As for the run itself, it was rough. Due to the distance, I kept the pace slower than normal. Unfortunately I took several breaks in the last quarter of my run. This was due to a couple of reasons. First, the day was warmer and more humid than other days. Second and more importantly, I was sick Friday and most of Saturday, which carried over to Sunday. It’s a little demotivating, but I’m suprised I didn’t pass out on the trails. Even after my run, I submerged myself in an ice bath. Nothing helps a cold better than an ice bath. I’m just full of good ideas. Suprisingly I’m still coughing now, but I’m getting better by the day. Vitamin C’s a good friend to me and I expect to be over this within the week. Two weeks will be my second 20 miler. It should be a cake walk.

As a side note: I’d like to thank everyone for your continuing support and donations. It means a lot and it’s a good feeling when I’m running out there on those long runs. Together we can make a difference!

Support me at: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/prodriguez

http://www.patrickontherun.com

My schedule has been busy since I quit my job and started school, however, I will do my best to keep posting. Most likely, they’ll be quick and to the point.

Support me at: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/prodriguez

http://www.patrickontherun.com

If anyone tells you that sleeping more than 10 hours is a bad thing, that person is lying to you. That was exactly what I did and it felt awesome. Today was much of the same good stuff as yesterday but with an unexpected visitor: clouds. An hour or two into the work day, clouds rolled in and brought relief from the pounding sun. What a difference a few clouds make. As a result of the favorable weather, we worked almost twice faster than yesterday.

Before lunch, we met Steven who was a resident of New Orleans all his life. Being a musician, he lived literally across the street and benefitted from Habitat for Humanity’s work. His previous home was destroyed in the hurricane. One condition to home ownership through Habitat was community service, which was a great way to facilitate the circle of giving. It was a great benefit to speak with and work alongside him. He had a cool, laid back personality which was complimented by the fact he had was a jazz trombone player. Prior to lunch, I asked him where the best place to get a Po’Boy for lunch.

A few miles west of out site on Saint Claude’s road, we found Gene’s. I ordered a Roast Beef Po’Boy which was roast beef, lettuce, and pickle on a toasted French bread. Very simple, but delicious. These things were meant to feed Po’ Boys or a lot of food for little money. That roast beef po’boy satisfied me in ways other sandwiches couldn’t. As we returned to the work site, it became dark and cloudy…

The rain came down with a ferocity that’s unrivaled by Chicago’s mild storms. It came hard and long enough to end our work day early. A 30 percent chance of scatter thunderstorms is no joke down here.

The storm subsided late in the afternoon. From my experience yesterday, I decided running would be a bad idea. In addition, I managed to strategically miss a nail and land my hammer into my knee. It sounds a lot worse than it felt, but it was good to give it a day’s rest.

Before long, Pastor Rustin and company offered us some good eats. Tonight was jambalaya. Similarly to the Po’Boy, jambalaya arose from the Cajun culture that was known to make a lot of food with cheap ingredients and spices such as paprika and cayenne. I think I found my favorite southern food.

Our day ended with another stroll down Bourbon Street. One of my goals while in New Orleans was to drink five drinks that the city was known for: Hurricane, Sazerac, Ramos Gin Fizz, One, and Two. Tonight I perched on a barstool at the Absinthe Bar to order a Ramos Gin Fizz. I knew I was in trouble when my bartender cracked an egg open as the first ingredient. The middle ingredients were on par with the usual cocktail mix of gin and some soda. She topped the drink off with whole milk before she shook it. My stomach yelled for mercy, but the sounds of Bourbon Street drowned all other sounds. Cheers to good health!

After slurping down that frothy drink, we headed home on Saint Claude Street, but were redirected after a dozen police closed down the road. Strange and interesting night.

I woke up to the sound of crickets that made their way into the sleeping quarters. We quickly ate breakfast and slapped on some SPF 70 sunscreen. A few miles down at Alvar Street and Prier Street, we met with other volunteers of Habitat for Humanity. The area was known as Musician’s Village because, well, 80 percent of the residents are musicians. The housing units were designed to be lifted in case shallow flooding occurred. In the event of a hurricane, the walls withstand 225 mile per hour winds; greater than most category 5 hurricanes. Our task for the day was simple, hammer down a few nails into two by fours to construct the walls of housing. Easy enough.

The initial task seemed easy, but the task quickly compounded in difficulty. First, we laid lumber on the ground, checked for warping, and hammered nails in. Add in 92 degree weather and 80% humidity, and bending over at the hip to a 90 degree angle and quickly standing up. Blood rushed out of my head with that motion. After three hours, I became dizzy, my lips were numb, and my body was on fire. Despite the fact that I was drinking loads of water (I drank over 4 liters that day), my body was suffering from heat exhaustion. I took a break in the shade and enjoyed the view of the construction site.

