Running into the New Year

My sister Melissa -- on a journey to become an Iron[wo]man -- told me that she was signed up to run a 5K on New Years Day in Chicago, and asked if I was interested in taking part in the event. Today, I signed up, too, so I'll be among a couple thousand crazies running on New Years morning.

Here's why we're all crazy:

The race will be held in Lincoln Park, which you hit at around Mile 6 or 7 during the Chicago Marathon. Part of the reason I thought this race sounded fun was because I haven't run in an organized event off less than 13.1 miles since high school. I'm looking forward to going all out for 3.1 miles and seeing how I do -- cold weather and all.

I'll be aiming to break 21 minutes, but we'll see what happens. I can break that no problem on an indoor track inside the comforts of a gym, or on a treadmill. We'll see if I can do it out in the cold with a few layers on. If I finish fast, I'm hoping to go find my sister and push her along to the finish to hopefully help her reach her time goal.

I have taken Monday and Tuesday off this week, so I'll hit the snow-covered sidewalks here again tomorrow. Last week, I met my goal of 21 miles in 3 runs, logging a nice 6-miler at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. It's been hard to steer completely clear of all the Christmas cookies between runs, though!

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

Bring it, winter

After one little purchase, I no longer view a winter storm the same. When I look out the window now, and I see snow falling and ice forming, obvious signs that the temperature is dropping fast, I no longer worry about how I'm going to get my run in.

Thanks to these...


... I now smile when the weather outside is frightful.

A little snow and ice -- or a lot of snow and ice, for that matter -- is no match for me and my new Yaktrax. Puddles... well, puddles are still a problem. This week, back here in Chicagoland for the holidays, I have logged a 7-miler in an ice storm and an 8-miler during a big snow storm. And I had a blast each time I've headed out.

That's me heading out on an 8-mile jaunt the day after Christmas.

With these babies strapped to my shoes, I can run without worrying about any nasty slips or falls. Last year in Toronto, I had a couple of those while running in snowy conditions with no "tire chains" on my feet, as the family has referred to them. It's made running in the winter fun. Yeah, I said it. Fun. No, I'm not crazy. I'm just a runner.

One thing that added to the whole experience was watching the reaction of people in cars as they drove by me running out in the nasty weather. I saw a few dropped jaws and a couple people did full head-turns like, "Is that person nuts?" One man in a snow plow gave me an extra boost of adrenaline, though. He honked his horn, rolled down his window and threw a fist up in the air as he drove by, like "Right on, man!"

Right on, indeed. I also reached a milestone today. I passed 2,000 miles since i began logging in October 2007. I've averaged more than 2 miles per day since I started running regularly, and have averaged 5.8 miles per run over that span.

Can't wait for tomorrow's 6-mile run. Here's hoping it doesn't warm up!

~JB

Eight Mile

That was what I logged today. No big deal, except that I've been sidelined for a little over a week with one of the worst back issues I've ever had. I even admitted defeat and went and saw a doctor on Monday. For anyone who knows me, that's a big deal.

The doc cracked me in a thousand places and gave me some meds and I've been feeling a lot better in the last two days. My job forced me to leave Chicago and come back to Toronto this week, so instead of sitting around the condo today, I made a point to head over to the gym.

Feeling good, I did six miles on the treadmill and then two around the track at about an 8-minute pace. I skipped the core workout or any lifting, because I was worried about tweaking my back. I've had sharp pain in my neck, upper right back, right shoulder and even some strain in my right chest muscles.

I'm just happy I was able to get back to running again. When you finally become a "runner", it's funny how even a few days off make you really antsy. Between my job and not running, my stress level was going through the roof. I've been feeling really irritable and quite tense. I'm sure my wife can attest to that!

But, after running today, I felt so much better. And relieved that the whole run went well, no rust really to shake off. Since the week after I completed Chicago Marathon, I've been trying to maintain an average of at least 21 miles per week. Minus last week, I've been able to manage that type of work load.

