Life after the marathon

Life has been good and easy. I took a week off of running after the marathon and did nothing but eat junk and sit around. Admittedly, I still shake my head at the thought of PR'ing the race by 43 minutes. Of course, I think of the things I could of done differently to possibly have run a sub-4:00 marathon, or cut 10 minutes off of my time, not walked through a couple of water stops as I did, blah blah blah. It's natural to think that I guess, it happens.

This past week, I did do a couple of short runs, so it was nice to finally pound some pavement for a change. I could tell my legs are not fully 100% recovered, but it sure did feel good to get out there. I'm getting a few "phantom pains" here and there, but nothing to be concerned about. The rest of October, for the most part, is going to be an easy month for running.

I feel pretty good as I write this, and feel like I could get out there for a 10 miler or so. I will say that I am in love with long distance running. I think my success in Chicago has taught me not to be afraid. I'm pretty sure I can get faster, and run longer than I've ever done. That's how I feel, anyway. Whether or not I can actually follow through is another story!

So what's next? I'd like to run a couple of the smaller races around Chicago like the Turkey Trot and Rudolph Ramble. I've yet to run a 10K, and would love to better my time in the 5K. I'm still planning something big for next year, which I'll announce in the coming weeks- or at least until I can determine I'm not crazy in the head :)

Although I love running in cold weather, the winter months haven't been good to me injury wise in the past (cough cough, treadmill, cough cough). I'll be concentrating on strength training, and doing some shorter runs with the hope of running a half in February or so. That's my plan anyway.

For now, it's nice not to be on any sort of training schedule. Perhaps I'll get the bass fishing gear together and fish my guts out until things ice over.

Sounds pretty good to me.

PS. Head on over to Lindsay's blog to read about her spectating adventure at the marathon along with some cool photos!

Revenge is sweet: Chicago Marathon '09 Race Report

Official finish: 04:11:44 PB (old 04:54:38)
Place: 13,958 out of 33,608



(Click on the pictures for a larger view)
Photos by Katie Piekarski, Christina Morales. Finish line photo by Marathonphoto.

Wow, where to start? I've had a couple of days to take it all in, and I can safely say that I had the race of my life this past Sunday. A personal best by 43 minutes in only my 2nd full marathon- I don't think I'm down from that cloud just yet.

The 2008 Chicago Marathon chewed me up and spit me out and had no mercy on my soul. Don't get me wrong, I loved every minute of it, and I would expect that with it being my first ever marathon and all, but man did it hurt. I cried my eyes out at the finish last year, happy that I had done it, but I knew I had more. One full year later, it happened. It was tough, I had my doubts, but I did it.

The Start: Yes, It's Cold Folks



I struggled to the very end with what to wear during the race. I knew I'd be fine once the sun came up and the temps went at least over 35F. Even at 31F, I went with my singlet, arm warmers, shorts, a head band to cover my ears, hat, and topped everything off with a junky pair of sweatpants and two layers of long sleeve shirts that I could peel off once I started running. It was a great choice- no regrets. Katie and I took the train in from Palatine and it put us in about 6 a.m., then took a cab to the start and the never ending sea of humanity that is the Chicago Marathon.

Gear Check Fail: Forgot to put the Garmin on

Wouldn't you know it? Despite getting a new Garmin 205 just for this race after my previous one kept shutting down on me, I forget to put it on through all of the madness that was Gear Check and everyone fighting to get in their proper pace groups. Fortunately, the watch I had on me had a stop watch with a split timing feature. That and the Pace Tat I forgot I had on saved my skin this day. Because of all of this, it was even more critical that I find my way to the 9:00 minute-per-mile pace group.

