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.