Don't tell my wife :) but I'm contemplating running the Tampa Marathon on Feb. 28. Someone reminded me that it was going on while I was in Florida and I'm considering giving it a go. I might not, but I'm at least letting the idea linger in my head. I have yet to sit down and map out a plan to see if it's realistic or not.

That's all for now. Just haven't updated in a while.

~JB

Memory Lane

Two weeks out from this year's Chicago Marathon and I'm back on the roads again.

Today, to get to 21 miles this week, I logged 6 around Thornton and South Holland here in Chicagoland. I decided to run into SoHo for a change. Normally, I stick to a nice route that goes around Kell's hometown of Thornton and takes me through some woods.

This time I was feeling a bit sentimental and wanted to run through the town I grew up in. From Kell's parent's house to the house where I spent most of my childhood is almost exactly 3 miles, making for an easy out-and-back.

The photo (thanks Google maps!) is of the park that sits next to the culdesac where my old house stands. I did one loop around the park, running by the baseball fields where I used to practice and the playgrounds I spent so many hours on. It was fun heading down my old street and seeing what had changed and what little things were still the same.

My old house still had the same rickety shed along the side that my dad put up -- broken door and everything! He also put up this small strip of pickett fence on the front corner of the house to "hide" the garbage cans. Yup, still there. I was cracking up. My friends' old treehouse, where no girls were allowed, still stands a few houses down, too.

I actually took a break at the 3-mile mark to walk around the end of the culdesac before heading on my way. I noticed a neighbor in the house next to my old home pulling back some curtains and peering out at me. Probably seemed weird to have some random dude running on his street. When you live on a street like that, it's rare to see anyone who doesn't have a reason to be there. We always could tell when a car made a wrong turn onto our block. Everyone knows everyone.

As I was walking by my old house, a woman came out with a couple of kids, looking at me funny. I smiled, said hello and said I was just taking a run down memory lane -- that I lived on this street a decade ago and happened to be back in the neighborhood. She smiled back and said OK, but still was looking at me like I was some whacko. As to avoid anyone calling the cops on the strange runner guy, I headed on my way.

As for the run itself, my left foot was a little sore throughout. I've had some minor pain on the underside of my foot at the base of the two toes next to my big toe. Pounding the pavement so soon after a marathon might be the cause, just overuse. I also switched back to a pair of shoes that have 400+ miles on them, which could have contributed.

My other pair of Saucony's are still drying after a fun run I did a few nights ago. It was pouring rain, but I didn't let that stop me from heading out for a quick 3 miles. I got drenched, and had a blast. At a certain point, I no longer cared about running through puddles -- that's how soaked I was. I'll take a day off here to let my foot rest and to let my the shoes with fewer miles on them dry some more. Might have to take a blowdryer to them.

That's all for right now. Just thought I'd add a quick update, as well as some photos to the blog. Kelly and Hayden and I are planning on heading back to Toronto in early November, so it'll be back to running north of the border, where it's a bit colder than here. I'm thinking of sticking to 3-6 miles each time for a while, so I might just stick to the track/treadmills back home.

Who am I kidding? I'll probably get out the winter gear and run through the snow like I did all last winter. Sometimes those are the most memorable runs. Today's certainly ranked up there.

3-peat: Running Chicago 2009

I did it. I never doubted that I would cross the finish line at this year's Chicago Marathon, but I definitely did not expect to do as well as I did this past Sunday. Here on the couch, with my feet up and the race behind me, I am completely satisfied with the results.

First, the raw data: I finished my third career marathon in 4:04:04, representing a new personal best. Among 33,608 finishers, I placed 12,117. Among 18,983 men, I ranked 8,811. Among men between the ages of 25-29, I was No. 1,493 out of 3,117. Not too shabby in my book.

This marathon was the most satisfying of the three I have run.

