Canoecopia & Bike-O-Rama and 16 miles

The number of blog posts that I did last week equaled the number of times that I ran. I'll save you the time to go back and look. The answer is 0. I ran zero times last week. Because I was sick. I was feeling decent, OK, by Thursday and it was a lovely day outside when I got home but I just couldn't muster the energy to get dressed and do a run. So I didn't. And I didn't again on Friday. So I had doubts about my run this weekend. Would I really do 16 miles?

I meant to go running on Saturday early morning before Luke & I had plans but alas, I decided to sleep after my alarm went off at 7a and we actually didn't get out of bed until 10a, an hour after we were supposed to leave for Madison. Anyway, the wind was horrendous and the rain didn't help me get out of bed any easier.

Saturday, Luke & I headed to Madison to go to Canoecopia & Bike-O-Rama. (Sorry, no pictures of these places) He's all into kayaks (actually owns one) and his family owns a canoe. So we paid the $10 admission fee and toured the HUGE expo. I was very tempted to sit in a kayak but I didn't. Not like I was really gonna buy one. They had had presenters & speakers all day talking about various topics. We sat in one at the end that explained how to pick & buy a kayak that's right for you. It was very interesting, I actually learned a lot.

After that we headed on over to Bike-O-Rama. This entry fee was free and immediately you're hit with a ton of bikes. We browsed through the road bikes for a bit (I would really like Luke to get a road bike but I think he'll be able to keep up with me on his mountain bike just fine to be honest). And then looked at some accessories. I think my next purchase will be aerobars for my bike. Those look really nice to have!! Just lean forward and no constant pressure on your elbows from the handlebars. Oh and I would like a new bike rack for my car. Something that will fit my mountain bike (and Luke's) top tube easier.

So today was the day that I had to do my run. Unfortunately, the wind stayed with us but the rain went away! I got all the way out to my trailhead and then realised that I forgot my Garmin, so I drove all the way back just to grab it. On my way out the door, I told Luke that the run is already not starting out too well.

But it was a decent enough 16 miles. On my way out, I kept thinking that maybe I should do 5 out and 5 back and then 3 out and 3 back. But then I decided that once I get back to the start, I probably wouldn't do the 3 out again and what's another 3 miles once I made it to 5. Plus, this way, I HAVE to run (or walk) the 8 back.

I was also heading into the wind on the way there. Northeast is where it was coming from. At around mile 6, the wind started to pick up and it was actually blowing me a bit wobbly on my run. I was getting weaker by that time so no surprise. At the 8 mile mark, I stopped to drink some PowerAde & have 2 pieces of the PowerBar Gel Blasts. Then I had to run with the wind at my back, which I thought would help me speed up but alas, it was coming too far out of the north to aid me and the wind at my sweaty back was cooling me off too quickly.

By mile 10, my legs were feeling really sore & tired and heavy. Not cool. I was hurting. And my hip is STILL sore from skiing a couple weeks ago. So I was feeling that during the duration of my run. And a little my knee too, all on the same leg, the right leg. So I'm sitting here icing it currently.

The second half was a lot slower & I stopped a lot more. Boo. I was disappointed about that. But I overall I kept a decent time. I was just over 10 minutes a mile going into the last mile and so I really wanted to knock that down and I did (in the last 1/2 mile).

After running, I got into a cold water bath for 15 minutes. Took a shower and headed up to the gym at the high school and we played some basketball with my friends. Well, a little basketball for me. I did play 2 games to 10 of 3 on 2. Luke & I were even on a team and we managed to keep the score relatively close to the team of 3! Luke was the tallest one there so he got many rebounds, blocks & shots off. He's actually pretty good at basketball. :-)

Then it was pie (since it was Pi Day, March 14, 3.14!) of Coconut Creme & German Chocolate cake (yes, I know it's a cake but that was all the pie Wal-Mart had at 5:30p on a Sunday night)!

