Marathon Training Update: Week 10

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