Category Archives: Running

Running Q&A {11-06-2012}

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Happy Tuesday guys! I’m going to start things off by saying please go out and vote today. This isn’t a political blog and I’m not going to sit here and make you read all about my political beliefs but please vote today. It WILL make a difference.

I’ve received a few running questions via e-mail/comment in the last week or so and I thought it might be helpful to address them in a post. If my answers don’t do it for you or you have other questions (running or non-running related) don’t hesitate to e-mail me at runningthewindycity[at]yahoo.com!

How often do you buy new shoes?
Unlike many runners I don’t have a set number of miles that I log on each pair of shoes, I just wait until one day when I go out for a run and my shoes feel broken down. It’s pretty crazy because it will seem like they broke down overnight. Depending on how much I’m running and if I’m training for anything, I’d say this happens about every 3 months– more if I’m running higher mileage weeks and less if I’m not. I also don’t rotate shoes like many other runners. I keep one pair as my main shoes and one pair as back-ups (this may change this winter though– more on that later if it does).

What do you do with your old shoes?
Generally I hang on to my old shoes until I hear of a shoe donation event (remember Give Your Sole?) and then I scrounge around my apartment for my 10 pairs and donate them. Unfortunately I haven’t found a running store in the Chicago area that regularly does shoe donation but I’m always looking for more options. If you know of one or better options please let me know by leaving a comment or shooting me an e-mail.

Have you ever thrown out a pair of running shoes?
Not to my knowledge. I still have a zillion pairs at my mom’s house and when I was living at home she would often take my old running shoes and use them as ”yard shoes” (mowing the lawn etc.).

How do you only take 1/4 of a gel at a time without getting sticky?
First I’m going to say that I’m far from an expert on fueling during runs. In fact, I only started using gels about 3 weeks ago (I ran my other marathons on a mix of shot bloks and dried fruit).I also have a sensitive stomach and have been too afraid to pound an entire gel at a time. So here’s what I do, after I open the gel and take 1/4 of it, I smooth out the top so that there is no more gel left in it. Then I fold the packet over and place the gel in a tight pocket in either my running jacket or my running tights. Last Sunday I wore my lululemon aphrodite pants that have a small key pocket right over the hip, it was the perfect size to hold my gel. Sometimes my hands get a little sticky but smoothing out the top of the gel seems to help prevent too much stickiness.

(source)

What do you wear when it’s cold and you go out for a run in the morning?
Honestly it depends on how cold it is. If the weather is in the 20′s or 30′s I layer up with a long sleeved shirt tech shirt and sometimes an under armour shirt as well. I will also wear a running jacket, tights, socks, gloves (sometimes two pairs), and something over my head/ears like a headband or a hat. If it’s a bit warmer I may wear a short sleeved shirt under my jacket and crops. It all depends! I will suggest that if you’re running in the dark that you wear reflective gear and if it’s not well lit you consider a blinking light and/or headlamp.

I actually wrote a post on winter running gear last year and you can read it here and there were some great discussions on this post about running in the dark.

Now it’s your turn: what do you do with old running shoes? What do you wear running in the morning?

Marathon Training Week 13 {Goofy Challenge}

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Monday – OFF
Tuesday – 7 mile recovery run with 6 x 100 m strides on the treadmill. Warnings of gusting winds up to 50 mph and a closed lakefront led me indoors to the treadmill. I ran conservatively (didn’t want to relive that bizarre treadmill soreness) but managed to get in some sub-7 min/mile strides. Strides are not easy on a treadmill! (avg pace 8:08 min/mile).
Wednesday – 12 mile general aerobic run (avg pace 8:00 min/mile)
Thursday - 4 mile recovery run. I took it nice and easy and enjoyed the shorter run. (avg pace 8:33 min/mile)
Friday – 10 mile lactate threshold run with 6 miles at 15k-half marathon tempo pace. I was a little nervous about doing this type of run so close to my long run but I trusted my plan and went for it. My legs took a bit to warm up but then I hit my tempo miles at 7:24, 7:36, 7:20, 7:14, 7:29, & 7:32. This was a little conservative but smart considering my long run on Sunday. (avg pace 7:42 min/mile)
Saturday – Recovery 5 miler. I wanted to run fast but held back. I even stopped to take some pictures. (avg pace 8:09 min/mile)
Sunday – 21 mile long run. Again I was nervous because it seems early to throw a 20 miler into my training but I trusted the plan. I ate a rice cake with almond butter before heading out and then fueled with 1.5 gels (starting at 8 w/ 1/4 gel every 2 miles). I also carried my new fuel belt and had one bottle filled with water and another with strawberry lemonade NUUN. My legs felt tired from all of the walking on Saturday (my mom was in town) but I pushed through and once they loosened up I felt great. I even pushed the pace a bit. When my watch hit 20 miles I was still a decent distance from home and I felt great so I decided to run the last mile, I hope I feel so good during the Goofy Challenge! (avg pace 7:35 min/mile)

