Chicago Marathon Training: Week 17/20

Weekly Summary
Miles: 53.93 (L2=46.5, L3=53.5)
Days Run: 5
XT: 1
Rest: 1
Intermittent Injuries: inside top of right quad pinches on longer strides, tight calves (self-inflicted via 4" heels), little sore hip (need to stretch and PT), right quad knot moved to outside and stayed there (didn't affect run too much)
Feelings: worried, apathetic, unprepared, "over it", unmotivated, tired, disappointed, weak, grateful, "over it"


Monday
Scheduled: 5-6
Did: 6.02 @ 10:10/mi avg
Felt really sluggish on this one until mile 5. No trouble during the run, but after we stopped and started walking, I had a mini cramp or something going on in my upper/inner right quad. Short strides were fine, but longer ones hurt... :/ 


Tuesday
Scheduled: 10
Did: 10.35 @ 9:37/mi avg
After a lot of 10MileTuesdays where we had a workout specified, either out-and-back or progression, it's pretty freeing to just have "10 miles". We decided to challenge ourselves anyways and op for a a slightly progressive back on an ONB. 

Mission Accomplished.

I had a small tight/sore/pingy spot on my top/inner right thigh around mile 5, and decided not to pick up the pace quite yet. After another mile-ish of relaxed pace, I felt better and pushed just slightly. We're in our highest mileage week of the program, and I'm definitely feeling it. It takes me 5-6 miles to warm-up these days. :P

...and then I'm warm :)

I spent some extra time stretching out and rolling a lacrosse ball over the spot in my quad/groin. Hopefully, between that and tomorrow's rest day, I'll be ready to go on Thursday for my 2mi repeats. 

Wednesday
Scheduled: rest
Did: 2mi walk through airport, 2 hours of dancing
I'm at the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations annual Summit for the rest of the week. Thinking I wouldn't get much exercise after arriving for my committee meeting and conference, I walked a few miles in the ATL airport before boarding. By the time I arrived at the hotel, I'd already logged over 10000 steps.

...and then we had a surprise dance party at the welcome reception, where I earned even more. What was supposed to be a rest day probably counts as cross-training. 

On the bright side: I had zero trouble with my hip or that spot on my groin/quad. 

Thursday
Scheduled: 1WU, 3x2mi/800, 1CD
Did: 6 @ 9:48/mi avg
Late night of dancing + travel + generally wanting extra sleep made it really hard for me to get up for a 9.5mi workout... on a treadmill. Without Brandi or my other running buddies meeting me at a predetermined time, I found myself really unmotivated. I tried bargaining with myself. "You can sleep in if you do the workout in the afternoon"; but then I'd have to run in the afternoon. Ugh. 

The Disneyworld resort I'm at is sorely lacking in running facilities. They have a single "jogging path" that barely hits 1.0 miles, and has lots of awkward surfaces. No, thank you. 

Eventually, I decided that I could force myself up to slog through 5-6 easy miles on a treadmill today and save the longer, harder workout for a day when I'd be able to get more sleep the night before. I was excited to see the fitness center treadmills had the same VirtualActive software that my old office gym had, where you can do "virtual runs" through different areas. I ran through the north and south islands of New Zealand (a place I really want to go in-person someday. 

What up, KiwiLand!

Despite the welcome distractions on the screen, I had the hardest time getting through this workout. It was hot (I ended up in just a sports bra after a half mile-- who keeps their hotel fitness center at 74 degrees?!?!). I was alone. I was bored. It's times like these that I realize how resilient distance running has made my mind. I wasn't enjoying the run. I didn't want to be running. Yet, somehow, I "had to", and so I did.

Friday
Scheduled: 5-6
Did: 1WU, 3x2mi (16:44, 16:35, 16:46) /800, 1CD -- 9.56mi @ 9:12/mi avg
PLUS 30min beach volleyball
I dreaded this morning's workout so much that I woke up twice during the night with a pit in my stomach, and made several attempts to talk myself out of doing it once I finally woke up at 4:30. It's definitely peak week. I can feel the mental fortitude waning.... 

