One year later. Back in Australia. Still not running.

It's hard to write a blog that is primarily about running when you haven't been running.

Which is not to say I haven't run since my last post back in June 2014.

With a switch to the run/walk approach, I finished the Magnificent Mile Chicago Women's Half in August.

I then packed up all my belongings and moved back to Oz.

This is not from my flight back. But it is Australia (Brisbane, I think).

I've done the odd shuffle here and there since the move. Nothing consistent and nothing long. I've missed my Chicago running routes. No more lake path. No more running groups.

But I've just moved somewhere with a similar path/water vibe.

Morning view. 

Evening view.

So the not running is about to change.

Despite the fact that it is now winter here, with short days to make getting out and running feel so much more difficult than it really is, I am recommitting. Chris is running.

The Gold Coast Marathon is on in four weeks. I ran the half marathon there in 2012 and it was a really good race. Clearly I am not going to run a marathon (or even a 5k) this year. But 2016 - you're on!

Brooklyn Half - A non race recap

I entered the Brooklyn Half back in January, a week or so before hitting my new half marathon PR at the Melbourne Half Marathon in Florida.

Hanging out on the beach in January. Florida, you're alright!

Unfortunately, a few weeks after running that half marathon, I started experiencing some pain in my left foot. Being the smart runner I am, I ignored that pain and went on to run a new half marathon PW at the NYC Half in March.

Not a great run but the views were pretty good.

Not too long after that I stopped running altogether.

In April, I hit my first DNS for the Lakefront 10 Miler.

Then in May, I had my second DNS for the Brooklyn Half.

It is safe to say, I do not like DNSs.

However, as I absolutely LOVE NYC and I'd already paid a non-refundable deposit on my accommodation, I still took a vacation to NYC during the Brooklyn Half race week.

I rented an apartment in someone's basement for the week. It was pretty awesome, as it was WAY cheaper than renting a hotel room, I got my own kitchen to avoid eating out for every meal plus I got a lot more privacy than a hotel.

My little kitchen made the trip much more fun.

There had been visitors from all over the world. I pinned Australia.

Despite not being able to run the race, I still went to the expo, or pre-party as they called it, to pick up my race shirt and check out what was going on. Despite the grey weather, it was a nice set up.

Brooklyn Bridge view from near the pre-party.

The rest of the week, I did lots of sightseeing and neighbourhood wandering. I love just absorbing the NYC feel without having any rigid timetables or plans. This time round, I spent a lot more time in Brooklyn than Manhattan and even checked out Queens.

Welcome to Greenpoint! Thanks!

While my plans are still not decided, I'm pretty sure this was my last visit to NYC during my stint here in the USA, so I was super sad to go.

See ya New York! You've been amazing!!

Not the best quality but the night views were amazing.

Sad face

Have you noticed things have been quiet in this part of the world lately?

Chris is NOT running.

Chris is Injured.

I had my first DNS for the Lakefront 10 Miler a couple of weeks ago (although I did still go and cheer on my friend). And I'm going to have another DNS in a couple of weeks. And that means:

Chris is unhappy.

To spare you all from my unhappiness (and my apparent need to talk about myself in the third person), I've been keeping quiet and I'll likely be quiet until I'm cleared to run again. At this stage, that's looking like the end of May which, thankfully, ties in with my planned marathon training start date.

In the meantime, happy running to everyone else!

April goals

Each month I plan to have four goals, one for each of my 2014 themes. Depending on the goal, I may continue that goal for more than one month but each month will have one new goal per theme.

What's in store for April?

1. Organized: Planning my weeks and prepping what I can in advance. This was a March goal that needs more practice. And my new goal for the month is creating a budget.

2. Positive: I'm in a bit of mental funk right now and desperately need a change in mindset. So April begins #100happydays. I've seen quite a few people doing this and now I'm going to join the happiness bandwagon.

3. Consistent: Stick to my half marathon training plan. We don't want a repeat of the NYC Half when I hit Brooklyn in May.

4. Social: Celebrate my birthday!

March goals - retrospective

My March goals didn't get published but I was still working on them. Here's how I did.

1. Organized: Start planning my meals (actually writing them out) AND doing my grocery shopping on the weekend AND pre-preparing what I can for the week.

Hmm, I was pretty good at the planning part and the grocery shopping part but I didn't do so well on pre-preparing. This meant that my good intentions with planning didn't always lead to good execution. I'm putting this one on my April list to keep working on it.

