Marathon Training Camp Weekend in MI

I just got back from northern Michigan a little while ago and obviously want to share some pictures and fun stories ASAP.  I've decided to call it our Chicago Marathon Training Camp Weekend since Angela, Olivia, and I are all running it and we got in some quality workouts and fun over the weekend.  So first, a picture of the lake/where I spent a few hours napping.  The nap also resulted in sunburn on only the left side of my body.

After the nap, the 3 of us went for a short 4 mile run - short, but hard.  I had done my long run on Wednesday night and then didn't run at all Thursday and Friday.  Angela and Olivia did their 18-mile long run Friday afternoon, so on Saturday afternoon we were all pretty sore/tight.

Wouldn't you want all of your runs to be on a road right a pretty lake?  I would.  Then I realized a lot of my runs ARE right next to Lake Michigan.  But this is way way different since there's not a million people also running the same path at the same time.

After a lot of chips and salsa, an amazing homemade dinner, and a few beachy cocktails at the cottage, us 3 girls headed to the local bars.  They close at 11pm.  A local we met asked us what we were up to for the rest of the night and I replied with "going home to sleep in bunk beds."  Their cottage was so cute and perfect for the northern-Michigan lake-cottage atmosphere.  Their family has been vacation here forever. The cottage actually reminded me a lot of the cabins my family used to stay in when we vacationed at Pennellwood.

Sunday morning we went to Mass, got lunch in town and brought it to the beach to eat, and then explored along the lakefront for awhile and walked to this lighthouse.  I wore this new hippie skirt that I am now in love with.  I practically got it for free from the LOFT since it was on sale and I had a $15 off coupon to spend during the month of my birthday.

We weren't really up for running, so instead Angela and I took out the tandem bike for what turned into a 12 mile ride.  I think we talked about the Chicago Marathon the entire time - what we'll wear, pacing, the course, etc.  I am even way more pumped up now!  6 weeks to go!

Sunday night we went to the beach for the sunset and rock collecting and then had another great dinner at the cottage.  We were all pretty wiped out and had decided we would do a hill workout Monday morning, so we turned in to the bunk beds early.

Monday morning was chilly, but perfect temperature for a hill workout.  And by hill, I mean mountain.  Angela BEASTED up it.  I had my phone in my little running fanny pack pouch thing, so I took it out (while still climbing up) and snapped her picture.

And then do you know what we did?  We ran down it and then back up again.  Each time was close to 5 minutes of straight up.  Angela was ready to do another, but Olivia and I were not as enthusiastic.  Here's the view from the top on the way down...around the curve, it kept going down.

In high school we used to joke that any of the "hills" in Chicago that we would use for a hill workout were actually just "bumps."  This hill was on the other end of the spectrum.  We talked Angela out of a third hill climb and ran straight into town on a few more rolling hills to join their parents for breakfast.  They even brought us clean t-shirts and sweatshirts so we wouldn't have to sit in the restaurant in our sweaty clothes.

Do you like doing hill workouts? - Chicago is extremely flat, so this is the most hill action I've done in a long time, probably since I visited Kristin in Cincinnati.  So this time I really enjoyed the hill workout since I haven't done one in so long.

Where is the most scenic place you have ran?

Christmas Music in the Summer?

Since I had a guest post yesterday instead of giving you my usual run-down (pun intended...I crack myself up), here's the scoop on the runs I did this weekend and a few other noteworthy activities.

Yesterday morning I ran 13 miles at an average 7:56 pace.  My fastest mile was 7:42 and slowest was 8:05.  The rest were all fairly consistent at right under 8 minute pace.  Since I've been doing my last couple long runs on my own, I decided to meet up with the Coach Brendan Running group at 6am.  It was still dark out when I woke up.  That shouldn't happen on the weekends.  I actually ended up running by myself the whole time instead of with anyone from the group, so I was glad I brought my iPod.

I made a new running mix that has quite the variety of songs.  Life is a little weird when you go from a rap song straight into a church song.  I'm a fan of everything.  Here were some of the songs I recall particularly enjoying on the run:

• You Make My Dreams - Daryl Hall - Thanks to Grace for sending me this song recently.  If you don't have Spotify, you need it.  And then you need to send me some of your favorite songs.
• Kanye's New Workout Plan - Kanye West
• Drunk Last Night - Eli Young Band - I think this is my favorite song right now.
• Wired to the T - Dorrough - If this song doesn't just get you pumped while running (or whenever), I don't know what would.
• Hell on the Heart - Eric Church
• You Are Holy - Michael W. Smith
• Red - Taylor Swift

I'd like to thank my friend Carly for inspiring me to listen to rap while running.  It really does work nicely.  Carly is also training for the Chicago Marathon and always posts on Facebook with her motivating running song of the day...and it's almost always rap, so I decided to go for it.

