If only the next 10 weeks were so easy.
After last week—a combined 29 miles that included a half marathon distance—this week was a breeze: A mere 21 miles. Five miles Monday, fours on Wednesday and Thursday, and then....
"What's your Saturday run?" people who read this blog and others who know what we're up to would ask.
"Just an eight miler," we would respond, with a more than a little bit of disbelief in our voices. A few weeks ago, eight miles seemed like a mighty goal. And now, here we were, with a bit of hubris in our hearts, thinking "Eight miles. P'shaw. That's nothing."
In case you're thinking we've become some Daedalus/Icarus cautionary tale ... no. Just also know that eight miles isn't "no big deal."
We woke at 4:30 yesterday, ate some breakfast, got dressed, readied our fuel belts and drove over to our home base for these long runs, FFC South Loop.
In the past, we'd head out on Roosevelt Road (over the last hill we'll run in October *immediately* preceding the finish line) and onto the Lakefront Path, through and past the Museum Campus and south toward the U of C, Hyde Park, Promontory Point and all that.
But! They changed things up on us this week. While we still started off at the Museum Campus, this time we ran a loop between the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum, around Soldier Field, down Solidarity Drive and around the Adler Planetarium, around the back of the Shedd, and then north (here's a convenient map). Continuing on the Lakefront Path where it is—and we can't stress this enough—ridiculously crowded.
Still: New route! So exciting!
Following Lake Shore Drive, we ran past Grant Park (where set-up is well underway for Lollapalooza starting Friday) and Buckingham Fountain. Past the Columbia Yacht Club. And onward toward the relatively new Chicago Riverwalk: Under Lake Shore Drive, Columbus Drive, Michigan Avenue (DuSable Bridge) and Wabash Avenue, to Chicago's Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza, our turn around point.
We had fantastic weather. And though we each had our own minor-but-not physical discomforts to deal with, we were glad to have such a "short" run. The mileage starts to get silly pretty quickly from here.
A quick note on fundraising: We remain blown away by the support we—and by extension, Bright Pink—have received from so many. We're really close to our fundraising goal, but are happy to surpass it, too! If you (or someone you know) would like to make a donation to Bright Pink on our behalf, find our fundraising page here. Thanks!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
One Hundred Thirty.
Thankfully, we have an extremely prescriptive training program to follow. For the uninitiated, here's what it looked like this past week....Monday: Six mile tempo run, which included a one mile "warm up" at an easy pace, four miles at a "pushing it a bit" pace, and then a one mile "warm down" at the initial easy pace.
Tuesday: Cross training. Basically, any exercise but running. Joy hit the elliptical trainer. Ross did some core/balance work. Both of us foam rolled our achy muscles.
Wednesday: Four miles, "easy" pace.
Thursday: Four miles of speed work—best accomplished on a "dread" mill. One mile "warm up" followed by four 800 meter speedy-ish runs with a three-minute break after each blast and then a one mile "warm down."
Friday: Our favorite day of the week. REST DAY.
Saturday: Well, our long runs have moved up an hour—from 7 a.m. to 6 a.m. This means a 4:30 wake-up so we can have something to eat and time to digest it. And then a 13 mile run.
Total for the week? 27 miles. Just a bit less than what we'll run in one day on October 7th.
And, since you're probably not keeping score at home, on Saturday we ran 10% of our total training mileage up 'til now.
That's right: 130 miles. In seven weeks.
Thankfully, this week is a recovery week. Shorter mileage. Hopefully more sleep. A lot more rest, relatively speaking. We still have a 21 mile week, so it's not as if we'll be loafing, exactly. Though this is certainly on the to-do list.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
One louder.
"Did we ever do a blog post this week?"
"Um ... we started one? But we never finished it."
"Maybe we could just tell people that we're too tired to write it."
Anyway....
This past Saturday's run went to 11.
And thanks to some early morning heat and some ... well, we'll charitably call it "seasonal" ... humidity, it felt a little bit like swimming. But we got it done. Eleven miles. Only two and a half more of those, roughly, and we'd be done with a marathon.
But who's counting?
Okay. Fine. We are.
