F^3 Half recap

The F^3 Half went OK.  Not great, not horrible – just OK.  Steve dropped me off at the race at 9:20 and I was able to keep warm by standing by the propane heater in the Ragnar tent (thanks Mattie!).  I wore pretty much what I thought I would: Craft Storm Tights, Icebreaker ¼ Zip, Icebreaker Gust Jacket, Brooks HVAC Gloves, Nike Pro Compression Bra, Smartwool socks, Brooks Pure Flow shoes and a fleece beanie that was a giveaway from some race. I was chilly before the race started but true to form I warmed up within the first mile.

I won’t bore you with a mile-by-mile race description since it was all on the lakefront path and if you’ve ever run on the path you know it just is what it is.  I guess if you aren’t from Chicago it would probably be much more exciting and that we residents take running towards a beautiful skyline along a lakefront for granted. Anyway, the first few miles were pretty rough – the path wasn’t cleared too well north of the start area so it was a little sloppy from the previous night’s snowfall and it was also pretty crowded.  In the post-race survey I suggested a wave start for next year – nothing crazy just maybe three starts: elites, people who can run 10 minute miles or better, and then the rest of the folks.  I finished in 2:03 and change which is better than I thought I would considering I had just run a half the weekend before.  It gives me hope that with some consistent training (and ahem… perhaps a little bit of dieting to shed a few pounds) maybe I can dip below the magic 2 hour mark again at the Green Bay half in May.  I’m also scheduled to run the El Paso half in February, but I think that may have some hills involved and it’s really too soon to get in many training runs to hope for better than 2 hours.

Other than the crowded start everything else seemed to be run really well.  The mile markers were accurate, there were plenty of water stations, there seemed to be enough bathrooms (for once I didn’t need to use a port-a-potty either before or after the race – I guess a 10am start time is perfect for me), there were plenty of snacks after the race, there was a cool cowbell medal, and the volunteers were perky and pleasant – what more could you ask for?

Thankfully no races this week.  I’ll be hitting the Fleet Feet fun run tonight, running a short loop with a friend tomorrow morning, Fleet Feet Chicks Night on Wednesday, a long loop on Friday morning and then a long run on Saturday – probably 8-miles or so.  Add in a few CorePower sculpt classes and the week is already filling up.

Naperville Running Co. and Ragnar meet-up

It’s always nice to check out a new running store and I got a chance to do that last night. I’m a fancy-pants Ragnar Ambassador which means that I spread the Ragnar love by dispersing info cards at running stores and gyms, holding info sessions where I can assure people that yes, they CAN do a Ragnar Relay, and generally making myself available to answer questions about Ragnar.  Our Uber-Ambassador Leslie was in town and wanted to meet with local ambassadors and the most convenient date/time for me to meet up was at the Naperville Running Co. group run last night. About 6 Ambassadors showed up and it was nice to get to meet them.  I felt a little bit behind everyone having only done the one Madison-Chicago Ragnar (there was one woman who brought a whole bag full of Ragnar medals from all the races she’s done), but having planned the whole race start to finish for a team of complete rookies and planned it well, I think I have a unique perspective to convince others that they can do a Ragnar too.

Naperville Running Co. was nice! Their selection of clothing leaned heavily towards the big brands like Nike and also logo branded t-shirts for the store.  I have to admit that I prefer the harder to find brands that Fleet Feet carries – if I wanted Nike I could go to a Sports Authority. I’m not so opposed to Nike that I didn’t but the cute printed capris that I saw earlier this month at a mini Nike Fashion show. I can’t wear them outside to run in until it warms up but they’ll be good for yoga and the gym.  The store also had a big selection of shoes and they must sell to local high school track teams because they had a ton of spikes and racing flats. There was a mini two-lane track around the shoe trying-on area that may have been just for show – I can’t imagine jogging around it to try out shoes.

