A Balance, Redefined

Week starting Dec 23, 2007

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Location:

Vestavia,AL,USA

Member Since:

May 31, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

Marathon Top 10 Finishes: 7 Bridges ('15), Utah Valley ('13), Salt Lake City ('08), Top of Utah ('07), and St. Louis ('04). Ran around the equator (24901.55) in 4,388 days.

Personal Records
Marathon 2:39 (SLC '08)
1/2 Marathon 1:12.30 (Provo River, aided '08)
10K 34:16 (Track, sea level '00)
10K 33:15 (Des 10K, aided '08)
8K 25:32 (Crack of Dawn, aided '13)
5K 16:44 (Track, sea level '00)
5K 16:07 (Running of the Leopards, aided '12)
 

Short-Term Running Goals:

NYC Marathon November 3, 2019 done 

London Marathon October 3, 2021 done

Tokyo Marathon March 3, 2024!!!

And my largest challenge to date, raise $20,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of my cancer survivorship and in memory of those lost to blood cancer...
DONE! $26,403.70

https://pages.lls.org/tnt/al/london2021/awende

Long-Term Running Goals:

Enjoy being a Masters Runner.

Get under 3 hours one more time...

Personal:

Grew up outside Chicago and joined the blog while I lived in Salt Lake City. Now living outside Birmingham. I am married with two daughters. Wife thinks I'm crazy for doing marathons. And yes I am crazy I'm a scientist for a living...

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 331.25
RM 090416 Lifetime Miles: 136.06
Saucony Type A Lifetime Miles: 200.18
Nike Vaporfly Pink Lifetime Miles: 122.22
Saucony Ride #37 - Black Lifetime Miles: 56.50
Saucony Ride #38 - Neon Lifetime Miles: 53.50
Saucony Ride #39 - Grey Lifetime Miles: 59.50
Brooks Launch #38 - Grey Lifetime Miles: 65.25
Brooks Launch #39 - White Lifetime Miles: 57.50
Brooks Launch #40 - Blue Lifetime Miles: 54.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
62.503.000.000.000.000.000.0065.50
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
7.500.000.000.000.000.000.007.50

The weather in Chicago is crazy. Last night when we went to bed it was about 40F and raining. This morning when I got up to run it was 15F and 20-30 mile per hour gusts. Let's hear it for the Windy City!!! Between the weather and time constraints before going to church with the family I only managed 7.5 mi instead of the planned 10. I still managed to hit 77 for my 7day week  but had been shooting for 80. I think I can live with the difference. We'll see how the mileage holds up on the rest of the trip. Avg. 7:58 HR 138.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.000.000.000.0010.00

Woke up before everyone else to get my run in before the festivities started. Ran along the I&M canal again. Still very cold but at least the windchill was not in the low single digits again this morning. I actually saw two coyotes while I was running. I was much slower this morning. But had a good run anyway. My hips were a little sore last night from the "ice skating" on the trails the day before. Avg. ~8:30 HR ~135

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
5.000.000.000.000.000.000.005.00

Merry Christmas everyone. I started the day earlier/later than I had planned. We had a long Christmas celebration last night with my wife’s family. We didn’t go to sleep until after 1am. Then my daughter woke up earlier than normal and we got right to the rest of the day. I ended up running after a noontime party at ~4pm. Avg. 7:01 HR 147

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.000.000.000.008.00

Woke up before everyone else to get my run in. It was warmer than the last few days but still cold. I ran along the I&M canal again. Avg. 8:30 HR 122

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.000.000.000.0010.00

I'm back up north by my wives family again. I ran a portion of the DPR trial I hadn't been on before. I started at the Lake/Cook border and ran north. It was amazing the entire run I did not see another person. I did see 6 deer though. Avg. 7:03 HR 142

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.000.000.000.0010.00

Another run on the DPR. Yesterday I turned around at the mile 27 marker. Today I decided to drive and start from there. For those of you interested if you are coming to the north side of Chicago the link for the trails is below. The trails are well kept soft finely crushed limestone. There are many access points, over- and underpasses for the busier streets that are crossed, and numerous bridges for all the river crossings. Last night I didn’t see anyone most likely due to the fact that it was dark by 4pm when I was running. This morning I still only saw one other guy whom I saw twice. However, during the summer on a weekend morning I’ve seen close to 100 people during a 20 mile run. In addition to the one guy I did see another deer this morning. It is amazing how much wildlife there is in this nature corridor. When you consider there is a major tollway on one side and the trail goes behind mostly residential areas. Anyway I’m rambling now, on to the run. As I mentioned I started at mile 27, the first 2-miles were VERY icy so I took it slow and mostly ran off the trail through the brush. Then things cleared up. About that time it started raining. Luckily it was lightly, as the temp was only about 35F. It soon dropped and by mile 4 it was sleeting. On its own this isn’t too bad but the wind made it not too enjoyable. The good news is that by mile 6 it was snowing and this helped improve my footing on the icy patches so that I could run on the trail. The “funny” part of the run came when I was going under a flooded underpass. On the way out there wasn’t a problem. On the way back I thought there was more trail because of the snow but it was covered ice and I went right through into ankle deep water. Luckily I was warmed up enough that my foot didn’t mind… Avg. 8:26 HR 132

Official website: http://www.fpdcc.com/tier3.php?content_id=68&file=map_68j

Better website: http://www.trailville.com/wiki/IL_Des_Plaines_River_Trail

Yesterday was the incomplete section. So I did a detour. It looks like some land owners are being sticklers... Lots of no trespassing and no parking signs in that area.

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
12.003.000.000.000.000.000.0015.00

I drove out to the next access point after where I stopped on the DPR yesterday. However, looking at the new snow on the trails and thinking of my “skating” expeditions the last two days I decided to run on the road. There is a park at about the 19 mile mark. It has a rolling, curvy, PLOWED, 1.5 mile loop. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of 10 laps but it is much better than the track or a treadmill… The first three loops I took easy (7:35 to 7:02). The feel of the loop was easy. However, during the whole run there was a total of 1400 ft ascent and descent each. The make-up of the topology turned out that clockwise was significantly easier. Unfortunately, I didn’t figure this out until after loop 6. The first three loops I was more or less on my own. There were 5 deer and one guy walking. By the 6th loop there were about 16 other people, mostly walking (three were running). After I changed directions I started to pick up the pace with more or less each of the 15 miles being a negative split and the last mile in 5:39. It is amazing what a difference sure footing makes, despite 23F with a good 10mph headwind for a half mile stretch of the loop (more wind coverage for the last four loops). Overall, the run felt good. Avg. 6:44 HR 148

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
62.503.000.000.000.000.000.0065.50
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
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