Chicago Marathon Training Week #10

Welcome to the second half of Chicago Marathon training. Less than 2 months to go!
*insert panic here*

Monday

AM: 5 miles (8km) - 50:20

Travelling again this week (boo!) but I decided that I would book my flight so that I could do my run in Chicago before I left. It kind of cut down my actual productive work time but was awesome for my running motivation. And everyone knows that running is more important than working, right?

Tuesday

AM: 4 miles (6.4km) - 44:08
PM: 4 miles (6.4km) - 43:32

Back in the Atlanta suburbs. No good running outside so I moved my 8 miles onto the hotel gym's treadmill. Buuut 8 miles on the treadmill is too much for my brain to handle. Split it into a double of 4 and 4 (my boredom is much more manageable that way).

This is very much how I'm trying to approach training while I'm traveling.

Wednesday

AM: Weights - 30:00

Just couldn't bring myself to face the treadmill again (I know, I'm pretty pathetic). Did a weights session instead.

Thursday

AM: 3 miles (4.8km) - 30:19

Wednesday's scheduled 6 miles moved to Thursday. But overslept and could only squeeze in 3. Better than the zero I was seriously contemplating.

This is Surfers Paradise in Australia.
I was chatting with my family (who live there) on Wednesday night and stayed up past my bed time.
Not good for early morning running. 

Friday

AM: 8 miles (12.8km)

Glorious!

I felt A-MAZ-ING for entire run. The temps (and humidity compared to Atlanta) were down and it made such a difference!! If only every run could feel so good. Plus, I was wearing my turbo-boosted shoes which obviously gave me an extra advantage on the path.

Saturday

AM: 17 miles (27.2km) - 3:04:23

Fantastic!

Another great run. I was a little apprehensive given the new longest distance prospects plus how bad I felt getting through my 15 miles a couple of weeks ago. As it turned out, completely unfounded.

I do my long runs with my CARA training group and we were leader-less this week which meant I became the groups unofficial pacer for the run (ie. I run with a Garmin and I had satellite connection when we started). I think I did pretty well - there were a couple of fast miles (whoops, when I'm feeling good I can't contain my enthusiasm!) and I got berated by a cyclist for not keeping my group in check (I agree that groups can be annoying on the path but just because I happen to be at the front of one, it doesn't mean I need to be yelled at).

I felt strong the entire way and felt like I could have kept going for a few more miles. OK, maybe just one more mile. But I'll take that over the "I just want to lie down forever" feeling I've had for the past few weeks.

Sunday

AM: Elliptical, Rowing Machine - 30:00
AM: Weights - 40:00

Getting so much better at doing things other than running. I pretty much deserve a medal.

This week's stats

• Total miles: 41 (65.6km)
• Total running time: 7 hours 13 minutes 02 seconds
• Total running workouts: 5
• Total cross training workouts: 1
• Total strength workouts: 2

Goals for next week

• Fuelling

Just quietly, I think I've got this nailed. I'm going to give it another long run to see before making my official announcement.

• Running form

I really feel like paying attention to this been paying great dividends. I feel better and run just that bit faster without feeling like I'm putting in more effort.

• Getting up when the alarm goes off and not after I hit snooze three times.

Travelling has encouraged some bad habits which I am determined to break this week.