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 873 ft Location: Sycamore, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 03/14/10 Up/Downhill: [+252/-252] Time: 11:05 AM Difficulty: 3.4 / 5.0 Weather: Overcast 46 F temp; 82% humidity 46 F heat index; winds NE 20 G 24 Performance Distance: 16.00 miles Time: 2:40:11 Speed: 6.0 mph Pace: 10' 01 /mi Calories: 1717 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 17 -0' 44 6.5 +0.5 +23 ft 2 9' 33 -0' 28 6.3 +0.3 +7 ft 3 9' 45 -0' 16 6.2 +0.2 -13 ft 4 9' 49 -0' 12 6.1 +0.1 +13 ft 5 9' 45 -0' 16 6.2 +0.2 -13 ft 6 9' 59 -0' 02 6.0 +0.0 +7 ft 7 10' 02 +0' 01 6.0 -0.0 -4 ft 8 10' 06 +0' 05 5.9 -0.1 +16 ft 9 10' 06 +0' 05 5.9 -0.1 -16 ft 10 10' 09 +0' 08 5.9 -0.1 +3 ft 11 10' 12 +0' 11 5.9 -0.1 -3 ft 12 10' 28 +0' 27 5.7 -0.3 +9 ft 13 10' 20 +0' 19 5.8 -0.2 -10 ft 14 10' 39 +0' 38 5.6 -0.4 +10 ft 15 11' 24 +1' 23 5.3 -0.7 -7 ft end 9' 50 -0' 11 6.1 +0.1 -23 ft Versus average of 10' 01 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 16 miles, Great Western Trail, Madison

Corn Fest and a long run

The free corn from Del Monte at Corn Fest!

So this weekend was DeKalb's annual festival called Corn Fest. I've been on the board for 3 years and volunteered the year before that. I'm in charge of gathering all the volunteers and assigning them to places around the fest and then checking them in and directing them to how to do their job, etc. This mean that I even have volunteers that help me with set-up on Friday morning. So here was the final outcome of my hours at Corn Fest:

Friday: 8am to 11:11pm

Saturday: 9:00am to 11:50pm

Sunday: 9:30am to 9pm

So full days. Walking around (it's held an airport so quite an extensive ground coverage), some running, LOADS of standing! After last years experience out there at the airport, I could hardly walk on Monday. So I kinda knew what to expect with my body. Sunday morning, I felt my first pain in my calves and thighs. I knew that Sunday was also going to be our most hectic day. It did not disappoint.

Now let me get my running talk in here. Last year I had just started training for a marathon, so missing my run was no big deal. In fact, I was still able to get my run in because I had a complimentary registration to the Corn Fest 10k on Saturday morning at 8:30am. I had an assistant last year who said that she could check in the volunteers while I ran the race. So I ran the 6.2 miles and it counted towards my marathon training. I arrived around 10:30a last year. But this year, I really had no assistant to help so I had to forego it plus, my schedule had me running 18 miles. I didn't want to 2 run day, do 6 on Saturday and then 12 on Sunday or Monday. I don't think it would have been helpful to me.

What my boss allowed me to do is take Monday off, because I would be sore and I have loads of errands to run as well. Plus, I figured I could run my 18 miles. And that I did. Well, kinda.

I went to be around 10:30p or so and had the alarm go off at 6am. I ignored it. Went off again at 7am, I ignored it. Again at 8am and started to stir at that time. I heard that the temp was still 55 so I thought that it would be good. I finally got out of bed and my thighs hurt soooo bad. I was worried about whether or not I should even do this run! But it had warmed up to 70 by that time. Hmm, oh well. I live and learn right?

But decided (with the help of @bhop7 on Twitter) I would do 15 and see how I feel for another 3. Finally got to the trailhead at 10:22am. How did I know that so specifically? There was a vagabond with his tent at the mile marker and he had asked me. Odd...

It's funny. During the week on my city path, I can't run a 10 min pace. But out there on my limestone trail, I can keep a 10 minute pace just fine. I didn't even start out fast, I started out with a 9:52 first mile! And that was the plan and that I did, except for towards the end. In fact, my breathing was quite easy even at mile 3 & 4. I was amazed.

I was sick of running to music, so I threw on a few Steve Runner podcasts. He always helped the miles go by. I think it's because it's talking and not so much monotonous music all the time. I decided that at 8.5 to turn around. Not sure why I picked that spot but it was in the shade and I stopped. That first half was very consistent and was done at a 9:57 min/mi pace. Just what I wanted.

I ate my first Clif Shot on this run. Strawberry. And it was nasty. Won't be eating those again. I like my PowerBar gels instead. Now the Clif Shot Bloks I love. Had a few of those too. I had my 4 water bottles with me in my waist pack. I made sure to ration those carefully. As in no dumping over my head. I did run out out of the water in 3 bottles so as I ran past the Sycamore Speedway, I thought about going in there to fill up in a bathroom. Unfortunately it was closed. However, the Winner's Circle bar next to it, looked open! So I ran over and sure enough it was! I asked for the restroom and filled up my bottles. Soooo good! I went outside and nearly guzzled one down and then dumped a little over my head. I only had 3 miles at that point, so I was safe.

