kenyan feet

a belated goodbye.

2007-08-17T18:19:00.001-05:00

d. just reminded me that i never officially said goodbye to "kenyanfeet." the point of the blog was to get me up to the 2006 chicago marathon and to leave it at that. you followed me through training, the race itself, and the post-marathon depression (and surprising speed!) that followed.

for more on my latest exploits, check out my new blog:

http://obligationtoendure.blogspot.com/

new race, new blog.

here you go, b.! :)

if amateur philosophy bores you...

2006-11-30T10:07:00.000-06:00

... turn back now!

it's going to come as no surprise to those of you who have spent any time with me over the last month or so that i've been in one hell of a funk. when the excitement and drama and exhaustion of the marathon wore off, all of a sudden i realized that i was stuck with just me again. no four hour long runs to distract me - no marathon glory to obsess over. and it turns out, i guess, that i don't much like being stuck with just me.

but running, for me, has always been a means of either running away or running to. lately, i think it's been about running away. i've been desperately planning long road trips and attempting to convince bridget to veer onto the highway on the way to school and take us far, far away from here. the "here," i thought, was a looming dissertation, conflict with professors, exhaustion, the city, etc. upon reflection, however, i think the "here" is actually me.

still, just as i was starting to despair over this sorry state of affairs, i decided to take my run today as a means of running to, not running away. i tried to cultivate mindfulness: being mindful of every out-breath. i let the thoughts drift from my mind and listened to the slap of my two feet against the pavement. in other words, i spent some time with me, in me. and i found that i wasn't nearly as scary as i had feared.

i would encourage all of you to try, for one day, running to. you just might be surprised at what you find.

the fun continues...

2006-11-20T12:13:00.000-06:00

... with a 10k PR!!!

well, a post-high school 10k PR. i jumped into the lincolnwood turkey trot yesterday with bridget and, somehow, magic happened. we were both planning to run the 10k as a tempo run but after clipping through the first mile in 8.08, i kind of went for it. 5.2 miles later, i crossed the line in 51.29 - 8.18 pace! incidentally, bridget came in 2nd overall so i think she's officially back.

it's so good to have FUN again!

happy (tofu) turkey day to all.

post-marathon update.

2006-11-15T20:43:00.000-06:00

thanks for all of the kind words! i've included my favorite marathon pic for your amusement.

um, yeah. that's either me pulling my frozen gloves off with my teeth or wiping my nose!

now that i've had a good three weeks to recover myself - physically and emotionally - i'm in an intersesting place. i'm not displeased with my marathon performance but i'm amazed at how dumb i was going into it! i had so many good days during my training that i just wasn't prepared to have a really bad day. and that was a really bad day. still, i can't wait to get out there in the spring and give it another go. a 4.10 should be in my near future!

in the meantime, i'm hoping to get F.A.S.T. and have fun! i ran a vicious 5.1 mile trail race on sunday and had a blast. [universal sole's rock n sole] we ran through two underpasses that were literally waist deep in water. i got muddy. bridget crashed into a tree. drew fell in a creek. it was BLISS! i ran it in 44.47 (8.47 pace) which, given the hilly, muddy, and water-logged terrain was pretty darn good. just what the doctor ordered after a humbling marathon debut!

okay, so far as my "speediness" goes, i could clip off 5.40s in high school no problem. after 15 slow years, i've run a low 7 minute mile and that's about it. that's where i'm starting. i'll keep you posted about where i go!

peace out, c.

i'm alive!!!!

2006-10-22T20:59:00.000-05:00

too much to say and too little time but i made it through the 35• rain in chicago for a 4.22.15. i'm pleased as punch with my marathon debut.

thanks for all the love!

one week from sunday.

2006-10-11T21:52:00.000-05:00

wow. race day is officially in sight and i guess i don't quite know what to think. i'm oscillating by the minute between thinking this is a REALLY big deal and thinking that it's no big deal at all. bridget kindly assures me that's a good place to be. i know i'm as trained as i can be and that i just need to get out there and have some fun. but wow. the last five months of my life have been spent leading up to this. that blows my mind.