The three of us were paired up with two other volunteers: Jack and Janet. Jack was a New Orleans resident, who during his break before senior year in high school, decided to help Habitat for Humanity for a month. I wish I had that kind of stamina in this heat. A week’s all I can handle! Janet was originally from New Orleans and moved to Colorado where she works as a manager at an engineering company (I think). She had been on a sabbatical where she’d volunteer while on vacation from work. We spent the most time chatting with them and learning more intimately about New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina.

As the afternoon rolled around, Marilou, Jake, and I had been exhausted from the day. We had two hours before Pastor Rustin’s family served dinner at their house. During that time, Jake slept, Marilou read, and I decided to run for three miles. Clouds covered the sky but the humidity remained. I paced slow just in case, but after a mile, everything felt surreal. My heart rate jumped and forced me to walk halfway through. I returned to the Church covered in sweat, dizzy, and stumbled indoors. I completed over 50 races throughout my life, but on that day my body felt peculiar. It was hot to the touch as if I had a fever. This would be normal if it subsided, but it stayed like that for the remainder of the day. Scary.

Tonight, we ate spaghetti at the Pastor’s house. Not exactly the southern food I was looking for, but it was great to have a warm, home cooked meal. After dinner, we were still tired and slept the night away. A well deserved rest.

http://www.patrickontherun.com

My phone alarm screamed at me at 3 a.m. Man, four and a half hours of sleep could never cut it. I had to make due for the 15 hour or 1000 mile trip I had ahead of me. Marilou, Jake, and I departed Chicago at 4 am. The road was straightforward: straight south through Illinois, a couple hours in Missouri, a few hours in Tennessee, through Mississippi, and finally into Louisiana.  I drove the first leg and wanted to drive the entire way. Doing so breaks my previous 10 hour drive record. My goal of driving all 15 hours ended after 8 hours when Jake grabbed the keys from my hands and took the wheel. After seeing trees and farms 13 hours, the landscape transformed as we approached New Orleans. The farms disappeared and scenic swamps and lakes dominated. Interstate Route 10 stood ten to twenty feet over the serene water below and stretched for over 25 miles. It made me wonder how anyone could conceive putting a bridge at such an inconvenient location. Before long, we arrived at the Big Easy where Creole and Cajun cooking met jazz bands and warm weather.

As I cracked the door open, the 80% humidity rushed to greet me. It was around 6 pm, cloudy, and in the 80°s. We parked in the French Quarter and walked past Bourbon Street to a small restaurant called Felix’s. There we ate Blackened Alligator Tail, Shrimp Etouffee, and Jambalaya. The food was incredible and was a great way of introducing ourselves to New Orleans.  We continued through Bourbon Street and treated ourselves to Hurricanes the size of your head. You could freely walk around drinking and wander the bars. This reminded me of Amsterdam, but an American Version. You’d be surprised how many people made it out to party out here on a Monday night in the hottest month of the year. The energy in the area was great, but we had to continue to our lodgings.

Sixteen miles away in Saint Bernard’s Parish was the Livingstone Church. It was dark outside and the thick sound of crickets filled the air. Here we met Pastor Rustin and entered the cool air conditioned room. While he showed us around, he expressed his concern of men and women sleeping together. He suggested Marilou sleeping by herself in a small empty 8 by 8 foot room. She cringed at the thought. Seeing her distress at the idea, he said she could sleep in our living quarters, but recommended she set up the Wall of Jericho around her. I’ve never seen the Wall of Jericho, but it must have been huge. Why? Because everything was huge in the bible. Before he left, Pastor Rustin warned us not to go to Bourbon Street because, “there’s nothing to see but Flesh”. I was a bit puzzled. While I did go to Bourbon Street I didn’t see anything I couldn’t on television. At the same time, he’s a man of God and obviously wants to guide in the right path. In any case, I decided I’d heed his warning on my next visit to the city. Exhausted from our journey, we slept at 11 pm in a well air conditioned room. We have a big day tomorrow: constructing housing for the Hurricane Katrina aftermath through Habitat for Humanity.

On completion of my run, an old asian couple seemed a bit confused and lost. He wanted to know if the park extended further. They were lost and late to a picnic and thought maybe it was in the forest! If so, they wanted to drive onto the trail where I had been running. An image of the couple off roading on the trail and forcing runners and bikers alike the forest provided a good laugh. I told them that four concrete posts three feet high would stop their Toyota Corolla. Looking back, I imagined that the park district erects those posts because a previous visitor took the scenic route in the forest. Driving a snowmobile in there would be fun during the winter. After my direction telling skills failed me (I said “go straight and take a right”), I decided to escort them to Big Bend Lake. They seemed pleased. Good deed of the day: check.

