Nutrition & Training Plans

Lately nutrition has been a big topic on a lot of blogs I read. Chuckie V really drilled it into the ground a couple weeks ago, and The Everyday Athlete had a great series of posts recently. The main emphasis? Eat simple.

Avoid foods with huge ingredient lists. Your body has to process that crap. Generally, if you can't pronounce it, don't eat it. In other words: If it can't come out of your mouth, don't put it in your mouth! Chuck has been on a rather extreme (but convincing) caveman bit recently. The idea is to eat the foods that we evolved on. It's more extreme than a lot of people would go, but sadly it does make sense. Heidi had a great list of Ten Super Foods recently. Her list is simple too, foods like: cottage cheese, apples, fish, eggs, almonds. Simple foods.

Recently I've been trying to revamp the way I eat once again. I'm taking it in steps, though, otherwise I have a feeling I wouldn't stick with it. Every week, a few new foods to add to the mix. This week I added eggs, almonds, raisins, and tuna. So far, I'm enjoying the variety. More filling food for breakfast and healthier snack choices -- its so incredibly easy to grab a handful of almonds on the way out the door!

I'm not sure what I'll add next week, but I'm open to suggestions and will be trying at least one or two new foods. What healthy foods can't you live without?


On a completely different note, I've decided to make some changes to my training plans this year. Remember the goal for a 1:20 half marathon in May? I'm throwing that out the window. It isn't that I don't think its possible, I do, but I don't think its smart. Going for such a fast time so soon would be absolutely begging for injury. I need to keep building my base. I can't be stupid.

The result for my training? I'm getting rid of my ultra-fast tempo runs. Faster runs are staying on my agenda, just none of the six minute pace stuff. I'm going to back it off a bit and train below my lactic threshold for a while; the goal is to keep my HR under 175 on my hard runs. Once I no longer see any benefit from this, I'll start working in faster stuff. For now, though, I'm noticeably improving every single week, so why risk the injury? My major races are ages away!

My race schedule is getting altered a little bit as a result. I'm only going to run one of the half marathons (St. Louis, April 6th) and then focus on triathlons through July. In June I will have my tri for TNT, then in July I'm strongly considering the Half Ironman in Racine, WI. After I survive that, its back to a focus on running to Hammer. Like. Hell. At. Chicago.

Two major peaks for the year: the Half IM and Chicago. Everything else I'm mostly going to train straight through.

Sound like a game plan? I think so!

Registered!

Yep. I'm a dork. I stayed up to register for the Chicago Marathon.

But here's what counts:

Congratulations! You are entered to run in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday, October 12, 2008.

Three hours or bust.

It's Contagious

Several months ago I posted about getting other people hooked on running. Its a hobby of mine. There's just something about getting other people to think "wow... you know, I think I could run a marathon! Me!"

Today I was talking with my friend Lewis, who was kind enough to let me stay at his place before the Chicago Marathon last year. The one who unexpectedly got hooked on running just by watching the race. He mentioned today he ran two miles in less than 20 minutes, so I started joking with him a little bit ago, our conversation went something like this:

Doug: So.. you know registration for Chicago opens in a week, right?
Lewis: Haha, I hope you're not suggesting that I register. Unless they allow 6 hour finishes!
D: Actually, uh, they do.
L: ..What's it cost?
D: A lot. $110
L: Oh geez

...

D: If you finish, I'll pay half.
L: You don't have to do that. I don't think I could do it anyways.

I was dead serious with my offer, even though I knew him well enough that he wouldn't take it (whats $55 to 'give' running to a friend?). But it is exactly what I needed to do to show him how serious I was. He caught the drift. I convinced him otherwise.

We talked about training. I sent him a link to the NOVA Marathon series. I convinced him just how much can be accomplished in 9 months. Then it happened: "man, that'd be so cool if I could do it. What would I have to be running a month before the race?"

So I told him if he is running 15-25 miles per week by June 1st, he'll be right on schedule to pick up Hal Higdon's marathon plan, which I used to get through my first marathon.

He's going to do it. He just doesn't know it yet. I'm pumped.

I wonder who my victim will be next time. I'll have to start taking names.

Unscheduled Rest Day

This morning I woke up at 9am with every intent of getting some errands taking care of, running, and heading back to Kentucky. Well, I was pooped. Again.

