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Onto autumnal running

Onto autumnal running

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Chicago had an unseasonably warm-ish (emphasis on the *ish*) day today, with our highs reaching low-to-mid 50s.  Most days lately have only seen 40s for the highs, so these extra few degrees are worth getting excited about.

This was also actually a perfect day to try out a birthday present I got, what I’m calling a cocoon for A to cuddle with (read: in) while we run together.  I’ve only been running with her since April, so we have yet to tackle the Chicago cold and wind together yet.  It’s no surprise that I adore cold-weather running, but I haven’t been certain about subjecting her to it… until now.

In other words, yes, I realize I’m a bit of a freak for enjoying winter running, but I don’t know if she’s picked up my freakish genes quite yet. 🙂

Anyway, the cocoon is basically this; think of it as a sleeping bag for kiddos that you can use in a stroller or in an infant carseat/carrier.  It fits perfectly in the BOB, and I’ve been looking forward to using it with A on a run.  (Of course, I didn’t think I’d be running with her right now, so soon after NYC, but whatev.  C’est la vie 😀 ).

Here are some pics C snapped today of A and me before we got out on our 6-mile run.  I eventually put her in her winter coat under the cocoon, but it was more because she sometimes likes to pull her legs out of the cocoon, and I wanted to make sure at least part of her was warm while we were out (sidenote: fortunately, aside from chucking her snack cup and lid while we were running, she kept it together).

Hooray for running! This is a good shot of the cocoon.

The other amazing birthday present was also for A and me while we run, and it’s basically a cover that is water- and wind-proof and that fits over the frame of the BOB.  You can zip it all the way up (so the kiddo can’t see a thing), or you can zip it down so the kiddo can see but has a plastic shield over her to block the wind.

I think the cover, combined with the cocoon, will ensure that A could go on pretty much any cold-weather run that I’d want her to accompany me.

We’re not messing around with this. It is super toasty in there

After our photo session with C, we finally got out for our run: a nice 6-mile run from home to Belmont Harbor along the lakefront.  My watch took a long time to detect the GPS before we got going, so here are a couple more pics I took as we were waiting to get movin.

The diddo and me, about to lay it down
Let’s get this party started, bitches

The verdict is in, and it’s in favor of the cocoon.  Well done.  We’ll see how the cover holds once it gets cold enough to warrant its use.  Until then, it’ll be all cocoon, all the time.

Bring it

Bring it

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In my previous post, the one that apparently took me the entire summer to write, I quickly stated that I wasn’t sure what my NYC plans were–what magic I wanted to run for my marathon #18, and on my birthday, no less–but I think I finally got the motivation I needed to a) be real with myself, b) admit aloud what I’ve been marinating over for several months and c) just say f-it and go balls to the walls.

My plan? Have nearly as good a race in NYC as I did in April, and go for a 3:35-3:40.

My training has been strong, my speedwork solid, my races good, and right now anyway, the weather looks favorable.  It appears that I’ll be missing Frankenstorm, though I might get rained on a lil on marathon Sunday.

As you might recall, April’s Christie Clinic Marathon brought me a 3:34, a new PR (by about three minutes, one that apparently took four years and a pregnancy to shatter), as well as my fifth BQ.  Urbana-Champaign was a relatively flat course, with just some periodic rollers, so it was leaps and bounds different from what I’ll be experiencing in NYC… or so I’ve been told.

My thinking for shooting for a 3:35-3:40 in NYC is that lowballing myself a lil will prepare me to really go after that which I’m seeking most in 2013… and this is what I’ve grappled with admitting for a while.

I’m gonna break 3:30 in 2013. 

Perhaps in Houston in January.

Or maybe at Eugene in April.

Possibly at an as-yet-to-be-decided fall marthon.

But it’s gonna happen.

Any reasonable predictors (technological or personnel, haha) say that I’m capable of it.

I’m ready to see it through, and NYC–a hard course, with a ton of people, with conditions that will probably be more stressful to me than any other course I’ve run in a while–will be a good stepping-stone to it.

What initially get me fired up about this was Matt’s post over at NoMeatAthlete, basically about how if we don’t balls-up (excuse the crude and vulgar language; it’s mine, not his) and really go after what we’re shooting for– really, in a word, to make ourselves vulnerable by telling ourselves AND OTHERS what we want to achieve– we’re shortchanging ourselves and in a way, setting ourselves up for failure.

For whatever reasons that I don’t entirely know or understand right now, Matt’s post really resonated with me.

Perhaps because I wrote about something similar, back in 2010, just a few weeks shy of my third Chicago marathon–the one I ran 10-12 weeks pregnant–when I was still hedging a bit about finally trying to go for 3:35.

In fact, after reading Matt’s post, I arrived home from teaching and put it all out there for my final speedwork session prior to NYC: 10×800 (with an average split of about a 3:23, if memory serves).

And later that night, when I decided to admit to C what I was thinking, he gave me hell because he said it was like I was delivering a sermon or a motivational speech because of how fired up (yet intentional) I was with my delivery.

I’ll post a pre- and post-race vlog on my YT channel, so check it out in the days immediately preceding and after the marathon because chances are, it’ll take me a while to write a decent recap.

Good things are yet to come.  Better things, I should say.