I'd say last year's Chicago Marathon (4:22) was the most fun. Once I knew the extreme heat was not going to allow me to meet my time goals, I slowed down and soaked up the experience of my first 26.2. Running the Disney Marathon (4:09) showed me something about myself. I set a PR at the time, despite running the final 7 miles with increasing pain in my hip.

But this year's marathon was the most satisfying.

I went in without expectations. The birth of Hayden on Sept. 1 took away about two weeks of training during the most critical period. Leading up to his arrival, I had actually cut down my mileage, trying to convince myself that running a marathon under the circumstances was not a good idea. I was talking myself out of it.

Then, the more I thought about it, I told myself that I've never backed out of anything in my life. When I put my mind to something, I do it. Full training or not, I had the experience and determination to carry me through. So, in the two weeks leading up to the marathon, I banged out a 20-mile run and did some workouts to get myself as prepared as I could.

The last thing I wanted was to be sitting at home on marathon day, having not even tried. Giving up is something I have never done and -- with a new son to raise -- I am now an example. Sure, he's just a baby right now, but when he is older, and he's asking about my marathons, I don't have to say I sat one out because I wasn't sure I could do it.

That is why this run was the most satisfying.

I went in with a specific strategy. My only goal was to cross the finish line, but I came up with a plan to try to shoot for a new personal record. I hadn't logged the really long runs, and I was 15 pounds heavier than last October, but I knew I could do the first 13-16 miles at a good clip. So, I figured my best shot at coming close to 4 hours was to go out fast and slow up late.

I ran the first 13.1 miles in 1:51 -- not bad considering I ran the Las Vegas half in 1:41 in December. I knew I couldn't hold that pace, but that early split could make up for my slower pace in the second half. I did the second 13.1 in 2:13, falling four minutes shy of cracking 4 hours, but beating my previous best by five minutes.

How could I have made up those four minutes?

Well, there were two quick porto-potty stops and few brief walking breaks between miles 16-24. Then, during the last mile, I stopped to help a guy who was collapsed in the road after having his hamstring blow up on him. I ran by a guy crawling off the road last year and that always stuck with me. This year, I decided not to be one of the people who ran on and did nothing.

So, with all of that, there's your four minutes. But, who cares? I didn't know I'd even be able to set a new best time thisyear and I can look back knowing I helped someone. I have nothing to be upset about.

The weather conditions were almost perfect. I say "almost" because it was cold - in the low 30s at the start. I wore short sleeves and gloves to start off and was warm enough 3-4 miles in. I ran by my sister Melissa between miles 4-5 -- gave her a big hug, so there's another 5 seconds I can't get back! -- and gave her the gloves before moving on.

About a half hour after finishing, I started to get really cold again while waiting to pick up my stuff at gear check. Even though it was so cold, it still beat the 85-degree day we had in Chicago for the marathon last year. That wore me down so much in the second half of the run. If only I could've combined last year's training with this year's conditions.

After the race, I met up with Melissa and my wife Kelly drove downtown with Baby Hayden and Grandma to join us for a celebratory lunch at my favorite Chicago restaurant: Flat Top Grill. In the days since, I've had a Chicago pizza, Taco Bell and Kell's awesome lasagna. Living it up before getting back to running the roads.

Next year, I'm thinking about doing a November marathon. San Antonio? New York? We'll see.

For now, I'm satisfied with calling myself a three-time marathoner.

Here is Hayden modeling my medal.

Where there's a will...

Can you see me in that crowd? I'm right there, on the left, about 300 yards in front of that big white tent back there. Can't see me among the 45,000 runners? This year -- on Sunday -- I'll be a little closer to the front, in one of the designated start corrals rather than in the open section.

A year ago, Chicago was my first marathon. Over more than a year of running up to that point, I had shed more than 40 pounds. Now, a year since that photo was taken, I am a two-time marathoner. Did Chicago in 4:22 in very hot conditions, did Disney in 4:09 with a bum hip for the last 7 miles. Ran the Las Vegas half in 1:42 in perfect conditions in between.

