People Sure do Love a Good Story, but this will have to do

Sig Other and I got engaged on Halloween. We actually got the ring several hours earlier but had to wait until midnight to actually cast the spell. Actually, I choose Halloween because people always ask us when we met or how long we've been together and the answer is "we met at a fourth of July party on the actual 4th of July."  So the holiday theme holds, plus it's an easy way for me to remember.

Everyone wants to know the story behind my recent engagment. I should make something up because the truth is, while I can guarantee it wasn't the Worst Proposal in the History of Humankind, it won't go down as the most romantic or entertaining or anything. Because there really isn't a story, at least not in the traditional sense.

What people wanted to have happened:
While out running errands one Saturday, we stopped at a jewelry store under the pretense of getting her a silver watch for her birthday. While there, I suggested she look at rings and in the process determined her ring size.

We just happened upon a ring she really, really liked. In my best Polish, I told the jewelry to pretend that the ring wasn't available in her size but could be ordered and would come in few weeks.

Disappointed, we left the jewelry and walked up the street to Stanley's West A&G International Fresh Market store where we do the bulk of our shopping. I pretended that I left something in the car and told her I'd meet her at the deli. I went back to the jewelry and bought the ring she adored.

Later that evening, when we left to go to a Halloween Party, I made an excuse to go back upstairs while she waited in the car. I set the box on our dresser between two candles. When we got home, I made sure I got into our bedroom first to light them. She walked in and saw the box and knew what was coming.

What Really Happened:
People ask if I planned it this way or how long had I been planning to do it. Well let's back up a bit. For months I've been asking Sig Other to find out her ring size. She doesn't wear a lot of jewelry so I haven't been able to do the "sneak off with one of her rings-thing" to get the size.

Each week we'd talk about going to one of those there jewelry shops but it never quite happened because we only have so much time in our weekend to do the domestic tasks that are the reality of being in a relationship. Sidenote: Sig Other has a non traditional work schedule and attends school so her time is limited, especially the cross section of time that corresponds with Retail America.

I even enlisted the aid of her sisters and her mother to try and get the ring size. You'd think three female relations would be have a vested interest in getting their blood relative hitched, but alas, they too couldn't get it done. In all fairness, 2/3 of them live out of state and the one in Chicago just had baby#2 so she's a little preoccupied.

Eventually I realized that I had to take action. So as in the fantasy version, while on our way to do some grocery shopping at Stanley's West A&G International Fresh Market we stopped at a jewelry shop up the street.

The plan was to just get her ring size but while we were there it made sense to find out what she liked in a ring. We looked at a few traditional ones but nothing really grabbed her attention. So I showed the jeweler a picture of something I had in mind. I didn't want the diamond to be the center piece because almost everyone goes with the diamond engagement ring. Nothing wrong with that but I wanted something a little different, so I suggested a sapphire center piece with diamonds along the side. My Polish Peeps did not disappoint. They found one that she liked and we talked about how the matching wedding band can fit with the ring and all that stuff.

I did go back to the store while she was grocery shopping. And she did think I was simply ordering the ring, but because we had found a ring she liked that cost half of what I had budgeted, I grabbed it.

They put the ring in a box and then put the box in a pink gift bag, the kind that you see at baby showers and adult toy parties. I really didn't want to walk around carrying that so when I caught up to her at the grocery store, I asked Sig Other to put the bag in her purse for safe keeping. She immediately figured out what was in it and never gave me the bag back.

The Beginning of the End, or a New Beginning?

When I ran the Soldier Field 10 Miler in May, a lady at the massage table who was working on my leg suggested I might want to get an MRI.  I told her how my knee had locked up late in the run and she said she heard some clicking.  So with the Chicago Marathon and the Monster Half Marathon behind me, I finally got the MRI I've been putting off. 

I opted to get both knees scanned, even though the problem child has been my left knee.  My right knee is beginning to feel like my left knee did once upon a time when this all started.  My theory is that my body has been compensating for whatever is wrong with my left knee.  Turns out I might be on to something.

The guy who did my MRI -- I don't know if he is a doctor or a technician -- isn't allowed to give an official diagnosis.  But let's face it, he sees these day in and day out.  He asked me what I did for a living.  When I told him I work in IT, he asked if I ran marathons.  As in plural. Because we both knew that it would take more than one to do the type of damage that he is seeing and I'm feeling.

So this might be the end of my running days. But it could also be the beginning of another Runner Renaissance.  Maybe I get scoped and with some therapy, I run better than ever. Or maybe that's it.  Maybe my running career truly, finally comes to an end.

If that's what happens, then okay. If I must sit on the sidelines, then all right. Because I'll always have my Personal Bests.  My 1:33 half marathon, my 31 minute Shamrock Shuffle (8k) and my 3:30 marathon times.Those can never be taken away from me.

I was only supposed to run one marathon.  Get it off my Bucket List and then get on with my life.  But my ego made me go back and try again.  But I also made a lot of friends on the journey and that is the true victory.

It's Gonna be a Hot One

When the earliest Advanced Forecast for tomorrow's weather was available, it looked like it would be a rainy cold marathon.  As the days drew closer, the prediction changed and conditions seemed optimal, dare I say perfect.  A cool start would be rewarded with a nice high 50s afternoon when most runners would finish the 26.2 mile run.