2. Positive: Make a change that scares me.

I love routine and I generally play things pretty safe. But following the old saying "A change is as good as a holiday" and knowing that holidays make me happy, I challenged myself to make a change in March. That change was cutting my hair short. And I love it! While it's not as short as I planned and many wouldn't understand why that would scare me, it did and I'm super happy for challenging myself to do it.

3. Consistent: March goals will be written AND I will hit at least four quality work outs each week.

I'm giving myself a yes on the goal writing (even though they weren't published) and major miss on the work outs. I did get struck down with a horrible cold again but that wasn't the only thing to get me off track. I'm putting this goal on the back-burner and will revisit again later in the year.

4. Social: Go for coffee/drinks/dinner/other social activity with at least two people I haven't socialized with before.

Yay! Another tick on this one. I went to a comedy show and after work drinks with new people this month.

How are you going with your 2014 goals?

Shamrock Shuffle 2014

Seriously considered not turning up for this race. Felt under-trained and gun-shy after NYC Half.
Happy that the weather has cleared up for race day.
Anyone else disappointed with the race shirt? Felt like it was more about the sponsor than the race.
Morning pre-race routine was maintained. Out of the house with time to spare.
Racers packed the train downtown.
Once I got to the CARA area at the Congress Hotel I started feeling more psyched to be there.
Can't decide what to wear. Long tights or shorts? How warm is it going to get before I finish?
Keep on long sleeve shirt but go with the shorts.

Super crowded for the start.
Hustling to get ahead of the people in front of me.
Under Wacker, left on Grand, before I know it we're down State and at two miles in.
Feeling good. Pace is solid and I'm continuing to pass people.
Flat 30:00 for the 5k by my watch. Now it's really time to pick up the pace.
Lowering my pace with every kilometer. Can't remember my time for last year so push extra hard, feeling like a PR is possible.
Excellent result - 8km PR by over a minute and my racing confidence is restored!

I know lots of people ran this race. I hope you all had a great time too!

A tale of two races

This is the tale of two races. Two half marathons, in fact, run six weeks apart.

The first half marathon was part of the Melbourne Music Marathon Festival and was held on February 2 in Melbourne, Florida. The second half marathon was the NYC Half (in NYC!) on March 16.

They couldn't have been more different!

Melbourne Half Marathon
This race was recommended to me by a co-worker: a relatively flat race in Florida during winter, run along the water with some fabulous views. Add to that, the fact that the race was in Melbourne, and I'm from Melbourne, Australia, I just had to do it.

I headed down to Florida on the Friday, so got to spend the weekend enjoying warm temperatures. January was so miserable in Chicago that for the two weeks before the race I was ridiculously excited about any temperature that was above freezing. I was practically delirious about temperatures that would support wearing shorts!

The race expo, which I attended on Saturday, was small and easy to get through. I picked up my bib, shirt and cap then headed to the beach to enjoy the sun and warmth. My Chicago winter skin wasn't up to the adventure, so I only stayed out for a short while. It was glorious while it lasted though.

Beaching out

The rest of the day was spent doing a little exploring around the historic downtown area. I kept things low key, knowing I needed to give my legs a break before the race on Sunday.

On Sunday morning I awoke to warm temps (much warmer than I'm comfortable running in) and heavy fog. I ran the mile or so from my hotel to the start line as a warm up. The marathoners (as there was a marathon on at the same time) started 30 minutes before the half. There was a pretty good turn out for the half marathon and once the race got underway, the course was quite congested for the first couple of miles. My training leading up to the race had been relatively good, however, a chest cold a couple of weeks out together with an extraordinarily slow and difficult long run the week prior had me dubious about producing a solid race. I did my best to settle into a comfortable pace and focused finding the best path through the crowded early miles.

After about four or five miles of highway running, we hit the first of the two long bridges (aka hills) on the course. I had been promised beautiful water views when tackling this part of the course but the fog remained and I couldn't even see the crest of the bridge (which was somewhat of a blessing for my flatland legs). On the other side of the bridge we moved into a more residential area. The fog was denser here and at times I couldn't see more than a few houses ahead of me. I was in a good rhythm and feeling strong until around mile nine. A handful of gummy bears perked me up and I hit the second bridge feeling optimistic. Again, the fog dismissed any thoughts of taking in the view. I passed a lot of runners at this point of the course and a glance at my watch with under two miles to go had me thinking a PR was a possibility.