Thoughts that went through my head:
"9.5 miles on a treadmill... that sounds awful. I probably don't even have time for 9.5 miles. I didn't really finish my presentation last night, so I should probably cut the run and work on that. Maybe I can just get through six normal miles, that sounds better than 9.5 of speedwork. I haven't really missed any workouts yet, except that one I was sick for. Would it really be so bad to bail on ONE? I've worked hard, don't I deserve to take a break? I've got 22 on the schedule for Sunday, maybe I should take today easy and rest up for that... Oh, wait, I'm used to doing my LSD a day after speedwork. My schedule shifted a day, but nothing changed. I'll still have a rest day between workouts. Guess that nixes that idea..."

Eventually, I convinced myself to just do it by thinking of the workout as "just two miles... a few times". I utilized the VIrtualActive software again, this time running through Germany, California, and a different part of New Zealand, and also brought my headphones so I could have some tunes going. Literally, I don't know how anyone can workout without distractions on a treadmill. It's so dreadfully boring, even when you're doing speedwork, but I didn't really have an outdoor running choice. The jogging path is "wibbly wibbly wobbly" (lots of stupid aesthetic curves that are far more conducive to a saunter than speedwork), full of bugs, and not very well lit... Also, I thought it might be more monotonous than a dreadmill. 

I chipped away, little by little, at the 9..5 on my schedule. First, the warm-up. A 10:00 felt too fast, so I let myself slow it down to a 10:35. After all, it was a warm-up, and pace didn't matter. For the repeats, my goal pace should have been sub-8, but I was NOT feeling that. I did 8:27 for the first mi and 8:17 for the second. I tried to replicate SpeedworkThursday at the track by taking a short walk and getting some water at my first recovery interval, but it just wasn't the same on a 'mill.

I felt better on my second 2mi, hitting 8:24 and 8:15 splits, and then wanted to stop. Why? I dunno. Boredom, mostly. I was just "over it". I took a brief break to refill my water bottle, stretch, and recall that all of the #10KTuesday marathoners had probably moments like this during their solo workouts this week- moments they wanted to stop, but kept going because "that's what was on the training schedule". After a little peptalk from Courtney, I hopped back on for my last two mile repeat. 

This one was hard. The 8:13/mi pace felt impossible, so I slowed to an 8:27... and then even slower. My first mile was an 8:33, almost a good minute slower than my mile split goal pace. Whatever. It was still a push. I played all sorts of mental games with myself to get through the last mile: counting down, holding the HR monitor bar every other tenth, focusing on my arms, pretending I was really running up the hills on the California trail on my screen... Whatever it took. I finished my last speed mile in 8:13, the fastest of the day, and then settled into a slowwwww recovery pace. I did the 800m recovery plus a 1/2mi cooldown, and then rewarded myself with the last 1/2mi outside.

It wasn't much of a reward, since I was eating bugs and dealing with some mental blocks I have about Disney resort lakes, but I was pleased to see how much faster I ran once I got off the treadmill. I was easily clocking around an 8:00 for the first bit, and had to remind myself this was my cool-down. This was certainly the hardest run I've had all season long, and I'm really proud of myself for getting through it. How do people do this solo?!?! 

I just ran almost 10mi... When's breakfast? 

Also, played a game of pick-up beach volleyball later this evening. SO MUCH FUN. :D 

Saturday
Scheduled: 30XT
Did: nada
I had planned on using the hotel gym to finally get some elliptical training in this season, but it didn't happen. Wearing 4" heels at last night's awards gala left my calves feeling a bit funny, I wanted all the sleep I could get, and, honestly, I figured a rest day would do me some good leading into tomorrow's 22.

Instead, I hopped on an earlier flight home to the family. I've missed them! 

what I look like with a pretty dress, hair and makeup done, and some 4" heels
totally worth it #livingthedream

Sunday
Scheduled: 22
Did: 22.02 @ 10:12/mi avg
Since everyone else did their long run yesterday at training, I knew I wasn't going to have much luck asking if anyone wanted to run 22 with me on Sunday. Instead, I cribbed an idea another one of our ATCers had thought up a few months back and invited friends to "adopt a mile" for me. 

I published a route, and created a corresponding GSheet with projected start/end locations and times for each mile where people could sign up to join me.  I got more support and responses than I could have imagined. Most friends volunteered for more like 5+ miles, so I knew I'd have 3+ people with me for the bulk of the distance. So awesome!

these are all the wonderful people who ran with me
runner<3

The run didn't go as well as I'd hoped. With all my previous LSDs, and the awesome training I've been having, I figured I'd be between a 9:30-10/mi pace, and used 9:45 to approximate my arrival times at each mile for my friends to meet me. After all, the one run where I felt like death, in the summer heat, up and down all of Enrique's awful hills was a 10:08, and I couldn't possibly be slower than that when I felt so good, right? 

