Category: Weekly Recap

2024 Chicago Marathon Training Week #1

Chicago Marathon Weekly Recap-1Happy Sunday everyone!  I am on Team TCS Teachers and training to run the Chicago Marathon on October 13.  This will be my 9th marathon and my 6th Chicago Marathon.

Here is how my week went:

Week #1, June 24-29

Monday: Rest day.  The first week of marathon training.  I went for a 30 minute walk before going to work.

Tuesday: Ran 1.59 and walked 1.17 miles.  This was an easy run with some hill strides.  It is flat where I live so the best I could do was a ramp to the expressway.

Photo-1

Wednesday: Ran 3.35 and walked .20 miles.  A good run.  It was a 15 min warmup, 8×45 sec @9:42/mi with 1 min jog recovery, and then a 15 min cooldown.  I did the intervals too fast and then was tired towards the end.

Thursday:  No running and no walking.  I reactivated my Peloton membership and took my first class this year.  My cat scratched the bike seat so I bought a new one.  It wasn’t as easy to install but I did it.  The seat it wider and much more comfortable.

Photo-2

Friday: Ran 2.47 and walked .29 miles.  It was a 30 minute easy run.  Total was 2.47 @12:12 average pace.  It didn’t feel easy and was surprised I hit the required paces.  Prior to this week of training, I’ve been doing run/walk and am pleased that I ran the first mile without stopping.

Saturday: Ran 4.01 and walked .47 miles.  It was an awful run.  It was humid.  I was hot and then got a headache.  It could have been the humidity but I could not keep up with the paces.

Sunday:  Walked 1.96 miles and 25 minutes on the Peloton.  The weather was much cooler than yesterday and it felt good to walk.  Also, I enjoyed my 15 minute low impact ride with Camila.  

Overall, I am pleased with this week.  My long run didn’t go well but sometimes that happens.  I am pleased to be back on the Peloton and plan to also take some strength and stretching classes.

TOTAL:
Running: 11.41
Walking: 5.70
Cycling: 10.48

 

Weekly Run Down: January 16-22, 2023

Happy Sunday everyone!  With two work days this week for me, it sure went by fast.  This is week 4 of my training plan and it was awesome.

I am so mad at myself!  I messed up and missed taking a Peloton class on Monday.  It was a rest day for me and on a day like that I either walk or take a meditation class.  I did neither.  I woke up in the middle of the night and realized that I had missed a class.

Here is how my week went:

January 16-22

Monday: Rest day.  I was off for Martin Luther King’s Birthday.  I also took my mom to the doctor for some bloodwork.  She goes every 3 months and for the most part, her results have been positive.  I don’t know why I didn’t do this before, but I finally switched her to a Spanish-speaking doctor.  I can translate what the doctor says but why not have one that speaks in the language she understands?

Tuesday: Ran 3.15 miles.  A great run!  I ran faster than I should have.  I felt good and was pleased with how I did.  It was almost all negative splits.  

Wednesday: Ran 4.08 miles.  Another great run.  Felt really good again.  The run portion was 3.68 miles @11:40 average pace.  I thought the weather was perfect with low 30s and hardly any wind.

We had a little bit of excitement that day.  There was a water main break in the community which left the school with no water.  By noon we were bussed to the junior high school a few blocks away.  We were there until almost 2 pm and by then there was water again in the building.

Thursday:  Ran 3.14 miles.  Can you guess how this run went?  Yep, good again.  The run portion was 3.66 miles @11:49 average pace.   

Friday: Rest day.  I was exhausted.  Running or no running, I am exhausted by Friday.  Thursday night I finished book #2 and began reading “The Plot”.

Saturday: Ran 6.70 miles.  A good run.  Not too cold or windy.  I did two fun classes which kept me going.  Somehow I messed up when programming my workout because there were enough run/walk intervals for 6 miles instead of 7.  Not a problem since I could just run another mile without my watch telling me when to run and when to walk.  It all worked out because my legs felt tired.  I did more walking than running and did just enough to get home.  I guess I could have kept going an extra .30 to make it to 7.   