I got up for a little bit, packed for 30 minutes or so, then went back to bed until 11:30. I'm calling this over training from my really sharp increase in working on this past week or so, and decided just to take today completely off. I still got my errands and packing done, but working out definitely didn't happen at all.

Tomorrow I'm heading back to Kentucky, no matter what. I gotta get back there so I can get my stuff in order before this next semester starts.

I've been looking at my tentative race schedule for 2008, too. I want to do a few half marathons, few sprint triathlons, one marathon, and a half ironman if things all go my way. As always, some spontaneous 5k's will probably appear as long as I stay injury free. Here's the races I'm considering.

02/09/08 - 9 on the 9th - Theres no way I can pass this one up!

04/06/08 - Spirit of St. Louis Half Marathon - Some friends are wanting to run this one, so I'm thinking about heading there to see old friends and tear up the pavement.

04/19/08 - River to River Relay - This was the most fun race I did last year, so I gotta do it again. 8 runners, 80 miles, going mostly non-stop from sunrise to sunset. Its a great way to meet great runners.

05/04/08 - Flying Pig Half Marathon - Everybody is telling me great things about this half marathon. Also, they have a "Pump N' Run" event that looks fun; check it out!

07/20/08 - Spirit of Racine Half Ironman - If I do a half IM, I want it to be late in the summer so I have time to train, but I don't want it to interfere with school. I also want time to do specific training for Chicago. This race just meets those requirements and is fairly close to where I live.

08/10/08 - Greater Cleveland Half Ironman - Same as above, mostly mentioning them due to their logistics.

10/12/08 - Chicago Marathon - I have a bone to pick with this race. I got jipped time-wise last year, and I'm going back to show what I'm made of. Who's with me?!


I'm sure some other races will come up, and some of these will fade away, but I gotta start somewhere and have something to work towards!

Who's ready for a great '08?

D-O-N-E

Thats right. The semester is over. Completely. Holy crap!

Grading, check
Finals, check
Sanity, check

Now I just need to wait for grades to come in. Oh the waiting!


I made it out for a run this morning, but I feel like going out again. Its how I like to wrap up every semester. I ran 15 miles right after graduating college; it was great! I guess I kind of blew it by running this morning, huh? Oh well. I'm not gonna go out again, can't risk the hip! I'll get business taken care of at the pool tonight; my ankle better behave itself or we're gonna have some SERIOUS problems! It never hurts when I run, though, so I'm not complaining too loudly.

The hip is holding up nicely. I made it out for about 3.5 miles this morning to shake the cob webs loose before my final final. I've adopted a strategy this semester that has worked pretty well for me. None of that sleep deprived, studying till the last minute crap that everybody else does. I've been getting a solid 10 hours of sleep, a nice lunch, and exercising before my exams. While everybody else crammed in last minute stuff, I was reading the excerpt from "Again To Carthage" in December's Runner's World.

Splits this morning were:

7:35
7:14
7:08
3:10 (7:25 pace)

Great run, hip didn't hurt at all. Doesn't hurt now.

Tomorrow I drive back home and am stopping at Eastern Illinois on the way to see some old friends and a few professors that nudged me to go to school at University of Kentucky. Then I get to surprise my parents who aren't expecting me until Sunday night!


Nic - You have yourself a deal, my friend. Chicago '08 the barrier will be broken side by side!

Marcy - According to my Garmin, it wasn't THAT fast. Not as fast as Bill anyways; that speed demon!

Bill - Yeah, I'm getting pretty close to muttering those sacred words myself. Maybe next week sometime... I can't get ahead of myself! Soon, very soon!

Something in the mail!

Yesterday I finally got my video from the Chicago Marathon. It was supposed to ship a month ago but got delayed for some reason. Regardless, its finally here! Which means you get to see the finishing shots:

I'm pretty happy with the finishing shots, although I was hoping it would be a little higher quality. Most of the rest of the video is really great quality, then anything I appear in is kind of pixelated. I guess they don't want us taking screen shots of it instead of paying $60 a picture for the official pictures of the race.


The weather here in Kentucky is pretty freaking crazy lately. Two days ago it was in the 30's. Yesterday it was up to 70. Today its down in the 40's. I wish it would just make up its mind so I could get used to it one way or the other!

