I know I'll have a "Perfect" Training Cycle - Chicago, 2011

Yeah, that 5 miler couldn't have taken that long!!

Nick Morris wrote:Where you at?? Looks like someone got a hold of that Macbook

HaHa yeah I got my hand on her Macbook!

Julie wrote:Yeah, that 5 miler couldn't have taken that long!!

No her 5 miler didn't take that long.

I had a nice surprise for her when she got back, I told her let's go to the Taste Of Chicago for some good food and dessert. So that is what we did and we just got home! I stole her from you all tonight.

aww, a date with hubby is always more fun that internet time!

Nick Morris wrote:Where you at?? Looks like someone got a hold of that Macbook

I'm right here, Nick!! Hahaha!!

Julie wrote:Yeah, that 5 miler couldn't have taken that long!!

Haha..no, but it felt like it did! I'll just say I was happy to get home...

Julie wrote:aww, a date with hubby is always more fun that internet time!

This is true, and it was such a nice surprise and the evening flew by too fast, as it always does. We tried some new foods and I had my first ever frozen chocolate covered banana. It was super yummy!!!

Dave Wolfe wrote:

Mrs. Schuey wrote:

The official result of the race was 23:38

Race to Taste 2010 - 26:10, pace 8:25

Race to Taste 2011 - 23:38, pace 7:37

That's a real great improvement over the year!

Thanks Dave! I am pretty happy with it and it will be nice to see where I can go with it after some training for a 5K. I really like the distance a lot!

Peg Coover wrote:

Kenny B. wrote:

Mike MacLellan wrote:I'm gonna agree with Schuey that sub-22 is within your grasp, Lisa, especially given that recent training run with the 7:3x's. But then again, I think I remember you saying you weren't racing this race, so for not racing it, that's a pretty damn good time! You're making improvements in leaps and bounds.

This was a non-race race. Sort of like on the no plan plan! Not to shabby!

Funny! Once I was on a "non-committee committee" at school!

Way to go Lisa! I'm so jealous!!!!!! Proud of you girl!

No need to be jealous! You inspire me to push myself, so my success is just as much yours. You put in a lot of great work and I'm proud of you as well

fostever wrote: Sweet! Nice race Lisa! That first mile shows you have some speed in you. Good to see the training is going well for you. Hope to get together with you all soon. I'm heading to my mom's house in Ohio to care for her for a while since she fell again and we may have to set her up with an assisted living facility soon.

Thanks Steve! I'm sorry to hear about your mom and of the possibility of having to move her to assisted living. That's never easy and I will keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers that you're blessed with strength. We look forward to getting together with you soon as well. We had a blast hanging out talking with you!

Matt W wrote:

It's really great to see the improvement you've made in the 5K over the years. This is a good sign, especially since you weren't training for that race. It's nice to have races like that to boost the confidence in our abilities and training plan. Keep riding that wave of momentum you've built up.

I appreciate that Matt, thank you! I'm taking it as a good sign, and the not being trained for the race and doing well is a nice confidence boost. Trust me, I'm riding that wave of momentum. It's a good thing to tuck into my mind...when I am out there running and it gets tough, I pull that out.

Tom H wrote:Wow, nice job! Can't wait to see what you can do when you train for and plan the next one!

Thanks Tom! To be honest, I'm excited as well. I've never trained for a 5K, however, I like the distance and plan on training for one in the future.

Schuey wrote:You know Tom, I think that if she would have gotten out of bed earlier, had breakfast and actually warmed up for this race she would have done a lot better. Also I feel that if the race was planned and there was a little taper she will really blow the doors off.

I think the thing that Lisa is getting better at and has to still work at is letting go and not being scared of running fast. I know it sounds funny but she has a fear of running fast. So other then working on the mental aspects of running we are also working on stay relaxed and feeling comfortable when running faster then a slow or easy pace. She might not be the fastest person out there but there is no doubt in my mind that Lisa has a lot of talent to be a lot better and there is a huge room for improvement. Then again the important thing is that Lisa is having fun. That is another focus for both of is to have fun no matter how fast or slow we are. The whole reason we are doing it is to enjoy being active. Still with that being said I still think she is awesome.