The fuel belts were loaded up with 74 ounces of water and 8 GUs/Clif Shots. In an attempt to make sure we finished the entire run, we went out pretty slowly—a 12:30 mile. But it didn't really help in Ross's case, since he bonked somewhere around mile 6, walking intermittently in miles 8, 9, 10 and 11. And while Joy doesn't love the heat, she's happy to have the mileage done. We finished up in about 2:25, which is slightly faster than our slowest-ever half marathon time (2:59 and change).
Speaking of half marathons, that's our distance this Saturday: 13.1 miles. We're expecting more uncooperative (hot, humid) weather, so that'll be sweet!
Sometime soon, we'll have an announcement about a fundraiser that's going to be super-duper fun if you happen to be in Chicago on September 22. More to come....
"Um ... we started one? But we never finished it."
"Maybe we could just tell people that we're too tired to write it."
Anyway....
This past Saturday's run went to 11.
And thanks to some early morning heat and some ... well, we'll charitably call it "seasonal" ... humidity, it felt a little bit like swimming. But we got it done. Eleven miles. Only two and a half more of those, roughly, and we'd be done with a marathon.
But who's counting?
Okay. Fine. We are.
The fuel belts were loaded up with 74 ounces of water and 8 GUs/Clif Shots. In an attempt to make sure we finished the entire run, we went out pretty slowly—a 12:30 mile. But it didn't really help in Ross's case, since he bonked somewhere around mile 6, walking intermittently in miles 8, 9, 10 and 11. And while Joy doesn't love the heat, she's happy to have the mileage done. We finished up in about 2:25, which is slightly faster than our slowest-ever half marathon time (2:59 and change).
Speaking of half marathons, that's our distance this Saturday: 13.1 miles. We're expecting more uncooperative (hot, humid) weather, so that'll be sweet!
Sometime soon, we'll have an announcement about a fundraiser that's going to be super-duper fun if you happen to be in Chicago on September 22. More to come....
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
10 and then some.
What's up, good people?
Last week, we had the good fortune of visiting the fair city of Boston for a visit and a lovely summer wedding at the Crane Castle. Other than visits from these guys and these guys, it was a delightful trip. (Which, of course, included a trip to Richardson's Ice Cream.)
With the wedding scheduled for Friday evening, Joy had the brilliant idea to change up our schedule, switching our "long" 10 mile run to Thursday. So off we went to Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, a 13 minute drive from where Ross grew up (though he had, remarkably, never been there), and what turned out to be its 3.2 mile loop.
[Note: After poking around on the interwebs, two things come to our attention. (1) No one seems to know what "Quannapowitt" means. The lake appears to be named for James Rumney Marsh Quannapowitt who then took the surname "Wiser," which leads some to believe Lake Quannapowitt translates to "Lake Wiser," though there is nothing to indicate this is true. (2) "Rumney Marsh" is what became Chelsea. So even the freaking lake we ran around three times is from Chelsea—just like seemingly everyone over a certain age we run into whenever we're in town. Matter of fact, Ross calls Chelsea "The Old Country," for this reason. It should also be noted that we DO NOT feel wiser having run around the lake a little bit more than three times.]
The temps helped us out since Wakefield wasn't nearly as hot or humid as Chicago. Thank goodness. Even if it was a bit breezy, it'd be difficult to complain.
We kicked it off not really knowing where we were supposed to go. From the church to the playground and around the lake on the dirt path? Not so much. Through the parking lot to the sidewalk? Um...apparently? Maybe? So many questions....
So three-plus laps of this:
And this:
And this:
Not too shabby of a day. And a great series of views. Mostly. Though we were the worse for wear once we hit the Colonel James Hartshorne House (since 1681, and apparently, available for parties) for the fifth time—four times running past it; the fifth time, after having turned around to walk back to the church/car/chauffeur:
Just happy to be done with 10. Which we followed up with four miles of speed work on Saturday and a six mile tempo run Sunday. We took Monday off and today—Tuesday—is a cross training day. Then more mileage as we get back on schedule. Good thing the week's off to a good start!
We're also off to a good start in the fundraising department, thanks to a dedicated band of contributors. If you know of any female persons aged 18 to 45, please remind them to take an active role in monitoring their breast and ovarian health. Thanks for your support!