This Sunday, I will be able to say I'm a three-time marathoner. I haven't trained as hard leading up to this one -- funny how bringing a son into the world will throw off your priorities, and your training (Kelly and I welcomed Baby Hayden Bastian to our family on Sept. 1). I haven't been blogging, because I haven't been running as much. Only recently did I pick it up hard again, and I feel like I've been cramming for an exam.

This year will be all about experience and will power. I want to crack 4 hours, but if I don't I'm not going to get all worked up over it. My goal this year is to cross that finish line. Last week I successfully logged 20 miles after not having gone 10+ in a month. The 32 miles I ran last week were my most in one week since January. Sunday is going to hurt and I know it. And I'm ready.

Having run two marathons before, and with that 20-miler under my belt recently, I know what I'm in for and I know I can handle it. I might not be able to clock as fast of splits as in the past, but I will hold a steady pace with the goal of not slowing much as I get deeper in the run. I want to prove to myself that I can push beyond my limits, using my experience.

I look forward to putting that medal on after I finish my third career 26.2. I also look forward to updating this blog more often as I get back at it over the next year. I hope to run at least one marathon per year from here on out. I'm already thinking that one in October or November of 2010 will be next.

I'll post more after Sunday's adventure...

Intermission Over

That's the hope anyway. I've been on -- how shall I say it? -- an extended mental and physical "break" from running. You could probably gather as much from the time between posts here. Since my last update, I have logged 84 miles in roughly 11 weeks, which is a big drop-off for me.

Things are going to pick up, though. They have to. I've had a few moments recently that have started to nudge me back in the right direction. My lovely wife, Kelly, teasingly told me the other day that she liked that I was getting my belly back. I signed up for the 2009 Chicago Marathon the next day.

Beyond that little bit of motivation, I keep having people ask me how my running is going and I'm sick and tired of saying I'm on a break. Me and running haven't broken up, but we're on a break. A Blue Jays player asked me this week and then another person at work brought up the running again yesterday.

What this has showed me is how much running became a part of my identity and I have let it slip away over the past couple months. It's time to get back at it. I stepped on the scale last night before bed and I was up to nearly 175. That's 20 pounds heavier than I was last October! I don't look heavy by any means, don't get me wrong, but it's time to hit the path again.

I started this morning. Kelly got up at 6ish this morn to get ready for work and rather than stay in bed like I normally do, I got up as well. I loaded up my ipod with some fresh tunes while she got ready and after she left, I headed to the lakefront. Now, I planned on punishing myself with 10 miles, but I settled for 6 at a 7:57 pace with a brief break at the midway point.

My legs were singing as I wrapped up the run and I'm sitting in the pressbox at work right now fighting a cough. That tells me that it's been way too long since my last run -- 17 days in fact. Now that I have another 26.2 on my schedule, I can't afford to stray away from running again. Now is the time to step up the program again and get back to watching what I'm eating.

"Success does not cometo the most righteous and rigorously disciplined but to those who continue running." ~Amby Burfoot

Spring Training

Wow, it's been a while since my last post. So, I'll just toss a quick update on here. I'm back in Florida for another year of spring training and I'll be here through April 2. As for the running? It's been kind of sporatic of late.

I've gone running a handful of times since the marathon, but I've still been dealing with some leftover right hip soreness -- the problem that came up during the race. I took a week off after the marathon, logged 21 miles the next week, and then decided I was aching a little too much to keep going.

So, for much of the past month, I've stayed away from running, spending more time lifting again in the gym. Nothing wrong with pumping the ol' iron, which I didn't do much while in marathon training. I did 3 miles on the treadmill yesterday at a 7:20 pace and actually felt great, and after a day off today, I'm planning on logging 5-6 miles early in the morning.

