a half marathon). I ran the last hour in almost pure darkness. The trail doesn't have any street lights on it. I got a little lost in Batavia cause I wasn't sure where the trail continued through town. Then when I picked it up again, it forced me to cross the river to run on the east side, which is not where it showed the trail going on Google Maps.

So I continued to run down until I hit 6 miles when I ate some Strawberry-Banana PowerBar Gel Blasts. They are sooo good, like candy! Then I hit Rt. 56 and North Aurora and saw that it was 6.5 miles and decided that would be a good turning around point. By this time I kept seeing signs all over that said "Trail is open from Sunrise to Sunset" and it was getting to be near sunset time so I was getting worried.

Then as I said that the last few miles were in the dark. I don't do well with running in the dark, especially on trails that I don't know! So I was kinda speeding it up a bit around that time. I found a great song that allowed me to strike my foot on the ground with each drum beat. My eyes were getting all fuzzy cause of the darkness & it was really kinda chilly out. At first I was thinking I needed glasses but I really don't think I do.

Also, in the last few miles, my arms (hands, forearms & elbows) were starting to cramp and hurt. I think it was cause of the cold. I never had that before. I mentioned to Luke about them cramping and he said that he's had that happened.

Oh and if you want to know, Google Maps added bicycling trails to their driving directions. So you can now see the trails that are around your area. It helps. Below is not really my run, since I didn't follow on the west side that much. Here's the real link to the Garmin Connect info where you can zoom in on the map: Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Run: 13.1 miles in Geneva.

Also, ignore the splits in the Bones in Motion info. They're wrong since I paused a few times, once to look for a stupid ear bud from my head phones.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 667 ft Location: Geneva, IL Elev. Gain: +10 ft Date: 03/29/10 Up/Downhill: [+410/-400] Time: 06:08 PM Difficulty: 3.2 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 43 F temp; 59% humidity 43 F heat index; winds E 8 Performance Distance: 13.10 miles Time: 2:08:40 Speed: 6.1 mph Pace: 9' 49 /mi Calories: 1398 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 11' 20 +1' 31 5.3 -0.8 +3 ft 2 9' 09 -0' 40 6.5 +0.4 +6 ft 3 10' 09 +0' 20 5.9 -0.2 -10 ft 4 9' 28 -0' 21 6.3 +0.2 -7 ft 5 9' 48 -0' 01 6.1 +0.0 -3 ft 6 10' 16 +0' 27 5.8 -0.3 +10 ft 7 10' 44 +0' 55 5.6 -0.5 -10 ft 8 9' 54 +0' 05 6.1 -0.1 +27 ft 9 9' 26 -0' 23 6.4 +0.2 -10 ft 10 9' 48 -0' 01 6.1 +0.0 -7 ft 11 10' 01 +0' 12 6.0 -0.1 +13 ft 12 9' 52 +0' 03 6.1 -0.0 0 ft 13 9' 55 +0' 06 6.0 -0.1 +3 ft end 9' 15 -0' 34 6.5 +0.4 +9 ft Versus average of 9' 49 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 13 miles, Fox River Trail, Geneva

20 mile FAIL: Mental or Physical?

I swear my 20 mile runs never go the way I planned. The last one I attempted was November 19. I understand the cold in November. Today is March 28. I don't understand the 30F degree weather & brutal cold wind today.

This morning I stated on Twitter that I already knew the run was not going to go well. I just wasn't feeling it. It was 28 with a wind chill of 19, 17 mph ENE winds, my mind was already full of negative thoughts. I just wanted to stay in bed and sleep.

I got ready anyway. Ate a bowl of oatmeal and a PowerBar Harvest. Dressed like it was February and not the end of March. I drove up to the start of the Great Western Bike Path. Got all situated and took off.

The first 1/2 mile was fine, I was in woods and didn't feel the wind. After that though, it was all downhill. I swear to you, I wanted to walk within the first 2 miles. I stopped at some point early on and took out the rocks that I could feel in my shoes. I let the guy running behind me pass. He was the same one I saw a few weeks ago. I stayed with him for quite a bit. Then we came up to 6 miles. I was debating in my head at 5.5 of just going the extra mile to 7 miles and then I'll turn around but once I got to 6 miles, I stopped and just couldn't go on anymore.

I turned around and headed on back. The wind was finally at my back, kinda. It was coming from the East/Northeast and I was heading west. But I still wasn't feeling like the wind was helping any. From this point on, I pretty much stopped for a short break after every mile. Until mile 10. After that, it was pretty often.

