Well I haven't blogged in awhile, but I am waiting for a train and
have a few minutes :)

I have my 10 mile at waterfall glen Saturday. I have not been training
as much as I would like. I hope I do ok!

After the race I am off to Miami!!!

Sent from my iPhone.

The Hills

Woo hoo! I had another 10 mile race this morning. The race was the Downers Grove 5 & 10 miler that I also ran last year. I was a bit concerned about how I would do considering that I have not been training much this year :/ But amazingly enough...I have improved my time again! This is also very surprising to me since this is a very hilly course. Once the race started I got to thinking and I was like...oh no...no wonder my time for the Soldier Field 10m was so much less than last years DG 10m. I was wrong though...I am faster! See the times here:

Mile 1: 8:23.6
Mile 2: 8:21.3
Mile 3: 8:37.9
Mile 4: 8:14.8
Mile 5: 8:13.1
Mile 6: 8:14.3
Mile 7: 8:43.4
Mile 8: 8:57.5
Mile 9: 8:57.5
Mile 10: 8:36.0

Official Time: 1:24:48
Pace: 8:29min/mile

I also found out about another 10m race...Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10. I signed up today :D The crazy thing is that it is a very hilly course, worse than the DG 10m...yikes! One month to train!

Run for the Animals

Saturday morning I had my 10k race in Wheaton, Run for the Animals. Wow was it a rough one! It is just way too hot and humid in Chicago lately. As you can see from my times I definitely was affected by the fact that there was also a 5k race. I ran a bit too fast in the beginning and with the temperatures rising as time passed I really slowed down. Then around mile 4 I realized that there is no Gatorade at the water stations! I guess I'm just spoiled or something?? I should really investigate these things before I start a race :p Drinking too much water makes my stomach cramp up while running. I like to switch back and forth with Gatorade. I guess the water was useful when I poured it all over me...

Here's my times:

Mile 1: 8:05.0
Mile 2: 8:24.2
Mile 3: 8:01.4
Mile 4: 8:46.6
Mile 5: 8:47.1
Mile 6: 8:51.9
Mile 6.21: 1:57.2

Official time: 52:53.4
Overall Pace: 8:26min/mile

The Fog

I had a really nice run tonight. I left work at a reasonable time and omg it was hot and humid!!! My first thought was...I'm gonna have to run inside :( Luckily, I live by the lake! What a difference a little body of water makes. I actually thought there was a fire in one of the high rises over here because there was really patchy fog. Haha...I guess I'm not used to the lake effect weather yet. I ran along the lake and since it was so foggy I could barely see the lake even though it was right next to me. It seemed like I was running inside along a gray wall. It was cool :D

I'm not sure how far I ran, but it was for about an hour. I really need to look into the GPS thing again.

Angela needs some inspiration.

Alright...I'm slacking again! I'm posting in here so that I make sure I run tonight.

Work has been really busy and kinda stressful lately so I'm using that excuse this week :p That and its 80°F+ in my workout room. I would try to run outside, but I keep getting home pretty late.

Enough excuses, I will be running tonight. I have my 10k race on Saturday morning and I must prepare!

Ugly Betty???

After my post race nap Saturday, I finally picked up my first pair of glasses! Over the last 2 years since starting my job my vision has been slowly starting to bother me :( I'm pretty sure it's from all of the time I spend on the computer and looking at small drawings. I went for an eye exam almost a year ago and the optometrist was surprised that I could even tell that my eyes were changing. So he gave me a prescription for the smallest increment on my right eye.

My prescription was about to expire and my eyes have been bothering me when I drive at night so I finally went and picked out a pair. I hopefully wont be wearing them all the time, mostly just for driving. Although now that I can see so precisely out of my right eye...now the left seems not as sharp!



I have also signed up for another race...Run for the Animals 10k.

I finished on the 50!