15 days out: quote of the day.

2006-10-07T20:58:00.000-05:00

"it hurts up to a point and then it doesn't get any worse."

-steve prefontaine.

let the taper begin.

2006-09-27T22:01:00.000-05:00

okay gang, i rounded out last week with a 21 mile cruise along the lake. that puts me at 41 miles on the week and officially marks the beginning of my taper. coach b had me take miles 10-15 of the run at m.p. (i ended up taking them about 30 sec. faster) and boy did that do wonders for my confidence. i'm feeling good - physically AND mentally.

my mileage is dropping now in the run-up to the big day. i cross-trained tuesday, put in an easy 6 today, and have a hard progression run ahead of me tomorrow. so there you have it!

in honor of this milestone, then, i have decided to include a photo of my long-suffering and oh-so-reliable legs. send them your good karma! they've had a long road and it's not over yet. actually, it's nowhere near over! i can't help thinking back to the poster that hung above my bed for years as a kid: a vintage, first-edition, nike "there is no finish line." maybe i knew myself better at age eight than i would have guessed.

lesson learned!

2006-09-21T07:49:00.000-05:00

thank goodness for the smart people in our lives who help us when we can't help ourselves. as you can see from the previous post, taking a day - ONE DAY - off of my training seemed like a complete and utter tragedy. i watched drew head out for his sunday run and moped around the house, downtrodden at my loss of a long(ish) run.

then came monday and my scheduled day off only made me feel worse.

then came tuesday. i hopped onto the treadmill for my scheduled easy 5 miles and, lo and behold, it was BLISSFUL. my feet felt good; my legs felt good; my hip felt good; my back felt good. my (admittedly slow 10.20) "easy" pace felt pedestrian!

then came wednesday. a tempo run at 8.40 with no problems. not even wih my gimpy fin!

and today, i'm heading out for a massage and another easy 5.

the lesson, then, that is week sixteen: get a good coach... and listen to her!

why is it so hard to take a day off?

2006-09-18T12:43:00.000-05:00

after coming clean to coach bridget about my achy hip, back, leg, and foot, she suggested i skip sunday's ten miler.

i politely declined.

she then insisted.

i caved.

i know it's good for me but WOW was that hard to do!

i'm back! did i ever leave???

2006-09-12T11:11:00.000-05:00

hey there! as you may have guessed from my relative absence on the blogging scene, the semester has begun. (have i mentioned before that i'm a ph.d. student in rhetoric?) alas, school may have curtailed my blogging but it has NOT curtailed my running. after some hills and valleys, training is going well. let's see, where to begin?

several weeks ago, i had an MRA on my pesky tumor and the tests came back "inconclusive." the tumor doesn't seem to be squishing my artery - GREAT NEWS! - but my calf still goes numb sometimes for no apparent reason. the doctor doesn't think i'm doing any damage but asked, "why don't you just switch to swimming?" thanks doc! that was definitely a bump in the road.

however, i'm putting my graduate education to work and, after reading about "the social construction of disease" in my biocultures course, i decided to make friends with my tumor and we've been running relatively well together ever since.

other than that, i'm into week 15 - FIFTEEN?!?! - of my training: my times are definitely looking better; my long runs feel great; and my FABULOUS coach bridget got me over a case of the MAJOR pre-race jitters. you know, those chuck 15 weeks of training out the window jitters.

thanks for the love! more to come...

hooray for corrado and bridget!

