The Chicago Aftermath

"Why are you still going to go and torture yourself?"

I was asked that a handfull of times as I prepared for my trip to Chicago for the marathon this year. Knowing I couldn't run the whole thing , I still went. For starters, a few of my favorite people in the world were going to be there. Chris, Squirrel, Larua, the Bills, Chooch. Plus I made new friends this year, Erin, Joel, Reid, Eddy, Kristen, Vera and the like. I ate too much, drank too much, slept too little, and had the most fun I've had in a long time.

I got to spend a few hours with Squirrel before the FE, definatly had fun with everyone there at Trader Todds. Millers Pub was very cool both days we were there for sure. I think I may have scared Erin off of Sprite forever, and eating a huge breakfast including sausage, eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns is probably not the best thing before a 6 mile run for sure. I loved riding the El, more taxi adventures for sure, and generally just a good time. I spent 10 minutes at the expo and very little time with anything to do with the marathon.

What came out of all this was me being re enegrgized about running again. Last year, I went, saw the race, came home and ran a half mary in Denver the next weekend after running about 5 miles in a month. The wave carried me all the way to Arizona and Colorado before injuries and I think just exhaustion took it's toll on me. After my knee injury, I took a little time off, and when I returned to running, it still wasn't working for me.

One thing that I have thought a lot about here lately is that all I've done is marathon train for almost a year. I'm not any faster than I was last year when I do things such as 5k's. A change is in order for me I think. I have tentivly targeted Colorado again in May as my next marathon, although I'm not 100% sure. I won't run another one with some things in my life the way they sit right now. If things seem t get squared away, then I'll be mentally prepared. Something someone said to me a few weeks ago about balance and such. The Colder Boulder invite 5k is the next targeted race for me. Instead of a "marathon" training schedule that includes a 5k the first week of December, the next 5 or so weeks will be dedicated to getting faster for that 3.1 miles. Which means a lot of speedwork, lots of hard, short runs. At my worst in June, I was 20:30 for a 5k, to shave those 31 seconds should happen if I'll concentrate on it. I figure my half marathon times will come down when I really buckle down for marathon training again. But this is something I can do without throwing myself full bore into a training program again that requires 70 miles per week.

Enjoy the rest of your October if I don't write again, it's supposed to snow here tonight :-o