Honey, I love you and your support and your coaching and your passion with running; both mine and yours. You are right, with tweaking my mental outlook on running I think there are some big improvements that can be made. I do have a fear of running fast, and yes, it's stupid...but I do. BUT, I'm working on it. I am having fun with my training and that's a first. It feels good to not view my training as a chore and actually look forward to running when I get home from work. That's not to say it will always be easy getting out the door, but it's definitely more manageable this time around. And I think you're pretty awesome as well!

ChasMcG wrote:

Back at ya!

Mike MacLellan wrote:

+1

You know, Lisa, there's a totally hackneyed,, WAIT, THERE'S AN EMOTICON FOR THAT!, quote floating around the internet that basically says (here's my way with words, again): we're not afraid of failure, we're afraid of being great beyond measure. If your husband is right - and I would have to think he is - about your fear of being fast, think about that. If you never approach or cross that fine line, how will you know just how high it is?

Mike, what a powerful comment you posted to my blog. Thank you for that! I love the, "we're not afraid of failure, we're afraid of being great beyond measure". There is a lot of truth to that deep sentence. Between you and Kenny and the philosophical insights, I'll get past this mental thing I have going on before I know it! I love stuff like that, so I just have to tell you a big thanks! You're giving me some stuff to put into my pocket and pull out when I need to.

Julie wrote:Lisa - hope running is going well this week! Maybe you need to have a talk with yourself, corny as it sounds, and just say "wow, I'm a fast runner, I run 7-something pace 5Ks without even getting up for breakfast!" and boost your confidence that way.

Julie, you're too cute and I love it! Thank you for that. It does not sound corny at all, in reality, it's something that I should be doing. I have a tendency of saying the opposite. Positive self talk is something that is going to have to start happening.

Kenny B. wrote:Simply turn fear into excitement. Worry into wonder.

See? I love that! Like I told Mike...between you and him, I'll be set. I love the insightful thoughts...thank you for them! Keep 'em coming, they're like food for the soul

John Kilpatrick wrote:Along with the theme is the story of the bumblebee. Scientists studied it and determined that it could not fly. Except, nobody told the bumblebee and he didn't know he couldn't fly. So, he flies. Go fly! It's fun to see the improvements and the excitement - hope you don't lose that!

John, I am adding you to the list of philosophical buds of mine. "So, he flies. Go fly!"..there's something very freeing about those 5 words and I thank you for posting them. I don't plan on losing the excitement, no worries there! It's fun to watch hard work pay off. I'm looking forward to October!

Jim Lentz wrote:Lisa, after reading about your recent 5K I am starting to think I have to watch my back on the lakefront so you don't start chicking me

Are you and Martin available for Yolk on the 17th of July?

Jim, you are a wicked fast runner....you won't be getting chicked, no worries!

Hey, I haven't seen Peg out there Has she been running after work lately?

We would love to do the Yolk on the 17th of July! Same location and time? Was it 11:45? We had such a fun time with you both the last time and look forward to doing it again!

Ok, onto running...

Yesterday I had my eight miler and I ran almost the same route as Martin and I ran last Friday for my 14 miler. Instead of going down to the Riverwalk, I ran the pier before Navy Pier, turned around, ran south out to Northerly Island and then home. My legs were tired, and I felt like I was running slow. I worked a lot on nixing my negative thoughts on the run. Part of my frustration is figuring out my stride. At times, I feel like I'm plodding...and I'm really wanting to improve my stride and become more efficient. The one thing I did realize, is that I like the lighter running shoes. After running the race in my Lunaracers and then running in my Mizuno Wave Rider 14's, I felt like I had little bricks on my feet. The learning process has begun; I never knew I liked the lighter shoes until I ran in them.

I actually didn't look at my pace while on the run and truth be told, I didn't look at my splits until about 15 minutes ago before posting. I was pleasantly surprised at both my 8 miler as well as my 5 miler tonight.

