Bike The Drive photos

So a month ago now, I rode Bike The Drive. Some of you may have read that post. I got the official photos from it so I thought I would finally get around to post them for a Foto Friday blog.

First I'll post the generic ones that they took of the entire ride. They're quite impressive & pretty of the Chicago Skyline! They only got one of Kevin & I together and it turned out rather cool too!

I'm still off the grid but thankfully Blogger lets you schedule posts for the future! Freaky eh? It's all automatic!

Categories: Bike the Drive, pictures

Biking the Wisconsin countryside

On Sunday, my friend Kevin & I took off on our bikes around 9 am to check out the countryside of Madison, WI. He also invited a neighbour of his as well. Which was good since he was able to lead us on good roads. I suggested that I was up for 20-30 miles. We ended up going 24 miles. Gone for 2 hours and rode for 1h 43'. Good times!

Such wonderful views. You must click on this bigger!

The weather was outstanding! Even though it was a bit windy. At one point, we headed back east with the winds behind us and on a flat road, I was pedaling 22 mph! Geez! There was one hill that was just INSANE! It was worse than The Wall at TOMRV the other weekend. I really felt like my heart was beating out of my chest. The guy with us said he felt like puking at the end of it. But the best part is that I was able to keep up with the guys!!

This was right before I inhaled a huge bug!

Many bikers out on this day. I'm talking MANY bikers.

The bad news is I think I hurt my left hamstring. Even today, Tuesday, I'm still a little sore with it and it even hurts just walking. But unfortunately (or fortunately), I don't have the time to run this week. :-( Got home from Madison late on Sunday since I stayed for Rhythms and Booms so I couldn't run on Monday morning. Then Monday night was just insane with meetings and packing. Tonight I'm picking up boots and a bike for camping. I tried getting up this morning but at 6a, I got out of bed but just fell back into it. I couldn't do it.

Leaving Wednesday after work to head up to Devil's Lake for some camping. Then back down to Madison for some fireworks and a cook out on the 3rd. Who knows what's in store for the 4th itself. I have no plans as of right now.

Below are my Bones in Motion stats. I was smart enough to bring my Garmin with me!

Here's the official Garmin Connect link http://connect.garmin.com/activity/7709842

So I have no idea what happened to the elevation map but it sucks. The official Garmin link will have the real elevation map. I wish you guys could have seen that hill I went up. It WAS insane!

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 999 ft Location: Verona, WI Elev. Gain: -75 ft Date: 06/28/09 Up/Downhill: [+0/-75] Time: 09:07 AM Difficulty: 2.9 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 23.51 miles Time: 1:43:49 Speed: 13.6 mph Pace: 4' 25 /mi Calories: 1174 Map Elevation (ft) Speed (mph) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 4' 45 +0' 20 12.6 -1.0 -75 ft 2 4' 00 -0' 24 14.9 +1.3 0 ft 3 5' 18 +0' 53 11.3 -2.3 0 ft 4 3' 44 -0' 40 16.1 +2.5 0 ft 5 4' 10 -0' 14 14.4 +0.8 0 ft 6 7' 03 +2' 38 8.5 -5.1 0 ft 7 3' 48 -0' 36 15.7 +2.1 0 ft 8 5' 10 +0' 45 11.6 -2.0 0 ft 9 14' 01 +9' 36 4.3 -9.3 0 ft 10 4' 39 +0' 14 12.9 -0.7 0 ft 11 4' 42 +0' 17 12.8 -0.8 0 ft 12 3' 46 -0' 38 15.9 +2.3 0 ft 13 2' 48 -1' 36 21.3 +7.7 0 ft 14 3' 41 -0' 43 16.3 +2.7 0 ft 15 4' 30 +0' 05 13.3 -0.3 0 ft 16 5' 01 +0' 36 11.9 -1.7 0 ft 17 3' 54 -0' 30 15.3 +1.7 0 ft 18 3' 54 -0' 30 15.3 +1.7 0 ft 19 4' 45 +0' 20 12.6 -1.0 0 ft 20 4' 31 +0' 06 13.2 -0.4 0 ft 21 2' 53 -1' 31 20.7 +7.1 0 ft 22 4' 03 -0' 21 14.8 +1.2 0 ft 23 4' 48 +0' 23 12.5 -1.1 0 ft end 4' 20 -0' 04 13.8 +0.2 0 ft Versus average of 13.6 mph