Pace Group Fail: Now you're on your own

After fighting the crowds to finally reach my 9:00 minute pace group, Katie takes off to spectate further up the Start chute, and I end up hopping the fence to get into my corral. I can see two pace leaders with signs in front of me. I'm in good company- there are tons of runners in this group. As the gun goes off, I jockey for position near the pace leaders along with everybody else, it seems. I did this for the first 4 miles and just gave up. I was spending so much energy bursting forward and slowing down to stay with the pacers, that I feared I wouldn't have anything left for the end. I clocked an 8 minute mile at one point doing this, but I just took a deep breath and fell back. I was on my own.

It's all about the training: You've worked hard for this

With my pacers long gone, it was up to my stop watch and the 4:00 hour Pace Tat stamped on my arm to tell me how I was doing. The last of my clothing layers came off around mile 5. I was feeling really strong, but still hoping for the best. I knew that if I could hit the halfway point at 2:02 and mile 20 at 3:09, just like in training, I'd be in pretty good shape. My left calf started to cramp up fairly early around mile 8 which had me worried, but a gel and some fluids took care of it quickly. I was spot on with my splits all the way to mile 13 and hit 13.1 at 2:02 right on the dot. The crowds are so amazing at this race and the cheering pushes you along, allowing the miles to just click by as you enjoy the sounds. It's the best part of this race, and I was loving every minute of it.

Mile 20 is in the bag: Six point two to go

I hit mile 20 at 03:09 on the dot, just as I did on my previous 20 mile training run just three weeks before. I was feeling pretty amazing at this point, and got so excited to see Katie cheering for me at mile 20 that I ran over to give her a kiss :) My quads started to hurt around mile 22, and I knew if I stopped moving forward at a fast clip, I'd have some serious cramping issues, so I walked briskly through the fluid stations, and ran in between each. My pace dropped off to 10 minute miles around mile 23 and fluttered between 10's and 9:30's the rest of the way. Once I got on to Michigan avenue for miles 24 and 25, I was mostly just trying to carry each leg forward with every ounce of my being. The cramping was getting a bit more intense, but I was still under 4 hours, and knew I could possibly make it before 4:15.

The Finish: 04:54 falls to an 04:11

I heard people screaming on the Roosevelt bridge at Mile 26, but it seemed like I was in some kind of tunnel and everything else around me was a blur. They put this hill here for a reason- to soak up whatever strength you have left. By this time I knew I had done it. I'd sunk my time from last year, and I was on goal to do a sub 4:15 marathon. I don't remember much from here on in, but I did remember to throw up my arms at the finish line and smile. I had done it. 04:11:44 officially.



It was another incredible experience. I absolutely adore this marathon, the city of Chicago and all of its beautiful sights and sounds. There's a pretty good chance I'll do it again next year and try for a sub 4:00!

Thanks to all of you for your support and words of encouragement, my family for your love and coming out, Katie and her showing Chicago's "EL" who's boss!, Lindsay for your inspiration as always, Luke, my many Twitter running friends, and you for reading.

I'm going to rest up for a few days, heal up, and start planning a few small races through the end of the year. Next year is a big year for me personally, so I have to plan something big (more later). Not sure what yet, but it will most likely involve running I'm sure :)

Click here for more photos.

Much love.

Ready for the Chicago Marathon!

A photo of my beloved training grounds at Independence Grove Forest Preserve in Libertyville, IL. I now leave this place behind for the streets of Chicago for the marathon on Sunday, 10/11. I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

It's Friday as I write this, and I'm relaxed, if a bit nervous about what's going to transpire in just two days. I spent a good chunk of Thursday worried if I was getting sick or not, even after several days of downing every Vitamin C supplement I could find!

The weather is forecast to be in the middle 30's at start, with the high around 52F. It's got me a bit worried, but more so about what I'm going to wear. It's a toss up between wearing my singlet and arm warmers, or a long sleeve, Dri-Fit thermal underneath my singlet. I'm afraid I'm going to get just too warm for the long sleeve, so the arm warmers may be it, similar to this:



I'll just wear a long sleeve to keep warm for the first mile or so. But this is pretty close to the final outfit- name on my shirt and all:



I'm hoping it will be warm enough, but anything is better than the 85F from last years effort!