And since we are already talking about music, I have to disclose that I listened to Christmas music last week.  Catherine made me a CD for my birthday, which included some Christmas songs because she knows I love them.  I will say though that I only listened to a few songs one day because I don't want to get Christmas music burnout before the Christmas season and I obviously had to listen to the CD she made me.  It'd be rude not to.  It is fun to be driving down the highway and know that all the other drivers have no idea I'm listening to Christmas music right now in August.  But now that I got that little bit in, I'll wait another few weeks before listening again.

Also related to music, here's a little tidbit I got from a Dove chocolate yesterday:

I always am, Dove, I always am.

After yesterday's long run, I went to Jim and Christina's new apartment.  They have a pool at their building, so Christina and I laid out there for a few hours.  I wore sunscreen this time, but I had my head turned to the side the whole time as we talked, so half of my neck got a little red.  Jim was doing manly handyman tasks around the apartment, but he was kind enough to take a break and bring us some Lime-A-Ritas (and UD coozies).

This morning I met up with my friend Christopher who I had not seen since I left my old job in May, so it was great to catch up!  We had been talking for like a year about running on this dirt trail that goes through Wicker Park and we finally did it.  It was basically old train tracks that are no longer in use and have overgrown with dirt and grass...a little sketchy though, so probably not somewhere I'd run alone.  But in the middle of the day with a friend was a great time to try it!

What are some of your favorite running songs or genres?

Have you ever listened to Christmas music not during the Christmas season?

Do you like to go explore new places to run?

Guest Post: Erin's "17 Things About Colleen"

Today I have a special treat for you - a guest post written my by lovely cousin Erin.  We are like peas and carrots.  She is the one who got me into blog reading and encouraged me to start my own.  And now that I have been working hard on this blog and just yesterday finished my "About Me" page, Erin decided she would like to give my readers a little more insight...

Hey there! My name is Erin, and I am Colleen’s cousin. I am also a 20-something living, working, and working out in Chicago…I just don’t run insane distances like CSmith. I graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2012, and the only other real things you need to know about me are that I am obsessed with Christmas, the Cubs, and the number 217. The last one usually needs a little explanation, and it’s pretty simple: I was born on February 17.

In light of the fact that today is 817 (aka halfway to 217!), I figured today would be an optimal day to write 17 things about Colleen that you cannot learn from her About Me page. I could probably come up with a full 217 list items seeing as I have known Colleen since the very first 217 that I celebrated, but I think that’d be a little much for you to read. So here goes!

1. Colleen and I once bought a sign at a craft fair that said “Forget the dog, beware of Colleen.” We hung it up on the door of her room. I think she still has it.
2. Pennellwood Resort is Colleen’s (and my) favorite vacation spot. I know she already posted about it, but it’s so important that it deserves its own list item here, too. There are plans in the works to perhaps open up our own Pennellwood one day.

3. Colleen loves Christmas almost as much as I do, and we both love Christmas music. I start listening to it on October 17 (aka 1017) each year and force her to do so also. Our favorite Christmas song is “Joy to the World,” by Neil Diamond. We – along with our cousin Katie – made up a dance to that song and filmed it in 2002. We all wore our matching pink North Face fleeces in the dance.
4. Colleen ran the 2010 Columbus Marathon all by herself and with no spectators. Most importantly, she was number 217 for this race.

5. Colleen loves bread, specifically Pennellwood bread. Pennellwood bread is just what you’d expect it to be – bread that Pennellwood Resort baked each and every morning. It was fresh and delicious, but no one loved it more than Colleen.
6. Plaid skirts are always in style on Christmas, and Colleen and I (accidentally) coordinated our Christmas Eve outfits one year to keep with the trend. Great minds think alike.

7. Colleen, our cousin Katie, and I have dubbed one night each year “D-Day.” We use this night to annoy Colleen’s dad, Don, and it falls during the week of Thanksgiving. Examples of past annoyances include putting post-it notes all over the kitchen walls, turning on every single light in the house, and filling his car with random objects so that it’s nearly impossible for him to get in let alone drive. They are harmless pranks, but they are fun. And he gets annoyed, which is the point.
8. Tubing on our uncle’s boat (we call him Captain Ron) is one of our favorite memories and things to do. Sometimes we both tube at the same time and then execute a mid-ride tube switch.

9. Nesquik is not called Nesquik when conversing with Colleen. It is referred to as “the Q,” because she used to drink so much of it that it was essentially her drug.
10. Colleen and I once made a commercial for Juicy Fruit gum when we were about 13 and 11 respectively. It had something to do with Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi” as the background music I think.
11. Usually, for our birthdays, Grandma and Grandpa Smith give each of us cousins a bag of chocolate chip cookies as part of our gift. Going along with number 5, Colleen instead receives a bag of rolls for her birthday.

