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June 29, 2006

Accidental Brick

So, I'm signed up for this triathlon in August. It's nothing huge - it's a super-sprint, which, checking the web site, is super-tiny. 375m swim, 10k bike, 2.5k run. Nothing, really. I entered it mostly because I had a free entry through my employer - it just cost me the $9 for the USAT day permit. Back in October when I got the e-mail at work telling me I could register for this for free, I figured, "Hey, what the heck? It's free!"

Of course, after a few months, I started to talk myself out of it. Messing with the equipment would be a pain in the butt. Figuring out if I needed a wetsuit would be a pain in the butt, especially if it turned out I did. Not to mention the fact that my bike situation was up in the air. Sure, I have a bike, but it's one I haven't ridden in 7 years. I wasn't sure how much work it would take to get it to a rideable state. Plus, I didn't have a helment, blah blah blah. I was pretty much willing to say, "oops, no bike, no can do," and wimp out of the whole thing. After all, it didn't cost me anything to register, so it wouldn't cost me anything to skip out of it.

Anyhow, fast forward to last week when my neighbor offered to clean up and tune up my bike for me. What the heck. He did, and it turned out all my bike needed was a little adjusting here and there - despite being moved all over the midwest and sitting in various closets, spare rooms, and basements for the past 7 years, it was in perfectly good condition. I was ready to go! Except I didn't have a helmet or a lock. Well, that was fixed easily enough - I stopped by a bike shop on the way home from work Tuesday evening, and they got me all hooked up with what I needed. I'd have to bring my bike up there to have them install these locking skewer things (to keep people from walking off with my quick-release wheels), but that was it.

No problem, I said! And then I thought about what would be involved in getting my bike up there. Riding it. In the city. Eeeeek. I told myself it would be OK. Tons of people use the bike lanes and are totally fine. I'd just have to suck it up, do it, and I'd be fine. Besides, it would be worth it. A summer free from waiting for the bus! It would be so much easier to be able to bike my errands instead of having to CTA it around town. So. Much. Easier. Not to mention better for me.

So today when I got home from work, I sucked it up and did it. I rode my bike the few miles up to the bike shop, and got there in one piece. I successfully navigated the bike lanes, and hopped on the sidewalk when there wasn't one. And you know what? It was [i]fine[/i]. And a lot of fun, actually. And now I can leave my bike locked up places without having to worry about someone walking off with my wheels or my seat.

Of course, once I got home, I still had to do my easy 3 mile run for today, so I did a quick change and headed right back out. Now, since I wasn't riding for speed, I didn't think of my little bike ride as a "workout". However, I did cover a little over 7 miles total. Not enough to wear me out, but just enough that when I started running, my quads said, "Um, hello? Yes, hi, um, what's this all about?" By the end of the first mile, though, they were fine. I figured I'd have a slightly slower run - probably averaging an 11:00 - 11:30 pace - but everything felt OK so I didn't worry about it.

I took the 3 miles nice and easy. I didn't really pay attention to my Garmin until I was done, not really wanting to know just how slow I was going. Let's just say I was surprised when I discovered I'd covered 3.1 miles in 30:53.

Huh? Really? That's... one of my faster runs recently, and it certainly didn't feel like I was putting any sort of effort into it. Heck, I was barely breathing heavy when I finished. I know 10 minute miles are getting to be easier for me, but that easy?

Well, heck. Between the fact that I no longer have a bike-related excuse for wussing out of the tri, and the fact that apparently my legs like to follow a bike ride with a run, it looks like I'm going to have to suck it up and figure out this whole "tri" thing. Guess I better start swimming again....

Posted by Dawn at 08:37 PM | Comments (2)

June 20, 2006

PSA

So you think you're in shape, eh? You think you do a fair amount of running, and you think you can take on whatever sort of "cardio" class your gym offers as cross-training on your off day. Sure, you'll work up a sweat, but you won't really get your heart rate up. You won't really tire yourself out. You'll be fine for your run the next morning. Just fine. After all, it's just kickboxing. Worst-case scenario? Your arms are sore the next day. But that's OK. The arms need toning, anyways, and you can run with sore arms, no problem. It's just kickboxing - how hard on the lower body can it be?

If the jello-like state of my butt this morning is any indication? Kickboxing can be very, very tough on the lower body, and should not be entered into lightly. Just a little hint from me to you.

Posted by Dawn at 01:50 PM | Comments (2)

June 15, 2006

Commitment

The more observant among you may have noticed that while I had a whole slew of summer and fall races listed in the sidebar, I hadn't yet put a fall marathon up there. You may have been wondering, "Is Dawn running a fall marathon? Which one is she doing? Is it going to be a Top Secret race? Or maybe after the sauna in Madison she's just going to stick to 5 and 10Ks like a sane person."

Well, the last one certainly isn't true, as I have very rarely in my life asked myself, "What would a sane person do?" before deciding on a course of action. Nor would anyone who actually knows me describe me as a sane person. Really, it came down to the fact that I just didn't know. I was planless, which is not a state I like to be in.