Most of the group there for the fun run was doing 5 miles and I probably could have kept up but I wasn’t 100% sure and not knowing Naperville at all I didn’t want to get lost or have to whine and make the group slow down.  I found another Ambassador named Tia (?) who admitted to not being much of a cold weather runner so I joined her for a 3 mile jog.  Not much of a workout, but still adds to the weekly mileage total. I didn’t have any problem with the cold weather because I dressed perfectly.  My Craft Storm tights (best investment ever), an Icebreaker half zip baselayer, and the Icebreaker Gust Jacket on top. Can I tell you that even at $250 the Gust jacket is a good buy? I’ll admit that mine was comped from the Fleet Feet Fashion show but I would totally cough up the cash for this jacket.  Since it is Merino wool based it doesn’t retain stink and doesn’t need to be washed as much as regular jackets.  It also has an amazing combo of breathability and windproofing.  It’s got soft shell on the front to keep the wind away and the back is a stretchy Merino wool that is warm but also breathes to help keep your back from staying all sweaty.  Other jackets I’ve worn make me feel like I’m creating my own weather system inside the jacket (100% humidity) but in the Gust jacket I don’t even think about temperature and that’s the best of all worlds.  Icebreaker needs to send their rep out with jackets for run clubs to do test runs in because $250 seems like a huge initial outlay if you don’t have first-hand knowledge of how excellent the product is. This is probably the same outfit that I’ll choose for the lakefront half-marathon I’m doing this Saturday.  The temperature is supposed to be a high of 25 degrees, but on the lakefront there can be some nasty winds which will make it feel cooler – with the Craft and the Icebreaker I should be well covered but not too warm.

After the fun run we went out for a dinner on Ragnar (thanks!) at Flat Top Grill.  I always screw up my food at Flat Top – I pick out all the veggies that I like but they never seem to go together in the end product. At least they had someone to help me pick a cooking sauce because I never know which ones I might like. I had my stir fry moo shu-ed into pancakes and I think that may have been a tactical error – they were a little dry and could have used more sauce.  Sigh.  Someday I’ll get it right there.

It was nice to meet some of the other ambassadors – I’m hoping to hook up with some of them to do our required Info/Q&A sessions at local running stores since it’s easier to do these sorts of things with a partner.

That all for this week – with tomorrow’s half the mileage total for the week will be 26.6 and 101.60 for the first 4 weeks of 2013 – ahead of target for 1000 miles! Back next week with the review of the F^3 Half-Marathon.

48 Questions

I found one of thoses meme-y things on another site and stole it - questions and answers below. In other news I'm going to head the Fleet Feet-Lincoln Square for their Chicks Night run tonight - it's ugly sweater night and I have a mildly ugly Christmas fleece that I'm going to wear.  It's really, really cold so I'll post tomorrow about how my Craft Storm Tights hold up in the frigid temps.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Nope.  My dad claimed that he liked names with a lot of vowels.  The other choices were April (yuck. also wrong month.) or Georgia (I’d rather have had this because getting called Georgie is so cute).

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
I teared up at the end of Pitch Perfect because I have a knee-jerk reaction of crying at the end of movies where the underdog triumphs.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Not particularly. My husband has lovely architect block printing so I usually make him write things.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Hard salami – it’s my German roots.  Put it on some good seeded rye with a slice of Swiss cheese and I’m in heaven.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Nope, never, no way. 

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Maybe.  I can be kind of bossy and I’m terribly impatient.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
Yes, you could say that.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Tonsils yes, gallbladder no.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
I’d probably dither about it forever but if someone else went first (and lived) I’d go for it.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Since I don’t eat cold cereal (I hate milk), it would have to be oatmeal. Does that count?

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Yes. A clerk at a running store once told me that it ruins the shoes to just schlub them off without undoing the laces so I always make it a point.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
I do.  I make it a point to take strength training classes and I usually lift the most weight of any woman in the class.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Jenny’s Salty Caramel. Oh. My. God. So. Good.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Probably what they have on. Superficial? Probably, but what you wear does say something about you.

15. RED OR PINK?
Red – mostly because everyone says that it looks good on me.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
My lack of self-control. See 10# weight gain.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
I don’t want to get all maudlin, but my mom.  She died several years ago and I still find myself picking up the phone to ask her how to cook something and it kills me every time.

