Month: August 2011

Marathon Training Update: Week 7

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This update is late! The days are getting ahead of me. Running is still a priority, but packing up the apartment to move this Friday is taking a toll on my ability to tell y’all about how I’m doing.  Woopsies! I promise to be better in the future. …At least, after I get settled into my new place and unpack all those darn boxes. In all honesty, that might not happen until after the marathon. 🙂

So, to recap: last week I ran 17.5 miles, which is the farthest I had ever run. And I did it in the Oklahoma City heat while traveling to surprise my sister. It was a good weekend to say the least. Even after traveling I started off the week determined and was able to stick to the plan.

Tuesday, August 23rd: 1 km repeats

5.97 miles/00:54/8:58 average pace

Crisp, fresh air this morning as the sun was coming up! The plan called for appropriate warm-up, 1 km repeats with jogging recovery, and appropriate cool-down. I tried not to focus so much on the pace on my Garmin and instead on what that pace felt like in my legs. It was a difficult workout but I was able to keep a steady-ish pace:  4:21, 4:08, 4:06, 4:14.  Lost track of my target pace, which actually should have been 4:15-4:20 but I’ll take it. Slightly longer recovery than coach wanted, so it’s probably a good thing I pushed the pace a little.

Thursday, August 25th: “Threshold Run”

9.1 miles/1:15/8:14 average pace

Wahoo! I felt great this morning. I can already tell that the sun is rising later–it was pretty dark when I started the run at 5:30. The plan was to run: 1.5 warm up, 2 miles at 8:10, 2 miles at 7:50, and 2 miles at 7:30 + 1.5 mi cooldown.

Splits for middle miles were:
8:12, 8:08
7:49, 7:50
7:31, 7:25
I felt great during this run and it wasn’t as difficult to hold the 7:30 pace as I thought it would be. Warning: RANT!l. There were several dog owners out on this particular morning that need to learn how to handle their beloved dogs. Granted–it was between 5:30 and 6:00 am in the morning and they were walking down the sidewalk in their pajamas. What I don’t get is how they can be surprised when their dog freaks out by a runner trying to get by. I swear, I almost got my heels chomped on by two poodles and a bulldog—all with no “sorry” from the pet owners. Silly people! I wonder if my backwards running to avoid the dogs’ chomps factored into my average pace at all. 😉

Saturday, August 27th: 20 mile LSD

Coach let me go long this weekend! Luckily, Sara B. asked to meet up with me this weekend and do a portion of our 20 mile LSD together. We ran the first 7 together and had some great conversation that made the miles pass by quickly, then we ran the last 13 miles solo. Miles 7-16 were smooth sailing. I was feeling strong and steady. I’m glad that Sara and I decided to run south from Millenium Park instead of north so that we could take advantage of some shade. It was a hazy kind of sunshine and the humidity was a bit higher than I expected (I’m getting used to this new fresh, clean ‘fall’ air we’ve been having!). We literally ran to where the sidewalk ends near the South Shore Cultural Center/Golf Course. I had no idea that this was the end point of the Lakeshore Trail until that day. I passed Sara and she told me that she just turned around, so we planned to make up the distance once we ran back north to Millenium Park. I took 3 Gus during the run and took full advantage of the water and Gatorade stations sponsored by Fleet Feet. I haven’t had stomach issues with Gu since I started to use them in May for all of my long runs. Now I can’t imagine running 12+ miles without nutrition, which is great. During the last ten miles, I tried to keep my eyes off my Garmin and run the pace that my legs wanted to. Ended up running a much faster pace than I intended, but I felt great.
I think this photo is pretty funny. And to think…I ran that before 9:30 am on a Saturday!!!
Afterward, Sara and I went to Intellgentsia for some iced coffee before parting ways. I made it home, showered, and immediately plopped myself in front of the TV for a long icing session and a movie. I’m not sure if this is normal, but I spent the rest of the day feeling like an insomniac. I ate a full meal, drank plenty of chocolate milk, and rehydrated. For the next 4-5 hours I tried unsuccessfully to sleep on the couch and in my bed and …again on the couch. I laid in bed for an hour and a half and managed to fall into a deep sleep for about 10 minutes before waking up again. Finally, at 4:30 I gave up and drank a beer instead. 🙂 Does anyone else have post-LSD insomnia?!
Despite only running 3 times last week, I ran a total of 35 miles and feel really comfortable with the work I put in. On Sunday, my legs were heavy but definitely not ‘sore’. This week is moving week and I think it will be hard to get my runs in but I know I can do it. Looking forward to a day off of work on Monday and a chance to unpack, sleep, maybe paint the new place, and get settled!
As of today, there are 12 days until the Chicago Half Marathon and 40 days until the Chicago Marathon!
-J