Wrong. By mile 4, I was already 12min behind schedule. It took a lot for me to let go of pace thoughts and just run, especially when I knew I was woefully behind my target. I felt like I wasn't just letting myself down, but I was inconveniencing everyone who'd come out to run with me by: 1) being so far behind schedule and 2) running so much slower than they'd signed up for. 

The whole motivation for doing this marathon after Flying Pig has been to get a time that reflects my abilities, and seeing splits of 10:30+ on my watch when I felt like I was trying was truly demoralizing. If I hadn't had so many great people running with and around me, talking to me, distracting me, this would be been a much harder run to get through.

I finished grateful and proud for doing the 22mi, despite being disappointed with the time. Upon further reflection, I can think of a LOT of reasons why this run didn't go as smoothly as I'd like:

1. Fueling. Flying home the day before meant my fueling was not "as usual". On Saturday, I ate one Starbucks breakfast sandwich, one slice of banana bread, one cookie, two slices of pizza, five chicken wings, six saltines, half a beer, and a bowl of spaghetti with ground turkey (the only thing on this list that I regularly eat the day before a long run). 

2. Fatigue This is not only peak week from a training standpoint, but it's also been a crazy week in other areas of my life. I've pretty much been going nonstop since #10MileTuesday, with quartet coaching and chorus that night, then an early flight, conference stuff, flight home, etc. I don't think I gave enough credit to how much of a toll that can take. All I want is a day to sit on my bum and watch Netflix... 

3. Legs I haven't been giving my hip the attention it needs, and it's been lightly sore all week. I also had that awkward knot in my quad. I'm sure wearing heels at the conference for three days in a row AND the 4" heels for the gala evening didn't help this. Also, I can't remember the last time I spent even five minutes foam rolling or stretching beyond my dynamic warm-up and big five. I'm pretty really grateful to have "escaped" any injuries so far, but it's no surprise that my legs were the limiting factor on this run. I was more than conversational until the end, but my legs were pretty tired the whole time.

4. Rain I didn't even LOOK at the weather this week. Imagine my surprise when, before mile 3, it started raining. I didn't have a visor. I didn't have a plastic bag for my phone. I also wasn't wearing my usual longer rain shorts. Oh, and did I mention that miles 17 through 20 were in absolute torrential downpour? Thankfully, Jerry gave me his hat when we met up for a brief moment at the sprayground.

5. Course I didn't want to run flats the entire 22 miles. I made the course, and I have no one to blame but myself. Still, I don't think I remembered the Six Branches loop of Martin's Landing being quite so hillacious. Tired legs made it even more difficult than usual. We ended up walking several hills. Did I need to? No. But, when the rest of the crew opted to walk them, I realized there was no point to pushing through and potentially turning the quad knot into something else via hills. My marathon is flat. This is just mileage. And, so, I walked them.

Only six miles were within my target pace range, but HR stayed pretty mellow (legs were definitely the limiting factor), and, hey, a worst mile of 10:39 when I did a good bit of walking isn't too bad

After the run, I had a couple bagels (thanks, Jerry!), a protein shake, and some scrambled eggs with triscuits and bacon. I got about an hour nap while the baby slept, and then it was off to quartet rehearsal (we'll be competing at the International contest about ten days after Chicago). This is where it got bad. I brought some food, but, clearly I did not eat enough. About an hour into it, I was over everything. I didn't feel like singing, or trying. I had a raging headache and just wanted to go home and sleep, or eat, or anything. 

I ended up not leaving there until 7pm, picking up some Chinese takeout for Jerry and myself, and eating pretty much ALL of it. Still had an awful headache by the time I went to bed, and decided to bail on Monday morning's run with Brandi. 


On the bright side:

• I'm through the "worst of it". Peak week is over, and it's "all downhill from here". 
• I'm not injured.
• My husband, who's been single-parenting for the last week (and, honestly, pretty much since July) still loves me and talks to me. I'm beyond grateful that he's a marathoner himself and understands all this "hey, you can watch the kid while I go run for four hours, right? and then, when I finally get back, can you make me breakfast?" 