But it was too good to be true.  Over the last week it seems the temperature forecast increased by 5 degrees daily.  Perfect running conditions have been supplanted by it's gonna be another hot one.  As late as Thursday I still believed that even if it were a warm day, a start time of 7:30 would make us lucky enough to miss the majority of the heat until at least the halfway point if not the 20 mile mark.

The Chicago Marathon of 2007 was ridiculously hot even before the gun even went off.  In 2008 the start was comfortable enough but the temperature climbed quickly.  These are both valid possibilities for tomorrow.

After the 20 mile run, I promised myself that I wouldn't, wouldn't, wouldn't go out too fast for this race.  No delusions of grandieur, no attempt at a BQ or PR.  I simply wanted to do what I did on the 20 miler: run at a consistent pace the entire time and not have my calves cramp up like they usually do. 

Conventional Runner Wisdom tells us to have several race goals.  I sent the following to my running group:

Quoting 9mm Group Leader Lisa O:

Set at least 4 goals:

1. This one is the pie in the sky. A time you'd like to make, or close to it. Make it something that if everything goes perfect, could happen.
2. This is what you will probably do, even if the weather and how you feel isn't great.
3. This is what you might do if it just isn't your day.
4. Finish the race. That's good enough. Remember, most people get winded running for the bus.

 My 4 goals are really just #4 in different wrapping paper. This is my first marathon since 2008 and I’m coming back from injury. So I tell myself that I will be okay with whatever I do and feel relatively good while doing it. Still, I’m hoping to make it under four hours and not have the wheels come off too early and end up walking half the course.

 

That's probably why I'm so calm right now even though in years past I would be jumping out of my skin with less than 18 hours to go before the gun goes off.  But I feel bad for many of my fellow runners who trained all summer and were heading into this taper thinking this might be the year! 

 

If I've learned anything over the last decade training for 20 marathons, it's that it's very hard to have a perfect season.  You want to run all your mileage, cross train, eat right and get plenty of rest, but most people are tempted by summer fun or challenged by work/life/family demands.  If you manage to get through an 18 week training program and meet those goals 80% of the time, you will do all right.  More than that and you should have a shot at a Personal Best.  But then something like the weather reminds us that we are not always in charge of our destiny and we have to make adjustments.

20 Mile Run: A New Hope

Two weeks ago I set out to do an 18 mile run with the option of adding two at the end. Unfortunately circumstances didn't work out that way. Luckily, I had the official 20 mile run to try again.

Circumstances beyond my control prevented me from participating in the official Ready to Run 20 Miler with CARA on Sunday and my group because of a wedding in Michigan.

Tangent: Before I signed up for the marathon, I asked the SigOther if we were making another trip to Michigan anytime in the fall. She wasn't sure and I counted back from the marathon and said "well this weekend is bad because it's our 20 mile run and I really need to be in town for that." 

Lo and behold one of her relatives was having her wedding that same weekend and we need to be there.

Fortunately, when you run for as long as I have, you meet so many runners and running groups that you can usually find someone to help you out. The ClockTower runners were meeting on Saturday and they have enough people atall pace groups tat I was able to find an 830 group. I wasn't sure how that would work out since I struggled running 18 miles with the 9s two weeks ago.

I was doing some of my speed work with the ClockTower Runners on Tuesday evenings but once the heat picked up, I found it easier to either run in the morning with Hugh or do it in my hood so that I still got home a little earlier.

We started off with about 10 people includeing Karl and his wife who were the group leaders. Karl was pushing a stroller with their 2 year old. Monica and Veronica -- the Hispanic sisters -- wanted to do 8:20s and Ms Karl talked about doing 22 miles. I wasn't sure what I was in for but If figured if this group could at least get me to the half way point, I could make it back on my own.

They only stop at the official water stations that Fleet Feet has set up. I had brought along a bottle of gatorade that i had picked up on the way to the meeting point because I didnt' know what the gatorade situation would be.

It wasn't long before our group spread out and apart with some who run faster than 830s takingoff. Ms Karl stayed with us so it was myself and a guy who works for Gatorade running with three ladies. I didn't catch names but one of them was a firsttime marathoner.

One of the amazing pheonomials of MT is a runner will have a terrible run one weekend. Then, a couple weeks later, they'll have another LR that is even longer than the terrible run yet have a great experience. So it was today.

Usually around mile 14, my calfs start to cramp up. That didn't happen this time. Not only that, but I actually had some juice in the tank. Not enough to do more mileage but on the last two miles I thought about kicking it up a bit to get it over with, but then I decided itwould be rude to leave the group that got me through 18 miles. Instead we stayed together and I successfully completed the most mileage I've run since the marathon of 2008.

Two weeks ago it took me 2:43:49 to complete 18 miles (9:06 average pace).  We finished the 20 miler in 2:52:17 which breaks down to a 8:37 average pace.  And while that doesn't guarantee anything on Race Day, it does give me some hope that I will do well on 10-10-10 if I stick to an 830 pace instead of trying to BQ.

