I'm Gonna Be Sore: Hills and Remembering

13 minutes warmup
tempo run - 9:00 out and back
jog to the hill
2 hills
3x1 minutes (1) on the path back to the cars

total: around 6.5 miles

56°F
Current:Clear
Wind: N at 0 mph
Humidity: 94%
course: Blackwell Forest Preserve

Today was all about the hill. A warmup, 18:00 of a tempo run, and a neat little mountain goat jog, then the Hill.

Last night's run was good, but not a lot of hours have passed since then. Maybe under 12. I ran decently this morning, but my legs remember what they just did. I came home, I watched the ending of the opening ceremonies to the Olympics, and went to sleep. Back at it at 7:30 am, and there we were.

A good group came out, including a few young runners, two from Wheaton Academy, one from West Chicago High School.

My 31-day mile count it at a new high. It has been creeping up, and now is at 130.87. Tomorrow's run should bring it up another mile or two.

I'm thinking that this year might not be my year to break 20:00. My races have not shown the kind of improvement I think I should see. I still think I will drop my 22:00 PR a minute, maybe more, but to drop it two minutes, when my year's best is 22:42, seems unlikely. This year might be about preparing for next year. Will I try? Of course. Will I leave it all on the race course? You bet. Will I break 20:00. Maybe not.

Meanwhile, USA and Japan are neck-and-neck in women's volleyball. I don't understand how all this is scored, other than hitting the ball out of bounds or letting hit the ground in bounds. Tragedy underscores it all though, as a Chinese man killed the father-in-law of US Olympic volleyball coach.

Unrelated: Bernie Mac died.

Up the Mountain, Finishing 37-mile Week

"I have been to the mountaintop!"
- Martin Luther King Jr.

Warm-up
12:00 out
12:18 back
little jog up to Mt. Hoy
Up and down the hill twice
Fartlek to the parking lot: 1:00 hard, 1:00 easy three times

total: (c) 6 miles

63°F
Clear
Wind: N at 0 mph
Humidity: 90%
course: Blackwell Forest Preserve

76°F
Clear
Wind: E at 7 mph
Humidity: 56%

Another look at Mt. Hoy, from the top, in a roughly six-mile run. Once again, a gaggle of high schoolers were there showing us old folks how we used to do it.

Ran the first part with Jeff Couch. Jeff's quest is like mine, to break 20:00. He is close, but has a tough road. Knocking off two minutes at time is easier for me since I was starting so much slower. Killing the final :30 will be harder. That's Jeff's final hurdle to sub-20.

My sense of the workout was I did well, especially considering that this completes a 37.38 mile week, my most ever. Better rested and I might have conquered the hill with more vigor, but the dividends of running it hard though tired will pay off in September.

Walter Payton's Hill (twice) in Hearty Blackwell Workout

6.0 miles?
58°F
Clear
Wind: N at 5 mph
Humidity: 90%
course: Blackwell

finish
69°F
Clear
Wind: N at 9 mph
Humidity: 57%
The official workout (I did an adjusted version of it)

• 13 m's wu (minutes warm-up, my code)
• 18-28 m's tempo run, at DMP pace (Dave Martin pace)
• 5 m's slow to the hill
• 2-4 hills, but guessing 3x as it is Mt. Hoy (865' high - you can see the Sear's Tower 28 miles away)
• 5 m's jog back to the trails
• 3x1 m's f(1) fartlek back to where the cars are parked
• a few m's warm-down

Jim brought together a few groups. His usual JSRC crowd, which today included Rudi, Lee, Frank, Jeff, John, Brian, Sue and myself. Rich rode in to say hello. Jim himself ran with us. First time since I have been running there. There was a group from the north side who I think he used to coach years back. And, a good bunch of high school kids, all very good. 25-30 in all.

Rudi brought bagels.

Hard saying how far I ran. I might need to adjust the distance. We started with roughly a mile warm up. Felt relaxed. I think I ran it at 7:45-8:00 pace. Describing the rest of the work is impossible, as it was a lot of little things.

While the Chicago Bears were doing the Superbowl Shuffle, Walter Payton was training tough. Anyone in Chicago knows well of a video of his workouts, including the famous hill he would arduously run up. Looked hard. It is hard. I ran it twice.

You see the picture above. We ran up the other side. The view from the top was tremendous.

My first time up the hill was 2:28, then in 2:22. I can do better, but, by the end, my legs were slogging. Jim started the second one just after me, but gracefully worked his way up past me, apparently not so tired. For a guy who is not competing, or training heavily, he still has something in the tank.

It was a good, unpressured run, not as bound by time.

As a run, it reminded me of my old Swallow Cliff runs. I miss those days.
According to The Chicago Area's 10 Best Trails

Blackwell Forest Preserve, Warrenville

Directions: I-88 to I-355 north to Rt. 56 (Butterfield Rd.) west. Go 8.5 miles to the west entrance on the right side of the road.

The Route: The first thing you might notice is the imposing Mt. Hoy towering above you--a retired landfill (sometimes the smell gives it away) and a popular location for hill training. Approximately 10 miles of crushed limestone and mowed grass trails loop around the 1,312-acre preserve. A link to the Illinois Prairie path can be found at the intersection of Winfield and Butterfield Rds.