• Last marathon training, my legs felt like this on my first 16mi run ever, and I remember wondering how the heck I was supposed to do THAT again every weekend between then and the marathon. It took me until 22mi, with a lot of extenuating circumstances, to feel that way this time. 
• Even on the slowest of LSD days, this pace would still have gotten me my 4:30 goal. 
• This is my highest mileage week EVER, and I did it while preparing for international contest with TWO groups, presenting at a national conference, networking like a boss, and traveling.
• 
  

Chicago Marathon Training: Week 16/20

Weekly Summary
Miles: 42.5 (L2=39,5, L3=45.5)
Days Run: 4
XT: 1ish? 
Rest: 2ish? 
Intermittent Injuries: light hip soreness is back; light knee trouble (R), some PF issues; sore feet after LSD
Feelings: relaxed, tired, fast, proud, capable, strong, excited, confident

Monday
Scheduled: 5-6 rest (moved 5.5mi run to Sunday)
Did: 3mi walk with stroller
Went to the park with baby boy :) 

Tuesday
Scheduled: 8ONB
Did: 4out @ ~10:35/mi, 4back @ 9:09/mi, .24CD @ 9:58/mi
Didn't have time to blog about this guy on Tuesday, so here's what I remember:

• felt slugtastic on the first bit
• felt a little weirded out for the first time ever running near my house thanks to: creepily parked cars in a neighborhood entrance, homeless guy with backpack being interviewed by police, and freaky "monkey witch" noises coming from the church
• cooler weather was helpful
• didn't break at the #10KTuesday turnaround for the first time in, like, ever
• grateful for Brad leading the way back; it's always good to have someone to set the pace and just have to follow them

Wednesday
Scheduled: XT
Did: 3x10 crunches, push-ups, tricep dips


Thursday
Scheduled: 1WU, 6xmile/400m, 1CD
Did: as scheduled

Got a text last night from Brandi that went something like this:
"Hey, just realized tomorrow's workout is 9.5mi... maybe we should start at 4:30?"

I've known the workout was (6)-mile repeats for awhile. I've even been excited about it for awhile. I just never considered the warm-up, cool-down, and recoveries, which do, indeed, add up to 9.5mi. 

...and so my weekly alarms now look like this

I've mentioned it before, but getting up a 4:XX seems totally reasonable- early, but reasonable. Having to set an alarm that starts with a "3", though... Oof. I keep reminding myself there's only one more "hard" week after this. Still, that 3:55 alarm came early.

I was tired this morning, and pretty crabby as I prepared for the run. It didn't get much better until I pulled into the parking lot and saw Brandi's car already there. At least we're doing this together. 

Our warm-up was demoralizing. My legs felt like blocks of concrete (that's right, guys, "concrete", not "cement". Here's a Civil Engineering PSA for you:  flour:cake::cement:concrete). We didn't even hit an 11min pace, and, while some of that is probably the fact that we're in high volume training/fatigue mode, a good bit is certainly thanks to our 3:XXam alarms.

Surprisingly, after that, the workout went really well. We had the same goal pace, so it was really nice to run together. There's something really cool with running stride for stride in silence around the dark track before 5:00 in the morning with someone. We took water breaks every two repeats, and started running the opposite way on the track for our recovery laps (to counter the bit of banking we have in Lane 1). 

Goal: 7:30-7:45/mi
capable of a 7:36/mi by indicator chart, based on 5K PR (equates to 3:41 marathon)

Mi 1= 7:48/mi
tried to keep it easy, and did a good job of it; really wanted to kick on the last straightaway, but reminded myself this is was mile 1 of 6

Mi 2= 7:41/mi
felt focused, but easy; kept thinking about how short a mile actually is

Mi 3=7:39/mi
felt good; recovery seemed like a total breeze too 

Mi 4= 7:38/mi
got a little frustrated when I started feeling like this was "work" on lap 3, and realized that I still had another lap to go of this mile AND two more repeats; made a decided effort to focus on using my arms more and found a whole new strength existed; using my arms enabled me to go so much faster with the same level of leg effort

Mi 5=7:36/mi
felt amazing to start back and feel all the sweat that had sat during the water break evaporate off of my stomach (gotta love SportsBraSpeedwork ;) ); made a decided effort to use arms on back 800 and felt same benefit as before

Mi 6=7:13/mi
I knew I wanted to push on this one, and I did; held with B for the first two laps, then focus on my arms for lap 3/4, and then kicked hard around the final bend and into the straightaway; felt INCREDIBLE-- like I'd harnessed some sort of amazing unstoppable train power and just found a new gear of complete and utter strength

Random thoughts/observations:

• I didn't walk any of my recovery- big change from last time we were on the track
• Miles felt sooooo short after our tempo and multiple mile repeat workouts this past month
• Doing the longer midweek workouts has definitely helped me build strength and stamina
• I've really missed the track
• I negative split my splits! :D
• I am a beast. So proud of myself
• It's awesome to come home and have time to go back to bed for an hour before work. 

