*Week #7, August 24-30

Monday: OFF
Best email I received on Monday.

Back to work.  I was in meetings all day so that was fun.  Here are some pictures of my room.

This one makes me smile.

Tuesday: 5 miles
The plan was to run at an easy pace.

It was my nephew’s birthday so I ran with him.  We ran 1.3 miles since he turned 13 and is officially a teenager.

I love this picture because it is of the times we’ve run together.  The one on top is when he was 6 years old and the bottom is from Tuesday.  Hopefully we’ll continue to run together.

Wednesday: 6 tempo miles
The plan was 2 miles warm up, 3 miles at 10:00 (if needed take 1-2 minutes rest in between each mile) and 1 mile cool down.

Boom.  Awesome run.  Ran 6.03 miles @10:17 average pace.  Wasn’t easy but wasn’t too hard either.  Splits are:
Mile 1-10:51
Mile 2-10:55
Mile 3-9:46
Mile 4-9:50
Mile 5-9:35
Mile 6-10:43

Thursday: 5 miles
The plan was to run at an easy pace.

Another run with Fleet Feet Chicks’ Night.  Tried to run them all easy.  I knew I would pay for it on Saturday. It was perfect running weather in the evening.  Dare I say perfect marathon running weather too?  Kept all paces under 11:00 which is not “all easy”.  Ran 5.01 @10:29 average pace.  Splits are:

Mile 1-10:29
Mile 2-10:25
Mile 3-10:32
Mile 4-10:46
Mile 5-10:17

I managed to log a total of 50 miles so I got my shirt.  Also, I got the chance to run in the new Ghosts 8. They’re OK but I was not impressed with them.

Friday: OFF

Saturday: 18 miles
The plan was to run them between 10:45-11:30 and to walk 2 minutes after EVERY 3 miles.

I was very worried because of the forecast.  I took a poncho just in case but ended up not using it at all.

Total 18 miles @11:21 average pace.  Ran faster than last week which surprised me.  It didn’t rain as much as I thought it was going to which was nice.  Also, it wasn’t hot nor sunny.  This time I ran in the Brooks Pure Flow 4 and my feet did not hurt like they did last week.  Still my right foot is giving me some problems which I think it is because of the bunion.  Ran with the 11:00 group and felt great running with them till mile 13.  My legs hurt (took 1 Tylenol at mile 9 but did not help, must take 2) so took some walking breaks. Overall, still pleased with my time and even more happy with my times for miles 16-18.  Splits are:

Mile 1-11:29
Mile 2-11:24
Mile 3-11:19
Mile 4-11:07
Mile 5-11:04
Mile 6-10:50
Mile 7-11:06
Mile 8-10:57
Mile 9-10:46
Mile 10-11:01
Mile 11-10:58
Mile 12-11:04
Mile 13-11:40
Mile 14-12:08
Mile 15-11:48
Mile 16-12:02
Mile 17-11:58
Mile 18-11:31

Thanks to a hole in my shorts (which I noticed afterwards) I chafed really bad close to my private parts.  I usually do not use Body Glide with these shorts.  You bet that from now on I will because the chafing was pretty painful and do not want to go through it again.

Sunday: Yoga and 3 recovery miles
Another great yoga class.  The instructor focused on the lower body which was exactly what I needed.  I wasn’t as sore as I was last week but I still felt great afterwards.  My plan was to run after my class but I had to get home to shower and get ready because I had a baby shower that afternoon.  Then I decided to run after the shower.  It is so weird but from one day to the next I got a cold.  Well, I came home and stayed in bed for a few hours to rest so I did not run.

*Runs on treadmill are done on 1% incline.

Thoughts:

• Surprisingly today I did not wake up as sore as I did last week.
• This Saturday is 20 miles for me.  Yikes!
• My IT band(s) don’t hurt as much anymore.  I’ve been foam rolling after every run.
• I usually get a cold about once a year.  I was already sick this summer and do not understand why I am sick again.
• After having fall like weather this week, we are back to HOT summer weather this week.

Where is the worst part/area you’ve chafed?

*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?

*Week #10, August 3-9

Monday: Spinning and 3 miles at easy pace
I did not feel as tired as I normally do on my run.  It must have been because I took it easy in the spin class. Total 3 miles @11:13 average pace.

Tuesday: 5 miles

The plan was: mile 1: 11:00-11:30; mile 2, 3: 10:00 with 2 min walk in between (pause Garmin while walking); mile 4: 11:00; and mile 5: 11:30.

Great run!  Temperature was in the mid 70s which helped.  Felt great and surprised myself I was able to hold the 10 minute pace miles (miles 2 and 3).  Splits are below:

Mile 1-11:06
Mile 2-10:02
Mile 3-9:58
Mile 4-10:46
Mile 5-10:56

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday: 6 miles

The plan was all easy miles.  Ran with the girls of Fleet Feet Chick’s Night.  Total 6.02 @10:58 average pace. Did good keeping a consistent pace.  Weather was a little warm but wind along the lakefront helped cool me down a little.  Almost negative splits. 🙂

Mile 1-10:58
Mile 2-10:51
Mile 3-10:44
Mile 4-11:49 <——Stopped to walk twice.
Mile 5-10:47
Mile 6-10:41<——-Happy that I ran (without stopping) a small hill/incline.  In the past I’ve had to stop and walk.

