A Great Run

Yesterday was one of the best runs I had in several months. I wanted to do 2 hours at 9:30-10:00min/mile pace but found a group that was going to run the March Madness half marathon course in Cary, IL. We got just slightly lost and ended up running 14.0 miles instead of 13.1 miles.

Since I didn't know the course I kept pace with a couple guys that wanted to do 8:15-8:30min/miles and figured I just hang with them until I got tired...well that never happened and I felt unbelievable during the run.

I ran in my new Nike Free shoes, which were awesome (except on ice...I almost broke my neck). Even though the weather started at 25 degrees, it was sunny and hardy any wind and I guess my clothing perfectly.

Due to the very hilly course we ended up averaging just under 9:00 min/miles and my avg heart rate was only 149 beats per minute! Very good for me this early in the season.

CLICK HERE for garmin data and CLICK HERE for HRM data.

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Mid February??

Holy crap. I can't believe that it's already mid February! I'm glad I signed up for a half marathon in mid March so I keep some semblance of physical fitness. :)

Last week sucked big time for workouts. I need to stop planning ahead so much and just focus on today...what workouts do I need to complete today and the weeks will take care of themselves.

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Aimless Training

Well, January is always the month of "Limbo" training for me. I don't want to start training in earnest for a late season triathlon (IMKY and IMWI) because I always get burned out by July...right when my peak hours come but I don't want to be doing nothing as I do for most of Oct/Nov/and Dec each year.

So this past month has been my meager attempt to but together some semblance of consistency but no real purpose other than to get my body back in gear for the onslaught of training soon to come.

The fact that I signed up for the Cary March Madness 1/2 marathon helps from a running standpoint as it's a goal that serves my training well at this time, and my new computrainer helps too since it's a new toy I like to use. However, I don't want to get in the pool for another couple months at least...but we'll have to see what my coach says about that. ha ha ha.

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Travel and Training

This past week I went to NYC on business traveling from 3:00am on Tuesday to 1:00am Friday. I forgot how tough it was to keep the workout schedule while being in a hotel and having breakfast meetings, dinner meetings, and flights. I don't envy those who have to travel a lot for work and train at the same time.

But, looking at the glass half full...I was able to get a run in through Central Park. It was so beautiful/peaceful to run through the park in the middle of the hustle and bustle of NYC. They really have a terrific asset with that Park.

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Chicago is 56 degrees in January !

I'm not sure, but I think it might very well be a Mortal Sin (if not, at least a Venial Sin) to not do something outdoors today.

Mid 50's in January in Chicago is, well, not normal. If this is the product of Global Warming then I don't want to recycle anymore (just joking).

I went out with the Elmhurst Bicycle Club today and rode about 1.5 hours. It was truly a pleasure to be outside riding with no snow on the ground, no risk of ice/falling, and no balaclava. Being with friends and enjoying our fitness is really what loving life is about in my world. These days usually are in the Spring and Summer and so I was glad to have enjoyed such a day in the dead of a Chicago winter.

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Happy 2008

Happy New Year!

Joanna and I are both sick today. We try not to get Nathan sick whenever we are sick...so far it's worked.

The little prince was crawling around like crazy today.

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Nathan learns to crawl

Well it is one day after Nathan's 10 month birthday and today was the first day that he began crawling! It was about 7:00am when it happened and I was so excited that I woke up Joanna and told her that he was crawling!

We thought he'd go straight to walking since he didn't seemed interested at all in crawling...but it turns out that he's just doing things on his own schedule.

It's not nearly as exciting as a child's first steps I suspect...but it was very fun to watch him finally become self-propelled!

(I apologize for the video's poor lighting, it was early morning and the sun was just about to rise.)

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