Last week of prep

So I am just six days away from my race. Since my last check in here, I've had two serious runs.

On Thursday, I did three four minute intervals, running around 8.3 mph. In between my two minute intervals were run about 7.3 mph. So I pushed myself just a little harder than the last Thursday. I ran a mile around 7.3 mph for both warm up and cool down as well. I felt fine at the end, but I'm not sure if I was more tired or bored. I probably could have done a fourth interval if I really wanted to. In total, I did 4.25 miles in 33 minutes. My pace was 7:46 per mile.

On Saturday, I finished five miles in 38 minutes, for a 7:36 pace. I pushed myself pretty hard on that run and I needed to use some liquid bandage afterwards. I know I can keep that pace up on a treadmill, but when I'm out in the elements, I really don't know what will happen.

Wanting to rest my feet on Sunday, I decided to do 15 minutes each of power walking, the stair climber, and the elliptical. Monday I took off. I'm planning on my last hard run on Tuesday night, I'm going for a three mile sprint. I'm going for a finish of 22 minutes. After that, it'll probably be DDP yoga and rest.

The wait is almost over...

What happens here

For a good six or seven months now, I've felt a strong desire to leave Chicago. After 19 years, it was as if my breaking point had hit. There are many things to like about this area, but the negatives began to swallow the positives right up.

So about a month ago, I started doing something new. I began applying for jobs out of state, focusing on North Carolina and Texas. I just wanted out of the Midwest period. And I wanted to live on my own and the cost of living disc South would make that much more feasible.

I got interviewed for one job near Greensboro, but the money wasn't enough. After all I'm working and making a decent amount. I don't have to take a new job if I don't want it. It's nice to have that power.

But in the last two weeks, another twist has happened. Without solicitation, people have expressed interest in buying our house. One couple might be offering close to $300,000. So if we accepted, then what? Would Mom and I stay together and take another place nearby. Would we move somewhere and would I then start have to look for jobs in that area? All of a sudden, I'd have no income and that's a scary thought. And if we did move far away, would we be together or apart?

I know what I want, but I just don't know if it's possible. But I have the same feeling I had last fall. By the end of the year, my life will be dramatically different then it is today.

Pushing myself

As of tonight, I have ten days to go until the Shamrock shuffle. So I'm about 70 percent done with the training period. But more than that, I'm almost done with the intense section. It started last weekend and continued into Tuesday night. I ran 5.75 miles in 44 minutes. 19 of those minutes were actually what I would call a hard jog, my warm up and cool down.

The jog pace was around 7.2 mph and I could definitely maintain that pace for five miles. But for the tempo run, I went between 8.2 and 8.8 mph. I did that for maybe 3.5 miles. I think that pace will be pretty brutal to keep the entire time. What I think I can do is give one all out sprint for the last 3/4 mile. I remember three years ago the appearance of the finish line caught me off guard. This time, I will know the course. I will know when to push hard.

There was one concern I had afterwards. I was pretty caught off guard when I removed my right shoe and black ankle sock and saw blood on the nail of my third toe. I didn't feel any pain at any point during the run. And I don't feel any discomfort 24 hours later. But I'll be making sure that toe is clean and won't cause issues on April 2.

On Thursday, I have one final interval run. I'm supposed to just do two 4 minute sprints. But because I had to cut last week's short from five intervals to two, I may add one or two extra intervals tomorrow night.

4 Weeks of Training Down, 2 To Go.

Well, this has definitely been my most challenigng week of training. As I've mentioned previously, my blister took a full layer of skin off the bottom of my foot, about the size of a nickel. I knew this weekend would be a pivotal point into what kind of performance I can put into the Shamrock Shuffle. With the race only two weeks away, there isn't much time to push hard before the necessary period where I back off a little bit to make sure that I am at my best condition.

I actually had to take Ibuprofen Thursday afternoon just to get through the work day. My right hip was starting to not just feel tight, which it has for a few weeks, but it was causing me a good amount of discomfort. I knew I had a rest day on Friday, and I knew I was going to need it.

All I can say is thank the Lord for liquid bandage and Blister band-aids. Thursday night, I stopped at Walgreen's for those two items and they made a huge difference.

The plan was to complete 5.5 miles on Saturday and 3 on Sunday. I had applied several coats of liquid bandage during the 36 hours leading up to this first weekend workout. And I have to stay it's a very effective product. Granted it made my foot feel a little scaly and sticky, but when I walked or ran, I could feel the additional protection on my foot.