I did a lot of walking in that second half. Well, twice I walked for a minute or so, but paused a lot. It was tough. The Sun was hotter and a lot warmer out. I kept at it though and soon said that if I could keep going to the end then I'll stop at 17. And stop I did. The vagabond was gone, he had passed me on his motorised bike (that pedaled??) with this kid bike pull-along that I guess he put his tent in. I was running slower miles but my average pace was still around the 10 min/mi which is fine.

So I ended at 17.1 miles. Not too shabby for being as sore as I am. I turned on my car and the AC in it, waited for it to cool down while I walked around some. Drove the 4 miles home and my muscles locked up. I grrrr'ed in agony getting out of the car. Came inside, took a cold water bath for 10 minutes, then a hot shower. Now I'm writing this up and will be doing some errands just to keep the muscles moving and then going up to Rockford for some grub. I'm even more sore now. Especially my thighs. Getting to the standing position after sitting in the tub was quite an ordeal.

Here are a few pics of corn Fest and I'll include 2 that I took on my run today.

I got to ride on an open-air biplane! One of the best perks from this weekend!

It rained pretty bad on Friday night.

Another option of Corn Fest, a car show.

The free corn!!

A crowd in one of the vendor aisles.

The sponsor tent/hanger area.

The clouds and the crowds!

The crowds all together! Holy moly!

Soundstage crowd inside the beer garden.

Still more crowds!

And now the aftermath!

Pictures from my run:

Gorgeous, isn't it?

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 873 ft Location: Sycamore, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 08/24/09 Up/Downhill: [+236/-236] Time: 10:22 AM Difficulty: 3.2 / 5.0 Weather: Partly Cloudy 73 F temp; 61% humidity 73 F heat index; winds S 9 Performance Distance: 17.10 miles Time: 2:53:41 Speed: 5.9 mph Pace: 10' 09 /mi Calories: 1832 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 52 -0' 17 6.1 +0.2 +23 ft 2 9' 54 -0' 15 6.1 +0.1 +7 ft 3 9' 50 -0' 19 6.1 +0.2 -10 ft 4 9' 58 -0' 11 6.0 +0.1 +9 ft 5 9' 53 -0' 16 6.1 +0.2 -16 ft 6 10' 02 -0' 07 6.0 +0.1 +6 ft 7 10' 01 -0' 08 6.0 +0.1 0 ft 8 10' 02 -0' 07 6.0 +0.1 +10 ft 9 10' 06 -0' 03 5.9 +0.0 -4 ft 10 10' 17 +0' 08 5.8 -0.1 -6 ft 11 9' 56 -0' 13 6.0 +0.1 0 ft 12 10' 29 +0' 20 5.7 -0.2 -3 ft 13 10' 33 +0' 24 5.7 -0.2 +13 ft 14 13' 45 +3' 36 4.4 -1.6 -10 ft 15 10' 44 +0' 35 5.6 -0.3 +10 ft 16 10' 44 +0' 35 5.6 -0.3 -10 ft 17 10' 16 +0' 07 5.8 -0.1 -20 ft Versus average of 10' 09 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 17 miles, Corn Fest, Great Western Trail, pictures

Epic Fail

Or how I survived a 16 mile run. Or how running in a group really saved my ass today.

OK, wasn't really that much of a fail since I did actually get the mileage in. But were they good miles? There's a term in the running world called Junk Miles. They are defined as "Runs at an easy pace inserted into a program in order to reach a weekly or monthly mileage total rather than for any specific benefit."

I'm thinking that's pretty much what I did today. Not so sure. What I did today was not the brightest idea I've ever had. In fact, I think it was pretty much stupid. I ran 16 miles, with no running for 8 days, and my last run being 2 weeks ago of 8 miles and the week before that was 12. Can we agree stupid? :-)

The sun is now starting to get real lazy and when my alarm went off at 6am, it was barely up and definitely not above the roofs. Which made me feel lazy too. Not cool Sun, not cool!

I was still out to the trailhead of the Great Western Trail by 7:15am. I was getting everything ready to go when a bunch of people went running past me. I recognised a few people in the front of the group. Then someone from my NITRO group was there and he passed me saying that I could join them for their run to St. Charles on the path. I told him that I was only doing 16 (the email they sent out said that they were doing 18). He said that it's only another mile to the end. That got the wheels turning. So I asked if there was room for me in their cars (they had dropped some cars at the end) and he said yes. So I took off with the group!