First things first...my 10 mile race Saturday morning went spectacularly well! The weather was just about perfect for a run, maybe a little bit too sunny. I felt like it was going to be a rough race with the way my runs had been going the week before, but I couldn't have been more wrong! I kept track of my mile times on my iPhone. I was surprised to see that my first mile was under a 9min pace since the course was very congested at this point and I was still in my "warm up" stage. So I continued running and enjoying the peaceful weather and LSD. My pace was wonderful and I felt really good until about mile 7. That was the first point during the run that I was thinking when is this gonna be over! There were quite a few hills around this part and I was getting tired...but you know races aren't everyday running and you just have to go the extra mile...literally ;D Overall, i thought the course was very nice, however, when we were running into the stadium we went through an area that smelled realy bad of car fumes, yuck! But anyway, I beat my last 10 mile race time by 8:27 since my pace went from 9:24 to 8:33min/mile!!!! I'm so proud of myself :D

Mile 1: 8:48.8
Mile 2: 8:20.3
Mile 3: 8:21.7
Mile 4: 8:29.7
Mile 5: 8:30.6
Mile 6: 8:37.5
Mile 7: 8:43.6
Mile 8: 8:29.1
Mile 9: 8:52.0
Mile 10: 8:29.2
Unofficial time: 1:25:42 (I started the time early and stopped late)

Official Time: 1:25:28
Pace: 8:33min/mile

Waterfall Glen

I had a really nice easy run last night at Waterfall Glen. It's a forest preserve that surrounds Argonne National Laboratory. I had never been there before; I have to say it is very nice from the little bit I saw. I walked and jogged about 3/4 mile out and then "raced" back. 

Btw...tomorrow is the big race!

Two tickets for the "Hot Tamale Train"

Last night I went to run my 5 miles....someone was on my treadmill and was boguarding the fan. Booo! It gets pretty hot in the workout room when you are running for 40 minutes :( I ended up running 4.5 miles. Wow I feel like I keep letting myself down. But then when I am all sore the next day i know there was a reason I needed to stop.

Last night I also stopped at Fleet Feet and got my bib and t-shirt. However, they had not received the technical shirts yet so they gave me a cotton one and said they would mail the technical one to me. Kinda lame, but I got an extra t-shirt out of the deal.

In other news, So You Think You Can Dance starts today! I really liked that show last year. I will probably miss it tonight though :(

I must confess...my 4 mile run I was planning on doing last night only ended up being 2.7miles. I got home, made dinner and was really looking forward to my run. I ended up rushing myself so much that I couldn't really get control of my breathing plus I had just finished eating. It was a painful run, but since I pushed myself pretty hard it felt like I ran closer to 4 miles anyway :p

Today I feel great! I was planning on waking up early to pick up a Wii Fit for a B-day present for my sister, but instead a friend was nice enough to pick one up at a 24hr Wal-mart at midnight. I was worried about being able to get one by this weekend so it really took some stress off of me. Hopefully the Wii Fit is as fun as the old Nintendo Power Pad...I remember playing this game Athletic World :D (PS: It was recently announced by Bandai Namco that this game will see a remake in Japan in 2008 for the Wii, renamed in North America as Active Life)

Now tonight I get to go pick up my bib and t-shirt for the race Saturday. I have to go all the way up to Fleet Feet Piper's Alley. It's pretty far north for me to drive after work (traffic sucks!), but I have not been to Fleet Feet before and have been looking forward to checking it out. Hopefully I do not get home too late...I must have time for a full 5 mile run, hehe.

Oh ya I maybe found a few people to run with...in the suburbs. We'll see how it goes tomorrow ;)

Prospect

I did a little search for my time on the 10 mile race I did last June (1:33:55, 9:24min/mile) just to see what I'm up against. I think this is how it is for many runners, you are usually racing against your previous times and not someone else. Although I do find it helpful to pick someone in a race and say...I wanna beat her ;)

I'm hoping that I will be able to maintain a 9 min/mile pace for the race on Saturday. I really don't know what to expect though...so much depends on weather and how I am feeling that morning. Eeeeee I can't wait :D

Tonight I will do a 4 mile run, yayy!

iPhone Blogging

Woo hoo I have figured out how to blog from my iPhone :) Looks like
this page is gonna fill up fast!

Here is a picture from a morning run. I am so close to lake
Michigan...just a quick 5 minute jog away. I'm not sure if I can ever
give this up...

I'm BACKKKK

Well really I wasn't ever gone. I have been running, but I have just been too busy to blog. I am still busy, but I really need to keep track of my times as races are quickly approaching! In fact I have a 10 mile race Saturday morning...yikes! I have been taking running pretty easy lately and running only 3 miles or so about 3 times a week. That is not enough!!!! I took time yesterday to do an 8 mile run (just to see how bad the 10 mile is going to hurt). It went surprisingly well considering the lack of training going on here. I went at a nice slow pace (9 min/mile) and took a short walk at 4.5 miles so that I could eat some sport beans. It ended up taking me 73:12 to finish. I am planning on running 4, 5, and 3 miles this week with a rest day on Friday. We'll see how the 10 mile goes this weekend!

