Chicago Marathon Training - Week 12

I had a crazy "oh my god" moment at the beginning of the week looking at my training and realizing that I only have 4 more weeks of "hard" running before it is time to taper down. 

This is peak time baby! Get in those miles and bust it out...then try to not go crazy through the taper. I think I will be fine this time because I have so much going on and a wedding the weekend before Chicago so things to keep me occupied!

Another week...how time flies.  

Monday - Cross Train - biked 17.6 miles 

Tuesday - 6 miles (treadmill since I was at the gym for a class) tempo run 9:08 average and Body Pump + extra glutes and core work

Wednesday - umm I am lazy rest day

Thursday - 3.5 miles w/ 2 x .25 hill repeats in the middle. Plus nice progression! 10:17, 9:23, 9:17, 8:55 (.5) + 45 minute strength/core session - 6 weeks before the marathon I am hoping throwing in some hills helps get me stronger. Better late than never?  I'm trying...

Friday - 4.11 miles @ 9:26 - nothing spectacular about this run other than the morning was frickin gorgeous! Oh how I have enjoyed cooler temps the past couple of days.

Saturday - 4 hot steamy miles @ 10:03 late morning beach run. Headed from the city to the beach pretty early but sun was blazing when I finally got out. Splits: 10:15, 10:13, 10:21, 9:24 

Sunday - 18 miles planned. 10 finished @ 10:30. 

Basically hot and humid and I felt like crap. Dizzy and vision was hazy. 

I ran 2 miles and met my friend Faith again and she ran us through a dynamic warmup. We started up again and I felt even worse. I was 10:31, 10:23, 10:59, 10:41, 10:33, 10:36, 10:23, 10:23, 10:14, 10:20

Fingers crossed for some less humid weather for next weeks long run. Officially over it. 

Chicago Marathon Training - Week 11

I felt very solid this week with training. My long run went very well. As did the recovery from it. I felt amazing the day after. My legs didn't feel heavy and I even managed a 20.5 mile bike ride easily. I feel like that is progress - quicker recovery from the miles. I only ran 4 days but put a lot of miles on the bike (47!!!) and feel the cross training is always beneficial. I have 3 BIG runs left before Chicago and slowly but surely that confidence is getting back up there. 

Monday - Cross Train - biked 16.25 miles 

Tuesday - 6 miles @ 9:30 + biked 10.25 miles - this run annoyed me. I started out and in the first half mile looked at my Garmin - I was running easy and figured it was like 10+ pace. It was an 8:20 - so what to I do - get in my head tell myself I am not able to run that pace and spend the rest of the time slowing down. Garmin you make me mental some times.

Wednesday - 3.6 miles @ 9:43 - my legs felt like they were weighed down by serious lead.

Thursday - I was going to do Yoga buuuut happy hour won and rest day was a total rest day minus like 15 mins of core in the morning.

Friday - 4.2 miles @ 9:31 my legs were starting to feel a little better but this was a struggle. dare I say treadmill workouts are starting to feel harder than those outdoors now?

Saturday - 16 miles @ 10:30. This run was pretty perfect. I met up with my friend Faith who is a couple miles from me down at the beach. We each ran a mile to meet and then she put us through a dynamic warm up (she is not only a BQ'er multiple times but a running coach) before we continued on. Average pace was right on as well as we negative split the run (thankful she ran my pace!). Stopped twice for the bathroom but stomach wasn't in pain so didn't bother me. 

Splits: 10:33, 10:40, 10:50, 10:36, 10:43, 10:58, 10:54, 10:30, 10:26, 10:17, 10:30, 10:27, 10:11, 10:03, 10:18, 9:58

Sunday - cross train - biked 20.5 miles. I need to get a bike up in the city. I am really enjoying biking days - minus my rear end isn't quite so used to so much time in the saddle just yet.

Total miles:  29.8 miles (counting running only) 

Long Run Success!

I swear that I approach every long run with equal senses of dread and excitement. 

I wanted to head straight to my beach house after work which meant I wouldn't be able to run with my friend Lindsay again and her group in the city Saturday. 

So I did what any normal person does, I sent out an SOS on Facebook, obvi :)

And I lucked out. My friend Faith who is a super runner and coach (like BQ kind of runner) is summering about 2 miles from me and we arranged to meet up and run together! 

I woke up at 5 ate a Clif bar and chugged a bottle of water then dozed off again for a while before getting up at 6 to get ready. 7:00 I was out the door and on my way. 

The weather was perfect. Slightly cloudy and overcast. A tad windy. Only like 70% humidity. Fantastic conditions at the Jersey Shore! 

