Packing for Solvang

Well, I just finished packing my bags for my trip to Solvang for a Vision Quest Cycling Camp. This is the first (of I hope, many) cycling camp I've ever gone to. I've been fielding a lot of questions about the camp, but I really have no idea what we're going to do. Just 2 days ago, I got a sheet that approximated the mileage of the rides. Until I received that sheet, I thought we might be riding 100+ miles every day! I'm thankful that this is not the case. Oh, and guess who will be there...GORDO!

Solvang, CA is really hilly. I went last year with BC and met CL up there to do the Solvang Century ride. It's a HUGE ride...I think there were 5000 participants. It's very different in CA, much more bike friendly than here in the midwest. These people were telling me they get to ride outside EVERY DAY of the year. Can you imagine that?

You might have noticed the "badge" here on my blog to the right, listing my participation in the Solvang Camp. Click on that link if you want to find out what's going on with me and the rest of the campers. I've never had the opportunity to be a part of this sort of web portal, but it was put into place for the campers to communicate, upload the power files from our daily rides, etc. and download photos and videos. It's a really cool site! Hopefully it will give you a little taste of what attending a cycling camp is like. I've charged up my camera (it wasn't working for a while, which is why you haven't seen any pictures on my blog lately) and I'm hoping to get some good pictures to put here.

I'm nervous about going with the bum hamstring. In fact, I considered bailing on the trip all together. The last thing I want to do is ruin all the progress I've been making while straining up some stupid hill. I'm taking all the precautions I can and will be following specific instructions from my physical therapist. My rides not be the best they can in the hills right now, but getting out on open roads beats the CompuTrainer any day! I'm looking foward to the fresh air, sunshine and camaraderie of the other campers.

Countdown to the Marathon

It was weeks ago when I sadly realized I should not do this year's marathon. Although I could probably finish, due to my injury, I wouldn't have a good time and could risk doing further and possible permanent damage. Strangely enough, I'm over it and thank all of you that have been asking about my injury and wishing me well. I greatly appreciate your support!

So I now am living vicariously through various friends who are embarking upon this year's Chicago Marathon. Though I know many marathon veterans running (and wish them well!), the people I'm most excited for are those running their first marathon. Each and everyone of them I've had a conversation with in the last week has been excited about the race. They are just dripping with anxiety and one of them could barely stand still as he reviewed his final long run with me. The energy is contagious and I described to him how they have the big monitors in front of the expo and they go through the marathon course in fast forward. I've seen that many times now, but it gives me goosebumps when I watch it, even when I'm not running the marathon! It's fun and interesting for me to listen to the various race strategies. Apparel, nutrition, pacing, mental attitude, all of these things have a place in the race and I think everyone had their own way of attacking this challenge.

There is a new film coming out. Click here for the preview for the Spirit of the Marathon. This was filmed in 2005 at the Chicago Marathon. And one of my friends, Leah, is one of the featured athletes! Even watching the little preview of this movie makes me a little sad that I won't be running in this year's race. But there will definitely be more marathons in my future.

I'm not going to put up any last-minute marathon taper advice for you newbies, because I'm sure you're probably sick of hearing it by now. But I will share with you a little something that was sent to me just before my first marathon.

A marathon is not a race; a 5K is a race.
A marathon is not a race; a 10K is a race.
A marathon is not a race; a race is run with your legs.
A marathon is not a race; a marathon is a measure of how you handle the doubt in your mind at mile 15.
A marathon is not a race; a marathon is a measure of how you handle the pain that takes over your body at mile 20.
A marathon is not a race; a marathon is a measure of your courage.
A marathon is not a race; a marathon is run with your heart.

The Magic of Boston

I race. I race a lot. And usually, I'll get a "Good luck" from a training partner or the occasional colleague. But more often than not, my races come and go without much fanfare. However, in this last week, I have received more calls, emails and text messages offering well wishes than I can count. And it feels awesome. I really didn't expect so many people to remember and take the time to reach out to me.