If you haven't noticed I have also changed the address of this blog. I figure that I would like to post things outside of running once in awhile...no reason to have two blogs.

Happy Belated Birthday to Me!

It was my birthday yesterday....I ate a lot of food. This led to a difficult time running :( I felt so heavy and tired. It's possible I was still tired from all the drinking and dancing that happened on Saturday. Hmmm...lessons learned. I ran for 3 miles, see below:

Distance (miles): 3
Time (hh:mm:ss): 00:24:06
Pace (min/mile): 8:02
Min Speed (mph): 7.3
Max Speed (mph): 7.8
Weight (lbs): 122.8
Time of Day: 9:20pm
Where: Treadmill
Weekly Total (last 7 days): 12.75 miles
Shoes: Mizuno Wave Elixir 2 9.5 (green)
Shoe Mileage: ~56miles

Oooh I also bought some new running gear. I got 2 pairs of shorts, 1 shirt, and 2 sports bras. Maybe I will take some pics of me in my new gear sometime ;)

I <3 Lake Michigan

WOW! I'm so happy today. I finally got to run outside for the first time since fall. It's a bit slushy and icy on the sidewalks still, but omg did it feel amazing. It was basically a fun run for me. I didn't go for any speed or distance, just ran and took in the fresh air...and tried to dodge all the obstacles :) I ran from my apartment to the lake and then sat on some concrete with a huge smile on my face. It's like reuniting with an old friend...I was getting so sentimental remembering all my runs since August. I don't know how I survived being so far from the lake before. Right now I feel like I never want to leave Chicago.

Here are some stats, once I get the 405 I should be able to track my outdoor runs better:

Distance (miles): no clue! maybe 2.5 miles?
Weight (lbs): 121
Time of Day: 12:40pm
Where: Outside! My place to the lake a little bit on the lake front path and back to my place.
Weather: 31°F, ice, snow, and puddles!
Weekly Total (last 7 days): 9.75 miles
Shoes: Mizuno Wave Elixir 2 9.5 (green)
Shoe Mileage: 53 miles

The loop looks so far away from Hyde Park...it's a nice run though.Brrr...look at those rosy cheeks :p

Yikes! My shoes got a little bit wet...good thing I have a back-up pair.

Rowla

Today was a good day. I woke up early again and went on the spinner bike for 20 minutes and tonight I ran:

Distance (miles): 5
Time (hh:mm:ss): 00:39:24 <------Personal Best!
Pace (min/mile): 7:53
Min Speed (mph): 7.2
Max Speed (mph): 8.4
Weight (lbs): 122.4
Time of Day: 8:50pm
Where: Treadmill
Weekly Total (last 7 days): 9.25 miles
Shoes: Mizuno Wave Elixir 2 9.5 (green)
Shoe Mileage: ~50miles

No time to write much lately...gotta get to bed!

I want this so bad!

I stopped in the Garmin store on Michigan Ave. this past weekend and now I plan on buying the Forerunner 405. End of story :P
It doesn't come out till mid to late March. 

Here is last nights run:

0-3minutes: 7.1mph
3-6minutes: 8.0mph
6-9minutes: 7.0mph
9-12minutes: 8.0mph
12-15minutes: 7.0mph
15-18minutes: 8.0mph

Total Distance (miles): 2.25
Overall Pace (min/mile): 8:00

This morning I actually woke up early and went on the spinner bike for 25 minutes. It was nice...seems like it made my whole morning. I have been in the best mood lately...

Bustle up the Blackwood

Alright, so you know how a few days ago I was saying how 80% healthy felt so good compared to being as sick as I was? Well, apparently 80% healthy when running sucks! I should have tried to run when I was sick so that it would feel better to be running now. I am still congested after over a week of being sick. I am still blowing my nose a lot during the day and I can totally feel this stuff when I am running. I ran another 2 miles today, but I am happy. I figured it will only get better from here :D

Distance (miles): 2
Time (hh:mm:ss): 00:16:36
Pace (min/mile): 8:18
Min Speed (mph): 6.9
Max Speed (mph): 7.4
Weight (lbs): 122.4
Time of Day: 8:15pm
Where: Treadmill
Weekly Total (last 7 days): 4 miles
Shoes: Mizuno Wave Elixir 2 9.5 (green)

After the run I decided to do one of my treks up to the 14th floor. I will do this when I feel like I haven't worked out enough. It was good because it was a good workout for my legs, but was a lot easier on my breathing than running was. BTW I saw that there is this Hustle up the Hancock this Sunday. Had I known about it sooner I would have liked to partake. Maybe next year.

