Waterfall Glen Part 2

I returned to Waterfall Glen on Saturday. It was a warm morning, so I did something I haven't done in a long time - I carried my own water. The plan was to stop at 3 miles, 5 miles, and 7 miles to take a good drink of water.

TNT was out at Waterfall Glen, as well as a girls high school cross country team. I ran the trail in the counter direction, since this has been reported as more difficult. The run was progressing well. I heard the cicadas throughout, and shrieks from female runners when the cicadas landed on them.



All was fine until the 7 mile water stop. I stopped, took a drink, and started running again. However, at this point, I felt a sharp pain in my right leg that I had not felt before I stopped. A cramp? A hamstring issue? I ran through it thinking if it was a cramp, it would diminish. I ran my slowest mile, but then I ran my fastest mile. Still not sure what happened.

Then, later in the day, I rolled my ankle. So now, I had two issues. The ankle seemed to be the worse problem, in terms of affecting running. The plan now is to take three days off, first time I've really deviated from plan in 5 months. We'll see where I'm at on Wednesday.

Winds and then Calm

Thursday, we had unbelievable winds. Steady state winds were 25-30mph and gust approached 50mph. In the morning, I considered not running, but did run 3.5 miles on the treadmill. so, I considered adding 3 miles Friday, which is normally a rest day. But, I rested Friday.

Thursday was a golf night in ridiculous conditions. We did score 10 points to maintain a tie for first place. There is one week left in the first half with only two teams in serious contention. One good week, and we make the finals in August. But the most intersting part was the cicadas. We came to the 5th tee and there was some much noise. You had the cicadas. But even louder where the bird feasting on the cicadas.

Saturday, I decided to run 6 miles in Springbrook - to make up for the short Thursday run. Yes, I heard the cicadas there - not as loud, but present.


Sunday was the North Shore Half Marathon in Highland Park. A great place to run, home to Ravinia (for Music Festivals) and the Botannical Gardens. But, the drone of the cicadas was incredible. In the second mile, a cicada landed on the back. Another runner kept swatting it. Why is he hitting me? Finally, he told me what he was trying to do ...

The course is advertised as flat for the first five mile, with rolling hills the next five including a significant hill in mile 9, and flat the final three. Well, I disagree somewhat. The flat section was the first mile and the last mile. I kept for the hills to end and that didn't happen until almost the finish.

I started in 7:44 which seems to be my pattern, although it didn't seem that fast. I knew it would get hilly, so I backed off the pace. The goal was to get through 4 miles in 3 3minutes, then run 8:30 mpm for miles 5-7. I came through the second mile in 8:29, the 3rd mile in 7:59, and the 4th mile in 8:20. I was doing fine in the 2nd mile until we turned onto a long street and I saw a hill in the distance. It was time to slow down.

I expected more hills in the middle of the course, so I held back as much as I could. Mile 5 was 8:17, mile 6 was 8:38, mile 7 was 8:37. These were close to goal, but I wasn't running as well as hoped.


I just tried to keep running. Mile 8 was 8:23, now where was that big hill? We ran downhill for a little bit, oh there's that big hill. About 75 feet up in less than 1/4 mile. Wow, I just tried to keep running and avoided walking - the temptation was strong. I ran mile 10 in 9:19, and I was thinking the hills were over. But I was spent.

Hmmm, still running hills. Mile 11 - 8:34. Mile 12 had a serious uphill again - 9:26. mile 13 - 8:50. The last stretch was on grass then onto the track. I didn't care for the segment on the grass. And I was happy to finish.

My time across the finish line was 1:55:02, I think the official clock time was 1:55:42. But, I had the distance as 13.31 miles.The 6th mile marker was definitely long, the 7th mile marker seemed to make up though.

Will need a nice recovery week.

Saturday on the IPP

Something different. It's Saturday and I ran what I planned on running.

After last Saturday at Waterfall Glen and Monday in Elgin, I decided to go for something less hillier. Almost accomplished. The objective was 12 miles from Herrick Lake, onto the IPP and the Elgin spur. This route is flat except for the first mile (and the last mile). The time was 1:48:47. The last mile, mostly uphill, was run in 9:54, so the previous 11 miles were under a 9 mpm pace. I'm satisfied with this run.

Moving onward ...

Putting Around

After Monday's race, Tuesday and Wednesday were recovery days. Tuesday, I ran 4.7 miles at about a 9:15 pace. Wednesday, I tried something different. I cut onto the grass trail in the east part of Springbrook. This was a nice change of pace, but I'm not sure I want to do this regularly. Yes, it's not groomed. The grass is high in places and definitely uneven. I had to maintain a much slower pace trying to find the right groove. Thursday was much more impressive. I decided I need to push the pace a little more and it was actually easy. I ran even splits through the run, for about 5.5 miles at a 8:50 pace.

