Extremely fun

This past weekend was jam-packed with activity!  It was one of the most enjoyable weekends I've had in a long time.

French to English translation:
"Let the good times roll!"

I belong to the Lightly Toasted Toastmasters Club, which meets twice a month on Saturday mornings.  (For those of you that aren't aware, Toastmasters Clubs are gatherings where folks get together to practice their public speaking skills.)  I haven't presented a Toastmasters speech in awhile.  Therefore, on a whim, I decided it was time to do one.  So I spent Friday night writing and rehearsing a speech.

(I know, I know.  You're probably thinking that this doesn't sound like a very exciting weekend.  I can just visualize the look on your face right now.)

(It does get better, I promise.)

The Toastmasters meeting on Saturday morning was a lot of fun, as it always is.  We had a full house of attendees at the meeting, and I enjoyed presenting my speech.  Adam even attended the Toastmasters meeting in person with me to watch me do my speech.  It was great having his moral support.

My speech topic was based on an actual awards program, the NAAAP 100, for which I'm serving my second year as the program director.  In my speech, I presented the award to Hines Ward, who is an actual recipient of this year's award (but who will unfortunately not be able to attend the awards ceremony in person). 

By the way, it's pure coincidence that Hines Ward is a legendary member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, that Adam is a diehard Steelers fan, and that Adam decided to attend this particular meeting with me.  Pure coincidence.

Saturday night, Adam and I went to Millennium Park to listen to one of the free concerts put on by the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra.  The temperatures had finally cooled off a lot so it was very pleasant outside.  The music was outstanding, and the concert included an absolutely gorgeous setting with the backdrop of the city skyline.

The Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park, where the free outdoor concerts take place.

For all you Chicagoans, I highly, HIGHLY recommend checking out one of the free concerts at Millennium Park.  Bring a blanket and some food and drink, and enjoy the incredible ambience and people-watching.  It is quite the quintessential summertime weekend experience in Chicago.

Sunday morning I run-brunched with Erin!  It was our first time running together and it was fun.  I can definitely see how having a running partner can really help keep you accountable in a good way!  We chatted about runner's topics like Ragnar, bib-swapping, and upcoming races - as well as a host of other non-running topics like bike mishaps and how we met our spouses. 

Erin is a faster runner than I am, so I pushed myself a little bit while running with her.  For me, this is a really good thing - I hope to vicariously pick up some speed through her!  According to my Garmin, we covered about 6.2 miles - but her Garmin was consistently about 0.05 miles ahead of mine.  (I think I like her Garmin better than mine.)

After our run, we both went home to shower and then met up at Meli Cafe for brunch with our spouses in tow.  Meli Cafe was a place that I'd been wanting to try for quite some time, and it didn't disappoint.  What a fantastic menu!

Yummy yummy!

After brunch, I drove up to Wisconsin to visit Katie, who is one of my oldest friends in the world (old in terms of length of friendship, of course - not age!)  Katie is farm-sitting at this beautiful property with several horses, as well as various other animals and some gardens onsite.  It was so nice to hang out with her and really catch up on things.  It was also nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city for a bit.

On the way home, I had to stop at the Woodman's grocery store located right by the Illinois-Wisconsin border in Kenosha.  I am a huge fan of Woodman's!  They have the most complete collection of groceries I've ever seen - including an ENORMOUS aisle of cheese that seems to go on forever.  For someone who loves to cook and eat as much as I do, it's paradise.  I always load up on all the things that I can't easily find at my local grocery store at home, and then some.  In short, I usually end up buying the entire store.  And I've become quite adept at Tetris-ing the whole thing into my car for the ride home.

Unfortunately the weekend ended at that point.  But the fun didn't end there!  This afternoon I went to watch the first day of the Chicago Blackhawks' 2012 Prospect Camp, and tomorrow night I am running the Strike Out ALS 5K.  More on both to come.

To keep the extreme fun momentum going, I'm now off to foam roll the living daylights out of my hip flexor and IT band.  No better way to spend an evening, eh? 

Everybody say it with me: "Ohhhhhhhh, yeahhhhhhhh...."

A tale of two yoga videos

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way..."

Flashback to high school English lit class!  The famous opening lines from A Tale of Two Cities suggest that good and evil, wisdom and folly, and light and darkness all stand equally matched in their challenges spanning humankind.

Somewhere within the spectrum of humankind's challenges includes yours truly struggling to hold downward dog pose. 

They don't call it downward dog pose for nothing.