I crossed the finish line in 2:15:32. A PR by around 45 seconds!

There was a post-race party with beer and pizza. I visited briefly and then ran (slowly!) back to my hotel.

This was a great race and I would definitely recommend it. Although the fog prevented me from enjoying the views, it helped keep the warm temps manageable and contributed to my PR (no slowing down for sightseeing).

NYC Half
I love New York City and will use any excuse to visit. The NYC Half runs via a lottery system and I put my name in after seeing an email about it in late 2013. The draw was in December and I was disappointed when I wasn't selected. Then, a few weeks later they extended the field size and had a second drawing in January. This time I was lucky!

After Melbourne, my training was extremely patchy. I was running. But not very often and not very far.

I flew into New York (technically, I flew into New Jersey) on Saturday and headed straight from the airport to the expo. It was very crowded so I dashed in to pick up my bib and race shirt but didn't stay to browse the booths. There were just too many people! From the expo, I walked to my hotel, taking in the city as I went. I got a room upgrade when I checked in, giving me the largest NYC hotel room I've ever stayed in. It was a shame I was only staying one night and wouldn't really get to make the most of it. After I having a rest, I headed out to explore the city a little more. After wandering around for a few hours (not really the best plan the night before a half marathon!) I grabbed sushi for dinner and hit the sack early in the city than never sleeps.

Carb loading, sushi style!

On race morning it was cold and cloudy. I was only a few blocks from Central Park, where the race started, but left around 90 minutes before race time because of the large amount of security in place for the race. The cut off times to check bags and enter the corrals were pretty early compared to the actual race start time. I checked my bag (which ended up having only a back up t-shirt in it because it was too cold to take off any other layers) and headed to my start corral. We passed through two sets of metal detectors/police security checks before reaching the corral. And then I stood there for 30 minutes before the race started. Getting colder by the minute.

Security line

Essentially, the first two or three miles of this race were not great for me. It took over two miles for me to regain feeling in my hands and feet after waiting in the cold at the start. And it hurt once it started coming back too. On top of that, my tights just kept falling down. Following the 'nothing new on race day' rule, I had run in these tights countless times before without this being an issue. In fact, I had run in these tights days before the race without there being an issue. After pulling off to the side of the road a couple of times to readjust, I bit the bullet and joined a ridiculously long toilet line to try and sort things out once and for all. I knew this wasn't going to be a great race for me (see patchy training comment above) but lining up for 10 minutes was beyond frustrating! I executed a very thorough readjustment process once I got into a port-a-potty then hit course again. Thankfully, whatever it was that was causing the falling down was resolved and it was smooth sailing from that point forward.

The first six miles of the race were pretty much all in Central Park. The winding streets and hills did not make this my favorite part of the course. We exited the park onto Seventh Avenue where I started to enjoy myself. We continued down Seventh Avenue to and through Times Square and then turned toward west along 42nd Street. I paused to take some photos during this early street running and was looking around at the city as I went.

Heading down Seventh Avenue

Bright lights in Times Square

Once we hit 12th Avenue/West Side Highway, we also hit a freezing wind and the warmth I had just begun to enjoy was quickly taken away from me. There was some good entertainment on this part of the course, helping greatly with the fact that my lack of training was making itself feel very apparent at this point.

Once we made our way down to Battery Park, the course went underground and we had a stretch going through the tunnel. And then we emerged and the finish line was not far away.

I struggled my way to the finish line with my worst half marathon finish time to date. I am torn with this result. Excluding how I felt physically, I loved running in New York City. My finish time, if I exclude the time I lost dealing with my wardrobe issues, is less disappointing and given how under-trained I was, anything better would have been completely undeserved. But coming off a PR race, a PW race is blow to the ego.

Having done this race once, I can't say I'd want to do it again. The entry price was high and it's a little early in the year for good weather. But for anyone who wants to run through Manhattan, it's a well organized race and you get to see some great parts of the city.

So there you go. Two half marathons, with very different experiences and very different results. My next half marathon is in May, where I'm hoping for a combination of all the good points from each of the races here: Good weather, great sights and a shiny new PR!

February goals

Each month I plan to have four goals, one for each of my 2014 themes. Depending on the goal, I may continue that goal for more than one month but each month will have one new goal per theme.

What's in store for February?

