The Chicago Distance Classic-How to ruin a perfect race
I am sooo ANGRY! They TOTALLY changed the course of the Chicago Distance Classic (CDC), which until today, July 23rd at 10:45 am, was my favorite race in the city. EVerything that made it different about the other half marathon, known as the Chicago Half Marathon (CHM) has been erased, barring the medal...and that might change too, since the CHM has been sold to a new company, thereby ridding this race of its shady owner known for his shenanigans and crappy race goings-on in the running world. Maybe the CHM will have a medal that looks less like it came out of a crackerjack box! One can only hope! (Anyway, that's another interesting story, be sure to read here and here--after you finish reading my post, of course!)
I'm so mad...no more downtown running, no nice mix of downtown AND lakefront running, which was part of the magic of the CDC...it's ALL lakefront, which, my friends, if the course is on the actual Drive (Lakeshore Drive for you non-Chicagoans) like the CHM, it's ALL FRIKKIN CONCRETE with is a bitch-and-a-half to run on! And on an August morning, BAKING FRIKKIN HOT and not a tree in site until you're on the actual path. It's gonna be like "Oh, bye-bye Grant Park! LaLaLaLa, oh what a nice day for a....DAAAAANG that morning sun is sizzling hot and bouncing up off the concrete somethin' fierce!"
In past blog entries I've described my love affair with the CDC and the awesomeness of the course. I mean, what could be more awesome, on a hot summer morning, to run the first mile or so on the same course of the Chicago Marathon that you will be running in two months later? How cool is it to run under the shade of the el tracks for another few miles, down the middle of a downtown street where on a regular day you'd be hit by three buses, five taxis, and maybe a bike messenger or two??? So you mean I have to wait til the Shamrock Shuffle to run under the el tracks again???? When the awesomeness factor is not as great b/c you're doding rain or snowmelt dripping down b/c it's frikkin March?
JOHN BINGHAM I've totally respected you, tried to look past the missing Gatorade at Mile 8 last year...tried not to bug out when I didn't get my icy CDC towel at the finish line b/c you all ran out...IN A RACE BILLED FOR PENGUIN RUNNERS? WTF?!?! But to finalize the course with a completely different route less than three weeks away from the race? TWO THUMBS DOWN, swaying my arms loudly while booing like a maniac! That is ROTTEN. My desire to try and run this despite not having decent mileage over the last month due to my knee issue has gone down a few pegs.
I mean, for real...if the only thing different about the CDC and the CHM is the start/finish being on opposite ends of the drive, then why wouldn't most normal people just do the one in September when you have a better chance of good weather, and as a nice "stepdown" in mileage the weekend before your 20-miler run? And further...when Runners World named the CHM as one of the best half marathons in the country, everyone I knew was like HA, CDC is way better-and for a multitude of reasons STARTING WITH THE COURSE. It was like Chicago runners' dirty little secret...but caving in to this bs notion that the a whole frikkin half marathon should be on the lakefront means that you, John Bingham, must have agreed with this notion of the other half marathon being better. The CDC had better step up their game with the course issues they had last year, or the CDC will fade into mediocrity.
Time It Took: 35:55, which includes a 2 minute walking break
Pace: 11:58
Miles this week: 3
Miles this month: 9.96
2008 Goal: 416.93/1000 miles
Thoughts/Comments: I woke up late, woke up to Jada telling me she couldn't sleep anymore. So I did what any good mommy runner would do and gave her some chocolate milk, turned on the tv, and ran on the treadmill instead of using the whole thing as an excuse not to run. It was really tough...now my knee wasn't hurting at all, I'm just so tired and feel so out of shape! It's hard to believe what you can lose in a month! Well, it's after 7 now and I"m icing my knee, just to be safe. I'd better get going!!!
Here's what I've eaten so far today, btw, I'm hungry-on-a-rampage, does that have something to do with my starting up running again? (she shrugs...but tomorrow is weigh-in day. )
Breakfast: yogurt, 1 c. strawberries, 1/2 cup fiber one cereal, all mixed together
Lunch: grilled portabello mushroom and sliced onions (leftovers) with a slice of cheese on a hi-fiber bun; pear
Ok...this is terrible. Well sort of, it's not horrible for me, but can't I do anything in moderation? On Friday at work, I really wanted Potbelly's (a local sandwich joint) that for those of you not priveleged to have one, let's just say it's miles ahead of Subway, and I guess maybe a LITTLE bit similar to Quiznos, just not the overwhelming menu selection.
Anyhoo...I spent about 30 minutes at my desk "building" the right sandwich that would a) take me away from my usual turkey, and b) somehow be around 7 WW points, which is a little tough to do...arguably the only thing that makes Subway better than Potbelly's. Anyway, I found that if I got the Pizza Sub, minus the pepperoni, but add a craptastic load of mushrooms, add lettuce, onion, italian seasoning and another craptastic load of tomatoes (I missed you so, dear tomatoes), that the sandwich, even still with cheese, was at 7 points. SWEET.
So after my PT (physical therapy) session I braved the 90 degree heat and hit up Potbelly's. Um...the sandwich was SOOOOOOOO good. SOOOOOOO good that I stopped by the closest Potbelly's to my house on Saturday to have one. And today, the closest one to church to have yet another. That is INSANE, isn't it???
i just spent 10 minutes trying to post my last post...it kept saying the post is too long. WHAT? it wasn't that long?? so i kept readjusting the font and re-pasting it in until it finally fit. such work to keep my stupid blog updated, sheesh!