I ran a mile or so to meet up and then Faith had us do some drills for a dynamic warmup. I never really do them and it is definitely something I should add in. And then we were off. 

Luckily she was willing to run my pace and also kept me highly entertained throughout the run. I was feeling pretty good for the most part. My hip has been bothering and she stopped to help me stretch out when it was getting bothersome. 

I had to make a couple bathroom stops this week but it was a difference between stomach pain and stomach being in shambles. So I wasn't upset by that. 

At 14 I left her and finished the last 2 on my own and was super happy with my splits. Negative split the run as well as nailed an average 10:30 pace - goal marathon pace is 9:30. I aim to be at least 10:30 if not slower, but want to do some with a strong finish to mimic pace on tired legs. 

Splits: 10:33, 10:40, 10:50, 10:36, 10:43, 10:58, 10:54, (10:30), 10:26, 10:17, 10:30, 10:27, 10:11, 10:03, 10:18, 9:58

After the run I walked home and hopped into the pool to chill the legs. (I forgot to unpause my Garmin one mile prior to the turnaround so missed mile 8. Oops)

Then proceeded to shower and eat all the food...errr or eat not much since there is barely anything in the house. Sad pants time a million. Runger nightmare. 

Never fear.  Delivery to help me out for dinner at least! 

I swear there is grilled chicken under all that mozz on the chicken parm!

Now super happy to have the long run done with and another 3 day weekend ahead of me. 

Hope you had a great Saturday! And Chicago Marathoners - I can't believe how soon it is!!!!

26.2 x 3 for the Fall

Yesterday this conversation happened:

My sister and I were apparently having an identical thought process about finding a race near my parents. Low and behold one that I have always been interested in running was the weekend (Sunday not Saturday I later realized) of Thanksgiving – when I plan to be in Florida for the holiday.

I got excited, yay. Half marathon and the parents would be close by!

Then I went to the site registration to the lovely message: Half marathon: full.

I immediately text to my sister relaying that…and that I guess I was running marathon number 3 for the fall (she was already planning to run the full).

Made it official this morning. With a slight panic of…umm what have I just done?

So first I will be running the streets of Chicago inOctober!

Then I will be fundraising and running NYCM with Team forKids 3 weeks later…

And topping it off with Space Coast Marathon 4 weeks after that.

And as it was pointed out to me, if I complete each, I will meet the qualifications for Marathon Maniacs.

Never any intention of mine. I kind of just want to survive at this point. And I get race registration happy. It’s a big problem for me.

On top of the fact that I am still not loving marathon training! So why don’t I just run 3 instead of 1. Sigh.

So now I have a rough idea of what “training/taper” will look like between each but will definitely need to come up with a more formal plan. 

I really had no plans for time goals for this fall. I am just really running. Trying to enjoy the run. I am in a tough spot at the moment - I have had a couple weeks of just tired and slow legs. Some days running a 10 min mile pace seems like the effort of attempting repeats. 

Then other days I look down and see a pace in the 8's that feels comfortable and psych myself out that I should slow down because I won't be able to sustain it. 

But those are issues for a different post. 

For now, woo hoo to marathoning! 26.2 x 3 here I come (god willing). 

Chicago Marathon Training - Week 10

Let's see this week was pretty uneventful - minus I had absolutely no speed any day whatsoever. But continued the trend of getting off the treadmill and outside! Did a yoga class but slacked on strength. Did some random core but not much else. Thank you work for making me miss classes. Life is tough. 

I also finally met up on Saturday with my friend Lindsay for her long group run and it was great to not only have a pace leader but to also not have to think about the route and just run! Gorgeous day out there. The fall like temps have been appreciated as well! 

Apparently the first marathon is a couple months away. Or so the calendar tells me. I am not feeling 100% ready but need to focus the next 4-5 weeks on the long runs to gain some more confidence. I know I will get through but I also know I would prefer to not struggle through. 

Monday -  3.55 miles @ 9:45 

Tuesday - Hour L2 class at Yogamaya with Bridgette - great class + easy 3 miles @ 10:00

Wednesday - day of rest

Thursday - 4 miles @ 9:30 total strugglefest 

Friday -  4.1 miles @ 9:46

Saturday - 14 miles @ 10:46 - we did the Queensboro Bridge + summer streets - good run and great company. Will never ever drink sangria + wine + Mexican the night before. My stomach was in shambles when I woke up. I have no clue how I made it through the run without stopping - again seeing glimmers of hope for my stomach issues! Even when I was a total asshole and definitely tested it. Would have liked to have gotten to 15 buuuut the beach weekend was calling my name #priorities 

Sunday - cross train - biked 15 miles - was going to run but trying to keep running down to 5 days - this was a nice change of pace. And I planned out a nice long run route. 