Ah yes, the practice of yoga.

I used to consider yoga to just be something fitness-related to do when I didn't feel like doing anything high-impact.  Now, with my ongoing struggles with knee and hip problems, I've come to appreciate that yoga is very important in helping to prevent or reduce injury. 

I've heard it said that to get the most benefits out of yoga, you should practice it every day - but that any yoga is better than none.  I've also heard that it's better to do a little yoga every day versus doing one enormous yoga session once a week.  My current goal is to do yoga at least twice a week, although more would probably be better.

I do yoga at home using one of two yoga DVDs, which I'll review here.

Here's the first:

Crunch - The Perfect Yoga Workout: The Joy of Yoga & Fat-Burning Yoga

The Crunch Yoga DVD includes two workouts, the Fat Burning Yoga and the Joy of Yoga.  The Fat Burning Yoga workout, which is the more challenging of the two, is approximately 45 minutes and includes an abdominal section.  The Joy of Yoga workout is approximately 35 minutes.  I usually alternate between the two workouts depending on how I feel that day.

I think this DVD is an excellent choice for yoga beginners, although it can certainly challenge more advanced yoga folks.  Sara Ivanhoe, the instructor for both videos, is excellent.  She is clear and easy to follow, and she is careful to explain proper form.  She is unpretentious and uses easy-to-follow terms like "if your knee is in front of your foot, scootch your foot up and give it a nice graceful clunk forward."  You are given options to adapt the yoga to your level of comfort in both videos, which is a nice touch.

The music used in the workouts isn't great.  However, the DVD gives you the option to mute just the music on the Fat Burning Yoga workout so you can use your own music while still listening to the instructor.

All in all, I like this DVD a lot and have been using it for many years.

Here is the second yoga video that I use:


Bryan Kest Power Yoga Complete Collection

This Bryan Kest Power Yoga DVD includes three yoga workouts: Energize, Tone, and Sweat.  The Energy portion is the "beginner" portion, the Tone portion is intermediate, and the Sweat portion is advanced.  I've only done the Energize portion, though, which is approximately 50 minutes, and find it very challenging!  I am usually sore for days after doing the Energize workout.  Therefore, I only use this video on occasions when I am really prepared to feel the burn.

The instructor, Bryan Kest, is solid, compassionate, and genuinely encouraging.  He understands how truly tough some of the poses are, so he reminds us that "If you're doing the best you can, you're doing this class perfectly."  Some of the students in his class are insanely advanced in demonstrating the poses, but he provides ways to adapt the poses to your level of practice (which I gladly utilize). 

Bottom line, this DVD is intense!  It dispelled all notions I ever had of yoga being an "easy" workout.  I do think you need to have some background in yoga before doing it.  But if you are able to do this workout regularly (not me), I am sure you'd see amazing results!

On a postscript note - there is one yoga DVD I used to own, but no longer use.  Here it is:

A.M. and P.M. Yoga

The A.M. and P.M. Yoga DVD includes two 20-minute workouts, one to be done in the morning before starting your day and the other to be done at night before going to bed.  I liked the concept of this DVD and had heard good things about the instructor, Rodney Yee.  However, in practice I found the workouts to be too easy.  Also, the DVD includes an annoying commercial for all of their other products that you have to go through before you can start your workout.  I wasn't a fan.  As a result, I traded this DVD away at a swap meet with friends.

So there you have it - a tale of my two yoga videos, plus one yoga video that is no longer with me!  If anyone has other suggestions for great yoga DVDs, I'd love to hear them so please do share!

This too shall pass

It has not been a good running week for me.  As in, the last run I did was a 12-mile run last Sunday.  I have not done any running since then.  This is for a number of reasons:

1. My hip and knee injuries refuse to die without a vengeance
2. It's been ghastly hot this entire week (temps in the 100s)
3. Mentally, I've lost a step (or quite literally, several thousand steps since I'm not running)

Going back to last Sunday's run: Since the temperatures have been so unbearably hot, I knew I needed to hit the road as early as humanly possible.  Therefore, I went to bed at 9:00 PM last Saturday night so that I could get up at 5:30 AM this past Sunday to run. 

(Yeah, I know, way to tear it up on a summertime weekend with a 9:00 PM bedtime.  Incidentally, I saw many revellers from the LATE Bike Ride coming home from their all-night party just as I was headed out that morning.  Reminded me of when I was an RA back in college and responsibility was the name of the game.)

Party on, Wayne.  Party on, Garth.

