Running From Boredom

It's very hard to believe, but the marathon is quickly approaching. After this week, i only have four weeks of training left. Of that, i'll only actually train for two weeks and then taper for two weeks in the hope that my legs are fresh on the 11th of October.

Unless i change my mind, i'll run 50 miles each of the next two weeks, then 20 easy miles the third week, and finally 10 miles just to keep the legs loose the week leading up to the marathon.

What is going through my mind now, though, isn't so much the race — that is already pretty much trained for — but what do i do when it is over? What do i do to keep myself busy during the day after the need to train is over?

Of course this could change, but right now i'm planning to head out on my bicycle after a week off my feet. I think i'm going to ride the "Grand Illinois Trail," a ride on trails and roads from Chicago, west to the Mississippi, north to the Wisconsin/Illinois border, east to the lake, and then back south to Chicago.

I found information on the League of Illinois Bicyclists (LIB) website. (A little more detailed map is here.) Apparently it is around 535 miles, with 300 of those on packed limestone trails (or similar) and 200 on back country roads.

Since the trail passes through Joliet, i'll start and end there. According to the LIB web site, it is divided into nine sections. But the Maywood --> Chicago and the Chicago --> Joliet sections only total up to 79 miles, so i may combine those into one day simply to avoid having to find somewhere to overnight in Chicago. That means 8 days in the saddle.

Then what?? I'm really toying with the idea of flying to Virginia next April and then doing the TransAmerica ride from there to Oregon. It takes just short of 80 days and passes through some of the most beautiful country in the US.

The problem is trying to justify that in my budget, or, more accurately, trying to figure out where in my budget that kind of money is going to come from. Airfare from IL to VA, 80 days on the road, airfare from OR to IL, new tent, sleeping bag, two extra panniers for the front of my bike, bike tools, maps, and the list probably goes on and on.

Hmmmmm....... more musings from an incredibly bored person....