Friday
Scheduled: 5-6
Did: 6.11 @ 9:52/mi avg
Our normal routes have gotten a bit stale, but there aren't a lot of options starting from my house, which, on days I run but don't WFH, is a necessity. To counter this, Brandi and I decided to run on the opposite side of the street, and it was surprisingly refreshing; it almost felt like a whole new route. Haha. We also journeyed down a new street partway back, and found it agreeable... at least one-way; it was a bit more uphill than we'd expected on the way back, but nothing like the Saturday ATC routes through midtown. 

First mile was ~10:30, but the rest were solidly in the 9:40s. Had a bit of PF to start the day, and was rushed to get out the door (for the first time in the history of ever I slept through my alarm, and only woke up to the second buzzing, ten minutes later), but this was still a solid run. I'm really proud of myself for doing so many miles "on autopilot" while fatigued. 


Saturday
Scheduled: 1WU, 15 tempo
Did: 18 @ wait for it.... 9:28/mi avg!!!!
Slept in my kneebrace overnight to head off any kneecap issues after having a bit of burning on Friday (I had an extended battle with runner's knee in 2013, overcame it with lots of PT, etc. and now know exactly what to do when I feel things creeping up).

Volunteering as a Run Lead meant that I wasn't able to do a true tempo run (since I wouldn't be able to talk to my participants), so I opted to just add a little distance and keep the pace easy. I met up early with B & C for a couple loops around Armour, and ended up feeling really good- good enough to go a lot faster than usual (9:11 and 8:58 mi splits). 

pic of the ATC Chicago Marathoners
(you like my mad MS Paint skills?)

We had a really small pace group for the main run: 11 RLs, 13 runners. There were a lot of races going on in the Atlanta area this weekend, so I think that's where everyone was. I played pseudo-sweep for the first bit of the run, and was grateful to do so through the hills of the Prado. If I weren't a RL, I'd totally walk some of those hills. It's kind of nice to have the neon yellow visor holding me accountable for putting on a strong face and encouraging participants up the hills. I definitely run better because of it.

After we got through the hills, I realized the group I was running sweep for was all half marathoners, which meant that I needed to pick up the pace in order to hit the half/full split and still have people to run with. We had a bit of a funny moment where the full marathoners were all on one side of the street and I was stuck on the other one-- a nice visual representation of my internal "do I go with them or wait for the 10s?" struggle. 

I ended up opting to join the rest of the 9s, even though it looked like I'd probably be running much faster than I wanted. We had four particpants, and two RLs-- the two RLs who were leading the 9:00. Gulp.

I felt good about myself, so I figured I'd hold my own as long as I could. I knew one of the participants was more of a 9:40 runner, having run with him before, and hoped another who'd jumped up with us from the 10:00 might also need a slower 9 RL to go with her. 

It was really fun to have more of a conversational pod this run (and, with the exception of one hill on the backside, and I stayed conversational). I had Brandi and Jody as the other RLs, and a good bit of chatter between our participants too. We spread out a few times, but were always within sight of each other. It was so nice to have more of a pod than I've had in the past, and running with friends is always great too. 

I enjoyed the middle half of the course a lot. We ran through a part of Atlanta I haven't explored much, and I love running through new areas. My only complaint was that the sidewalks were terrible. I had multiple stumbles, and one that would have been an all-out fall had my participant not literally caught me (hero!). Oh, urban infrastructure budgets... 

our little 9min marathon group

Towards the tail end of the run, Brandi and I swapped places, which meant that I had to pick up my pace... at the end of an 18mi run, for the sunny part. I was so proud of myself or being able to do that, and do it well. Last two miles: 8:55 and 9:10. 

