Forest Preserve District of DuPage County - Springbrook Prairie
Springbrook Prairie Forest Preserve
9S400 Plainfield-Naperville Road
Naperville, Illinois
Get directions
5.5 mile loop, with each half mile noted. Clean, semi-paved path, with some minor hills at around the three mile mark. Find me here on occasional Saturday mornings or mid-day, mid-week when I'm not working. Among my favorites when I need to run alone.
Wheaton College Track
501 College Ave
Wheaton, IL 60187
Get directions
Excellent quality 400 meter track. Run with me here on Thursday evenings as part of the Jim Spivey Running Club. It can be crowded sometimes, but mostly, these are other serious runners who are aware of track courtesies and etiquette.
College of DuPage Track
425 Fawell Blvd.
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
(630) 942-2800
Low quality and beat-up, but convenient 400 meter track. Not only is it close to home, but I can run a track workout without competing for lanes with other runners. The COD football team often leaves equipment in the lanes near the 350 meter mark.
Illinois Prairie Path
W Liberty Dr & Carlton Ave
Wheaton, IL 60187
Excellent 61-mile trail, with markers every mile. Convenient, and many runners use it. The downside is it can be buggy (bees, mosquitoes) and roads need to be crossed every mile or so.
You will see many runners here, including the Glen Ellyn Runners Club. Be polite, nod to other runners.
Sometimes I go north or south. Most recently, I have been heading southward -- fewer road crossings -- as far as the four mile mark for an eight mile run, and expect to push it further as I can.
Elsewhere
There are other places -- occasional treadmills (COD's treadmill), paths, but either too infrequent (like Greene Valley), or too difficult to provide specifics (like road workouts that change course each time). The ones listed above are the most frequent, but also, the ones I expect to use the most moving forward this spring.
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Showing posts with label Wheaton Recreation Center. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wheaton Recreation Center. Show all posts
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Two PRs - 3.1 Miles & Mile
.91 miles wu
3.1 miles hard (21:52 - 7:03/mile)
1.01 miles recovery
1.0 miles hard (6:22)
.75 miles ws
course: Wheaton Recreation Center
total: 6.77 miles
Two PRs. That's a good workout
3.1 Miles
Held steady for 3.0 miles at 7:03.5, then picked it up. I could have picked it up sooner. A 21:30 or 21:45 was in me tonight. It felt hard, but comfortable. I never pushed it, or lost control of my form.
Mile 1-3.0 = 7:03.5/mile
Last Mile (2.1-3.1) = 7:01
After an easy recovery, I ran hard for a mile, and finished in 6:22, knocking off three seconds from my time last week.
How I will miss this days when the getting in shape part is over and my times plateaus!
I have 1:52 to slice from my time, plus I need to convert the treadmill factor to real ground, under race conditions. To get it done by September 30 looks like a possibility only with a huge jump. I just had two big jumps, but I need more to pull it off. Logically, it might not happen until late October, but this is not the kind of progress that happens exactly per plan. All I can do is train smart and run hard. The rest (all of it, really) is up to God.
3.1 miles hard (21:52 - 7:03/mile)
1.01 miles recovery
1.0 miles hard (6:22)
.75 miles ws
course: Wheaton Recreation Center
total: 6.77 miles
Two PRs. That's a good workout
3.1 Miles
Held steady for 3.0 miles at 7:03.5, then picked it up. I could have picked it up sooner. A 21:30 or 21:45 was in me tonight. It felt hard, but comfortable. I never pushed it, or lost control of my form.
Mile 1-3.0 = 7:03.5/mile
Last Mile (2.1-3.1) = 7:01
After an easy recovery, I ran hard for a mile, and finished in 6:22, knocking off three seconds from my time last week.
How I will miss this days when the getting in shape part is over and my times plateaus!
I have 1:52 to slice from my time, plus I need to convert the treadmill factor to real ground, under race conditions. To get it done by September 30 looks like a possibility only with a huge jump. I just had two big jumps, but I need more to pull it off. Logically, it might not happen until late October, but this is not the kind of progress that happens exactly per plan. All I can do is train smart and run hard. The rest (all of it, really) is up to God.
Friday, August 24, 2007
4.79 Happy Miles
3 miles wu
1 mile hard (6:25)
.79 miles wd
total: 4.79 miles
course: Wheaton Recreation Center
Good workout, albeit short. Started with 50 sit-ups at home. The 3 miles was a gradual speed increase from 8:57/mile to 7:30/mile, then, simultaneously, an increase from 0 incline to 1.0 incline. I don't know what the number means, but higher is harder.
Paused the machine (treadmill), took a 2-3 minute break, then ran a 6:25 mile, gradually increasing the speed from 6:48/mile to 6:00/mile. No incline.
