Chicago Marathon Training Week 5

For some reason I love the number “5” and anything that is an increment of “5”.  So with this past week being week #5 of marathon training, I knew it would be a good week and I was not wrong.  Well, not perfect but still a good week.

*Week #5, July 7-13

Monday: 1 mile WU, 4 x 800m @9:40 (2 min RI), 1 mile CD
Boom.  Done.  WU and CD @10:32, 800s @9:34.  Pace felt sort of easy.  Weird how I can hold this pace on a treadmill but really struggle when I am outside.

Tuesday: 45 Min XTrain
Took my first yoga class at CorePower Yoga.  The class was at 6am so I left my house at 5:15.  It usually takes me 10-15 minutes to get there.  I wanted to get there early  to introduce myself to the teacher and get settled in.  However, I was not expecting the traffic.  Sometimes I forget that people do work and are not on summer break like me.  I arrived at 5:45, met the instructor and went to the room.  The first thing I noticed was that the room was not as hot as bikram yoga.  It felt so much more comfortable.  Another thing I noticed is that you could take your phone to class.  In bikram yoga that is definitely a no no.

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The view before walking into CorePower Yoga.

I really liked the class.  The poses were not as difficult as I thought they were going to be.  There were a few I struggled with but I know eventually I’ll get the hang of them.  I will admit though that I was sore for two days…especially my arms.  For now I plan to take this class at 6am but we’ll see what I do once I go back to work in August.

Wednesday:  Run 45 mins @ 10:45 pace
Ran for 45 minutes for total of 4.23 miles @10:37.

Thursday:  6 mile run: 1 mile WU, 4 miles @9:50 pace, 1 mile CD
Coach Sara told me “Try not to rest in between the 4 miles.”  Ugh, bad day.  Ran 1 mile WU and then ran .96.  It was frustrating for me.  I was bitchy in the morning.  I don’t want this to always be an excuse but I am still trying to turn this into a motivation.  I know something similar happened last month so notice the pattern?  Yeah, not pretty.  Moving on.

Friday: Rest/Stretch

Saturday:  Chinatown 5k
Good race.  Read my race recap.  First mile @9:00 is my fastest ever!!  As usual I started off too fast, slowed down, and then picked it up at the end.  Finish time is 30:33 for 3.12 miles for average pace of 9:45.

Sunday: Rest/Stretch
I did a fun run with Fort2Base Ambassador Matt Hunt.  We met at Yankee Woods in Oak Forest. Great place to run.  The weather was nice at the beginning but then got too warm for me.

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We ran one loop together which is 3 miles.  I had to do 7 so I stayed to do another loop.  Struggled a bit as I was finishing up my second loop.  I thought for sure I had done 6 miles but surprisingly my watch showed 5.47.  I couldn’t not figure out why and still don’t know but I am not going to worry about it.

It is a really nice place to run.  There weren’t that many people on the course but maybe there were earlier (we started at 9am).  It took me about 20 minutes to get there so it is definitely a place I would go again.  Oh, and no water on the course so I had to take my own.

*Runs on treadmill are done on 1% incline.

Thoughts:

  • Have you taken a class at Flywheel?  I’ve heard so many great things about it and plan to go on Wednesday.
  • Don’t forget to sign up for ZOOMA Chicago, Saturday, August 2nd, Burnham Harbor.  It will be a fun weekend!
  • Sign up for the Fort2Base race, Sunday, August 24.  Awesome course and great medal!
  • My phone still does not turn on.  I think now I need to get a new one.

Chinatown 5K

Today I ran the Chinatown 5k in the rain.  The last time I ran a 5k was the Strike Out ALS 5k in July. Despite the rain, it went much better than this one.

I did not pick up my packet prior to the race but chose to do so the morning of the race.  I wasn’t sure where exactly (just had an idea) the race began but I just took Archer Avenue until I got to Chinatown. From there I could see a group of people in Chinatown Square so I knew that’s where I had to go.  I looked for free street parking, didn’t find any, so I just went to the lot.  The cars in front of me that also wanted to park at the lot were instead turning away and later on I found out that the machine was no longer giving out those tickets that allowed you to get in the lot.  No problem at all.  I found street parking across from the lot.  It wasn’t free but wasn’t expensive either.

Once I was settled I noticed that my friend, Rachel, and her family was two cars in front of me.  From there we walked to pick up my packet and to get as close as possible to the start line.  Did I mention that it was raining?  Nonstop.

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My first race with this pretty lady.

A few minutes before 8am we walked over to the start line but still had to wait a few more minutes before we were actually allowed to run.  Not sure why there was a delay.

The new route was supposed to go through Bridgeport along 26th street, Princeton and Wells.  A few days before the race I got an email letting me know that apparently the request for the new route was not approved.  Now we were to run through the original route.  Screen shot 2014-07-12 at 5.51.48 PM

So basically we ran along Wentworth Avenue to 34th Street and back.  I didn’t pay too much attention to the route because I was too busy dodging the puddles.  Who wasI kidding?  I was soaking wet anyway.

