Highlight of the Week:
Amazing kickoff to Pop’s birthday weekend – awesome tickets to Zac Brown! (See also – crazy dehydration because of the heat that meant a postponed long run. Totally worth it.) Thanks Sally B for getting us awesome tickets!
Lowlight of the week:
The death of my long-loved, pretty pink ipod shuffle. No green light = no charge = no tunes. RIP friend, we’ve traveled many miles together.
When I first started writing this, I was en route back to Nashville after a weekend chock-full of fun celebrating a special day for a special man. (Hi Pop! Happy Birthday!). Tom and I headed up to New Jersey Thursday night for his dad’s birthday, and the weekend was full in so many ways – lots of time with family and friends – busy but relaxed all at the same time. We were celebrating a birthday, hearing about the latest in wedding planning from Tom’s sister, and generally enjoying a hot but wonderful weekend with lots of food, lots of pool time, a fantastic Zac Brown Band concert, and generally soaking up precious minutes with family we don’t see enough.
Amongst all of that, running still happened! Here are the deets:
Chicago Marathon Training Week 3: Sunday 7/14 – Satuday 7/20:
Sunday:
2 Hours of a mentally grueling tennis match in the bright sun. A mental and physical victory, as it went 3 hours and my opponent was clearly fading at the end and two hours of work is standard for me at this point. Finally distance training helps my tennis game too!
Monday:
More tennis – this time with a (guy) neighbor who’s a fantastic player and way better than me. Much more of a workout than some of the ladies doubles I get roped into these days. I do love the women I play with, but running hard, reacting to someone who hits with more topspin than I do, and hitting the ball HARD was nice for a change. Note to self – play with guys more often for a better workout and to actually get better at tennis again!
Tuesday:
Just over 6 miles, including warmup and cooldown of a tough but weirdly fun workout.
3 x (800 @ 7min/mi pace , 400 jog; 400@6:30 pace, 200 jog; 200@6:00pace), 400 jog between sets.
First set was a bit fast, then hit my paces right on the nose with a fast last 200.
Wednesday: Rest. But I did foam roll, with a bit of distraction.
Thursday: Unplanned rest. Meant to wake up and run with the lululemon run club, but when I found myself still sending emails after midnight, sleep won instead. Got on a plane that night, passed out, stayed up late chatting with Tom’s parents and then finishing up work that got cut short because I thought I’d have wifi on the plane but didn’t.
Friday: Rest (oops, 3rd day in a row)
Saturday: Unintended rest.
12 mile run planned. Really intended to keep on schedule, and I even emailed with a local run club in my in-laws’ town to meet up for a run on Saturday. They were super nice, and I’m sorry I missed them but …. Considering I was dripping sweating before Zac Brown even took the stage on Friday (major heat wave in the northeast earlier this month if you haven’t heard), I decided the late night + automatic dehydration warranted a delay. WORTH IT!
Week 4: Sunday 7/21 – Saturday 7/27:
Sunday:
Tom helped me map out a run from his parents’ house, and I managed to drag myself out of bed at the earliest hour I ever have ever woken up when staying with them. This is where the lowlight of my week happened – my beloved shuffle, which has made it through countless miles and more rain than I ever thought it could, died before I made it out of the driveway. I was about to set out on my longest run without buddies or music ever. And it didn’t start well. My legs were heavy, my breathing heavy …. Honestly, it totally stunk. I had mapped out two loops, and was pretty sure I would stop after the first. Fortunately, I convinced myself to keep going, and in the middle of the loop only ran into the house to refill my water bottle and convinced myself to keep going. Glad I did, but boy was the second loop tough. Lots of hills, and the humidity was brutal. But I made it – major mental victory. The best part? Leaping into a pool at the end of my run! Wish that were an option all the time! Managed a 9:45 pace, which pleasantly surprised me.
Monday:
Rest. Exhausted after a late flight back and a long day of work
Tuesday:
An exhausting track workout. Just wasn’t feeling it. Not sure if it was the half bottle of wine the night before, the chips and salsa I ate about 45 minutes beforehand, or the near-100% humidity, but it was a slog. The workout was a ladder, building from 200s to 800s and ending with fast 200s. I hit all of my paces except for the 800, but was totally wiped.
Wednesday:
Unplanned rest day. More foam rolling with my buddies. My Achilles hurts.
Thursday:
Supposed to be a run in the AM and tennis in the PM. After feeling feverish Wednesday night, I slept in on Thursday and just played tennis Thursday. A slog of a match, but I won! My mileage is suffering, but I needed something lower key, as I still felt feverish that night.
Friday:
Rest. Planned, but I did kind of want to go to yoga, but opted for more sleep after the feverish episodes of the past few days. I think I can chalk it up to not enough sleep, so that’s the new goal.
Saturday:
12.5 miles (supposed to be 13, but route was a little short, and contrary to most of my life, I’m not slave to exact Garmin miles). Honestly? This was rough. The heat was lower, but it was still crazy humid. And my legs felt super heavy. Operating on not quite enough sleep, but I’m not sure whether that’s it, or whether my body is just trying to adjust. This was my first marathon reality check, suddenly wondering whether I can handle the distance, whether I was prepared when I started this, whether I can cut it. I mean, I’ve now skipped two Thursday workouts, and I’m still tired. Hope I can cut it ….. I did still keep up a 9:40 pace, so perhaps I just need to slow down?
So, not the best two weeks ever but …. I made it. Here’s to a better next few weeks? Only 11 to go!
Literal B 