2006-08-14T19:54:00.000-05:00

so i fear that corrado is waiting for the other shoe to fall - feeling okay but????

let me dispel all rumours; i am feeling great! after a slow-feeling week, i pulled out a speedier than expected solo half-marathon on saturday. my sweet-as-can-be parents are actually so excited for me that my dad even designed (and printed) a race t-shirt for me! (limited edition - a collector's item!) i'm feeling good physically and mentally; i surmounted some major pre-race jitters (okay demons) prior to the half-marathon; and i am delighted to announce that dru and i are headed off on our first EVER vacation that doesn't involve family or work. i plan to spend the next week running through eastern iowa (it's more fun than it sounds!) and loving every minute of it.

so thank you for your support jay and silent bob! i'll be sure to post some gorgeous iowa pics when i return.

peace and chicken grease, c.

i've succumbed to the gimpy fin!

2006-07-27T19:02:00.000-05:00

okay, okay, i've reconciled myself to the fact that i've got ten readers - TOPS! - seven of whom prefer to remain silent. (p.s. brent, welcome to the club!)

let's see, where have i been this past week? i'm up to about 35 miles per week and enjoying every mile. my gimpy fin has decided to quiet down once again and i'm sticking to my plan and listening to my coach. i'm done with summer teaching tomorrow and hope to catch up on some much-needed sleep after that.

so there you have it - i've made it through week eight and i'm feeling good.

my gimpy fin?

2006-07-18T21:24:00.000-05:00

oh my goodness, corrado made me laugh for starters and now bridget's image of nemo's gimpy fin has me in hysterics.

take a look at that sad runt-let fin - it's my left calf!

and so, in honor or my left calf, i am, as my amazing professor sharon would say, throwing down the gauntlet and challenging all you silent readers - and you know who you are!!!!! - to break the silence and post something in honor of my gimpy fin.

without this encouragement, my gimpy fin may well overwhelm my speaking and writing abilities, leaving "kenyan feet" in ruins and all of you in suspense about my marathon debut.

and so, people, as i tell my students: "JUST WRITE!!!"

corrado the clairvoyant.

2006-07-11T18:50:00.000-05:00

ah, yes, corrado called it: the wine party is over.

my blood vessels seem to have adapted to the supply of red wine and have decided to revolt once again. i got a nice massage yesterday and am taking it easy this week. what does that mean? not much running news.

soooo, in lieu of running news, here are things i love and/or hate today:

HATE: the subway shutdown on the blue line

LOVE: that i decided to come home early today!

HATE: sleep deprivation

LOVE: jamiriquai and the fray

HATE: my left leg

LOVE: my right leg!

(don't worry left leg, i love you, too...)

viva el vino.

2006-07-05T15:38:00.000-05:00

greetings all! i am delighted to report that the exquisite red wine pictured to the right (okay, maybe not that exact glass) has proven effective in the fight against that awful jumble of blood vessels pictured in the last post. and so my dears, viva el vino!

me and my wonky leg.

2006-06-26T22:12:00.000-05:00

i'm sure that's a verifiable medical term... right?

well, i'm happy to report that i'm still hanging in there, leg trouble and all. you see, i happen to have this dang thing called a hemangioma in my left calf muscle (see entrancing blood vessel photo on left) and it's just messing with the rest of my leg like you wouldn't believe. BUT, r.i.c.e. seems to be doing wonders and i've got another visit with the sports med ortho at the end of next month.

in the meantime, my sagacious coach bridget cut my miles back to 22 last week for some recovery and i clipped along at record pace. this week, the mileage will ramp up again and we'll see what happens.

at least i've got my daughter over here (the infamous "h." in team b.e.l.c.h.) to cheer me on!

..........

2006-06-22T23:17:00.000-05:00

this posting is trite, etc. and the connection to starbucks and its cinematic horizons is unavoidable but what the hell? the wonders of life have been unfolding for me in unimaginable tsunami-like waves these past weeks and this is the only place i can figure to start:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.

i heart long runs.

