For anyone running through the weather rollercoaster we had here in Chicago….YOU’RE BADASS. This week’s weather was literally confusing, both mentally and physically. One day we had thunderstorms and 55+ degrees and two days later we had -15 to -20 degree windchills and “feels like” temperatures around 5 degrees. If that’s not confusing, I seriously don’t know what is. Preparing for either one of those temps requires some sort of scientific calculation that I have yet to solve but at least I was ready with the necessary layers to adjust.

This training cycle is going by so fast! I honestly thought I was going to sit down and write Week THREE’s recap today but it turns out I’m 70 days/10 weeks out from the Boston Marathon. And that scares the sh** out of me! 70 days and hundreds of miles to reach the start line at Hopkington. The thought just gives me goosebumps every time. I’m going to try to mentally prepare myself for that moment by dreaming about it for the next 70 days.

This week I ran a total of 35 miles: 2 easy runs, 2 workouts, and 1 long run. 2 core workouts and 1 strength workout.

Monday: Easy 4 miles in SHORTS. IN JANUARY. This was glorious and it went by so quickly. I still can’t believe that I was wearing shorts outside this past Monday. I’m going to try to remember what that feels like and pretend I’m running in that weather for the next two months.

Tuesday: 8 miles (first 6 were easy and last two were ~7:30. This was probably the least enjoyable run of the entire week (and that’s kind of crazy considering the weather conditions for the other runs). I went to the gym and ran this one on the treadmill and I honestly regretted it. Torrential downpours were supposed to start around 5pm and I wanted to start my workout around 4:30 so I was a wuss and went to the gym. In hindsight, wind gusts and sheets of rain sounded nice compared to the sweaty, damp mess that was the gym. It was 55 degrees and I’m just going to assume they weren’t going to turn on the A/C so I ended up running all 8 in a balmy gym that felt like it was situated in a rain forest. Next time? I’m running in the downpour.

Wednesday: rest!

Thursday: Ok, this is where the insanity/”badassedness” comes in. This is what I was dealing with:

I guess I should have interpreted the motivational tweets as subtle warnings of my insanity, but I left the house anyway. After wussing out and going to the gym on Tuesday, I figured I could suck it up and just get sh** done on the lakefront in less than ideal temperatures. I live 2 miles from the lakefront but in order to do a tempo, I need “open road/path”. I hopped on the bus and prepared for the cold lakefront. I ran 1.5 warm-up and then started my 2 x 2 mile tempo. And honestly, I couldn’t even feel my hands until the 4th mile. My body did a good job of warming me up but running against the wind during a tempo is a special kind of torture. There were other crazies out there that did not look prepared for the weather (especially the dude in the 80s windbreaker without a hat, scarf, gloves, etc. Who does he think he is?!). Once I ran back south and ticked off the tempo miles I was much more comfortable. I had planned to take the bus back home but hopped in the first cab that I saw one block from the path. I spent the rest of the day drinking hot tea and hot soup with an extra pair of wool socks. Ahhh winter.

Friday: easy 3 miles on the treadmill. Felt like I really needed the shakeout following the tempo the day before. I’m sure my legs weren’t warmed up enough to commit to 4 tempo miles, so this jaunt was much appreciated.

Saturday: 13 miles on the lakefront. Stepback week! After increasing the mileage for the past 3 weeks, a “short” 13-miler sounded wonderful. Coach told me to run anywhere between 8-8:45 and keep it conversational. I woke up to a 3″ slushy, snowy mess and was so happy that I’d just bought Yaktrax at Fleet Feet the day before. I’ve never run in Yaktrax and wasn’t sure if I would need them but it turns out the 4+ miles to and from the lakefront would have been *really* interesting without them. Next time I’ll probably take them off once I reach the lakefront because landing on the coils for 6+ miles was a bit weird, but not too uncomfortable. The Lole Women Warm Beanie and Smartwool Neck Gaiter were smart purchases too–kept my nice and cozy during my run through the snow. I actually felt a bit overdressed during parts of the run. I realized that I have a lot more long runs in these conditions once I arrived home. Ohhhhh winter (again….)

Highlights of the Week:

• Added to my running playlist: Take Off Your Shirt by Bibio (trust me)
• Purchasing new gear at Fleet Feet and getting product recommendations from @CatherineMoloz (always a highlight)
• If you haven’t seen Galen Rupp’s post 3:50-mile tempo workout on Flotrack, you must watch it now!

Pictures o’ The Week:

Obsessed.

My coworker can be really needy sometimes…

Parmesan Garlic Foccacia Bread with Grilled Bread Cheese—next time I’m going to try it topped with jam

Beer and pizza with my dad at Piece post-run 😀

Happy to have completed Week 1 with Coach Hadley. I have a feeling this is going to be a fun/interesting training cycle

-J