Now, to deviate from running for a bit. The Golf Update. Tuesday, I played as a substitute in the Lucent Springbrook league. On the front 9, I hit 6 fairways and had 7 GIRs. Yet, my score was 44. How can that be possible? Missed birdie putts on 1 and 7. Add in three puts on 2, 3, 4, and 6. Plus a penalty on 9. Could have been so good. So, I moved to the back nine as a solo. I wasn't sure how many holes I would play. Maybe just 4 more. The putting was a little better. Bogey, bogey (with a penalty), par, bogey. Could have been two strokes better at least. So, I decided to keep going. Bogey, double (another penalty caused by poor course management). A par, and a bogey. Then, wasn't sure I would finish 18. It would depend on my tee shot as it was approaching 830 PM. So, I drove it down the fairway and hit my approach onto the green 22 feet away. Could I finish with a par? No. For a cruel twist, this putt goes in - for a birdie. Amazing, I miss about 6 putts in the round then make a 22 footer with a 3 foot break. 86.

Thursday night was golf in the Naperbrook league. For the night, I hit 10 fairways and 8 GIRs. On 4, I hit a foot over the hole and came up with a birdie. Then, I couldn't putt. I had chances on 5, 7, 8, 9. Missed all of them for a 43. Went to the back. Pars on 10 and 12. But, a 3 putt on 11. 3 putt on 14. Missed a short putt on 15. 3 putt on 16. Missed a short putt on 17. Finally, a par on 18. Oh could have been so good. 85.

Elgin Fox Trot 10M Race

Today was the Elgin Fox Trot 10M Race. After reading what other people have said about this race (difficult and hilly), I was a little apprehensive. It also is a fairly large race, I expected 100 runners. Once I arrived, I knew my usual race logistics would be challenged.

First, I find a lot and pull into a parking spot. Almost immediately, two women come into the space between my car and the car on the left and act as if I'm not there. They stand there talking about whether Crocs are comfortable shoes or not. I wait a minute, then another. Then another. Ok, if that's the game. So, I just begin to open the door and they realizr they are blocking me.

I pick up my race packet, weigh in at the CARA booth (I weigh in at 184 with cltohes and shoes which puts me in the Clydesdales Masters Class A), and head back to my car. I decide to change right away, since I'm not sure how much I'll have. So, I get ready, and do a little warmup. I line up at the start but I'm sure I could move up.

The race starts and it takes 20 seconds to reach the start. The first mile, I'm weaving about trying to find a lane at my pace. My time for mile 1 is 7:42. A decent start, but the first two miles are hilly. Mile 2 split is 8:17. I'm actually surprised since it seemed slower. Mile 3 is 8:10. Ok, I'm in good shape.

But mile 4 is up a good hill (or a bad hill) and my pace falls to 8:47. We enter a park and circle a baseball field. My pace comes down to 8:38. Still doing ok. Then we turn onto a long, straight road. It rolls very gently, or it seems. I'm looking for the turnaround for a long time, it seems. We also get to glimpse the lead runners coming back in the opposite direction. Mile 6 is 8:35. I'm trying to hold on, and I think if I just run 9 minute miles, I'd be happy. At the mile 6 water stop, I take water and gatorade. The water goes on my neck, the gatorade I drink. Mile 7 is mostly downhill and I improve to 8:24. That's great, I might come in under 87.

However, miles 8 and 9 have a few hills. Mile 9 has a bad one. My time for those miles are 8:49 and 9:03. Yikes! The spectators keep saying it's all down hill from there. I pick up the pace, as much as I can. My Garmin shows an instantaneous pace of 8:10 the two times I check. That seems fast. Well, I finish with a 7:59 mile. Outstanding!

My overall time was 1:24:32 - just 12 seconds off the Seven Bridges 10M time and this was much more difficult. More hills, bigger hills, and all asphalt. Overall is was 386 out of 779, 63rd in my Age Group out of 101, and 300th out of 509 Men.

Waterfall Glen

Today, the location was Waterfall Glen in Darien. When I was young, we used to go out to Waterfall Glen a lot. The Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts held a number of events there - Weinie Roasts, Picnics, Overnight Camping Trips. Now, it's a great place for runners, hikers, and cyclists.

The goal was to do the main loop. Of course, we know how my plans usually go. I can resist deviating from plan and exploring new routes. When I arrived at WFG, the parking lots were full as the Team In Training was also using WFG for their Saturday run.

