Running – Page 37 – Zenaida Arroyo

Category: Running

22
Apr
2018

Illinois Marathon Training Recap, Week 21

categories: Brooks Running, Illinois Marathon, Marathon Training, Running, Weekly Recap

Illinois Marathon-2

Week #21, April 16-22

M Ran 10.76
T Rest
W 6.52
TH 2.49
F Ran 2.89
S Ran 5.90
S Ran 2.49

Before I tell you about my week, can we talk about Desi winning The Boston Marathon!!!! Wow, so amazing! I was watching it in my classroom when she was in 2nd place, then I stopped watching (can’t remember how long) and then the next thing I knew, she was in 1st place. Beautiful!!!

Have you seen this Tweet of a video of here crossing the finish line? Watch it as many times as you want. I know I did.

I missed my long run this past weekend. My coach asked me if I could do it on Monday. I told her yes but then found out we were expecting snow. Oh boy. When I got home I didn’t want to run. I wanted to read more about Desi and The Boston Marathon. Also, I was cold and tired. I asked my coach if it would be horrible if I didn’t run. See the message below. That and Desi’s win was enough to get me out there. I did. And it wasn’t bad at all.

Illinois Marathon-193 My run was 40 minutes warm up, 3×10 minutes @10:43 with 400m recovery, 2×5 minutes @10:01 with 400m recovery, and 30 minutes cool down. Did better than expected!

Illinois Marathon-194 I was excited but also nervous for Wednesday’s run (15 minute warm up, 1.50 miles @10:43, .50 mile @10:01, .50 mile @11:56, 1.5 miles @10:43, .50 mile @10:01, 10 minute cool down). It wasn’t too cold but a little windy. I did stop about 2-3 times for a little to catch my breath and then kept running. Felt great and was pleased with my splits.

Illinois Marathon-195

The rest of the week were easy runs (Thursday was 30 minutes, Friday was 35 minutes, Saturday was 70 minutes, and Sunday was 30 minutes).

We finally have some nice and warm weather in Chicago. I began stalking the weather for next weekend in Champaign and am pleased that it will not be cold. 🙂

Illinois Marathon-196

Today was a fun run at Fleet Feet Chicago sponsored by Brooks. We had a chance to try out the Levitate. I’ve heard so many great things about it and was excited to run in them. As soon as I put them on, I knew I was going to like them. They felt very soft and cushioned. What I don’t like is the price ($150) which I think is expensive. It is definitely more than I am willing to spend. I know they’ll be reduced sometime this year when the newest version is released and then I can buy a pair for me.

Another GREAT week of training and pleased with all of my runs. Less than one week to go!

Total mileage for the week: 31.05
Total mileage for this training cycle: 463.09
Total mileage for the year: 284.26

Here’s how training has gone so far:
• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4
• Week 5
• Week 6
• Week 7
• Week 8
• Week 9
• Week 10
• Week 11
• Week 12
• Week 13
• Week 14
• Week 15
• Week 16
• Week 17
• Week 18
• Week 19
• Week 20

How was YOUR week?

15
Apr
2018

Illinois Marathon Training Recap, Week 20

categories: Illinois Marathon, Marathon Training, Running, Weekly Recap

Week #20, April 9-15

M Rest
T 3.72
W 6.36
TH 3.62
F Rest
S Ran 3.32
S Rest

Great day for running but legs felt very tired. I surprised myself and ran a “fast” mile of 11:53. Must remember to run S-L-O-W-E-R now that I am so close to my marathon.

I almost skipped my run on Wednesday because I was tired. I haven’t been sleeping well. I woke up very early on Monday and Tuesday and after work what I really wanted to do was nap. 🙂 It was 60 degrees outside and I know I’ve been complaining a lot about the weather so it was the perfect day to be out, right? I wore shorts and compression socks. Luckily I also wore a long sleeve top because once outside I was COLD. Very weird. It was 52 degrees when I was done.

My workout was interesting (15 minutes warm up, 4×800 @5:20/rep with 400m recovery, 4×400 @2:20/rep with 200m recovery, and 10 minute cooldown. Each interval was done faster than expected and that made me very happy!

Illinois Marathon-185

Thursday had pretty decent weather and I couldn’t wait to run in shorts! However, it felt chilly on my run (like on Wednesday) and am glad I wore a long sleeve top.