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: biking, friends, Madison

Summer marathon training

This is my first summer in which I'm training for a marathon. And I already don't like it and I'm only in my 2nd week*!

Got up at 6am, ate a bowl of oatmeal and was running by 6:33am. Still not early enough for this heat. 62° when I started w/84% humidity. 71° when I ended. This was according to Weather.com. Though the bank by the start said 68° and 77°. Either way it was hot.

So looks like I'm gonna have to go with the 5am crowd. I am not one of those people that can thrive and run just fine in the heat. I need the cool weather to excel. Especially as the runs get longer, I'm gonna have to go earlier and earlier and brings LOTS of water with me. I just had one big bottle and ran out.

Ended up running 8.75 miles. I kept the pace really nice and even with the exception of mile 6.5 to just after 7 miles. There was a long slight hill that just killed my average pace. And I stopped for quite a while at half way to eat some beans.

But also keep in mind that this is the first time I've done over 6.2 since my marathon back in April! I attempted 8 miles last week but that was again another failure thanks to the heat and only managed to squeak in 5.6 miles. I was aiming for a 10 min/mi pace but 9:3X works for me!

Interesting things:
I was saluted on the path. I kid you not! I was running towards NIU, the guy was coming from that area. He had on pants, like a cross between khaki and cargo pants and a backpack on. He had a doo-rag on his head and a bright blue shirt. I thought the guy was crazy for wearing that in this heat. When he passed me he put his hand up to his forehead in a salute and said Ma'am. Now I am the type that waves at EVERYONE so I waved as he wsa doing that. Took me back but quite awesome! Kinda made my day!!

Just after that, I passed what looked like the NIU motorcycle classes. On my way back to the same area I saw that they had all the motorcycles out of the trailer so I was right! Yay motorcycles. I love to ride on the back of them!!


I nearly got eaten alive by a dog or two. First time I almost got bit by one. Down by NIU's Music Building, I was coming up behind a father with a baby stroller and the mother with 2 small yappy dogs. I told them I was coming up behind them but they still took up the entire path and they weren't reeling in their dogs on the retractable lease. Finally I said On Your Right and passed them. Then the dogs started running towards me, barking and yapping up a storm. She couldn't get them to stop and couldn't pull them in so I had to do a hop skip knee lifts in the grass and run faster. I started yelling and saying stuff like Hey watch it! I finally said "Thanks a lot!" in a sarcastic way and she said something back to me that I couldn't hear and I might be glad I didn't cause it would have ruined the rest of my run.

I couldn't stand having my shorts on anymore so I rolled them up and under the built-in briefs of the shorts and felt like Deena Castor or Kara Goucher** wearing the bikini shorts! It did make me feel more comfortable but man, I looked funny I'm sure!! I've got a biker's tan, my thighs are half white half tan.


Speaking of biking, today I'm heading up to Baraboo for an small air show and then to Madison to spend with friends. Tomorrow we're gonna head on the bike paths and do some biking!! Wheeee!!! A weekend full of exercise! YES!

Northern Illinois University's Altgeld Hall Castle

*Technically I'm in my 2nd week of the plan but have only been running officially for a week. So far I'm doing ok with skipping that first week. Thank goodness for a base!