12. G-chat is where Colleen and I spend our time conversing every single day. We also text very pointless messages to one another, which occasionally include random Forrest Gump quotes.
13. Pizza Hut used to be a huge food staple in Colleen’s life. We spent many a Friday night sleeping over at her house and ordering from “the hut.” Their breadsticks are divine.
14. For about four years in a row (maybe more?), Colleen was a parrot for Halloween.

15. Acronyms are used far too frequently in our conversations. A few commonly used examples include: DTJ (“do the job” or “did the job”), BOG/GOG (“be on G-chat”/”get on G-chat”), YATWL (you are the weakest link”), CCC (“Colmone Country Club), LNPTDID (“Let’s not put the ‘duh’ in ‘dumb’.’’), and HIHACLY (“Happiness is having a cousin like you.”). That last one is a phrase we saw on a plaque at one of the Arlington Racetrack Craft Shows we attended.
16. The 4th of July is a big day for Colleen, although we typically call it “the FOJ” (gotta keep the acronym theme alive). A lot of our family members come to Niles to watch the Niles Parade, since it is pretty great. Colleen’s favorite part of that parade is the Little People.

17. Colleen and I enjoy making lists, and our best one was “CAEUSTDL 2010,” which was “Colleen and Erin’s Ultimate Summer To Do List.” It included a number of things that we never accomplished, but obviously we still have it and will cross everything off eventually. I hope you’ve enjoyed this list and keep coming back to CSmith Run to do just that!

Halfway Through August

Since we are halfway through August, I thought I'd give another little graphical analysis of my training mileage.  See my end of July post for my first Excel analysis.

Here's a graph showing mileage for May through 8/15 this year and in 2010.

I know it's not always good to compare myself to the shape I was in previously, especially 3 whole years ago, but I figure that is at least a good baseline.  I don't know how to show the quality of miles in an Excel graph, but I know it's been better this year than in 2010, so you'll just have to take my word for it.  I've been glad to actually get in some speed training this summer!  Here's a picture from the UDXC camping trip in August of 2010.  We were playing freeze dance :)

As far as August mileage, I'm at about 62 miles for half of the month.  This included more days than planned as off days last week, so I'm hoping the 2nd half of this month and the first half of September will really be much higher mileage with less days off per week!  I think I should be able to get close to 150 for the month which I'd be happy with.

Another way I can tell that I am in much better shape is how I felt after my runs Wednesday and yesterday.  I did 5 miles Wednesday at a more tempo-ish pace and felt surprisingly good and strong during it.  Yesterday morning, I woke up and did 2 miles easy and then some foam rolling before starting my morning.  I did this because I knew I would be a little sore from the faster run and thought it'd be a good way to just get stretched out in the morning, especially because it was a little cooler outside.

Then in the evening, I did 5 miles normal and felt awesome.  I didn't bring a watch with me because I didn't want to worry about my pace, but if I had to guess I would think I was going 7:45-8:00 pace.  When I finished, I felt happy with the fact that I felt like it was a great normal run without worrying about pace, just listening to my music, and running finally didn't feel like a chore that I just had to get done.  It's been feeling like that a lot recently because I just can never seem to really feel good while running, but last night was different.

And here's a picture from earlier this week when my mom and I went out for sushi.  I had just gotten my hair cut and dyed a wee bit blonder.

How is your August going?

Do you ever feel like working out is just a chore instead of fun?

Green Lake - I Ran and I Wave Ran

I really like this whole writing silly poems thing. (See my last post for the poem about this past weekend's long run.) So I've decided to write a few Haikus about our 3 days in Green Lake.

First and foremost, my running for the past 2 days:

Four point eight miles

On Sunday. Then on Monday,

Four point five miles.

Aunt Bernadette and I went out Sunday evening for a run around the country roads. It felt good and we just chatted a bit and saw some of the Smith cousins' and Great Aunt Rosemary's lake houses. That's how we found out about this nice lake/area of Wisconsin.

I can't even remember the last time I ran in a cotton t-shirt. And I hope to not do it again anytime soon, or ever.

On Monday morning, we all woke up and decided to do the 7 minute workout, twice. Basically it is a bunch of basic exercises (planks, crunches, jumping jacks, wall sits, etc.) for 30 seconds and then a 10 second break/transition. It was a fun way to start the morning.

After that workout, Aunt Bernadette and I went out for our run while Mom and Aunt Mary Ellen walked. The ladies don't like pictures of them working out, so here's a nice dinner picture from Saturday night:

And here's some of the fun stuff we did (in more haikus and pictures...but not all the haikus coordinate with the picture below them...I tried my best, but I just don't have pictures of everything.)

Exploring the town

Of small Green Lake, Wisconsin

Lunch - Hot dogs and brats.

