2007 Chicago Marathon a Blast

Well, even though I didn't get to run, I went to spectate my buddy's first attempt. It was the hottest marathon on record for the Chicago Marathon (85+ degrees). They closed the course early and ran out of supplies too. Tons of people were sent to the ER and I believe their is already one confirmed death (my thoughts are with those people).

Anyways, back to the fun stuff. I made it for the start just 20 yards from the start line. Then I met up with a friend and headed to North avenue to watch just after mile 10. Then down to China Town (around mile 20). It was so fun and everyone spectating was positive and having a good time. That's a great distraction given that I was at Wrigley just 12 hours earlier and had tickets to the game that didn't happen today.

So, Perhaps next year will be my year to make the run and the year the Cubs do it all! (Probably neither will happen).

Good news is that my buddy finished around 4hrs 50min. We found him about an hour later. He's doing well and I'm heading over to his place for Lou Malnati's pizza, Guinness and Bears! GO BEARS!

Marathon Dreams Postponed

For those who care (I'd count who does, but I'd be done before I started), I have no intentions on running the Chicago Marathon this year. The shin splint has sidelined me and I'm border line going to see a physical therapist. The good news is there is no sign of a fracture or anything more serious going on. I'll be regrouping when well and see where I stand for maybe an attempt next year.

My buddy is still going strong though and I plan to attend to spectate.

On the bench

Apparently, being a beginner runner is not a walk (or run) in the park. I was on holiday last week and right on schedule with my training. I did 8 miles without stopping the first day with my buddy and we even ran at our desired pace. It was perfect. Then later in the week, I did a three mile, five mile and three and a half mile spaced between days of rest. I was finally doing the full training plan…

As the week progressed, I felt more and more pain in my right leg, which had previously been pain free. A few weeks back it was my left, but it was perfect. The new pain was in the middle of the shin and just inside of the tibia. It was a weird pain. The pain was really only after periods of non-use. When I would stand from sitting, it would hurt for a while, for example. It wasn’t nagging, just felt like I needed to stretch. Getting out of bed in the morning was the worst, as I felt that I couldn’t put all my weight on it. After stretching, though, it was O.K.

Over a few days, the pain became regular. I had to quit on my 6 mile run after doing just a mile as I could tell I was limping. From what I’ve read, running with pain is fine. If your mechanics change, you need to stop. So, I stopped. The pain continued and I went to the doctor early this week to make sure it wasn’t a possible stress fracture, which would be a pretty serious and require at least a month of rest from running.

The doc confirmed it didn’t appear to be skeletal, but rather muscular. So a regular shin splint, not serious. I got some anti-inflammatory meds and ordered not to run for at least two more days after the pain completely subsides. Then I’ll have to hash out a gradual plan to get me back on schedule. I’m figuring this will throw me off about 2 weeks, but I can still do it. I AM NOT THROWING IN THE TOWEL.

This is a minor setback and a learning experience. Tons of shin splint prevention techniques are only a Google search away.

In the meantime, I can do other aerobic exercises as long as there is no pain. So, biking will be back in fashion and I get to dust off the elliptical. Need to keep as much endurance that I can.

I'm feeling better today, one day after the doc visit. Hopefully, I'll be back on the road in a little more than a week.

7 Miles Down

Saturday was a great day. My buddy and I meet early to do our run with the goal of 7 miles. The weather couldn't have been better: mid 60s and overcast with a sprinkle every once in awhile. We paced ourselves well at 9 minute miles and actually hit it. We didn't have the typical run fast early and drain towards the end.

The Nike+ recorded the run as you can see now as my furthest run. I'm finding I'm running out of tunes on my play list, as we're now running for over an hour. Next week, we're doing 8 miles, which should be doable.

I hit Fleet Feet in Lincoln Square today and bought some shoes, socks and energy snacks. The service was great. I can't even remember the last time I went to a shoe store and actually had someone fit me to my shoes (maybe 15 years ago?). I got a great consultation which included observing my running style to find the shoe that works well. It was awkward running to the corner and back 5 times, but it's apparently normal there. Much better than going to Sears in February and picking up a pair that said New Balance because I heard runners prefer them.

The shoes I ended up with were Nike, which was unexpected. I thought they were not so great, but I'll find out soon enough when I try them on the trail. These are the shoes, Air Structure Triax+. They've got the build in Nike+, which means the pedometer chip goes into the soul of the left shoe. I guess Nike got me eventually to buy that...

I found out my feet are wide and you could tell on my old running shoes that my feet were spilling out and pushing out the top of the shoe. The new shoes are wide and roomy, but I don't slip. I haven't had any blisters yet and I'm hoping to keep it that way.

After the run yesterday, we ran over to the Cell to catch the cross town classic. Let me just say, it was a great day, as the Cubs won and I reached my mileage goal. Go Cubs!

Do we look tired?

Mister Pickles Marathon Stretch

Last year, while waiting in line for a portable toilet outside a U.S. Cellular Field, a buddy and I made a "before we turn 30" proposition. We apparently had too much to drink before the game...

The prop: we both run the 2007 Chicago Marathon (Oct . If I don't run, I pay his wife $500. If he doesn't run, he pays my wife $500. And, if we both bag it, the wives still get their payday. There are no stakes on finishing or time. Also, an injury would null the bet.

So, you can see the motivation to run it is there. You could argue that I just have to pass the start line and you'd be right. Before we started training, I kept stating that all I have to do is make it to mile 6 where there's a good bar that was my old stomping ground. However tempting that would be, it's becoming a personal challenge for both of us. We're going to try to finish it. That's our goal.

I began pre-training, getting up to 30 min running without stopping, in April and now have started formal training. This week's long run was 6 miles, almost a quarter marathon, and wasn't terrible. I fell into the zone at about 3 miles and it became automatic. Next week, we up the distance to 7 and then retreat to 5 (here's the long run schedule we're following). It's going to be interesting.

I track my runs with the Nike+ iPod, which is a great tool if you already have an iPod Nano. It has a pedometer that sits in your shoe and connects wirelessly to your Nano via a small attachment. When you finish your runs, it uploads them at sync to the Nike+ website, where it tracks your individual runs and history. So, it's basically a running journal.

When I hit a total of 50 miles recorded, the site added features that allow me to share my runs to some extent. I've added those features to my blog. The furthest run, which currently is yesterdays 6 miles, and then my last five. They alluded to more features when I hit 100 miles, so perhaps I'll be able to share more or make it more interesting. I'm at 62.5 miles now since I got the thing in early May. I'll probably hit 100 in early July, so we'll see.

Wish me luck towards my goal of completing the marathon and if you want to see my progress, drop by. If I'm slacking and there have been no runs for awhile, kick me. I need to do this!