I had my amazing run yesterday, thanks to the weather, but last night my swim was pretty crap-tastic. I got through the warm up (which is still basically a full workout) alright, but then my left ankle started hurting. I kept trying to massage it out, but it just got worse every lap I swam. I decided to call it a night early. The weird thing is, it doesn't hurt at all when I walk or run. I'm just counting it as an off night, I'm giving it another shot tomorrow.

The hip is hanging in there perfectly, even after my too-quick run yesterday. It didn't pipe up at all last night or even today. Sounds like I'm really starting to recover now! I'm still planning for this to be a repeat of last week, then next week I'm going to add in one extra run. Slowly but gradually I'm going to build back up to where I was. So I can kick Bill & Nic's butts.. eventually! The next time Nancy directs a race, they're gonna have to watch out!

All I have left with school this semester is one final. A final I need a 50% on in order to get an A in the class. And its over material I know inside and out. I'm pretty much out of here for the winter!

Spreading the Disease...

Yeah, its spreading. Everyone is catching it; its all my fault! And I couldn't be happier about it!

You all know my favorite "hobby" is running. I put it in quotes because, well, its more than a hobby. Its a life style. A close runner-up to running, is getting other people hooked on it! I absolutely love seeing someone else getting into the same addiction and lifestyle. Its done wonders for me, and I know it will do wonders for them!

Whenever someone gets me started on my running, the conversation almost always leads to them proclaiming "I don't know how you do it, I could never run a marathon!" Every time I hear this, I do my best to convince them otherwise. Maybe I'll plant a seed, and in a few years they'll go at it? Maybe I'll never even know about it. But its definitely a chance to transform someones life for the better.

My sister went to watch my first marathon about a year ago. Right after the race she told me she decided she wanted to join in on the fun, and my friend Susan said she wanted to do another one too! They both lived up to their word, for the most part. My sister finished Chicago, and Susan made it 14 miles. She really lost her drive to train, and her longest run was 11 miles. Regardless, making it 14 miles, especially in those conditions, really says something! I'm proud of both of them and feel slightly responsible for getting my sister hooked!

Now, what brings this up, you ask? Hearing more of the same after running Chicago this year! My dad ran part of the end of race with my sister last Sunday, and I think having all those people cheering for him on really made him catch the bug. A few days later he admitted to me he's thinking of giving it a shot if his joints and hamstrings hold up! He's been a runner for about the last 15-20 years, but has never really pushed it beyond a half marathon. He bikes like crazy, going out for 3-4 hours several times a week, so he definitely has the stamina for it if his joints hold up. Here's to a healthy family, two down, one to go!

The other person who caught the bug really caught me off guard; it's my friend Lewis. Looking at him, you'd never call him a runner. He's a pretty athletic guy and was the mascot for EIU the last several years. Since he lives up in Chicago I asked if I could steal a spot on his couch Friday night after my plane got in, little did he know what it was going to be the start of.

Being the good friend he is, he came to the expo with me on Saturday so I wouldn't have to wander the city alone. What got him was seeing the vast variety of people who can run a marathon. It wasn't all young, short, skinny guys that did it. Runners came from all over and were big and small, tall and short, young and old. After experiencing the energy on Sunday, and seeing me in a state of pleasant exhaustion after the race, he caught the bug good!

At first I was a little skeptical; I figured race weekend would be over and with it would go the bug that he caught. But I was wrong. He started running almost immediately. By Tuesday, he had already started to go for 2 mile walk/runs. He's enjoying it, too. He's hooked.

Do you get the same thrill out of spreading the addiction of running? How many people have you gotten hooked on our life style? What if every runner got just two more people into the sport, and they in turn did the same?

Battle Wounds: Two Days After

Recovery from a marathon is always a fun process. Its painful, but every ache and pain reminds me of the race; which is a good thing.

The most notable ache is my quads and hamstrings, which is exactly what forced me into my survivor's shuffle on Sunday. My quads have this really strange sensation where they hurt to use or press on, but on the surface they feel numb. I made an attempt at jogging across my apartment, just to see if it worked. Oh, believe you me, it didn't! I looked very much like a 400lb man in a hurry to get to the bathroom!

I have a whole list of other issues, but thought I'd save you all the details; don't want to scare away any future marathoners!

