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By kilax, October 18, 2011 1:20 pm

Is it too early to be buying holiday gifts? Has anyone else starting shopping?

We haven’t even drawn names yet in my family to see who gets which sibling/significant other for Christmas. And while that would normally kickstart my holiday gift buying, I’ve already purchased gifts for three friends and one for one of my grandmas! Now the tricky part is waiting until Christmas to give them to them*. I can do it, I know it!

So, let’s just say that buying things in advance means it will feel like less of a hit to my bank account than buying a lot of gifts all at once. Yeah. That’s it.

Actually, this is probably a good thing. Last year I was complaining about how long it took me to find the holiday spirit. Maybe it’s coming really early this year.

*I have a problem with giving people gifts year round… when it’s not a holiday/their birthday/no need for a gift… Now it’s time to save all those little things for an actual holiday.

Comments (18)

By kilax, October 18, 2011 6:05 am

There is a short, interesting New York Times article here about running coaches, and the reasons why some people like to use them, and some don’t. In short, the author hypothesizes that people who like coaches tend to like the individual attention, having a schedule made for them, and gain confidence from having someone else tell them they are ready for competition. People who don’t like coaches tend to crave flexibility in their schedule and sometimes can’t find the right personality match in a coach.

Obviously, that is a very shortened list of the reasons someone might or might not want/need a coach. But of course, it got me thinking about running coaches (or coaches in general).

Would you like to have a coach (for any sport)? Why or why not? Would you like to be a coach?

Picture from here

The article mentioned self-coaching – either making your own training plan or following one found online, in a book, etc. That is what I have done for all of my training. I started with Fitness magazine’s 6 Weeks to a 5K in fall/winter of 2006 and have used that multiple times to get back in to running. For my first half marathon (spring 2009), I used Runner’s World’s Double-Your-Endurance plans from 3-6 miles then 6-12 miles. For my first attempt at the marathon, I tried one of Hal Higdon’s plans and was injured and never ran the race. For my second attempt, I somewhat used the FIRST training plan (I started my marathon training late because of injury and had to adapt the plan). And for over the last year I have been writing my own plan!

So, obviously, I like to self-coach. Now the question is whether or not that is doing me any good. I set personal records (PRs) from time to time, but I don’t do any sort of structured running (speedwork, tempos, fartleks, strides, blah blah blah). I think for me, my weight has more to do with my success in running, than anything else. The lighter I am, the easier it is for me to run fast. But that’s not the point of this post. Moving on…

Sometimes I think it would be fun to have a coach, but only if they were going to be there to push me to do the workout. Otherwise, I would see 8×400 on the schedule and just go out and run a few miles at a “fast for me” pace.

I’ve found that I really like my running to be flexible. At the beginning of each week, I usually don’t have any runs planned, except for my long run and sometimes a lunch run, and that really works well for me. Well, in the sense that I don’t feel stressed out about meeting any sort of schedule. I suppose I am such a naturally anxious person about so many things, that it’s nice to have running be more flexible.

Whoa. That is a lot of running talk. I have a few more things to say, but I will make it brief.

1. I think it’s smart for first time runners to follow a run/walk plan to get in to running. A lot of people I know just go out for a 5 minute sprint and get incredibly winded and proclaim they hate running and don’t try it again for awhile. I think you have to work up to that (5 minute sprint)! Start small!
2. I think being in a running club can kind of be like having a coach because you inevitably have SO MANY people telling you their opinion on your training. This can be good or bad.
3. In the same sense, reading running blogs can help you self-coach as well. You see ideas from other runners and try things out.

Comments (18)

By kilax, October 17, 2011 5:14 am

The Corn Maze “5K” is definitely becoming one of my favorite silly races to do! I ran it last year with Steven, his brother Andrew, and Erin. This year, Andrew and I ran it, and Steven spectated (and Erin was out of town).

I put the 5K in quotations because this course doesn’t seem to be a full 5K. It was short last year, and the organizer said (on Facebook, not their website) it would be a full 5K this year, but everyone (from my running club) came up short on their Garmins (Andrew had 2.93 and I had 2.67). I understand that we should not rely on our Garmins for course distances, and especially races run with hundreds of turns in a corn maze… but I just don’t think it’s a full 5K. And I honestly don’t care – I’m just out there for fun on this one! But my overall time was 30:19, and I don’t want you to think I ran a actual 5K in a corn maze in that time. I think that would be really fast for my fitness level right now. Anyway. Moving along.