2006-06-19T08:13:00.000-05:00

yes, i most certainly do. long runs for me are the payoff of a week of 3, 4, and 6 milers. and so, i was a little concerned this week when tightness in a muscle in my lower leg (apparently called the "extensor digitorum longus") ricocheted into a sore ankle, hip flexor, etc. on my short, easy run on saturday. i iced, advilled, rested, compressed, and remolded the buy-at-home orthotics, and hit the road sunday for a 9-miler. i told drew i would take it in two loops so that i was never more than 2.25 miles away from home and was absolutely prepared to pull the plug on the run at any point.

lo and behold, i got out there and felt good - the miscellaneous pains were back to the dullest of tightness and largely disappeared after the first mile or so. i actually racked up negative splits throughout the run and am happy to report that i am walking just fine this morning.

it's the damnedest thing - the longer i'm out there, the happier i am. my stride opens up, my head clears, and i actually get faster. has my obsessive personality finally found a healthy outlet? only, i suppose, if those long runs are the reward of a shorter, slower week. you guys can help keep me honest on that front.

in less dramatic - more dramatic? - news, i ran 29.0 miles in week 20 of my training and 27.5 this week (week 19). things are looking good!

ode to pre. (ode to me.) OR why my heart rate is so damn high.

2006-06-10T08:11:00.000-05:00

when mary asked him how he'd beat the better runners there,
pre just stopped, he grabbed her, and he locked her in a stare.
"'cause i can take more pain than any other runner can."
mary smiled politely and prayed silently for her man.

well it turns out that pre's story may or may not have been true,
i found out later on: pre had the best max vo2!
but as for me, my lungs are just those of your average girl,
my heart pumps hard, i strain to breathe, and later want to hurl.

but i think there's something to pre's notion of his knack for pain,
i too came up within the coaching school: no pain, no gain.
i've never failed to push myself much harder than i should,
and run the fastest in every race and practice that i could.

but here's the problem with that school of thought, or so i think:
i've burnt myself out for 20-plus years, trying to prove that i don't stink!
so now i'm embracing those easy runs: their freedom from the strain,
and learning as i trudge along to not be so damn vain.

let the fun begin!

2006-06-06T09:21:00.000-05:00

i am delighted to announce that *real* marathon training began yesterday. "day off" didn't seem exciting enough to report so here i am checking in after day one of actual running.

my run went well but the two-fold lesson of the day is: my heart is either in terrible shape or i have the highest maxHR in recorded history. i tried to go out at 70-80% of my maxHR (i based this on a rough calculation, NOT my actual maxHR - maybe that's the problem) and simply could not do it without walking - that, and the incessant beeping of my heart rate monitor wasn't helping matters. i finally just made a desperate attempt to run v e r y s l o w l y and keep it at that but my HR was still "supposedly" too high. hmmm.... this will take some sorting out. the thing is, even as my HR creeps past 150, 160, and even 170, i still feel pretty good and can talk, breathe, not sweat, etc. am i a freak of nature? perhaps!

anyway, the point is: i'm off and running! :)

announcing: team B.E.L.C.H.

2006-06-03T18:23:00.000-05:00

here you go guys - "team B.E.L.C.H." and we RULED!!! team B.E.L.C.H. is B(ridget), E(rin), C(arrie), and (H)annah (and the "L" in there is for Lisa who watched, cheered, and took photos). we ran in the Wondergirl 5K this morning and hannah and erin ROCKED IT! they ran such a smart race. mile one at 12m, mile two at 11m, and mile three at 10m. not bad for two 11 year olds - or anybody for that matter! what a great day.

huge thank yous to hannah, erin, and bridget for running with me, drew-baby for serving as our coach, chauffeur, and mentor, mums, lisa, and ivan for cheering us on, and daddio for joining us in the post-race celebration.

team B.E.L.C.H. rocked the wondergirl - this isn't the last you've heard of us!!!!

fierce women.

2006-05-27T20:48:00.000-05:00

for no apparent reason, i am feeling the need on this saturday evening to give a shout out to the fierce women of this world. i am going to start a little list here that i plan to add to and reconfigure throughout the course of my own training.

here are the women who i love today:

lisa andersen - surf goddess
paula radcliffe - need i explain?
babe didrikson - my north star
granuaile (a.k.a. grace o'malley) - honest to god, my great great great great great grandmother. talk about fierce!

not to mention bridget, iesha, mums, hannah, mammy, zig-monster, ab-tastic, gommie, and grandma babe.

i love you all - you're fierce!

what a few days off can do.

