A little stroll through Indy...

Well as I stated in my last post... my 2012 race season is going to be concluded with the Chicago Marathon. For some odd reason (still don't know why) I decided to do the marathon several months ago. I guess I was just bored with half marathons and wanted to push my body even harder and further.

Well tonight I completed my furthest run ever, 15 miles. To date, my furthest run has only been 13.1 miles then the race was over. But since I'll be running 26.2, I figured it might be a good idea to go a little further than 13 miles. I did a 13 mile run last week and felt great afterwards so I didn't think 15 would be too bad. Plus, I had Lauren riding along as my sherpa again this time to provide water and candy that us endurance athletes call "gels". Having a personal sherpa to ride next to you is amazing. It provides a real world scenario because they act as an "aid station", just like the ones in a race.

I mapped out the route I wanted to go using Livestrong.com. I use this website for all of my running/cycling routes. For some reason I find it the easiest to navigate, I prefer to keep things simple so this is the best around for keeping things simple. Anyways... the route would take us down the canal towpath (my 2nd favorite running route), through the Butler University campus and finally to Crown Hill Cemetery (1st favorite place to run). Most people are a little creeped out by the idea of running through a cemetery but I love it. Its quite, smooth, shaded and has a wicked hill in the corner of it that leads up to James Whitcomb Riley's tomb which also happens to be the highest point in Indianapolis.

Lauren took this photo atop Riley's tomb

I won't bore you with the details of the run because it basically went like this: I ran down a path, passed an old man who was spitting at geese, passed some hippies throwing rocks at a pole, up a hill, past some gravestones, took a few sips of water and did it all over again. That's it. My goal time was 2 hours, and I finished in 2 hours. 8 min/mile pace. Thats my goal pace for Chicago, which will put me at 3:30:00

After tonight's run, I am more confident than ever in being able to achieve my 3:30 goal time for Chicago. Especially considering this was 2 miles further than I've ever ran. I realize its still 11 miles short of a marathon, and I also know the "real" marathon doesn't start until around mile 22, but after a couple more of these sort of workouts, I should be more than prepared. I also wasn't plagued with many injury "tweaks" as I call them. My calf strain is completely gone, the pain in my foot didn't slow me down and my right knee wasn't bad either. TMI ALERT: The only thing I want to figure out is why I fart so much on the run! I did have beans at lunch but even take those out of the equation and I'm very gassy on the run. Don't worry though, it never "materializes" anything. This was also the longest run in my new New Balance 1400's. Besides the anticipated foot soreness from running for 2 hours, my feet felt great in them. I'll live and die by this shoe.

Well I got home, drank some chocolate milk, rolled out my thighs using The Stick, made some dinner and kicked my feet up. I'm now finally in bed, after applying more ice to my knees than what sunk the Titanic and feeling great. Special thanks to Lauren for playing sherpa again, I'm 100% certain the run wouldn't have gone as well without her!