Let It Snow, Let In Snow, Let It Snow

Today is Halloween and in typical Chicago fashion it's snowing. Needless to say my outdoor running is probably over for quite some time. This morning I knocked out five miles on the treadmill at 7:13 pace, which encouragingly felt markedly easier than it did on Monday. I had to stop and use the bathroom a little over two miles in, but aside from that the run was not particularly noteworthy. I am trying something a little different today—I left my sweaty running top and shorts hung up in a locker at my small office building gym, so hopefully by the time I head home tonight they will be nice and dry (and thus, ready to be just thrown into my laundry bag). The only twist is I actually have to remember to stop by the gym and pick them up every day on my way home—we'll have to see how that goes...

New York, New York

This morning I woke up in a hotel on 31st Street in New York City. After brushing my teeth and throwing my running clothes on I jumped in a cab and headed to Central Park. After spending several minutes getting my bearings and waiting for my Garmin watch to get a satellite signal (which it never did), I started my six-mile run around the park. I honestly do not remember the last time running felt that easy—the uphills, the downhills, the flat portions—at the end of the run I felt like I could easily done another loop. I did not time my run, but it felt really fast—I am guessing the pace was 7:15ish. I even ended up walking all the way back to the hotel (a good mile and a half, maybe more) as a warm down. I have now decided whenever I come to New York I am definitely running in Central Park weather permitting—I just can’t easily replicate this experience in the Chicago area.

Kicking It Up A Notch

I kicked off another week of marathon “pre-training” by running five miles this morning on the treadmill at 7:13 pace. This was my first run at that pace and it definitely felt a bit uncomfortable—manageable, but uncomfortable. I feel like this is the pace where the real work of getting fast begins, so I am glad I got through it. I spent the first 20 minutes or so listening to a podcast before switching to the Spotify master playlist I created, which is now up to 88 songs (feel free to leave good running song suggestions). This afternoon I flew to New York City for work, and conditions permitting I am going to run around Central Park tomorrow morning, which I did the last time I was here just over a month ago. I am hoping to time my run using my Garmin 205, but am having the hardest time getting this watch to locate a satellite signal. Hopefully I can do so before I hit the park tomorrow, but if not no worries—will probably be better for my mental health not to time myself and compare it to last month’s run.

It's Me Again...

So I cannot believe it has been almost two years since I posted anything to this pathetic excuse for a blog. My last post was in early 2018 as I prepared for the last race I did, a sprint triathlon in June 2018. Long story short, the race was kind of a disaster, and somehow I still snagged third in my age group. Not sure if it says more about me or my age group--and also continues a long trend of placing in my age group regardless of what type of race I have.

Anyway, I have entered the lottery for the 2020 Chicago Marathon. Oh, and my Boston Marathon qualifying time is 3:20, so once again I am going for it. I started running a few months ago, and I literally do not remember running feeling this easy and actually kind of enjoyable. I have been averaging four days a week, 5-6 miles a day, and I have my pace down to 7:19/mile.  I have this marathon training plan in my head where I am going to run five days a week and add a second 10-mile midweek long run, which should result in higher weekly average and peak mileage than I have done in my entire life. I am also planning to do more core work to try and stay healthy, and will hit physical therapy as soon as I start to feel the slightest bit injured.

Anyway, that is it for now. I make no promises to update this blog on a regular basis--will just have to see how it goes.