2006-05-26T17:17:00.000-05:00

well, we have returned from florida and while dealing with a family crisis is never the greatest thing, i managed to get in two nice (hot!) runs down in florida and a pre-dawn dip in the ocean (see below) with my super-fabulous little sis (in-law).

i had to take a day off of running for the 24 hr. non-stop drive down there and another 2 for the drive back. i wasn't super excited about that but i decided to just let it go and when i finally headed out for a run today back here in chicago, it was GLORIOUS. i took my favorite 6 mile loop and felt like i was flying through it. i didn't time myself but i know i was running about 1 minute faster per mile than i usually take this route and was having minimal trouble. my stride opened up and my legs felt positively springy.

what a day! :)

south florida sure is hot!

2006-05-22T09:34:00.000-05:00

i went out this morning for what i hoped would be a 50-60 minute run. turns out palm beach county gets awfully hot by 10am. it's only in the mid-80s but the 70% humidity and high UV aren't helping much. i bagged the run after 30 minutes and walked for another 10. i may try to finish off the run after dark. i'm not used to this heat yet.
___________________

i did head out around 4pm and finished off the run with another 30 min. still HOT but way more doable!

greetings from south florida!

2006-05-21T22:16:00.000-05:00

so life has thrown us a curve ball and we just hopped into the car and drove all the way to south florida to check on the family. as such, i've decided to take the day off (after a 24 hour straight-through car ride) and run in the morning. my circulation feels TERRIBLE after the day in the car - oh vey!

more to follow...

my triumphant return...

2006-05-19T17:49:00.000-05:00

HOORAY! g-d bless bridget for running with me today. after becoming progressively more and more insane and agitated over the last three non-running days, a 6 mile loop with my best friend was just what the doctor ordered!

my metatarsals felt a-okay in my new insoles but my left lower leg still felt funky - i think the insole was pushing my left foot to the outside. after the run, i popped them in the oven to refit the left insole and they now feel great.

i'll keep my fingers crossed for continued health but boy does it feel good to get back into it.

walking, walking, walking

2006-05-18T19:42:00.000-05:00

well, i've taken three days to simply walk: day one with bridget, colleen, and rosie, day two over to lisa's and a movie ("keeping up with the steins"), and today, a walk to school and then to meet drew. i picked up a pair of sole custom footbeds and, after wearing them for two of those three days, my metatarsals feel great but my left leg feels a little... wonky? i'm going to let the arch settle down a little bit and see what happens. all in all, i feel good. i no longer live in fear of breaking a bone when i step out of bed in the morning so that's good!

i can't wait to run tomorrow. YAY!

2006-05-16T22:31:00.000-05:00

"when you're a female athlete, you're supposed to be happy with the crumbs...

i didn't want the crumbs anymore, i wanted the cake and the icing."

-billie jean king.

thank you readers!

2006-05-16T18:04:00.000-05:00

thanks guys for the good foot advice. i've taken the day off from running, switched back to my hiking boots, and am icing my foot. this doesn't seem like a terrible problem *yet* but i sure don't want it to turn into one. my high arches, skinny feet, and not-small frame are a volatile combination.

¡salud!

the body sure is a funny thing.

2006-05-15T17:35:00.000-05:00

so after my "disastrous" 9 minute mile struggle of a week ago, today i hopped on the treadmill and pretty easily busted out 30 miuntes at 8.57 pace. i rounded out the 4 mile day at 9.27 pace - after the treadmill automatically shut off at 30 minutes - and that felt SLOW. too strange.

my only worry of the day, then, is the intermittent ache in my metatarsals - very dull and, for now, very rare but it's something i need to keep an eye on. after a metatarsal stress fracture last year (when i was barely even running!) i know i don't want to deal with that again. i'm going to check out some orthotics this week.

happy trails!

wanted: fast-twitch muscle fibers.

