Chicago countdown: Week 12 complete, 76 days to go

I've been reading about different philosophies surrounding how you do long runs. My friend Frankie has been trying to find his pace, saying he may have run his last one too fast. I think i've found my pace, but sometimes I feel like I have energy to burn at the end (i'm lucky, not having reached the 20 milers yet).

Yesterday, while reading some more running stuff at the beach, I read about some training programs that ask you to run long the usual slow pace, about 45 seconds to 90 seconds slower than your marathon pace. But, the difference was to pick it up in the last quarter of the run. It wasn't the first time I've read this.

Today, I ran out and back to the Beaches, out the door at 6:40 a.m. and hit the Beach just as a volleyball competition was taking place. I took my iPod shuffle with me for the first time in a long time and I felt it interfere with me looking for the right pace. I slowly got used to it and sometimes took the headphones off for some songs.

As I've said before, i run my long runs according to heart rate and i've been learning what keeps it down: a steady slow pace, taking hills with less vigour, hydrating often. With about 4 miles to go, i decided to pick up the pace, letting my heart rate get up just barely above the 81% range. It was still a step away from comfortably hard, but it definately was not easy.

It felt good. I had energy left for picking it up that I felt I was slowly emptying the tank. My fastest split was 8:10 mile (5:00 km) and I ran a negative split for the run, just barely. 26K (16 miles).

I fuelled up at the halfway mark and now I'm considering whether I should fuel up properly before my long runs. How many gels should I be consuming If i'm doing a 20 miler? Unknown.

The week's over and I'm just a few miles from the big five-oh. I'm feeling good about the training and the cooler weather has provided a huge mental boost.

Weekly total: 76K (47 miles)
Time run this week: 6:38:42
Year to date: 1,502K (933 miles)
Marathon training to date: 450K (280 miles)

Perfect day for a pace run

Was up at 6 a.m. but not out the door until 7. Today would be a great day, I thought, as I was about five steps out the front door. It was breezy, the sun was just starting to heat up the waterfront, and it was, dare I say it, cool. Yes, it felt like the cool that ushers in fall's full arrival. Perfect.

Today was my pace run. The idea, as they say, is to teach your body your racing gear. Now, in my running life, I've learned my gears. There's the warmup gear, in which I probably run a kilometre at 5:45. There's the tempo gear, which I would run at 4:20. There's the 800 interval gear (4:10), my 'i'm comfortable but kinda trying gear' (5:00), my long run gear (5:30), my half-marathon racing gear (4:30). Then there's the 'i'm recovering after a night of drinking' gear (5:00 to 6:00)

Well, in this marathon, I've selected a pace of 4:45 (for my American friends, that's about 7:38 miles). Instead of warming up to it, I streched well, and just launched into the run, aiming to take to the pace quickly. It felt good. I tried various pacing tricks to teach myself to memorize what it feels like, the rhythm of my foot steps on the ground, I would first count up to four with every foot step, then resorted to counting one for every two footsteps. I tried breathing in tune with my strides. I focused on my arm movement and tried to keep upright.

Then the km splits passed, one by one. And on every split, I'd look down at my Garmin, and there it was: 4:48, 4:45, 4:42, 4:44, 4:47, :4:42, 4:41... etc.. It was amazing. Even with downhills and uphills, flats and turns, I was still hitting my splits. I stopped looking all the time at my Garmin to get my pace, because I was getting the hang of it, I was learning my gears... I think they call that listening to your body.

Anyways, I ran 13K (8 miles) and decided to compare it to my 8 miler I ran earlier this week at a slow pace...

Tomorrow's the 26K run (16 miles). I'm looking forward to it..

A low tempo 200th post

Nothing extraordinary about today. I was supposed to do a speedwork day, and the assignment was hills. I don't want to do hills, there aren't real hills in my neighbourhood, plus isn't Chicago flat? I figured I survived the big heat wave and I'm just happy to go out for a normal, run of the mill, run. (by the way, it's soooo much cooler! 23 degrees this morning)

So instead of a speedwork session, I did a 10K (6 miler) that before this marathon training began were the meat and potatoes of my weekday routine. Instead of running tempo pace, which is anywhere from 4:15 to 4:30kms I chose to stick close to 5 minute kms. Which is fast, but not even my marathon pace.

Oh yeah, the 200th post. That really crept up on me. I've been blogging since December, 2005, not really expecting much but a way to track my runs and to have a place where I could write (or on certain days, not). I used to rave to R. whenever I figured out that someone from outside my circle had checked my site.