It wasn't my fault that I was planless, though. I had a plan! My plan was to enter the lottery for New York. If I got in, I'd run that. If I didn't, then I'd run Chicago. No problem. Plan A and Plan B, lined up and ready to go. Until Chicago went ahead and filled up before Memorial Day, which.... whatever. I have a wide variety of thoughts on the complete ridiculousness of the situation, but we'll just skip over that. Suffice it to say I was shocked, amazed, and somewhat annoyed. My Plan B was now kaput. Useless. Very much un-plan-like. However, I wasn't worried. I still had Plan A, which was to run New York if I got in to it. No problems.

I did start pondering other fall marathons, as Plan B Redux. There was Milwaukee. There was Grand Rapids. There was the Marine Corps Marathon, if it was still open. Heck, I could even go run Detroit again, if I really wanted to. I tossed these ideas around in my head, but never really picked one or gave it any sort of serious consideration. Mostly because it never occurred to me that I wouldn't get in to New York. I mean, I knew it was a possibility, I just never thought it would actually happen.

Then it did. And I was suddenly confused. I latched on to Marine Corps, but wasn't 100% committed. Then, before I could register, it filled up. All righty, then. No MCM for me. So, now what?

I thought. I pondered. I knew people that would be running Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, and Steamtown. I did consider running Detroit again - it's close to my parents' house, which means free lodging. Plus, I'd love to go back there and run a really great race, to even out the death march that it turned into last year. Except there was one small problem - I just couldn't get excited about it. The more I thought about it, the more I was afraid the course - which was gorgeous in spots, but largely uninspiring - wouldn't hold up well to a second viewing. I finally just decided to knock that one out of consideration.

Milwaukee and Steamtown were all good and well, except they were early in the month and wouldn't fit with the half I want to run on October 1. (Milwaukee is on the 1st, and Steamtown is the following weekend.) Plus, the overall downhill of Steamtown worries me - I'm not sure how my legs would hold up to that, especially since I don't really have a good way to train on hills around here. Sure, I can hit the gym and use the treadmill to train on uphills, but I'm not sure how I'd prepare my legs for that much downhill. Maybe a year or two from now, when I'm in better shape overall.

After hitting Marathon Guide and looking at damn near every race that would be run in the midwest during the month of October, I finally decided on Grand Rapids. It'd be close to home. I knew some people that ran it last year, and they had nothing but good things to say about the race. And, really, how can you not love a race that has Oprah and P. Diddy pace groups?

So, Grand Rapids it is. It's out there. I've told people about it. The time goal I'm working with right now is 4:30, but that's subject to change, depending on how this summer goes. All that's left to do now is register (which will be done by the end of next week, I promise).

Posted by Dawn at 01:04 PM | Comments (9)

June 14, 2006

A Change of Scenery

Man, I just totally fell off the face of the earth there, didn't I? You'll all be happy to know that I'm not dead, trapped under something heavy, or working out my stress in a room with padded walls. I was just in Baltimore last week for work, and between keeping on top of my work e-mail, personal e-mail, and bloglines, the writing of the blog entries? Just didn't happen.

However, there was running! I'd planned to run 4 of the 5 days I was there, and only made it out for 3, but those three days were fantastic. Mostly because by harnessing the power of the internets, I was able to get the skinny on places to run in the area where I was staying, which meant that I wasn't stuck with a week of hotel treadmill running (ugh). Instead, I got out and about and enjoyed the local scenery, which there was plenty of.

The first recommendation I got was to go run on the NCR trail, since I was only a few miles from the southern end of it. In that recommendation, they said that "unlike the rest of the area, it's flat." My ears immediately perked up at that, and I asked where I could run that would be Not Flat, since the idea of running over some topographically interesting terrain was almost more than my little stressed-out brain could handle.

When I arrived in Hunt Valley on Sunday night, I was armed with numerous places to check out, both flat and not flat. Monday morning was a run around the neighborhood where my hotel was - nice and rolling. Wednesday morning was a run over by the country club, and, wow. Just, wow.

I was running down a two-lane residential road, with all sort of hills and twists and turns and up and down and it was, to put it mildly, awesome. I finished my 5 miles and thought, "That's it? It's time to go home already?" I was pretty bummed out, and if I hadn't had to get back to the hotel so I could get showered and dressed for class, I might have stayed out there all day. You just don't get hilly tree-lined two-lane roads in Chicago.

I might have wondered how ridiculous it would be to move out there just so I could have hills to run on all the time.

Finally, on Thursday, I decided to hit the NCR trail figuring that taking it easy on flat ground would be a wise choice after Wednesday morning's hilly run. It was - the run was fine, but my legs were definitely feeling a little dead. The trail was nice, but nothing new or unusual - there are similar trails out in the suburbs here. It was a nice way to round out my week out there.

Now I'm back in Chicago, running on flat ground and city streets. It's fine, but I'm already missing the hills and trees.

Posted by Dawn at 08:41 AM | Comments (3)

June 01, 2006

Twitchy

No running all week, and I'm starting to get antsy. The main thing that kept me from running earlier this week was the continuation of sauna-like conditions. This morning, despite the perfect weather, I was just too tired to get out of bed at 5 to get a run in before work. My legs are itching, though. Itching to get out there and go.

Maybe tonight, if I'm not stuck at work too late (ha!). Definitely tomorrow morning. Definitely.

Posted by Dawn at 02:05 PM | Comments (3)