Elvis Is Alive 2012 5k

Second year running the Elvis Is Alive 5k last week, and I had a great time. Went with Erin from work - it's an evening run so we changed at work, hopped on the bus, and wandered our way down to the lakefront. I meant to run slow (and had to for the first mile - I'm not a night runner and had terrible abdominal cramps starting off), but then I warmed up and couldn't help trying to go fast! First mile 11:03, second 9:53, last 1.1 miles at 9:03 pace, for a total time of 30:54. Next time I'll warm up first!


Before the run, of course.

And then afterwards peanut butter & banana sandwiches, 312 Goose Island Ale, and Elvis tribute band. And lots and lots of people dressed up as Elvis, either in full-blown jumpsuits or just with fake sideburns. Before the run I was jealous of all the folks who dressed up and was thinking I might do so next year - then I realized there was no way I'd want to be wearing a jumpsuit while running. Maybe a cape, though... or at least sequins in some way. I need to start thinking about this.

I really really really want The Dude to do this with me at some point, I'd love to have the whole family there, but since we don't have a double running stroller I'm not sure how right now. In time, perhaps.

And now on to preparing for my half.

Chicago Women's Half Marathon (Finally)

I've gotten hung up on writing a recap of my half and so haven't written at all. There's also been a lot in the rest of my life that's frustrated me and I don't like to write about my frustrations, mostly because I know most things will resolve themselves with time and so why give more permanence or energy to them than they deserve. But that's left me with not much to write about.

Ah, the Chicago Women's Half Marathon... It was a great experience. I really wanted to write a mile-by-mile recap since I was so pleased with how I did and how I went about doing it, but I've realized that I'm just not going to manage to do that. So, some highlights.

I unexpectedly saw one of my favorite running friends before the race started - a magical person who inspires me in so many ways. We don't run together (she's much faster than me) but it was a thrill to see her and spend some time with her.

I had meant to run without music but at the last minute before leaving the house I chickened out and stuffed my tunes into my bag. I just didn't quite believe that I wouldn't need the help in the last miles. But then during gear check I forgot to take them out... And realized about half an hour before the start that I was musicless after all. It felt right.

It was hot, especially the first three miles, and I could feel myself inching towards overheating which seemed just ridiculous given how much longer I was going to have to run. So my mantra became "Rein it in." I'm really proud that I could recognize this, take stock of where I was and what I needed to do still, and adjust properly. Because then I did really well the whole rest of the way - I felt comfortable and was able to maintain a pretty consistent pace over the next five miles.

At mile 8 I was feeling really good (we got some cloud cover) and I thought to myself, "I own this." So I picked things up a wee little bit and felt good about that.

Then we hit mile 10. I mentioned that the first three miles were really hot, no shade, surrounded by concrete on one side and blazing water on the other. Well, those three miles heading out were the same as the last three miles coming back. And mile 10 also marked the longest distance I'd run this year. So there was no way I could continue on as I was. I slowed down. I took an extra walk break. I had more water. And then I just resolved to not walk, even if I couldn't keep up the pace I'd been enjoying. And I didn't. But some of those moments of not walking were truly gutted out.

And then we got to the last mile and I asked my legs if I could ask a bit more of them, and I was able to try to run a bit stronger and then a bit stronger still as we continued to the end and finally ended up running as hard as I could to cross. that. finish. line. I even heard someone on the side shouting "She's actually going to sprint!" and let me tell you, I felt like the badass I aspire to be. Oh, glory.

I finished with my supreme, I-would-barely-admit-it-to-myself, goal of under 12:00 miles (11:59) at 2:37:03.

Afterwards, the usual post-race letdown. Had I really done my first half at a 12:00 minute pace? I ran my marathon two years ago faster than that! I had to work very hard to remember that I had decided to do this race only two months beforehand, when my longest distance was 4 miles. That I finished at all, let alone feeling consistent and strong (and enjoying myself), was due to smart training over those two months and smart running (and walking and eating and hydrating) on that day.

