7ish, and i felt like crap

went for 90 minutes or so, at a really slow pace. maybe went 7 miles.

must not take three days off of running again.
must not skip short runs.
must not jump back into a week with a semi-long run.

City Chase - Chicago 2007

wow...that was something.

since tc wrote a great post about our experience i'll just direct folks to read about our journey on her blog. however, there are a couple of points i'd like to clarify.

A. I wasn't that dumbfounded and googly-eyed when I got to see boobies (hehehe boobies...yay!)

B. tc wasnt the only one of us to shout...i got a little flustered trying to read a map that seriously made no sense whatsoever, to tc's credit instead of telling me that i didnt need to understand it since she already did and that my dumb ass ought to just follow her without questioning where we are going since she is clearly of superior intellect, she simply let it slide.

that's about it.

16

that was the longest distance i've run in quite some time now. 16 miles, in just under 12 minute pace (overall i think we finished a whopping 1 minute early). the group ran without our pace leader. he tried to run early on, but developed pain in his shins (he was thinking shin splints, but let's hope not) so he stopped about 4 or 5 miles in. the path was crowded thanks to the air and water show, but we survived.

we carried on without him. other members of the group paced, and frankly we do pretty well now. we all seem to be able to hold a 12 mnute pace reasonably well. granted tc and i tend to speed up a little near the end, i think it's because we get excited that there's only a mile or two left.

8.5

glad i just did that on a tuesday night, cuz i need some time off to recover.

so, i went 8.55 miles in 1:30:30, which is a 10:35 average pace. probably too fast for a semi-long run. it wasn't even a tempo run...it was just a fast run.

it felt like perhaps i'd be a little tired and slow down on the return trip, but as it turns out, i was only 4 seconds slower on the way back. that is amazing to me. for a moment just forget the fact that i can't tell what pace i am running and let's look at the surprising fact that i was able to maintain a consitent effort for an hour and a half. true the pace was a good minute faster than it probably should have been, but my splits were damn near identical and my percieved effort remained constant. i am so pleased with myself.

woohoo

here's my update...and i might add, it's fairly timely.
friday was a party. i managed a few miles before the party and i managed a few drinks during the party, so no running on saturday.

sunday on the other hand was the long run. tc and i went to the sunday 7am group run. turns out there weren't many people there. i guess the sunday group is usually smaller, but adding to that effect was probably the fact that the Chicago Distance Classic half marathon was taking place at the same time.

tc and i formed our own pace group, primarily because we planned to run 12 minute pace. when we asked the person who we figured was the pace leader for the slow group what pace she'd be keeping, she said "11:30, 12:00, 13:00". wait a minute! the slowest pace group for the CARA program is supposed to be 12:00. and what the hell kind of answer was that anyway? she gave three different paces, for one damned group. buh. we decided just to run as our own group, at (hopefully) a 12 minute pace. we passed the group that we didn't want to be a part of at the first water stop...they took long enough that we arrived just behind them, but were able to start back up before them.

tc yelled out the half mile splits, and we managed to do pretty good with pacing. we fluctuated between 13 and 10:30, but most of the time our splits were pretty good for the two of us. we did manage to run a negative split overall. we came back 3 minutes faster than we went out (about 24 seconds per mile faster), most of it probably due to Gu and learning to pace a little better, oh and that reserved energy to draw upon. average pace was 12:12 (15 miles in 3:03).

basically, woohoo!

oh, and that photo, it's from engrish...i just love the weird statement the words make, and where hands land on the shirt...hehe i'm sure i look like that little guy sometimes.

up next: gotta go 8 on tuesday.

they call me flash(y)

went back to fleet feet today. was helped by the manager. which i think is primarily because i just returned an expensive pair of shoes that i had run in. i'm quite sure he wanted to keep me from bringing back yet another pair of shoes. i went in with my head full of all the wisdom and information one can gain by searching the internet. i had gleaned a lot from my searches, which brands just came out with new models, how those models differed from the previous, how some shoes i hadnt tried before may work for me. my supremely wise ideas for various shoes were swiftly dismissed, and i was fine with it. he is the expert after all, and truly he should know what was best. he asked a few questions, listened to what i had to say, got a feel for what i needed, and brought out 3 different shoes. in the end it was a Brooks, the super-flashy Trance 7 to be precise. it would figure that the high-end stability shoe from the same manufacturer as my Adrenaline's would be the way to go. why i didnt just suggest it last week, and why it was not mentioned i'll never know. i left the store feeling much better about the choice i had just made. i felt bad for the store, cuz now they have a pair of really nice mizuno's with 10 miles on them, but that's the price of good customer service.

then i took them for a little spin. just over 6 miles at about 11 minute pace and it felt good. the shoes are clearly rather firm, and will need some breaking in, but they do have all the cushion i was looking for. good job fleet feet, good job.

10 with mixed emotions

so the 10 miles in and of itself wasnt so bad. i can handle running for two hours. i am a machine...a slow machine, but a machine none the less.

what i cant handle are the new shoes. maybe it was mental, but those shoes felt like crap the entire run. my right big toe rubbed, and it felt tight throughout the midfoot and on into the forefoot. it was more than just new shoes that needed breaking in. it was a bad fit, both mentally and physically. time to head back to fleet feet.

Some biking

Ok. while i haven't run in two days, i have been biking a lot. on both wednesday and thursday i biked to and from work, and on thursday i ran a few errands after work, so there's some more milage. i may run a mile or two tonight. i know it's just before the long run, but frankly it's a cut back week and i am not too concerned with it.

the whole reason i want to do a mile or two is because i got some new shoes. different brand and everything, and i already have buyer's remorse. i am a little wary of spending $150 on a pair of shoes, but mainly i am wary of the guy who sold em to me....he didnt seem to care and certainly didnt take the time to fit my that i am used to. Fleet Feet is usually a running great store, i think i was unlucky and got the least interested employee that day. hrmph. we'll see how they feel, but saturday may be done in my old Brooks.