Total miles: 59

I hope you all had great training weeks as well :)

Five for Friday {11-2-2012}

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1. Last year I needed to return something to Forever 21. After wandering around the store for a long time I decided that there was absolutely nothing that I wanted to buy and the salespeople were only willing to give me store credit. Bummer. I ended up finding one of the best/ugliest sweaters around that also happened to benefit ASPCA. I was sold.

It may be hideous but its super comfy and I love wearing it around the apartment. Isn’t Ian lucky to have such a girlfriend who dresses so cute? Oh and I totally put post-it notes on the back of my cell-phone to remind me to do things. Don’t judge.

2. I received a free sample for an all natural no calorie sweetener made from monk fruit in the mail this week. I was a little skeptical because it’s made by Splenda but I tested it out in my coffee and it wasn’t bad at all. I’m not sure it’ll replace my Stevia (I need to do more research into the product) but it could be a good alternative for people who dislike the Stevia aftertaste.

3. I am obsessed with the concept of never nudes from Arrested Development. I just think it is sooo funny. I really wanted Ian to be one for Halloween but he wasn’t interested (and we didn’t celebrate whomp whomp). Maybe if Ian is lucky he’ll get a nice pair of cutoffs for Christmas?

4. I’ve perfected my protein pumpkin oats recipe and wanted to share. I heat 1/2 cup oats, 1 1/2 cups water, and 1 tsp chia seeds on the stove. Once the water starts to boil, I stir in 1/2 cup pumpkin, and 1-2 tsp pumpkin pie spice. I wait until the pumpkin is heated through and then add in 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder. Super easy.

Some of my favorite toppings include pepitas (above), dried cranberries (above), walnuts, raisins, banana slices, and nut butters. Yum!

5. Have you guys been reading the Runner’s World articles about the 2-hour marathon? Some experts predict it will happen relatively soon while others are saying it may be another 90 years. There’s a great article that summarizes both points on RW and can be found here. What are your thoughts? When do you think it will happen?

Most importantly, what are your plans this weekend? My mom’s coming in town and I plan on staying as far as possible from work-related stuff!

A Looong Halloween

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Happy belated Halloween, I hope everyone had a great time whether you celebrated or not!

My Halloween was just kinda meh. My day started super early (4:30 eeek!) so I could fit in a 12 mile long run before work. My run actually went pretty well. The lakefront trail was still closed so I completed a big loop in the city before heading down to the trail and running an out-and-back, turning around where the path was closed. I was super surprised to see a car parked on the trail around Ohio St and a man prohibiting runners from continuing along the trail (at like 6 am!) In all the inclimate winter weather we’ve had, I’ve never seen that before.

I ended up running about an 8:00 min/mile with my first 6 miles in the city slower (stop-and-go) and my last 6 faster.

This picture makes it look like I was out running on a beautiful fall day. My run was great and all but it was 37 degrees feels like 28 when I left my apartment. Not so fall-y at all!

Back in my apartment, I put together breakfast as fast as possible.

[Horrible picture, I apologize] I made a smoothie using a sampler packet of chocolate Vega protein powder, 1 banana, almond milk, and maybe 1-2 T oats to thicken everything up. I also had a rice cake with sunbutter, banana slices, and a few raisins. I was pleasantly surprised by the Vega, I might check out some other flavors since it’s easier to find than my beloved Lifetime Life’s Basics Plant Protein Mix.

Work this week has been incredibly busy. We had about a week to pull together a grant application and all other research projects have been put on hold as we attempt to finish everything by Friday. I’ve had quite a few days where I just haven’t been able to eat lunch until 2 or 3 pm because I’m running around and working on stuff non-stop. I’m not trying to complain because I’m actually really glad to have an opportunity to work on this application and it’s a great experience but being so busy really makes for a long day.

