Six mile run and the dangers of running during festivals

I'm stepping up my march to the Half Marathon, breaking out this six mile route. It comes complete with back road goodness and even some hills, something that I did not think existed in Illinois.

I looked up some back stretches prior to this one too, in an effort to loosen that up. My back had been nagging me for awhile, and it turns out there are some simple things you can do to get it ready to run. I used three primary...uh...positions, for lack of a better word.

1. The Plank

Lie on your stomach. Prop yourself up with your elbows and toes, straighten out your back so its like a blank. (Light as a feather...stiff as a board...haha) Hold the position for 10 seconds, relax, repeat until your back is able to carry heavy set children away from the donut machine about five times.

2. The Bridge

Lie on your back, with feet firmly on ground. Lift your ass in the air (buttocks, for those sophisticated readers I have) and make a straightline from shoulders to knee. Hold for five seconds, relax, repeat.

3. Wall slide

Stand up against wall, with feet 18 inches away from said wall. Slide down the wall until knees are at a 90 degree angle. Hold for a few seconds, then somehow slide back up the wall (I kind of just worked my way up, as wall wouldn't permit me to slide)

Those three worked really well, back trouble was minimal during he run, and it made a difference.

What else made a difference? The Little Egypt Festival, which quarantined off downtown. As I ran down U.S. 50/Main Street, I was feeling pretty good. Tired, but good. And then I came to the barricade.

Now, I could have gone through. I'm a pedestrian after all. But, seeing how I'd have to wait for the inane amount of traffic that occurred at this spot (I think the peoples were trying to get to Hardee's) I decided to run down Westgate to get to Whitaker, which I would take anyway, I'd just join it sooner than I thought.

Of course, this plan turned into epic fail because all the cars that couldn't get to Hardee's were coming my way now. So, on the corner of Westgate and Whitaker, I stood there, waiting to cross the street. I'm not a big fan of the game "Dodge the Traffic" as that game has a tendency to rely on other people having functioning brakes and the reflexes needed to use them. By the time I finally got to cross the street, my aches and pains caught up with me, my rhythm was all out of whack, and I grinded out the last mile to home.

Still made it, despite the quasi-taunts from a car of high schoolers, whom will all undoubtedly be obese in three years. That however, is a rant for another day.

The plan is to try this run again Monday morning, except without that annoying parade. Seriously people, hold festivals when I'm not training for a half marathon.