Because what I really want to remember about that day is that I had an incredible time. And I can't wait to do it again.

Weird Week

It's been hot. Really hot. I'm in taper and that's always a little crazy-making. I've been working at home (no air conditioning) because of some unexpected work in my office and I hate working at home. The heat makes the baby cranky. The heat makes the boy cranky. The heat makes me cranky. I leave it to The Dude to decide if he's cranky.

But... things are edging back to normal. It's gotten cooler as the week has gone on and it should even be temperate for my race. I went to family yoga last night (first half just parents, second half with kids) and for my intention I had "equilibrium in confusion", and I've been feeling more grounded ever since. Next week I'm back in the office and then to Ohio for a week and the idea of both are making me very happy. And I have a race in three days!

Life is indeed good.

Still Hot, Still Long, Not So Slow

This was the best long run I've had in a long time. I've been thinking a lot about ultrarunning and what I heard at the Scott Jurek event (the book is on order, I can't wait!). Especially since The Dude is more than a little nervous about all of this. I can't help that this is what I want to do, I think I've just spent too many formative years out on trails on in view of mountains, despite my recent sojourn in the land of pavement and flatness.

So I've been taking each long run as if it were preparing me for even more. Not in the sense of "If I gut this out I'll be ready for my next race" (which begs the question of why prepare for an event I don't expect to enjoy), but rather with an idea of "What can I learn from this run that will allow me to do more (because I love it so much)?"

Some of what I focussed on this week:

Planning in walk breaks. In the past I've planned walk breaks in theory, but haven't necessarily followed through with them - only to be bitten in the butt by that at the end of my run. This week I set my watch alarm to go off every 20 minutes, basing my breaks on the time covered rather than the distance, and then spent 60-90 seconds at each break walking briskly before starting up again. I then also based my water and gel consumption around these, making sure to start hydrating/eating before I felt the need for it.

This reminded me of what I first started running and I had the thought, electrifying to me: if I just slow down, I can run forever. And then: I want to do that! Maybe, if I take walk breaks and eat/drink properly - if I replenish myself consistently - I really can run forever.

Running tall, staying light on my feet. And visualizing these things when I got tired and my form started to slump. Worked like magic!

When it got uncomfortably hot/humid/sunny, thinking to myself: The sun is nourishing me. It makes everything grow. I am pulling energy from everything around me. (This could only work because I've had a few weeks to acclimatize myself to the heat and I knew the rest of my planning was protecting me from overheating.)

In the last two miles, when I had the opportunity to run on the grass for brief periods, I used that as a way to energize myself. Instead of slowing down, seeking out the most even path with the thought of "I will protect my feet by running on a softer surface," I thought, "Here is an opportunity to play, to bound, to spring, to be as a child." Happy feet!

I have to say, it all worked. I planned out two loops of five miles each that I knew I would enjoy traversing, and stashed a bottle of water/electrolytes at home in our mail lobby so I could easily access it halfway through and refill my handheld bottle (and get a moment's coolth as well). I made sure to take water in every time I stopped, and timed my gels for every 40 minutes. Put a jazz album on my ipod, and set out slow.

The first 5 miles were so comfortable that I felt totally prepared to take on another 5, maybe even with some zest. When the jazz ended I let it roll on into Miranda Lambert's latest and adjusted my pace to the music, letting myself pick up speed. In hindsight this is the only thing I would have done differently, the tempo changed significantly with each song and I felt I was constantly needing to reset my pace. Perhaps next time for those last miles I'll just turn the music off.

With one mile to go I looked at my watch and saw I had just over ten and a half minutes before my alarm went off again. Can we do it? Yes we can!

I came home feeling grand. The baby, who had been perfectly content while I was gone, started howling as soon as he saw me and realized I wasn't planning on immediately picking him up, so my stretching got scrapped (I paid for that later). But otherwise, a perfect run.