Marathon Training Update: Week 8

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As of yesterday, I have 7 weeks until I run my first marathon. Pretty insane. This weekend as I looked over my planner and my training plan I realized that September is probably going to be the busiest month I’ve had in a really long time. Between moving day on September 2nd, North Coast Music Fest that weekend, some crazy awesome marathon training mileage, and a full time job—I think I’ve got a lot on my plate. But that doesn’t mean I’m not prepared for it. After all, I’ve got those crazy To Do lists to keep everything straight and organized. It’s weeks like this past one that let me know that I can handle being busy in every sense of the word.

I felt so strong after the Rock ‘n Roll Half and was excited that I wasn’t overly fatigued or read to just lay low for a week. I jumped back into my training pretty quickly and was surprised that my legs carried me the way that they did (especially after some hamstring tightness last week after the Elvis is Alive 5k!)

So, as always, this is how it all went down:

Monday, August 15th: Oil Change

2.68 miles

Short shakeout run with Manny! It was a great evening to get out and I was excited to go for a nice, easy jog with my man. I can tell he’s getting a lot stronger. He’s itching to go faster and farther which is great! I felt heavy during this run, but I told myself that it was to be expected after a killer race just the day before. Coach told me an “oil change” would make me feel much better and prepare me for another strong week of training (no rest for this girl!)

Tuesday, August 16th: Speedwork

9 miles/1:18/ 8:37 per mile

Yet again, I didn’t wake up early enough to fit this run in before work. I rolled over and looked at the time on my phone before deciding that I should just run at night. (Running 9 miles in 40 minutes would have been impossible, after all!). I ran from North Avenue all the way up to Foster during this speed ladder:
2 mi w/u
1 mile at 7:25/mile
400 m recovery
2 miles at 7:35/mile
800 m recovery
800 m — 3:35
400 m recovery
800 m– 3:37
2 mi c/d

My legs were SO heavy, but I persevered and tried to distract myself by listening to the beat of the tunes pumping through my ears. I was so distracted that I ended up totally miscalculating where I needed to turn around in order to end up where I started. I ended the run near Fullerton Ave. on the lake and walked/jogged the remaining mile and half to the gym to change. I think it was probably a blessing that I had an extended cool down because I needed to walk out some calf issues. I was sleepy and ready to go to bed after this one!

Thursday, August 18th: Short tempo

5.26 miles/00:44/ 8:21 per mile

After a fun dinner with the girls on Wednesday night and a scramble to get packed for a Thursday afternoon flight, I am surprised I had the motivation to get up and go that morning. I knew that I had to get this run in before some traveling to surprise my twin sister with a visit to see her in Oklahoma. I had to shorten the miles a bit in order to shower and get ready for work in time, but I’m glad I was able to fit it in. My target pace was between 7:55 and 8:05 and I ran: 8:03,  7:46, 7:50 including an easy warm-up and cool-down. DONE!

Saturday, August 20th: 2hr 45 min LSD

I still can’t believe that I ran 17.5 miles on Saturday. It’s almost a 2 mile distance PR over my long run 2 weeks ago. I know I should be getting used to this PR Feeling by now, but it really is mind boggling that I can run that far and still feel energetic the rest of the weekend. Of course, I did my fair share of ‘laying low’ afterward and stayed cool in Oklahoma by going to the movie theater and drinking beer at an awesome pub with my sisters, but it’s all relative right? I’m looking forward to running my 20 milers soon and feeling just as strong.