Last week, we had the good fortune of visiting the fair city of Boston for a visit and a lovely summer wedding at the Crane Castle. Other than visits from these guys and these guys, it was a delightful trip. (Which, of course, included a trip to Richardson's Ice Cream.)
With the wedding scheduled for Friday evening, Joy had the brilliant idea to change up our schedule, switching our "long" 10 mile run to Thursday. So off we went to Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, a 13 minute drive from where Ross grew up (though he had, remarkably, never been there), and what turned out to be its 3.2 mile loop.
[Note: After poking around on the interwebs, two things come to our attention. (1) No one seems to know what "Quannapowitt" means. The lake appears to be named for James Rumney Marsh Quannapowitt who then took the surname "Wiser," which leads some to believe Lake Quannapowitt translates to "Lake Wiser," though there is nothing to indicate this is true. (2) "Rumney Marsh" is what became Chelsea. So even the freaking lake we ran around three times is from Chelsea—just like seemingly everyone over a certain age we run into whenever we're in town. Matter of fact, Ross calls Chelsea "The Old Country," for this reason. It should also be noted that we DO NOT feel wiser having run around the lake a little bit more than three times.]
The temps helped us out since Wakefield wasn't nearly as hot or humid as Chicago. Thank goodness. Even if it was a bit breezy, it'd be difficult to complain.
We kicked it off not really knowing where we were supposed to go. From the church to the playground and around the lake on the dirt path? Not so much. Through the parking lot to the sidewalk? Um...apparently? Maybe? So many questions....
So three-plus laps of this:
And this:
And this:
Not too shabby of a day. And a great series of views. Mostly. Though we were the worse for wear once we hit the Colonel James Hartshorne House (since 1681, and apparently, available for parties) for the fifth time—four times running past it; the fifth time, after having turned around to walk back to the church/car/chauffeur:
Just happy to be done with 10. Which we followed up with four miles of speed work on Saturday and a six mile tempo run Sunday. We took Monday off and today—Tuesday—is a cross training day. Then more mileage as we get back on schedule. Good thing the week's off to a good start!
We're also off to a good start in the fundraising department, thanks to a dedicated band of contributors. If you know of any female persons aged 18 to 45, please remind them to take an active role in monitoring their breast and ovarian health. Thanks for your support!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Eight Is Great. Or something.
Great-ish.
Meaning we both completed 8 miles of running. No stopping. No walking. In some pretty toasty temperatures.
We used our (new in Joy's case) utility belts—which were carrying water, GU, Chomps, tissues and a cell phone to get us through the humidity.
Here's a photo of the "before" shot at 7:16 a.m.:
Sure. Let's be all smily and stuff. No biggie. 8 miles. When we consulted this guy, we got the expected stock response of "Outlook Good." Even though the heat, humidity, rude cyclists (seriously, how hard is it to say "on the left" when you're going 35 miles an hour and don't *really* want to kill a pedestrian?) and uneven pavement around Mile 13 on the Lakefront Path had other ideas.
Still, we made it. And here's photographic evidence from awhile later:
It's not easy to tell how fresh and fabulous we are. But count on it. We feel great. And we smell greater. Just another Saturday at Chicago's lakefront.Next week, a bigger challenge: 10 miles on the Saturday after a Friday night wedding in a foreign locale where the air conditioning is scarce but the ice cream is freaking amazing. Oh, and speaking of ice cream? The place that we discussed here is opening this week. Huzzah!
Meaning we both completed 8 miles of running. No stopping. No walking. In some pretty toasty temperatures.
We used our (new in Joy's case) utility belts—which were carrying water, GU, Chomps, tissues and a cell phone to get us through the humidity.
Here's a photo of the "before" shot at 7:16 a.m.:
Sure. Let's be all smily and stuff. No biggie. 8 miles. When we consulted this guy, we got the expected stock response of "Outlook Good." Even though the heat, humidity, rude cyclists (seriously, how hard is it to say "on the left" when you're going 35 miles an hour and don't *really* want to kill a pedestrian?) and uneven pavement around Mile 13 on the Lakefront Path had other ideas.
Still, we made it. And here's photographic evidence from awhile later:
It's not easy to tell how fresh and fabulous we are. But count on it. We feel great. And we smell greater. Just another Saturday at Chicago's lakefront.Next week, a bigger challenge: 10 miles on the Saturday after a Friday night wedding in a foreign locale where the air conditioning is scarce but the ice cream is freaking amazing. Oh, and speaking of ice cream? The place that we discussed here is opening this week. Huzzah!
