*Week #3, September 21-27

Monday:

• PLAN – OFF
• ACTUAL – OFF and went to see podiatrist.

My feet don’t hurt as much as before but I have some horrible calluses that I cannot get rid of no matter how much I use my pumice stone.  The podiatrist simply shaved it off.  Definitely much better.

Tuesday:

• PLAN – 4 miles
• ACTUAL – Did not run.

Wednesday:

• PLAN – 6 miles (2 miles warmup, 6 x 400 @ 8:30 with 400 recovery in between,
  1 mile cool down)
• ACTUAL – 2 miles @11:18, 6×400 @8:32 (walked 400 after each one), 1 mile @11.18.  Total 6 miles @12:51 pace

I went to the gym to get this workout done.  I did not want to go but didn’t want to miss another workout.

Thursday:

• PLAN- 4 miles
• ACTUAL- 3.04 miles @9:52 average pace

I met a friend for my weekly run with Fleet Feet Chicks Night.  Ran faster than I wanted to but just went with the flow.  It was a gorgeous evening for a run and it definitely felt like fall.  Splits are:
Mile 1-9:50
Mile 2-10:03
Mile 3-9:41

Friday: 

• PLAN – OFF
• ACTUAL- OFF

Saturday:

• PLAN- 5 miles
• ACTUAL- Did not run.

I don’t think I’ve ever run on the day before a race.  The weather was in the high 60s in the morning so ideally I should have gone out to run.  Instead, I chose to sleep in and stay in bed.  I’ve had to get up at 5am pretty much every Saturday since May so it felt good to wake up a bit later than that.  I felt a little guilty for missing my run but then got over it.  🙂

In the afternoon I made my over downtown to pick up my packet for my race on Saturday, Chicago Half Marathon.  The last time I ran this race was in 2009.  I bought two tubes of Nuun (Kona Kola and Lemon-Lime).  I almost bought another hydration belt from Fitletic but then realized that I have one that is still in good condition so don’t really need another one.  Then I saw some really cute shirts from BAW (and I regret not taking any pictures) but my nephew talked me out of it by reminding me that I already have enough running shirts.  So, I walked away with spending only $10.  Not bad.

Sunday:

• PLAN- 13.1 miles
• ACTUAL- 13.23 miles @11.01 average pace

I was doing pretty good till mile 8 and then had a rough time towards the end.  My goal was to bring down my average pace to 10:55 but definitely struggled.  However, I am still pleased with how I did.  Check out that huge medal!  Splits are:
Mile 1-10:50
Mile 2-10:53
Mile 3-11:02
Mile 4-10:57
Mile 5-10:45
Mile 6-11:02
Mile 7-10:53
Mile 8-10:57
Mile 9-11:25
Mile 10-10:51
Mile 11-11:25
Mile 12-10:54
Mile 13-11:25

*Runs on treadmill are done on 1% incline.

Thoughts:

• I cannot believe that in two weeks I will have finished running the Chicago Marathon!
• Still not sure on whether to run with or without my CamelBak.  Today I ran without it and did fine without it.
• Today I ran half of a marathon.  I was so glad when I was done.  I was tired and sore and was wondering how in the world I can run another half marathon to complete a full marathon.