Team McAlister

…my name might be Gimpy.

A day after completing this ridiculous 20-mile run, I’m still a bit stiff and sore.  I’ve got some tightness in my left hip flexor, and my left ankle isn’t feeling too grand either.  Interestingly, both knees are fine, as is the right ankle, which earlier had been giving me trouble.

So, 20 miles.  We’re having this heat wave up here:  55 degrees on Saturday, 56 today, 63 tomorrow!  But yesterday there was a bit of a break in the warmth–it was about 35 degrees with a stiff south wind.  I set out at approximately 2:00 p.m., headed east to the lake, turned north for about three miles, then went back south.  I did this because there’s only one water fountain along the lakefront path that stays on through the winter, and I wanted to hit it about midway through the run to refill my water bottles.  Going south, I reached said fountain at about the eighth mile, and continued south to the Museum Campus, where I turned around and went home.  This divided up the run into four somewhat equal phases.  Map of the run here.

Phase One:  Home to Foster Avenue
Mild stiffness in the left ankle to begin the run.  A slight fear that I’m not wearing enough clothing.  I wear UnderArmor tights, running shorts, a long-sleeved microfiber shirt, running gloves, and my new technical fleece hat.  (This new hat is much, much warmer than the one I lost in Arkansas.)  Also my long-run socks and the new pair of shoes.  Running into the wind without an UnderArmor top, this ensemble is a little chilly.  Some mud on the path at the lakefront, but heading north, the path is mostly clear.  The south wind, at my back, makes this part of the run very easy.  Belmont Harbor is still frozen over, which makes it a little like an air conditioner.  Phases two through four after the jump. Continue Reading »

Tags: Chicago, clothing, equipment, gu, hydration, long run, running, Weather

Last weekend was abysmal.  There were weather issues, there were health issues, there were injury issues, there was all kinds of work-related busy-ness issues.  The long and short of it — short, really — is that I missed both my weekend runs, one of which was an 18-miler.  Now, given that I’ve got two 20-milers scheduled for the rest of this cycle, I’m not too worried about it.

This week was a “step-back” week, meaning the long run is shorter, as are some of the mid-week runs.  It’s meant to help the body catch up and recover in preparation for another push upward in mileage.  Considering that I missed 26 of the miles I was supposed to run last week, I was already kind of stepped back.  But nevertheless, I followed the plan–5 miles each Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, all on the Tropical Rainforest Treadmills in the University of Chicago Amazon Gymnasium.  Well, not really, but they do keep it hot in there.  And when you’ve gotten used to running in like 12 degree weather, 75 is really, really hot.

Yesterday I did an 8-mile pace run, actually beating my projected marathon pace (1:08:32, for an average pace of 8:36, 24 full seconds faster than I hope to run in the race).  It was “warm” outside — 34 degrees — and I used the balmy weather as a chance to practice my pace out of doors and to start to break in my new pair of running shoes, the ones I’ll be racing in in March.

Today I did 13 miles.  I was trying to keep it slow, because, you know, that’s what they tell you to do for the long runs.  I ended up averaging 9:19/mile, which is probably 20 seconds faster than I should have taken it.  But it felt like I was slogging along and would never get anywhere.  I’m tired and all, but I really felt like I could have pushed it harder.  Which is probably how I’m supposed to feel at the end of a relatively easy week.  Today’s run totaled 2:01:02.  Splits after the jump.

My first 20-miler of this cycle is in seven days.  Let’s hope my ankles make it.

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Tags: Chicago, equipment, health, long run, running, shoes

It was a beautiful day here in Chicago — clear skies, not too much wind, and a balmy 18 degrees.  After what seemed like a grueling 8 mile pace run yesterday, I overslept and didn’t get to start my long run today as early as I’d planned.  But when I finally hit the road about 2:00, the air was crisp, and all engines were go.

Surprisingly, most of the lakefront path has been cleared of snow, so the bulk of my run was really quite easy.  There was, of course, this one mile, from around Oak Street south to Navy Pier (see map), where Lake Michigan likes to vomit itself up onto the path — it was about 8 inches deep in snow and ice, and very difficult going.  When I passed Navy Pier (Mile 6), the big sign there told me it was 16 degrees.  Around the Museum Campus there was a poorly marked detour, because a bunch of the path is being rebuilt, and I got lost for a little bit.  Of course, I got lost again on my way back, and the map I attach I think only approximates what actually happened down around there.  When I hit Navy Pier again on the way back (Mile 12), the temperature was down to 11 degrees.

The last four miles or so, I was running into the wind, and it was starting to get dark.  I thought my face was going to freeze.  In my final mile, when I re-enter the city streets, I had a couple unfortunate run-ins with pedestrians, a few of whom were walking dogs.  After two and a half hours of running, one doesn’t want to break pace because others are mindlessly taking up the whole of a sidewalk, unaware of what is going on around them.  In any case, I dug in, gritted my teeth, and shuffled on home.  My total time:  2:43:02.  Split times after the jump.

Map of today’s run

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Tags: Chicago, Lake Michigan, long run, running, snow, Weather