1. Organized: Start planning my meals (actually writing them out) AND doing my grocery shopping on the weekend AND pre-preparing what I can for the week.

And finish off my January goal of organizing those boxes.

2. Positive: I'd like to continue to work on practicing gratitude. My new positivity goal for February is taking my lunch break away from my desk once a week. I scheduled some "be happy" time in my calendar this week and it completely turned my day around.

3. Consistent: March goals will be written AND I will hit at least four quality work outs each week.

4. Social: My social goal is attend a new social event (new place or new people).

February is already starting off well, as I've escaped the Chicago deep freeze! Getting away from the cold to run my first half marathon for 2014 is certainly helping me feel positive!

Training: January

In case you missed it, January was COLD!

I didn't get in the kind of training I was hoping for this month due to a combination of the weather and getting sick during the month.

Not workout related, unless you call walking though the snow a workout.
It is pretty though.

In January I ran:
13 times
A total distance of 68 miles
For nearly 13 hours

I also did 4 core workouts, 8 rehab workouts, 2 strength workouts

Frozen lake

I'm looking forward to a more consistent February.

January goals - retrospective

Back at the beginning of the month, I set some goals for January. Now it's time to see how I did!

1. Organized: My goal was to clear out four boxes of 'stuff' in my living room.

Of the four boxes, I got got through about one and half. I travelled a bit at the beginning of the month and then got struck down with the plague. Not a success but I'll put on February's list of goals. It will get done!

2. Positive: I planned, every day for at least one week, to write down three things I am grateful for.

Done-ish! I didn't write down but I did use my workout time to reflect on things I'm grateful for. I'm happy with that progress.

3. Consistent: Write my February goals!

Done! I'll post these tomorrow.

4. Social: I wanted to write up a birthday/celebration list and schedule dates to send cards.

Done! List completed and some cards are already sent.

So, not perfect, but moving in the direction I want to and that's enough.


For anyone else who set goals, how are you going?

January goals

Each month I plan to have four goals, one for each of my 2014 themes. Depending on the goal, I may continue that goal for more than one month but each month will have one new goal per theme.

What's in store for January?

1. In the theme of being organized, in January I will throw away any unused, no longer needed (or more likely, they were never needed in the first place) items stored in four archive boxes I have in my living room. These boxes and their contents have not only moved house with me a number of times but also half way around the world. And in the 18 months I've lived in Chicago, I have sought out items in them maybe three times!

2. In the theme of being positive, every day for at least one week I will write down three things I am grateful for.

When I was planning my January goals, one of the things I was considering was working on reducing how judgmental of myself I can be. Then this came through my twitter feed.


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

It made me laugh! And also helped me decide to work on gratitude first. Changing thoughts is not a one step, one month process!

3. In the theme of being consistent, in January I will write my February goals!

4. In the theme of being social, I will write up a birthday/celebration list and schedule dates to send cards. I really have to plan ahead with this because the US to Australia postal service = very inconsistent timing. Sometimes it takes just over a week, sometimes it takes three weeks! Ridiculous!! I will purchase cards and send them to my friends and family who have a birthday this month or early February.

So, there you have it. Please ignore the fact that there isn't a single running related goal here, despite that this blog is supposed to be about running.

And, yes, I did notice my excessive use of exclamation points. Maybe one of my February goals should be about reducing my exclamation point use?

Four themes for 2014

I have four themes for what I'd like to focus on in 2014.

1. Positive
Practice positivity in how I think, how I speak, how I communicate.

2. Social
Stay in touch with friends and family. Extend my networks.

3. Consistent
Areas where I would like to improve my consistency: Training, Nutrition, Self-care.
Make time each and every week to focus on what I want and plan how I will get there.

4. Organized
De-clutter. Organize. Plan ahead.

I plan to use these areas of focus to set myself monthly goals. January's goals are currently in progress...watch this space!

Quick! It's almost over!

In case you've missed it, 2013 is nearly done. And in the spirit of being a mediocre running blogger (what do you mean it's been over a month since I last posted?!) I figured I drop some quick 2013 stats.

I ran an official 961 miles (1,546km) this year. There are possibly some more unofficial miles but if it ain't in my Garmin list then it doesn't count.

In those 961 miles, I did 13 races totaling 152.2 miles (244.9km):
Chicago Marathon

My first marathon!