18. WHAT IS THE TECHNIQUE THAT YOU NEED TO WORK ON THE MOST?
Uh, I don’t know? I guess my running form.

19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Black. Geox loafer/pumps. Bo-ring but comfortable and I had to choose heels this morning or the hem of the pants I’m wearing would drag.

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
A mini turkey and cheese sandwich and a tiny salad with craisins, bleu cheese, and walnuts from the  You Pick 2 for $6 shelf at Whole Foods.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
The shitty radio station that my cubemate listens to.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Cornflower Blue.

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Sawdust – reminds me of my husband. Sandlewood – just smells great.

24. HOW IMPORTANT ARE YOUR POLITICAL VIEWS TO YOU?
Eh, not so much.

25. MOUNTAIN HIDEAWAY OR BEACH HOUSE?

Mountain hideaway.  Water tends to attract asswipes on loud jetskis and motorboats.

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Hockey – the only sport I truly understand. Australian Rules Football next – I don’t know jack shit about it but the guys are hot.

27. HAIR COLOR?
Is about to change in a couple of weeks. Right now it’s all my own real color which translates to dead field mouse brown so I’m going to have it punched up a little bit.

28. EYE COLOR?
Hazel/green.

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
No- glasses, but I’m considering Lasik.

30. FAVORITE FOOD?
A big plate of charcuterie and cheese with a crusty baguette. My mouth is watering right now.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Happy endings don’t give me nightmares for weeks.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Pitch Perfect on a plane with my sister-in-law.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Sigh – a black cabled turtleneck.  Again boring but I plead cold.  It’s only like 16 degrees out and I dressed to be warm.

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
I may bitch about the cold but at least I can bundle up to get warm. I can only take off so many layers before I get arrested.  Plus, no-one really wants to see that………

35. FAVORITE DESSERT?
My mother-in-law’s red velvet cake. She does this amazing frosting that isn’t the standard cream cheese frosting and it is to die for.

36. STRENGTH TRAINING OR CARDIO?
So tough.  I love a good weightlifting class, but nothing beats those runs where you feel like you could run forever.

37. COMPUTER OR TELEVISION?
TV – there’s some really good shows on these days.

38. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
A collection of David Rakoff essays – so funny!

39. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
A frank Lloyd Wright stained glass window.

40. FAVORITE SOUND?
A cat purring.

41. FAVORITE GENRE OF MUSIC?
Uh – indie? Alt rock? Whatever the kids are calling it these days.

42. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
I’m thinking it was Prague, but I’m pretty shitty at geography.

43. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Sadly no.

44. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Highland Park, Illinois.

45. WHERE ARE YOU LIVING NOW?
Chicago, Illinois

46. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR HOUSE?
Taupe? If I’d been around when the siding was chosen it would be a different story.

47. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR CAR?
Black – again boring, but I bought it used and didn’t have much choice.

48. DO YOU LIKE ANSWERING 48 QUESTIONS?
Sure – easy-peasy.

Zooma Amelia Island Women's Half-Marathon wrap-up

It’s not the most pleasant experience to go from balmy 70+ degrees in Florida to a snot-freezing 9 degrees in Chicago.  Remind me next year if I do the Zooma Women’s half to try to squeeze in a couple more days of bliss.

The trip down was fine – easy flight, nice rental car (Infinity G-something), easy check-in to the condo where we were staying.  We stopped at the Expo at the Ritz to pick up our bib #’s and packets – the expo didn’t have many vendors so almost no shopping for me – just two wide running headbands. Probably for the best since I don’t really need anything.

Post-expo the three of us headed to ‘downtown’ Fernandina Beach for dinner.  We chose Ciao so we could have a traditional Italian carbo load and it was completely slammed. I would have made reservations but they don’t take them for parties smaller than 8.  We wound up waiting about an hour and getting pretty cranky – luckily the food came out fast once we ordered.  I had a salad and the spring veggie fusilli with a couple of meatballs and it was delicious.  We headed right back to the condo to go to bed.  By this time the temperature had dropped quite a bit – probably to the mid 40’s – and the wind was howling.  I had trouble sleeping all night because I was in a corner room and I could hear the wind rattling the windows – plus there were the standard pre-race jitters.

