Spring Break

4 runs this week. Wow. wow. wow. Good things. I started the week off with The Race to Wrigley where I managed to run a 9:27 pace (PR!!) which shocked me. I was sick so it made sense that I wanted the race to be over quickly. I didn't actually think the time was correct.

Took a couple of days off to relax and hopefully get over this cough and cold. On Wednesday I ran another 5K at the gym and rowed for 15 minutes afterward. Thursday I ran an hour and made it 5.38 miles. I was extremely happy with that . . thinking about how the Kalamazoo 1/2 in about 2 weeks and I need to cover miles. 5.38 is moving in the right direction. My cold wasn't gone and I definitely felt it in my lungs, but I powered through.

Then yesterday I ran the Race for the Cheetah at Montrose Harbor. It was a gorgeous day, running a long the lake, cool breeze, sun peaking through the clouds, felt like spring . . . ran the first mile at a 9:00 pace and finished in 28:35 at 9:13/mile (new PR!!). I DIDN'T think it was EVEN POSSIBLE for me to run that quickly. I am thrilled.

And this week a book really helped me understand a few things about running I hadn't considered in depth before. Ultramarathon Man, Confessions of an All-Night Runner by Dean Karnazes. I'm going to post some of the ideas and quotes in my next post that resonated with me. The funny thing is that I've owned that book for over a year and hadn't read it yet. I picked it up on Monday and read it in a day.

I also got new shoes. It was an eventful runner's week. I'm happy.

Cold.

I have a chest cold, but made it 3 miles last night. Here are the stats:

32:50
3.01
10:54/mile

I definitely felt it in my lungs, but tried to pick up the pace a couple of times. My legs felt strong though and that helped. I have a 5K this weekend and I hope the cold/congestion is better by then. Even with a slight cold I am zapped of energy during runs. It felt good to get back into it again though.

Here we go . .

So, I was thinking about signing up for a race in Minneapolis but then figured in the cost of the race, travel, a place to stay, etc., and decided to just sign up for the 13.1 in Chicago on June 4th. BUT! Then they tempted me with this Chicago Challenge idea. The challenge? Run another half Sept 11. Not too bad as challenges go. One in June and one in Sept. That's my habit these days anyway. Now if it would have been run a half June 4 AND then 5 (how you folks did the Goofy Challenge is BEYOND my grasp :) ) well, that would be a true challenge, but I can dig a June/Sept challenge. So, I now have three 1/2s scheduled (Kalamazoo May 8th, 13.1 in Chicago June 4th, and the Chicago Half Sept. 11). Also I have 2 5Ks, one next weekend and another in May to support brain cancer and a friend who lost her brother-in-law to the disease.

My biggest fear when thinking of these races . . the Devil Sun. The sun is my nemesis as a runner and on June 4 it's bound to be an issue. I'd rather run a 1/2 in the middle of the night than run with the sun hitting me. Odd considering how much I adore the sun the rest of the time. Seriously, as a runner, sunshine seems to be my kryptonite. Can I change this? 

The Big Apple . .

NEW YORK. NEW YORK.

So, this race was amazing. Brilliant. Chilly in the AM, warm and sunny by the finish. 8 miles in Central Park. Then Times Square. Finish in Battery Park. See the Statue of Liberty just past the finish. The whole trip was epic and much needed. Spent a day at the Guggenheim and The Whitney. Sparks Steakhouse and the best steak of my life. Out drinking beers with my Dad until 2am two nights before the race. Extreme fear and mild panic the day before the race. Then I ran faster than I've ever ran before. 10:21 pace. Finished in 2:15:32 (I think). This AMAZED me. My Indy pace was 11:01 in Nov. I rocked those hills in CP because I kept thinking . . if I run FAST this damn hill will be over faster. And I was right. My Dad saw me at mile 2 and mile 8 and then again at the finish. After the race we ate another beyond words dinner at Babbo (4 1/2 hours of food and wine). New York is so familiar and comfortable to me, kinda like coming home in a way. It's because I've traveled to NYC more times than I've traveled anywhere else in my life. It smells the same, feels the same, and I take comfort that it probably always will. So, I was amazed, happy, proud and relieved after the race. I love NYC.

I'm now better at not feeling like shit after I finish a race. And I don't mean physically, I mean mentally. I find ways to make myself feel like shit . . for not running harder or faster or for not training as much as I should have. I feel proud about a race for about 36 hours before I find something to judge negatively. BUT! I'm getting better at this. (kinda).

Now it's back to Jamie the lazy non-runner. I've had a couple of lame, lackluster runs lately and another half is around the corner (May 8, Kalamazoo). I desperately (sometimes) want to be one of those super motivated people who runs before work or who commits to a running schedule for the week. I can't do that. So, now I have 4 weeks to try to get better, but I'm not even in good shape now since I directed a musical that was in production and didn't run at all. Running is supposed to make me feel good, but I spend way too much time feeling shitty about it. Why is that??

As someone said in Runner's World this month . . "don't think, just run. when in doubt, just lace up your shoes and run." or something like that ... and yes, I agree, but my head still gets in the way sometimes.