The long road and Fire

Fearing that I might leave my marathon on the streets of Oak Park, and considering the pain I'd experienced in my knee all week long, I set out, none the less, on my longest run since the 2003 Marine Corps Marathon. There is a very nice run from my house in south Oak Park, all the way through the heart of the village to the northwest corner to Lindberg park, about 6 miles round trip if you include the Kenilworth parkway in the return. I left the house just after 7 accompanied by Mirabel and my MP3 player. The eclectic mix and early morning cool made for a very pleasant first loop. Joni Mitchell, Gershwin, Charlie Parker, Soul Asylum, Chet Baker, Ani DeFranco, The Clash-- I would listen to that radio station! It was very clear and blue sky day with low humidity. I ran almost the whole first loop, mixing in very little walking, feeling quite good in fact. As I crossed Madison on the way back home I saw a familiar figure heading away from me-- Steve! He turned and ran back to me and we took it on home. Mirabel was so good the whole loop-- spotting squirrels and going into jogging stealth squat mode, but not bolting. She did not bolt until she saw Steve, it was just too much for her. Loop one, 1:09.

We dropped Mirabel off, had a drink and Ryder joined us. He carried the water in his backpack and rode along. This loop we ran 8 and walked 2. Ryder babbled loudly the whole time keeping us quite amused. We made it to Lindberg park and convinced Ryder not to play in the park this loop. We made it back home in 1:17, 12 miles down. Next loop Steve and I went alone. I felt remarkably well, no pain, but it was starting to get warm, and our water carrier was not with us this loop. We also did 8:2 for this loop, and finished in 1:15., 18 miles down. The grand finale loop, we were accompanied by both Ryder on his bike and Karen running. We planned on doing the Wendy Walk-- with whom I am going to do Denver-- who said she did her 18 mile run walking 5 and running 5 the whole way. impressive. Walking for 5 minutes seemed like it would make it very easy to do. Our traveling entourage covered the distance to Lindberg park pretty easily, though the last 1/2 mile found Karen struggling. This was the longest she'd run in years. She opted to go straight back while us boys took the Kenilworth loop. We met up at StarBucks and enjoyed iced coffees and cold water, all the while basking in the sun. The perennial Louie was guarding the trash can, so we gave him some $ and he collected our cups so he could have some water. Oak Park's resident homeless guy. We opted to walk the 1+ last mile from StarBucks home, but once I crossed the Home avenue bridge, I ran it on in-- and felt just fine. loop #4, 1:25. Total run time, 5:15, 24 miles. Zowee. My longest non-marathon run. And I never encountered much pain. Loop two was the toughest, sore knees and screaming ilialposas, but these subsided. I changed into a singlette for the fourth loop and the sun was very intense.

Almost as soon as we got home Ryder and I had to hit the road for the Chicago Fire game. Major League Soccer in the Toyota park stadium. We made it just after the game had started and as we were making our way in the Fire scored and of course they shot off fireworks. Immediately freaking Ryder out, causing him to stuff his fingers in his ears-- and he kept them that way the whole game. I asked him if he wanted food, yes, but I wouldn't buy it for him if he wouldn't take his fingers out of his ears. no matter, his fingers stayed. I enjoyed the game but we sat in the bright open sun and got fried. I am so sun burned today. Poor Ryder, I am sorry to have been impatient with his ears in fingers. He even complained that his arms were getting tired from holding them up, but he was freaked. How fun was that? Well, when the game was over, he removed his fingers and claimed to be having fun. Well, I did. Watching the skill and stamina of the players was quite something. Those guys are awesome. I would definitely like to return to see more games but will have to devise some strategy for Ryder to be able to cope with it.