Time It Took: 35:11 (unofficial) 35:46 official chip time
Pace: 11:33 (unofficial) 11:31 official race pace
Miles this week: 5.21
Miles this month: 6.96
2008 Goal: 413.93/1000 miles
Thoughts/Comments: Well HOWDY DOODY, my first race in a good long while!Let me report back as I sit here icing my knee.So um..for awhile yesterday I actually contemplated on running the 10K…but decided I’d better just stick to the 5K.As I was running today I was nearly embarrassed that I even thought about the 10K!I’m feeling so out of shape from the lack of running.I stopped to walk 3 times, sipping on my Gatorade.Sigh.But I didn’t feel terrible, and what’s more important, the knee felt fine, so that’s good.3 weeks from today is the half marathon.I don’t know if it’s feasible that I can run it, but since it’s run by John Bingham, the Penguin himself, I can surely WALK what I can’t run.And other than my bruised ego, that shouldn’t hurt.We’ll see.My coach with my training group (that I haven’t run with since 6/14) says that if I can get a 10-miler in by the weekend before, I should be ok.
Today I met up with this cool chic named Robin, I know her from my college days at University of Illinois…we got in touch thru this cool alumni networking site that got started to encourage more people to attend this big African American alumni celebration…anyway, it was her first chip-timed race, and the half marathon will be her first half.YAY for her, she did a good job.She’s a penguin like me, so we were comfortable comparing running notes, so to speak.
Run #68 Yet another test...time will tell if I passed
Date/Time: July 18th at 5:20am
Place: lakefront; 77 degrees
Mileage: 2.11 miles
Time It Took: 24:31
Pace: 11:37
Miles this week: 2.11
Miles this month: 3.86
2008 Goal: 410.83/1000 miles
Thoughts/Comments: The last time I used my Garmin was a long run at the lakefront that ended with knee pain and a vow to visit Athletico, a sports injury place. Today, with 3 of my 6 week therapy plan behind me, I felt ok. It was sort of like seeing an old friend, cautioning yourself not to get too excited. WIll things be the same again someday? Hope so, but we'll have to wait and see.
As I write this, i'm icing my knee just to be on the safe side. That two miles seemed pretty long...
Last week I didn't run that Thursday evening 5K, for a multitude of reasons, starting with lightning and thunder, followed by childcare issues that came up... and after that, I'm out of excuses. On Sunday I will be running the Fleet Feet Women's 5K. When I signed up, I opted for the 5K versus 10K because it would have been the day after a long run. I still think I"m wise to go with the 5K at this point.
Well have a happy Friday. Sorry for not posting much...maybe I'm coming out of my funk finally.
Place: Treadmill at home, in my humid exercise room
Mileage: 1.5 miles
Time It Took: 18:00
Pace: 12:00
Miles this week: 1.5
Miles this month: 1.75
2008 Goal: 408.72/1000 miles
Thoughts/Comments: YAY!!!! A real run...granted it was only a mile and a half, but it was a real run. I felt real good-other than the fact that it was super humid and I had on running PANTS b/c I couldn't find my shorts. So I was planning on running somewhere between a mile and two miles, and landed on 1.5. I felt just a very, VERY slight twinge of tightness in my knee (maybe it was all mental or maybe not), so I decided not to push anything.
I may get to run my 5K on Thursday evening after all, we shall see. I have a PT session tomorrow (Wednesday) and will discuss it again. She already gave me the go ahead, but I want to be sure and let her know how my run went last night.
2008 Goal: 407.22/1000 miles (this includes that "walk #1" from awhile back)
Thoughts/Comments: So I did a test run as I watched my girls and nieces and everyone in the pool.I’m sure I could have gone longer, but this was just “to see”, and I was wearing capris and a reunion t-shirt, about to head out to a picnic, so I didn’t want to get all funky and stuff.
I will try a “real” run tomorrow morning (Monday) once we’ve returned home.YAY!
Yes I’ve been gone awhile, probably with little notice.Since I’ve last written, I had two “PT” (physical therapy) sessions, and have begun a series of daily at-home exercises, too.PT is ok, it’s basically the cross-training that everyone said I should have been doing but never did in the past.My PT trainer said it’s ok to try a short run this weekend (turning into this week), a few miles.She said that if I’m feeling up to it, go ahead and run the 5K I’m scheduled to run on this coming Thursday evening. We shall see. I'm cautiously optimistic.
In other breaking news:I GOT A BIKE!!!!!!YES!!!!It was the hubby’s birthday and he’s been wanting a bike, so I got him one, AND me one.They’re not matching, but they are similar in style.
They TOTALLY changed the course of the Chicago Distance Classic (CDC), which until today, July 23rd at 10:45 am, was my favorite race in the city. EVerything that made it different about the other half marathon, known as the Chicago Half Marathon (CHM) has been erased, barring the medal...and that might change too, since the CHM has been sold to a new company, thereby ridding this race of its shady owner known for his shenanigans and crappy race goings-on in the running world. Maybe the CHM will have a medal that looks less like it came out of a crackerjack box! One can only hope! (Anyway, that's another interesting story, be sure to read here and here--after you finish reading my post, of course!)
It was really tough...now my knee wasn't hurting at all, I'm just so tired and feel so out of shape! It's hard to believe what you can lose in a month! 
Well, it's after 7 now and I"m icing my knee, just to be safe. I'd better get going!!!
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