Monday, September 18, 2006
Catching up all at once
- It's hot in Alabama. We were down there a week ago for vacation (no pictures yet), and I went to run one morning. It was humid and warm, and not a lot of fun. I am really impressed with the people down there running, biking, or whatever, because that weather is tough.
- The Chicago Marathon is coming closer and closer, now it's less than 5 weeks away. I am getting excited, obviously for the running, sense of achievement, etc., but also a little bit of it is for the race expo and "goodie bag" you get when you pick up your timing chip and bib number. It's a little dorky but I always look forward to that stuff. My prize goodie bag possession is a small packet of Kraft Parmesan Cheese that I got in last year's bag. Weird.
- So, 5 weeks out brings the first 20-miler on my training plan (I'm doing the Hal Higdon Intermediate-I plan). So how did it go? Pretty well - I finished in 2:58:50, about 8:57/mile, and that's about an hour faster than the 20-miler I did while preparing for Chicago last year. The Intermediate-I plan has two 20-mile runs separated by a reduced-mileage week for recovery, so this coming weekend I'm just doing 12. I'll probably do that run as slow as I reasonably can, to save energy for a good effort during the second long run.
- Some sad Team-in-Training news: Our North Team patient honoree, Keegan, passed away earlier this month. Each Team-in-Training group has one or more patient honorees that keep us motivated and connected to why we're running: to help save lives. Keegan was diagnosed in March of 2004, went through rounds of chemotherapy, then relapsed earlier this spring. He was just a couple months short of 9 years old.
- The Chicago Marathon is coming closer and closer, now it's less than 5 weeks away. I am getting excited, obviously for the running, sense of achievement, etc., but also a little bit of it is for the race expo and "goodie bag" you get when you pick up your timing chip and bib number. It's a little dorky but I always look forward to that stuff. My prize goodie bag possession is a small packet of Kraft Parmesan Cheese that I got in last year's bag. Weird.
- So, 5 weeks out brings the first 20-miler on my training plan (I'm doing the Hal Higdon Intermediate-I plan). So how did it go? Pretty well - I finished in 2:58:50, about 8:57/mile, and that's about an hour faster than the 20-miler I did while preparing for Chicago last year. The Intermediate-I plan has two 20-mile runs separated by a reduced-mileage week for recovery, so this coming weekend I'm just doing 12. I'll probably do that run as slow as I reasonably can, to save energy for a good effort during the second long run.
- Some sad Team-in-Training news: Our North Team patient honoree, Keegan, passed away earlier this month. Each Team-in-Training group has one or more patient honorees that keep us motivated and connected to why we're running: to help save lives. Keegan was diagnosed in March of 2004, went through rounds of chemotherapy, then relapsed earlier this spring. He was just a couple months short of 9 years old.