So in total, I ran 36 miles this week which is ALSO a distance PR 🙂 I’m all smiles here!

Have a great week of training everybody!

-J

Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon: Race Recap

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Another race weekend come and gone! The Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon was my fourth half marathon since May of last year and by far my most prepared, steady race yet. I think I’ve really learned what works for me and what doesn’t in the past couple of months. For example, I like pasta, but not a heaping plateful with sauce that gives me acid (See: Flying Pig Half Mary). And I like Gu Chomps but only to snack on and never on race day (see: everyday!). And I’m becoming severely addicted to Nuun–so much so that I my work day doesn’t seem complete without it. Beyond these things, I’ve learned to relax the night before a race and not be so jittery about getting up on time or fueling properly. It’s becoming second nature which is always a plus.

This Saturday I spent relaxing at home and in my favorite neighborhood coffee shop. I slept so well on Friday night and slept in later than I have in months only after shooting up in bed for fear that I had turned my normal “long run Saturday” alarm off in my sleep. After realizing that I didn’t have to get up to run and I could sleep in, I nuzzled into my pillow and slept for a few more hours. Ahhh yes, it was bliss. I did a fair amount of reading, apartment planning, and movie-watching (luckily Harry Potter was on t.v. for a good portion of my evening). I foam rolled and worked some last minute kinks out of my legs and went to bed around 10:30 pm. And while I had difficulty getting to sleep, I felt surprisingly rested when my alarm went off at 4:15 a.m.

I ate my 2 cups of Cinnamon Spice oatmeal, drank one cup of coffee, and put my race outfit on. I don’t always wear the same thing on race day, but lately I’ve been gravitating towards my Saucony singlets and lightweight shorts. I bought the shorts before 13.1 Chicago because I knew heat was going to be a problem and I’ve enjoyed how weightless they are on race day all summer. I had plans to meet up with Sara to get some warm-up miles in before heading to corral (she was in Corral 2, but she graciously started in 3 with me.)

As of Thursday of last week, I was still planning on using Rock ‘n Roll as a training run. It would have been my first time using a race as a training run and I was unsure if I could be as carefree about it as I needed to be in order to be conservative with my pace. I went to bed debating whether or not to race it. But when I woke up, I knew it would be a great day to run my heart out. It was 65 degrees when I left the house and walked to the train. There was a fresh breeze in there and the humidity was refreshingly low. Sara and I chatted during a short warm-up and the excitement of the race seeped in. I decided I’d race it.

I wasn’t nervous. I was calm. This year has been a milestone year for me and I have never been so prepared for a race. I crossed the start line, said good luck to Sara, and got goin’. Everything clicked. My legs wanted to go faster. I stayed cool. Dialed back my speed and remained mindful of keeping my feet moving at a decent cadence. Kept my arms loose and low. Swinging comfortably. Music pumping through my ears. Perfect tunes for a breezy morning. Breath steady and controlled. Surprisingly calm. Dedicated. Gaze 10 feet in front of me.

Around mile 2, I spotted a friend, Chanthana. We waved hello and told each other good luck. What we didn’t know was that we’d be within 20 feet of one another for the next 6 miles or so. We were both running our own race, but it just so happened that we were in sync. It was nice to have a friend near and be able to remain focused and determined on the race inside my own head. We ran our own races and were happy for one another.

I remember thinking that my legs felt good–strong, quick, light. For a brief moment I tried to find a pain, a twinge or ache in my knees, my hamstrings, anything! But I never found it. I thought “alright, this feels great. let’s keep this goin’. I looked down at my Garmin every mile and gauged where I was at. Even though I was racing it, I honestly didn’t even know what pace I needed to run in order to run a personal record. (My previous record was 1:46:45 at the Flying Pig Half in Cincinnati.) I just knew that I was running a steady pace somewhere around 8:00 min/mile and I could pick it up the last 3-4 miles to test my limits.