Woke up at 5:35am and was lucky enough to ‘take care of business’ right away – if you know what I mean and if you’re a runner I think you do.  I had half a wheat bagel with low-fat crunchy peanut butter, a small glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee for breakfast and then we hit the road.  Since we weren’t staying at the Ritz we weren’t really supposed to park there – Zooma had a lot near downtown where we were supposed to park and walk to the start area.  After the race a shuttle would bring up back to the lot. I didn’t much care for this plan so I just drove to the Ritz and tipped the valet heavily – greasing the wheels usually gets you what you want. We took the shuttle from the Ritz to the start where it was pretty chilly. I was wearing exactly what I detailed in my last post plus a purple headband from the expo and a long-sleeved throwaway shirt from some race.  I decided at the last minute to gear check the long-sleeved shirt and tough it out in my tank top.  It was 50 degrees but the wind made it feel much colder.  I wasn’t too concerned because I know I warm up quickly but almost everyone else at the start was dressed like it was Alaska – I’d hate to see how southern runners would deal with Chicago winters.  The race started on time at 8am and here’s how the course broke down:

Mile 1 took us east through the tiny downtown and turned north to head out on a residential street. I felt OK and started to warm up around .75

Mile 2 went on a bridge over (I think) the Intercoastal Watereway – pretty much the only hill on the course and the only segment where we had to run into the wind

Miles 3-7 were in Fort Clinch State Park which was absolutely beautiful.  Lots of trees with Spanish moss, gentle curves, good wind and sun shielding.  I think by this time I was sort of in the middle of the pack and there were a few runners around me – I was able to pass a few ladies and I also got passed a few times. I felt pretty good here and was making up a bit of time, running about 9:00 miles or under.

Miles 7-12seemed like the longest straightaway ever. Coming out of Fort Clinch we headed south on Fletcher Ave. which runs just west of the ocean.  It was a nice view and there are some spectacular homes on the beach.  The wind had died down a bit by this point and what was left was a little tailwind – always a good thing. I was glad to be wearing a tank at this point because there was no shade and I was getting hot and sweaty.  I was doing great with my new iPod mix of crappy techno and remixed top 40 hits until about mile 11 when I started to feel a little blister on one of my left toes and the lack of double digit mile training started to catch up with me.  I knew if I started walking it would be all over so I just kept plugging away.

Mile 12-12.5 turned us slightly off Fletcher and towards the Ritz. I had managed to shift my left sock in my shoe so the blister wasn’t bothering me anymore and I was starting to get a tiny second wind.

Mile 12.5-13.1 I understand that it probably sounds great in the promotional material to say that you’ve got a beach finish, but in reality having to slog through 50 yards of soft sand to get to the packed sand kind of sucked.  I was really tired by this point and trying to pick up my feet and not get sand in my shoes was tough.  The packed sand was fine, but then we had to get back onto the soft sand for the last 75 yards to the finish chute.  Somewhere there’s a video of my finish but I’m never going to watch it – it’s got to be less than triumphant.  However, I did manage to finish in 2:01+.  This is both gratifying and irritating.  Gratifying in that I really didn’t train for this and the time was several minutes better than I expected.  Irritating in that if I had just picked it up a tiny bit – like seconds per mile – I could have finished under 2 hours. It bodes well for the other two destination halfs I have coming up: El Paso in February and Green Bay on May.  It does not bode so well for the F^3 half next weekend where I will probably need to crawl across the finish.

The rest of the weekend was spent getting massaged, eating fantastic seafood, shopping, napping and hanging around by the pool and beach. I did go for a 6 mile recovery run on Monday morning and I was so slow I was practically walking.

So that’s the wrap up – if you’re looking for a girl’s getaway weekend any of the Zooma races are a good bet – the Florida one was particularly nice because I was able to escape from the cold weather and get some sun.

Weekly run total for last week was 27 miles - 6 miles on Monday, 4 each on Tuesday and Wednesday and the half on Saturday.

What to wear.....