My plan was also to run the Fox Trot 10M Race in Elgin on Monday. This race is considered to be moderately difficult, with several hills. I was beginning to wonder whether my plan to run the main loop was wise. So, I started slowly. Very slowly. The first mile was ~9:30. Ok, I'll need to pick it up a little. Except,my Garmin lost the signal in mile 2 and adjusted incorrectly. It reported a time of 7:51 for the second mile but that was not correct. Maybe that relaxed me. But I was running easily and knocking off miles under 9 minutes.

It felt oh so easy until mile 8 which jumped up to 9:37. Was that mile long? Possibly , but a good run. The best in a while. Estimated distance is 9.7 (Garmin reports 9.88, SportTracks reports 10.13). Good pace, not exhausted, not stressed. Onward.

The Missing Chronicles

Well, I just wrote a nice report and lost it. Shall I try again?

It's been an interesting two weeks, not one of my favorite periods. Work has been stressful, and that hasn't helped my attitude, health, or running. The Seven Bridges 10 Mile race too more out of me than expected. It took a few days to really recover. Then, I ran 12.7 miles on the 12th - from Herrick Lake to the northern point of the McDowell trail. A nice route, less than 1/2 mile on streets. I actually thought the trail out of McDowell deadended, but it connects easily to the Illinois Prairie Path.

However, that run wasted me. I could only manage 4 miles the next day and the next week was slower than the previous few weeks. But, that's ok. I'm comfortably running ~40 miles/week. My pace is close to 9 minutes/mile, usually just under. Today's run was 7 miles at an average pace of 8:52.

I've got my weight under 180 and the next goal is to get to 175 by the end of June. Saturday, I'm running at Waterfall Glen, and Monday is the Elgin Fox Trot 10 Mile race. This race has a reputation for being difficult and hilly. Hopefully, more on that later in the week.

Seven Bridges Season Starter 10 Mile

Sunday, I ran the Seven Bridges Season Starter 10 Mile. The goal for this race was to run under 90 minutes. The stretch goal was to run in 86 minutes. I picked up my race packet on Saturday afternoon. My race number was 58, same as my football jersey number in my last year of college. However, the list of people running the 10 Mile race didn't seem very long. Hmmm...

The weather forecast leading into Sunday was to expect 60 degrees at race time. Considering this was warmer than I usually run in, I was a little apprehensive about this. However, the forecast changed Saturday. At race time, it was mid to high 40s at best, and there was a considerable SE wind, at least 15 mph. The other apprehensive fault (where things can go bad) was that the race crossed 75th Street twice, which even for a Sunday morning, does have considerable traffic. However, on Saturday, I noticed signs on many streets that said that roads would be closed from 8 -11 aM on Sunday. When I arrived at about 7AM (for an 8 AM start time), there were already many volunteers on hand. Many. This would be a well organized, well run race.

There was a 5K starting with the 10M race, and it was unclear how many 10M runners there were. Well, most of the runners ahead of me were 10M runners. At the 5K turnaround, I only saw a few runners heading back. About 70% of the course was through the Greene Valley Forest Preserve. Ok, maybe 60%. There was about a mile along Greene Road, that separates the two parts of the Forest Preserve. In the 5th mile, another runner came up alongside me and asked if I had run here before. When I said yes, he responded that he never realized it was so hilly. I told him that the worst was over, the rest of the course would be on the east side of Greene Road and that segment was mostly flat.


I'll try to enter my split times tomorrow. The first mile was faster than it seemed, at 7:50, but my Garmin had the distance right on. The second mile was in 8:05 but the third mile was 8:46. Now, without a Garmin, I would have thought the mile markers to be off. It was the elevation changes that caused the variances. And the race would continue like that - I'd see an 8:40 then an 8:05 with no real change in effort.

I was hitting my targets, not necessarily for every mile but every set of miles. I was exhausted by mile 8. At some point, my Garmin lost the signal for about a short time, so I was tracking short. At the finish, I recorded 9.96 miles. When I loaded the data into SportsTracks, it calculated the distance as 10.06.

My final time was 1:24:19, well ahead of my stretch goal. So, I have to be happy with that race. I finished 12 out of 16 in my age group (a tough group) and 65th overall out of 138. I was feeling sore this morning, so i ran a recovery 6 miles in just under 55 minutes. I expect to feel that way all week.

Thursday Night Golf

Last Saturday, I ran the longes tdistance of the year 10.4 miles. This was through the Springbrook Forest Preserve, but it required a few extra loops. To the trailhead on 83rd Street. Around the Model Aircraft field. I was surprised to get to 10+ miles but this worked out ok.