I got back to the start just after 12 miles. I decided to run back out til I was out of the woods and then it got windy so I turned around, that gave me over 13 and I stopped again. Decided to go back out a little ways and try to get around 13.5. I finished with 13.6 miles. Oh well. I was also a snotty mess and didn't bring my snot rag with me. When I got back tot he car I noticed that I had snot all over my balaclava and of course I used my jacket to blow my nose. Ick ick ick. I didn't have my running jacket (zipper got stuck so it's a seamstress getting fixed so I was wearing one that was cotton but I didn't get overheated or anything) and this jacket was way too big but the bigness came in handy when it came to blowing my nose!

The mental fail part was because I knew it was 20 miles. Even just the sound of it is daunting. Let alone doing it. I tried to think of it as a 3:20 minute run instead but even that didn't help. The weather of course affected my thoughts too. It's the last Saturday in March, it should be nice weather! Average high is 44, average low is 26. The winds also got to me. I compared last weeks run weather conditions to that of northern Illinois. It was 12 mph winds and only like 4 or 5 mph in southern Illinois.

The physical aspects of today's run came from the fact that I think I'm overtrained. Since February I have been adding mileage to my long runs without a step back week. And I have been adding 2 miles at a time to the long run. My legs are tired. So with that, this will be the start of my taper. My race is in 3 weeks now anyway.

Next Saturday, has me running with Erin. I'm looking forward to it! She's in her taper for the Illinois Half Marathon in 2 weeks. We'll be running together on her path, which looks great after seenig the pictures she's posted.

I'm tired. I actually feel napping and I haven't felt like in a while! Overall, I just hope that I'll be able to run 26 miles and I won't have this feeling again. Maybe this marathon will be my last.

Someone's Gatorade stash. It was actually under the grass a bit so I have a feeling it's been there a while.

Not a very good shot, but you can see the green buds starting to come out on the bushes/trees!

This is the beginning of my path. See the woods. Oh so very nice!

And this is after 1/2 mile into it. It opens up and then you get nothing but wind. Grr., not fun.

My Garmin stats. If you notice, I was keeping a pretty even pace. Which I didn't know until I saw this. I wasn't looking at my Garmin, I was afraid of what I would see! However, they don't count the stops I had to make. So if you want to count those, then go with my Bones in Motion stats.

Stats:

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 870 ft Location: Sycamore, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 03/28/09 Up/Downhill: [+203/-203] Time: 08:15 AM Difficulty: 3.9 / 5.0 Weather: Fair and Breezy 33 F temp; 75% humidity 33 F heat index; winds NE 23 G 28 Performance Distance: 13.60 miles Time: 2:15:43 Speed: 6.0 mph Pace: 9' 59 /mi Heart Rate: 175 bpm (Avg) Calories: 1452 185 bpm (Peak) Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 10' 07 +0' 08 5.9 -0.1 165 +23 ft 2 9' 59 +0' 00 6.0 -0.0 178 +7 ft 3 10' 12 +0' 13 5.9 -0.1 176 -10 ft 4 10' 09 +0' 10 5.9 -0.1 180 +9 ft 5 10' 12 +0' 13 5.9 -0.1 179 -13 ft 6 10' 18 +0' 19 5.8 -0.2 182 +3 ft 7 10' 02 +0' 03 6.0 -0.0 173 -4 ft 8 11' 00 +1' 01 5.5 -0.6 173 +13 ft 9 12' 05 +2' 06 5.0 -1.1 171 -9 ft 10 11' 14 +1' 15 5.3 -0.7 175 +10 ft 11 10' 45 +0' 46 5.6 -0.4 172 -7 ft 12 9' 39 -0' 20 6.2 +0.2 171 -23 ft 13 10' 54 +0' 55 5.5 -0.5 173 0 ft end 9' 32 -0' 27 6.3 +0.3 176 0 ft Versus average of 9' 59 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 13 miles, 20 mile run, Great Western Trail, mental, overtraining, pictures

Running in the rain

I'm all by myself. I realised this today. I never felt it before until today. Now I'm starting to worry about my future and what is to become my future. First though, let's talk about this disastrous run.

I knew it was going to rain on my 13 mile run. That I was prepared for. I knew it was going to start about half way into it. I just wasn't prepared for the wind & the cold and the ice pellets to start hitting me in the face. I also wasn't prepared for the thunder & lightning either.