I had done 12 miles the weekend before and found it relatively challenging, so I was looking forward to last Sunday's 12-miler feeling easier.  Not the case.  It was so stiflingly hot and humid even at 6 AM that my only focus throughout the entire 12 miles became to run in whatever shaded patches of sidewalk I could.  While I did finish without major issue, it was certainly not one of my more enjoyable runs.

Fast forward to today.  I haven't been able to get back on track ever since last Sunday's run.

Up until this week I had been joyously celebrating a few weeks of pain-free knee movement.  However, much to my horror, some knee discomfort has seemingly begun springing back to life.  My left hip flexor is also stubbornly acting up again.  I have been diligently doing my PT stretches/exercises, some of them twice a day, in the hopes that it will help to calm things down.  Unfortunately no avail just yet.

If my injuries were a cartoon character, this is what they'd look like.
To quote Daffy Duck himself, "You're dithpicable!"

Injury reoccurrences aside, I know that after miserable runs, sometimes the toughest challenge is to just get back out there and try again.  Unfortunately the hot weather has made it downright dangerous to get back out there.  I despise treadmills, so I've been using the stationary bike and doing yoga indoors.  I know that cross-training and stretching are still valuable, but it's been frustrating not being able to pull myself over that hump yet.

The bigger issue is this: As the hot temps persist and more non-running days pile up, I am feeling both my momentum and my confidence dwindling.  I've become skittish and I am apprehensive about putting myself through more long, painful runs.  A few weeks ago, I was thinking that the 16-, 18-, and 20-mile training runs on the plan weren't really going to be that bad - but suddenly, the mileage seems insurmountable.  And I'm hating how this all feels.

For now, the focus is just on trying to stay positive.  Admittedly it has been really tough, though.  I'm trying to remind myself, rather profoundly, that the only constant in life is change.  So as frustrated as I've been, I keep telling myself it will eventually change. 

What has helped a little more is that I've got some fun stuff coming up over the next week.  To name just a few things, I'll be running and brunching (run-brunching?) with Erin, visiting Katie, and checking out Blackhawks prospect camp.  I'm also running the Strike Out ALS 5K next Tuesday, which will be very enjoyable and logistically easy.  So I'm trying to pump myself up by looking forward to these things.

From a motivational standpoint, some folks have suggested giving yourself a small reward for completing tough runs or races.  One of my few girly-girl indulgences is nail polish, and I had a gift certificate sitting around.  So yesterday, with this "self-reward" idealism in mind, I proceeded to immediately blow the gift certificate on a few bottles of nail polish.  These will be my carrot for getting through some future grueling runs.  I will wait to open them only after I have "earned" them.  Hey, whatever works, right?

These boots are made for running...

In the meantime, while I wait for the temperatures to drop back down to normal, for my nagging injuries to calm down again, and for my motivational mindset to improve, I will live my life with military precision.

My shadow's the only one that runs beside me

The latest installment of Maggie's Runner Photo Challenge!

Your running group. Who do you usually run with? A running club? A group run at a store? A buddy? Your dog? No one? Whatever, take a picture of it, even if it’s just you looking lonely.

Ladies and gentleman, without further ado, I now present to you...

To paraquote the great Green Day song, "My shadow's the only one that runs beside me."  In other words, I always run solo.

While the Boulevard of Broken Dreams song has a sad connotation to it, I actually really enjoy running by myself.  I find it therapeutic and a great chance for me to think, observe the scenery around me, and go exploring.  I used to always listen to music on my headphones while running, but in the last few months I've been working on running without music as much as I can.  (I do still "treat" myself to music once in awhile, though, especially on days when I am dragging or unmotivated.)

Admittedly, another reason that I run alone is because I'm slow.  Most seasoned runners leave me in the dust.  Therefore, it's not the easiest thing for me to find runners that match my pace.  But thankfully my shadow matches me step for step!  =D

I have heard a lot about how running with other people is great, of course.  However, after my uncomfortable experience trying to run with a group, I've gone back to enjoying my solo runs.  Maybe at a later point I'll try finding another running club to join.  But for now it's all good as just me, myself, and I!

Singin' in the rain, and racing aerodynamics

The Chicagoland area underwent some heavy rainfall today.  (The rainfall has been much needed, given drought-like conditions for the past several months!)

As soon as I saw the ominous grey skies and the raindrops pelting my windows, I did what anyone would do in this situation.  I laced up my running shoes and darted outside.

