Now I Remember Why I Hate The Treadmill

When I first started running I loved the treadmill, it was my friend.  It helped me gauge my speed, let me run regardless of the weather and it allowed me to watch Paula Deen on the Food Network!  However, over the last year I've started to run more and more outside and I've fallen in love with that.  I enjoy running along the lake watching the waves, looking at the beautiful downtown skyline and my favorite - people watching.

Today it was hot, ridiculously hot, and I came to the conclusion that if I was going to run outside in the insane heat on Tuesday, that on Monday I was going to make the treadmill my friend again.  I had to run 4 miles on the treadmill today and it was quite possibly the worst 4 miles of my life.  Not because it was a poor run, I actually felt good, but because I was absolutely bored the entire time!  I wasn't able to enjoy the run and take everything in.

Here's hoping that tomorrow goes well and I don't melt somewhere between North Avenue & Fullerton!

Halfway There!

Sorry for the delay in writing, it's amazing how summer can just get away from you!

The last few weeks have been absolutely crazy with my running patterns.  I've had some great runs and then I've had some really, really, really bad runs.  The worst had to have been a few weeks ago when the humidity finally hit Chicago.  I was supposed to do a 12 mile run and I was excited for it when I woke up, especially after the great 12 mile one I did the week before.  However, about 3 miles into the run, I realized that it was going to be a pretty bad one.  The temperature was only 87, but the heat index made it feel like 101 degrees - YIKES!  Needless to say, when I got to 6 miles I realized that I had nothing left in me and walked home the last 6 miles.  For those of you wondering, my sunburn was AMAZING after that.

The runs I've had since then have been fairly good and within the time frame that I would hope to be.  Yesterday I did 14, which is the most that I've ever run in my entire life and I'm happy to say that I ran the entire time, bring on the other 12.2!  The time was a little slower than I would have liked, but I need to take into account the distance I'm running and the weather elements as well.

One thing that I've realized while running is that I'm absolutely OVER my current running mix on my iPod, so I'm open to suggestions.  Let me know if you have anything that you recommend!

Here are some photos from my runs over the last three weeks.  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy!

I'll never be able to escape it

There was one thing that I could always guarantee after a nice round of golf during the summer, that I would always have a rocking farmer's tan after 18 holes.  There's nothing like finishing a round only to find out that I was burned from the bicep down, just a few inches above my knees and that there was a small "V" on my neckline compliments of my polo shirt.

Well, I learned after my 12 mile run on Saturday in the sun that farmer's tan don't just apply to golfers and farmers, but runners as well!  When I got home from my run I figured that I was just a little overheated from the run along the lake, in which there was NO wind/breeze, but more and more throughout the day I realized that I had actually gotten sunburned during my run.  And yes, it was a rather attractive shade of red once again from the biceps down, just above my knees and this time no "V", but a lovely red circle.  Next time I'll remember the sunscreen!

Now that I'm into my sixth week of training for the marathon, I'm happy to say that my speed is picking up a bit.  I've had two great long Saturday runs in a row and I'm hoping that my third this week (12 miles again) will be just as great.  For runs that are six miles and over, I'm running about 30 seconds faster than expected, so I might try to cool it down a bit.  I do have 20.2 more to run after all :)

There Should be Rules for Running Along the Lake Path

I don't think that I could have asked for a better day to run home from work on Tuesday - it wasn't too cold or too hot, the sun was out, there was minimal wind and I was able to get my speed up a little bit.  The only thing that could have made it a better running experience would be if people understood the rules of the path!  There's nothing more annoying while running than the group of five people that feel the need to walk all in a line versus two and two, what ticks me off even more is when they look at you like you've disrupted their in depth conversation of the latest episode of "Jersey Shore".  With the weather hopefully taking a turn for the better, I guess this will have to be something that I get used to...

I'm starting to learn the important of keeping with my running schedule.  After sticking to my schedule for a week again, I was able to have a pretty good run and finish with a great time for 6 miles.  Also, this past weekend I bought a bike to keep moving on my days off from running and to mix it up with the yoga I'll be starting soon to work on my stretching.

Also, a special THANK YOU! to Melissa Sue :)

Looking forward to the 11 mile run ahead of me on Saturday!

Running Along the Green Sea!

After the intense summer storm we had last night, it's easy to confuse Lake Michigan with another body of water.  On Sunday, I was able to run along the Michigan side of Lake Michigan and it was beautiful and serene, something out of a picture.  Today was the exact opposite!  The waves were crashing up against the walls and the greenish/brown color of the water definitely made for an enjoyable run, minus the wind coming in from the north.  I really enjoy running in the not-so-ideal weather elements, it allows me to focus and take in a view of the city and lake that I rarely get to see.

Regardless, it was nice to be outside and running again after taking a brief break for some fun in Michigan!

Hopefully I'll be able to get a run in the rain in soon :)

Is that Betty White Running?

I think the one thing I've learned from running this week was to never, EVER go for a 9 mile run following a bachleorette party.  The runs throughout the week were great, I was able to pick up my speed, but with all the lovely weather we've had this past weekend I had to bump my long run from Saturday to Sunday.  I was able to keep a consistent time for the first 8 miles, but I'm pretty sure that Betty White ran faster than me during the last mile.  My running during the last mile could have easily been confused with power walking, but I'm ok with that.

Oh well, on to week 4!

Slowly Getting into a Groove

I started off my second week of training fairly strong.  Got the majority of my runs completed outside with the few days of beautiful weather we had in the city and then the weekend came...  Unfortunately I wasn't able to get in my long run of 9 miles on Saturday, but I've built in a few extras weeks into my training program to accommodate the few busy weeks that I have during the summer to use them as "cushion" runs.  However, I now have the pleasure of running them THIS Saturday, yay....

I've started to use my short runs as a time to build up my speed and see just how fast I can run.  Today I tried that and I was able to run a full 50 seconds faster than I normally run a mile!  I've gotten into a habit of knowing what I can consistently run 13.1 miles in, that I've stuck with the same pace.  While my main goal is to just finish the marathon, I'd like to do it in a decent time.  So hopefully I'll be able to pick up the speed over the next few months.

Thanks again to everyone for their words or encouragement and support.  You guys are the best!

Katelyn