Chicago Marathon Thoughts/Impromptu Tempo Run

This morning, I read a tidbit on Runners World talking about current Olympic and London Marathon champion, Samuel Wanjiru talking about prospects of a fall marathon:

"I'm not sure as I don't know what condition my body is in right now. I have to start training again, which I will next month. If I feel good, then I'll come to New York."

This is a quote from Mary Wittenberg, the New York City Marathon's race director, commenting on this year's race:

"I expect it to be the strongest race we've ever had and I expect it to be our best ever mix of top American and world stars on the men's side. I really hope to see Ryan Hall and many of the top American men...We hope to have as many former champions as possible that are still running, but it is early and no deals have been signed."

I'm kind of disappointed that the Chicago Marathon has recently been slacking in terms of attracting the elite runners. Chicago is one of the five World Marathon Major races (Boston, London, Berlin, and NYC being the others) and annually attracts 45,000 people to sign up, consequently making itself one of the most popular races in the world. In the past, Chicago has been raced by legends such as Khalid Khannouchi and Paula Radcliffe, who respectively set world records on the course which is known as being one of the flattest and fastest marathon venues anywhere. As a New York City Marathon alum, I can attest that NYC is one of the most amazing races you could ever run - running through the five boroughs of New York, the unbelievable crowd support, the culture of the city, the glitz and glamour - it's all there, and more. It isn't just a race - it's an experience, which ranks up there with all the Super Bowls and Mardi Gras of the world. Not to mention, the star appeal of the top elite runners and celebrities that run pretty much tops the cake. Any running enthusist NEEDS to run this race at least once in their life - you will understand why.

The Chicago Marathon isn't exactly your podunk local 5K either - you race through the 29 different major neighborhoods of Chicago, seeing all of the extremely diverse culture of one of the largest cities of the world while being cheered on by millions and millions of people. Racing through the downtown loop for the first three miles in between some of the tallest buildings in the world is a sight unexplainable by words - one of my most favorite racing memories, which is why I keep coming back.

The 2009 Boston Marathon had Ryan Hall and Kara Goucher; London had Samuel Wanjiru, Martin Lel, Ritz and Meb; Berlin will have Haile Gebrselassie and Wanjiru in perhaps on the most anticipated marathon duels ever. I know that NYC has a lot more money to throw around to the elite athletes, but I am hoping that Chicago's race director Carey Pinkowski can right the ship and attact the stars back to Chicago for a fall marathon, bringing them back some of their lost allure.


Last night, after work and a long deserved nap, I went out for what I thought was going to be an easy 4-5 mile run. The weather was decent - about 74, but a little muggy. Every run I've had the last two weeks has been extremely sluggish, so I thought I would try to mix things up a little in light on my scheduled tempo run tomorrow. My plan was to be aggressive on the first mile, then slow down about 30 seconds and sustain pace the rest of the run. The route I picked was an out and back - first mile is pretty hilly, but second mile is pretty flat (on a running/biking trail). So I strapped on my Garmin, and took off - first mile felt ok but was definitely working which is never a good sign that early. I felt like I was hitting about 6:50 effort, and was completely shocked to see 7:17 as my first split. In complete digust, I reamed myself a new hole for lack of energy and lack of focus, and tried to get myself back into gear. 2nd mile split was 6:56, much better and definitely not as much effort. Coming back, hit 6:39 (oops, got a little carried away!), and 7:07. Legs were feeling pretty shot at this point, and was feeling groggy and dehydrated from having just woke up and not eaten anything since lunch, so stopped at home to grab some powerade and trail mix.