Right now the plan is to eat as much protein as I can to help these muscles repair themselves. I also want to keep moving as much as possible to help loosen things up; I'm planning a recovery jog tomorrow after my massage. A friend also suggested filling dixie cups with water, freezing them, and using them for an ice/massage combo -- slowly tearing away the cup as the ice melts.

The strange thing is even when I'm in pain after such a rough race, I'm already trying to plan the next one. I'm looking at different options to try and get a Boston qualifier in so I can still run it in 2008. I'm trying to open a lot of doors, though, because recovery could go quick or slow and I really don't want to push it too hard and bring out more injuries!

Heres to ice, Aleve, self-massage, stretching, protein, and an attempt to keep moving!

-Doug

Chicago Marathon -- Race Report

You have all heard of the horrible conditions which occurred during the Chicago Marathon this year. The last numbers I have heard is 302 were hospitalized, and one man died. I feel horrible for these people and their families, but am very relieved all my family and friends are safe. Also, I cannot even begin to imagine how frustrated those of you must be who were not given the chance to finish.

We all have our stories from this memorable race. Here is mine.


Before the race, everything went very well. Everything on race morning went exactly as planned, and I got to the front of my starting corral with hopes of catching my pace group. The temperature was comfortable at the starting line. When we weren't running and the sun wasn't on us yet. This made me a little nervous.

Me & my sis before the race

Once the gun went off, everything felt great -- for a little while. I saw my parents on Randolf Street Bridge (thanks for the suggestion, Tom!), and they even saw me too! Shortly after, I heard my track and cross country coach from highschool. Yes. Heard. Over everybody! Coach Lane has a voice that really carries!

During the entire race, I would hear my name every 100 yards or so. Especially at the beginning! I highly recommend getting a neon shirt and putting your name on it, everybody makes you feel like number one! At one point another runner yelled out "Who the hell is Doug?! My name is Doug!" Good times before the race got serious!

High five!

And man did they get serious after the half. This is right where I started to fall apart. My half marathon split was 1:31:00, a bit behind my 3 hours goal, but not much. After the half, though, I lost the shade of downtown Chicago, and the sun started beating down hard. My pace slipped slowly from 6:52/mile to 7:30's between the half and 20 mile mark. I knew I was slowing down, but couldn't help it. I had to, or else I wouldn't be able to finish. The heat was simply too much.

During this part of the race I was constantly calculating and recalculating how fast I had to run to still qualify for Boston. It was still within reach, but was slipping every mile. Around mile 22 or 23, the 3:10 pace group (Boston qualifying time) passed me by, and I made a strong effort to stay with them. This lasted about 400 meters, then slowly they ran away from me; which triggered my mental funk. It was like a dream running away from me.

I stuck with it for a few miles after this, but then completely fell apart. Miles 24 and 25 were absolutely horrible. At one point I made the horrible decision to try and stretch out my quads which were falling apart. The result was my right hamstring turning into a knot, but I walked it out after a little while. I was reduced to a survivor's shuffle, taking about 10-12 minutes per mile. I would walk through the entire aid station, drink two gatorades and a water, then dump a water on my head. Although, the end of each one was really, really motivating! I would start looking like I was about to give running another shot, and a big group would start cheering me on to get me going. Sometimes it felt like I couldn't have made it without them.

Finally with about half a mile left, I broke my mental and physical funk. It was go time again. My legs were feeling okay, and the crowds were 4-5 deep as I shot up the last hill. I saw my friend Lewis halfway up the hill too! Right after the hill, I hauled down the final straight away and finished with some pep in my step. The last half mile averaged 7 minute pace!

My finishing time was 3:21:22. I have heard my official finishing place was 721st, because a friend of mine checked it right after I finished. Since then, they have taken down the places since it was a "fun run" and "fun runs" apparently don't have an order that the runners finished. If I count the race as having the 45,000 that signed up, this means I finished in the top 2%! Oh yeah!

Me and Lewis after the race

It wasn't until after the race I even realized how bad everybody was suffering out there. I got my cell phone and checked the times all my friends were running, everybody was slow. Then they canceled the marathon?! What?! I guess this is serious business! It wasn't until afterwards I started to hear all the stories of the "war zone" in the back.

Family picture!