First half was easy. Wind was coming from the north but once I turned east that was fine. At the 7.57 mile mark, I heard the rain. That's OK, wasn't that strong. It actually helped me a bit as you'll see in my stats.

It started coming down harder right after 10 miles. I knew I only had 3 miles left at that point. But the rain started coming down from the side. And it was cold. And windy. I was starting to get soaked. I had to stop, I couldn't take it anymore. My shoes were so wet, the water was dripping off of my brim and the wind was picking it up and it was going in my eyes. I found a tree to hide behind. It wasn't very wide. I debated what to do. I sent a message to Twitter stating that I was in trouble. 2.5 miles out from my car according to my Garmin. While there I heard thunder and saw a quick shot of lightning. Then decided that I just needed to suck it up and get going. So I did that.

But a little while later I had to stop again. My feet were so heavy with water-soaked shoes. They felt like I was pulling lead. This time I found a bigger tree but it was in someone's yard. I hid behind there again. Pulled out my cell phone. Called a friend. He was in DeKalb. Couldn't come pick me up. Called another friend. He didn't know where Old State in Sycamore was at and he was on his way into Chicago. I started crying on the phone with him. I was so cold. I could barely speak my face hurt so much. I was 2 miles away. I sent a text to another friend since I was crying and waited to hear from him. I was going through the rest of my contacts thinking of who else would come out and get me. No other names stood out to me. Most either didn't live here or they have a family so then I would be bothering them with their Saturday morning activities. I didn't want to wait to hear from him so I headed on out again.

I stopped not long after though. My feet were so heavy still and it was just so cold. I stopped & waited. This tree wasn't as shelter friendly as the second one. I was getting wet. The water started rivers down the bark. I didn't get a message after 5 minutes so I headed on out again. I was crying again when I started. Earlier in the run I had heard "All By Myself" by Jamie O'Neal and that was all I could think of. Eventually the sobbing stopped and it was just me & the road and my anger & disappointment. I saw lots of headlights again. Could that be Rt. 64? It was!! Yay! I made it.

Then back to the park and to my car. I made several laps around the circle there to make it an even 13 miles. I figured I was already wet & soaked through that I just don't care and now that I can see my car, I'm no longer worried for my safety.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 882 ft Location: Sycamore, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 03/07/09 Up/Downhill: [+285/-285] Time: 07:16 AM Difficulty: 3.7 / 5.0 Weather: Heavy Rain and Breezy 40 F temp; 92% humidity 40 F heat index; winds N 21 Performance Distance: 13.00 miles Time: 2:05:18 Speed: 6.2 mph Pace: 9' 38 /mi Heart Rate: 172 bpm (Avg) Calories: 1388 183 bpm (Peak) Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 34 -0' 04 6.3 +0.0 158 +36 ft 2 9' 44 +0' 06 6.2 -0.1 168 +10 ft 3 9' 53 +0' 15 6.1 -0.2 171 +33 ft 4 9' 40 +0' 02 6.2 -0.0 173 +10 ft 5 9' 50 +0' 12 6.1 -0.1 174 +3 ft 6 9' 54 +0' 16 6.1 -0.2 173 -20 ft 7 9' 35 -0' 03 6.3 +0.0 172 -7 ft 8 9' 28 -0' 10 6.3 +0.1 171 0 ft 9 9' 27 -0' 11 6.3 +0.1 173 -7 ft 10 9' 18 -0' 20 6.5 +0.2 174 -16 ft 11 16' 02 +6' 24 3.7 -2.5 173 0 ft 12 9' 05 -0' 33 6.6 +0.4 175 -39 ft 13 9' 54 +0' 16 6.1 -0.2 177 -3 ft Versus average of 9' 38 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

I guess in my wicked view of life, I've always seen 30 as the cut-off point. I had hoped to be married by 30. then that relationship came & went. Then I had hoped to be engaged by 30. Now I just hope to be in another relationship when I'm 30. And that's looking more and more grim (since I don't go out and meet anyone). No one wants to date you when you're 30. No one wants you to have their babies when you're 30. You're no longer seen as young & vibrant since you're in a new decade. Most people I know, friends & high school classmates, already have marriage & a family started or plan to long before their 30th year. So I guess that's what's making me all depressed now. I guess I was just fooling myself when I thought I wasn't gonna care about my 30th birthday. Yea, I realise a very skewed view but again, just my feelings.

Categories: 13 miles, feelings, Great Western Trail, rain

Running in Chicago

So let me tell you about my run in Chicago.

