We had a great weekend here in Chicago, and along with that was some solid training, a new grocery store and an impromtu race which I wasn't planning on doing. The "race" wasn't really a race...more like some dude running who didn't want his ego bruised (and yes I totally took the bait to race this dude, more on that later).
There is a new grocery store in Westmont called the Standard Market, it's definitely nice, clean and healthy, although (not to sound snobbish but it's going to come off that way) there isn't a whole lot of organic produce there. Though the prices on meats are pretty good. And the quality is great as well.
Saturday morning was the typical computrainer long ride followed by a little run. Though it never felt good I was able to get the work done which is important. Thanks to Chad I have an Apple TV now and I set it up this weekend, it's pretty cool, and definitely something I've already put to good use.
Sunday morning I met the boys to get a little swim and a run in. The swim went well, and it's amazing how much faster time goes when you're swimming with a group! After our swim we headed out to Waterfall Glen to get a loop in. I was planning on taking it easy, and I think I did a pretty good job of that for the most part...until the last mile that is. So I have this weird thing that if I see someone I need to pass them. Now I've gotten better about not dropping the hammer immediately to pass them, and I have started to let the people come back to me slowly. So at about mile 8 of the loop at WFG I saw a guy ahead of me. I knew that I had about 2 miles to run, and that's a pretty good amount of distance to be able to make up time, so I wasn't worried about catching and passing this guy because I knew that I would. Well it started to get a little interesting as I was about 20 yards behind him. He must have heard me coming and he started to pick up his pace. How do I know this? Because I wasn't closing space anymore, and I could see his footspeed increase. I thought I had a pretty good idea as to what he was doing (also read, he wanted to throw down) so I started to slowly increase my pace (I was sitting about 6:45 pace when I was 20 yards behind him). As I slowly increased, so did he...something kind of clicked in my head...twisted I know. I had just been sucked in to this race with some dude on the trail. No words were spoken...no fees were paid...but for some reason this guy was not happy with me for catching him. So I decided to tighten the screws, I dropped down to just below a 6:00 mile pace to run right behind him...I figured why make the pass right then, I wanted to see how much he was suffering. He was breathing pretty hard and I could see his form starting to suffer so I figured I'd pass him, and I wanted to be done with my run anyway. I picked up the pace, and made sure to go hard enough so that it was a definitive move, and went by him. It didn't take long (a few strides) before I had gone by him and opened a little gap. I stayed on the gas for about a quarter mile and then settled back in. He wasn't coming back. When I finished the loop the guy arrived about a minute later and ran straight to his car, started it and drove away...I couldn't even congratulate him on a solid effort. A couple of friends were sitting there when I finished and totally knew that something was up when I finished my run, they laughed as the guy got into his car and drove away immediately. So I guess you can say that I was "that guy" out racing during training and that I took the bait, that's fine because it's true. But I'm pretty sure he was trying to race me as well, so that makes it a little better right?
There is a new grocery store in Westmont called the Standard Market, it's definitely nice, clean and healthy, although (not to sound snobbish but it's going to come off that way) there isn't a whole lot of organic produce there. Though the prices on meats are pretty good. And the quality is great as well.
Saturday morning was the typical computrainer long ride followed by a little run. Though it never felt good I was able to get the work done which is important. Thanks to Chad I have an Apple TV now and I set it up this weekend, it's pretty cool, and definitely something I've already put to good use.
Sunday morning I met the boys to get a little swim and a run in. The swim went well, and it's amazing how much faster time goes when you're swimming with a group! After our swim we headed out to Waterfall Glen to get a loop in. I was planning on taking it easy, and I think I did a pretty good job of that for the most part...until the last mile that is. So I have this weird thing that if I see someone I need to pass them. Now I've gotten better about not dropping the hammer immediately to pass them, and I have started to let the people come back to me slowly. So at about mile 8 of the loop at WFG I saw a guy ahead of me. I knew that I had about 2 miles to run, and that's a pretty good amount of distance to be able to make up time, so I wasn't worried about catching and passing this guy because I knew that I would. Well it started to get a little interesting as I was about 20 yards behind him. He must have heard me coming and he started to pick up his pace. How do I know this? Because I wasn't closing space anymore, and I could see his footspeed increase. I thought I had a pretty good idea as to what he was doing (also read, he wanted to throw down) so I started to slowly increase my pace (I was sitting about 6:45 pace when I was 20 yards behind him). As I slowly increased, so did he...something kind of clicked in my head...twisted I know. I had just been sucked in to this race with some dude on the trail. No words were spoken...no fees were paid...but for some reason this guy was not happy with me for catching him. So I decided to tighten the screws, I dropped down to just below a 6:00 mile pace to run right behind him...I figured why make the pass right then, I wanted to see how much he was suffering. He was breathing pretty hard and I could see his form starting to suffer so I figured I'd pass him, and I wanted to be done with my run anyway. I picked up the pace, and made sure to go hard enough so that it was a definitive move, and went by him. It didn't take long (a few strides) before I had gone by him and opened a little gap. I stayed on the gas for about a quarter mile and then settled back in. He wasn't coming back. When I finished the loop the guy arrived about a minute later and ran straight to his car, started it and drove away...I couldn't even congratulate him on a solid effort. A couple of friends were sitting there when I finished and totally knew that something was up when I finished my run, they laughed as the guy got into his car and drove away immediately. So I guess you can say that I was "that guy" out racing during training and that I took the bait, that's fine because it's true. But I'm pretty sure he was trying to race me as well, so that makes it a little better right?
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