After being finished for a while I began to wonder: "Where's Sister?" I got the text she finished, but she wasn't showing up at the meeting area. Now, I had a decision to make; albeit an easy one. There was time for one of two things: catch my plane, or find my sister. Eventually she called us on someone else's cell phone, and we found her. The first thing she said was "Why the HELL would you do that twice?!" but since then I think she's starting to see why!

I missed my flight to Kentucky, but ended up spending a relaxing evening with family instead -- much better than being rushed while hobbling through an airport. I caught another one today, not a big deal.

All in all, I'm very happy with how I did. This was a very memorable weekend, and 20 years from now I have a feeling this race will be remembered.

"Do you remember the year Chicago was canceled?"

-Doug

Update: For those interested, here is the Garmin data from the marathon. The signal was bad around the buildings, which made the miles longer. I added an extra lap to try and sync it up with the mile markers, but it kept getting out of sync.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4158360

PR'ed

This isn't a race report. Expect one tomorrow. I need to do this whole weekend justice because its been quite a trip and isn't over yet. I'm not even back in Kentucky yet, so I'll go into those details when I get back!

I didn't go under three. I didn't BQ. But I did PR. And what a race to PR at, this is a race which will be remember by runners for years to come! "Do you remember the year Chicago was canceled?" It was a real tragedy, but I'm sure you have all heard the details elsewhere.

The details some people might like to here are that I finished in 3:21:22. My unofficial place was 721 out of 44,000 starters.

Thanks to everyone who was cheering me on from the sidelines, and great job to everybody who ran today! I really look forward to reading your race reports!

-Doug

Good Luck!

Best of luck to everybody running the Chicago Marathon this weekend!

I know Nic, Jess, and Tom are running it; but best of luck to everybody who will be out there! Don't forget to enjoy yourselves, remember: this is a 26.2 mile CELEBRATION!

Race Weekend

Alright people, its time.

Grading is done. Homework is done (until Friday after next, I think!). Plans are made. My bag is packed. My legs are (really) rested. My friends and family are all behind me, and I don't plan on letting anybody down. Lets do this thing!

Last night I was talking to my dad, and he surprised me by asking where do get materials to make signs for the race. This caught me completely off guard; my dad is mostly the type to stand by and clap and offer some words of encouragement, so this is huge! I think he's getting pretty excited about the race too! Which in turn does the very, very dangerous thing of feeding MY excitement!

This past week or so I've been swinging through excitement, fear, confidence, nervousness, pride (of my sister, she's come a long ways!), happiness, doubt; you name it, I've been there! The past few days I've been mastering the negative thoughts, and nothing but positive thoughts are going through my head; mentally, I'm ready to rock!

My hip is feeling perfect today, even walking up hills, and running across the street. Nothing is bothering it at all! And let me tell you, when I'm darting across the street -- I feel like I'm floating. My legs just do their thing and I go. Its the exact feeling I'm looking for during the first part of the race on Sunday; effortlessly floating along at 6:50 pace. I'm being realistic, though, and the effortless part is not going to last the whole race, but if it lasts the first half I'll be plenty happy! Physically, I'm ready to rock!

The last few days I've been really strict on my diet. Everything that goes into my body is fuel for the race, and thats the way I have to look at it. I think the only processed food that has gone into me since Tuesday has been the chocolate syrup in my chocolate milk. I've been having rice, pasta, cottage cheese, chocolate milk, OJ, fruit smoothies, clif bars, bananas, grapes, and apples. I guess the peanut butter and jelly I have for breakfast is probably the least healthy part of my diet this week, which isn't doing too bad! Dietarily (Shh, I can make up words if I want to), I'm ready to rock!

As I've said before, this has been one crazy year of training. I've fought with problems from my ankles up to my hip, ran through wind chills of -20 and heat indexes of 100. There have been runs with friends, runs against some pretty tough competition. In the process, I've set 3-4 PR's in the 5k, and one in the 15k! I think I even set a half marathon PR in training, but I don't count it if its not a race! In a few days, all my hard miles pay off even more than they already have.

Thanks again for all the support, you guys and gals are the best! Be ready for a race report in a couple of days!

Its go time!

Ready for Take-off

I'm ready for the weekend; everything is in line. Remember that list yesterday? Its all ready except for my sunglasses, which I plan to wear. Plans are set for Friday evening and Saturday. I've gone over the race day plans with my family; thanks to Tom for some extra spectator tips!