I'm trying to be smart and just run to tolerance right now. It seems like the longer I run, the more the hip thing comes up. On 3-mile runs, it's not a problem, but once I get up to four or more, it begins to irritate me. So, hopefully doing some strengthing work in the gym will help me recover.

That's it for now. It's been awesome to be outside, running in shorts again down in this Florida weather. Goodbye, winter.

Disney World Marathon

I've had a couple days to think about Sunday's marathon, providing enough time for some of the frustration to wear off. That's a good thing, because looking back on it now, I can say I'm happy with how things went in my second marathon. When it was all said and done, I had shaved more than 13 minutes off my personal best and finished the 26.2 miles in a respectable 4:09:04.

The photo above (all pictures in this post courtesy of my wife, Kelly) is of me heading into the final turn at the finish. What you can't see is the source of my frustration. I was limping pretty bad at that point due to an issue with the right side of my hip. It started around mile 17 and was really bad for the final four miles -- to the point where it was hurting to lift my right leg.

Under the circumstances, though, my time was pretty good. My goal was to break four hours and -- injury aside -- had it not been for three unfortunate porta-john stops (thanks 6 am start!), I probably would've met that goal. Up until the hip issue flared up, I was on pace for about a 3:45-50 finish, which was what I was gunning for this time.

But, hey, I finished, and here's what I received for my work:

Quite the elaborate medal, huh. I knew Kelly -- a huge Disney fan, for those who aren't aware -- would love the hardware, not to mention the trip to Disney World. We toured the park on Friday and had a blast. Then, I got a backstage tour on Sunday. Running through large empty stretches of the parks was a neat experience.

Overall, I enjoyed Chicago more. I've said it before, I can't imagine many other marathons -- with the exception of New York and Boston -- matching the energy of the Chicago marathon. With 1.5 million spectators lining nearly the entire path, it's an awesome experience. For Disney, there were long periods of running with no spectators on the empty highway roads between the parks.

The four parks (you begin in Epcot, then run through Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios before returning to Epcot for the finish) did break up the run pretty well, though. Magic Kingdom was probably the highlight, though running at the bottom of Mount Everest in Animal Kingdom was pretty cool, too.

This is a picture of a crowd in Magic Kingdom watching runners head into Tomorrowland. After running down Main Street in MK, you head through this section of the park before making your way back to the castle. We ran through the tunnel under the castle from the back and then veered off to the right.

Here's a shot Kell took of runners making their way out of the castle. As you're coming down the ramp after coming out of the tunnel, there was a photographer in front of the castle. Some runners, me included, hopped off the course to get a picture snapped really quick. After doing that, I high-fived Mickey Mouse and went on my way.

Out of 14,940 finishers, my time was good enough to place me 2,586th. Out of 7,801 men, I finished in 1,926th place. I was 232nd out of 873 men in the 25-29 age bracket as well. My placings weren't as good as my half showing in Vegas, but I guess finishing in the top 20 percent isn't all that shabby, especially on a wonky leg.

I don't have any official splits for the marathon, but here are the estimated mile times, according to my watch, which tends to run a little slower than the actual pace:

Miles 1-16:
8:22/9:51/8:19/8:15/8:27/8:22/10:46/8:21/
8:16/8:24/8:30/8:44/8:23/8:41/11:15/8:30

Miles 17-26.2:
9:28/9:39/9:25/11:39/10:11/9:59/10:28/11:33/11:27/11:32/2:35

I broke them into two categories, because it's easy to see where my leg started bothering me. In miles 1-16, every mile is between 8:15-8:44 with the exception of the three bathroom stops. During mile 17, I started to feel some pain on the right side of my hip. By mile 20, it was really hurting, and by mile 22 I was limping along.