I usually don’t remember a whole lot from a race. I get inside my own head and don’t really snap back to reality until I cross the finish line. But here are some of the things I do remember:

  • “Think Twice” by Eve6 is an amazing running song. It matched my cadence at mile 3 perfectly!
  • The smell of gyros through Greektown was torturous at the time. And I think I’m still craving one.
  • Espresso Love Gu never tasted so good. (Saved the best flavor for last!)
  • The breeze blowing south on Michigan Avenue from miles 7-9 was absolutely amazing. It began to sprinkle and I was propelled forward by the wind.

At mile 9 I started to open up the legs. I took small, quick steps up the slight inclines while heading north to Grant Park. I fueled for the last time at Mile 10 and wondered how I could only have 3 miles to go. The race was coming to an end already?! The tunnel at Soldier Field felt hot, sticky, and claustrophobic. It was dark and I wanted the breeze back. I picked up the pace and felt a stretch in my hips. At the 12 Mile marker, I started to push even harder. I knew I was going to PR (despite some Garmin issues) and kept my sights on the 1:45 pacemakers ahead. I ran a speedy last mile and crossed the finish line with more energy than I ever have in a half marathon.

Which makes me wonder: what if I had decided to run it faster than I did? I know for certain that I could have. But the sights are on the Chicago Marathon for now and what could have been “just a training run” turned into an energetic half marathon, a surprising PR, and a beautiful race day with my running buddies.

-J

Marathon Training Update: Week 9

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The past week of training is packed full of milestones. 🙂 (I guess one thing that’s awesome about the road to my first marathon is that each run seems to be some type of milestone for me.) Last week, I did plenty of speed work and had the added stress of finding an apartment to move either September or October 1st. (More on that later.) It’s been a long week, but somehow I managed to stick to the plan. It’s been a gorgeous week, weather-wise with temps in the 70s most mornings. A pleasant detour from those few weeks when we had high 90s or low 100 temps! Fall is coming and I’m not sure how I feel about that after acclimating to the heat! This week was all sorts of crazy:

Friday, August 5th: 5 mile walk

The apartment search was in full swing last weekend and my legs definitely felt it. I spent about 3 1/2 hours on Friday evening just walking around the neighborhoods that I’m more interested in. You can only do so much searching online for an apartment. Plus, some great places are simply posted with For Rent signs. I kept a log of the addresses and numbers I called. And although I wasn’t wearing a Garmin to track the mileage, I am willing to bet it was more than 5 miles. I wore some sandals without much support and by the time I got home, I knew that I’d be fatigued in the morning.

Saturday, August 6th: 15-16 mile run

15.73 miles/9:19 pace/ 2:27

This has been my LONGEST RUN EVER! It’s definitely time to start ramping up the mileage of these long runs with the Chicago Marathon about 2 months away now. And while I’ve raced 3 half marathons in the past year, that’s the longest run I’ve ever done at once. I was excited to get out on the lake and be motivated by all the other runners this morning. Throughout the run, I had some knee and hamstring pain but nothing too major. I stopped at Mile 19 for a couple minutes of stretching. Pushed through the last 3 miles with enough energy mentally and physically, but the fatigue in my legs was definitely showing. I ran straight to Jewel (literally), went to the frozen food section, and snatched two bags of peas to put on my knees. (While I love the Moji One, I needed something more intense after almost 16 miles!).

[Saturday afternoon was spent apartment searching yet again. And this time I actually wore some old running shoes and comfortable running clothes. Manny and I stopped at Pizza Metro on Division for pizza and beer before heading home and relaxing the rest of the day. Perfect afternoon for pizza on a patio :-)]

Tuesday, August 9th: 16 x 100s

5.88 miles/9:52 pace/00:58

I slept through my alarm this morning…again! I’ve been such a baby lately when it comes to sleep. I love that it only takes me a minute or two to fall into a deep slumber. I haven’t felt this rested in awhile, despite the physical toll training has taken some weeks. So, in the evening, the plan called for 2 mile warm-up, 16 x 100s @ 20 seconds each (1 minute walking recovery), and 2 mile cool-down. I’ve never done 16 reps of anything when it comes to running so I was a bit intimidated. But the strides made me feel powerful and it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be to get through all 16 of them. I’m glad I put in a nice, long cool-down because my legs were heavy afterward. My slowest 100 was 21.44 seconds and my fastest was 17 seconds flat.