Total miles:  29.6 miles (counting running only) 

Bring on another week! 

A Day in the Life

I have been seeing a lot of these lately. And given my life is absolutely awesome and eventful (or not...) I decided to jump on the band wagon! 

This was my Thursday:

3:00 – can’t sleep mind is spinning with how much I have to do before my long weekend. I do a load of laundry to check something off and hopefully fall back asleep

5:45 – alarm goes off – was wired at 3am and now am in a battle with snooze. Snooze is winning.

6:15 – work emails are exploding. I finally get up to get my stuff together for the day.

6:30 – cut up veggies for snacks, fruit and nuts for my breakfast and shake up some AdvoCare Spark for some energy for my run

6:45 – finally out the door – head to the bus to head into the city – decide to do my work out on the treadmill today since my stomach is feeling iffy

7:15 – NYSC finally hop on the treadmill and begin my warm-up and my legs feel like lead.

7:25 – realize with the first repeat my stomach is not going to allow me to go speedy. I decide to just run some random intervals – am unable to get below 8 min/mile without feeling like I have to stop. Decide I want to work on getting through the run without stopping so slow down to calm it when necessary. Stop at 4 miles avg 9:30 pace. Blah.

8:00 – Hop into the shower – realize work emails are still blowing up and am rushing around (although I generally am done with everything in 20 mins)

8:25 – Out the door work is a 7 block walk from this NYSC

8:30 – stop at Dunkin – the woman knows my order and has it waiting by the time I get to the front of the line. Victory! (it is the small things some times)

8:35 – walk into craziness – our news crew was gassed with tear gas and shot with rubber bullets overnight during the Ferguson protests – not going to be a calm day

9:15 – finally throw together my breakfast – whipped cottage cheese, nectarine, sliced almonds and sugar free maple syrup – I am addicted to this breakfast

10:45 – another coffee magically appears on my desk. I love my coworkers.

12:00 – start debating lunch. My lunch plans cancelled on me which means left to my own devices I won’t eat for another couple hours

12:30 – send out my crew schedule for the next month and then get vacation requests submitted for Labor Day. Good luck to me finding freelance crews to cover.

1:00 – impromptu strategy meeting. Stomach growling. Fill my water bottle and pray the water curbs hunger.

1:15 – it does not. Day dreaming about food and looking through seamless during meeting.

2:30 – meeting ends FINALLY. Officially at HANGRY status. Grab a sandwich and small salad across the street.

4:00 – Take a quick walk to see the boy and get another coffee, get back to work and I review my to do list of what has to become a priority for today I want to be out the door by 5:45 for a body pump class

5:50 – realize that my dreams of body pump have been dashed. Foiled by work again.

6:30 – miss any shot at the next class that is close to me start debating if I will just run some more miles

7:15 – order dinner for staff that is going to be working well past the end of their shift into overtime. Realize I am super hungry but really don't want pizza. 

7:30 – call it a day and decide I am not doing a second workout 

8:15 – Home and nothing looks appetizing. I start eating twizzlers and cheeze it's (role model right here) I have a shit ton of stuff to do. When I leave Friday morning I won’t be back home until Wednesday night. Long runs to think of and double check I have all my gear packed.

10:00 – get in bed, start an episode of The Good Wife (almost done with season 4, I LOVE this show!) go through my work emails and set a reminder to put on an out of office tomorrow – I plan to be unavailable barring emergencies for this long weekend.

11:00 – turn off everything and start to get anxiety about getting enough sleep. I have a bad habit of going to bed too late and struggling in the mornings. Set 3 alarms  to get up and run. Wanted to go to November Project but it is a solid hike up the west side at 120 something street – that will NOT happen. Lay in bed and realize I have to pee but really don’t want to get up. The struggle.

11:33 – last time I see on the clock before I finally fall asleep.

And that is that. Isn’t my life EXCITING?!?!

Long Weekend Necessities: Bikini + Running Shoes

I finally made it to my family’s beach house in Belmar, NJ for the FIRST time this summer. I took a long weekend (Monday off, YES!) filled with perfecting my tan, running along the boardwalk, wearing a bikini for about 10 hours each day and not stressing about anything (well until I made the mistake of looking at my work email on Monday afternoon, ugh).

Commence, weekend perfection, pictorial style. 