It was raining when we woke up yesterday morning. I don’t mind running in the rain, but luckily it stopped and we had a bit of sun for the race.

Last year, this race was not chip timed, and everyone had to line up in order of their bib numbers to start. Then they let one person start the race every 3 seconds. This year, they had ankle bracelet style chip timing, and everyone was assigned a group based on their time (6 minute milers in group 6, 7 minute milers in group 7, etc.). The called the groups and then you got in line (and one person still went every 3 seconds). The lines were a bit unorganized (you can see the line below) – it was hard to tell who was in which group and where you were supposed to stand – but it all worked out and wasn’t stressful.

(click to see larger)

As soon as we started the race, I thought about how I was really happy it was not raining. The path we were running on was all dirt, but it was soft and muddy from the morning rain! We were slipping around as it was. I cannot imagine how much more slippery it would have been if it was raining!

Andrew and I had fun running through the corn maze, chatting, avoiding tripping, going up and down stairs (three sets) and looking for Steven in the observation tower.

I didn’t get any pictures of the tower this year (you can see it here) but that is where Steven hung out for the whole race. He got a lot of cool pictures of us running through the maze, and of my running club buddies running through it too. I hope he had fun watching the race from up there. It seemed like it would be fun!

(click to see larger)

It was the same temperature as the day before when we started (mid 40s) but I quickly got too hot in my arm warmers (which had worked so well the day before)! I guess those are only for windy/really cold days. I took them off and tucked them in my shorts but they fell out (oops) so I carried them the rest of the way.

It’s really fun to run through the maze, because you have no idea where you are, or where you are headed. You are just surrounded by tall corn, and feel kind of dwarfed by it all. You would think it would be boring or frustrating, but it’s actually exhilarating! Every once in awhile, when the maze opens up a bit, or you’re up on one of the stairs and you get a sense of the enormity of the maze, it’s really exciting!

We finished (Andrew in 30:16, me in 30:19 – I started 3 seconds before him) got some yummy snacks and watched other running club members finish. I think two of our club members actually placed in their age groups!

Steven and Andrew and I purchased some kettlecorn and hot apple cider after we watched our buddies finish. The hot apple cider was perfect because I became cold (and put my arm warmers back on) as soon as we finished the race.

I think I will be back again to do this race next year. The course is fun in a silly and unique way. The race shirt is great, and so is the spread afterward (similar to last year, a bit unorganized, but I can deal with that).

P.S. Happy 55th birthday Daddio!

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By kilax, October 16, 2011 11:02 am

I am training for the NYC Marathon on November 6th.

Day 722 | October 10, 2011: rest

Day 723 | October 11, 2011: cross

Tuesday was our last day with our friends. What a bummer! Gina and I got one more workout in – we walked 1 mile, then ran 3 minutes every half mile until we got to 3.5 miles, then walked .85 more miles (with one more minute of running thrown in). Total amount was 4.35 miles.

I am impressed. I took Gina back on the hilly trail by my house and she dominated those hills!

Day 724 | October 12, 2011: 4.25 m run + strength class

Erin and I were emailing in the morning and I asked if she had her running stuff with her thinking she would say no and I would be on my own for lunch… but she did have it! Yay! We ran just over 4 miles south of the downtown loop and back. It was warm and sunny, but we kept up a fast pace. I didn’t feel like we got to talk for very long. I miss our slow long runs together!

In the evening I went to the strength class. We did the same type of workout as the week before (plyo box and weights, lots of pushups) but I had a headache and felt kind of out of it. My left heel was also killing me. I gave the class as much as I could!

Distance: 4.25 | Temp: 71° | Time: 38:47 | Avg Pace: 9:08

Day 725 | October 13, 2011: strength + 8 m run

Brian came over for a strength session around lunch time. He brought some fun large, soft balls (8, 10 and 12 pounds) to toss around and do other crazy things with (pushups with my feet on the ball – barf). He also brought weighted bars. It was a fun workout. I like working with those big balls. Alright, go ahead and insert joke here.

After work, I went running in the rain. I tried a new route – I took the trail by my house to the end then through downtown Round Lake and then on the trail again back to my house. It was fun to run someplace new! It rained for about the first 6 miles, but then the sun came out and a rainbow too!