Sunday:  Walked 2.54 miles.  There was a bit of snow on the ground.  It was actually pleasant and I had so many random thoughts in my head during those 45 minutes of walking.

It was a great week of running.  The weather was pleasant, though some sun would have helped.  It has been cloudy and gloomy all week. It looks like it will be sunny tomorrow and then cloudy the rest of the week.

TOTAL:
Running: 17.07
Walking: 2.54
Cycling: 0

Linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

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Weekly Run Down: January 9-15, 2023

Happy Sunday everyone!  It was rough going back to work this week.  I couldn’t get up on Monday morning, my runs were OK, and I missed one day of running.  

I was behind (about one week) on reading and responding to blog comments.  Yesterday I finished reading and this morning I responded to the comments.  I may be late but I try very hard to read all posts and respond to the comments.

Here is how my week went:

January 9-15

Monday: Rest day.  I didn’t sleep well Sunday night and was up for about 3 hours after I thought I was tired and went to bed.  I could barely get up in the morning.  I also struggled at work and could barely wait to get home.  Once home I was too tired to even nap.  How is that possible?  I even did a Peloton Meditation class and while it helped me relax, I couldn’t sleep.

Lola was not happy I went back to work.  She missed me.

Tuesday: Ran 3.23 miles.  A good run.  I am not going to compare myself to other people – only to myself.  I like to see improvements.  That is what happened on Tuesday.  I did the same workout as the week before and ended up with one minute faster average pace.  I am still doing 5:1 run/walk and my fastest interval was 11:14 and the slowest 12:04.

I earned this badge.

Wednesday: Ran 3.49 miles.  A semi-good run.  I had to run 4 miles but ended up less than that.  I felt tired and didn’t have it in me to finish 4 miles.   I also got positive splits so there’s that.  Oh well.

Remember how last school year I had a student that would give me lots of trouble with his behavior?  One of my students this year is beginning to act up as well.  He doesn’t want to do the work I give him and starts to whine when he doesn’t get his way.  He didn’t want to leave the classroom to go to lunch and I had to call the office for help.  Then later in the day, it was like nothing had happened.

Thursday:  Did not run.  I rarely have stomach problems, but this morning I went to the bathroom plenty of times because something felt off.    

In school, we had to give the ACCESS test (it measures student proficiency in the four domains of English language development: speaking, listening, reading, and writing) to our students.  Unfortunately, we had many Internet problems so we had to postpone it to the next day.  It was an eye-opener because we rely so much on technology.  I was running out of things to do because a lot of my stuff is online.

Friday: Rest day.  I was cold and tired.  I didn’t have it in me to go outside for a walk.

Saturday: Ran 6.02 miles.  A good run.  Not too cold or windy.  These three classes were fun.  I like Jess and Robin a lot and I love 80s music.  One of the songs in Jess’s class was “The Sign”.  She made me laugh when she said “I saw the sign.  It said ‘MOVE!'” Too funny! 

Sunday:  Rest day.  It is almost 1 pm as I am typing this post and I am still in pajamas.  Nothing wrong with it, right?  I was invited to a Pampered Chef party but decided not to go.  Sometimes I don’t want to leave the house.  I may take a walk or bike class in the afternoon.  Or maybe both.  Or stay in pajamas.

I wish I could say it was another good week of walking and running, but I know not all weeks will be great weeks.  I am keeping up with my goal of taking a Peloton class every day.  On the days I don’t do a walking or running class, I do a meditation class with Cody.  I do like them!  The classes still count toward my goal.  😀

TOTAL:
Running: 12.74
Walking: 0
Cycling: 0

Linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

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Weekly Run Down: Still running and 7 days of Peloton activities

How is it already Sunday?  This past week did go by fast.  I go back to work tomorrow but am not ready.  I still haven’t done my lesson plans, but how can I when I was on break.  Hopefully I can leave work at 3pm.  Balance, right? 

Here is how my week went.

January 2-8

Monday: Walked 2.63 miles.  My sister and niece came over and we made green pozole.  Not as difficult as I thought it would be.  It does taste different than white pozole and I prefer that one.