Running in the rain is a great way to mix up the running routine, especially in the summertime!  It's been so hot and humid outside that the rain is actually incredibly refreshing.  It's fun to slosh through puddles and to smell the wet grass.  It also makes me feel like a hard-core runner.  Especially when I see other people huddling underneath overpasses or walking around waving their umbrellas.  Comparatively, I'm tearin' it up in my running shoes and actually wishing that it would rain harder.  No drizzle for me - give me the good rain!

I've actually never seen this movie.  But I hear it's a classic!

My one question is regarding lightning.  Is it considered unsafe to go running if it's lightning outside?  I think I've read a lot of instances in which events take place "rain or shine, except in the event of lightning."  I'm no meteorologist, but don't they say that the odds of getting hit by lightning are literally one in a million?

Maybe someone could design a lightning rod hat for runners.  I can see it now: "A guaranteed deterrent for all-weather electricity!  Run safe and run confident with your own custom-designed lightning rod hat!" 

Manufacturers of running gear, you heard this new product idea from me first!!!!!

A lightning rod suit. 
Who wouldn't want to run while wearing this?

On a related note - my running shoes obviously got wet this morning while I was out in the rain, which made them significantly heavier.  When I was putting them away and rearranging my other shoes, it made me observe that certain pairs of my (dry) running shoes are also noticeably heavier than others. 

I was thinking ahead to the Chicago Marathon this October and considering which shoes to wear for the big day.  Based on my current running shoe rotation, I was debating between the Brooks Glycerin 8s or a pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 15s.  The Brooks (after adding my prescribed Superfeet berry insoles to them) feel a little more supportive, which I like.  But they are also comparatively heavier.  For shorter training runs, I don't think it makes a huge difference - but over 26.2 miles I think everything will make a difference. 

(NOTE TO SELF: Pick up a racing suit like the below.  Anything to improve my aerodynamics.)

(In case you're wondering, these are from an episode of Blackhawks TV from a few years ago.  It's some of the funniest television known to humankind for all Blackhawks fans.  And yes, I am anxiously awaiting the start of the 2012-2013 NHL season even though it is months away.  But I digress.)

I've heard many folks talk about the feeling of running while wearing bricks on their feet.  Is this the reason that doing a combination workout of two triathalon activities is called a "brick workout" - because of how heavy your legs must be afterwards?  Speaking of wearing bricks...


Lego-brick shoes!
(These can't be comfortable...)

Back to the original question.  For all you marathoners out there, any opinions on marathoning in heavier, more supportive shoes vs lighter, less supportive shoes?!? 

(No Lego shoes, sorry.)

What's the harm in believing?

Aloha folks, my apologies for having been MIA this last week.  It's been a crazy time for me with a lot of ups and downs.  As a result, I've been experiencing a bit of blogger's block with a lot of things on my mind that I haven't been able to string together into meaningful posts.  But I will catch up with all your blogs soon - and I look forward to your inspirations!

Now - a recent topic that has been on my mind:

Many folks have told me that marathon training is just as much, if not more about building up your mental capacity as it is building up your physical capacity.  In short, our bodies are already capable of running 26.2 miles or even more - and we just have to train our minds to handle it.

 

I've struggled many times throughout my life with thinking realistically versus thinking optimistically or pessimistically.  The lines can be blurry.  However, in general I am great at thinking positively for other people, but have a very difficult time thinking positively for myself.  Why is it so hard to do this?

I love this.

I've been paying attention to many recent instances in which people have said they have to think positively about their challenges in order to get through them.  This applies to any situation - injuries, career, relationships, etc., etc.

When I type out that "thinking positively can help" it sounds ridiculously obvious.  But what I've been pondering is the opposite consideration - and that is when thinking positively means putting yourself at risk for greater disappointment.  Which is better or worse?  Is it better or worse to have low expectations and then set yourself up for pleasant surprises?  Or is it better or worse to think positively but then set yourself up for a potential letdown?

 

Much has been written and said about self-affirmations, methods of attracting different types of energy, and self-fulfilling prophesies.  Call these things scientific, psychological, kinetic, religious, spiritual, or any combination thereof.  But the ultimate question is...

What is the harm in believing?

 
Switching gears, let's talk about my training from this past week.