Ian and I had plans to use our free Chipotle coupons (from the Cultivate festival) last night so we headed over around 6:30. This was a big mistake. Apparently, Chipotle was giving out $2 burritos to anyone dressed in costume and given that the Chipotle we went to is surrounded by 3 colleges, the line was incredibly long and filled with college kids dressed to go out for the night. Ha. I felt so old.

About 30 minutes later we finally got to the front of the line and I ordered my veggie burrito bowl with romaine lettuce (best of both worlds). I want to say it was worth it but I was so hungry at this point that I just scarfed it.

[recycled photo but you get the point, also I always share the guac with Ian]

Our building does trick-or-treating but very few kids actually participate. Ian saw one little girl before I got home and a few people picked up candy from the bowl we left outside of our apartment but we didn’t get anyone else after dinner :( .

Finally, we settled down on the couch, put on Arrested Development, and I enjoyed my one and only piece of Halloween candy, a Reese’s peanut butter cup!

I also had a dark chocolate wafer chip (TJs) with sunbutter. By the way, Reese’s cups are gluten free but do have dairy in them. I made an executive decision when my boss put one down on my desk earlier in the day that Halloween only comes once a year and I was going to enjoy myself. It was totally worth it!

We also gave the furball some catnip treats but I think he was a little jealous of my Reese’s cup or just the wrapper, whatever.

How was your Halloween? Did you do anything fun? Favorite piece of candy?

Thriller in Schiller Race Recap

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As I’ve mentioned about 93,082,048 times, last Sunday, Kelsey, Emily, Katie, Alyssa, and I had a blast running the Thriller in Schiller 5k.

The Thriller in Schiller is a trail run located in Schiller Woods Forest Preserve about 30 minutes outside of the city. Kelsey offered to drive us so I’m not sure if the preserve is accessible via public transit but it most likely is– it seems that it’s possible to get almost anywhere in Chicagoland with little hassle.

The race was super easy to find thanks to some signage (our directions just said “turn right” and didn’t provide a street name) and race day packet pickup went swimmingly. Speaking of packets, each of us received a bib, a tech t-shirt, a pint glass, and a few coupons to local sporting stores and RoadID. What an awesome amount of stuff for only $25!

It was bit chilly so we hung out in the car until a few minutes before the race when Kelsey, Emily, and I finally put on our costumes: CONEHEADS! [remember that costume making party?]

Group shot with Katie as a runaway bride and Alyssa as a ref.

It seemed that almost half of the field dressed in costume which I thought was great. There were some really cool costumes too like pacman, the characters from Wizard of Oz etc. The costumes made the race feel really run and laid back. This would be an awesome race for a newbie runner in general.

Before we knew it, the race was about to start. It wasn’t tip chimed (FYI) but the pool was small enough that we were able to position ourselves at a comfortable place in the pack. None of us were running this for time– more than half of us were injured and I’d run 18 miles the day before– we just wanted to have fun!

The first part of the race took us through the woods on a leaf covered trail. The trees were marked but it would have been nearly impossible to get lost because for the most part everyone ran together. There were also a few obstacles like trees across the path that we had to climb over or duck under. It definitely kept things interesting with cones :).

We looped around for a bit (do I even need to tell you how beautiful running in the woods was?) and then came to a big obstacle, a small river crossing! There was a big tree sprawled across the river but you had to be careful not to slip or you would step in muddy and cold water. We all managed to get across and stay pretty dry but then I turned around and took this picture of Kelsey. Can we talk about how no one behind her is in costume?

The course kept twisting and turning through the woods and then we emerged and crossed over a small road onto a wider path where we ran an out and back to the finish line. Katie and Emily were both dealing with their injuries at this point but the rest of us had fun high five-ing the people running the other direction.

About 37 minutes later, we neared the finish line.

Woohoo we did it! We were greeted at the finish line with our pint glass, our times (announced), and water, bananas, and candy. There was also beer and hotdogs for sale. How fun! We hung around long enough to find out that none of us had won the costume contest *sniff* and then freezing we headed back to the city with big grins on our faces, we’d had so much fun!

The Thriller in Schiller 5k is a trail run that literally took us over a river and through the woods. It was challenging but friendly enough for newbie trail runners like most of us. More importantly we all had fun and most of us will be returning on December 1st to run the Schiller Chiller (5k and 10k available).

I want to thank Art for organizing and putting on the event and for offering me a free race entry. I had a blast and can’t wait to run his next race!

Note: All pictures above are mine or were taken by race photographers and posted on facebook for anyone to use.

Have you ever run a trail run? Are you running the Schiller Chiller?