I'm going to do my best to stick with the 9 minute-per-mile pace group for a finish in about 4 to 4:30 hours. I'm optimistic that I'll do okay, but I'll be leaving it in the Lords hands come 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning.

Here is my pace chart for those of you keeping time.

And these are the times I hope to be in during these mile markers:

Miles 1-5: 7:30-8:15

6-11: 8:25-9:10

12-17: 9:19-10:05

18-23: 10:14-11:00

24-26: 11:09-11:30

Here is a great spectator guide courtesy of Timeout Chicago

Official Chicago Marathon spectator guides can be found here.

Track me during the marathon via TXT or email here. Just search for "Jesse Mendoza"

See you all on the flipside of 26.2 my friends.

Seeking Revenge in Chicago 10/11/09

Post 5 mile training run at my "training grounds" in the Independence Grove FP, Libertyville. Hardly anyone there these days.

04:54:38

04:53
04:52
04:51
.
.
.
.

That 04:54:38 up there was my finish time in the 2008 Chicago Marathon. The projected times below that are what I hope to finish in at the end- anything BUT 04:54! I have much respect for the 26.2 mile distance after that day. It was an excruciating journey, but it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.

As of Oct. 11, I would have logged over 450 miles of running this year. The 16 weeks of training this time around has been a little rough, but I feel that I am faster, more confident in my abilities, and my endurance much improved over last year. I've been blessed with having no serious injuries this time around, with part of that having to do with being just a little smarter in my training.

Through the first nine weeks of my plan, I was running a combination of paved and gravel trails to stave off any injuries and build up some strength. The past month and a half, I've been running strictly pavement to get my legs used to all of the pounding they'll be doing through the streets of Chicago come Oct. 11.

Also in the mix was running without music towards the end of my training. Last year, most, if not all of my runs were done with headphones on, but I don't like wearing them during the races simply because I like to take in the sounds all around me. The problem with this is that the music isn't there to push me forward. The mind can play evil tricks on you when you're struggling! So, not listening to music forced me to just listen to my breathing, concentrate on the pace, and play those mind games to win. It has worked and I'm better focused.

My goal in the marathon this year is to stay at an even 9:00 per-mile-minute pace throughout the race. I've been training with a new nutrition plan, replacing my usual PowerBar Gels with the slightly more potent Gu Roctane Gels, which have kept my energy up in the latter miles. I won't be mixing water with my Gatorade anymore, since my stomach can now tolerate a pure dose.

This weekend or early next week, I'll post some final of details of my race for those of you interested in coming out to cheer on the runners. For now, a great spectator guide is available on the Chicago Marathon website here. You can also follow me during the race via TXT or Email by registering for free here - search for "Jesse Mendoza" and I'm bib #13671.

We're getting close!

Good riddance to August

Wow... where to start?

It's been so, so long since I've written. The month of August was not very good to me, and life had me so busy that I barely touched this blog, written about my running, or even ran for that matter.

In my last post, it looks like my personal best at the Rock N Roll Half Marathon was the highlight of my month. Alas, I have survived and look forward to what the rest of the year holds in store for me.

Houston, we have a problem:

For those of you who work in IT, you know that when disaster hits the Data Center, things can go from bad to worse in a very short time. In the first three weeks of August, we had three disasters, one after the other, that caused us quite a bit of downtime, and many hours recovery time. Let me just say that three disaster type scenarios so close to each other is a very rare event in the IT world. I would spend more time at work than I did sleeping through the entire month of August.

The Perfect Storm:

A "perfect storm" of sequences managed to take down Internet access, a corporate email server, and an entire server farm in a streak of bad, bad luck that caused over three weeks of scattered downtime for our users. The last event even rarer still:

As soon as we come out of a weeks worth of a complete email server recovery, routine maintenance on a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) unit in the data center went awry after a power generator failed to kick in during a battery replacement. This caused the entire data center to go dark in the middle of the work day, and wreaked major havoc on over 13 production servers. This happened on a Friday, and our recovery took the rest of the weekend. All of us are still shaking our heads at the turn of events.