Decided since I had basically already ran a tempo, I might as well finish it out so took a five minute break and went back for another 3 mile loop. First half is pretty much downhill, coming back is all uphill - splits were 7:03, 6:50, 6:29. Overall, I was pleased with the effort, but my splits were all over the map which is not a good sign. My conditioning shouldn't be this bad at this point, so I'm wondering if being sick last week really took its toll?! Legs are a little rubbery today, but feel good all things considering. Tonight, EASY 4-5, and I mean EASY :)

Hill Workout #1

Last night, Pat, Crystal, and I hit up our first session of speedwork for this training cycle. The plan was to do a hill workout, so we sauntered over to Crystal's parent's neighborhood, located roughly 1.5 miles away from my place. The hill we found was at the entrance of the neighborhood, which has an immediate incline, but levels out further into the subdivision.


After a ridiculously fast first rep, we mapped out a quarter mile route which ended on an upslope, the total vertical grade of this workout being roughly 20-30 feet. The beauty of this route is we have to turn into the last 1/10 of the mile, perfect for working on a finishing kick. We ended up doing 5 reps total - splits were 0:53 (still trying to map out the workout, would have been ~1:05), 1:11, 1:11, 1:11, 1:07. Legs were jello after the first couple hills, but got into a good rhythm and the last 2 reps were a lot easier. Very pleased with the consistency of the workout, the outlier being the last rep where Pat took off like a jackrabbit pushing a ridiculous pace, and Crystal and I having to reel him in down the stretch :)

Afterwards, headed over to Pat and Crystal's for Crystal's delicious homemade manicotti, stuffed with turkey sausage, and watched the Biggest Loser. Thanks for dinner, guys!!! A perfect evening :) Total mileage: ~4-5 miles

Runners World Rave Run/First Run

Typically in the mornings, I will go through good amount of running websites/blogs to see updated articles/postings. So I am going through one of my favorites, Runners World's website, and happen to see they posted their March location for their Rave Run. Every month Runner’s World magazine features a photograph and brief description of a “Rave Run”. The Rave Run is generally a beautiful running locale with amazing scenery. March's location features the running trail on Lakeshore Drive in downtown Chicago, which is my most favorite place in the whole world to run. I am extremely fortunate to have my sister live in Lincoln Park, about half a mile from Lakeshore, so everytime I come to visit I make it a point to do a run at my home away from home. It is amazing to have the beach and Lake Michigan on your left, thousands of cars on your right on Lakeshore Dr., all while running towards one of the most amazing city skylines in this country. Not to mention the amount of people playing volleyball, basketball, swimming, biking, running - I don't know about you, but it always seems easier to run when there are a ton of people around. Another fun tidbit about this particular photo - a fellow EHS cross country alumni is featured, Amy Semith!

So I went on my first training run of this cycle last night. The STL area was saturized by rain all day/evening, so I took off in the later evening hoping the rain would let up a bit. Just did an out and back - with warmup and cooldown, hit close to 5 miles. Of course, the rain starts picking up at my turn around point, so was pretty soaked by the time I got home. Legs felt pretty heavy starting out (still battling major allergies and a cold), but by the third mile started to loosen up and coasted home. I did not wear my Garmin (on easy run days, I find it easier to run sans watch as I tend to go out pretty fast and if I see a fast 1st mile split, I'll try to sustain it), but hit close to 30 minutes for ~4.2 miles. After 45 minutes of corework and stretching, I feel pretty good. Speedwork tonight, we'll see how it goes!

Race Recap and Week 1 Training

Last weekend, I competed in the Go St. Louis 1/2 Marathon which in short, was a disaster. My training cycle for this race was somewhat abbreviated, because I had focused most of my attention on speedwork for a mid-March race, but got in some decent runs over the last 5 weeks to think I was ready to run a sub 1:30 race. Normally, I would provide a detailed race summary, but there isn't much to report. We were running late in the morning, and literally started last of the 11,000+ runners which was a huge disadvantage considering the pouring rain and not so wide streets of St. Louis. We hit a mob of runners shortly after the start, and pretty much ducked and weaved through the crowds the entire race. By the 4th mile, my legs were cooked from running so much laterally, and made an executive decision to slow it down since I knew the course was only going to get worse, not to mention I was almost running on fumes already. I cruised through the rest of the race at a somewhat comfortable 7:20/mile clip and was feeling pretty sorry for myself but my competitive spirit picked up the last mile and outkicked a ton of runners down the stretch. I finished about 4 minutes slower than last year's time, so was overall pretty disappointed. Congrats to Crystal for finishing 2nd in her age group and winning a beautiful plaque!

