Gaining Strength

"Free your mind, and your feet will follow."

--Kevin Nelson
The Runner's Book of Daily Inspiration

Opened up an e-mail the other day from Runner's World and received that quote. Some of the items they send are quickly deleted, others hit home a little bit. This one stuck out for me in that it very succinctly summed up one of the main motivations I have for running.

A lot of people will say they enjoy running so much because it provides them with time to think about things, time to plan or to ponder. For me, it's the complete opposite. When I hit the road, I completely clear my mind. I might be out there running for two hours, but all I'm thinking about is how my feet are landing, how my breaths are timed and whether my pace is strong.

When I'm at home, I'm constantly thinking about deadlines, assignments, and how to organize all those work items in a way as to intefere as little as possible with being a father and a husband. My mind is running on overdrive when I'm at home. The last thing I want to do is take that with me onto the road.

My wife has always marveled at how I can shut my mind off when it is time to fall asleep. She'll lie in bed, going over the million things that wives go over in their minds. Me? I close my eyes, clear my mind of all that daytime clutter, and am able to fall asleep within a few minutes. It's the same when I head out for a long run.

Some time in the past year, someone said they didn't understand how someone could run a marathon -- that at some point you'd run out of things to think about over 26.2 miles. It was funny. That was something that never occurred to me. During marathons, all I think about is one foot in front of the other until that finish line is behind me.

Speaking of which, it's official:

I am signed up for the Tampa Marathon.

I just wrapped Day 2 in Week 3 of my accelerated 6-week training plan. So far, I have not missed one workout and have only used two of the 16 days as pure rest days. I did an "easy" 8-miler today, split between the treadmill and track. This past Sunday, I logged 16 miles on the Don Valley Path here in Toronto.

I stepped on the scale today and it read 163, so I'm down about 10-12 pounds since I ran the Chicago Marathon in October. Not only am I trimmer, but I'm stronger. I feel better than I have before any of my marathons. Unlike leading up to my first one, I have really mixed in strength training, and done a lot of core work, to help with injury prevention and form.

I'm not going to be qualifying for Boston, but a fourth consecutive PR is not unrealistic and that would likely mean I'd finally break four hours for a marathon. That's the goal. If I can get close to the 3:45 range where I'd like to be, that would be an added bonus. Barring some sort of setback, everything seems to be lining up well right now.

So, wish me luck. My weekly mileage is nearing 40 and I'm due for an 18-miler this Sunday and a 20-miler the following weekend. I've been doing the bulk of my training indoors, except for those long runs. On the past two Sundays, I've braved freezing rain and snow flurries, respectively. Let's hope for better conditions this week...

~JB

Somebody's watching

A cool thing happened the other day. I was running laps around our indoor track, working on finishing a six-miler, when I noticed a pair of little eyes were locked in on me. As I whipped around one of the tight turns, the eyes followed me and his head turned, his tiny mouth agape.

My four-month-old son was watching me run.

Kelly brought Hayden to the gym to walk laps with him strapped to her in his carrier -- he doesn't like being idle. She took a break to bounce on a large rubber ball with him, and he loved it, giggling like crazy. But when I ran by, he recognized me for that split second and watched me fly around the track.

That was a pretty neat experience. The moment lasted all of three seconds, but it served as a pretty big reality check. Whether I like it or not, he's watching everything I do and he's bound to try to copy me. In that case, I have even more motivation to keep running. I want my little guy growing up in a household where athletics are normal, where doing something like running a marathon is a way of life, not some unattainable dream.

I want Hayden to grow up knowing that he can accomplish anything he wants with the right attitude and the right work ethic. That's one of the main reasons I ran the Chicago marathon in October, even though his birth took a toll on my training. It was an exercise in determination, and something I could tell him about someday.

Along those same lines, I have decided to run the Tampa Marathon on Feb. 28. I have been running steadily and strong since Chicago and am actually in better shape now than I was then. I set a PR for that marathon and am confident I'll do so this time around as well.

I have mapped out an abbreviated marathon training plan. A crash course leading up to the big day. I have been doing weekly long runs up to this point, but I'll now up the anty, going for 14, 16, 18, 20-22, and 10 miles, respectively, on the five Sundays leading up to the marathon. There's speedwork, tempo runs, easy efforts, and plenty of cross-training, core workouts and lifting days.

I will be a four-time marathoner in less than six weeks.

Today was further proof that I'm feeling very strong on the run right now. I did a 5-miler, with 3 at a tempo pace of between 7:55-8:00 per mile. I finished with tempo splits of 7:57-7:54-7:58. As if that wasn't steady enough, I hit exactly 1,390 steps in each of the first two miles and 1,394 for the third.

Hayden wasn't there watching today. But I can't wait to show him my fourth medal down in Florida.

NYD 5K RESULTS: I finished the New Year's Day 5K in Chicago in 23:14 for an average of roughly 7:30 per mile. Among an estimated 600+ timed participants, I finished 43rd overall. I wanted to break 21, but the path was covered in snow and ice for a few long stretches and the wind chill was about 7 degrees F. My sister Melissa ran in the event as well -- one of her steps in becoming a future Ironman finisher.

After Melissa finished, we crossed the finish line together.

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.