120. The Secret Garden

It's always fun to run in a new place.  You see the world differently when you're running than when you're walking or driving to a particular destination.  I have fantasies of running some of the best American landscapes at different times of day, á la Forrest Gump.  The mountains and the desert in particular are calling my name.  For now, it's mostly me, the lake, and the skyline. 

But last month while I was on vacation with my family I got to explore some new terrain.  I was running along the main commercial street to and from the resort where we were staying when I passed this thing off the side of the road.  I hadn't noticed it the first two days, but on this day it caught my eye and I decided to check it out.

Once I got up the first set of steps, it got pretty interesting.  You can't see it in the picture, but from here I could see a statue in the middle of the structure, facing away from the street.  I still don't know what this place is, but I figured it was some kind of awesome public garden.

It turned out to be a statue of a woman.  I assumed it was the Virgin Mary, can't say for sure.  I was a little disappointed that the area inside the structure wasn't kept better.  I thought if it had been tailored in some really precise way it could make for a pretty hallowed experience.

This was the view off behind the statue.  I didn't realize I was so close to the water when I was running, but I headed down the stairs to see what I could see.  There was a simple fence at the bottom that didn't open out onto the bay.  I supposed I coulda hopped it, but I wasn't up for that.  There's a little alter/gazebo at the bottom of the steps in the middle of the picture.   Imagined that it would be a lovely place to get married, if someone were into that kinda thing.

This is the view from the top of the stairs, looking back across the street.  The garden continued on the other side of the road.  I could see fountains and pools of water off in the distance.  It really was lovely.  I'm not sure if the land belonged to one of the resorts, or if it was public space. Either way... good stuff.

 

102. Five the Hard Way

As a runner who doesn't (always) run, I've learned that the most important thing to do after a long hiatus is just to get back at it.  Don't think too much about it, just run.

So after this latest 2-month break, I headed back out for my daily 5-miler on Monday.  It was not an easy run.  I struggled from start to finish.  But I finished.  I didn't time myself and never really got above warm-up pace.  But I finished.

Tuesday I went for a repeat.  Same plan.  5 miles at warm-up pace.  I figure as long as I finish I'll have had a great workout and I'll be well on my way back to running shape, flat stomach and all.  Didn't quite work out that way.

I finished.  But damn.  I have never physically struggled so hard at anything in my life.  For the last mile I was barely "running" at all.  And in the last half mile I physically could not lift my feet off the ground.  It was like I had 20-pound plates on the bottom of my shoes.  I was doing some kinda heavy, lumbering power-walk, only not getting anywhere nearly as fast as if I had actually been power-walking.

When I got back I calculated my time/pace.  One hour, fifteen minutes.  I had averaged 15-minute miles.  My goodness.  In all likelihood the first mile was 13 minutes and the last one was dang near 20.  This is coming off my triumphant 9:30s from a few months ago.  What in the world happened???

Did I try to do too much too soon?  Maybe.  I think I'm gonna cut back to 3-milers for a while and see if I can't get my pace up.  Then we'll work the distance back up, and eventually add those 7-milers we've been eyeing on Saturdays.

In the meantime... New Running Rule:  At least one full run per week, no matter what.  Just to keep my legs from forgetting.  Sheesh.

97. How Do I Love Running?

Let me count the ways:

* I love that after getting it in for 5 miles I can go the rest of a 90-degree day without a drop of sweat.

* I love that I need to eat. A lot.

* I love that I can finally run without an mp3 player. Silence is an awesome soundtrack.

* I love that it's the one thing I would choose over ice cream (sleep and sex don't count).

* I love that I'm tanned 6 months a year.

* I love that it's a strict, unspoken No-Holler zone (at least for other runners. Casual bystanders haven't gotten the memo.)

* I love that nothing is as bad after a run as it was before.

* I love that running is never not a good idea.

* I love that I'm faster than I thought I was.

17. Either Miles Are Shorter on the North Side...

... or I am killing my 10-minute mile time. Of the 3 marked miles on the North Side path, we got a 9:32, a 9:53, and a 9:48. The idea that I ran an "easy" 9:32 (in the middle of a 5-mile run) is pretty hard to process. I mean, I know that "fit" chics routinely run 8:30s or better, but a) I'm not a fit chic, and b) breaking 50:00 really was the highest running goal I had set for myself.

So what to do now? Shoot for 9:30s? 9:00s? Decisions, decisions.

Speaking of the North Side, there's nothing like a change of scenery to get your energy up. I don't love running with 300 other people, but the view... I could definitely fall in love with the view.

14. Where am I???

The bane of my existence is missing mile-markers. I run on a 16-mile bike/run path along Lake Michigan. Generally speaking, there are markers for each half mile. So one of the ways I get through runs is to set mini-targets and hit them along the way. Mile 1... done. Mile 2... done. After hitting each target, I reset for the next, having used up all the mental energy I allocated for that one split.

So few things annoy me more than looking for that mile marker at the end of a lap ("I'm almost done... almost there...") and not seeing it. Because it isn't there. Of course, 12 or 13 minutes into what's supposed to be an 11-minute mile, I generally figure it out. But stopping in the middle of nowhere is not nearly as satisfying as seeing the marker come up and crossing it. I always curse the city parks system just a little bit when that happens (... "Where's my mile marker?!?!?")

Anyway, for the two miles that were correctly marked, I came in at a totally respectable 10:35 (second mile) and 10:19 (fourth mile).

It's quite possible I set my goal too low. If I can run 10:30s now (and I'm not in very good shape), maybe I should be shooting for 9:30s (the miles that killed me this week). We'll see how I feel at the end of the summer.

Today's running project: New shoes. My knees are asking for them.

12. Gone With The Wind

#5 on the list of things I'll be writing about a lot: Running. Seven years into our relationship I've finally decided to get serious. Five miles a day, five days a week, til death do us part.

When I made this resolution it was 15 degrees in Chicago. No worries. Nike makes magical cold weather running clothes. And it just so happens that I drive past a Nike Factory Store every day on my way home from school. So me and my spiffy new gear have been getting it in since January.

Today I decided to time myself. The (long-term) goal has always been 5 miles in 50 minutes. I ran 10:00s Tuesday and dang near died. So today I shot for easy 11:00s. First mile (the warm-up mile) came in at 10:04. Wowness. Second mile... 10:54. Not bad. Third mile... 10:35. I am killing these miles.

So at this point I'm wondering why it is exactly I'm breezing through 10s today when the same run was murdering me 48 hours ago. Maybe my form sucks, and all that extra energy I was expending two days ago wasn't actually making me any faster. Or maybe I'm solar-powered =), and the fact that it was 78 degrees and sunny in Chicago today made my legs super efficient.

Or maybe... the fact that I set out with the wind at my back today meant that banging out 10s was no problem, while running into the wind on Tuesday made it dang near impossible. This made me think of that Affirmative Action analogy about the runner who's so used to having the wind on his side that he doesn't even notice. But let it start blowing for someone else...

Of course, this post is about running, not Affirmative Action. So I'll end on that note. Tomorrow's goal: 5 miles, 55 minutes.

9. The Windy, Watery, Wonderful City

About halfway through my run this evening (Good decision #2), I took a break and stepped off the run path to catch my breath. Wandering across the grass toward the lake, I stumbled on what I've adopted as my own private little cove.

After my family, Lake Michigan is a big part of the reason I plan to live the better part of my life in Chicago.