Now, 200 posts later, I feel like I'm part of something more. The running blog world is not a massive community, but it's a passionate and compassionate one. We come from different walks (or jogs, strides?) of life, we haunt trails only known to our shoes. We hail from cities, from small towns, from rural areas. We live in hot climes, in froster areas. We love Asics, Saucony and every other brand name(does anyone like Nike?). We train for a marathon, a key race, or just to keep on going. We write our daily log, and we check each others, giving each other encouragement.

I started this blog knowing that my Chicago marathon training was on the horizon. Now, in addition to running the marathon with two friends of mine, I feel like I have a bigger group. All of a sudden, a daunting race of 40,000 people has turned into a run with a good bunch of people (rounded up in nicely by Bob).

I've worked in publishing for a long time now, from putting out weekly university newspapers, to quarterly magazines, from working as a cog on big dailies to running a by-the-second news site. The thrill of publishing has been in my blood, dating back to my grandfather, who penned books and newspaper columns in another era. But in my editing and writing life, I never really covered something just for me. Until December. Until now, for the 200th time. Thanks for checking in.

Weary...

So I'm tired.. not sure if it's the heat, or the long work hours or the fact that I'm hurting for another week off during the summer. What I hope it isn't is the fact that I'm on a six-day training schedule. Should I be taking another day off? Part of me think it's because I'm getting up early to run, then going to bed late... let me sleep on it..

8.4K (5.2 miles)

Company on the trail...

Okay, I'll get the heat story over with. It was 27C when I stepped out of the door at 6 a.m. Humidex is crazy today as it hit 36C or 47 humidex, which is supposed to feel like 116F. Crap that's hot. Us Canadians melt in this temperature!

Anyways, this little shot from Google Earth shows the area from which I start my lone run every day. My condo is at the start point and you see where all the boats are docked, beside the beautiful garden. If it looks familiar to those with music training, then you're right, it's inspired by Bach and Yo-Yo Ma helped design the garden based on Bach's music.. On this morning, like every morning, I wait for the Garmin to pick up a signal, stretch, and watch the runners on the trail go by as I am about to join them.

I started my run behind an older man, someone i've seen on the trail before. By the end of the run, I had found a kindred spirit. He was sorta limping, but keeping up a strong pace, about 5:30kms. It was hot and my calves were tight, so I happily paced off him and ran about 15 metres behind him, seeing my heart rate was at the perfect zone. By the time we hit the 5K mark, we were going downhill, and I caught up to him. With all the heat, I didn't feel like pushing it past him, so there we were, running side by side for 30 metres, when we started the conversation.

I can't remember the last time I ran with a running partner. Actually, since I document all my runs, it ... let me check.... June 3 with Jelly. Suffice it to say, I've done my marathon training alone, and am happy to do so. So I don't really do the run and talk test. Today, I was running at a good pace to do so.

Me: "How long you running today?"

Him: "To the pool and back to my condo... "

Me: "I'm doing 8 miles."

Turns out, he's 68, has been running for 50 years, and is doing his own 8 miler. He usually does two runs a day, speedwork in the evenings. Then he splits out a number that knocks me off my feet: 'Yes, I usually run about 100 miles a week'..

Oh.. My.. God..

Anyways, we split up when he reaches the pool, he says 'thanks for the company,' and I nod the same, and I keep on going. I then turn back and a few kms later, enounter him again. He's talking to another runner but picks up the run as I approach. 'You get to know the regulars,' he says as he nods to another passing runner. Another woman, he tells me after he says 'good morning to her', is getting better at her walking, going farther and farther. I feel like I'm running with the Godfather of the Martin Goodman Trail.

We run the 4K home together. He tells me he has been in Toronto for 14 years, have lived in New York and London. He runs 3 hours on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. He's injured right now and has a bad hamstring. He doesn't drink during runs but can list every single water fountain in a 10K radius ('I run with people who stop at water fountains,' he explains).

He doesn't do marathons any more, but does 10K and 5K. I'm scared to ask his time, knowing that he's a speed demon and I'm not. He imparts more advice: 'If you want to lose weight, run twice a day'

We then talk about the trail. Our favourite runs. The races we've done. We're both year-round outside runners and, on this hot day, we talk about running on this same trail, about how in the late fall it empties of spring and summer runners, about treading on snow and about winter cleats. As the Ks go by, I forget about the creeping heat, the breathing and the tightness leaves my calves as I adjust to our slower pace.

With a few kilometres to go, he says "My name is Dennis'" I go "My name is Kenny, good to meet you."

And as we reach the music garden, the sun getting to a full rise, I bid farewell to Dennis. I'm sure i'll see him again soon, as I do from time to time. Next time, I'll say hello, and maybe, if we're going the same way, we'll run for a few kms.

13K (8 miles) in 1:13, with average pace of 5:37