I set out. Not a cloud in the sky but the trees kept the trails cool and bearable. The skies were calm most of the week which left the Des Plaines River away from the trail. The ground consisted of firm gravel which was softer than asphalt. It was a good day to run. I kept my pace slower than normal to prevent any arising pain. However, soreness developed in both patellar tendons (tendon below the knee caps) after a couple of miles. It wasn’t painful, just an awkward feeling most likely caused by the extra weight of the camelback attached to my lower back.

At mile 4, I sipped on a mouthful of water at every mile or so. This was the first time I had ever drank water while running. I always feared that drinking water during my road runs would induce a side cramp. That small gulp of water and may afterwards proved me wrong. It was surprisingly relaxing. All I needed was a good book and a sandwich and I’d be set. I had the next best thing.

At mile eight, I tore open a GU Energy pack, flavor: Orange Burst. A couple of weeks ago, I sat bored in my room and opened a raspberry flavor. I figured it’d be better to get used to the taste. “Disgusting” isn’t enough to describe the taste. It had an artificial, super sweet taste that wouldn’t leave your mouth because it was thicker than honey. Now, what implored me to bring it along on that run was beyond me. While running, it had the same consistency as before, but it tasted like the ambrosia of the gods. The physiological effects kicked in quickly as I felt less tired and moved with ease. Oddly enough, the soreness subsided; most likely from drinking all my water and carrying an empty pack. My run finished smoothly to where I started, Beck Lake. I most likely could have run a whole 13.1. What a great feeling.

Moral of the story: Eat and drink on the run. Not only does it feel good, it’s good for you. Pax.

January 2009 – Current

My Acsics GT-2140 were laced up and hit the pavement once again early January. A bit cold for my liking, but it always makes me appreciate modern air conditioning. I also hate treadmills. Since then,  I’ve been running from temperatures from -10°F to 90°F, in the rain, 500-4000 ft elevations (of course ranges weren’t on the same run). I have also completed four races:

2009 Shamrock Shuffle 8k (3/29/2009):

Time: 36:30 min

Pace 7:18 min/mile

Anelise’s Run 5k (4/25/2009):

Time: 19:50 min

Pace: 6:40 min/mile

8K Run for Youth by Alternative Inc. (5/17/2009)

Time: 34:23 min

Pace: 6:55 min/mile

Committed to be Fit 9^th Annual 10K (6/7/2009)

Time: 42:58 min

Pace: 7:05 min/mile

Before I get flamed out, yes I do know it seems that I am “full of it” or boasting because I’m posting times. However, numbers are a good way to gauge performance and fitness overtime. It’ll give you a good perspective on where I am at. Years ago, I ran competitively in high school, recreationally in college, and recently been training for six months. It’s nice to be on the upward trend of fitness rather than the contrary.

Now approaching Half Marathon

The next stop is the 2009 Rock and Roll Half Marathon on August 2, 2009. A steady 13.1 mile run that’s precisely 0.1 miles longer than I have ever ran (the 13 miler was done fall 2001 in my senior year of high school). I have two goals in this race: 1) to get a free T-Shirt, 2) Not injuring myself.  To achieve this, this will be the first race (ever) that I won’t race in. In other words, I’m not giving it 100%, because this is a stepping stone to my real destination: the 2009 Chicago Marathon.

Next Stop, The Chicago Marathon!

Since high school, it was always a dream of mine to complete a marathon. In the past years, I have always identified myself as a long distance runner, but what kind of real long distance runner would I be if I haven’t run a race that everyone and their momma has run. The road will be long (obviously) and hard, but I feel that it’s a matter of consistency and developing a routine that will pull me through. Having little marathon experience, I’m turning to a third party resource to keep me from breaking a leg (literally). The marathon program that I am running can be found at Hal Higdon’s Website. With 15 weeks to go, I have a lot of work to do, but running for a good cause is one of the best motivators to have for this race.

Running: the Anti-Drug!

Well not exactly anti-drug, but I have signed up to run for the American Cancer Society. Years ago, my uncle passed away from malignant lung cancer. It was a trying time for my family and I still feel that things haven’t been the same. Since then I have donated to charities here and there, but I feel that this marathon is a great opportunity to finally put myself out there. I am reaching out to everyone to support me in this race by making a donation, no matter if it’s a 1,000 dollars to 1 dollar. Every little bit counts.

Please support me and the fight against cancer at: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/prodriguez

I’ll continue with updates in my training and fundraising. Pax.