Strong finish

Fake smiles


RESULTS
Peter Kim M29
Clock Time 1:46:55
Chip Time 1:34:29
Overall Place 146 / 8543
Gender Place 124 / 3305
Division Place 32 / 597
10 Mi 1:12:34

After the race, Crystal and I decided to take the next week pretty easy, which worked out perfectly because both of us came down with some pretty nasty sinus infections/colds - needless to say it was a rough week! The weather finally got decent, and I ran a few late evening runs last week to hit 15 miles, the lowest mileage I have had in over 3 years. Regardless, the break was well-deserved, and I feel somewhat rested to begin the first of two training cycles in preparation for Chicago.

The next 12 weeks is pretty much a scheduled maintenance period, derived from an advanced Hal Higdon plan. In our training the last few months, Crystal and I have hit long runs up to 16 miles, so we decided to focus more on keeping up 35-40 mile weeks and work on speed/turnover during this time. The 2nd 12 week cycle will be geared more towards traditional marathon training. Last year, we did the Hal Higdon Advanced 1 - 18 week program - while it worked, it was mentally and physically grueling, and we may have peaked too early as evidenced by our mediocre marathon times, so we purposedly shortened the cycle.

So Week 1 begins today, 4-5 mile easy run. 80% chance of rain and thunderstorms, not the most ideal way to start this training plan...

Partners in Crime

I have been very lucky in my short running career to have the support of friends and family for all my major races. Even more special this year, some of my close friends will be participating with me in Chicago! Seeing these people will be frequently mentioned throughout this blog, let me do the quick introductions:


From Left to Right: Crystal, Pat, me, Shane, Tim postrace 2007 Rock 'N Roll Country Music 1/2 Marathon in Nashville

Pat and Crystal are my primary training partners, who conveniently live 1 mile away from me. Crystal and I trained together last year when she was training for NYC and I was training for Chicago - we run pretty close to the same ability so it works out perfectly :) We all ran our first marathon together in 2005 in Chicago, so this is a homecoming of sorts. Crystal is perhaps the most decorated marathoner in our group, having completed Chicago, Boston, and NYC all before the age of 30! Pat is not signed up this year, but we are working on him to run for charity with all of us!


Shane is a runner who resides in Washington D.C. We ran cross country together in high school, and he began his second running career in 2006 when we ran the Rock 'N Roll Virginia Beach 1/2 Marathon together. Since then, he has seen his times plummet through aggressive racing and hard work, and just ran his first marathon this January in Disney at a very impressive 3:39!


Tim is a Denver runner who began his career with us in cross country as well. In 2007, he ran his first 1/2 marathon in Nashville and has ran multiple races around the U.S. since then. Tim also made his marathon debut in Disney last January, and hopes to run a sub 4 hour marathon this fall!

The quest begins...

Hello all, this is my newly created blog detailing my quest this spring/summer to qualify for the Boston Marathon! A brief synopsis of my running career to date - ran cross country in high school, but basically gave it up shortly after high school graduation. Signed up for the 2005 Chicago Marathon to combat my desires for chocolate and fast food, and haven't looked back since! I have completed 3 marathons, 9 half marathons, and a countless number of shorter races over the last four years, completing those races in respectable times which lead me to believe BQ (Boston Qualifying) is very possible! So I signed up for the 2009 Chicago Marathon on October 11, 2009, and laid out an aggressive training regimen which will hopefully lead me to conquer my goals. Stay tuned...