winding down in Chicago

Today's run might have been my last in Chicago. I am not sure I'll get one in tomorrow. Today I ran 6.5km through the neighborhood. I didn't have a route in mind, just went exploring. I wanted to run through one of the old parks we used to play in. It used to have a little zoo and a duck pond, though I had heard a few years ago that they got rid of the little zoo.

Indian Boundary Park seemed much smaller than I remembered it, but they say the size is the same. Anyways, had a nice run. Good weather, though a bit humid.

I would have thought running flat would have improved my speed, but, alas, it did not. This might just be my new speed.

It has been fun, and I am happy I was able to run a bit and temper the amount of food I have been eating with burning some calories by running. Maybe I'll get one last run in tomorrow, maybe not. There is a forest preserve trail I would like to run on if I get the chance.

running in Chicago

I am in Chicago now and for the first time am running abroad. I started my running "career" in Israel and this is the first time I've been abroad since then.

Yesterday I ran a short 6km run through the residential neighborhood in which I am staying. It was interesting to see my old neighborhood this way.

Today I ran 13km through a beautiful bike trail that is adjacent to the North Channel of the Chicago River. It goes through a large business district but the trail is through a beautiful park-type area. I ran through the neighborhood from Howard down to Devon. At Devon I ran across to McCormick and took the trail up north all the way to Dempster. At Dempster I turned into Evanston crossing the river and down through Harbert Park to Main, crossed back to McCormick and ran the trail back down south to Touhy and then through the neighborhood up to the house.

Beautiful run through the grassy areas. There were geese and squirrels, lots of bikers, some walkers and a few other runners.

Breaking through

Since I started running regularly again, I have limited my topside in distance to about 10 kilometers. I have run as far as 10.5, but I have refrained from letting myself hit the 11km mark. I felt I could probably do it, but I really was not yet ready for it. I needed to build up strength before going to the next level, breaking through the 10km mark.

Last night I decided that today would be the day. I have been running well and feeling strong, and while I am still slower than molasses I am at least noticing a slight increase in speed even when going the longer distances.

And I just ran 12 kilometers, without walking, without taking breaks, without struggling, and at the same consistent speed I  have been running at in my most recent runs.

Feels great!

back to running

After a long break from running due to a combination of laziness, fairly consistent sedentary behavior, and a bout of tendinitis in my ankle, I have motivated myself to start running again. I had a few false starts where I would go for a run a couple times a week and then it would fizzle out and I would go a month without running until I tried again. But now I have been running 3-5 times a week for the past 3 weeks, and I love it. I like how I feel, I like the weight-loss, I like the energy it gives me. I think it is real this time. I don't know yet if it is going to lead to another marathon in the near-future, but at least I am out there running, burning calories, and getting fit.

I started off with very short distances, and now I am easily running distances of 10-11km. The biggest "problem" is that I am slower than molasses - yes, even slower than before. I am not looking for any specific target speed, but I would feel good if I were able to at least get close to the speed I used to run at. Slowly but surely I see my speed getting a tiny bit faster each time...

It is a bit easier when thinking of every run as a recovery run!

And when you wake up at 4am to get a run in before having to start an early day, you know your commitment is strong!