Woo hoo...I ran 2 miles tonight! Haha. Pretty pathetic, but there was this wine and cheese thing for my apt. building that I wanted to stop by. Don't fret, another run is planned for tomorrow! I was so off on my game today I forgot to look at my time once I stopped running :p It was a light jog 7.2-7.5mph.

It's on like Donkey Kong!

I started feeling better late Sunday night. I still had a cough up until yesterday and now I am almost 100%! It's amazing how good it feels to be like 80% healthy after being so sick. I have never been so happy to be at work as I was on Monday :D

So tonight I will run. I can't wait! I am also looking into signing up for a few more races in March or April. If only it would warm up enough for me to venture outside. It is very icy on the sidewalks of my neighborhood...rather be safe than sorry. Maybe someone can call me in a favor and get it warm for my BIG birthday coming up ;)

I'm sick!

Wednesday at work just got worse as the day went on. My body got really sore and I had the chills. I was wearing my coat and scarf around the office while everyone else complained that it was hot. Once I got home I took my temperature and I had a fever! It was official...I had the flu :(

I slept all night and most of Thursday. I tried to wake up and do some work at home around lunchtime yesterday, but all I wanted to do was go back to sleep! I slept until 5:30pm and by this time my fever had gone away. I felt ok except for the occasional cough and the feeling of being drained of energy. I figured dinner wouldn't hurt since I needed to eat anyway. For about an hour and a half I didn't feel even slightly sick, just enjoyed great food and a glass of wine :)

I had a little bit of a hard time falling asleep, probably because I had slept all day. I finally woke up at 4am VERY hot and sweating. I took my temperature and I had another fever :( I lied in bed till my alarm went off and then got up to do the usual routine and see if I would feel better once I got going for the day. I took a hot shower and still had goosebumps...I called in sick.

I slept until lunch again and now I keep moving from chair to couch to bed and back...just spacing out. I feel useless. I think writing in this blog is the most I have done all day.

Needless to say, I'm aching to run. However, I would be surprised if I could even get through stretching with as little energy as I have now...you'll hear from me again once I am back to normal.

She's going for distance...

Better late than never...

I went for a nice long run on Monday night. Hmmm, actually I remember when 6 mile runs were more frequent and 10 miles+ was "long". Eh, I'll get there sooner or later. I'm sure I'm running faster now then I was before anyway :p The run felt really good, but toward the end I was getting pretty tired! I started getting really anxious to be done around mile 5. Oh well, I was happy with the time and run overall.

Distance (miles): 6
Time (hh:mm:ss): 00:47:42
Pace (min/mile): 7:57
Min Speed (mph): 7.3
Max Speed (mph): 7.8
Weight (lbs): 122
Time of Day: 8:00pm
Where: Treadmill
Weekly Total (last 7 days): 16 miles
Shoes: Mizuno Wave Elixir 2 9.5 (green)

As for yesterday, I had stayed late at work, went grocery shopping and was busy the rest of the night. I needed a day off after the 6 miles anyway.

Today I am not feeling well. A lot of people have been sick at work and I think I have caught something. I have been coughing since I woke up :( I'm pretty sure I won't run, but maybe I will sneak in some spinning? Oh ya I need to make V-day cookies tonight...depends on how long that takes.

Targetless Run

Last night I went for a run at ~7pm with a friend. I hadn't really planned a strategy as to how far/fast I would run, which was not the best idea. I wish I could have ran longer, but I didn't want to keep my friend waiting around for me. I kept the run short and just ramped up my speed every 3 minutes.

Running less than 3 miles lately feels like such a waste! I'm not sure yet what I will plan for tonight...I have a few errands that need to get done...I guess we'll find out later!

