first song on my shuffle: "stickshifts and safetybelts" cake
ran 6 miles today. saw lots of happy people on the roads, which makes an hour of running a lot more enjoyable.
but more important, sb just finished his very first marathon! he ran the gasparilla distance classic in tampa today and kicked some serious ass. so proud. like i said, i <3 runners. how can you not dig someone who has never run before and in the same year he starts running, he takes on the huge commitment of training for and completing a marathon? i love being friends with these types of people.
first song on my shuffle: "crazy in love" beyonce ft. jay-z
great run. it was sunny and windy, but it felt great to be outside again. i was running south on the lakeshore path and looked at the sun on the lake and the buildings ahead of me, and i remembered the first time i ever ran in chicago. it was about 2 or 3 months after i moved here, and i immediately fell in love. all i ever wanted to do was move to a city and be on my own. it's pretty cool when you realize you've actually accomplished something you wanted to do when you were 13.
ok, so i didn't run those 3.5 miles i was supposed to yesterday. instead, i spent the evening having some drinks and eating with friends -- but dammit we had good reason. we had to send off sb the right way for his very first marathon. so exciting. more on that sunday...
went to the gym with jc tonight. decided to ride the bike today instead of running because my calves and shins were feeling rough. lifted legs today too and did the 350-ab workout.
jc keeps telling me my calves are huge and asked if i was going to stop making them so big. i'm not intentionally making them big. the more i run, the more muscular they become. besides, i don't think they're that big, but i guess everyone has an opinion of what's attractive. i figure, i plan on ending up with a fellow runner and that person will appreciate the massive "i clearly run on my toes" calves. hott.
first song on my shuffle: "the new workout plan" - kanye west
ran 4 miles during lunch yesterday. it was a gorgeous day - the sun was out in full force, and it was warmer than it has been in a while. according to my watch, i ran a whole hell of a lot faster than expected. i'm still having a hard time believing i actually went 4 miles that quickly. hell, at this point, who cares? it felt so great to be running outside. i can't wait until it gets warm.
it helps when you can look at the lake and the buildings and have other runners smile and say hi. ohhh, i love runners.
first song on my shuffle: "'03 bonnie & clyde" jay-z ft. beyonce
i ran 5.5 miles today, and it felt great. but that's not really what i want to talk about in this post.
one of my good buddies from college just ran like an f'ing stud at the 2006 usa cross country championships. he ran in the open men's 12k race and beat guys he never did when he ran cross and track in college. this kid is STEEL. his race pace was sub-5 minutes per mile. ouch. apparently espn2 will be broadcasting the race at 11 p.m. CT tonight. looks like it's going to be a late night.
first song on my shuffle: "ants marching" - dave matthew's band
well, last night went to crap just like the days before it. after drinking a very large martini and two 16 ounce hurricanes and then eating more mcdonald's than i care to admit, i was not in any state to run. but damn, it was fun.
however, you know you drank too much the night before when you are about 3 miles into your 4 miler and all you can taste is liquor. gross. luckily, the run felt awesome today. my feet hurt like hell now (probably because i haven't really been on them at all since sunday), but it was worth it. afterwards i lifted for about 45 minutes - upper body.
i got an e-mail today about the bands that will be playing at the shamrock shuffle. it's only 6 weeks away. i can't have another week like this.
yeah, yeah. i know it's not anybody else's fault but my own that i haven't run since sunday. i'm throwing this week in the garbage. if i run tomorrow, saturday and sunday, it will be an f'ing miracle.
i hate valentine's day. therefore, all i did tonight was eat fried chicken and drink beer. i'm sure i'll look back on this post and wish i had run the 3 miles i was supposed to run today...but you know what? right now, i'm pretty content with the decision.
tomorrow: cross training (only because i have to work really late...)
taking a cue from my blogtastic buddy, kb, i guess i'll start logging what the first song on my shuffle is for each run...
first song on my shuffle today: "uptight (everything's alright)" - stevie wonder
so there are few things in my life that i'm 100% sure of...the fact that i HATE treadmills is definitely one of the few.
channel 5 said it was 27 degrees when i woke up this morning. after yesterday's run in the wind and cold, i decided i'd try the 5 miles indoors. i made it 30 minutes on a treadmill before realizing that i'd rather chop off my foot and throw it at the girl in front of me than run another 2 miles on the damned thing. i ran the last 2 miles on the indoor track (21:17 just to make sure i got in 5 miles). felt pretty shitty up until the last mile. go figure.
i guess that was technically my very first "long run" of the winter season. now, i just have to make sure it's not my last.
the short-term goal: finish an 8k race in under 50 minutes. the longest training run i've ever done is 10 miles, but i've only ever raced 5ks. i registered for the shamrock shuffle 8k (april 2 - chicago).
weather.com said it was 32 degrees today, but i definitely didn't check the windchill before i left (which is highly important in the windy city). running south was ok, but coming back up north was awful. it was so windy that my eyes were watering and my legs were numb. my watch read 36:42 when i got back to my place. i sure as hell hope that was 3.5 miles, but it's hard to say with how bad the wind was.
as terrible as the conditions were, i felt pretty great afterwards - accomplished, i guess you could say. did 100 crunches and 30 push ups, took a shower and then gorged at an all-you-can-eat comfort food buffet. bad idea? probably. worth it? absolutely. i'm going to take advantage of my crazy metabolism for as long as possible.
i am: a sprinter by nature. an average-below average distance runner. hard on myself for being an average-below average runner.
i love: running. but more than that, i love runners. they're the best people in the world.
the truth: while i love running, i tend to get lazy in the winter. that's where this blog comes into play. it'll be the way i hold myself accountable and a way to remember the best, the average and the worst days - nonetheless, all memories i want to have.
first song on my shuffle: "stickshifts and safetybelts" cake