Wednesday, August 10th: Recovery Run

4.81 miles/00:40/8:22 pace

Coach was in town for business on Wednesday, so we planned to meet up at Fleet Feet for the fun run and chat with Sarah Stanley. We got a late start and miss the group start, but it was nice to get a run in together along the lake. Chris was envious of the Chicago breeze and the view of the skyline along the lakefront path. It made me feel grateful for having a beautiful place to run in the city. I even said to him “I don’t know what I would do without the lakefront path in my training”. And he replied, “I don’t either!”. It was an unofficial fartlek run, as he had me choose certain objects in the distance to surge to. I was hoping for a slower pace after my legs tightened up from my 100s the day before, but I suppose a shake-out was going to happen either way. Chatted over dinner at Chipotle and headed home to rest.

*Also, finally bought The Stick! I’ve been foam rolling all year but I knew I needed something to help me get deeper into my muscles. My legs haven’t been this tight all year and anything I can do to help them heal and recover before Rock ‘n Roll was a must. I spent about an hour that night at home rollin’ my legs every which way. Every runner should own a foam roller and The Stick.

Thursday, August 11th: Elvis is Alive 5k

3.17 miles/23:09/7:18 pace

So, I guess you know you’re a runner when you add an impromptu 5k to your schedule the week of a half marathon! After chatting with Coach the night before, we agreed that I needed a 5k benchmark race to work from. Considering I haven’t run a 5k since I was in high school, I agreed. I registered yesterday morning, which is unusual for me (I’m very detail and calendar-oriented. I plan plan plan!). I went to the race straight from work and followed these crazy dudes through Millenium Park.

I didn’t really have any expectations going into the race, but I knew I would probably be disappointed if my average pace were below 7:30/mile. I got a quick warm-up in with the #ffcheer team & lined up behind the Elvis competitors. I felt strong and tried to keep my form together through Mile 2. After that, I began to break down. I grabbed a cup of water at the water station and stopped to catch my breath for a few seconds. I tried to stay conservative through the next half mile so that I could finish strong, but it’s difficult for me to slow down my legs once I’ve been going a certain pace for 2 miles straight. My unofficial time was 23:09 (forgot to stop the Garmin at the finish so may be under 23:00), which I am very happy with. My first two mile splits were faster than 7:15 and Mile 3 was much slower. Looking forward to seeing if I can do better in the coming months.

Looking Back:

So, this past week, I ran my fastest race pace EVER and my longest run EVER. Done and done! I guess you could say not much of a taper happened this week. Looking forward to resting and being lazy today and tomorrow before the Rock ‘n Roll Half on Sunday morning. I am treating it as a training run and hope that I can keep the race mentality out of my head for the majority of it. The last 5 miles or so will be at marathon pace and afterward, I’ll get to meet with some great people in the Chicago running community. If you’re coming out to volunteer, support, or run the race yourself, come the American Cancer Society DetermiNATION tent afterward to say hey!

Countdown: 2 days to Rock ‘n Roll Half, 30 days to Chicago Half, and 58 days to Chicago Marathon!