All packed for the Amelia Island Zooma Half-marathon.  It’s going to be in the low 60’s for the race and frankly, I’m not even sure what that feels like anymore.  I tend to get super-hot when I run so here’s what I packed to run in:

New pair of Athleta Hana 2-in-1 shorts – for longer, double-digit runs I prefer a short with a compression liner.  I got these during their recent sale and I’m not crazy about the color (purple) but they were cheap so I went with a purple theme.

REI house brand tank – also a sale purchase from this summer.  I know it fits well and breaths nicely – and it’s also purple. Or, since I just took delivery of a new Lululemon racer-length Sprint tank I could wear that – but it’s a shocking pink color which may clash badly.  I know it’s not a good idea to wear new anything for a race, but I have other Lulu Sprint tanks so I think it would be fine. Plus, I’m not a chaffer.

Nike Pro Compression sports bra – hands down my favorite bra.  I don’t care about lifting and separating – all I care about is not bouncing and if that means a mono-boob then so be it. There are on sale right now on the Nike website for $24 – down from $30 so it’s a good deal.

Balega Socks – love ‘em. I wear the no-show version.

SEP Compression calf sleeves – also in purple – natch.  I don’t need the compression – I just like the way they look and if it’s nippy out they provide a little extra warmth.

Brooks Pure Flow – 2012 model in wait for it……….purple!

So, basically I’m going to look like a grape.  I forgot to bring a hat so I may have to buy one.

Gotta get to O’Hare – wish me luck!

2013 - New Year, New Goals

New year, old blog.  I’m not really running faster (see: gaining a few pounds, aging a couple of years) but I do have new goals.  For 2013 I’m going to try to run 1000 miles.  For me it’s not too lofty a goal – in the first couple of weeks of the new year I’ve already managed to bank a few miles and I regularly run more than the 20 miles/week that I’d need to log to accomplish the 1000 mile goal.  More of what I’m hoping to accomplish is to use the 1000 mile goal to keep me running more consistently and to have the goal hanging over my head to get my ass out of bed on cold, rainy, humid, hot, or whatever other kind of days the Chicago weather gods see fit to throw my way that would normally have me rolling over and hitting the snooze button on my alarm clock. I figure if I hit the weekly group runs at Fleet Feet-Lincoln Square (Monday night co-ed fun run, Wednesday Chicks Night) I will get in 12 miles and then with a long run of 8+ miles on the weekend plus one or two shorter runs on weekday mornings I should be golden. In fact if all goes well I may even hit 1,250 miles which would be sweet!

Another goal (read: resolution) is to keep a runners log.  Not just to keep track of the miles, but also to log the weather, how I felt, and any other esoteric crud that comes up while I run.  Like for instance last night when I ran at the FF Fun Run I ran with Tiffany who is an excellent runner and I always push myself to try and keep up.  I was feeling great and managed a pretty good time (I think – need to start wearing my Garmin again to get times and accurate distances).  It was one of those nights that don’t make me question why I torture myself with running. It was a confidence booster too.  I’m still an idiot when it comes to signing up for races so I have two half-marathons in the next two weeks: a Zooma Women’s Half in Florida this weekend and the F^3 Lakefront Half the next.  I haven’t run 13.1 miles since my last half back in October.  Sigh. When will I learn? That would be never, as I am also captaining another Ragnar team this year.

I’ll bring in my lame little runners log tomorrow and transcribe what I’ve got so far – keeping track in two places is better than one and I can expound more here on the extras.  Like tonight I’m heading to CorePower to take one of their free bootcamp trial classes.  I took their 2-week bootcamp session last month and really enjoyed it.  I’m sure I’ll do it again sometime this year – maybe when Ragnar is done.  In the meantime I can get my little fix with their one-shot trial classes and I think I can go to alumni bootcamp classes when they hold them too.

Ok here’s the stats:

Week 1: 25-miles total (5, 6, 4 & 10) and three sculpt classes.

Week 2: 23-miles total (4, 6, 5, 8) two sculpt classes and a group power weightlifting class.

Week three is in progress, but so far so good.  I made it to the Monday & Wednesday Fleet Feet fun runs and I have the half this weekend so I should hit 28 miles.

Race review and some gear review coming up next week.