Fridays at the Glen

Charming name. Tough workout. Matt and I tried the first installment of Friday hill training for 2008: a tempo run at WFG.

Today's was hopefully quite leisurely when viewed in September's rear view, but it was start.

Bosco probably had the best performance of the three.

My preliminary summer routine follows:

Sun - Long run
Mon - Tempo
Tue - Recovery
Wed - Speed / tempo
Thu - Recovery
Fri - Tempo
Sat - Recovery

countdown

Its making me nervous to see that count down clock now that i cant run... drat!

5K PR?

I was working for Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan in January of 1997.  It was a Saturday morning when my pager went off.  When I returned the page to the Attorney General's home telephone number, I was advised that Jim and his wife Marie discovered their 12 year old daughter Annie had passed away in her sleep from an undetected brain tumor.  Annie was the youngest of their six children.  

At the time Jim Ryan himself was battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma and was deep into an intensive chemotherapy regimen that was doing its best to destroy his body.  With the loss of Annie he could have easily had his spirit destroyed as well.  He didn't though.  He survived his cancer and a second bout a few years later and he and his wife and their family have honored Annie's life every day since her passing with their tireless efforts on behalf of others.  

Earlier this year Jim and Marie lost another of their children, their youngest son Patrick. Despite the pain of another unexplained loss, they continue to move forward with their efforts to raise money for causes which honor the memory of both Annie and Patrick.

One such effort is the Annie Run.  This May 18th  will be the 9th Annual running of this 5K race. Proceeds from this event benefit the Midwest Children's Brain Tumor Center at Lutheran General Hospital.  The event is held in Elmhurst, Illinois along the Prairie Path and is flat and fast.  Good place to post a 5K PR while benefiting a great cause.   Please come run, bring friends and get a new 5K PR.

Here's the website for more info:  http://annierun.com

Alternative to Soldier Field 10

The Elgin Valley Fox Trot is held every Memorial Day (May 26th this year).  It's a great alternative to the Soldier Field 10.  There are a couple of challenging hills and a great homestretch for fast finishes.  It beats the hell out of trying to navigate around people on the lakefront path.  It's not a great course for a PR at this distance -- but the added benefit of this race is the all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast immediately following the race.  Well worth the travel.

No online registration for this race.  They do it the old fashioned way.  Application is on the City of Elgin website:   www.cityofelgin.org

Ravenswood Run Report: 2 PRs and a PW

The Ravenswood 5K was on Sunday. I was really worried about DNF'ing, so I set a low pace bar (7 minute miles) trying to account for my 180 pounds and lack of running. Luckily, I hung on for dear life to sneak under 21 minutes. All that effort for a PW. It could have been worse though. I was just happy not to have a 5K DNF on my permanent record.

Congratulations to Josh and Matt who both ran 5K PRs!

72  11  67 Joshua Rich    18:22  5:55   18:27
98  15  86 Matthew Gibson 18:51  6:04   18:56

The Magic Pants

Ed's secret weapon on race day:  Kevin Brock's magic blue pants

My Secret Training in Lubbock

Some of you asked what I was doing in Lubbock a month before the marathon... I decided to disclose my secret training methods...

BAD FORM

I think this photo says a lot about my lousy form on Monday... I need to work on this for the next Marathon.

Boston Reunion

It's been six marathon registrations, three DNFs and two years since I had completed a marathon. There have been many moments in the past two years where I've questioned whether I had already completed my last marathon.  Well, yesterday I actually managed to stay on the course for the full distance and though I didn't set any records (personal or otherwise) it felt good to extricate that large, burdensome monkey from my back.

Monday was a great day for racing.  Sunshine, smiles and promise filled the crisp air of Hopkinton well before Joan Benoit-Samuelson fired the starter's pistol.  Though the least important marathoner in the crowd (Lance) garnered the most attention -- the focus of the crowd remained on the anonymous travelers that came from far and wide to run this beautiful, historic course.  

As the gun fired and I stopped and started and stopped and started my way across the first chip mat I was reminded of why I love to run marathons and why I especially love to run Boston.  It washed over me and consumed me through the early miles.  

I slapped the hands of the kids, engaged the willing crowd, chatted up my fellow runners and thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this magnificent event.  

The plan was to get to the halfway point in a position to post a respectable time and hope that I had the guts in the second half to pull out a good race.  As frequently happens at Boston (or virtually any marathon for that matter), the race didn't go exactly as planned.

I did get to the half at a respectable time (1:33 - which incidentally is the fastest half-marathon I've run in the past two years!) but then little by little fell apart more and more over the second half... and it was great.  I loved every minute of it.  

It was painful.  I was passed by a guy in a boy scout uniform, a fairy (a statement on his costume not sexual preference) in a pink singlet, pink running shoes and a pink too-too carrying a magic wand as well as a dude wearing a complete Paul Pierce Celtics uniform complete with high-tops and an afro wig. (Though I did catch and pass him on Boylston -- and that's the "Truth" (Paul Pierce's nickname for those of you that don't follow the Celts) baby.) That was part of the experience.  

The rolling and unrelenting hills on the course are honest.  They are always there and they are always the same.  Same goes for the crowd support.  My success or lack of it on this course has depended solely on what version of myself I've brought to the start line in each of my 5 Bostons.

I've run Chicago well on relatively poor training... same for Vegas and RNRAZ.  Not this one.  It punishes slackers... and though I took my lumps on Monday, I loved it.  

Congrats to Ed and Chris on their well-earned PRs.  Impressive and inspiring work.

Thanks for your encouragement as I've struggled to get to the start line over the past couple years.  Monday was a great reunion. I'm glad to be back.

RECAP

Well, I did not quite get the 2:37 I wanted but I will settle for the 2:41. All in all a 2 min PR and a 5 min PR from last years Boston... although I still think I could have done much better under a different set of circumstances. I will take it for now though.

The new goal? 2:30 (or 2:29:59) for Chi-town in October...

Training starts soon, stay tuned.