Other random notes from this run:

• no in-run chafing problems with the Lululemon bra that, previous, destroyed me (low humidty or better preparation? who knows...)
• used GUs to transition myself back to those from the Honey Stingers I've been using for fuel, because they're a lot smaller packages and easier to carry 5 of in a race
• took 2 GUs and 1 stinger pack on the run
• drank almost exclusively water in-run, with a few spurts of Powerade for good measure
• struggled with a lot of stopping/waiting/restarting at the tail end of the run thanks to traffic lights
• found it pretty hard to go to "all-day" show chorus rehearsal afterwards, and was grateful that I only had three hours of rehearsal after my late (noon) arrival 
• still awake at 9:12pm (whaaaaaaaaaat?!?!)

Sunday
Scheduled: rest
Did: 5K stroller walk,three hours of SOA front row rehearsal
Walking is really boring. To keep myself entertained, I did an 0.05mi run every quarter mile for the second and third miles of my walk with baby boy. Felt pretty good... except that time we saw a 4' long snake masquerading as a tree branch. Haha.

Front row rehearsal went well. We had it in a garage/warehouse-turned-dance-studio, in one of the rooms with an giant overhead door that could be opened to the outside... because we had no air conditioning. I did something I never thought I'd do: took my shirt off for the last half hour of the rehearsal. (!!!)

I'm definitely one of the fitter people on our FR, but was still pretty uncomfortable with the idea of taking my shirt off. Ultimately, physical comfort won out over mental comfort, though. Honestly, I don't know how everyone else, most of whom were wearing pants and cotton shirts, kept their clothes ON in 92 degrees...

Chicago Marathon Training: Goal Update

We are exactly one month out from race day.

In 30 days, I will be here. (well, somewhere waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back there)

At this time last marathon training cycle, I:

• had only two runs over 13.1, the longeset of which was 16mi
• said 16 mi run had an 11:45/mi average pace, felt awful the last two miles, and left me wondering how the hell I would ever do ten more miles on top of that
• was convinced I had a tibial stress fracture (and almost laughed out of my doctor's office with a "it's just shin splints, honey, have some BioFreeze")
• had a single midweek run that was over 7mi
• had a max 7-day mileage of 38 to-date

This time, I:

• have 8 runs over 13.1
• am averaging under a 10min pace for all my LSDs
• feel so strong
• regularly have two midweek runs at 8+ miles
• have a max 7-day mileage of 54.6 to-date

Yeah, I'll raise a glass to that.

Flying Pig was my first marathon, and my main motivation was just doing a marathon to do one, because other people were doing them, because Jerry had wanted to do one, because it was the logical progression of my distance running... I enjoyed the challenge of dedicating myself to something so wholly, but, ultimately, it was just about finishing the marathon. 

This time around, I want it for different reasons. I became a mom a little over nine months ago, and, in so many ways, this marathon is my way of proving that parenthood hasn't changed the athlete part of me. It's my way of continuing to believe in myself and that confidence that running gave me when I first really started back in 2012. It's my way of challenging myself each day, with specific workout, not just "garbage miles", with a harder, fuller plan, not just a single 20 mile run. It's worked.

I'm in a really, really great state of mind. I'm so much stronger than I was in 2014, in so many different ways, the biggest of which is my confidence. 

feeling BO$$

With a LOT of long runs under my belt, and only one more "new distance" to hit before race day, I've been doing more thinking about my goals for race day, and have an update on what I want:

90% Goal: 4:30

50% Goal: PR by an hour.

Flying Pig was 5:16:28. I want to hit 4:16:28 in Chicago. That's a 9:47/mi pace. Based on my last few long runs, this is totally within my abilities. A 9:47/mi is really close to my typical training pace, so, with race day excitement, a taper, the knowledge that this is the last long run on my schedule for the foreseeable future, and cooler weather, it should be pretty easy to manage. 

So proud.

Perhaps this should be a 90% goal with training run times like that, but, I've got to factor in weather, bathroom stops, hydration stops, and all the other things that haven't been included/haven't affected my times so far. 

This new goal means that starting with the 4:30 pace group may not be ideal. If I stick with them until 13.1, then I'll have to run 9:10s on the back half of the course to average down to the time I want, and that's a bit ambitious. I wonder if they'll have a 4:15 pace group. I wonder if I should start with the 4:15 if they have one... 