Thanks for reading. And Happy Birthday, America!
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Lucky Number Seven
This week, in addition to Joy having to perform the worst of HR Manager tasks and Ross launching two new internal (beta) websites, we had two four-milers, a three-miler and a long run of seven.
Instead of recounting how Joy reeled off all seven without any problems, and how Ross ran six, walked .5 (briskly!) and then ran the last .5, we'll share some photos that we snapped along the way. Based on the views alone, it's not a bad way to start a Saturday morning. Although we'd prefer if someone had been dragging us in a wagon instead.
First, a pre-run stretch at The Agora, a sculpture at the corner of Michigan Ave. and Roosevelt Rd., just a hair's breath from the last .5 of the Chicago Marathon course.
Instead of recounting how Joy reeled off all seven without any problems, and how Ross ran six, walked .5 (briskly!) and then ran the last .5, we'll share some photos that we snapped along the way. Based on the views alone, it's not a bad way to start a Saturday morning. Although we'd prefer if someone had been dragging us in a wagon instead.
First, a pre-run stretch at The Agora, a sculpture at the corner of Michigan Ave. and Roosevelt Rd., just a hair's breath from the last .5 of the Chicago Marathon course.
And heading toward the Shedd Aquarium on the Lakefront Path.
Past the Field Museum, thankful we don't have to run up this hill. ... Just yet.
Around the back of the Shedd to a beautiful morning, past the Adler Planetarium, Soldier Field, McCormick Place and beyond, to the 12.5 mile marker as our turn-around point, and back.
The downhill from that earlier uphill that we didn't have to run just then. It came moments later.
The boats at Burnham Harbor, ready for a lazy day of sailing.
Into the tunnel under Solidarity Drive, with the Planetarium to our right. You can just barely see Joy on her way out the other end in the white top at the right.
Looking out over a tranquil Lake Michigan.
Back around the Shedd's Oceanarium and looking out to Navy Pier.
Skyline view.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Week 2: A 50% Increase
Okay, so ... the first week was pretty easy. And you know something? This week was pretty easy, too, in its own way. Except for the jump to a six-miler yesterday. And the speed work. And the tempo runs.
Training with a group is different for us. We're usually training for races on our own. Using schedules we download from the running section at About.com. And you know what? We've been good at it—keeping to our daily runs, our days off, our cross training ... even on vacation.
Though it's extremely fun to say because we're adolescents at heart, we're not used to Fartleks. Or tempo training (except for this kind of Tempo training).
This week, we ran 50% further than last week. Thank Prometheus (this one), we're not increasing weekly mileage by that much every week, otherwise we'd be running 54 miles a week by the middle of July.
Ouch.
Luckily, it's only two miles further this week, a total of 18. Eighteen miles in four days feels totally do-able.
You know what else? We had some great news this week when Joy got a completely clean bill of health from a couple of her half-yearly monitoring tests—an in-our-face reminder of why we're running, and why we've joined up with Team Bright Pink.
We've been so lucky to have such amazing support from so many people, which gets us even more motivated. Thanks! (And if you'd like to contribute to our effort, here's where you can!)
Training with a group is different for us. We're usually training for races on our own. Using schedules we download from the running section at About.com. And you know what? We've been good at it—keeping to our daily runs, our days off, our cross training ... even on vacation.
Though it's extremely fun to say because we're adolescents at heart, we're not used to Fartleks. Or tempo training (except for this kind of Tempo training).
This week, we ran 50% further than last week. Thank Prometheus (this one), we're not increasing weekly mileage by that much every week, otherwise we'd be running 54 miles a week by the middle of July.
Ouch.
Luckily, it's only two miles further this week, a total of 18. Eighteen miles in four days feels totally do-able.
You know what else? We had some great news this week when Joy got a completely clean bill of health from a couple of her half-yearly monitoring tests—an in-our-face reminder of why we're running, and why we've joined up with Team Bright Pink.
We've been so lucky to have such amazing support from so many people, which gets us even more motivated. Thanks! (And if you'd like to contribute to our effort, here's where you can!)
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