This week has been mostly about consistent running. All the runs have been the same, out to 75th and Book on the trail. Total distance for each run is 5.5 miles. This has allowed me to recover a bit for last Saturday's longer run and last weeks 40 miles. The plan is to run 6 miles on Saturday (today is a rest day) and race on Sunday in the Seven Bridges Season Starter 10 Mile.

Last night was the start of the Alcatel-Lucent Thursday Night Golf League at the Naperbrook Golf Course (last Thursday was rained out). I have a new partner this year, Fred, who has an awfully nice swing. We played the back nine last night, since there was a Junior High League on the front. The junior high players usually start slow but play quicker near the end (they may skip holes or just pick up depending on their pace of play).

My round was pretty good for 7 holes. I was +2 at that point, with pars on 11,12, and 14, and a birdie on the par 3 15th hole. 17 did me in though. I hit a nice tee shot, and had 115 yards to the hole (90 to the front). My wedge hit the green and run into a bunker. That was unlucky. From there, I struggled to a triple bogey. Ouch. I reached the par 5 18 in regulation, but had my worst putting of the night. 3 putts, a bogey, and a score of 42.

Not bad for the first week. There was a strong east wind last night, about 17mph, but it didn't seem to affect play. As a team, we collected 6 of the 10 points and are tied for 2nd place.

Lisle 10K

Sunday, April 22 was the Lisle 10K. Great day for running, temperature in the mid 50s at the start of the race. There was a significant wind from the South. Not a gale, but you certainly felt it. Not sure it really made a difference. The course was exactly what I expected, but was not hoping for something different. Lisle has run this race for 8 years with only a 5K. Runners had asked for a 10K as well, so they just made it two loops. It actually turned out ok.

The very first 10K I ever ran was in Lisle, at the same starting position. However, that route took you across Maple Avenue twice. They closed Maple only on the first crossing, the second time you were on your own. The 2007 course kept you in the area around Community Park and Lisle Senior High School. You ran mostly on the park path so street control wasn't as big a concern.

My goal was to run around 52 minutes. I thought if things went perfectly, I could get close to 50. But, I felt tired in the morning and as I warmed up, 54 minutes would be acceptable. As it turned out, my time was just under 52 minutes, at 51:52. And I was ok with that. I started the first two miles slower than last week -- 7:43 and 7:56. But, from the first 1/2 mile, I didn't feel fast and was hoping for the 54 minutes.

I was extremely happy with the last four miles. For the consistency. 8:20, 8:20, 8:21, 8:27. It didn't seem that my pace was that consistent. I'll take it though. The total distance according to my Garmin was 6.34 miles. The first mile was off by maybe 2 steps, the second mile and subsequent miles just a little more. Hmmm, can I tun those 8:20s into 8:10s next time?

Lori asked how I did. Same answer. I'm still old, and I'm still slow. It seemed effortless when I was running sub-40 10ks at 32 years old!

Everywhere Saturday

Well, everyone had a different agenda today. Lori was scheduled to work the OTS table at the Living with Transplantation event in Oakbrook.

Patrick had a tennis match scheduled, actually three matches --- Waubonsie Valley was competing in a quad event at Wheaton Warrenville South High School. So, I dropped Patrick off at school to join his team on a bus to the event.

I headed over to Herrick Lake which less than 1/2 from Wheaton Warrenville High School.



I ran about 1/4 mile on the Herrick Lake trail until I picked up the Illinois Prairie Path. I headed west on the IPP until I reached the Blackwell Forest Preserve. This was the first time I had gone this way.



The IPP west from Herrick is interesting. It runs right along with Butterfield Road which has a fair amount on traffic. The path is asphalt on this stretch, although it it broken up in places. The elevation also changes as it goes -- it is never flat. The IPP runs on both sides of Butterfield for about 1/2 mile until the north side tunrs under the road and connect with the south side.


You cross a busy intersection to get onto the Blackwell trail. But at 7AM on a Saturday morning, that was easy to accomplish. I enjoyed the run through Blackwell, but I didn't follow the trail completely around. My goal was to run ~6.3 miles or so today. Throughout Blackwell, the terrain changes. There are lot sof small streches of uphill and downhills. Of course, Blackwell is most famout for Mount Hoy, or Mount Trashmore since it formerly was a garbage dump. I almost made it to McKee Marsh. Next time.



