Running report from the road

I've had a few people ask me if I am still running now that we have been traveling for three weeks. The short answer is... of course I am. The longer answer is yes, but it's just not the same.

While we were in Bogota, I did not run at all. Because I was not used to the altitude, just walking around town was enough to make my extremities tingle. Also, the area we were staying was pretty dodgy, the sidewalks were practically falling apart, and the pollution made me want to gag. I know, excuses... but still. I decided to give myself a week or so completely off to settle in.

When we made it to Pasto, it was time. I had to get a run in or I was going to go literally insane. The area was once again a little sketchy, and Daniel was terrified that I would get lost. I wanted to go out for four miles, so I ended up doing about eight loops around the central plaza area. It wasn't exactly the nice easy run I had anticipated... it was more like my heart was beating out of my chest and I wished I had brought along an oxygen tank to maintain a 9:40 pace. When I stopped, my face looked like a tomato, my lips felt like they had pins and needles pricking them, I was sweating my guts out, but my legs felt like I hadn't done anything. It was an odd sensation.

Since then, I have run in each city that we've visited. To date, I have logged 45 miles in Pasto, Otavalo, Banos*, Canoa, and Puerto Lopez. I've been getting in just over twenty miles a week.

*In Banos, I ran out the highway to Puyo, Daniel waited a bit, then rented a Boogie to pick me up. I recommend it!

All in all, I would say my running has been pretty "meh". My mileage has drastically decreased from where it was before I started traveling, but I am making an effort to run at least every other day. I also am going to get back into the habit of a long run once a week, hopefully in the 10 mile range. I haven't been doing any speedwork, but have tackled some monster hills and put in some good efforts on the beach. I must say, I miss having the Prairie Path the run on and people to run with. So far, I have not seen ANY females running... so I've gotten my share of whistles and stares. I am hopeful that I will eventually meet some other travelers to run with, but for now, I'm on my own.

Illinois Marathon Race Recap

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The Illinois Marathon was held last Saturday on the U of I campus. It seems like forever ago that I decided to squeeze in a marathon as my final hurrah before quitting my job to travel the world. The weeks of training were over and it was time to tackle some unfinished business: breaking 4 hours. I describe myself as a recreational runner. I am not naturally talented, I am not extremely fast, I don't have the perfect body, and I don't log 100 mile weeks. That being said, I am very competitive against myself. The goal of breaking 4 hours has been hanging over my head for awhile now and it is time to put it to rest.

Leading up to race morning, I couldn't find my favorite shorts. The forecast called for rain (then heat, then cold, then wind). I started to doubt myself and if I really put in enough work. Taper madness set in. I felt sluggish. The brakes on my car started grinding. You get the idea... I wasn't feeling completely confident. I didn't even get excited about the race until the day before. Once race morning came, I got rid of the negative attitude and went into it feeling good. Daniel got his signature spectating sign ready and we drove to campus.

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At the start, it was in the high 40s, overcast, and windy. I found my running partner in the corral and we waited around until the gun went off. There was a wave start, with a 2 minute pause between releasing each corral. It worked out wonderfully and relieved a lot of congestion in the early miles and aid stations. "We are going to break 4 hours" was our mantra. I became the Pace Nazi. Nice and steady was the plan: no miles faster than 9:00 or slower than 9:15. We stayed in a nice pocket between the 3:55 and 4:00 pace groups. The spectators were fantastic, the course was nice and flat, and I felt great. The first half of the race flew by and I clocked in right on pace at 1:59:05.

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It started getting extremely windy and cold around mile 16 or so, but I managed to stay mostly on pace. I started reading spectator signs to distract myself. A few favorites were "Your training lasted longer than Kim Kardashian's marriage", a three person series of "Go harder.. Go faster.. That's what she said", "Official marathon shortcut maps: $1", and of course Daniel's "Worst. Parade. Ever." Around mile 18 I started to get excited, because it felt like I could actually make it in under 4 hours. At the 24 mile point, I got a burst of energy and took off. I made the turn into the stadium and hauled ass to the finish at the fifty yard line.

I crossed the finish line in 3:58:22. It is official: I am a sub-4 hour marathoner! My last two miles ended up being my fastest all day. I had a fantastic run and a great time. The race was extremely well organized, the volunteers and spectators were top notch, and I enjoyed the course. Daniel was able to see me at 4 different places along the course - he's basically a professional spectator at this point. He had a great time cheering; a runner even tossed him a jellybean in response to his worst parade sign! Marathon number three is checked off my list as a huge success. South America, here I come!

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March Madness Half Marathon

Sunday, I ran the march madness half marathon. I had never run it before, but a lot of people from my club were going (and we all know what happens when your friends jump off a bridge...) Registration was tricky. The race was capped at 1,000 and it was sold out within minutes of opening on new years eve at 6am. Daniel surprised me on the morning of the race and tagged along for the hour drive. Parking was a breeze and packet pickup was quick and easy. We meandered around for a bit, before meeting up with the club for a quick group shot.

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The only thing I knew ahead of time was that the race was popular, well run, and very hilly. I train on a prairie path (read: net elevation zero) and it was a hot day, so I was planning on using this as a tough training run and cruising into the finish in about 2 hours or so. We lined up (the race was not chip timed and didn't have pacers, so I seeded myself somewhere in the middle with a fellow GER), The gun fired, and we were off.

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We decided that our game plan would to run in the 8:40-8:45 range for the first 5 miles or so, then have some time in the bank to take the hills nice and slow since they were stacked in the back half of the course. This plan was thrown out the window almost immediately. We went through mile 1 in 8:03. "Oops, way too fast. Must. Slow. Down." Mile 2: 8:05. "Oh shit, we are going to be so screwed." We didn't settle into a slower pace until the hills picked up around mile 6.

Each hill had a cutesy name. There was the lung buster, sneaky hill, shoe tree hill, big hill, and the ever dreaded 10 mile (aka heartbreak) hill. For the first time ever, I was actually passing people up the hills. After making it past the 10 mile point feeling decent, I decided that I would PR instead of wiping out at the end. And I did!

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My official gun time was 1:51:49, which is nearly 4 minutes faster than my previous PR. Here are my garmin splits and elevation map for any other running geeks out there.

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