I must note, I think it is just wrong to be wearing a tank top in October in Chicagoland. 

The run went well and I felt good. But I stopped a lot because I kept getting texts. Bad habit – that is not a realistic way to run and I need to quit it. I did stop to send a text of this deer to Gina. She couldn’t see it. Hmm, I wonder why (I zoomed in big time on this photo and you can still barely see the camo-deer)?

Distance: 8.0 | Start Temp: 62° | End Temp: 58° |  Time: 1:19:42 | Avg Pace: 9:57

Day 726 | October 14, 2011: 6 m run

The only time I had to work out on Friday morning was early, before work. Meaning I got up at 4:00 am, ran in the dark the whole time, and my legs never woke up. Seriously, it’s a good thing I allowed so much time to get 6 miles in, because I ran really slow. The only thing that sped me up was the sudden urge to go to the bathroom in the 3rd mile, which had me sprinting back to the house (no accidents, yay!). 

It was noticeably more cool than the day before – high 40s and windy. 

Also, I didn’t think I would have anything to share with you from this run, but at the very end, I noticed a tiny little lizard thing on the sidewalk as I was running. Aww.

Distance: 6.0 | Temp: 47° |  Time: 1:05:34 | Avg Pace: 10:55

Day 727 | October 15, 2011: 20 m run

A few things were making me nervous about this run:

1. The wind
2. The hills
3. Using my handheld water bottle for the first time
4. My outfit (thought I would be too warm)
5. Running 20 alone

But the run was fantastic! The wind was tough, but I just dealt with it. It was pushing me from side to side in the first half, then in my face for most of the second half. I just tried not to get upset that it was slowing me down so much. 

The hills were not too much of an issue. I am getting a lot better at running them. I’m not fast, but I feel fine going up. I still struggle running on steep downhills though. 

The water bottle was great! At first I was worried that my hand was too sweaty, but I would just dry it off every now and then. I fit 4 GUs in the pouch (took at 4, 8, 12, 16) and filled up the water bottle twice (it’s 22 ounces).  I loved the cap on it – very easy to open and close. And my hand was only numb for a few seconds at the end of the run. 

My outfit (shirt, arm warmers, shorts) worked out perfectly. I was worried I would be too hot, because I normally would have worn a tank with these temps, but I thought with the wind, I would be cooler, and I was. And the arm warmers were great for wiping my nose on. 

And to help with the running alone part, I put five Jillian Michaels podcasts on my phone, and that kept me very entertained!

I am surprised my last 20 went so well. I felt great the entire time. I would have liked to run faster, but the wind was killer, and at this point, I am happy to be running this much with no injuries. And I made sure not to stop and screw around a lot – I just stopped at streets with traffic, to go to the bathroom/get water, and get rocks out of my shoes. 

Distance: 20.0 | Start Temp: 45° | End Temp: 55° | Time: 3:39:33 | Avg Pace: 10:58.5

Day 728 | October 16, 2011: Corn Maze “5K” (2.75 miles)

I ran the Corn Maze “5K” (somewhere between 2.7-2.9 miles this year) with my brother-in-law Andrew. Steven spectated from an observation tower! More details on the race later.

Click to see larger. I am in purple. Yes. The same outfit as Saturday.

Week Summary: 41.0 miles

Comments (18)

By kilax, October 15, 2011 5:34 am

In the beginning of the year, my sister Christina sent out an email to the family, letting us know that she just got a one-year, student Amazon Prime account and we were welcome to order things from it if we wanted. 

Silly me, I didn’t even know what Amazon Prime was. Oh, how I do know now! 

Amazon Prime is basically a membership that gives you unlimited fast shipping and cheaper options for even faster shipping. Apparently it also allows you to watch videos? We don’t use that part. 

So at first, I would have Christina order things for me and I would pay her back. Then we decided that was silly and put my credit card in the system. Then we decided I was ordering so much stuff, why didn’t she just give me her log-in and password?

Now I am seriously obsessed. Whenever I go to Amazon to order something, I look for the Prime logo. If it doesn’t have it, I am probably not going to order it. Why pay for shipping when you have gotten used to not paying for it?*

In an especially sad instance on Tuesday, I went to order a handheld water bottle (I mentioned last week I am humoring the idea of taking a handheld on the NYC Marathon course, and not my hydration belt). I had seen one I liked in a store for $25, and thought that was a bit much. It was $13 online but shipping was $6! That seemed c-r-a-z-y!!! I had it in my cart all ready to go and I just couldn’t do it. I found a handheld water bottle that had good reviews (and I got to pick the color), was $13 and available for free shipping. Wow. Now Prime availability is part of my decision making when it comes to purchases!