I would say that is the lesson I've learned this season, from both my training and the last half marathon I ran. This isn't going to be the year I BQ or set a new PR and I have to accept that.

18 Mile Fiasco

Two weeks ago I set out to do an 18 mile run with the option of adding two extra miles at the end if I was feeling good. At least that was the plan. Unfortunately an alarm clock malfunction caused me to wake up late and not meet my group at the start of the run.
Evil Forces 1, Icarus 0.

I woke up at 6am, threw on my running clothes, and left from SigOther's place. Since we start at 6am and there are a few announcements, I figured I could meet them at the sleding hill at Soldier Field where we always stop for water. Unfortunately, my co-group leader decided to take the group north for the first time all season to Northerly Island in order to spread out the 20 mile distance.
Evil Forces 2, Icarus 0.

Not know this, I got to the water stop at about the time my group should have been there so I figured either our Site Leader had a lot of announcements or I just missed them. About 30 seconds later I saw a group coming. It was the 9s lead by my friend SHB. Someone in her group mentinoed that my group had gone north so i asked if i could run with them. Maybe going at a slower pace would allow me to complete 20 today.
Evil Forces 2, Icarus 1.

We ran south and it was uneventful for a while.  The weather was good for a LR and it seemed like I would be able to get 20 miles in after all.  Then I realized that SHB leading the novice group through 18 miles and would add 2 miles at the end.  However, her group had already run two miles before I met up with them, so that meant when we got back to basecamp, I would have only run 16 miles.  I could run two more with SHB and her intermediates, but I would have to do another two miles on my own.

Alas, I did not run those two extra miles on my own. By the end of the 16 I was already dragging.  I managed to do 2 more miles to make it an even 18 (technically 18.5 since I did run the half mile from SigOther's place to Soldier Field Sledding Hill) but couldn't do much more.  When I threw up gatorade, I figured it was time to call it quits.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Marathon Training

This part of the season is a mixed blessing. The Good is that with only four weeks left until the marathon, the end is in sight. For me it's easier to map out my running/workout schedule and make plans with friends after work.  The weather has also cooled enough so that running midday isn't very different from running in the morning or evening. 

The Bad is that  there isn't a wide latitude of room for improvement. Sure if I slack off now, I'll pay for it in October. And the upcoming 20 mile LR will solidify my endurance and running ability. But I'm not gonna suddenly move up a pace.  My 18 miler demonstrated that while it humbled me.  In the back of my mind, I always keep the idea of attempting a BQ (Boston Qualifying), but it doesn't look like this is going to be the year.

The Ugly is that this is the part of the season known as the Post-Labor Day Blues. That's because around this time you start to feel the urge to rebel. Giving up all your Friday nights so you can get up at the buttcrack of dawn in order to run your LR starts to get old. It's a little harder to get out of a comfortable bed, especially if Autumn Sleeping Weather has arrived.

Group Leader Confidential

Every summer thousands of people train for the Chicago Marathon and many of them join running clubs like CARA. I've been a group leader since 2003 and have trained for both fall and spring marathons, so I've led a lot of different groups of runners over the years.

Two of the biggest scandals we group leaders encounter are pushing the pace and too many water stops.  The pace groups are split in 30 second increments, e.g. 8:00, 8:30, 9:00, 9:30, etc. and the goal is to run the LR (Long Run) distance no more than 5 seconds off pace per mile.

As we go deeper into the season and the LRs increase, stopping for water becomes an issue. We're encouraged (or is it required) to stop approximately every two miles or so for a water break. CARA and Fleet Feet have set up gatorade stations along the lakefront as well. The issue is that stopping and waiting for everyone to get water takes time if your group is large and it's sometimes hard to start back up again, especially once the LRs get into double digits.

For years these two scandals were things I'd hear other group leaders talk about but really didn't experience first hand. I was leading an 8 minute per mile (8mm) group at the newly established downtown site and usually only had 2-3 runners at that pace. Between our egos and low numbers, it was pretty easy to get along. Water stops didn't take very long and pushing the pace was rarely an issue as we were already running as fast as we could.  Now that I'm a bit slower, I'm leading an 8:30 mm group and the griping has increased a bit.

One runner in particular was a problem child and let us know about it. She was complaining about pushing the pace, and running extra miles, and water being wet. Wanting to do my due diligence as a group leader, I dropped back and ran with her the following LR, listening to her gripes. Apparently we were guilty of pushing the pace for the first mile of our LRs over 30 seconds too fast. This winded her for the rest of the distance and "it wasn't enjoyable."

I seriously doubted we snuck in an 8 mm but even if we did, it shouldn't wind a person for the rest of the afternoon. I apologized that our pace might not always be on target but pointed out that our average pace was coming out to be around 8:35 each week, which meant we were actually running some of those miles slower. She didn't want to hear it. After talking with her for a while, I could tell we were not having a meeting of the minds. I spoke in English, she spoke in Total Disgust, a cacophonous dialect of F-You.

Problem Child opted to train at a different site for the rest of the season.  I hope that she found a group she can run with and a group leader who can hold pace better.  But something tells me she'd just find something else to complain about.