Here are the results from yesterday:

Distance (miles): 2
Time (hh:mm:ss): 00:15:23
Pace (min/mile): 7:42
Min Speed (mph): 7.4
Max Speed (mph): 8.4
Weight (lbs): 121.2
Time of Day: 7:00pm
Where: Treadmill
Weekly Total (last 7 days): 12 miles
Shoes: Mizuno Wave Elixir 2 9.5 (green)

BTW, my blue shoes were delivered today! I can't wait to get home and open them :D

Fartlek

I got a free issue of Runner's World last week...it couldn't have come at a better time. I'm pretty sure it was from my participation in the Chicago marathon and I have to say their marketing tactics work; I'll probably get a subscription now (if I can get someone to hook me up...cough cough). There was an article on training which is where I got the fartlek thing from. They describe it as 3 or 4 3-minute surges at a 10k to 10 mile effort, with 3 minutes easy running between fast segments. I don't run a 10k at an 8.2mph pace yet, but I wanted to push myself hard today.

Here's the breakdown:

0-2minutes: 7.3mph
2-5minutes: 8.2mph
5-8minutes: 7.3mph
8-11minutes: 8.2mph
11-14minutes: 7.3mph
14-17minutes: 8.2mph
17-20minutes: 7.3mph
20-23:08: 8.3mph

Total Distance (miles): 3
Overall Pace (min/mile): 7:43

I'm really happy with the way the run went. I will work on either working up to more sets or try increasing the speed next time. This really made the run seem very quick since I was only focusing on 3 minutes at a time. I felt like I could have kept on going, but I was worried about pushing myself too far too fast. My calves have been getting pretty tight after runs lately, maybe since I am running much faster than before? Anyway I will be walking the auto show tomorrow and I don't need to be setting myself back on training.

On another note, I added a music player over there ------>

I put a bunch of songs that I have on my iPod that really get me in the zone when I am running. I'll try to update it whenever I get time.

I still have my feet on the ground, I just wear better shoes. - Oprah

Back in December, I bought myself a post Christmas present ...new running shoes! The first pair I bought last spring were always trouble. If I ran more than 2 miles I would get blisters on my feet. I thought that I just needed to break them in; I was wrong.

A friend of a good friend of mine works at Dick Pond in Elmhurst so I paid him a visit and got an expert analysis on what shoes to get. I had to walk over some pad that analyzed my arch and such. Then he had me try on a bunch of shoes. Every time I found a better shoe I would leave one of them on. After trying maybe 3-4 pairs on I couldn't find one that I liked better. I must have tried at least 10 different shoes on! The lucky shoes that got to come home with me were some green and white Mizuno Wave Elixir 2 size 9.5. I also got a free pair of socks (thanks Will!). These socks are amazing and with the new shoes I'm in love....In case anyone is interested the socks are Balega X-Athlete "Hidden Comfort" Socks (I have even included a link to the cheapest place to buy them!) I now have six pairs and will probably buy more :)

Anyway here is a picture of my kicks ;)Even though they still look brand spanking new (haven't been outside yet) I bought a back-up pair today! It seems that they are coming out with newer versions so they might be hard to find once I need a new pair. I found a good closeout price and now will have them in blue <3
Yipeeee!!!!!!!!!!

Running to the future

In hopes of learning more about my running and in hopes of keeping motivated, I'm making a blog!

I'll use this space to track my times, distance, weight, etc...anything I can think of that I might want to reference in the future. Maybe if I know that everyone can see any results (or lack there of), I will stay motivated to keep pushing forward and keep achieving personal bests! Please leave any comments (motivation, tips, criticism...anything goes).

Time permitting, I will also use this as a way to write down any reflections from my runs.

Here I go...starting off with a great run that I just finished:

I am training for the Chicago Shamrock Shuffle 8k on March 30th, 2008. 8k(~5 miles) is no problem for me, I ran an 8k last summer when I was prepping for the Chicago Marathon. At the time I was worried about the marathon and was just worried about being able to run far. Now that the marathon is in the past (thank god) I am focusing on speed! My time last summer was 42:47 (8:36min/mile pace). I used to always train at 6.7mph...not sure why, I guess I just got comfortable with ~9min pace. Since the marathon I have been bumping up my speed slowly, here are my results from today:

Distance (miles): 5 miles
Time (hh:mm:ss): 00:39:38 <------Personal Best!
Pace (min/mile): 7:56
Min Speed (mph): 7.2
Max Speed (mph): 8.3
Weight (lbs): 121.4
Time of Day: 6:15pm
Shoes: Mizuno Wave Elixir 2 9.5