I feel like I have gotten some crazy steals though. I just ordered two new pairs of running shoes for $50 each with free shipping. Don’t mind if I do!**

Do you use Amazon Prime? Or do you actually support your local community by buying from actual brick and mortar stores?

*I have a suspicion that Prime includes the cost of shipping in the Prime cost. For example, I’ve seen some things cheaper at the off-Prime cost, but more expensive in shipping. So it ends up being more expensive overall, but it does not mean there is not a Prime mark-up… has anyone else noticed this? It hasn’t seemed to affect me too much.
**Of course, if I could lose some damn weight, I would not go through shoes so fast, but I’ll get to that after the marathon. 

The winner of the $35 Road ID is Molly! Molly, I will give your email address to Road ID (or forward you the eCard if they send it to me). Congrats! And thanks to everyone who participated!

I am sorry I cannot get Road IDs for you all, because I think they are really important! I do have some $1 off coupons if anyone wants one. Just let me know in the comments and I will send them (I think I have 4 total). 

Comments (21)

By kilax, October 14, 2011 11:49 am

My coworker showed me how to tie my scarf in a pretzel knot on Wednesday and I thought it was pretty cool. I made you a “how to” video, but forgot the last knot! Duh! So here are even better directions, from lisa leonard designs (I’ve never seen this blog before – just found it in a google search – but she’s a cutie!). Here’s the knot:

Can you name that Chicago public art piece? WHOA! I look tired today!

Also, since I am talking about scarves (yet again) here is a fun one I picked up at a cute little shop in Kenosha on Sunday. 

It has all these little circular punch-throughs on it.

The funny thing is, I thought I was doing the pretzel knot in this picture. In the store on Sunday, Gina and I saw instructions for the pretzel knot and couldn’t figure it out, so the sales ladies helped us. Well, they showed us wrong. I wrapped it around my neck once, then tied it, then pulled one end up and through from the bottom and one end up and through from the top. It looked cute but wasn’t the pretzel knot! I showed it to my coworker then she showed me how to do it right. Ha ha. 

Side note: This is totally unrelated, but I am really happy I got in to the NYC Marathon before they started changing their registration policy! If you click on the link, you’ll see they’re doing away with guaranteed entry for three-time declined lottery applicants, and significantly decreasing qualifying finishing times (my age group is a 3:00 marathon or 1:27 half!). I don’t think these changes are bad, I am just happy I got in for this year!

Side note 2: I saw this short article on the importance of exercise being fun. There wasn’t much to the article, but it linked to this funny French commercial, which makes me laugh! WARNING: Video may be NSFW.

Side note 3: I can run marathons, but going up the stairs leaves me out of breath every time. LAME.

Comments (14)

By kilax, October 14, 2011 5:59 am

Do you like to go to the arcade (or places like Dave & Busters or Gameworks) to play games?

Here’s the thing. I really stink at video games. I am no good at them.  So it seems silly for me to spend money playing them outside of my home, when I do so poorly. But, I do like watching other people play! So I will happily go along.

On Tuesday my older brother Nick was in town so we all went to one of those arcade places. Steven and Nick played most of the games.

But I decided I had to get in on a little Dance Dance Revolution action. It was my first time trying. And guess what? I totally stunk at it! But I had fun!

Steven would like you to take note of his creative camera work. If the video does not work (you have to have flash installed, I think), here is a link to it. 

We also played a car racing game where they take a snapshot of you before you start, and then your picture is above the car you are racing… making it easier for other players to know which car you are in. I thought that was clever!

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By kilax, October 13, 2011 6:13 am

A few people have asked me how our long weekend was with our friends (Gina, Steve and Luca) from New York. The first thing I say is that we had a blast. Then, how much we did and how tired I am. And then I go on to tell them everything that we did and it really doesn’t sound like that much… so why am I so tired?

OH. Because it takes FOREVER to get anywhere from our house. And being in the car for so long makes me tired!

