It was nearly impossible to find a parking spot within three blocks of Fleet Feet Sports in Old Town early Saturday morning. That should have been my first clue. By the time I parked and trekked over to Piper's Alley, I was reminded that marathon training, even in February, is a big deal these days.
Inside the lobby there was a group of about 100 people dressed in winter running gear stretching and talking in small groups. Then a leader took the microphone and gave them some final instructions about their planned run for the morning. I saw some familiar faces and realized this was the group from Chicago Endurance Sports. They have different pace groups going different distances as they train for a couple of different races.
I moved on quickly though, looking for my running partner, Tom. He and I decided to meet on this morning for a 10 miler on the lakefront path. Since moving to the burbs a couple years ago, I have had few chances to run on the lakefront recently. There are just too many other locations that are closer, more convenient, and more challenging.
But the lakefront is where I did most of my running for the last 15 years or so, and it sounded like fun to get back out there. So I wandered into the store to find another group of about 70 runners getting ready for their group run. This was the Boston-bound group sponsored by Fleet Feet. My friends Dan Daley from CARA, and Samantha Morales from Fleet Feet run this group. Samantha is pictured giving the group some last minute tips. She is a good person to listen to, as she has run plenty of marathons, and is a former track runner at my alma mater, Drake University. I ran there many years before her.
Both groups are several weeks into their training programs Boston is in mid-April, and some of the other races are in the weeks after that. For me, however, this was a bit of a wake-up call. I decided to run a spring marathon a couple weeks ago, but haven't really changed too much of my regular training program. In other words, I had yet to jump in with both feet.
I really didn't feel the need or desire to train for a spring marathon this year, but as the weeks have gone by since the late last fall, I found myself lacking motivation and structure to my running. The best way I know to solve that is to schedule a race that you have to get ready for. And a marathon definitely requires motivation and structure. Not to mention a lot of miles.
It can be tough to find good places to run long in the winter. Some of our favorites in the summer include the Prairie Path, Waterfall Glenn, and Barrington. Ice on the frozen path makes footing treacherous on most of those routes. 'The footing is generally good in Barrington, but it's a tough workout that you don't want to do every week. So it was back to the Lakefront this week.
Back when I used to run there more frequently, it would be relatively easy to meet up with my friends and take off. It's much more crowded now, and that's a good thing for the sport, but a bad thing for those who prefer solitary running I suppose.
In any case, I have chosen a relatively 'low-pressure' marathon to run. Last year I had a big build-up for
Boston and had a great experience. But I don't need to do that every year, not to mention I don't have a qualifying time anyway this year. So after considering the Flying Pig marathon in Cincinnati, and Illinois marathon in Champagne, I decided on the Wisconsin marathon in Kenosha. It's May 1st. Here's a link if you are interested. http://www.wisconsinmarathon.com/
Maybe I'll see you on the Lakefront...
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