2006-05-13T10:28:00.000-05:00

i decided to wrap up the week with a 6 mile route straight over to the lake. (this was a bad idea, incidentally - soooo many stop lights.) that put me at about 29 miles for the week, which seems about right (after 30 last week and 28 the week before) - maybe even a little high for me right now. regardless, i'm feeling injury-free, which is a godsend.

anyway, as i trudged through the first five miles or so of today's run, i got to thinking. i need: 1) a day off - tomorrow; 2) some sleep - i've been having "keep you up half the night" cramps; and 3) some fast twitch muscle fibers. anyone know where i can stock up on the third? i figured they're not going to come to me from nowhere so i kicked it up a notch on the last 3/4 of a mile or so of my run and felt pretty good. mechanically, anything around 9 minutes or faster feels the best, but my body is just not strong enough to keep that up right now. oh well, someday, right?

"hey, you run track?"

2006-05-12T12:15:00.000-05:00

after finishing up a nice 4 mile run today (again, in the 42º rain), i walked over to the walgreens to stretch my legs when a friendly streets and san worker stopped me.
"hey, you run track?" he inquired.
"yeah, uh, no, uh, i used to," i stammered.
"well your legs sure look like it!"
i laughed uncomfortably, thanked him, and ducked into the walgreens.

now i'm not so naive as to think that his comment was utterly innocent, and yet he seemed to be sincere. so i'll be honest - i was pleased. as i float somewhere between my "runner" and "non-runner" identities, there was something reassuring about being outed by a complete stranger. as bridget would say, our bodies are "marked" by certain discourses and no matter what else my body says, someone on the street was reading my body as "runner."

when i walked out of the walgreens 15 minutes later, the streets and san worker was still outisde, pouring concrete. as i walked by him he said,
"hey! someday, you and me are gonna race."
i laughed again and as i walked away i turned around for a moment.
"okay," i replied.
"but i'm gonna win."

run like a kid.

2006-05-11T11:32:00.000-05:00

i'm just back from a fantastic 6 mile run. i figured out a great loop from my house that's (relatively) exhuast and pedestrian free. i love it. i went out today with no watch and no time restraints. it's about 55 degrees here, super windy, and raining. it was PERFECT. i had nothing on my mind other than splashing through puddles and laughing at the strange looks i was getting from people driving by.

i think everyone needs days like this, days to be a kid again, days to remember why you started doing this in the first place: because it was (and is) FUN!

like mother like daughter?

2006-05-10T19:02:00.000-05:00

okay, so i realize that posting more than once a day borders on the neurotic but i am so excited that i simply had to share! my darling, wonderful, talented, hilarious, kind, energetic, brilliant, and altogether delightful daughter hannah (seen here)

has just started running herself and has enthusiastically agreed to run chicago's wondergirl 5k with her dear old momma (that's me).

i am verklempt!

"here," indeed.

2006-05-10T12:08:00.000-05:00

just in case i needed any more positive reinforcement about "here" being a-okay:

on my run this morning i passed by a woman taking a cigarette break from work. as i ran by she announced,

"i wish i could do that!!"

why i need running (as much as running needs me).

2006-05-09T15:53:00.000-05:00

i just got done working out at the gym and, as i showered off in the locker room, i got to thinking. if i had to identify my most prominent mental “quirk” (it’s okay – go ahead and laugh), it would be my unfailing tendency to always, always, always think about “there,” at the expense of “here.” sometimes this tendency manifests itself spatially – my knack for returning from vacations hell-bent on moving to boston, london, cedar falls, milwaukee, you name it, or my undying love for iowa city – and sometimes temporally – backwards to the summer when i was 15, the winter i fell in love with drew, the end of senior year of high school, or forwards to the end of the semester, my next birthday, the completion of my ph.d. don’t get me wrong; this “habit” has served me well. when most of my fellow students are worrying about the next paper, i’ve got it done and have already moved onto the next assignment, the next reading, the next conference, the next project. the only problem is that in my haste to get to “there,” i never really enjoy the being “here.”