For the past few months, as I've been training for this race, people have asked if I was getting excited as the race was approaching. Unfortunately for me, it really wasn't feeling different than any other marathon that I've done. You know, you gradually pump up your long runs until you do a 20 miler (or 2 or 3), then you begin to taper. Then two weekends ago, when I went to the seminar on the Boston Marathon, that started me thinking a litle more about the race.

However, the influx of support I've received from my friends and family in the past week has really made my accomplishment sink in. Jim from my masters swim team said something to me that I keep hearing over and over in my head, "Boston is like the Kona of Marathons!" He's right. It's the most prestigious marathon there is. And there is a little advertisement that came with the other materials for the race with some phrases and one of them said "They let anyone run Chicago or New York."

And the more and more emails and calls I got this week (some from people I've never even met!) got me more and more excited about doing this race. Sure, the weather reports are calling for miserable conditions: rain, cold and wind. But it's the BOSTON MARATHON! There is so much history associated with this race. I will get to race with some of the most elite runners in the world. Some people will never be able to participate in this race. Those are all things that make this race one of the most special races I've ever done. And I plan on soaking in every bit of this experience.

So to everyone that has wished me well or offered me support, especially in these last few days before the race, thank you. I greatly appreciate it. It took all the attention you've given me regarding this race to remind me how truly awesome it is to be able to participate in the greatest marathon in the world: Boston.

Taper Time

The Boston Marathon is now only 10 days away. For the last week and a half, my running mileage has been intentionally dwindling. According to Hal Higdon and many other running experts, this is all part of the training program. You pump up your mileage gradually and do several long runs, then about 3 weeks before the race, you slowly start running less and less.

For someone like me, this is difficult to do. I know you're thinking, "What??!? You get to do LESS mileage and you have a problem with it??" But, yes! I have gotten used to spending a good portion of my time out there pounding the pavement (or treadmill, as the case may be). For months, I've just set aside every Saturday morning for a nice, long, relaxing run. On the schedule for tomorrow is just a short, sweet 8 miles. It's going to be weird to be back home on a Saturday morning so early!

Like many of you, I'm enjoying the extra time the lack of running has put back into my schedule. I'm getting some things done now that have been pushed to the back burner for the past few months. I can deal with the extra time the taper gives me. What bothers me most about the taper is the feeling that I'm "doing nothing." The running becomes such a habit that you get used to coming home exhausted and really feeling like you've worked hard. So here I am just about half way into the taper and I'm already feeling like a slug. So the next 10 days, that feeling will only become worse. And all the experts will tell you, do not add more miles or push yourself in these upcoming days (though that would make my feeling of sluggishness go away). I've done enough marathons that I knew this was how I'd feel and that I'm supposed to just "enjoy" these weeks. But every time, I struggle with the feeling that I'm not doing enough. It's like a guilty feeling. I watch the occassional runner pass by my front window and I want to go throw on my shoes and join them for a few miles!

Sure, I know, it's only 10 more days. But that can feel like so long. I attended this really cool seminar The Road To Boston by Mark Buciak. Mark has completed the Boston Marathon the last 27 consecutive years and gave us lots of tips, tricks and great stories about his Boston experiences. True, not much more I could do to prepare now, but the seminar was filled with a lot of info on the course and the Boston area. What I found to be completely awesome was that the room was filled with first-time Boston Qualifiers and the energy in the room was contagious!

So I guess I'll keep working on my long list of things to do that do not include running. Maybe once I get back from Boston, the warm weather will have returned! One can only hope!!

On another note, this blog has had 1109 hits in just the one month. I'm both shocked and thrilled at the volume of hits. Thanks and keep reading!!

15774

15774

That would be my bib number for the Boston Marathon. Yesterday, I received a packet of information from the Boston Athletic Association. That packet included my "pick up" card with all the information printed on when and where to pick up my race bib. On this card, they print your name, citizenship, birthdate and qualifying time (pretty cool to see it in writing!). It seems there are two start waves for the marathon. The first wave, with blue bibs, start at 10:00am. The second wave, red bibs with numbers 11,000 and up, starts at 10:30am. I would be in the 10:30am wave...the wave for the slower runners.

I wanted to clarify something from a comment that was received. Just because I'm considering the Boston Marathon to be a "B" race for me does not mean I am nonchalant about qualifying! Nothing could be further from the truth!! I don't think my point came across properly via the blog.