Okay, obviously it does not take f-o-r-e-v-e-r, but it takes 25 minutes to get to the highway from our house, over an hour to get to the city, 45+ minutes to get to Kenosha… you get the idea. While we are surrounded by wonderful places to see and amazing things to do, it takes awhile to get there. And sadly, Steven and I have realized this and how annoying it must be to our guests, so we purposefully planned our daily activities to be “near” each other (in the sense that they were all in the same area, or in a straight line of travel, rather than going back and forth all over the Chicagoland area). I guess we still didn’t get it right. Sorry to our guests for all of our car time!

Long story short: I love where I live, but damn, it takes a long time to get to some of our favorites places.

Do you feel like some of your favorites places to take guests are far from your home?

So, what are our favorite places? Well, we started with food, of course. Huge burritos… for lunch and breakfast.

We visited our favorite ice cream stand. I love their slushies.

Gina and Steven are a bit more high class with their flurries.

We took them to our favorite bakery.

And also to check out the lake in Kenosha, WI:

and Evanston (that view was the closest we got to Chicago):

It was their first time in Wisconsin! So we had to take some dorky pictures:

We also went to the Mars Cheese Castle. I think we all agreed that there were way too many people there.

Also, there was mandatory Luca and Data squeezing.

And there was also general chilling time (playing games, watching movies/TV, teasing each other), which makes me wonder why I feel so exhausted! Maybe from having too much fun?

 We were bummed dropping our guests off at the airport, but comforted by the fact that we will be invading their home for a visit in less than four weeks!

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By kilax, October 12, 2011 6:16 am

We had a crazy fun four-day weekend with our friends from NYC (and then by surprise my older brother was in town so we hung out with him all last night) and now I am crazy tried. I hope to share some pictures of our adventures soon – when I get caught up on everything else… Until then, I have a giveaway post for you!

What do you carry for identification when you work out?

For the longest time, I used this dog tag that I made at one of those “make a tag for your pet” machines.

But I got really lazy about wearing it when I went running, because it bounced around and was always covered in sweat (and was cold against my chest in the winter). So I was running a lot with no ID on me. Bad bad bad.

For a few consecutive years I put a Road ID on my holiday wishlist, but never received one. And I am not sure why I didn’t get one myself because they are actually inexpensive. I guess I was being lazy!

But! Last year Erin surprised me with a Road ID for the holiday! And now I wear it on nearly every run.

I have the Shoe ID. I always keep it on my running shoes, and just take it on and off when I switch shoes. I don’t even notice it’s there, and it’s never fallen off. And it has vital info on it – emergency contacts, my allergies (none) and blood type. I love it! I feel so silly for not getting one sooner!

There are a lot of other cool Road ID products – Wrist IDs, Ankle IDs, a shoe pouch… they even have an ID for your pet! They also have plenty of other safety gear on their site, like blinking lights and reflective belts. They have apparel too!

I asked Road ID if they would sponsor a giveaway on my blog since I love my Shoe ID so much, and they are donating a $35 eCard! Thanks Road ID (for the donation and keeping us safe)!

Road ID eCard Giveaway Rules

1. I will give away one (1) $35 Road ID eCard.
2. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment telling me which product you would order off the Road ID website.
3. To get an extra entry, share this link on your blog and leave an additional comment letting me know you did.
4. This giveaway is open until 4:00 PM CST on Friday October 14. I will use random.org to select the winner. I will announce the winner on Saturday October 15. 
5. This giveaway is open to all readers.

Comments (11)

By kilax, October 9, 2011 7:03 pm

I am training for the NYC Marathon on November 6th.

Day 715 | October 3, 2011: 4 m run

It was so beautiful out on Monday, I had to go for a run. Seriously – highs in the 70s all week? Must be the week of the Chicago Marathon…

Can you believe I took this picture with my crappy phone camera?

I tried to pay attention to my running form, as I noticed I was majorly slouching in some of the Milwaukee Marathon photos. I am not sure how well I did during this run, but at least I thought about it. I’ll keep working on it.

During my run, I remembered a funny thing that happened in the last few miles of the marathon. I spit in the grass (I spit a lot) and this woman said to the man next to her, “She sure knows how to spit!” Ha ha.

