Oak Lawn Neighborhood

Solo 4 mile run around the neighborhood. Getting anxious, only 4 more days until the marathon!

Oak Lawn Neighborhood

Nice easy 3mile run around the neighborhood. 

Oak Lawn Neighborhood

Solo run around the neighborhood. Gotta love the fall weather for running, sunny and cool! One week for the Chicago Marathon. Extended forecasts from three different weather sites are calling for 50's and partly cloudy,  perfect conditions! The anxiety is building!

Swallow Cliffs 8 mile

Final long run before the Chicago Marathon with the group. Beautiful morning run on the trails!

Country Lane 4 mile Loop

Back to Country Lane for a 4 mile run on the trails.

Swallow Cliffs 6 mile Loop

Nice run on the Swallow Cliffs Trails! Perfect weather!

Country Lane 4 mile Loop

Solo run on the trails at Country Lane.

Brookfield Zoo 5K Run

Had a great time running the Brookfield Zoo 5K Zoo Run with my sister. This was her first 5K ever, finishing without stopping! She used the couch25k program. Congrats to my wonderful sister Janet!

Country Lane Trail

Running the Country Lane Trail with just about the entire group Angelica, Maria, Rhonda, Joanna, Mark and Andy. Cool but luckily no rain! Great run.

Oak Lawn Neighborhood

Nice run around the neighborhood.

Chicago Lakefront Trail Long Run

My last 20 mile long run before the marathon. Nice cool temps along the lakefront but very windy. I postponed my long run until today because of the half marathon I ran on Sunday. Mentally it was important to me to get this last 20 mile run in, with a respectable pace and without stopping, to prove to myself that I can survive the distance and endure the discomfort. So now I am psyched about the marathon and feel that my goal of 3:50 is reachable( hopefully)!

Allstate Boston Half Marathon

Great Half Marathon in Boston. The race started and finished in Suffolks Downs race track and the course was along the coast. I missed a PR by 48 seconds, this was my second fastest
half! Finished overall 139/1202, 10/35 in my age group and 105/474 for males.

Swallow Cliffs 8mile Loop

Nice cool temps for a run on the Swallow Cliffs trail. Wow, I forgot how hilly this trail was, still a very fun run!

Country Lane 5mile Loop

Finally back on the Trails, it has been six weeks since I ran at Country Lane. What a blast running on the trails again! Only minor pain but a very enjoyable run. I am planning on running 5 of Thursday, and then rest two days before the Allstate Life Insurance Boston 13.1 Marathon.

Turtlehead Lake, Palos Heights

Long Run at Turtlehead Lake. Nice cool temp for running. Painful again, it hurts the same regardless of the pace, so I figured it was better to run faster to get the pain over sooner! Yep, I think the speed work definitely aggravated the injury, just when it was getting better.

Oak Lawn Neighborhood

John and I on our 5 mile training run around the hood. Just when I thought my injury was getting better the pain is back again, probably because of the speedwork on Wednesday. Hopefully it won't last long.

Chicago Christian High School Track Speedwork

Back to the track for speed work, 2 warm-up, then 19 400s with 60sec rest in between. We ran the last two 400s with no rest. First time in quite a while that I felt good before, during and after the workout with little pain!

Temp 86° Total Miles: 7.13

Distance               Time    Pace
3200 Warm Up    19:24  9:05
400                     1:46    7:04
400                     1:51    7:24
400                     1:50    7:19
400                     1:47    7:09
400                     1:49    7:14
400                     1:48    7:14
400                     1:50    7:19
400                     1:49    7:14
400                     1:49    7:14
400                     1:47    7:09
400                     1:45    6:59
400                     1:46    7:04
400                     1:44    6:54
400                     1:46    7:04
400                     1:45    6:59
400                     1:44    6:54
800                     3:27    6:54
800 Cool Down   5:10   10:21

Chicago Lakefront Trail

20mi long run along the Lakefront. Cooler temps but humid. My Garmin battery died at the 6mi mark, so I relied on the Lakefront mile markers. I ran from Montrose Harbor to the 11.5mi marker past McCormick Place and back which should be just a little over 20mi. Finally little pain, but forgot my morning bagel, so around mile 18 it was quite a struggle.