This guy passed me. His butt was soaking in sweat.

They all didn't have any water bottles with them since a husband of a runner was out there dropping stuff along the way. I had my 4 bottle water belt with me though so I just went by the first stop.

But then my left shoe started to cause my toes to go numb. I loosened the laces and let them come alive again. Started to run. Got the same problem. Stopped again later on and adjusted them again. Took off running. Still went numb. This time I stayed with it and kept going.

This guy was like a Kenyan. Apparently, he was running 22 miles starting in St. Charles.

When I hit the horse farm, it was about 9 miles and I knew then that I was venturing into uncharted territory. Never been past that farm. At one point, I had to stop and take off my shoes for a little bit because the bottoms of my feet were burning. I also loosened up my laces a lot more at that point to let them wakeup.

The 3 women passed me at that point. And at the next water stop, I had joined back up with them and we were all keeping pace together. That was around 10.40 miles. Eventually though, I had to walk. At 12 miles, I started walking and one of them joined me but I told her to keep on going cause I had no idea how long I would take. I ended up walking the entire mile! But it was much needed.

2 of the women I was running with.

Once we got in toward St. Charles the path became paved and quite shaded so that felt nice. Everyone was having problems with the heat. Wasn't good. One guy ended up being picked up from our group.

Me walking in the 12th mile.

I thought that when I hit 13 miles, I would be able to keep on going with the running but that didn't happen. I had to pause and walk. Did so again in the 14th mile and the 15th mile. Once I hit 16 on my Phil, I knew I could walk and not care. It felt so much better. However, my calves started to cramp and my hip started to hurt as well.

Near the end! 3 miles to go!

I walked up to the shelter and the runners there were applauding me. I just told them that it was the dumbest thing I've ever done.

We actually didn't leave the shelter until about noon. I was thinking of taking an cold water bath immediately but wasn't sure if it was still going to be beneficary for me to do so. But I did it anyway. Felt good. Im laying here on my couch now and my legs are starting to hurt. So I'm gonna need to get up and do something here soon. Also, need to turn on my AC I think. It's hot today!

I was going to do an organised bike ride tomorrow but decided against it. There's no way my legs would be able to handle that.

My Garmin stats which does not count the pauses at the water stops.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 859 ft Location: Sycamore, IL Elev. Gain: -79 ft Date: 08/15/09 Up/Downhill: [+331/-410] Time: 07:22 AM Difficulty: 4.1 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 76 F temp; 78% humidity 79 F heat index; winds S 12 Performance Distance: 16.00 miles Time: 2:54:51 Speed: 5.5 mph Pace: 10' 56 /mi Calories: 1651 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 18 -1' 38 6.5 +1.0 +23 ft 2 9' 26 -1' 30 6.3 +0.9 +7 ft 3 9' 36 -1' 20 6.2 +0.8 -10 ft 4 10' 22 -0' 34 5.8 +0.3 +9 ft 5 9' 36 -1' 20 6.2 +0.8 -13 ft 6 9' 53 -1' 03 6.1 +0.6 +3 ft 7 12' 00 +1' 04 5.0 -0.5 0 ft 8 10' 39 -0' 17 5.6 +0.1 +10 ft 9 11' 39 +0' 43 5.2 -0.3 +43 ft 10 10' 53 -0' 03 5.5 +0.0 -23 ft 11 10' 42 -0' 14 5.6 +0.1 -20 ft 12 11' 02 +0' 06 5.4 -0.1 -37 ft 13 19' 44 +8' 48 3.0 -2.4 -17 ft 14 10' 50 -0' 06 5.5 +0.0 -13 ft 15 12' 36 +1' 40 4.8 -0.7 -29 ft end 11' 28 +0' 32 5.2 -0.3 -10 ft Versus average of 10' 56 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 16 miles, Great Western Trail, NITRO, pictures

Chest congestion

Not quite what I had hoped for today's run.

It's perfect weather, cloudy and cool considering that it's August 1. So because of that I slept in (cause I didn't have a good night, more on that later) and I got running about 8:40am but that was OK since it was still 65 when I started. Amazing. Well, as soon as I took off, my legs felt heavy and I knew this was going to be a tough run. I ran past the 1 mile marker and my Garmin said that it was 1.13. Whoa, that's way off. At 2 miles it said 2.15 miles. And it's always been on target before. So I stopped at that point and turned off the GPS and started it again. I figured that it just didn't get a good connection and I reset the timer and started again. This time it was a lot more "on" pace.