Here is my run from yesterday. I accidentally ran an extra .25 miles...I didn't mind

1 00:09:21
2 00:09:19
3 00:09:10
4 00:09:20
5 00:09:19
6 00:09:21
7 00:09:08
8 00:08:47
0.25 00:09:24


Tonight's run was nice. There was a nice breeze and I got to mix it up again with the route. I ran west on Roosevelt, turned around after a mile and headed east toward the lake, turned down Indiana Avenue and over to the Lakefront and headed north to home. My quads were a bit tired, but I think that even though it was a physical thing, it was also mental. It took about 1.5 miles for my legs to loosen up, but I found myself focusing a lot on "fixing" my stride. I kept telling myself to keep my legs beneath me, extend my legs out, lift them up, don't heel strike..ugh. I just want to find my stride. It'll come in time, I suppose. I tried running on my forefoot and got a sharp pain in the ankle where I had injured it. Oh well, what can ya do? I will just keep practicing and running and I'm sure it will come.

Here are my splits from tonight:
1 00:09:51
2 00:09:46
3 00:09:08
4 00:08:56
5 00:09:07

I came home tonight and Martin and I headed out to the Taste of Chicago. The food was good and aside from the frozen chocolate banana, I got to get some of the yummiest ice cream: the Original Rainbow Ice Cream....soooo good! We also got some sweet potato fries, a turkey meatball sandwich sample and a small piece of Beggar's Pizza.

Anyway, that's it for today....thanks for reading!

Girl you are kicking ass! Nice running! It's hard to watch the stride and not become too mental about the run so I give you a lot of props for that.

TOTALLY agree about the lighter shoes. Makes such a difference on those little fast runs you have to do!

Great running!

Seriously, positive self talk does help because I think you can negatively talk yourself into slowing down. I had that happen around mile 15 of my 2nd marathon. Suddenly everything became difficult and I way slowed down. My friend who was pacing me asked what happened. I don't really know, I just got freaked out that I was tired and still had 11 miles to go...then I got it out of my head and did fine the rest of the race. But having some good come backs to tell yourself really helps, that you're tough, that you're strong, you're having great training, all the compliments you get, just remember them and tell them right back to yourself.

Training obviously helps too, but you're already doing an excellent job at that!

Chocolate banana sounds really good...

When your kid gets like 1 or 2, I think s/he'd really enjoy the museum of science and industry, too. J was only 15 months when we visited and she loved seeing the baby chicks hatch and everything else. (random, but my brain is only 1/3 on right now).

Great job with the runs. Running on tired legs helps build the mental toughness for those last miles of a marathon. Way to go.

Great running with some wonderful food. Life is good!

Lisa, your splits are really pretty good. I too feel like I am plodding along out there, I am convinced it is the weather. I just don't feel that way when it's 50 degrees out. Even when it's only in the 70s, that's warm enough to cause our bodies to work harder and that causes the plodding feeling. Nice job on both these runs!

ChasMcG wrote:Girl you are kicking ass! Nice running! It's hard to watch the stride and not become too mental about the run so I give you a lot of props for that.

TOTALLY agree about the lighter shoes. Makes such a difference on those little fast runs you have to do!

Hey there Chas! Thanks a lot! It is hard to watch the stride and not become mentally overwhelmed. I'm a perfectionist, which doesn't make it any easier Love the lighter shoes! Speaking of shoes, which trail shoes did you get?

Julie wrote:Great running!

Seriously, positive self talk does help because I think you can negatively talk yourself into slowing down. I had that happen around mile 15 of my 2nd marathon. Suddenly everything became difficult and I way slowed down. My friend who was pacing me asked what happened. I don't really know, I just got freaked out that I was tired and still had 11 miles to go...then I got it out of my head and did fine the rest of the race. But having some good come backs to tell yourself really helps, that you're tough, that you're strong, you're having great training, all the compliments you get, just remember them and tell them right back to yourself.

Training obviously helps too, but you're already doing an excellent job at that!

Chocolate banana sounds really good...

When your kid gets like 1 or 2, I think s/he'd really enjoy the museum of science and industry, too. J was only 15 months when we visited and she loved seeing the baby chicks hatch and everything else. (random, but my brain is only 1/3 on right now).

