41 miles later...

My last post was on Oct 11, and since then, I've logged over 41 miles running. That includes two long runs (10 miles last week and 11 miles this morning), 2 sprint interval runs (this week's sucked), and a 5 mi run, along with some cycling and strengthening. I am pleased to say that it looks like I am now a sub-9 minute mile runner, having completed today's 11 miler at an 8:51/mi pace.

Beth said she's doing 10 miles tomorrow. Not bad. It's no 11, but hey, that's alright. It doesn't mean she's a bad person. There are plenty of other things she does that mean that.

Two weeks ago I ended the post by saying I planned to stick to the workout schedule that week. That didn't so much happen. Instead, I ignored all but 2 days of the schedule. Good times.

This week, I was much better - I did every workout except one (which I made up for by doing more than scheduled today). I'm pretty pleased with that. That's 5 days of working out this week, probably a new record for me.

Speaking of personal records, I've never run 11 miles before. I've done 10 three times - once in the 2004 Virginia Beach Half Marathon, once in the 2008 Soldier Field 10, and once last week (last week's was the fastest by about 15 minutes). I did go more than 11 miles in the half marathon (that's 13.1), but I walked the last three miles or so, so I don't count it as my longest run.

I'm ripping the "grinds my gears" bit off from Beth, since she ripped it off from Family Guy. Things that grind my gears: people who don't move out of the way even though I'm saying "excuse me!" The last few miles of my run today were up 1st Ave from 34th to 90th. At one point I came across a group of people walking 4 abreast with giant umbrellas, taking up the whole sidewalk, and ignoring me. As I passed, I made some comment thanking them for taking up all the available space. Their response: "The sidewalks aren't for runners." Really? Are there wheels attached to my feet that I'm not aware of?

Anyway, it's quarter to 3 in the morning, and I'm going to sleep. See you next week.

Oy my knee!

So much has happened since my last blog. I will start by clearing the air. Yes, I did compliment Moser. However, in my defense it was his birthday and I was delirious with exhaustion. I probably also complimented his couch and told his lamp I loved it. Who knows what went down. Anyways, Moser and I did run the 7 miles in Great Neck. They have ridiculous amounts of hills. Thank goodness IL is flat.

So in addition to running with Moser I have been going to my running club and socializing with my fellow good looking runners in the greater Wicker Park area. However, the running club will now thin out seeing as how the Chicago Marathon occurred this last weekend.

I attempted to run for 60 minutes on Saturday. I was in fact doing amazing *pats self on back* and approximately 8 min 30 seconds miles when about 48 minutes in I felt intense pain in my knee. So, as all good runners would do I stopped running. Unfortunately, it was a windy Chicago day and I was in mere running clothes when without physical exertion the weather would require a coat. So, I started to freeze. Therefore, I started to run to avoid the cold and before I knew it I fell over from pain. I once again stopped and hobbled "igor-style" for the last mile of my run. Not my most promising moment and I am letting my knee recover.

This past weekend was also the Chicago Marathon. Although I didn't run it I did sell my soul to Nike for about 5 hours and hock their overpriced goods in a tent. I got to see the first guy finish who was of course from Kenya and he set a new course record of 2 hours and 5 min and some odd seconds. To break it down that's like 4 min and 45 second miles for like 26.2 miles. That is insane and when the guy finished he looked like you or I would after a somewhat rousing game of racquetball and didn't look nearly as tired as I do after even like 8 miles. I guess that's why he's a pro. I also heard people talking after the marathon, and upon inquiring how one guy was feeling after the marathon, his exact words were "My body feels like shit but in my head it was amazing." I guess that kind of sums up the marathon experience.

Now for another installment of you know what really grinds my gears. You know what really grinds my gears: People that have no problem letting their dog crap on the very narrow running trail, and when you look at them like um..aren't you going to clean that up, they act like they have places to be and can't be bothered. If you have time to stroll your dog down by the lake...you have time to pick up his poop.

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3 months to go

Yes that's right, yesterday was exactly 3 months before the 2010 Disney Marathon. I went to the Saturday morning TNT group run and did 8 miles in Central Park. The loop formed by 72nd, 102nd, and East and West Park Drives is 4 miles, so we ran it twice. There are about 40 or 50 TNTers that meet in the Park for the runs, but we split up into different levels of expertise (and some people are training for a half marathon), so I ended up spending most of the run with 6 or 8 people that were going my pace, 9:15 or so/mile.

Everyone was complaining about the hills in Central Park. I invite them to run anywhere around Great Neck. You'd think it would be relatively flat, what with it being a small peninsula, but that is really not the case.

Today was the Chicago Marathon - congratulations to Kristin, Andrea, Mike, Dan, Lynn, and anyone else that ran it! Beth was scheduled to work in a tent at the race, so I'm sure she'll dazzle you with stories of frigid 35 degree weather and other pleasant things.

I also found out today that I know how to change a bicycle tire. I had no idea that I had that ability. My bicycle is back in working order, and I celebrated with a 10 mile ride to recover from yesterday's long run. I now carry a spare tube, a patching kit, and a tire pump, so that I'll never have to walk my bicycle home on a flat tire again.

This week, my only goal is to stick to the entire training schedule, including strengthening workouts, which I've been awful at keeping up with. Probably been better at it than Beth, though. See you next week.

Missed a week

Apparently I never posted last weekend. Let me regale you with a quick summary of that week - I set a 1-mile PR (personal record) with a time of 6:59 in the Fifth Avenue Mile, my seventh of nine qualifying races for the 2010 NYC marathon, and did a 9:00/mi 5K the day before that and a 9:12/mi 6 mi long run the day after.

Did you know that a donation of $50 could register one person to be a bone marrow donor? We're more than 20% of the way to our goal, but we need your help! Find out more at: http://bit.ly/jewsforjogging.

I've been using my new Asics Gel Kayano 15 sneakers. I got them a couple weeks ago. Until then, I thought my Brooks Adrenalines were great. It turned out I was wrong. They're good, but the Asics provide a lot more cushioning, and that's important, because my stride is godawful and I hit the ground hard. For a week or two I was using the new shoes every other run, but for my birthday, I got a second pair, so now I can rotate between the Asics for running and only use the Brooks for bicycling (next spring I'm going to upgrade to clips for bicycling). Why rotate? It's good to give running shoes a few days between runs, to allow them to fully dry out and retain their shape better.

Something amazing and incredibly rare happened yesterday. Beth complimented me. I know, I'm as shocked as you are. She and our other friend came in from Chicago for my birthday and stayed at my house, so Beth and I did our long run this weekend together. Her schedule said 8 miles, mine said 6, so we split the difference. After we finished, at a 9:13 pace, she told me that she found the hills to be pretty brutal, and was impressed that I run near my house all the time. Ahh, to live in the midwest, where the main geographic feature is the horizon...

I'm pretty sure she also admitted that I'm a much better person than her, but don't quote me on that.

See you next week.