**I said I FELT like them, not that I LOOKED like them! HA!

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 851 ft Location: DeKalb, IL Elev. Gain: +3 ft Date: 06/27/09 Up/Downhill: [+183/-180] Time: 06:34 AM Difficulty: 2.3 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 69 F temp; 70% humidity 69 F heat index; winds SE 6 Performance Distance: 8.75 miles Time: 1:23:56 Speed: 6.2 mph Pace: 9' 36 /mi Calories: 931 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 31 -0' 05 6.3 +0.0 +37 ft 2 9' 24 -0' 12 6.4 +0.1 -39 ft 3 9' 29 -0' 07 6.3 +0.1 +4 ft 4 9' 24 -0' 12 6.4 +0.1 0 ft 5 16' 05 +6' 29 3.7 -2.5 0 ft 6 9' 36 +0' 00 6.2 +0.0 0 ft 7 9' 45 +0' 09 6.2 -0.1 +16 ft 8 9' 51 +0' 15 6.1 -0.2 +16 ft end 9' 26 -0' 10 6.4 +0.1 -30 ft Versus average of 9' 36 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 8 miles, 9 miles, pictures

Speed work outside??

Yep, I did it. I completed a round of speed work outside without the use of a treadmill. It went OK. I think that had it not been for the warmth & humidity, I would have done better and NOT walked between miles but again that's OK. I'm not gonna beat myself up over that minor detail even if it meant that I didn't get the best speed work workout. So much for the latic acid burn.

Goal: 5 mile speed work. 1 mile warm-up, 2 x 1600 at 8:30 min/mi with 800 jogs. 1 mile cool-down.

I turned off the Auto-Lap function of Phil because of the half mile walks in-between and I wanted to be able to read it in the Garmin Training Center. As I said, I walked the 1st 1/2 mile break. But I was also running 7's when I first took off. I kept the "warm-up" mile at 10 min and well, I guess I didn't know my own speed. It felt like I was going really slow but when I glanced down it said 7:12. Whoops. Sure enough I had to walk when that mile ended.

Lots of runners out this morning. I passed by 2 female runners; well, they passed me as I was walking. Then a friend's dad who I always see at races. And a few walkers. I even passed by DeKalb's City Manager, Mark Biernacki during my 1st mile.

I took off for the second mile. Definitely wasn't hitting the 7's this time but was staying nicely in the 8's in my current pace & lap pace. I was pretty much done by the time that mile ended. Though I did good and joggged it out for half mile at 11 something's. Passed by another runner, this guy was older and had a DeKalb corn hat on. Saw him at my last two races.

Then I only did a half mile cool-down which wasn't much different than my 1/2 mile jog out. Got back to my house at 7:02a. I left the house at 6:15. It's a good thing too since I had to go longer than 30 minutes. Wasn't thinking of that, I just happened to get out of bed and got dressed early.

The last time I did speed work outside it was at a track on the 4th of July at 11am. this one wasn't much better temp wise but I finished it a lot stronger thanks to my Garmin and knowing my speed!

I was hungry again by the time I got home. But I also chugged a glass of cold water. After that first mile I wanted some water. I wonder if that would have helped me. I just didn't want to wear a belt during my speed work.

Also, that path needs to have a port-a-potty along side it. That would rock. I would have used it today. My tummy was not agreeing with me but it could have been cramping cause of the speed, heat and lack of water. Only once have I had to jump off the side but today would not have been that day; too many people out!

But here are my stats. I'm pretty happy with them. Hit the second mile almost on the dot. Would have been interesting to see my heart rate as I'm sure it would have been in the 190's for sure in the first mile!! Still can't believe that I was running in the 7's for a current pace!

Official stats from Garmin since Bones in Motion only did miles and not "laps"

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 856 ft Location: DeKalb, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 06/24/09 Up/Downhill: [+203/-203] Time: 06:17 AM Difficulty: 2.4 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 71 F temp; 87% humidity 71 F heat index; winds NW 5 Performance Distance: 4.50 miles Time: 0:45:54 Speed: 5.9 mph Pace: 10' 12 /mi Calories: 460 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile)

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: heat, speed work

The start of something new

I decided to go ahead and try to get up early to get my runs in. I figure I can do it especially on Monday's since I only have to run 3 miles in my marathon training plan.