So how did I do? I didn't just run 5.5 miles, I ran 6. The one aggravating aspect is I hit the stupid safety button thirty minutes in, which shut down the whole workout. So I had to start up again. But I'm prtty sure it was six full miles in about 47 minutes. That translates to a 7:50 mile, which would have me finishing in about 39 minutes. My hip and foot felt good for the most part when I finished. About two hours later, I noticed a little twinge at the top of my right foot, but nothing that is alarming me.

I ran again this morning and I went a little harder. I finished 3 miles in 22 minutes even. I was running about 8.3 mph, which had me around 7:20 per mile. If I could keep that pace up the whole race, that would be okay with me. So for the weekend, I ran nine miles total.

There are two weeks between now and Race Day. This is my last week where I'm training hard. Since I have a job interview, I don't think I'll be training Monday, so my next activity is a 25 minute tempo run on Tuesday night. Maybe I'll get up early on Tuesday morning and do some DDP yoga though.

I can say that my confidence is growing again. I know I can finish the race at a decent time. The only thing I'm not sure of is how fast of a pace I can keep up for five full miles outside.

Week 4. Two Weeks Till the Race and I'm Not Feeling Right

Guys, I'm getting worried. My right hip has been giving me problems for three or four days. Then  on Tuesday, I felt the blister on the instep of my right foot really open up. I managed to persevere and finish over 4 miles. But when I tried to run again today, I was missing a layer of skin. It got this bad that I planned on doing five sprint intervals and I could only get through two.

I had to go to Walgreen's this afternoon and buy liquid bandage as well as band aids that are designed for blisters. It's becoming pretty costly for me to run this race, in terms of my time, my money, and my physical well-being. I don't know if I'll be able to do this race again. I really don't. But I'm commited to running the best damn race I can on April 2.

I know I have the endurance to finish. I just have to get that speed up. And even if that means I ahve to get on the elliptival for a day or two to give my foot a rest, then that's what I'll do. This weekend's training could prove pivotal to the level of my performance in the race.

Week 3 of training goes on

Well I'm still feeling good. I ran two times this week so far. 5.25 miles in 44:30 and 5 miles in 41 minutes. The first was a straight ahead run and the second was an interval run. But each time I'm opening and closing by fast jogging a mile. The problem was Tuesday night, I developed a blister on the bottom of my right foot near my instep. So after Thursday, how do I put this delicately...I did waht I had to do so it would nobe as much of a hindrance anymore.

This weekend, it's 4.5 miles and 3 miles. I'll go harder on Saturday and try to break 36 minutes. Sunday will be more casual and I'll probably do some lighgtlifting as well.

Milwaukee return

I'm in Milwaukee tonight for WWE Fastlane. This is definitely a better trip than my last time in this city with my now ex, which lasted about an hour when we couldn't find a lick of parking.

Anyway enough bad memories. I had to go over to Frank's Diner in Kenosha for breakfast. It's basically become a tradition for me to stop there for breakfast every time I drive to Eastern Wisconsin. Which is pretty impressive, considering Kenosha doesn't exactly have a lot to offer.

There isn't much room, as it's an old dining car, but that's the advantage of going alone. I was able to get a seat at the counter after waiting about twenty minutes. I ordered a full garbage plate, with peppers, onions, and hash browns, with veggies, plus cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, jalapenos, two slices of thick buttered homemade toast and a slice of cinnamon roll French toast. It ain't healthy, but it's amazing flavor, and one of the best breakfasts I've had.

The temperature was colder than I expected. The weather reports all week long had been saying the temperature would be around 60 degrees. It never even got above 45. So my half mile walk had me wishing I wore my winter hat and gloves.

I went into Discovery World, which is like the Milwaukee version of the museum of science and industry. The highlight for me was the Les Paul Guitar exhibit. Les Paul was a legendary guitar player and maker. It was so insightful learning about his recording, mixing, and playing techniques that helped to revolutionize music. There was a booth playing some classic tracks, including a duet with Paul on guitar and Nat King Cole on piano. What a treasure! I especially enjoyed my first time producing a song, as I added the drum, bass, and rhythm tracks to the song "Brazil."

Another memorable moment was laying on the bed of nails. I had to just lay flat as possible on this plastic table which and thousands of tiny holes. I pressed a green button and I could feel the nails lift me up. I released the button and the nails lowered me back to the table. No I didn't get cut, but now I think I know what acupuncture feels like.