Running Excels, Beverly Loop

Ran one 6mi loop with the Running Excels group this morning. I am planning on soing my 20mi long run along the Lakefront tomorrow.

Oak Lawn Neighborhood

5mi run around the neighborhood. This was the first back to back days in three weeks. I am very happy with the pace but it was in no way an enjoyable run because of the annoying ache. I guess it is an improvement(going from a pain to an ache) but it does take the enjoyment out of the run. Sometimes I wonder, if for runners do the aches and pains ever really go away or do we just become so accustom to it that it just appears to be better. In any case the marathon is my goal, so suck it up and Just Run!

Ishnala Palos Heights

The High School track was not available, so we skipped the speedwork and ran the Running for Kicks Ishnala run. Nice 5 mile run with minor pain. I feel like I am falling the training program, this week calls for Tues 5m, Wed 10m, Thurs 5m, Sat 10m and Sun 20m, I am shooting for Wed 5m, Thurs 5m, Sat 6m and Sun 20 but it is going to be tough.

Chicago Lakefront Trail

Solo 12 mi long run on the Lakefront trail. Took some Advil before the run, seems to help, my fastest miles were the last four.

Danada, Herrick Lake

Noon time run from work on the Danada trails out and back to Herrick Lake. Hot sunny day made for a tough run. I haven't run at Danada since spring, nice limestone trail. I am only running twice a week so in place of my Tues, Wed, Thurs runs I just did one longer run.

Turtlehead Lake, Palos Heights, Long Run

Tough long run at Turtlehead Lake, hit 20mi about 1 1/4 miles from the parking lot, no way was I gonna run any further! Longest run since lat year's Chicago Marathon. Doc said I could run until it was too painful, mind over matter or in this case mind over pain!

Trail Speedwork

Trail Speedwork
Today we did our speed work on the trails, 1 mile loop. 1mi warm-up, then 5 1 mile loops with 90sec rest in between each mile. Another tough workout! Felt good to be back running after taking three days off. Doc diagnosis is either sports hernia or torn muscle, need to get a MRI to make a determination. Doc says to take it easy, I can run but stop when pain starts. Hopefully I can work through this and still run my remaining for 1/2 marathons and the Chicago Marathon.

Temp 84° Total Miles: 6.14

Warm up
Dist           Time     Pace
1.0mi       9:30     9:30

Trail Speedwork
Dist    Time   Pace
1mi     7:38   7:38
1mi     7:38   7:38
1mi     7:47   7:47
1mi     7:54   7:54
1mi     7:54   7:53

Turtlehead Lake, Palos Heights, Long Run

Did my long run today, flip flopped my Sat/Sun runs. Suppose to run 19mi, ran 17 with Maria and Joanna. Experiencing lower abdominal pain so cutting back the miles and will probably skip tomorrow's run. I have an appointment with a Sport Medical Doctor on Monday, hopefully nothing serious. It was tough just to run a slower pace :(

CCH Track Speedwork

Nice overcast day for Speed work. Today we did 2mi warm-up, then 5 sets of 4 x 400 with 90sec rest in between each of the five sets. For each set the first and 3rd 400 were at 6k pace and the 2nd and 4th were at 5K pace plus 20seconds. A really tough workout!

Temp 77° Total Miles: 8.0

Warm up
Dist           Time     Pace
2.0mi       19.25     9:43

Speedwork
Dist    Time   Pace
1600   7:49   7:49
1600   7:47   7:47
1600   7:46   7:46
1600   7:44   7:44
1600   7:44   7:33

Cool Down
Dist           Time     Pace
1.0mi       10.00    10:00

Oak Lawn Neighborhood

Back home from Tacoma. Training run around the neighborhood. Back to hot weather :(

Tacoma Narrows 1/2 Marathon, Tacoma, WA

Beautiful run on a hilly course on a warm day. Ran across the 1 1/2 mile Tacoma Narrows bridge, around the waring track of Cheyenne stadium where you could see yourself on the jumbo-tron and through downtown Tacoma where they announce your name and where you are from as you cross the finish line. No PR but a memorable run!

9mi Training Run, Juneau, AK

Nice morning run to the Mendenhall Glacier and back. Love the cooler temps!