Aesthete Runner

One week ago I was sitting on my couch watching the Chicago marathon feeling sore but on cloud 9. It is hard to believe after so many weeks of hard training, my first 50 mile race has come and gone. Running 50 miles is pretty life changing, and it is strange to think that while I was doing something major, the rest of the world just kept on turning.

Week 14 was a big week for me, as it marked my longest training run before the Hennepin 50. It was a week that I was both nervous but excited for as it marked a 50k being a training run distance vs a race that I was training for. While the race itself did not go as I expected, I was able to take away a lot from the run and it still is satisfying to complete the distance especially in less than ideal conditions.

Week 5 of training for the Hennepin Hundred also coincided with the Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10 race I run yearly. I haven't missed the race in 5 years, and while each July I always worry about my fitness level, I keep coming back. Not only did I have a solid week of training, but I also had a great race.

On Saturday I ran the Glacier Ridge Trail 50k in Slippery Rock, PA. This was my 2nd 50k to date, and it was by far the most challenging race I've ever run. It also happened to be one of the most fun and awesome experiences and it is a race I will definitely never forget.

A wonderful recovery week! Thankfully Week 11 was a mileage cut-back week, and while I still had hard effort runs, it felt good to have a reprieve from higher mileage and a long weekend run.

Yesterday I ran the Paleozoic Cambrian Fall Trail 25k, which was my first race post-Chicago marathon and the longest I have run since the race. Initially I was considering the 50k when I was signing up, and while I would definitely consider the 50k in the future, I'm glad I went "easy" on myself and stuck to the 25k.

A few days have passed since the marathon and I finally am able to put words to my experience. And what an experience it was! I finally ran a marathon and wasn't instantly filled with regrets and wishes of what could have been. Did I meet all my goals? Nope. Am I upset about it? Nope. Read on for my full recap.

Two weeks!! I am both excited and relieved to be over with the heaviest portion of training. It feels really great to be in the "taper" phase. There is no doubt that the warmer weather has brought about a lot of struggles in training, but I have my fingers crossed that it will be nice and cool on race day. While my overall mileage hasn't dropped significantly, I did make several adjustments to the plan to accommodate the Ragnar Trail Relay I was participating in.

Yesterday I ran the Naperville Trails half marathon in Wheaton, IL. It was a great day for a race...and a PR! Almost a year and a half since my last PR, I finally set a new personal best for the half marathon.

I am back from my Vegas vacation and completed another 10 mile race yesterday at the Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10 event. The "official" training for this week was mixed, as I enjoyed some fantastic hiking in Vegas, while also trying to keep my legs fresh for the race yesterday. I loved that I was able to still stick with the training plan, while choosing to keep my mileage lower.

I can't believe that it has been 8 days since my 50k! I have recovered pretty quickly considering and feel almost back to my normal self. After 6 days of rest and a wonderful sports massage, I am feeling the itch to get running again. Before I start another training cycle, I really want to reflect on the race in a similar fashion to the Chicago Marathon . I learned a lot from this race, and while there are certainly some hard lessons learned, I also experienced some wonderful moments too.

I did it! I ran my first 50k on Saturday. It has taken a few days for me to reflect on the race. I experienced so many intense feelings within one race that it was very difficult for me to even understand or identify how I feel about that day. I listened to a podcast a few months ago that talked about failure. How we often are afraid to do things where failure is a real possibility. Often times in training, we select plans or goals that are challenging enough that we feel pushed, but where we can finish feeling satisfied that we accomplished what we set out to do. We rarely select races or goals where we could fail, and as a result, we never learn to be better. Failure is not bad. Failure is not the end of the world. When we do fail, we learn how to be better. We learn that it is ok to fail, but then we pick ourselves up and try again. I knew signing up for a 50k raised the real risk of actual failure. I felt this more than any other race I had signed up for. Contrary to my fear of...

After enjoying Austin, Texas the past few days, I think it is safe to say I am officially thawed out and rested after the  F^3 Lake Half Marathon. If you missed my recap, you can read it here .

On Saturday I completed the F^3 Lake Half Marathon and have finally thawed out! In all seriousness, I really enjoyed the race and while cold, the weather was tolerable. For those wanting the quick story, I did not PR but had one of my most consistently paced races to date. Read on for the full details of race day.

To read my recap of the race, visit my previous post . Now that I have had a few days to recover both physically and mentally, I have really thought about my performance during the race. Clearly I have too much time on my hands being unemployed, but I think it is natural for anyone who commits to a goal for a long period of time to dissect things to understand what went wrong and celebrate what went well.

I cannot believe that after almost 20 weeks of training, the marathon is over. The post-marathon blues have set in and I feel a little sad that this major goal has come and gone after thinking and dreaming about it for so many months. There are never enough words to really summarize what it is like to run a marathon. It is one of those things like child birth that you can really only understand after you have done it, but I am going to try my best to put my experience into words that I can share.

I was reminded a few weeks ago that it has been five years since I ran my first race, which was a 5k. Something I wrote that day after the race really stuck with me: if you asked me 2 months ago if I thought I could run a 5k, my answer would have been no. yet here I am, and its amazing what you can accomplish when you put your mind to something and stick with it.

This Trail Tuesday is a collection of pictures from my trail race on Saturday which took place on the Waterfall Glen 9.5 mile loop trail in Darien, IL. There is no better way to celebrate nature than to experience a race on the trails. The experience is completely different than that of a road race, and it is ultimately more satisfying to "conquer" the trail in the end! Seems cruel to take a picture of a runner going up an incline! Finish line game face! Ahhh the finish

Yesterday was the Waterfall Glen Xtreme trail race and I had a great experience as usual. This is the third year I have run this particular race, and it continues to be one of my favorite local races to run each year. Sure, it is always hot and humid in July, but the weather yesterday was pretty great for a summer race and the course was nice and dry. Three years ago the course was flooded and extremely muddy, so any year where the trail is dry is a plus. I walked away with a 3 minute PR from last year's time, and the first time I can claim a sub-2 hour time at this race. There were about 200-300 less people this year, so we arrived at the forest preserve and found a parking spot very easily. Upon reaching the starting area, I was pleasantly surprised that there was a small line for the porta-potties, and they were in abundance! The little things that make a runner happy... Because the trail is actually 9.5 miles long, the race begins and ends with a cross country trek across t...