All I have left to do until the race is take care of myself: eat good, don't get hit by a car, and don't piss off anybody who is bigger than me.

I decided against a run today. My hip is feeling good, but I'm not feeling as antsy as yesterday so I decided to take the day off -- don't want to do any unneeded damage this close to the big day! A few miles isn't going to benefit me at all right now.

As you might be able to tell, I'm mellowing out a little bit. The overwhelming excitement is temporarily taking a backseat; its still there, I can feel it, but I beat it back for the evening so I can get a little grading done.

Believe you me, it will be back in full swing tomorrow! I have class at 8, then several hours to get everything together, office hours from 1-2, class 2-3, then I leave for the airport! This weekend is going to be great, getting to see family (including my Uncle Bill, who I haven't seen for ages), friends, runners from the blogging community, and runners from Nike+. Even if I wasn't running the race, this would be a great weekend; but its because of the race everything is coming together; I love it! (Okay, so maybe I'm not mellowing out, I went crazy with the exclamation points there! (crap, again))

Thanks to everyone who has helped with encouraging words and advice, I really appreciate it! The support really helps out, especially when suffering through injury. You guys rock!

Expect one last post tomorrow before I head out, then you'll get a break from me for a few days!

Revved! Up!

The story of my week. Massive amounts of pent up energy and nothing to do with it; and I shouldn't be doing anything with it! I had a pretty restless night last night because of it, trying to figure out little details and how it will all work out. I can sleep in tomorrow as late as I want, though, so no harm done!

I ran today. I ran good. My hip ran good too. It hasn't hurt all day, and it felt great during my run. As per usual, we'll wait for the run to 'set in' tonight to see if I should actually be excited. But I'm excited enough that it recovered with just one day off, rather than the six it took last week. Progress!

My confidence is through the roof right now. Being the smart guy that I am, I set up the pace alert on my Garmin to yell at me to slow down whenever I ran too quick. It went off a lot. I would get into the run, then get beeped at and slow down, then get into it.. beep, slow down. But all in all it did keep me from running too fast during my run; Garmin saves the day! Every time I space out, my speed would go right to the low 6:50's. Thats race pace. And it feels good. Oh so good.

Besides actually running, I've been working on a list of what to pack today. Its a lot longer than I first anticipated, and I need to go to walmart to get some smaller containers so I can actually shower after the race. I think the other passengers on the plane would greatly appreciate it! I'm going to share my list of stuff to pack for two reasons: you guys can remind me of anything I'm forgetting, and anybody racing this weekend can see if they're forgetting anything important that I listed! Here it is:

Running Shorts
Running Shirt
Running Shoes
Running Socks
Gu x5 (1 before, 3-4 during)
Sunglasses
Clothes for Saturday
Clothes for Sunday after the race
Aleve
Something to sleep in
Stuff to grade (blarg)
iPod for the plane ride there
Camera
Garmin
Throw-away hoody just in case its chilly (unlikely!)
Clif bars + fruit (so I don't eat like crap on Friday)
Bathroom stuff (in < 3oz containers)
Safety Pin (attach Gu's to shorts pocket)
Cell Phone
Cell Phone Charger
Garmin Charger
Confirmation Ticket for Expo
Flight confirmation
Map to Louisville Airport

I know I have to be forgetting something, regardless of the list being so long!

Tomorrow I may run 2-3 miles at an extremely easy pace, if my hip is feeling rock solid. It will help me build up more confidence; as if I need it!

My flight leaves in 48 hours. I'm more excited than ever! Its time to rock, people. We have a 26.2 mile celebration to attend!

Getting Antsy

You know the way little kids start jumping around when they are in the vicinity of candy? Yeah. Thats me. Except instead of candy, you have a marathon. And instead of jumping around... no, you still have jumping around. But nobody has caught me -- yet.

I woke up today and my hip was feeling pretty okay. It wasn't perfect, but the usual pain wasn't there. It shifted a little bit and felt like it was in the muscles, so I stretched and it mostly went away. I walked to class, and when class let out it felt wonderful. I took the elevator upstairs to make some copies of stuff and was bouncing up and down with energy. I couldn't help it. I just have to act like a civilized human being that isn't running a marathon in SIX DAYS when people are around.