• After taking a week off of running and really, really focusing on muscle stretching and foam-rolling, my wonky hip has shown some improvement.  I ran a total of 20 miles last week with almost no hip pain, including a 12-mile training run last Sunday.  Unfortunately, after doing a 3-mile run yesterday morning, I am experiencing a little bit of a setback today.  However, I am still encouraged by the fact that things appear to be trending in the right direction. 
• Excluding my half-marathon races, my 12-mile training run this past Sunday is the longest training run I've ever done.  The thought of doing the 15+ mile runs on the training schedule used to daunt me to no end, but I'm finally starting to think that they may be achievable after all.
• Amidst all this, I almost overlooked the fact that my knees have also been holding up very well over the last several weeks, too.  This is a huge victory for me.  After struggling with so much stubborn knee pain in the past, I don't want to lose sight of this as something to be celebrated!

Some thoughts that are both related and unrelated to my training:

• I watched the Dream Team documentary last week and was captivated.  Back in the Jordan era, I was a huge Bulls fan and remembered the thrill behind the Dream Team when it happened.  This documentary is fantastic - such great coverage of player personalities and behind-the-scenes footage.  Magic Johnson is so personable and likable, Charles Barkley steals the show with never owning an unexpressed thought, and Michael Jordan's competitiveness continues to bring the stage to new heights.  This documentary is going into the DVR vault.





The 1992 Mens Olympic Basketball Team, aka "The Dream Team."



• I just heard about the inaugural BTN Big 10K race on July 28.  Being a loyal alumnus of the University of Illinois (and with Adam being a loyal alumnus of Penn State), this race intrigues me.  For various reasons I don't need to and shouldn't sign up for any more races this year, but this one is tempting.  I'm not a fan of the hot dogs they are giving to the runners at the post race party, but the custom-selected race shirt is cool and it's always fun to do things that involve representing my alma mater.  Food for thought (but still no hot dogs).
• Speaking of Big Ten schools, I'm headed to Ohio State University next month for a White House Initiative on Asian and Pacific Islanders.  I was planning to be in Columbus just for the day, but a change of scenery is always nice and it would be fun to go running through the OSU campus.  Would it be bad to stay an extra night with that being the primary motivation for doing so?
• I am itching to go on a quick vacation someplace.  I always prefer to travel to places that are off the beaten path, but I haven't been to Disney or to Vegas in a few years and it would be fun to make a jaunt to either.  This is partially driven by the fact that Adam is in Anaheim this week on business, and I am wishing more than anything that I could join him there.  I want to go to Disneyland, plus visit my dear friends Ed and Myhien and their daughter Kai, who live nearby.  Sigh.
• If I ever become fabulously wealthy, the first thing I want is the ability to travel at the drop of a hat.

Keyword accusations, and calling all Mizuno fans

My ever-expanding collection of running shoes continues to ooze insanity in my closet.  I think it's gotten to the point where my blog is triggering clandestine keyword intelligence search alerts to purveyors of running shoes all across the galaxy.  I'm sure I am also triggering keyword search warnings for endangered deep dish pizza afficionados (and the cheese manufacturers that love them).

We'll talk in more detail another day about the search keywords that lead to my blog.  But here is a recent sampling:

"Chicago deep dish pizza"

"Lou Malnati's"

"Too many carrots"

"Fartlekking"

"Placebo effect"

I'm no psychologist, but I see some funny potential interpretations of these key words.  Interestingly, most other bloggers' search keywords are complete doozies.  Not me!

I am GUILTY AS CHARGED.

Add the "dun-dun" sound from Law & Order

Back to me being a very targetable demographic for running shoes.  The folks at Mizuno have launched a campaign called the Mezamashii Run Project.  (The word "mezamashii" means "eye-opening" or "brilliant" in Japanese.  In this context it is meant to capture the euphoric feeling of a brilliant run (which, incidentally, I haven't experienced for quite awhile...but that's yet another topic for another day).)

Mizuno is inviting runners to receive a FREE pair of shoes and join their community (which gets you early access to product launches and Mizuno events).



 

If you are a fan of Mizunos, then go check it out.  You can apply for an invitation if you're interested.

Personally, I used my shoe sleuthing skills to buy a pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 15s several months ago, and they are great!  So I am all over a potential opportunity to try more Mizunos.  =D

The Wave Rider 15

In the meantime, maybe I will work on my own campaign to strategically change the search keywords that lead to my blog.  I will focus more on including words in my blog that I WANT searches to lead to.  Ask and you shall receive, right? 

OK, here goes:

Energy!

Endurance!

Lottery winner!

Health!

Vitality!

Lottery winner!

World peace!

Happiness!

Lottery winner!

Ambition!

Motivation!

Lottery winner!