See, QUALIFYING for Boston was the goal. That would mean the Tucson marathon was one of my "A" races and I trained my heart out for it. Those of you that helped me through that training know how hard I worked. But the goal never included actually running fast at the Boston Marathon. It's just something I gotta do now that I qualified. Does that make sense?

I'm still a little shocked that I made it, and lots of other people I run with are shocked, too! (I can tell by their reactions when I tell them about it). But now it's like all the hard work to "get in" is done, and it's just time to kick back and run the Boston Marathon just so I can say I did it! I'm not stressed about it nor training as hard for it as I probably should be, but I know it will be a good time. I just want to cover the distance and take in the scenery, since I may never be able to go back and do Boston again.

I'm still not feeling 100% healthy, but I should be fine well before the marathon. They say taper time is just about the time people start getting sick, and well, I guess I'm proving that little theory right now! I'm looking forward to "only" a 12 mile run this weekend. It's like I won't know what to do with the rest of my Saturday!

Count another 20 (or make that 19!)

Today the marathon training plan called for the big 20-miler. The weather Gods were better to me than the last day I had to run 20 miles. The weather for this morning's run was very foggy, extremely humid, however, the temperature was about 57 degrees, which is quite nice! What was not so nice is that the location we chose to run wasn't exactly ideal.

For the past several days, this area has had a lot of rain. Running paths become muddy with very little precipitation. Waterfall Glen (or WFG or WTF) is a pretty popular place for runners because of the small hills and great scenery. WFG is a 9.5 mile loop of limestone path and dries up pretty quickly, even when it seems we have a lot of rain.

Earlier in the week, when I began soliciting company for this long journey, there were several comments and questions about whether or not the trail would be runnable (yes, that's a word)! We do have asphalt trails nearby, but none quite as fun to run through as WFG, so we stuck with the original plan of 2 loops.

With Mark and Tom training for St. Louis (just one day before Boston), Dennis training for an ultramarathon next month, Donna training for Grandma's in June and Pam and I training for Boston, and a bunch of other people who just like running long for the fun of it (huh??) we ended up with a pretty large training group for today's run! We even picked up Dennis V. who was planning on his first long run of the season!
(Why are we standing behind the handicapped parking mark? Was this foreshadowing the events to come??)

The air was pretty damp and the humidity made it difficult for a few of us to keep up the pace we had planned. The trail was flooded out near Turtle Pond and this caused us to jump up on some nearby railroad tracks. As BC mentioned, it was just like a scene out of Stand By Me. Only he called it "the movie where they found the dead guy." The other little snafu came between miles 8 and 9. We had to maneuver around the forest a bit and go pretty far off the trail to keep our feet dry. Some chose to run right through the large pool of water. Some chose to go through the forest and were attacked by sticker bushes which scratched up their legs pretty badly so they had to run with bloody legs the rest of the way. But, we all made it through, unharmed (well, except for the bloody legs part).

Although my hands never really did warm up for this run (I forgot gloves), I had a great time. The miles just flew by as we chatted about everything from races to training to families to current news stories to past experiences. The second loop went almost as quickly as the first. And, though two 9.5 mile loops is only 19 miles, I think I'll call it 20.

Boston is Nearing

In the last week or so, I've had a lot of people ask about Boston (the marathon) or how the training is going for Boston. We're about a month away from that race at this point, so this weekend will be the last long run in preparation for this marathon.

I haven't been running nearly as much nor as hard as I did for my last marathon and just can't seem to get really motivated about training hard for Boston. I think maybe the two marathons are too close for me - December and then April. There's really no "down time" when they're scheduled so close. Sure, I feel like I took some rest because the mileage starts off again at a long run of 6 miles to start marathon training.

But I think the main reason I'm so non-chalant about the upcoming marathon is because I am considering it a "B" race. My goal isn't to go out and crush the course nor is it to "qualify for Boston at Boston." (are you nuts??) My goal is to simply cover the 26.2 miles injury-free. Then I can move on to what excites me much more, and that is triathlon season!