what does this have to do with running? well, running has been, for much of my life, the battleground on which this war of “here” and “there” has played out. when i finished second in the distance run at the national lifeguard championships, i didn’t want to think about the 30 girls i beat, i wanted to think about the one girl i didn’t. and when i won my first race in high school, i enjoyed it for approximately one afternoon until i started to panic about how i would get faster and what i would be expected to achieve next. this fear, this constant preoccupation with “there,” is what made me quit running over and over and over again.

and i’ll admit: when i got on the treadmill today and realized that after one “pathetically slow” 9 minute mile and one “disgustingly worse” 9.30 mile i needed to actually (gasp!) WALK, i was ready to throw in the towel. i didn’t want to be “here” – in this 29 year old body that couldn’t string together a couple of sub-10 minute miles. i wanted to be “there” – in my 15 year old body, clipping off 5.40s or 6.00s or 7.00s or even 8.00s.

but i kept going. i walked for a while, let my legs recover, and started running again. and when i stepped off the treadmill, i walked over to the indoor track to stretch my legs out. and i started to realize that being “here” is okay. i can still run quickly and gracefully enough around the track that all of the basketball players can’t help but watch. i can breathe better than i could a year ago. i’ve got a strong body. i’ve got long legs. i’ve got a perfect stride. and i’m slow-ish. but so what? for once, i’m “here.” and “here” is pretty good.

procrastination.

2006-05-08T23:19:00.000-05:00

so it's 11.21pm on a monday evening and after a LONG day of theory at northwestern, i am home watching a roseanne marathon and attempting to finish grading my freshmen's research papers. abbey was sleeping comfortably by my side until about 5 minutes ago when a truck came barrelling down our street.

i am bored.

and so, in the hopes of keeping myself amused, i am posting a dated photo of my feet.

why? i have no idea.

lead weights.

2006-05-08T08:04:00.000-05:00

yes, that's how my legs felt this morning. i had to cram a run in before a trip up to evanston and some combination of straight out of bed/seven mile run yesterday/biking for four hours simply was not cutting it. oh well, at least i ran! the highlight of the morning, though, was bumping into bridget and my sweet nephew mr. ajax. they made my day!

and we're off!

2006-05-07T10:43:00.000-05:00

okay gang - if you know me and love me, you've probably seen this coming since at least 1983. that was the year lisa started running on the st. ignatius cross country team. one look at those muddy, grassy, rocky trails and i was hooked (not to mention the butter yellow sweat suits with the maroon winged sandal logo on them!). a year or two before (age four?) i had attempted to run the chicago park district turkey trot but, not understanding the ins and outs of outdoor racing, i foolishly expended all of my energy on what i thought was the race but turns out to have been only the course walkthrough. (incidentally, lisa came home with 1st prize - the 20lb. turkey.) i seem to recall winning a few olympic day races at s.m.m., some lifeguard events, and even an amazing high school track debut - the indoor 3200m race at OPRF against the then star of the high school track team. triumphs in the subsequent fifteen years have been a bit fewer and further between but there have been a few. and so, where is all of this heading? i'll tell you.

i just registered for my first marathon: chicago, sunday, october 22, 2006.

so hang with me here. you can follow my progress, laugh at my insanity, and pray with me to avoid injury. i'll post some photos and who knows? we may all have a little bit of fun along the way.

and now, for the details: i'm just back from a delightful 70 min. run around the neighborhood and over to the lake. the weather is perfect - 65 degrees and sunny - and, after a much deserved day off yesterday, my legs felt great. i think this is actually my longest run of 2006. my feet feel good, my knees feel good, my back feels good, my head feels good! drew and i are off for our first leisurely bike ride of the year. oop, and "official" marathon training doesn't start until june 5th.