Coming into the first week of September now, things have quieted down quite a bit, thankfully. There is still lots of work to do, and although my days are pretty much back to normal, we are all still on pins and needles around here, and for good reason.

Running out of time:

My running mileage for the month of August took a pretty big hit due to all of the other fun I was having. I got as many runs in as I could, especially the long runs on the weekends. Clocking 12 to 18 hour days doesn't help with conserving energy, that's for sure. Still, the runs I did get in saved my sanity in a time when I thought my head would explode. Coming into September, I'm back on my normal training schedule.

What's next:

The Chicago Marathon is now less than five weeks away. The 16 mile run I did this past Saturday went really well, and my last 20 mile training run is in a couple of weeks. This weekend I'll be running the Lewis & Clark Half Marathon in St. Charles, MO. I'm using it as a tune up run for Chicago, and it is my last race until the big day.

So that's it. The post is a little longer than I thought, but it's done. I hope to keep writing, now that things have calmed down quite a bit.

Thanks for hanging in there :)

Rock N Roll Chicago Half Marathon race report: Facing my fears

"Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing." -Unknown

That was pretty much my mindset going into this race. I originally planned to finish in about 2 hours, but after 3 days rest, a solid 7 mile run the Wednesday before, and a great weather forecast, I decided to go for another personal best. Could I finish in 1 hr. and 50 minutes? After finishing in 01:56 in Highland Park last June, I didn't think I'd have anymore in me, or so I thought.

While at the expo on Saturday, I upgraded to the #5 start corral where I thought my 01:50 pace setter would be. Instead, he ended up one corral forward and I was left to fend for myself, once again. As hard as I try to run with pace setters on race day, something always happens and I miss them. Oh well, it was me and my Garmin.

I forgot to turn off the Auto-Pause on my Garmin, so it managed to stop ticking when I went under both of the tunnels on the route. As you can see from my stats (below), it ended up being off by 3 minutes, and a few of the mile splits were crazy fast. Not until after mile 6 did they balance out, and I was in the 8:30's- perfect. The course brought back memories of the Chicago Marathon last year, since many parts were on the same path. The scenery changed a lot and it made it that much more exciting.

This same time last year during this same race (then known as the Chicago Distance Classic), I was so concerned with going too fast, getting hurt, and just finishing that I didn't push myself. Some rather fast training runs through June and July this year really built up my confidence, and found myself running the middle miles at an 8:30-45 pace rather comfortably.

By far, this is the fastest I've run in a race- ever. Everything just clicked- from new shoes, new nutrition (Gu Roctane Gels), weather... the low humidity, cool breeze, and a flat course contributed to my new PR of 01:53.21 besting my time in Highland Park by 3 minutes. I placed 2668 out of 14,438 finishers. My left knee got a bit tight near mile 9 with just the slightest pain, and had to ice it at the medical tent as a precaution when I was finished. As of this writing, the knee is doing really well. No harm done, it seems.

The event itself was one of the most organized and well run races I've ever taken part in. The folks at Elite Racing/Competitor really know their stuff. I never waited more than 5 minutes in any line including gear check and potty. I've never seen so many porta-johns in my life! The post-race party featured Emmy award winning blues act Susan Tedeschi, which I very much enjoyed! The bands at every mile marker gave a needed push when I needed it. I HIGHLY recommend this race and probably any Rock N Roll series race out there.

My last half marathon will be the Lewis & Clark Half Marathon in St. Charles, MO. on Sept. 13. This race will serve as a full-on tune up for the Chicago Marathon in October. I'll be piling on even more miles between now and then including three 20 mile training runs in Aug. and Sept.

For now, I'm still basking in the light of my new half marathon PR. Things are looking up for a good finish in October.