I'll admit to running today, too. I went out for an easy couple miles after class. I couldn't help it -- full of energy, hip feeling good, and it was raining on my walk back. It was the rain that forced me to go out and run. But, my streak continues. Whenever it looks like it might possibly rain, or IS raining, it will stop when I put on my running shoes. Maybe Chicago will be different; there is a chance of rain in the forecast. If it doesn't, though, the other 45,000 normal runners who hate rain can thank me.

So, how is my hip feeling you ask? Well, pretty good. It feels about how it felt yesterday. I'm keeping it stretched and that makes it feel pretty good. The discomfort that is there is still feeling more in the muscles than right on the hip joint -- much more tolerable! I noticed today too that I have a really tender spot on my waist about 3 inches above the hip joint (where it usually hurts). I'm starting to massage it, hoping the two are related.

The rest of me felt amazing during this run. Absolutely perfect -- as it should since I'm completely healed up right now. I didn't watch my Garmin too much during this run, I just ran how I felt and tried to "keep it slow." I didn't do a very good job at keeping it slow. I won't go into the details, but I might have, sorta, accidentally, ticked off a mile at race pace when trying to keep it slow. It only builds my confidence. Watch out!

As long as my hip keeps feeling good this evening, its just going to keep going through the roof. I'm getting more pumped up every day, and its getting to dangerous levels!

I also want to mention that my friend Lewis rocks. I asked him to take me in Friday night so I had somewhere to sleep, and he's offering to help out in every possible way on Saturday! Also, he's a great guy to have on the side lines as one of my cheerleaders, since he was the school mascot where I got my undergrad. He's one high energy guy!

Everything is falling into place. I'm ready to rock.

But for now, I have to proctor an exam. Its in a huge auditorium, and if I catch any of these kids trying to cheat, maybe God will show a little mercy -- but thats the only place they're going to find any!


Update: After pacing around up and down stairs proctoring the exam, my hip is feeling a little off. Time for the usual prescription of ice and taking it easy! I'm planning to run again on Wednesday, then taking it easy until race day. I also have a go ahead to start taking the medicine again that knocked my hip into line a week or so ago, starting Thursday.

Race Ready

Gu: Check
Legs: (One.. two) Check
Shoes: Check
Shorts: Check
Shirt: Check (Really bright, easy to see!)
Feet: (One.. two..thr.. no, two) Check
Haircut: Check (You call it short, I call it aerodynamic)
Socks: Check
Somewhere to sleep: Check
Loads of pasta and rice: Check

I'm ready to go. Lets do this thing. My hip is feeling great again, back to normal great. But I'm erring on the side of caution. Tuesday is my hip's debut with an easy couple miles. If it goes 110% perfect I'm going to go for a run on Thursday with one or two miles at race pace just to remember what it feels like. All the details are worked out. I just need to eat a ton of carbs this week to push that wall back as far as possible on Sunday!

Today I jumped on the exercise bike for an hour. I had to prove I still have some mental toughness left in me, so I hit it about as hard as I could for that hour. Heres the heart rate over that hour. No breaks, just a whole lot of pedaling! I went and got a haircut today too, and picked up a shirt for the race. I'll run in it beforehand to make sure it doesn't bother me, don't worry! I know I'm not supposed to try out something new on race day, but I never train with a shirt on, and its going to be a little chilly at the start; so regardless, whatever I wear will be new.

Me and my sis are both decorating our shirts before the race too, with "TEAM CICHON" and the phonetic spelling too! My name will be on the front too, so if you're there, look for the guy in a tennis ball colored tank top that says "DOUG" on the front and "GO TEAM CICHON" on the back!

The weather next weekend is supposed to be great! I know most public weather forecasting sites don't have it posted yet, but I have a friend studying meteorology so here's the inside scoop! At the start of the race we're looking at mid 50's, and towards the end mid to high 60's. There is a small chance of rain too, he claims about a 30% chance. These are absolutely perfect conditions to run. Lets do it!

I'm getting really, really revved up just talking about it (in case you couldn't tell by me ending more sentences with exclamation points than periods)! I may explode by the end of the week! Luckily I have most of my homework out of the way so I don't need to really concentrate on anything, because concentration just isn't happening until Sunday is over.

Be prepared for more of me being way too excited this week, and feel sorry for any non-runner that asks me about my plans this weekend!