Friday: OFF

Saturday: 15 miles

The plan was to do negative splits.

These are the runs that worry and scare me because it makes me wonder how I will manage to run 26.2 miles.  I know I can because this isn’t my first marathon but it still makes me feel that way.  Total 15.18 @12:39 average pace.  My last 15 miler was on 8/16/14 and I did that run @11:36 average pace.  Then the next week I ran 16 @12:20 average pace.  Not sure why this one was slower. Splits are below:

Mile 1-10:36
Mile 2-10:47
Mile 3-11:17
Mile 4-11:23
Mile 5-10:54
Mile 6-11:38
Mile 7-12:55
Mile 8-12:57
Mile 9-13:44
Mile 10-13:15
Mile 11-13:53
Mile 12-14:20
Mile 13-15:53
Mile 14-14:01
Mile 15-12:32

After my run I took an ice bath.  Not fun but it definitely helped with my recovery.  It could be the combination of the compression socks and the ice bath but I feel so much better today.

Sunday: Yoga
I foam rolled and did a couple of exercises to work on my IT band.

*Runs on treadmill are done on 1% incline.

Thoughts:

• I ordered two new shoes – Brooks Launch 2 and Brooks Pure Flow 4.  Currently I run in the 3s and like them.  But lately I’ve been feeling more pain in my feet than usual.  I write down every run and have run almost 230 miles in them.  So I guess it is time for a new pair.
• I dropped my Ipod nano yesterday morning.  It still works but it cracked on one corner.  Thinking of replacing it with a shuffle since the new Nano is bigger and more expensive.  I have an older version of the Nano so it is pretty small.  I like running with music but also enjoy running without it. Decisions, decisions.
• The Chicago Marathon is in 9 weeks.  Yikes!!

I will start writing a weekly recap of my training for the Chicago Marathon.  The last one I posted was this one back in June.  And it wasn’t really a recap but more of a summary.  So I hope you stick around with me for the journey.

*Week #11, July 27-August 2

Monday: Spinning and 2 miles at easy pace
This was the third time running after my spin class.  I am actually liking it.  Ran 2 miles @average pace of 11:04.  Felt tired at the beginning for half a mile but then felt OK.  Started off @10:55 and finished off @10:32.

Tuesday: OFF
It actually felt weird not to run on Tuesday.

Wednesday: 4 +/- mile fartlek run
The plan was 1 mile warm up, 3 x 10 minutes at 9:30 with 2 minutes walk in between, and walk 3-5 minutes as a cool down.  The plan was to go to the gym for this run but for some reason I was really tired.  I know that many times the hardest part is getting out the door but honestly I didn’t even have the energy to do that.  I thought that perhaps  I was getting sick again but it must have been one of those days.

Thursday: 5 miles

I was hoping to do this run with Fleet Feet Chicks’ Night.  However, I had plans to meet some friends for an early dinner and drinks and so instead I did my run in the morning.  A little tired but still felt great after my run.  Total 5.02 @average 11:09 pace.  Splits are below:
1-11:21
2-11:36
3-10:52
4-11:13
5-10:47

Friday: OFF

Saturday: 13 miles

The plan was 5 miles warm up, 5 miles at 10:45-11:00, 3 miles super easy.  I ran with a different group and ran north instead of south on the lakefront.  I had forgotten how many more people run on the northside.  I did not listen to my coach.  I ran by feel and felt really good for half of the run then got really hot and thirsty. Then I drank too much water and my stomach began to hurt. Still need to work on this hydration thing. Total 13.02 miles @average 11:06 pace. Still it was better than last week.

Mile 1: 10:31
Mile 2-10:24
Mile 3-10:28
Mile 4-10:34
Mile 5-10:18
Mile 6-10:46
Mile 7-11:20
Mile 8-12:16
Mile 9-11:03
Mile 10-11:44
Mile 11-11:34
Mile 12-11:26
Mile 13-12:04

Sunday: Yoga
I skipped it.  Don’t ask me why.

*Runs on treadmill are done on 1% incline.

Thoughts:

• Around this time last year I was already feeling burnt out.  I hated my runs and even cried after one of my long runs.  Nope, not feeling like that at all this time.  And that makes me happy.
• I noticed I mentioned the word “tired” a few times.  That cannot be good.  But it cannot be that bad either right?  I know I was tired on Monday but that’s because I had just been on  a bike for 45 minutes. Then on Thursday, well, I woke up at 5:30 am and went to bed later than usual the night before.  I need to make sure I go to bed early, especially when I have to wake up really early the next day.  I need to sleep more like my little Lola.  I swear that she sleeps about 3-4 times a day.
• Cannot believe it is August and the marathon is two months away!!!  Yikes, that makes me nervous but at the same time very excited.

Are you training for a marathon?  How is your training coming along?