There was one negative about running through Blackwell. My Garmin went crazy. The third mile was definitely short --- maybe about 1/3 mile short. The 4th mile was short too. Otherwise, I ran those two miles in 14 minutes, which wa snot likely. That took away a lot of my energy, so I'm estimating that I ran 6.5 miles today. The good part is that my time to my turnaround out and my time in were within 10 seconds of each other.



Patrick had a tough day on the tennis courts. This event was doubles only. They played a JV1 team of sophomores in their first match (Patrick is a JV2 player) and were beaten easily. In the second match, they won the first set, lost the second set, and lost the tiebreaker. This broke their spirits for the next match. They played well in the second set in this match, but lost 6-1, 6-4.

40 Year Itch?

This week recalled two events that happened 40 years ago. One I remember, the second one I don't.

The first one occurred on April 15 in 1967. It was a Friday night. A seemingly pleasant April night. I was just 9 years old. Along with my family, I was watching the movie "It Happens Every Spring," starring Ray Milland about a college professor who creates a tonic that makes a baseball do strange things. Clearly illegal. But it would be years before I would see the last half of the movie. As happen in April in the Chicago area, a storm came up quickly. And we lost power. My father called us out to the front porch, while my mother would have preferred that we head to the basement. From the front porch, we could the tornado cloud (as shown in the first picture) off to the south. We would later learn that it was less than two miles away. Included in the damge were part of Oak Lawn High School and a roller skating arena on Cicero Avenue - both places were many teens had gathered.


One of the suburban newspapers recalled the tornado, included recollections from people directly involved. One story was that the St. Laurence and Brother Rice high school teams were scrimmaging that afternoon (when Catholic League schools still had spring workouts). The coaches called off the scrimmage when they saw the grayish-green clouds forming. Brother Rice got on their bus, and headed back to their school. They were just 5 minutes behind the storm. Wow, that's amazing. At the same time, the St. Laurence coaches had their players sit in the shower with full pads still on, including their helmets.


Another story involved a young teen who lived at 85th and Lawndale - darn close to where my grandparents lived. He said traffic was backed up because crossing gates were done at a railroad but no train was in sight. Ay, we knew that railroad crossing well. He walked down the train tracks with his friends and they found a roof on the tracks -- completely intact. It looked like he had been placed there. And it triggered the gates to go down.

It turned out to be a crazy week. News stories indicated that the next day, there was a significant snowfall, maybe close to 6". I don't remember that though. I do remember going to school the following and everyone had stories to tell.


It's interesting that the first story started with a baseball movie, because the next event certainly is baseball related. Last night, Mark Buehrle pitched a no-hitter for the Chicago White Sox. It was the first no-hitter by a White Sox pitcher since Wilson Alvarez on August 11, 1991. However, it was the first no-hitter at home since April 19, 1967 by Joe Horlen.

Wow, any other 40 year events that can happen this week?

NCO Spring Ahead 5K

This morning, I ran the NCO Spring Ahead 5K. It was brisk out there, and the wind from the the Northwest was stronger than expected. Originally, I had planned to wear a singlet, but switched to a long sleeve thermal shirt at the last moment.


First impressions. A little disappointed. I started well, better than expected with a first mile of 7:20. It felt quick, but not too stressful. However, I couldn't hold the pace and fell to a 7:41 in the second mile. The third mile was worse, with the wind in my face and a hill to climb. 8:15. And, the mile markers were off slightly. My finishing time was 25:10, officially 25:11. But the distance I recorded was 3.25 miles.

The pictures on this page are from last year's race when the weather was better. Today, many people rain in tights, sweats, and sweatshirt. Naturally, five hours after the start, the temperature is up to 51.



The variance was a little more than I would have expected. I knew I wasn't running the shortest line, but I tried to keep close to the middle of the street where it would be more level. My goal was anything under 25. Had I only run 3.1 miles, my time would have been around 24:25 so I'm not too unhappy. It's certainly something to build upon.

I ran no races in 2006 and just two in 2005. I rand the Aurora CIS 5K in 25:38, and the ALF 5K (the course was well short of 5K so time is insignificant).

I finished 86th overall out of 491, 10th out of 39 in my age group, and 73rd out of 248 men.



There was a 10K as well, and the 10K runners were not happy. There was confusion on the course about some of the markers and marshalls were either not there or not paying attention. Many runners felt they ran .75 mile longer than a 10K. It's the same they've used for 3 years so there is no excuse.

