I haven’t really formed any concrete thoughts about this week’s running. I’m in shock that Boston is now just 8 days away and I’ll be on a plane to Boston by 6:30 AM on Saturday morning. I peaked at 51 miles this cycle, but 45 miles this week didn’t feel too challenging. I’m feeling strong, confident, and relaxed at the moment……but I’ll post more about my pre-Boston thoughts later this week when I really start to overanalyze and over think things….because that’s definitely going to happen.

I ran 45 miles this week + a few foam rolling sessions and core routines. Taperrrrrrr…..

Monday

Easy 6.5  miles at 8:20 pace. Today was one of those days when the legs just never seemed to wake up. I overestimated my route and ran 0.5 miles longer than I was scheduled to (whooptydooo). It’s probably all mental but this was the first day when I thought, “Oh taper… grumble grumble.” The remedy was 45 minutes of foam rolling and trigger point in front of the TV afterward while I watched Mr. Selfridge [Anybody else think it’s weird to see Jeremy Piven act in a ‘period series’ on PBS?]

Tuesday

11 miles 7:25 average.  One of those rare nights of this training cycle when I run on the lakefront in the evening.  Plan was to start at 7:40 pace and ease into 7:20 for the remainder, but to stay nice and relaxed. Mission accomplished! Felt smooth the entire time and couldn’t believe how easy 7:20-7:25 pace felt. All good signs 🙂 Side five #1 with Tim R. around mile 7 and an airplane side five with sound effects with @HillarySpeaks around mile 9. Nice to be out there on the path with a lot of people after work for a change.

Wednesday

3.5 miles at 8:14 pace (29 minutes). Unplanned easy run in the Kinvara 4s (!!!!) Usually Wednesdays are complete rest days for me but I was so excited about the shoes being delivered that I asked Coach if I could go out for a short jaunt that evening. He approved 30 minutes (which was 30 minutes more than I thought he’d approve). Felt good to get the legs moving actually.

+ 30 minutes of Jillian Michaels yelling at me in the 6 week 6 pack DVD

Thursday

8 miles total, 7:23 average. 2 mile warm-up, 5 mile tempo 7:05-7:10, and 1 mile cooldown. Last “official workout” before Boston! The tempo pace didn’t feel super challenging, which was nice. I kept reminding myself that I ran a half marathon at the same pace in horrible conditions (i.e. 25 mph headwind and the worst course ever). Now all the runs on the calendar are EASY PEASEY. Which basically means that I’m going to second guess the pace on each and every mile and overthink things for the next 7 days. That’s what you’re supposed to do during a taper right?! 😉

Friday

Easy 4 at 7:52 pace. I avoided looking at my watch and didn’t realize until I returned home that I was running sub-8 minute pace. It was such a nice Friday afternoon that I just went with it.

Saturday

12 miles, 8:02 pace. This run seriously sucked. Note to self: when you go out the previous night and tell yourself that you “only” have 12 miles the next day, you should revise it to say “Yeah…I have ALL of 12 miles tomorrow.” After sleeping and lounging most of the morning, I went out around 2 pm to a WALL OF WIND. Constant wind gusts of 30-40 mph made this supposedly easy taper run into more of a battle than I thought it would be. The wind was blowing the dirt from the baseball fields up near Montrose across the path and into the faces of runners and bikers. When I got home I had a nice layer of dirt and sand all over my skin and a piece of debris (not kidding) on my front tooth. Blech. Let’s just count it as resistance training, shall we?

Sunday

SHAMROCK SHUFFLE SPECTATING! Really fun Sunday morning with Team Race With Us. I’m not sure I could actually portray how badass our spectating skills are, but I tried to in this Vine. [Some of you mentioned that you noticed us at State/Jackson near the 2 mile mark—we’re happy we were obnoxious enough!] 

Highlights o’ The Week:

• Added to my running playlist: Percussion Gun by White Rabbits 
• THE KINVARA 4S ARRIVED AT MY DOOR! Definite highlight of the week. Running Warehouse and Saucony released their previews of the shoe months ago but they’re worth checking out if you have worn the previous version(s) or are looking to test them out when they are released on 5/1. [I’m especially excited to track down the special Boston edition of the Kinvara 4 at the expo!!!)
• I used iMovie for the first time in years to submit a fun application to Nuun’s Hood to Coast team for later this year!  (iMovie skills were dusty to say the least, but I think it came out nice!) I’m so camera shy that I’m shocked that I don’t look like an idiot….at least not 100% anyway. Plus, Barklee made a cameo appearance.
• I saw Dan Pink speak at the Union League Club. I read his book Drive a few years ago and recently read his new book To Sell Is Human. My boss had the chance to meet and speak with Dan before he spoke to the entire group. Fun afternoon to break up the week, for sure.
• NEW FAVORITE? Creme Brulee Haagen Daaz ice cream. Where has that been all of my life and why had I not tried it until this week?! You better believe I’ll be eating at least 1 carton this week to ward off the TAPER TANTRUMS.

Pictures o’ The Week:

Obligatory puppy pic. She hadn’t had her cup of coffee yet, so I sipped mine for a few minutes before my day started while she slept in my lap 🙂

It might not be all that warm yet here in Chi but the sunshine and blue sky certainly made it feel like spring this week

New obsessions = kombucha & chia. Now in a jar together (Cherry is delicious, but also heard Grape is too)

First ice cream truck siting of the year! Woot woot!

Team Race With Us (#TRWU) + 1 cowbell + 2 vuvuzelas = Fun Sunday Morning Spectating the Shamrock Shuffle

Went to the Museum of Contemporary Art for First Fridays. The pic on the left is of a TAPESTRY that covered the entire wall. (When you stand far away, it looks like an actual photo. Insanity.)

Hillary keeping an eye out for Mama Grumps