Pictures and stats below...

Click here a complete video of the event, including the amazing "Kara Cam"!

Click on all pictures for a larger version.


The starting line an hour before the 6:30 a.m. start.


The post race party featuring Susan Tedeschi.


Susan Tedeschi.


Signed swag by my favorite male marathoner Ryan Hall!


Ryan Hall!


Race stats. Official finish time 01:53:21

RockNRoll Chicago Half Marathon time!

My finishers medal from the 2008 Chicago Distance Classic (02:01:54)
Click to enlarge

This will be #4 of 5 half-marathons I'll be doing this year. The Rock N' Roll Chicago Half Marathon (formerly the Chicago Distance Classic) kicks off at 6:30 a.m. this Sunday, Aug. 2 with a field of over 14,000 runners! I'm excited about the new course, which looks to avoid the teeny, tiny parts of the lakefront path that clogged up the run last year. This course goes into downtown- kinda like a mini Chicago marathon course. I like it.

I'm due for 18 miles total this weekend, so I'll probably head out early for 5 miles on Saturday, to compliment the 13.1 miles on Sunday. My personal best in the half-marathon is 01:56:18 which I clocked at the North Shore half-marathon back in June. My time in this race last year was 02:01:54, which is a nice improvement if I may say. I don't plan on besting my time on Sunday, but I don't really have a reason to hold back either. If I feel great, I'll go for a PR.

My training for Chicago has been going well. I'm back to some normalcy in my runs after a rather scattered training schedule through June and early July. I've started running my longer runs in my new Brooks Defyance 1's. The newish Defyance 2 model of the same shoe haven't agreed with me very well, so I'm using them for runs of 5 miles and under. The Defyance 1's are such a dream to run in, and I can go forever in them. I just hope I can get another pair before they're out of circulation.

The start time for Sunday is a super early 6:30 a.m., which will be nice since the forecast temps are already in the middle 80's. You can follow the race live, online at http://www.competitor.com beginning at 6:30. If you're interested in tracking my progress during the actual race, you can sign up for Runner Tracking via TXT msg at competitorwireless.com. My bib # is 8109 for the name "Jesse Mendoza".

If you'd like to come out to cheer on the runners, I am in corral #8 and will be near the 1:50 (8:32 pace) pace group sign. The Start and Finish line are on Columbus Dr. in Grant Park. A complete course map is here. A FAQ for race day can be found here.

For more info, including details on all the free Rock N Roll music during the race, visit http://chicago.competitor.com/

Wish me luck!

Getting past the fear

One of the goals I set for myself this season, is to not be afraid to push my limits. My "limit" this time last year was a fairly easy running pace of about 9:30 minutes-per-mile, which is what I trained for all last year. That's about what I averaged during last year's Chicago marathon.

Coming out of a 25 year layoff from running last year, I really didn't know what to expect. I didn't know how fast I could go, or how good my endurance was going to be. As the year went on, I got a little better, but I was still afraid to push the envelope for fear of getting hurt, or worse. During the winter, I joined a running program at a local Chicago Fleet Feet to train for a February half-marathon. I credit this group for teaching me about pace. I had to keep up, or else I would lag behind- that's the bottom line.

So, when I set a goal to train for Chicago again, I told myself I would push myself a little more in 2009. I know I can go faster, and I really, really want to get revenge on my marathon finish time of 04:54. One way I'm doing this, is practicing negative-splits in most of my longer runs. To my surprise, I've gotten quite comfortable sustaining an 8:30 pace, and it's what I'm shooting for. This is nearly a full minute ahead of where I was last year.

A negative-split is when you run the 2nd half of the course faster than the first. It also helps to build up my strength, and confidence, knowing that I can hit these speeds during longer runs. The 7 mile run in the chart below is a good example. This would have to be one of my better runs to date- I felt strong, 100%, and felt that I could do more!