-J

Sunshine and Negro Modelo: Cabo Vacation Recap

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It’s been a month since I went on vacation, so this post is way overdue. But this week, I found myself looking at the vacation pics in disbelief. I couldn’t believe how wonderful and relaxing it was at the time, in the moment–and I still can’t! I returned from Cabo San Lucas with a fresh tan and a relaxed mind & body. This year, I promised myself that I would go on a much-needed vacation with Manny and enjoy every moment of downtime. After 4 years of going to school, working full-time, squeezing running into my schedule (when possible), and navigating the world that shoves itself in a post-college grad’s face, I knew I’d be ready for a week away from the city. In April, we began thinking about where we wanted to go. We had ideas of going to NYC–We’ve both never been, despite having traveled to Europe. (You’d think NYC would have happened at some point.) We had other ideas of going to San Francisco and exploring a city we don’t know much about (we’re good at that). But after my Dad mentioned Mexico for the first time, I comfortably settled on either Cabo San Lucas or Puerto Vallarta. My Dad was incredibly generous and offered to help us book a resort through RCI, the travel company he works for. I was shocked and humbled and happy that he knew we needed a relaxing vacation. (Thanks Dad!). We purchased flights at the end of April and waited impatiently until the day we could pack our bags and bid adieu to the city.

We decided to stay at the Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach Resort about an hour away from the Cabo airport. The reviews I poured over prior to choosing our resort mentioned that this was the place to go if you wanted to relax, fall asleep to the sound of the waves crashing at night, avoid college kids wasting their vacation dollars on too many alcoholic drinks, and enjoy several pools and restaurants on site. From the moment we stopped off the plane, this is exactly how I experienced Cabo. Almost everyday we woke up around 9:30 (without an alarm), made a fresh pot of coffee, and enjoyed breakfast on the balcony with an ocean view. It’s a sight I can’t get out of my head and it boggles my mind that we got to enjoy if for a full week. After that we’d freshen up and get ready to head to the pool. Our favorite pool (out of the 4-5 on site) was the Sky Pool, which happened to have direct access to the building where our suite was located. A short elevator ride and walk away and we were at the highest point of the resort, enjoying an infinity pool with an ocean view. (The resort, unfortunately, does not have swim access at the beach because of a ridiculous rip tide. We knew this before arriving and were happy to explore the resort’s amenities instead.)

When we got back, everyone asked the necessary questions: A) What is amazing? and B) What did you guys do? The answers to both questions were very simple: It was absolutely amazing and we didn’t do anything! We literally enjoyed food & drink, sunshine, swimming in the pool, some light reading, and some much needed sleep. Manny and I promised ourselves to return there in 5 years and next time it will be on our dime (THANKS AGAIN DAD!)

Here are some pics to recap, because I don’t think words would do it justice:

Manny’s first view of the ocean!!!

The view of our building from the lobby. The whole resort is built into the cliff by the water, so each room has a balcony with an ocean view.

The view from our room. :sigh:

Our breakfast on the balcony almost every morning.

View of the resort from the beach. 🙂

Manny’s first time touching the ocean

View from the sky pool, where we spent most of our time

Nice breeze at the Sky Pool

Decided to go to the Rose Resort (sister resort) to enjoy some ocean swimming

Nice ocean-side service for drinks and munchies

Aren’t those colors insane?!

Perfect temps

Ingredients for a perfect Salty Dog: tequila, grapefruit juice, lime, KasMas (grapefruit soda), and salt

Nice and cool

Manny Man

Getting some good reading in 🙂

4th of July celebration

Beautiful sunset at Sunset Beach

Bein’ silly on the beach

Snazzy on the beach

🙂

I got yelled at for getting in the water (riptide), but it was worth it

Stripes are nice

Home again 😦

– J

Marathon Training Update: Week 10

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Another week of training down and one week closer to the BIG 26.2! The weeks have been going by pretty fast, but I figure I should become comfortable with this because it’s only going to go by faster. 10 days until Rock ‘n Roll Chicago, 38 days to the Chicago Half, and 66 days until the Chicago Marathon. For real?! (What did I get myself into? :-)) Those numbers are just insane.