Tuesday: Ran 3.04 miles.  A good run.  My runs on Tuesdays and Thursday are 3 easy miles which I like. 

Later in the day I met up with a coworker for lunch.  It felt good to talk, laugh, drink, and eat!

Wednesday: Ran 3.05 miles.  I ran this with each mile faster than the previous one.  I did this a bunch of times with my previous coach.  However, I had no business doing this at the paces that were already set on Garmin Connect.  My first mile was to be done between 11:45-12:15.  That was too fast for me.  I did good though but it was still tough (average pace was 12:16).  I know for next time I will start slower.

I took a fun Peloton class with Matty.  I liked the playlist and enjoyed a song by Ace of Base.  I don’t remember it at all but now have added it to my Amazon playlist.

Thursday: Ran 3.04 miles.  Same workout as Tuesday.  Managed to run it faster. 

In the afternoon I was supposed to meet up with a former worker but felt really tired and stayed home.  I finished reading “Come Fly The World”.  One book down and 11 to go.  I already began reading my next book.

Friday: Walked 1.76 miles.  It was cold that morning.  I am enjoying my walks but need to do better about my gear.  I cannot wear the same thing I do for running.  Another option is to walk faster.

Saturday: Ran 5.11 miles.  I was up late on Friday and it was hard to get out in the morning.  It was in the 30s but minimal wind.  That is how I like it for Winter.  

Sunday: Walked 3.27 miles.  It was ideal walking weather, low 30s with minimal wind.  It also could have been because I was wearing a warmer jacket.

It was a good week of walking and running.  One of my goals is to do a Peloton activity everyday.  There are so many options.  This week I did either a running or walking class.  I haven’t taken a bike class but need to figure out when to add that to my training schedule.  Something else I need to add is strength training but not sure when to do that.

TOTAL:
Running: 14.24
Walking: 7.66
Cycling: 0

Linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

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Weekly Run Down: Happy New Year and I am back!

Hello there!  Remember me?  I haven’t posted in here for over a year.   I hope that I will continue to post weekly and read about all of your fun weekly activities.

This past week was my first week of training for the NYC Half Marathon in March.  I ran 4 days, had 2 rest days, and had 1 day of cross training.  My first two runs felt hard, but I stuck with it and then had two great days of running. 

December 26-January 1

Monday: Rest day.  I have no pictures from that day but I know I was home (Winter Break) with my cats.

Tuesday: Ran 3.07 miles.  I used a run/walk method and it was hard.  I did a lot of walking.  My last run was 5 miles on November 20th.  It was cold and windy too.  The snow made it tough too.

Then I cuddled with my cats.  In the evening I made it out to Oak Brook for dinner with the BFF.


Wednesday: Ran 3 miles.  Another tough run.  Did a lot of walking again and I am OK with it.  My goal for the half marathon is to have fun and finish it.  There was still a lot of snow on the ground and I had to be careful because I didn’t want to fall.

Thursday: Ran 3.04 miles.  Even with the wind this run went much better.  I stuck to the ran/walk intervals and ran/walked when I was supposed to.  Nothing wrong with walking more if needed.  I ran in my new Brooks running shoes.  I told myself no more shoes but couldn’t help buying a new pair of the  Launch 9.  

Friday: Rest day.  I did a few errands and began reading a new book.  So far it is good.


Saturday: Ran 4.11 miles.  I did my last run of the year and it was a great run!  I felt good and my average pace was faster than my last 3 runs.  It was still “slow” but I was pleased to see an improvement.  I finished the year with 494.92 miles. 

Sunday: Walked 3.39 miles.  It was a cross training day and I decided to walk.  It was in the 40s with no wind.  For those that know me, know that I rarely go out for a walk.  As much as I have tried and wanted, it just doesn’t happen.  

So that was my week.  It feels good to be running again.  I am liking these 4 days of running instead of 6 like I used to.  

I am looking forward to this year!  I am signed up for 3 races and hope to add a few more to my race calendar.  Last year was not my year of running so I hope this year is better.  

Linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

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