Time to go tubing

Katie and I together

A little painful

That's Shannon, Michael, and Katie on the wave runner. I went out on it a few times also. I got to drive a little under Uncle Joe's supervision but I went pretty slow and no sharp turns. It was scary when Michael drove with me and Katie on the back because I had no idea what he was going to do next!  My life was in the hands of a 17 year old boy.

Happy hour fun

Chips, salsa, drinks, and convos,

All outside in sun

Nighttime campfires

With s'mores, games, and laughing,

Don't forget bug spray

Saturday night we went to dinner at a bar down the street. They had free popcorn. And I had an amazing BLT sandwich with sweet potato fries and a mango margarita.

Sunday was chilly

Sucked it up and went skiing

Arm and leg workout

That's me skiing. The last time I skied was the last time we went to Pennellwood 7 years ago. I have to use 2 skis, but Katie (and all the Colmones) are really good and just do one ski.

Overall it was a lot of fun family time. Besides the outdoor activities, we also did some indoor board games and playing cards. My pictures and poems don't even capture all that we did. Right now I'm sitting out in the sun on the dock as I write this :) So now I think I'll get back to my sun-bathing until I have to get back to real life tomorrow.

The Most Amazing Place in the World

First of all, welcome to my new blog! It has all my old posts still. I just transferred from Wordpress to Google Blogger because it seems more usable AND now anyone can comment (before you would've needed a Wordpress account to comment)! So comment away friends.

I have kind of taken a hiatus from running since the weekend. I was doing well, but needed a mental break and it's been so hot that I decided to take the past couple days off to re-group and then get back into training and hope it won't happen again until mid-October. So I want to tell you about the most amazing place in the world.

I have 2 favorite places in the whole world. The University of Dayton and Pennellwood. Our family would be at Pennellwood this week if it was still open. Maybe we wouldn't since most of us cousins don't have free summers anymore. But the 2nd/3rd week of July will always be Pennellwood week in our hearts.

Pennellwood Resort is a family vacation spot in Berrien Springs, Michigan, just about 2 hours from Chicago. I don't even know where to start talking about its amazing-ness. Each family stays in a very small, un-air conditioned wood cabin with bunk beds. The whole Smith family went every year from the early 90s through the early 2000s. Here's what a typical day was like for me during the one week of heaven each summer.

7:50am - wake up to the sound of the first breakfast bell
8:00am - wake up Katie and Erin and go to breakfast in the lodge

9:00am - play shuffleboard and ping pong
10:00am - go to the pool

11:50am - get in line for lunch
12:00pm - lunch = amazing salad bar with gold fish and pudding; also the only meal chocolate milk was offered
1:00pm - tubing or kayaking on the lake

3:00pm - pool
5:00pm - happy hour in the lawn outside the cabins; adults drink, kids snack and play frisbee, running bases, corn hole, etc.
6:00pm - dinner- Pennellwood made their own bread and it is the most amazing bread ever
7:00pm - evening family activity or show such as family olympics, frisbee golf, skit show, scavenger hunt, etc.

9:00pm - teen and adult activities = kareokee, square dancing, etc.

10:30pm - play cards or board games or tell stories until bedtime

There were also organized activities during the morning and afternoon, such as crafts and tournaments. Needless to say, we dominated the tournaments.

See, I got a running pic in there. Danny in the lead, followed by Kyle and Katie. Every year we took a lot of group pictures and they are always great to go back and look at. 

What's wrong Kyle? You're in the happiest place on earth. Also noteworthy of course is Julianne's hat and vest, Joe's fratty outfit, and the fact that clearly it was organized for Brian, Patrick, and Kyle to all be wearing a White Sox shirt.

The best part about Pennellwood is the freedom we had there. Every day, we could choose what to do and always had someone to do it with. The worst part would be the overall feeling of my body constantly covered in sunscreen, sweat, pool and lake water, sunburn, mosquito bites, and bug spray. But we were kids, it didn't matter because we were having fun.

Another great part was the food. I didn't eat much variety growing up but at Pennellwood, I could get my Cheerios (sans milk) at breakfast, a salad and chocolate milk at lunch, and bread and veggies at dinner. (I've expanded my eating horizons since then). But I guess what I really mean when I think about food at Pennellwood is the candy and snacks. We would load up on bags of chips, pretzels, and anything non-perishable to keep in the cabins for the week. Twizzlers and ring pops were the big faves.

There's so many more million things and memories I could write about. I would probably give up anything to just go back to Pennellwood for a week with my entire family. The memories and bonding that it brought will always be unforgettable and it really just plain sucks to know that I will never be able to bring my own kids there some day, as my cousins and I always talked about. And now every year, especially around this time we all reminisce when we are together.

What is your favorite vacation spot?  Or any favorite spot?