So while I'm out in Boston, I plan to do some sight-seeing, try clam chowder for the first time and, oh yeah, run a marathon.

First of 3

Saturdays have been reserved for my "long run" for as long as I've started doing long runs! Yesterday, I needed to get in one of my longest runs in preparation for the Boston Marathon: the big 20-miler. According to the schedule, this is just the first of three 20-milers on my training schedule. Now, most people think 20 miles is just an absurd amount of miles to run. But yesterday, it wasn't the mileage that I was dreading. It was the weather.

It can be quite challenging to get in long runs outside during these months when you live in Chicago. We still have snow accumulation on all the regular running paths. This snow has been trampled, melted and then frozen back into a severly uneven surface making it unsafe to run on. It's these times that we die-hard runners take to the streets. The streets were clean for yesterday's run, however, the longer the run, the more traffic there is to face. Most drivers do not like sharing the roads with the runners and they're all too happy to let you know it!

I fell asleep on Friday night before catching the morning's weather forecast, so I flipped on the television when I woke up. 22 degrees. Yeah, uh huh, what about that piercing windchill? So I stepped out on my balcony and quickly jumped back into the house and slammed the door. Yep, definitely a windchill factor! A further look at the news showed the windchill was about 12 degrees. This can make a big difference in how to dress properly for a run.

I rustled through the closet to find all the much-needed set of hand warmers and all the necessary layers then proceeded to the kitchen to fill up bottles for my fuel belt. This poses another problem. It's difficult to get to your drinks because of all the extra clothes. Additionally, I need to wear two pairs of gloves (with hand warmers tucked nicely inside!) to keep my fingers from freezing off, thus making it difficult to handle the bottles during the run. How DO I manage?

Next problem is that NO ONE wants to run 20 miles in this weather. I have some pretty crazy, gung-ho, die hard endurance athlete friends, yet they all seem to turn into wimps when it comes to keeping me company on such a long run (well, BC, you are excused since you ran the 17 with me last week!). Now I know that if I can't get some other sucker to come out and run with me the entire time, I won't get the required mileage in. Sure, I'll tell myself I'll "finish up" on a treadmill later in the afternoon. But that never happens.

What is my solution? Shifts. I need an early morning shift...someone to start with me at 6:30am. This is BC. This is because he can't stand to sleep in a little if he knows someone is out there running. He needs to join in. Cool, he's great company. Then we swing back for shift #2. These people refuse to get up early enough to meet us for the 6:30 start, so they show up at 7am. This group runs a regular loop (of which I STILL can't figure out myself) of around 8 miles. After 8 miles in 12 degree windchill, these people are all too happy to jump in their cars and wish me luck for the second half of my run.

Enter shift #3...Joe M. Now, Joe cherishes his sleep-in days. Do not ask him to get up early to run. If you do this, be prepared to be showered with a bunch of f-bombs and be told how crazy and ridiculous your idea is. And like perfect clockwork, shift #2 ended at 8:30am...exactly the time I told Joe to meet me. However, for the last 4 miles, I was silently hoping that Joe looked at the weather for that morning and decided to bag the run. I was cold and another 10 miles in the brutal wind was not something I was looking forward to. I started toward my car to check my cell phone praying to find a voice mail from Joe telling me he had opted for the treadmill that day.

I was just about 4 feet from my car when a happy little tap-tap of someone's horn caught my attention. DAMMIT! It was Joe! Jeez, there was no way I could get out of this run now! Alright, fine. I knew that if I didn't do this now, I wouldn't do it at all. And that certainly wouldn't be good for an upcoming marathon! We now had just 9 miles left and, though I didn't know a route that would get us that mileage, we just took off and made up the route as we went along.

Joe and I trained for the Flying Pig Marathon together a few years ago. I remember some pretty crappy runs in the DARK and cold...so at least on this day, we had daylight in our favor! The miles went quickly as we chatted about everything under the sun. I almost didn't believe we were going to be finished so quickly...but knowing what pace we run on average and the time it took us to do the additional miles, it seemed to work out.

Thanks to all the "shift" runners for helping me complete this 20 miler in such tough running conditions. I'm sure you'll all let me know when I can return the favor!