Chicago Marathon Training: Week 13 Recap

I hope everyone had a great weekend and that those stateside enjoyed their extra day (if you got one) 🙂

Even though I couldn’t get in high mid-week mileage, it was a confidence building week of training–one that I felt I needed at this moment as we’re inching closer and closer to the less than one month away mark!

Last Monday, I started off the week with a short 4 miler but I saw numbers I hadn’t seen in a while.

Screen Shot 2015-09-07 at 7.39.01 PM It was a negative split run and the first mile was actually already starting off at a good pace for me, so to get better from that 9:42 made me super excited. And that 8:36 last mile just had me smiling from ear to ear. Finally, that overall pace was a low I hadn’t seen in a while.

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I rested Tuesday as my husband was out of town again and I had kid duty. I could have squeezed in a run but….I didn’t 🙂

Wednesday I met up with my run club and they had a mini hill workout on the schedule. I chose to bypass that and run another 4 miler instead.

A sub 100 degree run??? Wha???

A sub 100 degree run??? Wha???

It was close to another negative split and close to a similar overall pace as my Monday run. Again, this made me feel really, really good 🙂

Thursday I stuck to my 4 miler theme and ran around my neighborhood (It actually ended up being 4.2–you know you gotta count that point two). I took this run easier as I had had two good runs and didn’t want to push myself. It was still a great one with an overall pace of 9:48 and I finished with the last two miles faster than my first two.

It was an important rest day Friday as Saturday I had my first 20 miler of the training!

Yep, Saturday morning I woke up at zero dark thirty for this one (2:30 a.m. to be exact) and met up with another crazy friend also doing a 20 miler. We got going at 3:09 and planned to run 10 miles, five out and back, before meeting up with the rest of our run club at 5 a.m. We made one stop around the 7 and halfish mark for a potty break but that was the only stop of miles 1-10.

Screen Shot 2015-09-07 at 7.54.17 PM I was really happy with my consistency (see miles 4-7!!!) and I met up with my back 10 crew in high spirits.

Two running buddies were waiting for me at 5 to run my second set of 10 and we got going not too long after I got to the meeting spot. We were cruising at my pace (I wanted to be around the 10-10:30 mark) and they were uh-mazing at keeping me on track. I was feeling it around miles 12 and 13 and they quickly re-focused me.

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I did stop at mile 15 (the turn around) but it was quick as I knew I didn’t want to lose momentum.

Then, at mile 17 I had to go potty 😦 and I was forced to stop again. This super bummed me out as like I had mentioned last week, I wanted to really try and avoid any stopping on my long runs.

I definitely felt that potty stop around mile 18 as my left calf started cramping a little. I didn’t want to stop though so I ran through it and sure enough, it dissipated after a few minutes. Whew!

Finally, I wanted to finish strong so my girls picked it up and I had them finish me at a 9:34 mile 20!!!

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These 79 degrees felt great. The 65% humidity did not, lol!

I was so happy with this run and really pleased with the consistency in my splits. My slowest mile was 10:37 and my fastest (besides the last mile) was 10:06 so I was +/- 30 seconds the entire way!

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It was also my husband’s first 20 miler this past weekend and he knocked his out of the ballpark too! Much faster than me, lol, but I still love him 😀

I ended the week with 32.2 miles and feeling pretty darn good about myself going into this week. My goal of sub 4:30 is looking realistic and I just hope all this hard summer training pays off. We’ll find out in about a month!

I hope everyone has a great week!! ❤ , helly

–How was your week of running?

–Do you try to keep consistent splits, negative splits, or do you just run and what happens, happens?

Chicago Marathon Training: Week 2 Recap

Hi all!! I hope everyone had a good weekend and Father’s Day (those stateside) 🙂

It was tough getting in runs last week as we were in a Heat Advisory the whole week with temperatures in the 115s — yes, you read that right. But, I managed to squeeze some short runs in and one long run.

Monday was spent on the bike for 45 minutes (10.5 miles) and some strength training.

Tuesdays I join one of my running groups but it was the big game between the Cleveland Caveliers and the Golden State Warriors. (I’m basketball obsessed.) So I braved an afternoon run.

Hot run.

Hot run.

My training plan called for 5 but I had to call it done at 3. Way too hot even for me.

The Cavs lost but this was the first NBA finals in years where I didn’t really care who won. I wasn’t yelling at the t.v. (or swearing lol!) and really just watched it for pure enjoyment. I wasn’t upset that Golden State won.

Wednesday I had plans to hit the track for some speed work but the thought of speed work in 110 degree weather just didn’t sound appealing. So I went out a little late early in the morning for a 4 miler.

93 degrees at 8 a.m.

93 degrees at 8 a.m.

Thursday was Adventure Run at a local running store and this month’s theme was Disney!! My run club always has a good turnout there and sure enough, there was about a good 20 of us there–about a handful dressed up (including me!).

Goofy Helly.

Goofy Helly.

The Road Runner Sports Adventure Run has you running to different checkpoints in the neighborhood in search for raffle tickets. You try and make it to as many checkpoints in the hour you have to run before the raffle starts.

The main checkpoint this month was the water park where runners could go down a water slide for tickets. Ummm, count me in!!

Soooo much fun!!

I only got in just under 3 miles but all was well 🙂

Friday was a rest day and Saturday my husband and I got up eeeearly to get our long run in. We had 11 on our agenda and we both met up with our run club to get er done. He left to run on his own (meaning, fast lol!) and I ran the first 6 miles with my two buddies and then finished out the last 5 by myself. Overall, it was a tough run but I was pleased that I finished it and finished it averaging the same pace as my previous long runs so far in this cycle (the 2 during preseason and last week’s).

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Sunday I was planning on resting but I was slacking on my steps for my 10k a Day Challenge so my husband joined me on an evening run–this time running the entire way with me 🙂 .

Fast 2.5

Fast 2.5

I always seem to run fast with the husband lol!

Overall, a good week. 23.42 running miles and 48.9 cumulative miles when I count my steps. Met 6/7 days of my 10k Steps a Day Challenge and did really well with hydration. I slacked this week on strength training but still managed to squeeze in a couple of days. So far, so good!

Happy Monday everyone!! I hope you all have a great week! ❤ , helly

–Have you gotten on a water slide mid-run?

–Do you run in obscene temperatures?