Day 5 - I-Challenge Part 2

Well, I was able to survive this weekend and run exactly how I wanted to.  Took it nice and easy in the 5K and ran about 7:05 pace on Friday night.  It was a little chilly this morning and the wind was blowing pretty good already at 6:30 this morning, which worried me quite a bit.  I was able to go out exactly how I planned - the first 5 miles right at 7 minute pace, the next couple of miles in the 6:50's and then cranked the last 6 miles at 6:40 pace or better.  It was a nice flat and fast course with plenty of entertainment along the way (not that I cared much, I was busy suffering).  The only thing that sucked was that the marathon started at 7amd and the half started at 7:30am.  Well, around mile 6 to 7 I started catching the slow people and it got really congested between mile 9 and 10 when we had to run thru a park.  Here were my splits for the half.
Mile 1 - 7:02
Mile 2 - 7:00
Mile 3 - 7:00
Mile 4 - 7:02
Mile 5 - 6:57
Mile 6 - 6:52
Mile 7 - 6:58
Mile 8 - 6:40
Mile 9 - 6:38
Mile 10 - 6:41
Mile 11 - 6:37
Mile 12 - 6:34
Mile 13 - 6:21
The final stretch - 0:56
Final time - 1:29:17

Other than that it was a great race and a great weekend!  The finish at the 50 yard line of Memorial stadium was pretty sweet.  Here are some pics from the weekend.

My new bling

Showing off the hardware while I am still delirious from the race

The view from the finish

Me and my lovely lady

Goal achieved!  Time to drink some beer!

Day 4 - I-Challenge Part 1

Distance - 5k - Champaign IL
Time - 21:56
Pace - 7:04

The first part of the I-Challenge is in the books!  I think I succeeded in keeping myself under control by keeping it at about 7:04 pace.  My legs felt pretty strong tonight, so hopefully that is a sign of things to come.  Time to shovel some food in myself and get plenty of sleep.  5:30am is going to be here way to soon.  I think this was probably the largest 5k I have ever ran in, about 4,600 people.  There were your typical weirdos - guys in hot dog suits, elvis getups and so on.  Nice flat course and plenty of loud college students along the route.  Race goes off at 7:30 in the morning.  Planning on cruising the first 4 to 5 miles at about 7:05 pace, then cranking it up a notch after that.  Hopefully I can break the hour and a half barrier.  Here's to a happy finish at the 50 yard line of Memorial Stadium!

Day 3 - Pre-Race

Distance - 4 miles
Time - 28:58
Pace - 7:14 per mile
Conditions - 15-20 mph winds, 60 degrees, sunny

Today was a nice and easy run.  My legs felt pretty tired today, but it has been a long twelve weeks of training for the half marathon this weekend.  It would have been nice to have today off to rest, but it wouldn't be much of a challenge if it was easy!  The future wife and I are headed to Champaign tomorrow afternoon to hit up the expo and pick up my race packet.  Then the 5k (the first part of the I-Challenge) kicks off at 6:30pm.  I plan to take it pretty easy and just use it as a training run and save my energy for the half on Saturday morning.  Unfortunately, I have a hard time taking it easy in a race setting, so we will see what happens.  Then we have reservations at Biaggi's, which is a delicious Italian restaraunt that I think we are both looking forward to.  Well time to get packed and get to bed early.  It's going to be a long weekend!

Day 2 - Not so Perfect

Distance - 4 miles
Time - 29:42
Pace - 7:21 per mile
Conditions - 52 degrees, 20-30 mph winds, pouring rain

It's amazing how quickly the weather can change in Illinois.  Perfect running conditions yesterday but the exact opposite today.  20-30 mph winds, cold and pouring rain.  I have ben training for a half marathon for the past twelve weeks now.  Any other week in the past I would have just switched my night off so that I didn't have to run in this crappy weather.  Now that I have started this challenge that is a thing of the past!  It is crazy how competitive I can be with myself.  I forgot how much a difficult run like tonights can really toughen you up mentally.  The wind stopping me in my tracks and the rain stinging on my face and legs...makes you feel like you really accomplished something by still going out and cranking out a run.  I wanted to log more miles tonight, but with the conditions I feel like I ran a hell of a lot farther than 4 miles.

Getting motivated to go out for a run on days like today can be pretty difficult at times.  What helps me is having an end goal.  I am a highly competitive person anyway so challenging myself with a goal helps motivate me even more.  My goal for the half marathon this weekend has been to break 1 hour and 30 minutes.  If I take a day off because the weather sucks I know that is going to make that goal further out of my reach.  I say bring on the shitty weather (except for this Saturday, calm and clear would be great).  The more challenging the run, the stronger it makes you.  Let's pray for better weather tomorrow anyway...

Day 1 - Perfect

The first day of the challenge is officially in the books!  I think I will start off by mentioning the Ultramarathon Man Dean Karnazes, as he had a lot to do with this idea.  I ran a 5k with him recently in Altamont, Illinois and let me tell you that man is a machine!  He is so fit he doesn't even look human.  No 48 year old man should look like that.  It was awesome to have the opportunity to run beside him and hear some of his stories from the road.  Seeing Dean conquer the United States over the past 60 days has inspired me to challenge myself.  It's not quite the magnitude of Dean's adventure, but it will be a hell of a challenge for a mere mortal such as myself.  If I get any followers to this blog I plan to make it even more interesting, but time will tell.  Anyway, on to today's run.  The weather was perfect tonight.  65 degrees, slight breeze, and sunny (something we haven't seen in Illinois recently).  I went 4.25 miles at 7:10 per mile pace.  It was a beautiful night for a run.  I think I am going to take pictures during my runs at least a couple of nights a week and definitely at races to share on here.  I have a few other ideas I plan to unleash as time goes on.  Admittedly, this week is going to be pretty easy for the most part because I would really like to break 1 hour 30 minutes in my half marathon this weekend.  Well, tomorrow will bring a little more challenge since the forecast is thunderstorms.  Welcome to Illinois running...

Off to a running start...

So here is the plan...I want to run more in the next year than I ever have in my life.  I used to be a pretty good distance runner back in high school and college.  Somewhere along the way I stopped loving running and got older and fatter as alot of us do.  I recently have found that love for running again, but I want to try and keep it interesting.  So I figured there was no better way to keep it interesting than to issue a challenge to myself.  Here are the guidelines.

1) I will run every single day in the next year - 0 DAYS OFF
2) At least one race per month.  More races if possible, but I only make so much money at my day job
3) Increase the distances and difficulty as the challenge progresses
4) To start with, the shortest distance I want to run per day is 4 miles
5) I will happily accept challenges from anyone that leaves a comment (if anyone ever reads this thing) - including races and training runs

As you can see, this will be an ever changing challenge which will keep it plenty interesting.

As of right now I am signed up for the following races
1) April 29th - 5k at Champaign, Illinois (part of the Illinois Marathon Weekend)
2) April 30th - Half Marathon at Champaign, Illinois (part of the Illinois Marathon Weekend)
3) June 18th - Warrior Dash at Channahon, Illinois
4) September 25th - The Quad Cities - Quad Cities Marathon

Beyond that I don't know yet.  The more races the better, so I guess it is time to fill in the gaps.  Time to get running...