Shark River Sunsets

Relaxing on the dock with a book + coffee = evening wind down

Back drop for morning workouts 

Views from a lounge chair 

Fully embracing wearing a bikini for the day. No pants FTW

Evening walks along the boardwalk

Super moon!

Our guests who seem to have taken up residence on our dock

Simple salads, and The Good Wife

Mulit colored sun rises. Leaving was so hard.

Chicago Marathon Training - Week 9

So this week was going great until the weekend. Finally got some good strength sessions in, working on making core work a priority - even if it just means a few minutes of planks a day and ran outside more days than not! Improvement! 

Saturday - planned on my long run with friends and the morning was chaos and I couldn't make it. I went out to do it but it was already late morning, sun full force and I decided to wait until Sunday. Spoiler alert, Sunday I had no motivation. 

So there you have it. I did not run long this past weekend...and I am okay with that. 

I headed to my beach house - FIRST time all summer thank you life - and got in some fabulous and much needed R&R. I had Monday off (finally putting some of my million vaca days to good use for long weekends) and wanted to just enjoy it. I do not think one missed long run will kill me or ruin marathon plans. 

One thing for sure - I will not be overtrained for this marathon season by any means ;)

Monday -  Rest day. I was beyond exhausted. 

Tuesday - 5 miles @ 9:05 / 10 mins of core 

Wednesday - Double day - morning 2.05 @ 8:46 / evening 4.25 @ 9:24 + lots of planks

Thursday - 1 mile @ 10:00 / Body Pump / 20 minutes on the AMT 

Friday -  3.5 miles + November Project workout - 10 burpees/ 10 pushups/ 10 mountain climbers + stair runs - repeat repeat repeat 

Saturday - long run planned. work and life got in the way - I went out to start and the sun was beating down and I said hell no and stopped. 

Sunday - 4.02 @ 9:46 + long walk

Total miles: 20 miles womp womp 

Chicago Marathon Training - Week 8

2 Months have come and gone. This cycle (and summer) are moving too damn fast for my liking! 

Looking back on the week I am pretty happy which how it went down. After the past two weeks of 14 then 18 mile long runs I had a lovely cutback week on tap which I was happy about all week long.

I pushed the pace on a couple of mid distance runs which was good. I haven't been doing much speed work in terms on intervals per say so adding tempo runs is hopefully beneficial. 

One thing I will say is that I am exhausted. Work has been busy. My social life has been busy and then training. I was working 6-7 days a week and longer hours last year and a tougher training schedule by average 10-15 miles per week and I honestly have no idea how I did it. I am very happy my decision this year to not have a coach. I want to PR but I mostly want to gain back some speed. I like not feeling the pressure (although clearly I put most on myself). But being type A if I am given a schedule I will disregard my body's cues on tiredness and aches and do the workout regardless. I am happy with the mileage that I am hitting and while I have no idea how the marathon(s) will shake out I feel like I am on the right path. 

Monday - Cross Train day - 30 minutes on the ARC + 60 mins on the AMT  

Tuesday - 2.3 miles @ 8:41 + weights in the morning + 6 miles @ 10:09 in the evening 

Wednesday - 2 miles @ 8:48 + weights in the morning + 6 miles @ 8:47 in the evening - this evening run was a progression and oof I was nauseous like none other after and could barely eat for the next day. But I pushed the pace which I need to start doing on some of these mid distance runs. 

Thursday - DAY OF REST - planned on yoga but sometimes date night is just the way to go ;)

Friday -  3 miles @ 10:39 - I was exhausted beyond belief but wanted to shake out the legs super slow and easy.

Saturday - 6.7  miles @ 8:57 - I pressed off instead of snooze and it was raining so swapped my long run to Sunday (shocked? not at all) I decided to do a speedier run to tire out the legs. Mission accomplished.

Sunday - 12.15 miles @ 10:12 - didn't go quite as slow as the previous weeks since it was a shorter long run but still kept it really easy and towards the end was definitely feeling tired. I waited until mid day to do this - and by noon all I ate was a Clif bar and didn't fuel during the run so that MAY have had something to do with feeling sluggish by the end. Plus my hips have been really achy not sure what that is about (oh right maybe I should stretch, like ever). I did however use O2Gold for this run which I think helped AND I didn't have to stop AT ALL! Happy dance for stomach improvements. It did get iffy somewhere around mile 10 but I just slowed myself down for a little bit and let it settle itself.

Total miles: 38

Goal for this week = yoga + stretching. And some more core/strength work. I slacked last and need to not let that fall off completely.