Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Duel

Who would win in a duel...

A T-rex or a Bulldozer?

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Roomies Runnin'

AIDS Run Walk Chicago
Distance: 5K
Time: 34:12 minutes (although my Garmin said I ran it faster)
Pace: 11:04 minutes/mile

This race was fun because I was able to run it with my roomies and there was lots of entertainment along the race course. My favorite I think was the tent that had the drag queens square dancing, and of course there was also the ROTC that also performs in boystown during the marathon. The course was fast although much of the first mile of treacherous and covered in potholes and my time was fairly decent even though I was on very little sleep. But the best part of the race was the fundraising and great amount of money that was raised for AIDS research and resource

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Pencil me in

Today I was reading my newest Runner's World to get me back in the running spirit and I came across an advertisement that interested me. It is a New Balance ad that says:

RUNNING may call before you go to work.
RUNNING may call the moment you get in the door.
RUNNING may call you for a lunch hour date on the trail.
The point is, whenever RUNNING calls,
you never screen it.

There are many times when I totally feel like going for a run but I put it off, or sit down, or decide to do something else and then I never go for that run. Today was the perfect example. The entire train ride home I thought about running when I got home. But when I got home I sat down and got tired and blew it off. I need to make running a priority.

So my alarm is set, I am hitting the hay before 10 and I WILL get up and run before work. No ifs, no ands, and definitely no buts. I am not going to let another run slip away.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

And I'm Back in the Game

Yo yo yiggity yo. I am back and although I am guessing I wasn't missed I am super excited.

Since you last heard from me I was super off running. I still kind of am. I mean I love how I feel when I am done running but the actual drag my ass of the couch, stuff my feet into the running shoes and hit the pavement shit that I was pretty off. But now I have been eating shit and hardly exercising for a few weeks and Sunday when I felt like ass after running 2.5 miles, even if it was in 24:42 minutes (yes ma'am... that is under 10 minute miles), I decided I need to get my butt back into gear. That last thing I need is to turn into a beached whale with no friends.

So its been decided. I am going to join my old running group and run through this wonderful Chicago winter in their Winter Warriors training session. If I had over a thousand dollars to spend at my disposal I would run the half marathon in the Bermuda Triangle with the group at the end of training session... but since I make almost negative dollars a week I will just train and pretend to run a half in the end. If anything this will just keep me in better shape then I am in my current beached state.

Wish me luck. I will promise to run every single training run, come wind or snow or sleet or hail. I will get back into shape. And I will try not to carbo load just for shits and giggles. I will also work on core exercises so that maybe I will get some relief from my achin' back. Yes it is still hurting. No I am not doing anything about it. So that's that. Please feel free to write mean hurtful comments if I miss any runs. I mean you won't be able to because I am going to run all of them... but in just in case.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Trial Mini Minified

Yesterday I decided I wanted to see what it would be like to participate in a sprint triathlon. So after work I went to the gym and swam laps for 30 minutes. I am sure I went longer then you would in a sprint but I can only go three or four lengths at a time without pausing so I'm sure it all evens out. Then I got changed and hopped on the stationary bike and biked 12.4 miles. It took frickin FOREVER!!! then I cowboy walked over to the treadmill and ran/walked for 30 minutes (2 miles).

By the time I got to the treadmill my legs felt like lead. But overall I really liked it... and it seems completely doable. I just need to be able to swim without thinking I am dying. But it is getting better.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Human Racin'

Nike Plus Human Race
Distance: 6.32 miles (according to the Garmin)
Time: 1:17:25 minutes
Pace: 12:15 minutes/mile

I had mixed feeling about this race. First in all the emails that were sent out it stated that parking was going to be $10, but when we pulled into the parking lot it was actually $18 and we were told to “take it up with Nike.” Nice.

This race was insanely crowded. As we lined up the race directors were announcing the times to beat from other races around the world. I have to admit that seeing thousands and thousands of people lined up wearing the same red shirt was pretty damn cool. The race started in waves and was a very similar course to the CDC except in was a 10K instead of 13.1 miles. This became a problem since there were more people running this race then the CDC and there was less time to space out. Normally I am the back of the pack and I hardly ever never feel crowded during a race, but through-out the entire race I was dodging and weaving around slower runners (yes I guess there are some out there) and walkers.

Even though this was a night race, the weather still made it difficult to run. It was insanely humid, to the point that I looked as though I had just gotten out of the shower. I was soaked in sweat. I didn’t think it was possible to get so sweaty without the sun beating down on you… but I was wrong. In the finish area there was ice though which was nice, even if thousands of people were sticking their sweaty hands and arms in the ice bins.

The race was supposed to start at 6:30 and Fall Out Boy was supposed to start their performance at 8:22 and play until 9:22. Unfortunately the race didn’t start until 6:45ish and I didn’t cross the start until a few minutes after 7. This meant that by the time I finished the race, met back up with the other people I had come with, and picked up our bags at gear check, Fall Out Boy was already performing. It was cool to walk onto Soldier Field and get as close to the stage as the crowd allowed, but I was walking back to my car by 9:20 and we didn’t leave the concert until the lights came up. I looked on people.com to see if Ashlee Simpson had given birth since that is the only understandable reason that they would not play until the posted time… but I did not see anything. Not cool Pete Wentz.

Overall I would say this race was more about the experience of being part of a race that was also raced in twenty-something other cities all over the world, then the actual race. It was also beautiful seeing the city skyline at night and racing on the lakefront path in the dark.
 
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