She's Mighty, Mighty

I woke up this morning feeling tight from a hard night with the baby. I wanted to swim for the physical release it would bring (and because I hadn't yet this week), but I wanted to run for the emotional release it would provide. What to do?

The answer came while nursing: why both, of course! Instead of walking to the pool I could run there (with a little extra just for fun), and then run home. Not all that much different from what I do on swim days anyway, just a little added distance and then my shower at home instead of the pool (much nicer anyways). With the baby still nursing I popped over to the computer to map out my routes, to make it an even two miles there, one mile home. Now I just had to make sure I made it to the pool in time.

The boys cooperated, I dropped them off, and started my run. It wasn't until I started that I realized this was essentially a brick workout*, and it wasn't until my swim that I realized I was already doing the distances in a sprint triathlon (1/2 mile swim, 3 mile run). Now, in the past I've sworn never to do a triathlon, but I have to say, I had a lot of fun this morning. It felt a little weird when I started swimming, and again a little weird when I started running again, but within a short while I felt back in the groove. And my swim ended up being the fastest I've done that I can think of --- shows what can happen when you warm up first!

I had so much fun I think I'll do this on a regular basis --- it's a nice way of getting in an extra workout. I did find myself noticing that having different gear would make the transitions easier... I may be getting sucked into the dark side of triathlon after all. Now where did I put my bike?

*Training on two disciplines in the same workout, a triathlon term.

In My Ears

Running is about the only time I have where I can really listen to music, so I almost always have my ipod shuffle with me. Typically I have a mix of jazz, country, and something soul/funk/r&b. I almost always have Michael Franti, Cassandra Wilson, Nina Simone, and Miranda Lambert on there.

Here are the albums I have on there now:

Michael Franti - "Everyone Deserves Music"
"Hunger Games" soundtrack
Miranda Lambert - "Four The Record"
Vijay Iyer - "Historicity"
Ellington/Mingus/Roach - "Money Jungle"
Nine Simone - "Silk/Soul"
Allen Toussaint - "The Bright Mississippi"

And then my running mix. The master mix stays on my laptop and has about 70 songs on it; I typically put about 40 of them on the shuffle. This includes disco, pop, and rock.

I've been listening more closely to music in the past few years, really listening, piano and bass mostly (guitar too, thanks to my rock star husband). I've even been putting on monster headphones at home so I can get a good listen in while I sew. The other day I was listening to a Starbucks compilation from the 60s - Curtis Mayfield, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, etc., and was just blown away by the backing bands. I mean, I've always known they were good but on this day I was really listening carefully and could really appreciate it. Unfortunately, all this careful listening meant that later in the week I was out running and one of my favorite go-to running songs came on --- and I was disappointed in the piano part, it was completely rote and uninspired. And of course then that was all I could hear, even though the piano was really one of the least parts of the song. Dang.

Any favorite running songs?

Beautiful Day

Oh, it was a beautiful day for a run today. Bright, clear, about 65F. I went along an old friend of a route, one that had been my favorite before getting pregnant, and it was so nice to run it again. Hello,old friend. A mix of homes, park, quiet business districts, with gentle hills (plus one hard one to make you feel like you've done something). I took it easy, and steady, stopping only for traffic, and then when my legs still felt fresh quietly moved up the pace for the last mile and a half.

I always try to look around and really see things on my runs --- a friend of mine suggests looking for three new things each day. I've run this route so many times I don't always see new things, but today... ducks! Two mallards snuggled into the grass next to the path. And they made me think of my morning with Buddy, since we'd been talking about waterfowl on the way to school. So an extra little treat as I went about my run.

I noticed my IT band twinging a little as I ran so when I got home I made a point of doing my IT routine. Oh, I have lost so much strength in all those little stabilizing muscles! But now at least I know and can start addressing those weaknesses, before I have gotten myself and my muscle memory set into bad habits for the season.

I am so happy to be getting stronger.