Given how I typically finish strong, I was well in line to finish around 3:45-50 through 16 miles. After that point, though, I averaged about 10:20 per mile down the stretch, and that pace climbed to 10:58 in the last seven miles and then up to 11:15 for the final four. I probably could've stopped at a medical tent for treatment, but I was so close to the end, I didn't want to quit. Plus, I was wasn't leaving without at least setting a new PR.

Here I am heading into the finish. Kelly said it was easy to see something was wrong with me, considering how I was running. What's funny is the marathon included our first names on our bib numbers, so I had a lot of people yelling my name at the end. I guess a noticeable limp will get people rooting for you! The race also added a nice touch by saying your whole name over the loud speakers as you crossed the finish line.

I wasn't the only MLB.comer in this race, either. Our Detroit Tigers writer, Jason Beck (pictured below with me after the race), also ran and finished in a cool 3:20 or so. I plan on getting to that type of time some day. For now, I'll have to be content with my time and just keep my eye on future races. I'm not sure what I'll do next year, but it looks like it'll be either the Chicago or Toronto marathon.

Until then, I'm going to rest up and back off on the long runs for a while. I've already enjoyed a post-race feast over the past few days, devouring some chinese food from PF Changs, some pizza, a burger with fries, doughnuts for breakfast today and even a beer at dinner on Sunday night! I know, I'm really letting go, huh.

I'll probably take a week or two off from running to let my feet and legs heal up. My hip has still been bothering me some when walking -- nothing too painful, but there's definitely some strain there. When I do get back to running, I'll likely be sticking indoors until I get back to Florida for Spring Training.

I bought a new pair of running shoes at the marathon Expo -- another pair of Saucony Hurricane 10s -- and am looking forward to strapping them on and getting back at it. But, until I know I have another marathon to train for, I doubt I'll be doing anything more than 10 miles. For now, I'll probably stick to 5-10k distances just to keep in shape.

Stay tuned for more...

Land of a Million Miles

We're here at Disney World, and my next 26.2 is less than 24 hours away now. Kelly and I arrived late Thursday night and we hit up a few of the Disney parks on Friday. Above is a picture of the castle at Magic Kingdom. Actually, if you hadn't figured it out, it's a flipped photo of the reflection of the castle in a pond.

It was a gorgeous day for our trips through Hollywood Studios (we still call it MGM), Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Not a cloud in the sky and probably in the 60s and 70s temp-wise all day. It was cool at points, but we're not about to complain when we're far removed from the below-freezing conditions in Toronto!

I'm looking forward to this marathon, but I'm not sure how I'll do. I'm not super confident like I was for the Las Vegas half, but I'm more prepared than I was for my first 26.2 in Chicago. The last six weeks of training haven't gone as well as I would've hoped, but that's due more to circumstances than me slacking off.

I still got the really important long runs in and maintained a solid mileage base weekly. I didn't do as much speed/tempo work as I should have in this last stretch, but there's no turning back now. At least Vegas showed me I have the ability to exceed my own expectations sometimes. Hopefully, this is going to be a similar situation.

I'm gunning for under 4 hours, which is a realistic goal. Ideally, I'd finish under 3:45. What I'm not going to do is say I'm setting out to come under 3:30 like I thought I could for Chicago -- not knowing what I was getting into. I have the ability -- in perfect conditions -- to run a 3:30, but I know a lot will have to go right to achieve that goal. So I'll be happy with anything under 4.

So, wish me luck, and if you want to track me during the race, which starts at roughly 6 am on Sunday, you can head to the Walt Disney World Marathon Web site and sign up in the Spectator resources section. It'll be interesting to see what kind of crowd shows up to cheer us on tomorrow, especially after experiencing the 1.5 million spectators that lined the streets in Chicago.

At least it should be good weather tomorrow. It's supposed to be in the 50s around 6 am and probably in the mid 60s by the time I finish. In Chicago, temps reached 85+ while I was still on the course -- not good. Over the past few weeks, I've been running in below-freezing temps in Toronto.

So, at least I won't have to dress up like this for the Disney run: