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!

17mi Training Run Juneau, AK

Long run in Juneau, Alaska. I wasn't sure how far it was from the hotel to the Mendenhall Glacier and I needed to run 17miles. It turned out to be 4.5 miles, so I ran to the glacier, then out 4 miles on Mendenhall Loop road, back to the glacier and then back to the hotel. What a beautiful run, temperature in the 50s! Finished the month of July with 155.23 miles!

Douglas Island 1/2 Marathon, Juneau, AK

New PR, had to travel over 2000 miles to Juneau Alaska. Nice cool weather and fresh air helps as well!

CCH Track Speedwork

Hot day at the track for Speed work. Today we did 2mi warm-up, then 5 x 1200 with 90sec rest in between. Last hot workout before we go to Juneau Alaska for the Douglas Half Marathon on Saturday, forecast is 50° to 65° and overcast! I hope all this training in the heat pays off!

Temp 99° Total Miles: 5.75

Warm up
Dist           Time     Pace
2.0mi       20.09    10:00

Speedwork
Dist    Time   Pace
1200   5:52   7:48
1200   6:13   8:20
1200   6:05   8:06
1200   5:59   8:00
1200   5:43   7:36

Oak Lawn Neighborhood

Solo, training run around the neighborhood.

Chicago Lakefront Trail

Andy and I on the Lake front trail for our 16mi long run. I was fine for the first 12mi sticking with my goal pace of just under 9:00, when I fell apart, struggled and started to walk a bit and run and just had to walk the last 1 1/4 miles. My worst training run ever. In retrospect it was most likely due to not eating right(or hardly eating or drinking) the day before due to a family emergency. I need to get back into the groove for my back to back half marathons over the next two weekends in Juneau and Tacoma. At least the temps will be a lot cooler, so hopefully all of the running in the heat will pay off.

Country Lane Yellow Trail

I was suppose to run the Extreme 10mi run at Waterfall Glenn today, but things happen, and I felt I needed to take a break from running a race, focusing on pace and running with others. So I slept in till 8:00, and ran the Yellow Trail, a nice solo peaceful run, at a comfortable pace through the beautiful wooded Yellow Trail. A very therapeutic run!

CCH Track Speedwork

The plan was 1mi at 5k pace, 1.5min rest, 1.5mi at 5k pace plus 20sec, 1.5min rest, 1mi at 5k pace. Since we were going to run a 10mi race on Sat we were advised to skip the 1.5mi segment. We did, but I kinda of regret it, the workout seemed too easy.

Warm up
Dist           Time     Pace
2mi           19.11    9:11

Speedwork
Dist    Time   Pace
 1mi    7.14   7.14
 1mi    7.14   7.14
Cool Down
Dist         Time       Pace
1.0mi      9:58        9:58

Country Lane 5mi Loop

Andy, John and I at Country Lane for a evening trail run.

Waterfall Glen Argonne

Andy and I at the Waterfall Glenn Argonne trail. Nice Sunday morning run!

Running Excels Training Run

Andy, John and I running with the Running Excels group. Forgot my Garmin, so time and distance are guestimated. Still nice to run with a group that maintains a relatively constant pace.

Country Lane 5mi Loop

Solo at Country Lane, nice trail run. Only 27sec faster than Tuesday, but felt great to break 40min for the loop. My first three miles were in the low 8:00s and my last 2 were just under 8:00.

CCH Track Speedwork

Chicago Christian High School track speed work. 2mi warmup.

2 x 20min runs at marathon pace which should have been 8:30, ended up averaging 7:30 for the first 6mi and 8:30 for the last. My first thoughts were, this was going to be easy, but with the faster pace it was a challenge, just runnin with the pack!

Country Lane 5mi Loop

Solo training run on the Country Lane Trail. What a difference 20° makes! Firday it was 102°, today a cool 81°.

Chicago Lakefront Trail Long Run

Andy and I doing our scheduled long run along the Chicago Lakefront trail. We ran from Montrose Harbor to Navy Pier and back, 14miles. Definitely one of my top four favorite places to run, the other three being Hermosa Beach, CA, Central Park, NY and the Yellow Trail in the Palos Forest Preserve(IL). Lucky for me, two of the places are local! Today we got a real break in the weather with cooler temps in the 70s but it was still a tough run. Even though this completes week 5 of the 18 week marathon training program it feels like the first real week or training because the first 4 weeks were relatively easy. Now the real work and training begins!

Running Excels Beverly 6mi Run

Andy, John, Mike and I running with the Running Excels 8:30pace group. Andy and I just running 6mi today, running our long run along the lake front tomorrow morning(plus it will be cooler Sunday, in addition to "cooler by the lake"). Still hot out there today, gotta give credit to those that were running a second loop or more today!

Country Lane 4mi Loop

Solo at the Country Lane Trails. I haven't been at Country Lane for about a month now, nice to run the trail again,  too much street running. Another hot day for a run, at least most of the trail was under shade.

Oak Lawn Neighborhood

John and I on our 3mi training run which turned into 5.4mi for me. Another hot one!

Tinley Park Starts & Stripes 5K

In place of speed-work today we ran the Stars and Stripes 5K. A Hot 4th of July run. Overall: 104/800 Age Group: 6/39 Gender: 84/398.

Oak Lawn Neighborhood

Andy, John and I on our 3mi training run around the neighborhood. Still hot at 7:00PM, John's kind of weather!

Swallow Cliffs 6mi Loop

Andy and I at Swallow Cliffs for a humid morning run on the trails. This finishes week 4 of the marathon training, 14 weeks to go!