Whelp... there goes that plan... :P 

We'll see how the 22mi goes next weekend, when I'm not restrained by RL obligations; I'll make the final strategy call sometime after that... 

Chicago Marathon Training: Week 15/20

Weekly Summary
Miles: 54.6 (L2=41, L3=50)
Days Run: 6 (but only because I'm shifting my rest day to Monday)
XT: 0
Rest: 1
Intermittent Injuries: tight calves on Monday, felt a sore spot on my outer R calf at the top during my 5mi (solved with sports massage), lots of PF/foot soreness during last part of 20mi and after
Feelings: worried, calm, overwhelmed, optimistic, driven, proud, resigned, proud, excited, awesome

Monday
Scheduled: 5-6
Did: 5.37 @ 9:52/mi
Knowing this was our slow/recovery run day, Brandi and I opted for a hilly route, just to run some different streets. Courtney joined us, and we enjoyed an unintentionally progressive run through the hills of Haynes Bridge. 

My calves have been tight off and on for the past week, and I think the 14mi of hills at ATC Saturday did a number on them... especially having to slow down so much for the last two. I wore my compression sleeves on the run today, but still felt a bit of a twinge/sore spot on the upper outside of my right one. Going to try to get in for a sports massage today or tomorrow. I've stayed so strong and so healthy this cycle, and I don't want to fall off the wagon now. 

Hills of Haynes Bridge

Tuesday
Scheduled: 10
Did: 10.02 @ 10:00/mi avg
I was already in a bad mood for the day before 4am. I hadn't properly prepared the night before, hadn't slept well, and was very worried about my calves, which were still sore from last night's sports massage and probably shouldn't be carrying me through 10mi so soon after such a vigorous massage. Again, I find I get most upset when I find myself in a situation proper planning/preparation could have prevented. 

If I'd been solo, I wouldn't have done this run. Heck, I even considered telling Brandi last night at 9pm that I wasn't going to make the early miles. But then when would I do them? And, if I didn't do them, I couldn't CTSO, and my Saturday run would be harder, and then training would get off, and then the marathon wouldn't work out, and then my entire world would come crumbling down. Well, maybe not that bad. ;) 

Once again, having a training partner saved the day. She let me vent about all of the silly little things that were stressing me out simply "because marathon training" for our first four-ish miles, didn't mind that we started a bit late because I struggled with my new handheld, and enjoyed pretending we were Kenyans doing our pre-warm-up-warm-up at, oh, about 11min/mi. Yeah, it was that bad. 

I kept the pace really slow for the first bit, being overly cautious with my still sore calves. We didn't hit under a 10min pace until mile 6, though part of that was us doubling back for Birgit a few times. 

It felt really freeing to just be able to run this morning, without a workout or a pace goal. There was ZERO looking at watches, or conscious efforts to pick up the pace, etc. Soooo nice! 

We even seem to have settled into our comfortable pace towards the end: 9:30s. Hooray!



Wednesday
Scheduled: off
Did: 3x10 push-ups and 3x10 tricep dips, 2mi walk
Also went to PT for my hip, which is totally fine again. Got my official "release" from that. Yay. 


Thursday
Scheduled: 6 or 8mi tempo (< 9:00/mi)
Did: 1WU, 6 tempo @ 8:45/9:00/8:45/8:29/8:35/8:41, 1CD
Training partners are the best. I wouldn't have pushed myself at all without Brandi this morning. We met up at a new place this morning, closer to her, for a straight-shot out-and-back route on Medlock Bridge that she crafted. I found that I really enjoyed not knowing what to expect from the course (well, at least when I know that it isn't hills for days like our recent Saturday ATC routes). The way out had a decent bit of uphill, but it was nice to know that, on the return trip, we'd have a ton of easy downhill to assist us. 

The warm-up felt ungodly sluggish, like, "don't look at your watch or you might cry" sluggish, but it was actually just over a 10:00. What a pleasant surprise! 

I felt pretty good once I kicked it into gear, even though I was a good bit behind B for the first mile. We eventually switched places (she was having some stomach issues), and that gave me a little mental boost to keep the pace. I stopped and waited for her at the turnaround, which kind of means this wasn't actually a tempo run, but more like last week's 3mi repeats. Did I need to stop? No. But, 1) I wanted the excuse, and 2) training partners make sure each other are OK. 