I’ve been super busy the past 7 days. I crammed a visit to King’s Island, a weekend with the family, several apartment viewings, plenty of key workouts (duh), and WORK into the week. I was pretty exhausted after a quick weekend visit to see family in Indy, but it was worth it. And honestly, I’m amazed I had the energy to stick to the plan as much as I did. Here’s how it all went down:

Thursday, July 28th: 8 x 800s

8.81 miles/1:14:00

Last week was pretty hot here in Chicago and I wasn’t very good about waking up before work to get my runs in. I debated about whether or not I should go to the gym to do the Yassos or head to the lakefront after work. After talking with Coach, we decided I should do them outside and acclimate to the heat, rather than bust ’em out on the dreadmill. That night, Ryan Hall made an appearance at Fleet Feet. I was right around the corner from the store, but was so focused on getting my run DONE that I decided to skip it (and thus, was super jealous of the #ffcheer team and their photo!). I’ve only done as many as 6 x 800 repeats so I was a bit nervous about this one but I killed it!

Splits: 3:37, 3:35, 3:35, 3:37, 3:36, 3:34, 3:38, and 3:30

Sunday, July 31st: LSD

12 miles/1:47

I was able to get a long run in with Coach and a friend, Jon, over the weekend. I spent the entire day Saturday riding roller coasters at King’s Island and was nervous that my legs wouldn’t be able to handle high mileage the next morning. (I almost wore my Garmin to the amusement park so that I could track how many miles I walked that day, but decided against draining the battery. Would have been interesting to know, though!) I woke up right before 6, got dressed, and met up with Chris for  a 12-miler. In the middle of the run, we did 4 miles at marathon race pace with splits below 8:00 min/mile. I was definitely tired and could feel the weight in my legs after Saturday, but was happy to explore some trails that I haven’t seen since I ran there in high school. Hometown running tours are fun (especially when compared to running through the city, sometimes).

**I ran 102 miles total in the month of July, which is a 2 mile record over May. 🙂 I’m planning on a monthly mileage PR this month and next before #CM11. 🙂

 

Tuesday, August 2nd: Progressive Tempo

6.66 miles/00:57

This run was incredibly humid! I told everyone on dailymile that I felt like I was inhaling foam. Not sure if it was a clear analogy, but the air was so thick with moisture that it was hard to breathe. PLUS, my ipod died during the warm-up and I had to do the entire training session sans tunes. :-(I had trouble finding a rhythm, but was able to stick to the goal which is always nice.

Goal was progressive from 8:45-7:45, speeding up 15 seconds per mile. Splits: 8:49, 8:30, 8:14, 8:01, 7:37

Thursday, August 4th: Speed Session

8.47 miles/1:14

This morning was insanity. Speed speed speed! I programmed an advanced workout into my Garmin and ran the following:

2 mile warm-up

4 x400 with 1:45 recovery

1 x 1600 with 2:30 recovery

4 x 400 with 1:45 recovery

2 mile cool-down

I think this is the longest run I’ve done before going to work. It requires waking up at least by 5:30 am, making sure the coffee maker is going to auto-brew before I get back, and a cold shower to re-energize before rushing out the door to the office. It’s all worth it, though, because I would rather run in the morning, than slush through the heat after work. I was impressed with my splits this morning because I didn’t feel all that powerful. It was refreshing to run 400 meter repeats as opposed to 800s.

400 m splits: 1:39, 1:40, 1:35, 1:38

1600: 7:25

400 m splits: 1:43, 1:39, 1:40, 1:39

Ate some chocolate chunk granola with chocolate milk right afterward. DELICIOUS!

This week’s plan:

With 10 days until Rock ‘n Roll Chicago, I have one more long run and a short taper starting Monday. I was originally going to race it and try to run a sub 1:46 in order to get into Corral C at the Chicago Marathon, but I think it will work well as a training run. Besides, I should be happy enough with the fact that I’ve already placed in a corral for my first marathon. All about baby steps. So, I’ll run 15-16 slow miles this Saturday and enjoy some lakeshore meditation :-). I’m already getting excited for being in a race environment again!

If you or anyone else running the Rock ‘n Roll Chicago Half want to meet up with some fellow #runnerds afterward, click this link to RSVP and see who else is coming: http://twtvite.com/RnRChiTweetup

 

Have a GREAT weekend! I’m headed to the beach if I have some time between apartment viewings and napping 🙂

-J