So I set my alarm for 6a and was out the door at 6:30a! SCORE one for Lindsay! It was 68 degrees but the humidity was still high at 96%. I could feel the humidity but it wasn't oppressive.

After mile 2, I looked down at my watch and kinda stumbled a bit and ran into some bushes. I felt water on my arm and it felt NICE! Hmm, wheels are turning! So after that I kept brushing against the bushes on purpose, left and right across the path. Then eventually I was out of the path and only had trees to run under so I would raise my arms up to knock the water onto my head. Yay! At the end of the run after I was done, I actually stood under a tree and shook a branch and it rained down on me! Felt sooo nice!

Of course I was drenched when I got back to my apartment but that was with sweat. Best part of the whole run was the cool shower right afterwards. It was hardly warm. Of course my AC was on so coming into the apartment felt good.

My goal is to do this all the time until the weather starts to cool down or maybe even then I'll keep it up! I kinda liked coming home and not doing anything immediately after work! :-)

Oh and as you can see, I ran negative splits the entire time. :-) Pretty awesome!!

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 859 ft Location: DeKalb, IL Elev. Gain: +3 ft Date: 06/22/09 Up/Downhill: [+114/-111] Time: 06:33 AM Difficulty: 1.8 / 5.0 Weather: Fog/Mist 68 F temp; 96% humidity 68 F heat index; winds E 5 Performance Distance: 3.10 miles Time: 0:28:04 Speed: 6.6 mph Pace: 9' 03 /mi Calories: 327 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 19 +0' 16 6.4 -0.2 +23 ft 2 9' 08 +0' 05 6.6 -0.1 -3 ft 3 8' 48 -0' 15 6.8 +0.2 -6 ft end 7' 46 -1' 17 7.7 +1.1 -9 ft Versus average of 9' 03 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: DeKalb Nature Trail, early mornings

Humidity can suck it!

I had Friday off of work so I headed to southern Illinois on Thursday evening. It was hot and muggy the entire drive down. I decided to attempt my run of 8 miles on Friday instead of Saturday, since I had plans to go to STL on Saturday.

My mom kept telling me not to go because she was afraid I was going to get heat exhaustion. I told her that I know the signs and I'm gonna stay close to home and have a bottle of water with me. I wasn't too worried. May plan was to be on the road by 6:30a.

It was still hot and humid when I woke up at 6a. By the time I got ready to go out at 6:50a, it was 78 degrees and 96% humidity. Yep. And I ran. I didn't get the 8 miles in, only 5.6. I started to get chills and hallucinating so I called it quits. My route called for me to go out into the country. I knew that there would be no shade so I stayed in "town" and when I stopped under a tree shadow, I could feel the humidity oppressing down on me! When it feels better to keep moving, than stand still in a shadow, you know it's bad.

Here's a video to sum up my run.


Find more videos like this on RuncastTV

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 519 ft Location: Bluford, IL Elev. Gain: +3 ft Date: 06/19/09 Up/Downhill: [+239/-236] Time: 06:56 AM Difficulty: 3.2 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 81 F temp; 76% humidity 86 F heat index; winds S 7 Performance Distance: 5.60 miles Time: 0:55:57 Speed: 6.0 mph Pace: 9' 59 /mi Heart Rate: 175 bpm (Avg) Calories: 598 193 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' 24 -0' 35 6.4 +0.4 158 -13 ft 2 9' 44 -0' 15 6.2 +0.1 173 0 ft 3 9' 48 -0' 11 6.1 +0.1 183 +4 ft 4 11' 29 +1' 30 5.2 -0.8 177 0 ft 5 10' 58 +0' 59 5.5 -0.5 181 +7 ft end 12' 08 +2' 09 4.9 -1.1 182 +6 ft Versus average of 9' 59 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: Bluford, heat, humidity, video