One of my bigger tests will be my longest run to date at 16 miles, which I'm doing on July 25. We'll see how it goes!



(Click to enlarge)

Life gets in the way sometimes

Well, I'm in week #4 of my Chicago Marathon training- only 12 more weeks to go! I'm off to somewhat of a shaky start, as my weekly mileage has been somewhat scattered. I should say my weekday runs have been kind of scattered too, so I've been concentrating on my long runs on the weekends to make up for it.

I spent quite a bit of time with work issues last week, and that threw everything off- from my running schedule, eating, rest... I didn't run for over 5 days straight until this past weekend, where I did 4 miles on Saturday, and 10 on Sunday to complete the 14 miles I had on my schedule for the long run.

Life will get in the way sometimes, I guess. Still, I feel strong, and I have no injuries holding me back, which was quite a contrast from the winter season. The bruise I suffered during my hill runs at Devil's lake the last weekend of June is still slightly sore, but doesn't bother me as much any more. Feeling 100% feels really good.

I'm back on track this week. Although it's a cut-back week, with only 20 miles total, I'll be putting in a little extra since I slacked off last week. Saturday the 25th will be my longest run since last year's marathon at 16 miles. It just goes up from there.

With that, I leave you with a picture I shot during my 10 mile run on Sunday on the Des Plaine's River Trail somewhere between Libertyville and Vernon Hills, IL.

Training Week One Down

Hill training in Baraboo, Wi., just outside of Devils Lake State Park.

Well, after some nice time off of no running the week of June 15, I started week one of my 16 week Chicago Marathon training program. I spent my last free weekend just thinking of the lessons I learned during last year's training. It's sort of a strange feeling, and my mindset is different going into the program. I have to eat better, sleep better, and my mind is constantly churning over the details of my upcoming long runs on the weekend- averaging now between 10 and 15 miles.

I ended week one with a trip up to Baraboo, Wi. and the Devils Lake area for a six mile run which included some major hill training. I think the hill training I concentrated on leading up to my personal best at the Northshore Half-Marathon really helped. God bless Highland Park, IL. for some of the most intense hills I've ever experienced in a race, as awful as they were!

Unfortunately, I started out kind of late in the morning, and it warmed up quite a bit when I got started. I also didn't bring enough water with me, so I was depending on the hydration I took in the night before. Even though I was doing ok, I could of used an extra 8 oz. of fluids. Yup, it's going to take another week or two of these hot weather runs to get things right.

The hills along my route in Baraboo were extreme enough that I ended up slightly bruising a tendon on the top of my right foot near the end, but it may have had something to do with my shoes being rather tightly tied. Fortunately, it happened near the end of my run, so the damage was minimal. The area is still a bit sore, and I've been icing it a bit. I will say that it was one of the most intense and satisfying training runs I've had in a long, long time!

On to week two for June 29. Here is my schedule the next few days:

Mon: 6 miles
Tue: Rest
Wed: 5 miles Speedwork
Thur: Stretching/Rest
Friday: 2 miles
Saturday: Fourth of July 5K, then down to Chicago for another 9 miles for total of 12.
Sunday: Weights/Stretch

My race filled weekend

A photo taken after finishing the North Shore Half Marathon on 6/14/09. My finish time was a personal best in the half at 01:56:18! I was super, super excited. I think this was my best run ever. The shin problems I complained about a while back did not show themselves this time around. I think doing a 5K the day before really helped me relax (more on the 5K later).

The race was held in beautiful Highland Park, IL. I'd heard of this race before, but this is my first time running it. It was very well organized, and went off without a hitch. The course was disgustingly beautiful and very scenic despite all of the rolling hills. I'd strongly suggest doing some hill work before hitting this race, as a big part of the middle of the course is quite hilly, culminating in a rather steep one near the 9 mile mark.