After Jesse and I hammered out all the details, I set my alarm for 5:30a. When it sounded, I put the other pillow over my head and just groaned. Realised that I should probably get up, looked at the clock and it was 5:43. SHIT! That's what time I was supposed to leave! Luckily, my bag was already packed, all I had to do was just get dressed, make my bagel and pack the bananas and Gatorade. I got out of the house and turned around to get a sweatshirt. It was still dark when I left that morning at 6am. And I realised that I forgot my camera while I was driving to the station. Camera phone it is!

I made it to the train station with a little over 2 minutes to spare. *whew!* I listened to my iPod and ate my bagel. I realised that I forgot my morning banana at home and hoped that just the bagel would pull me through the run. Drank my Gatorade.

Found Jesse and off to Millennium Park we went. I noticed on the train that there was quite a few Race For The Cure shirts going on, must be a race. Sure enough, after we got all set to go with our water belts, we had to walk across Columbus and hurried our butts right through their running line!

We started our trek, 13 miles, at the Montrose Harbour and headed south from there. It was 8:51a. Not the best time to start. About a 1/2 mile into it, I realised that I forgot to wear the black knee bands I always do. I knew I couldn't go back for them though. Whoops. I hoped that the pounding on the concrete wasn't going to mess up my knees.

We stopped for water at a fountain about 4.5 miles. Turned around at 6.5 miles. Before that though, Jesse already had by this time, been in front of me for a while, leading the charge. Because I had kept slipping back. We were running side by side at about a 9:15/9:20 pace. But then I just faded, horribly.

After the turn around, I walked sooooooo many times. And Jesse, bless his heart, walked as well. He got me going again so many times too. There were times in which I just felt like I just couldn't do it anymore. It was insane! So hot. The lakefront doesn't have much shade but the breeze did feel nice. My left ankle and the toes (where they bend) were starting to hurt. So I wondered if I needed new shoes. By the end of the run, both feet were burning too. Haven't had that feeling for a while. I did get that cool shot around mile 9 though.

Once we were done, we did some stretching and I poured the cold water over my legs. I needed the cold water. There was a fountain .1 miles from where we needed to stop but I was out of water and knew I needed to get them iced down a bit.

13 miles in 2:20. That's a 10:46 min/mi pace. So much for 9-9:30 pace. Ick. I only wonder how the run would have been like if it would have been like today. 67* and cloudy.

When we walked back to Millennium Park, we went down to Crown Fountain where a whole bunch of kids were playing in the water. The water was cold but felt so good on my feet! Then I headed over to one of the blocks and stood under it to cool down and wash off the sweat. Then I noticed that now's a good time to check out my foot stomp. So I walked in the fountain and walked out on the concrete blocks and you could see a very nice imprint. Apparently, my left foot as a high arch and my right foot is a normal arch. That was pretty cool to notice. Then again, I had just run 13 miles so I thought maybe it had something to do with that. The kids I notice have absolutely no arches. All the kids foot stomps were flat as flat could be. Interesting how that happens. I never did stand where the spout out of the "mouth" happens. I didn't want to get too wet, just enough.

After we sat in the sun and dried off, we went to the bathroom at the Park Cafe building where I changed real quick and then off to get something to eat. We were starving by this time. I went to Au Bon Pain for sandwiches. Don't even ask me how to pronounce it. Good selections though. While eating outside, we saw the saddest and sweetest thing. It was a German Sheppard in a doggie wheelchair. He seemed happy though. It was across the street otherwise I would have gotten one myself.

Then off to see the WIRED NextFest. Walked in and the first thing we noticed was that it was incredibly hot! It's a tent building and with all those electronics, it can get quite stuffy. They have a few fans going but not enough. We got there about an hour or so after opening and it was already getting busy. I think the best time to go is during lunch in the week. They had a WIRED Magazine that you could grab. I love WIRED. And this place was amazing. The best part was the Peronalised Mobility. Crazy to think that this could very well happen. It was a Toyota exhibit. Check out the pictures and you'll see it and more stuff.



We stood in line for like ever to take a survey and get a free t-shirt. As I said to Jesse, the things we'll do for a free shirt. Run 26.2 miles... stand in line for 30 minutes. :-)

Then on back to the train station where we had a few minutes to grab something to drink. Luckily, both of our trains left 5 minutes apart. And that would be that.

It was good running with him, I just wish that the Elburn train would leave sooner. Next time, I'll have to stay in Chicago.

Categories: 13 miles, Jesse, pictures, running in chicago