As usual I started off too fast, slowed down, and then picked it up at the end.  Finish time is 30:33 for 3.12 miles for average pace of 9:45.  Pretty happy with it.  Coach Sara asked me to run an average of 9:25.  Umm, no, but close enough.

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Photo credit: Eric and Rachel Tanchez
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Photo credit: Eric and Rachel Tanchez
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Photo credit: Eric and Rachel Tanchez

Overall, I did like the race.  I say that now that I am warm and dry.  I am glad it wasn’t cold because running a race when you’re cold and soaking wet is not fun either.  It is a small race and close to my house.  Definitely two pluses in my book!  If you haven’t ran this race, make sure to do so next year.

Coach posted this on Facebook and it made me smile.

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There was a raffle after the race but I did not stay for it.  I had only paid for one hour in the meter and it was time to go.  Plus, I was getting cold.

Oh, and I made a huge mistake.  I ran with my phone but did not put it in a plastic bag.  After the race I couldn’t turn on my phone.  I was planning to take more pictures after the race but that didn’t happen.  Right now it is in a bag of rice where I shall leave it for a few days.  If that doesn’t help my phone then it means a visit to the Sprint store.  I know that means I won’t have a phone for a few days.  I am OK with that since I took a trip to Ecuador and Peru and didn’t have electricity nor Internet (for two trips) for a few days and I survived.  I am more worried about having to cough up the money to buy a new phone.

Chicago Marathon Training Week 4

I survived another week of marathon training.  Here is my update for my training.

*Week #4, June 30-July 6

Monday: 1 mile WU, 6 x 200 @8:30 (400 RI), 1 mile CD
I’ve never done 200s.  I liked those a lot.  I did WU and CD @10:32, 200s @8:25.  Felt great and was impatient during the RI (felt like too long).  Definitely want to do more of these.

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I hope I added the numbers correctly here.

Tuesday: Run 45 mins @10:45 pace
Got a late start to my run.  Felt blah.  Ran 3:59 miles @11:09.  Total time is 40:04.

Wednesday:  Rest/Stretch

Thursday:  1 mile WU, 30 mins at 10:00 pace, 1 mile CD
Ran WU and CD @10:32, 30 minutes @ 9:52.  Pace felt a combination of hard and easy.

Friday: Elmhurst Bank 4 on the 4th Race
Great race!  And I got a PR!!!  Read my race recap.  Ran 4.08 @9:42 average pace.

Saturday:  7 miles @ 11:00 pace
I really wanted to do 10 but legs were tired by mile 9.  Splits are all over the place.  Great run though. Ran total of 9.13 miles @ average 11:00/mile pace.

It was another gorgeous day for a run.

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Sunday: Rest/Stretch

*Runs on treadmill are done on 1% incline.

Thoughts:

  • Next race is Chinatown 5K on Saturday.  I get to run with Emily from Out and About.  Plus, it is her birthday so make sure to send her birthday wishes.
  • I became a member of CorePower Yoga.  This location has free parking and takes me about 10 minutes to get to (with no traffic).  I like the variety of classes that they offer.  I am going to skip CorePower Yoga 1 and move on to CorePower 2.  The class that I am most excited about is CorePower Yoga Sculpt because it includes strength-training exercises such as squats, lunges, bicep and tricep curls.
  • I like my new Newton running shoes.
  • Today is the last day to enter my giveaway for a free pair of Injinji toesocks.

Community Bank of Elmhurst 4 on the 4th

On Friday, July 4, I ran again the Elmhurst 4 on the 4th.  This is my second time running that race.

I woke up at 5:30am, drank coffee, ate a PickyBar, got ready, and made my way to Elmhurst.  It took me about 25 minutes to get there.

I found a parking spot close to the start/finish line and went to pick up my bib.  I then waited for the race to start.  I had no race plan (smart??).  Well, Coach Sara told me to push myself at the end and to run the last two miles faster than the first two miles.  Gulp.

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Finally it was time to run.  It was a beautiful day for a race.  It was partly sunny and not too hot.

I stopped to get water at the first water stop.  Perfect location because it was before an uphill.  I drank my water as I walked up the hill.  There were a few spectators and it was great seeing them outside cheering for us on such a special day.

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Mile 2 was the turnaround point to head back to the finish line.  I did not stop at the next water stop because I was feeling really good and not thirsty at all.

I pushed myself during that last mile but did walk for a little bit to go up a small hill on my way to the finish line.  I was tired and just needed a few seconds to catch my breath.

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Going up towards the finish line. I know it looks flat but I swear that it isn’t. I took this picture after I was done with the race.

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Below are my splits from this year and last year.

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My finish time is 39:39 which is an almost 2 minutes PR from last year.  It was a great feeling!! Honestly, I was not expecting it.  I was trying not to look too much at my watch and instead ran based on how I felt.

Cool shirt!

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I am so glad I had the chance to run this race again.  I like the distance, location, and price (only $25!!).

Next race is Saturday, July 12,  Chinatown 5k.  It will be my first time doing that race.

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a free pair of Injinji Toesocks.

injinji giveaway