I also went into the Sportology room. It was a dark room with stadium seating where I could test my different physical abilities. They had spots for flexibility, baseball pitching, wheelchair racing, hand grip, high jump, a hanging station, and hand eye coordination. I was really good in the wheelchair, flexibility, and hanging. The pitching and hand grip... Not too good.

I then drove west from downtown over to Marquette University. I saw a statue of the missionary whom the University whom named after and he had a golden eagles scarf wrapped around him. They had a little chapel where took a few minutes to pray.

After prayer, it was time for beer. Off a recommendation from a local writer, I tried a new brewery called Third Space, which is on the west side, not far from Miller Park. I started with a flight, since I had an hour to kill until the tour between. The beers were all pretty good, but nothing that blew me away initially. But the tour included two free beers, so I used one on something different. During the flight, my favorite was the upward spiral, which is their IPA. It's funny to think I never would drink an IPA even two years and now it's my go to during cold weather. So this place has a double hopped upward spiral. I tried it and I could not believe how good this beer was. It was drinkable like a pale ale but had the smoothness and boldness of a stout. I never drink stouts, but this was incredible. In fact, I used my second drink ticket on the same beer.

I also stopped in a small park called Valley Park. The highlight was watching a dog chasing a tennis ball that his master was slinging around. The amazing part was seeing the dog drop the ball at the person's feet. I could never get Hogan to do that. He'd just growl at me!

After the beer, it was over to the Milwaukee Brat House for some grub. More local beer and two brats. The first one I had was the German with kraut, onions, and brown mustard on a pretzel roll. Excellent. The fully loaded was the star, topped with kraut, onions, red peppers, mushrooms, and giardiniera. Awesome sausages.

WWE Fastlane was widely panned by the critics. I have to say it wasn't the best show I ever saw. Many people who should have won lost and vice versa. Plus there was just way too much filler.  It didn't help that I had a piece of shit next to me in a disgusting Cubs hat

The weekend comes... find fades all too fast

So this weekend, I ran two straight days. Even if my race speed and endurance aren't where I want them, I'm building up my resilience in quick order.

On Saturday, I completed 4 miles in 32 minutes. That gave me a good deal of confidence. I really want to finish the race in under 40 minutes and that pace would have me right on track.

Then earlier this morning, I went a little slower. I knocked out three miles in 34 minutes. I was still running over seven mph, but it wasn't overly strenuous.

The key is after each of these runs, I had practically no discomfort in my quads, knees, or ankles. The only issue was after the Saturday run, I felt a hot spot on the instep of my right foot. I had to take one of those shower stones to my foot to make sure it didn't blister.

This week, my focus is going to be getting to where I can run 8.0 mph for a decent length of time. Now what do I mean? I did several intervals last week at 8.0 where I made it for four minutes. But at the end of each of those intervals, I felt like I needed to slow down to a jog. So if I can get up to seven or eight minutes of running at that race pace by Saturday, I would consider that a good accomplishment.

The weekend comes and I'm feeling good

So I ran both Tuesday and Thursday. I did my Tuesday tempo run, finishing 4.75 miles in 40 minutes. That's about an 8:25 pace total. But 2 miles of that were run at around 6.7 miles, so the 20 minutes that I did run at around race pace were pretty intense. I think I went around 7.5 mph for those 20 minutes. I think the only issue was a little tightness in my right calf. My quads felt fine.

I took Wednesday and Friday off. Thursday was the interval run. I ran 10 minutes at around 6.5 mph. Then I ran my four 4-minute intervals at 8.0 mph with three 2-minute intervals at 6.8 mph. This was the first time I tried to run an extended time at 8.0 mph. I have to say it was a struggle to keep up. On my first interval, I could feel a little bit of a side stitch. There is pretty much no feeling I dread when I run as much as that pain in my side. Thankfully I was able to shrug it off.

That 4-minute interval was about as much as I could handle at 8.0 mph. I had just enough energy to get through it each time. At this point in my training, I'm not capable of maintaining an 8.0 mph pace for five miles. But for the first time in three years, I did run five miles. It took me 42:00 to get it done. And if I spent two of those miles warming up and cooling down, I have every confidence that I can keep a slightly faster pace than that and finish the race in under 40 minutes.

So I'm scheduled for a 4.5 mile run and then a 3.0 mile run this weekend. I'm thinking I'm going to push pretty well for the 4.5, maybe going around 7.0 mph. I feel ready to push my speed a little bit this. Let's see what happens.