Greene Valley

Today was another new adventure for this blog. The location for today's run was the Greene Valley Forest Preserve. This was the first time that I had run there. I had bicycled through Greene Valley oncve before, and around it may time. In my one adventure bicycling through it, I decided that it was not a good bicycle trail. The main trail is choppy in places -- due to use by runners, cyclists, hikers, yes horse, and yes dog sledders. Oh, normal erosion too. And horse piles. Some fresh, some not so fresh. Addiitonally, the main trail has a lot of turns and elevation changes. I started at the West trailhead and my objective was to start on the Tricky Tree-Key Trail which is only 0.8 mile. Tricky Tree-Key is also called the Caruso trail, after an Eagle Scout who built most of this trail and who later lost his life in Iraq.

However, I actually started on a service road that leads out to the campsites. Besides being a forest preserve, Greene Valley also is the site of a youth camp sites, called Thunderbird. Out and back on the service road was actually 1.5 miles, but the road was gravel in spots and not a good road to run. This path is actually referred to as the Thunderbird Spur Trail. Then, I picked up the main trail until I crossed Greene Road to the Valley Trail, and I came back to the Main Trail which took me back to the West Trailhead.

It was kinda quiet there this morning. The temperature was 38 F and there was only a slight breeze from the E - definitely not a factor. Saw a few hikers early, and I followed a couple runners from the Valley Trail back to the trailhead. The most exciting part was when I came to within 10 feet of three deer while on the Valley Trail. They looked at me, but they weren't alarmed at all. About 40 yards further, I came upon another group (?) of deer, who scrambled deeper into the trees when they saw me.

As I finished my run, I came across a couple who appeared to be training their dogs to pull their dog sled. I hope they were rewarded, because those dogs were working hard.

The first mile seemed slow, but I ran it in about 9:08. I picked up the pace after that running a few miles in the 8:40 range. Garmin reported a short third mile, so I subtracted .1 mile from what it reported. Total run that I credit myself with - 6.4 miles.

Winter Wonder Land

Are you kidding me?

This is Spring in Illinois?

This morning's run was deferred until this afternoon, when I'll be on the treadmill at the YMCA. Same for tomorrow.

This had been a good week. I did a nice 7.8 trail run on Monday, and a fast 5.7 mile run on Tuesday. The knee was a little sore after the runs on Saturday and Monday. But, it felt better on Tuesday. I'm going to focus on more quad rolling, since there feels like I have a couple knots.

Virgil Gilman

The Virgil Gilman Trail is another of the rails to trails in the Chicago area. This one is a little different though. The Illinois Prairie Path and the Great Western Trail are crushed limestone, as are many of the Forest Preserve trails. The Virgil Gilman is mostly asphalt.

I chose to run the Virgil Gilman Trail today for a couple reasons. First, I always have wanted to check out this trail and see how it was for surface, traffic (cross streets), shade, etc. Two, the weather forecast called for 18 mph winds out of the northwest. I wanted to run at least 9 miles today and I was concerned that on a loop route with wind to battle, I would be tempted to bail out early. Running the Virgil Gilman, I could start running into the wind, struggle for 4.5 miles, and then have the wind at my back on the way home.



Well, it wasn't as windy as forecast, only about 12 mph. The temperature though was 20 F. It was pretty much a solitary run, saw a few people but not many. It's an interesting trail with businesses and houses on top of the trail. It's probably better in the summer once the trees are populated with leaves. The trail takes you by the Spring Hill Cemetary, the Aurora Country Club (looked green, but no golfers today), and the Hesed House (transitional housing for people in need). The picture above shows the bridge across the Fox River. On the east side of the bridge, this trail also connects with the Fox River Trail. The Fox River Trail connects with the Great Western Trail, and is also used by bicyclists on their way to Wisconsin.

The first mile marker is off. I reach the 1 mile marker in ~7:40 and my Garmin indicate that it was 0.90 miles. Other than that, the mile markers were accurate. The path does deteriorate at about 3 miles into rough gravel. You move onto to streets for a short time then back onto the asphalt path. It's not the greatest trail in the area, ok maybe one of the worst. But, it is a nice out and back route.

I ran 9.3 miles at an average of 8:52 mpm. Every mile except one was under 9 minutes, and that was 7 mile. This may be more mental because I seem to struggle on the seventh mile of every run. I ran this mile in 9:35 today. This covered the broken segment of the path so this explains so of that. But then, I ran the eight mile in 8:30. So, go figure.

I did register today for the NCO Spring Ahead 5K on next Sunday ...

A New Rest Day

Oh yes, the weather has been dreadful. Wednesday morning, the temperature was in the 20s and so was the wind. Thursday, the temperature was again in the 20s and the wind was in the high teens. So, time for Plan B. I ran 6 miles each day on the treadmill at the YMCA. 53:26 on Wednesday and 53:05 on Thursday. The last three miles were Thursday were run in 25:47. Nice set of effort with ugly conditions outside. I think I've shaken off the effects from last week's blood donation.