Illinois Marathon-186.jpg

The weekend was all about crappy weather. Wind and rain. I went back and forth with debating on doing my long run (40 minutes warm up, 3×10 minutes @10:43 with 400m recovery, 2×5 minutes @10:01 with 400m recovery, and 30 minutes cool down) on Saturday or Sunday. By the time I finally decided to do it on Saturday, I realized that it was going to take me over 2 hours to finish and I wouldn’t be back in time to shower and meet my family for lunch. I told myself that depending on how I felt after lunch and the weather conditions, I might still do my long run on Saturday.

Lunch was fun. We went to a Mexican restaurant. The food was OK but it was great hanging out with the family. After lunch I went home and took a nap. 🙂 I felt much better after my nap I went out for an easy run (40 minutes). It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be and regretted not doing my long run instead. I even managed to finish each mile at the same pace – that has never happened!!

Illinois Marathon-187

I wanted to cry Sunday morning. As much as I tried to motivate myself, I just couldn’t do it. I skipped my run. Did I feel guilty? Yes. I sent a message to my coach and she said I could do it on Monday. The problem is that we are expecting snow. So we’ll see if I run on Monday. Sigh, really over this weather. But I guess I shouldn’t really complain since the weather conditions for the Boston Marathon as expected to be worse.

Illinois Marathon-188.jpg

Total mileage for the week: 17.02
Total mileage for this training cycle: 432.04
Total mileage for the year: 353.21

How was YOUR week? How is the weather where you live?

10
Apr
2018

Spring Training Update!

categories: BibRave Pro, Illinois Marathon, Marathon Training, Running, Tuesdays on the Run

Disclaimer: I am promoting these races as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find and write race reviews!

As you’ve been reading along these past few months, I’m training for the Illinois Marathon on April 28th. I began my training on November 27 (just realized it will be 5 months of training). I joined an online coaching group with Mary and Rochelle where they’re coaching a group of women training for the Boston Marathon. We had our last Facebook Live call yesterday in which Mary talked about the course. It was interesting and one day I will be there!

This has been a hard and wonderful training experience. It felt hard because of the weather and some of the runs. I did most of my training outside and there were so many COLD days. I did 4 runs on the treadmill. Surprised I didn’t do more since I don’t mind too much running on it. However, I did tell myself that I would try to do my runs outside and only on the treadmill when I really and absolutely had do. <<Nothing wrong with it but a personal preference.

Illinois Marathon-41

Illinois Marathon-96

My training began with mostly easy runs. Those felt good. Sometimes it was hard to run “slow”. That wasn’t a problem later in the training when the runs got more intense and my body could only run “slow”. Sometimes I even ran slower than the “slow” pace and I was OK with it. I did miss a few runs – I was too tired or didn’t feel like running outside or the treadmill.

I had some awful and great runs. Awful because the pace felt hard or the weather conditions simply didn’t help (this has been a LONG winter). Some great runs because the weather was decent and/or I nailed the required paces. Those were GREAT confidence boosters and just what I needed when I had a run that didn’t go well. All about balance, right? Marathon training isn’t easy. We have our good and bad runs.

My last long run was this Sunday – 3 hours. Ugh, I was cold and tired at the end. I will admit that I had my doubts (again) about how I would complete a marathon when I had no desire to run after 3 hours (and this marathon will take me more than 3 hours).

Illinois Marathon-181

So let me tell you about my goals for this marathon. I still have 3 weeks of training and a few more “long” runs. Nothing crazy like 3 hours but yet more like an 1 hour or so.

Illinois Marathon 2018 Goals

After the marathon I will take some time off. I signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon (October 28) and I know Mary and Rochelle will have another coaching group training for that marathon. For sure I will be a part of it!

I do have 2 races that I signed up for in May. I am doing the Chicago Spring Half Marathon/10K (I signed up for the 10K) on May 20 and the Soldier Field 10 Mile on May 28. While I would love to PR in those races (it’s been years since I’ve PR in those distances), I have to see how my body recovers and feels after the marathon. It will feel weird not running 5 days a week but I am sure my body will love the time off.

If you’re in the Chicago area and would like to join me, below are two codes you can use.

Byline Bank Chicago Spring Half-1

Use code “BRSoldierField” to score some bonus RAM Racing sunglasses for the Soldier Field 10 Mile.

RAMRacingSunglasses How is YOUR Spring Training coming along? Does it feel like Spring where you live? Not here. We had snow yesterday. 🙁

Linking up with Marcia, Patti, and Erika for Tuesdays on the Run.