Somewhere around my winter training, something happened to my running pace. I've managed to find a 'sweet spot' that has me running very close to 8:30 per-minute miles on a consistent basis these days instead of the usual 9:30's I was running. It might have something to do with running with pace groups during my winter training. The 'sweet spot' is hard to explain, though. It's a pace that I feel comfortable running, as fast as it is for me. I think my strides are bigger, and my breathing is now 3x3 (three breaths in/out) instead of 2. This makes a difference in keeping up my endurance, I think.

I wanted to send out a congrats to my sister for running the 5K portion of the race- her first since "retiring" a couple of years ago. She was my inspiration for starting to run again, after watching her finish her first half-marathon in 2006. Congrats sis!

On Saturday, I ran the always-fun Skirtchaser 5K in Bloomingdale, IL. as a warm up to Sunday. It's a pretty fun race series, and you can see the story behind it here. The majority of the course went through a grassy, muddy golf course, which was disappointing. I ended up slowing WAY down to keep from turning my ankle on the terrible, rocky path. I'm just not used to running on grass, which is what most of the course consisted of. Needless to say, my finish time was terrible, but it helped me tremendously on Sunday, so I'm happy.

Now, I'll take the rest of the week off before I start my Chicago Marathon training on June 22. I can't wait to start training on the Chicago lakefront path again. It's always nice to be around so many runners in that great city.

So now, I rest. It's going to be an exciting summer. My pace chart for North Shore is below for those that are interested :)

Thoughts on Marathon Training Anew

In a little over two weeks from now, I'll begin my 16 week training regiment for my 2nd full marathon in Chicago on October 11. Lots of thoughts are going through my head, mostly having to do with reflecting on last year's effort and what I'll be doing different this year. I won't go too much into what sort of goals I'll be setting for myself in this post, but it's a given that I'll be shooting to beat my time of 04:54:38 from last year.

Between now and June 22, I'm going to concentrate on acclimating my body to training in temperatures above 80F (if the weather cooperates of course). This means starting my weekday runs before 5pm, and my weekend long runs around mid-day to take full advantage of the heat of the day. Since I train in Chicago, I don't usually start until 8 a.m. on weekends, and end up finishing close to noon. It gets hot folks, really hot. I've done long runs of +10 miles in 90F heat without a problem, and hope to continue that.

I was new to all of this last year. I didn't know what to expect. This time it's different. I'm stronger, much more confident, and simply can't wait to get moving. As usual, I'm sure you'll read about my progress here, among other things, and I thank you for following me in my journey once again.

More on my thoughts leading up to Training Day One soon...

My Troubles Persist

Well, it seems the annoying shin pain I've been suffering through on my runs is back. A couple of good runs on some new Brooks Defyance 2 shoes had me convinced I had licked the problem, but it has returned.

I'm struggling to find the reason as to why this is happening.

I can understand having pain running on worn out running shoes, so I went out and go new ones. The difference here is this is a redesigned model of the Brooks Defyance I've been running in until now. I found it a bit odd that I had to get these new shoes a whole size bigger so they feel right. After taking them on a few spins, I was feeling really good about them. Not so much now.

Something is different. I've read the sole was redone, but they look and feel fairly similar despite being a size bigger. They're beginning to feel a little awkward during my runs, and my shins are not liking the feeling right now. They get incredibly tight to the point where I have to stop and walk. The pain is close to excruciating at times, but only pops up during a run and only after 2 miles or so. After that, it's really hard to continue.

The problem is, I'm past the return date in the new shoes, so I'll have to eat the cost should they not work out. I'm looking to get a hold of the previous model of this same shoe to see if that is what is causing the issue. I haven't written off the Defyance 2 just yet, but I need to make sure it's the shoe, and not some sort of recurring injury. I'm desperate, really.

My training for the Chicago Marathon starts on June 22, and I'd really like to have this resolved before then- even before a 5K I have scheduled on June 13.

As I mentioned, I don't consider it an injury just yet, and I'm taking it as something being wrong with the mechanics of it all. I hope to find the answer soon.