Today is a rest day. I have shifted my rest day for a couple reasons. First, most training plans specify Friday as a rest day - before a long run on Saturday. Ok, sounds good to me. Actually, Friday had become my best quality run of the week after resting on Thursday. So, my Saturday runs should be high quality, right? The second reason is that my Thursday night golf league starts in a few weeks. The league is a 9 hole league, but I usually play 18. The last 9 often get played at a fast pace and I'm often tired on Friday morning. We'll play to that and plan to not run on Friday mornings. I've run 44.9 miles over the preceding 7 day, which is excellent. A day off is earned, but may not be needed. I'm feeling good but I'll be glad in about 8 weeks.

Nice Weather Forecasts!

The weather forecasts have been dreadful. And just a little off. Not that I'm complaining. If they were correct, I would not have been able to run outside on Saturday, Sunday, or Tuesday. But I did. I hope the trend continues.

After yesterdays 8 mile run, today was to be a recovery run. Less than 5 miles but at least 4. I don't follow the normal labels for runs - recovery, easy, tempo, etc. I run by feel. I have a distance goal. But I run as I feel.

Now, my Garmin continues to give inconsistent readings in the first mile. I pretty much where the first mile ends. But, on Tuesday, it was long. My time for the "first" mile was 9:16. It felt like a 9, and it felt easy. I tried to keep the pace, but iwas easy so I actually picked it up. I ran the Springbrook trail on the east side of Plainfield-Naperville Road. I had not run this route in a while. The third mile has a little uphill segment. Not long, but a nice incline. So, this mile is always slow. On this day, the third mile was run in 9:01 which means I was feeling pretty good. It ended up as a 4.6 mile run, at 8:49 mpm. Pretty good after yesterdays 8 miles.

But the rest of the week looks bad. Cold (under 30) and windy. Rain too. We shall see.

Happy Birthday

April 2. Happy 49th Birthday. Ok, the theme for the day seemed to be just 365 days until you're 50. and that's really old. Is it?

Years ago, I worked with a James Copher. He was a big man, maybe 6'3" and 320 lbs. He wasn't always big, but he was acting stupid on skis and really damaged his knee. I guess these days they might have been able to repair it so he could remain active. But he really couldn't do anything but eat and sit and think. People who knew him a long time called him Jamie, but he created a new personna for himself as James, a Texas Gentleman. He convinced me the your birthday was a special day. And you didn't have to do anything with anybody, you could do whatever you want. He never worked on his birthday, and he let his kids stay home from school on their birthdays ... just because. Well, it seems like a good idea to me. Soooo, I do what I want.

Last year, I hurt my knee on March 29 so I wasn't able to run. This year I could and I did. 8 miles through Springbrook. Actually 8.3. A nice way to start the day. I ran at a nice pace and still averaged under 9 minutes per mile.

The morning was brisk, with a moderate wind from the SW. It was supposed to warm up in the afternoon and the wind was going to diminish. It would be a great day for the White Sox opener. My other objective was to play a round of golf on my birthday, something I've done since I started playing in 1996. When we lived in Fairfield, CA, they offered you a free round of golf at one of the two city courses (I guess you could have played at both courses for free on your birthday).

My plan was to play at the Prairie Landing golf course in West Chicago. It's a very nice course, next t0 the DuPage County airport. The course is wide open and every time I've played there, it has been on a windy day. April 2 would be no exception. I played from the gold tees which provide a 6580 yard challenge, with a course rating of 71.3 and a slope of 130. For non-golfers, that means it plays hard. And with all the rain, there wasn't a lot of roll. Which means the course was playing about 6800 or 6900 yards. Long for me.

But I played pretty well. With the conditions, bogey was a good score. I missed a makeable par putt on 5, but got up-n-down for par on 6. I messed up on 9 for a double bogey and a 45. Not too bad since the front plays harder for me.

I parred 11, but 12 is a difficult par 3. It was playing 210 over water. Actually, in the water. Double bogey. Double bogey on 13 too. Yikes. I had chances for pars on 14 and 15 but couldn't make it happen. 16 was playing 420, and I hit a nice tee shot. I couldn't see where it landed because of mounds but there was a ball right about 150 out. Wow, that doesn't seem right, it must have gotten a good role. Oops, it's a Titleist and I'm playing a Bridgestone. So where is my ball. I do find it -- in the fairway, 225 out, embedded. Wasn't going to roll. I do get an up-n-down on 17 for par and end up with a 45 on the back.