But I only was able to run 2 more miles up and I turned around and ran the 4 back. Well, kinda ran the 4 back. More like jogged it with a little bit of walking. I had debated going out for 3 more and 3 back to give me the 14 miles all together but there was no way possible. On my way back I was averaging a pace of 11 minutes a mile, which is SOOOO not like me.

Here's what I'm thinking. Somehow I got a chest cold/congestion. It's summer, I'm not supposed to get sick! So I've been coughing quite a bit since Thursday. Mucus and everything. I know, lovely right? Anyway, I coughed all night even though I took a decongestant and I have no idea what time but I eventually got up and took 2 swigs of cough syrup and was finally able to sleep. I woke up and got going but was still coughing. Still mucus too. I ran anyway. I feel fine physically like I have the energy just this damn cough. I didn't cough too much on the run but I did feel like I couldn't take that big of breaths which probably also didn't help with the run. At least I'm hoping that's part of it. I promised myself that after I pick up my shoes today that I'll try for another 6 miles tonight to get my 14 miles in total. We'll see if that happens.

The good news is that it got me to the pace of which I'm supposed to run my training miles in. Not faster pace that I've been doing. So far since I've been back I haven't coughed that much. And when I have, nothing has come up. I had thought about going down to the walk-in clinic today but decided to wait until tomorrow to see how another night goes and how I feel tomorrow. The funny part is my voice is about 2 octaves lower. So weird hearing myself. Doesn't sound like me at all!!

I remembered something that I wanted to share about Wednesday's run. I had a lady play chicken with me. I kid you not. I was on the right of the path, which is the way people drive in America and the way we walk on paths. So I'm just running along, and this Asian lady is walking towards me. On my side. With her dog. I'm waiting for her to move on over but she never does. I'm thinking, you wanna play chicken, fine we'll play chicken and I gear up for it. Finally as I'm getting closer to her, I point to the other side and tell her you're supposed to be on that side. And while she moves, she doesn't get over all the way just enough to let me pass on the CORRECT side of her. And then I look behind me, she's back on my side. WTF?! That pissed me off.

What reminded me of it is that it happened again today out on Great Western Trail only it happened with bikers. 3 wide were coming towards me and they never greatly moved over. One was in the middle of the lane. I've been passed by others that have moved over and gone single file which was nice of them to do. But not this group of 3 boys. Not happy about that.

Note: I stopped in the second mile of the 2nd part of my run for quite a bit at the turn around point which is why BiM is showing a 14 minute pace for that mile.

Also, my shoes have come in so I'm heading up to Rockford to pick them up! I'm excited since my current shoes have about 354 miles on them. Almost time to retire them to my everyday shoes. Must break the news ones in before my marathon in October.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 869 ft Location: Sycamore, IL Elev. Gain: +32 ft Date: 08/01/09 Up/Downhill: [+45/-13] Time: 08:40 AM Difficulty: 1.8 / 5.0 Weather: Partly Cloudy 65 F temp; 83% humidity 65 F heat index; winds SW 14 Performance Distance: 2.15 miles Time: 0:19:14 Speed: 6.7 mph Pace: 8' 57 /mi Heart Rate: 157 bpm (Avg) Calories: 226 185 bpm (Peak) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 09 -0' 48 7.4 +0.7 133 +23 ft 2 9' 33 +0' 36 6.3 -0.4 171 0 ft end 10' 00 +1' 03 6.0 -0.7 166 +9 ft Versus average of 8' 57 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 876 ft Location: Sycamore, IL Elev. Gain: -29 ft Date: 08/01/09 Up/Downhill: [+75/-104] Time: 09:01 AM Difficulty: 2.2 / 5.0 Weather: Light Drizzle 64 F temp; 89% humidity 64 F heat index; winds SW 16 Performance Distance: 6.00 miles Time: 1:03:39 Speed: 5.7 mph Pace: 10' 37 /mi Heart Rate: 166 bpm (Avg) Calories: 648 185 bpm (Peak) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 53 -0' 44 6.1 +0.4 165 -10 ft 2 14' 33 +3' 56 4.1 -1.5 177 +13 ft 3 10' 27 -0' 10 5.7 +0.1 162 -13 ft 4 11' 24 +0' 47 5.3 -0.4 167 +10 ft 5 10' 58 +0' 21 5.5 -0.2 160 -7 ft 6 10' 28 -0' 09 5.7 +0.1 169 -23 ft Versus average of 10' 37 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 8 miles, Great Western Trail, shoes, sick