Chicago Marathon Training Recap Week #8

*Week #8, August 17-23

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: 6 miles
I’ve been having pain in my IT band in both legs.  On Monday I went to get a massage and while it was painful, I felt so much better afterwards.

I wasn’t sure if I could run today.  I spent a few hours setting up my classroom and then went home.  I rested for a few minutes and got ready for my run.  I went out too late.  I stopped less than a mile later because of the train.  It was taking too long so I turned around to run a different route.  It looked fine outside as you can see from the picture (with some lightening ) but check out the forecast.

I made it home and it was darker than usual.  I know a little rain won’t hurt me but my sister told me there was a tornado warning in our county. The clouds do not lie.

Managed 1.87 miles @11:14 average pace.

Wednesday: 4 tempo miles
The plan was 1 mile warm up, 2 miles at 10:00, 1 mile cool down.

I wanted to conquer the world and make up for yesterday’s run.  Miles 1 and 2 were tough because I had headwind.  However, that made me go slightly faster for miles 3 and 4.  It wasn’t too hot outside but it was very sunny.  Total 4.01 miles @10:20 average pace.  The last time I ran 4 miles was on 7/22 and I ran them @12:18 average pace.  Splits are:

Mile 1-10:59
Mile 2-10:16
Mile 3-9:40
Mile 4-10:26

Thursday: 3 miles
The plan was to run at an average pace around 9:45-10:00.

Perfect evening for a run!  I misunderstood my coach’s instructions and thought she meant each mile was to be between those paces.  Well, I still did what she asked me to do.  Total 3.05 miles @average 9:50 pace. Splits are:

Mile 1-10:09
Mile 2-9:51
Mile 3-9:32

Yes, negative splits!!!

Friday: OFF

Saturday: 16 miles

The plan was to keep ALL miles 10:45 and above.

Total 16 miles @11:41 average pace.  Wasn’t as tough as I imagined.  Both feet hurt at the end of the run. Not sure if it is the shoes or my feet.  I am going to a podiatrist on Monday.  Or it could be that I haven’t run 16 miles in over a year. Splits are below:

Mile 1-10:33 <—————was running late so wanted to catch up to the group
Mile 2-11:11
Mile 3-10:50
Mile 4-11:14
Mile 5-11:37
Mile 6-11:44
Mile 7-12:02
Mile 8-11:27
Mile 9-11:47
Mile 10-11:39
Mile 11-11:30
Mile 12-12:28
Mile 13-12:02
Mile 14-12:13
Mile 15-12:15
Mile 16-12:11

This is how I felt after my run.

After my run I took an ice bath.  Lola kept me company to make sure I did not freeze in the tub.

Sunday: Yoga and 3 recovery miles

I like yoga but honestly the last thing I wanted to do is run.  I sent a text to my coach to confirm today’s run. Yep.  I thought it was more difficult to run the day after a long run than run after a spinning class.   I do feel better.  At least I’ll be able to walk normal when I go back to work tomorrow.

*Runs on treadmill are done on 1% incline.

Thoughts:

• My Brooks Launch 2 are AMAZING!  I am a big fan of the Pure Flow but seriously the Launch are just even better.  Let me clarify since I wrote above that my feet hurt after running 16 miles.  I think that maybe my feet are not used to running longer distances since the last time I ran 16 miles was last year.  They felt great when I ran during the week.  This week I will run in the Pure Flow followed by 18 miles on Saturday.  Not sure what else to do.
• On Monday I had a physical exam and blood work.  I was informed that my cholesterol and glucose levels are normal.  A big relief because a few years ago I had borderline high cholesterol and was pre-diabetic.
• Normally I do not take naps but I took so many this summer.  Now I will have to take them after school.

Do you do a recovery run after your long run?  How long?