TuesdaysOnTheRun

08
Apr
2018

Illinois Marathon Training Recap, Week 19

categories: Illinois Marathon, Marathon Training, Running, Weekly Recap

Illinois Marathon-2

Week #19, April 2-8

M Rest
T 3.23
W 2.92
TH 7.24
F Rest
S Ran 4.00
S Ran 15.34

Tuesday was a nice 40 minutes of running. I also cut off 3 inches from my hair (feels so much better) and bought card stock paper and pens at Michael’s. I went there to return some ribbon that I had purchased in December. The paper is pretty! Someone suggested I use it to make something for Mother’s Day.

Illinois Marathon-174

A friend of mine had mentioned the Brooks Asteria as a good running shoe and I ordered a pair. Got mine on Wednesday in time for my 35 minutes run. I like the colors and the feel reminds me of the Pure Flow. That was my favorite shoe before I discovered the Launch.

Illinois Marathon-175

I ran in them again for Thursday’s run. I also received a pair of the Oiselle Pocket Jogger Shorts. I’ve heard great things about it and am thinking that this might be the shorts I wear for the Illinois Marathon. The weather was decent and I didn’t know it was going to snow. It began when I was out there and I did not want to return home to change. I kept running. It wasn’t that bad and eventually it stopped. You can see my legs are red. 🙂

My run was 2 mile warm up, 2×15 minutes @10:43 pace, 2 mile cool down. I ran by feel and didn’t look at my watch but knew I was running those 15 minutes at a faster pace and it felt comfortable. I had no idea the second interval was faster. That was another confidence booster that I needed for my upcoming marathon.

Illinois Marathon-178

Saturday morning I went out for 4 miles. It was cold (20 degrees) but very sunny which warmed me up. I also ran by feel and felt comfortable on my run. I had headwind the first 2 miles but knew it would be much better when I turned around for the last 2 miles. I didn’t mean to go faster than my easy pace (11:56-13:04) and I ended up with negative splits.

Illinois Marathon-179

Less than 3 weeks till the Illinois Marathon! 🙂

Illinois Marathon-180

Today’s run was a 3 hour run (45 minutes warm up, 3×30 minutes @10:55, 10:45, and 10:35, then 45 minutes cool down). I was hurting when I was done. The wind was just too much and no matter where I turned, it was there trying to push me back. I didn’t hit all of my paces but I am still proud because I ran for 3 hours. Plus, the average pace for the 3rd interval is 10:44 which is a big decrease from the 2nd interval average pace of 10:57. Pretty good!

I believe this is my longest run for this marathon training. No 20 miles for me. 🙂

Total mileage for the week: 32.73
Total mileage for this training cycle: 415.02
Total mileage for the year: 336.19

How was YOUR week?

03
Apr
2018

A+ for March!

categories: Illinois Marathon, Running, Tuesdays on the Run

Happy to know that March is over. It was a LONG month. Three months done for the year. I am on Spring Break and am excited to be relaxing and plan to do more decluttering…or not. I am still looking for a house and now is the perfect time to get rid of stuff that I don’t want anymore.

• Training went very well this month. I didn’t miss any of my runs and pretty much hit all of my paces. The weather wasn’t as horrible as in previous months but it was definitely too cold for March. I think we had one day with a little bit of snow?

• Ran 121.43 miles. I was very happy to see that number. After missing my goal in both January AND February, it finally happened in March. That put me with almost 25% done of my yearly goal.

• Total time running was 23:00. Yikes! That is almost a whole day of running. Pretty cool!

• Ran my first race this year and came close to a PR. I ran the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K and while I didn’t PR, I did better my time by more than 6 minutes. My finish time was 50:03 and last year was 56:26. I’ll take it!

• 22 days of running. I’ve been running 5 days a week and for the most part really like it. My rest days are Monday and Friday which is good because those are the two days in which I am the most tired.

• I had some great quality session workouts. These workouts are my favorite. I love the variety and the challenge. I seriously need to stop doubting myself.

• I have not kept up with strength workouts. I am still failing in this department. Rachel has another challenge for April and I signed up for it. We’ll see how I do.

Overall, I am proud of myself with the work I put in this month towards my training for the Illinois Marathon. It has been a wild training season with many ups and downs. I have my moments of panic and fear which is normal, right? I know I can do this but yet my brain likes to mess with me.

So how did March go for you?

Linking up with Marcia, Patti, and Erika for Tuesdays on the Run.