Thanks Julie! You know what, I do the same thing in the race. Practicing not letting your mind take over is tough, but good. I guess this is the part of training I find kind of fun - even if it is frustrating. As for the Museum of Science and Industry - I'm sure they'll love it! Would you believe I've never been there? I actually have yet to go to any of the museums here...

Alex Kubacki wrote:Great job with the runs. Running on tired legs helps build the mental toughness for those last miles of a marathon. Way to go.

Alex, you make a good point. I actually try to tell myself that while I'm out there running - telling myself that this is what mile 25 feels like. At least the good that comes out of these harder runs is that I know I can push through them, you know? Looking forward to seeing you at Bayshore!

Kenny B. wrote:Great running with some wonderful food. Life is good!

Life is great! Yes, good food and good running! Thank you God!

JohnP wrote:Lisa, your splits are really pretty good. I too feel like I am plodding along out there, I am convinced it is the weather. I just don't feel that way when it's 50 degrees out. Even when it's only in the 70s, that's warm enough to cause our bodies to work harder and that causes the plodding feeling. Nice job on both these runs!

John, you make a good point about the weather. Kenny and some other people had mentioned that too and I keep forgetting about that factor. I think you're right, though, because when the temps are cooler I do run a little more fluid. My other problem is that I see my hubby's stride, Dave-O's stride, etc., and they are beautiful! They look so fluid and efficient and then I see my reflection in the glass as I run by a store front and, well...let's just say the negative self comments flood my head. Sooo...I have my work cut out for me, but I'm working on it.

Thanks for the props on my runs, I really appreciate it! Looking forward to seeing you again sometime soon!

So I have 10 miles to do tonight and then it's time to pack. We leave for Florida tomorrow and I cannot wait! This vacation is much needed and it'll be nice to hang out with family and get some running done in the heat. I'm also looking forward to fresh fish and oysters, oysters, oysters!

Staying consistent in my running is good...I'm working my way to getting that adorable Lululemon shirt.

Mrs. Schuey wrote:So I have 10 miles to do tonight and then it's time to pack. We leave for Florida tomorrow and I cannot wait! This vacation is much needed and it'll be nice to hang out with family and get some running done in the heat. I'm also looking forward to fresh fish and oysters, oysters, oysters!

Staying consistent in my running is good...I'm working my way to getting that adorable Lululemon shirt.

What better way to kick start your vacation with 10 miles. I love that!

Wow, I'm seeing lots of progress, Lisa - great work - keep it up.

Enjoy Florida! Stay safe in the humidity and heat. It is just so difficult. Have a safe trip and good vacation.

Those don't look like the splits of a plodder to me. They look great! I too have a problem with negative thoughts. In fact, I wish I could stop thinking about the end of the run and try to enjoy being in the moment, like Martin suggested to you. I'll work on that tomorrow when I run circles around the indoor track at the gym...

Julie wrote:Enjoy Florida! Stay safe in the humidity and heat. It is just so difficult. Have a safe trip and good vacation.

Well Thanks Julie! Good morning to everyone from warm HUMID Florida! I can't believe back 2008 I use to train down here all the time. I guess maybe now I'm happy I did all my training in the pool. Ok no whams and no injuries while down here. - Martin

Oh don't worry Natalie one of these days I will be starting my own blog, this will not be a habit. Again just wanted to say good morning to everyone and we made it down here safe. Also our Hana did great on her first plane ride.

Enjoy your vacation and some serious hot weather running!

Hope you guys are having fun!! We miss you here!

ChasMcG wrote:Hope you guys are having fun!! We miss you here!

Yeah buddy we are partying so that means the long runs tomorrow will hurt just a little! That's ok bring on the heat!!!

Enjoy the heat/humidity for your runs! It's humid here but I'm sure cooler. I remember visiting FL after I had moved away and as soon as I stepped out of the airport (this was in March, too) I said "oh wow! Humidity!" It was incredible and Nebraskans complain about the humidity but we don't have anything compared to that. I don't know how people breathe in that let alone run.

Enjoy that heat - I bet its a nice shock to the system! When you get home, temps that felt warm before will probably feel nice and cool.

Wassup, Lisa! Just saying hi. See you soon.