The mile was interesting - first time I felt the ache of a hard run. This is different than breathlessness or muscle ache, per se, but it made me want to stop. I felt it especially near the last 600-700 meters, increasing in intensity. To run a 20:00 5K, I will need to learn to tolerate more pain.
My warm down was especially slow, but it got the job done.
Then, a few lifts on a device to strengthen whatever are the muscles causing shin splints (my current trouble), and another 3x20 sit-ups using a sit-up machine. Tom Reichert, a trainer at the Wheaton Recreation Center was quite helpful.
1 mile hard (6:25)
.79 miles wd
total: 4.79 miles
course: Wheaton Recreation Center
Good workout, albeit short. Started with 50 sit-ups at home. The 3 miles was a gradual speed increase from 8:57/mile to 7:30/mile, then, simultaneously, an increase from 0 incline to 1.0 incline. I don't know what the number means, but higher is harder.
Paused the machine (treadmill), took a 2-3 minute break, then ran a 6:25 mile, gradually increasing the speed from 6:48/mile to 6:00/mile. No incline.
The mile was interesting - first time I felt the ache of a hard run. This is different than breathlessness or muscle ache, per se, but it made me want to stop. I felt it especially near the last 600-700 meters, increasing in intensity. To run a 20:00 5K, I will need to learn to tolerate more pain.
My warm down was especially slow, but it got the job done.
Then, a few lifts on a device to strengthen whatever are the muscles causing shin splints (my current trouble), and another 3x20 sit-ups using a sit-up machine. Tom Reichert, a trainer at the Wheaton Recreation Center was quite helpful.
Monday, August 13, 2007
5K PR - 22:21 - Wheaton Recreation Center treadmill
1.0 mile wu (10:00)
3.1 miles hard (22:21 - 7:12/mile)
2.5 miles wd
total: 6.6 miles
First mile: 6:58. I was shooting to run 22:00 and overshot my start, and slowed, then sped, finishing in 7:19 pace for the next 2.1 miles. Overall a success, but a more modest start, say, a 7:05-7:10 and I could have not fizzed out.
3.1 miles hard (22:21 - 7:12/mile)
2.5 miles wd
total: 6.6 miles
First mile: 6:58. I was shooting to run 22:00 and overshot my start, and slowed, then sped, finishing in 7:19 pace for the next 2.1 miles. Overall a success, but a more modest start, say, a 7:05-7:10 and I could have not fizzed out.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
7.11 in 60 Minutes
Roughly 7.11 miles - 60:00 (8:26)
.64 wd
total: 7.75 miles
course: Wheaton Recreation Center treadmill
Mile 1 - 6.9 mph
Mile 2 - 7.0 mph
Mile 3 - 7.1 mph
Mile 4 - 7.2 mph
Mile 5 - 7.3 mph
Mile 6 - 7.4 mph and up
Might have been more. The machine limited me to 60 minutes before going into warmdown-cooldown status. I played with the speed button for the last 8:00 or so, going as fast as 11 mph (5:24 mile). It was fun moving my legs fast again.
Thanks to running the Cosley Run for the Animals, I have a seven-session pass to the Wheaton Recreation Center.
Instead of:
87°F
Clear
Wind: W at 9 mph
Humidity: 69%
I ran inside, with Fierce Grape Gatorade in my water bottle right next to my, while my chums from the Spivey Running Club endured terrible heat and humidity.
While I would like to take from this a pretty fast time for me, it is a treadmill, not real conditions. However, it shows me, in reverse, why I had a hard time making the transition from the COD treadmill to my weekly butt kicking on the Wheaton College track with the Jim Spivey Running Club. What I can take from it is is that I was able to get my legs moving on a very miserable, hot day without hurting myself.
.64 wd
total: 7.75 miles
course: Wheaton Recreation Center treadmill
Mile 1 - 6.9 mph
Mile 2 - 7.0 mph
Mile 3 - 7.1 mph
Mile 4 - 7.2 mph
Mile 5 - 7.3 mph
Mile 6 - 7.4 mph and up
Might have been more. The machine limited me to 60 minutes before going into warmdown-cooldown status. I played with the speed button for the last 8:00 or so, going as fast as 11 mph (5:24 mile). It was fun moving my legs fast again.
Thanks to running the Cosley Run for the Animals, I have a seven-session pass to the Wheaton Recreation Center.
Instead of:
87°F
Clear
Wind: W at 9 mph
Humidity: 69%
I ran inside, with Fierce Grape Gatorade in my water bottle right next to my, while my chums from the Spivey Running Club endured terrible heat and humidity.
While I would like to take from this a pretty fast time for me, it is a treadmill, not real conditions. However, it shows me, in reverse, why I had a hard time making the transition from the COD treadmill to my weekly butt kicking on the Wheaton College track with the Jim Spivey Running Club. What I can take from it is is that I was able to get my legs moving on a very miserable, hot day without hurting myself.
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