Distance: 4.0 | Start Temp: 65° | End Temp: 67° | Time: 41:13 | Avg Pace: 10:18 – I think the Garmin was a bit off as it shows me running all over the city and didn’t give me even mileage for my out and back (I had to run further at the end)

Day 716 | October 4, 2011: 5 m run

I ran downtown again, but after work this time. It was just as gorgeous outside! I started off a bit slow but sped up by the end of my run and felt great.

Distance: 5.0 | Temp: 68° | Time: 48:48 | Avg Pace: 9:45

Day 717 | October 5, 2011: strength class

I am back to taking strength classes with Brian of Essential Fitness LLC and some of the Grayslake Running Club folks. Brian just built a gorgeous new studio in his backyard, so that is where we had class. I love the way the studio turned out!

We did moves with plyo boxes, and handweights. Lots of squats, pushups, planks and a bit of lunges. Oh, and stepping on and off that box 67803 times. 

That’s me in the pink and Bobbi in the red behind me!

Day 718 | October 6, 2011: 4.3 m run

I ran with Erin and her work running club during lunch. It was hot out, and I felt like I was working hard, but apparently not too hard because I was blabbing away. Sorry, Erin!

During my three Chicago runs this week, I saw various stages of the Chicago Marathon set up! Monday it was the tents. Tuesday, the bleachers. Thursday – all the porta potties! That’s all I will see this year, as we have guests in town the day of the race and won’t go down to the city. 

Distance: 4.3 | Temp: 79° | Time: 40:46 | Avg Pace: 9:29

Day 719 | October 7, 2011: 12 m run

Now that my training is solely focused on New York, I decided the long runs have to be all about the hills (as NYC is a hilly course). Okay, actually, I could have been doing hills all this time, I’ve just been lazy. Anyway. I went to the hilliest trail closest to my house – the Millennium Trail. It’s only a 5-minute (!!!) drive from my house, but I have never run the hilly portions of it, because I am a scaredy cat. In actuality, it’s hills don’t even compare to the NYC course. 

I’m so screwed for NYC. 

But, at least these “hills” did not feel hard. What felt hard was running in the heat – it was 79°, sunny,  no clouds, barely any shade, you know the drill, blah blah blah. I took walk breaks every 2 minutes and stop breaks every time someone sent me a text. Which was often. Walking/stopping and the breeze are the only things that got me through this hot run. I missed my long distance running buddy (Erin) and felt worn out. But oh well. My body actually felt fine. My mind was just blah. 

I did my normal GU thing (every 4 miles) and didn’t wear my fuel belt. I am humoring the idea of not wearing it at NYC, so I just took a bottle with me. And I drank some off brand Gatorade at mile 9.6 to see how that worked with my stomach. It felt fine, but man, that night, I felt hot and blah. 

At least it was pretty!

Don’t be fooled – this course has hardly any shade – I think I captured all of it in these two pictures. 

I love running on crunchy leaves (except I had to watch the ground for apples here – I didn’t want to step on one of those)!

Distance: 12.0 | Start Temp: 79° | End Temp: 73° | Time: 2:02:34 | Avg Pace: 10:12

Day 720 | October 8, 2011: cross

Our friends from NYC (Gina, Steve and Luca) are in town! Gina has decided to do the Dash to the Finish Line 5K the day before the NYC marathon, and I am helping her get ready for it in 4 weeks (our strategy will be a run/walk one). 

Anyway, we made sure to fuel up (with junior size burritos). Ha ha. 

Just kidding. We ate burritos for lunch and did our workout about 6 hours later! We walked 1 mile, then ran 2 minutes every half mile until we got to 3.5 miles, then walked .5 more miles. Gina did awesome! I even took her on the hilly course and she could run uphill! Go Gina Go! It will be fun to do a 5K together. A lot of people have asked me if Gina and I run together. I guess people think the only way I make friends is through running. Nah (the only way I make friends is through my blog and running).

Day 721 | October 9, 2011: 5 m run

I got up at 6:30 to run… and it took me forever to wake up. So, kind of a meh run (being awake-wise). I felt bad running when we had guests, but I feel like I need to keep my momentum going!

Distance: 5.0 | Temp: 53° | Time: 50:05 | Avg Pace: 10:00

Week Summary: 30.3 miles

I am surprised I was able to run the day after the marathon! That was neat. My body recovered quickly. That is good… since I have another marathon in four weeks. 

Does anyone have advice on running downhill? I am not so good at it, since I tend to land on the outside balls of my feet. It puts all this weird pressure on my legs.