45-45 for a 90. Nice, consistency. It works to a handicap differential of 16.3, which I'll take all year long. My stats - 9/13 fairways, good. Only 3 GIRs. Can do better. 37 putts, must do better.

Watched the last half of the Sox game - very ugly. Hope for a great dinner. Steak. Oreo cheesecake for my birthday cake. Watched 24, my favorite tv show. And some of Florida winning the NCAA basketball championship.

And that was my 49th birthday.

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday. Possibly the most important day in the Christian calendar. Which means that churches are full and parking spots are harder to find than normal. The reading of the Passion story doesn't seem to take as long as when I was 10. This year, the Passion story from the Gospel of Luke was read. This version is the second shortest. The church was full but there has been more people in attendance. At St. Raphael parish, they start 10 minutes early with blessings of the palms outside followed by a procession inside, and a scramble for seats.

Well, I have to say that I've been lucky with the weather this weekend. Based on the forecasts, it was unlikely to have run outdoors on either Saturday or Sunday. But the worst weather cam Saturday night. I ran on the Springbrook Trail again this morning. There was only one spot with one significant puddle. Of course, it was quiet out there as it usually is on Sunday morning. This was truly a recovery run. I was hoping to feel more comfortable than I did yesterday, and I did. It was good than 80% of the run was in a east or west direction, because the wind from the south was quite brisk, at least 12 mph.

For the past several years, I have encountered an injury almost every year. Usually it has been my knees. For a while, strength was a concern. I doubt that really was a problem. Flexibility is next on the list. So, I work on hamstring flexibility every day. All day. I'm stretching maybe 15-20 minutes during the day, and then a dedicated 10 minutes at night. I've concentrated mostly on my left left, but it has become more flexible than my right.

Saturday in the Park

Saturday is usually a longer run, a more relaxing run. But the forecast for the weekend is rain, then heavy rain, then thunderstorms, then more rain. I really didn't think I would be running outdoors this weekend.

But, there seemed to be a window when I could get a run completed without getting too wet. The plan was 8 miles, the goal was to get 9 miles in. Well, early into the run, it seemed that 9 miles was not going to happen. But 8 miles would. A few raindrops started to fall around the 3rd mile. I started slow, but was running nicely in the 8:40 range during the middle of the run. I was stopped for traffic at 75th and Book (for maybe the first time ever) and again briefly at 83rd. I felt my calf cramp when crossing Naperville-Plainfield and eased on in. I was running on an sub 9 minute until the last mile when I finished 8.1 miles in 1:13:02.

A few days earlier, I read what I thought was a ridiculous account on another forum. Another runner claimed that their Garmin started to go backwards. In that case, it was foggy and overcast. This morning, it was drizzling and overcast. And as I finished that last .1 mile, the lap distance went 430 ft, 480 ft, 280ft!!!

It was quiet out there this morning. Only a few runners, a few cyclists, a few walkers with dogs. Let's see 2 dogs, 7 cyclists, maybe 6 runners. A few weeks earlier, I think I saw close to 40 runners.

It's All About Me

Yes, it's all about me.

In this blog, you'll read mostly about me. There may be some stories about my wife Lori or my son Patrick. But this is my blog. They can write their own blog.

You'll hear about my running and golfing adventures. Right now, it will be 65% running and 35% golfing. The percentages may change. We'll see how my health goes, how my running progresses, or how my golf game progresses.

The First Entry

Every blog has to start somewhere. So, this is the first entry. Today is March 30 and I'm just 3 days from my 49th birthday. Well, at least I'm not 50. Not yet.

On Wednesday, I gave a Double Red Blood Cell donation. I was the first person at the Sts. Peter and Paul Blood Drive who agree to do a Double RBC - I think this actually surprised them. First, Heartland Blood Center needed to get special permission from one of their doctors because my heart rate of 46 was lower than they like to see during a RBC doantion. It took abbout an hour. The downside, I think, is that I'm not eligible to donate blood for 16 weeks instead of the normal 8.

I actually felt fine afterwards, and the next day -- which was a rest day for me. But in this morning's run, I was suffering from a lack of energy. I ran 6.3 miles, most of it through the Springbrook Forest Preserve (see picture above). The first mile was at a crisp 8:34, but the subsequent miles were close to a 9 minute pace. Not a terrible run, but without the energy that I felt earlier this week.

Click Here for a Map of the Springbrook Prairie Trail

Rain is expected through the weekend, so I'm not sure what lies ahead. Might be running inside ...