On the returning three miles, I felt amazing, like, "I could do this all day 'cause it's so much fun" amazing. My pace definitely reflected it. After clocking the first quarter at a sub-8 pace, I made myself slow down, knowing there was no way I was keeping that for another 2.75. 

Best part of the run: a little post-workout therapy session where we both talked about some of our successes and disappointments with this training season, goals for the marathon, and how excited we both are to be done with this lifestyle in six weeks. 

Oh, hey, there sub-9 average for an 8mi run :D

Friday
Scheduled: 5-6
Did: 5.7 @ 10:07/mi avg
I'm not sure if I'm sick or dealing with weird allergy stuff. I don't really get allergies, but a lot of people around here are suffering from them right now and the runny/stuffy nose, watery eyes, and itchy throat seem more allergy-ish than cold-ish, especially since they're so spasmodic. At least, when I'm running, all the nose stuff goes away.

Today felt like a slug day, but, hey, if this is my slug pace, life is pretty good. A 10:00/mi pace equates to a 4:22 marathon. :D 

Good things about today:

• We mixed up our normal route a bit and it was nice to be at mile 4 when we're normally only at mile 2 on a given route. 
• We had a really amazing breeze for most of it (though when the breeze suddenly stopped, both of us felt absurdly overheated for a moment or two until homeostasis was achieved) 

Saturday
Scheduled: 20
Did: 5ish @ 10:12/mi with people before 15 @ 9:34/mi group = 20.1 @ 9:44/mi avg
I was pretty nervous about this run. It's not every day that you run TWENTY miles. Being able to break it up, mentally, into (4) - 5mi segments helped a ton. This is one of my last "high mileage" runs before Chicago. Next week it's 18ish, then 22, and then all aboard for TaperVille. It feels so good to be in the home stretch... and to still be feeling so awesome.

As usual, we had an early group meet for bonus mileage. I didn't get a pic, but there was quite a showing this morning at 5:45. We split into a low-9 and high-10 group, which was a bit awkward for me, since I didn't want to run either of those paces. I ending up running most of it solo, between the two groups, which was actually a nice change for me. I had no one I was obligated to for most of the run. The downside to this was that I started way too early for the mileage I was getting, and ended up having about 30min of downtime between runs. 

The actual group run for the day was 15mi. We weren't going through the dreaded (hilly) Sherwood Forest neighborhood, but, honestly, the Prado was probably worse (155' of elevation gain in a single mile). 

why, yes, those hills WERE straight up

I fell in with my usual high-9 group, and was really proud that we caught the 9-flats (9:00/mi) at every water stop! The cooler temperature (high 60s) really helped. Now that we've run a few long distances together, I've learned a bit more about my pod, but, unfortunately, they're still not very talkative as a group. I can always drag some conversation out of each person if I address them individually, but need to work on my conversation-starter skills. Goal for next week: come prepared with a few topics to chat about. 

I had a lot of times on the run where my calves felt tight, but, overall, it was a great fifteen miles. I finished feeling strong, like, strong enough that I considered going extra. But then I realized it didn't matter if I got 22 this week. I'd still have to get it again in two weeks. The best thing to do was enjoy the 20.1mi victory and use any extra energy to be social for the rest of the day.


Also, was SUPER proud of the pace I kept for the 15mi of course. That's faster than what I'd need for a 4:30 marathon. I'm going to annihilate this race next month. 

9s at the water stop

Recovery went reasonably well. I swung by a friend's house on the way back to get some baby clothes, and was treated to french toast and bacon (OMG!), so the meal part was taken care of. Got home an hour later, had some chocolate milk, a shower, a stretch, and then a 30min attempt at napping. 

...and then I had to get out of bed. Oof. I had about ten minutes of hobbling through the house before things loosened up. Then I had a sandwich and we headed over to a friend's for football. It was a long day, and I crashed when we finally got home at 8pm, but my body felt fine. I'm putting this one in the "win" column.

Sunday
Scheduled: 30xt
Did: 5.36 @ 10:56/mi with the stroller
I felt fine this morning, so I decided to get my 5-6mi Monday run out of the way so that I could enjoy Labor Day holiday with my family (and sleep in while the grandparents watched baby boy). There was a 10:30/mi group meeting up at the river, and I figured I could probably go that slowly with the stroller. We ended up being a bit slower than that, which was a little uncomfortable, but alright for a recovery run with the stroller. Plus, I enjoyed the different people I got to run with. 

with Harley!