F^3 Lake Half Marathon
Nashville Country Music Half Marathon
Get Lucky Half Marathon

Didn't feel too lucky running in this wind

Chicago Spring Half Marathon
Chicago Women's Half Marathon
Rock n Roll Chicago Half Marathon
Rock n Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon (oops, no recap of this. It was Vegas-y)

Viva Las Vegas

Lakefront 10 Miler

Snow. In April. Not what they told me before I moved here!

Soldier Field 10 Miler

I got a sneak peek at the medals by volunteering for this race.

NYRR New York Mini 10K
Shamrock Shuffle
Burgers and Beer 5K

I traveled to and ran (albeit not always a lot) in places I've never been/run in before:
Nashville

Honky Tonk Heroes

Atlanta

Georgia Aquarium

San Francisco

San Francisco icon

New York City

Love this skyline

Washington DC

Capitol Building

Philadelphia

Elfreth's Alley

And I met 43 people (not really, I don't actually know how many, but it was lots) through running.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with this. Without wanting to put too much pressure on myself, next year I'd like to hit up a few more miles but if 2014 is half as good as 2013 I'll be smiling.

I'm still here!

I just realised I was about to hit all of November without checking in here! Oops!!

Why has it been so quiet? I had a bit of blogger burnout. I'm sure you were a bit tired of reading the same old, same old too.

And with that, I don't have much new to say. In the absence of words, here's what I've been up to/seen over the past six (?!) weeks in pictures.

Way back at the end of October I went to a couple of talks at Chicago Ideas Week.
It was awesome.

Being a Chicago tourist. Trying to make the most of this city while I'm here.

Rock n Roll Las Vegas half marathon

Volunteering at races

More Rock n Roll Las Vegas half marathon

Selecting Christmas gifts for family and friends from the SkyMall catalog on the plane.
Who wouldn't want a portrait of their pet styled in 17th century clothing?!

Speaks for itself really

Chicago Marathon Race Musings

I am sad that I don't think I can fully capture and express how the day went. So this is not a race recap, so much as it's my musings on the day with a bit of recap thrown in for flavour.

I slept surprisingly well the night before. The first time I woke up was after 1.30, which was much better than I had expected. I eventually got up around 4.30 to start getting ready and eat a little breakfast. At 5.30 I headed out towards the Red line with a stop to pick up coffee along the way. I started spotting fellow runners as soon as I stepped out my front door.

Because I'd done the CARA Marathon training program, I had access to a special CARA area at the Hilton hotel with gear check plus we had our own special port-a-potties near the start line (something I should have made better use of). I dropped off my bag and met up with a few of the girls from my training group. We got a few group shots and then headed for the start.

Excited before the race

Waiting for things to get started

I started with the girls from my group but lost them after the first water station. The early miles flew by. I was trying to look at everything and memorise the experience. Of course, now, it's all a blur. I remember smiling heaps and trying to high five every kid who had their hand out. At around mile 5 I knew I needed to take a bathroom break. It's moments like these that I am jealous of the guys and how they can make use of the trees. The lines at the toilets were just too long for me though to take a break, so I kept on.

The support on the course was fantastic from start to finish. While there were stretches that were quieter than others, I never felt like I was out there on my own. The huge number of people around me running helped with that too. I am so happy to have had the opportunity to run Chicago as my first marathon.

To say I had favourite parts would not be accurate. There are just parts I remember more clearly: people standing on the bridge supports to get above the crowd and cheer, the music and colour of Boystown, the familiarity of Lincoln Park, the huge support and camaraderie on Charity Row, colour and dancing beats in Pilsen, super slippery banana peels after the 20 mile marks. Unfortunately, there were so many parts of the course when I really didn't know where I was. Note to self: Experience more Chicago!!

My pace plan for the race was to try and keep things even. It's pretty safe to say I have identified an area that I can continue to work on. I would say that for the first 30km or so I wasn't too bad. But after there things slowed down. There was no wall. This was mostly a reflection of tired legs and not being confident enough in my abilities. It's so easy now to look back on things and say I should have done things different.

Going in to the race I had a few goals:

1) Finish - it's your first marathon, so just be happy with getting across the finish line. It's no small achievement. But I ultimately knew that I would be disappointed if this was the only goal I achieved.

2) Sub-5:00 - this goal was the one that I fixated on and had repeatedly told myself I wasn't willing to compromise on.

3) Sub-4:45 - my "wouldn't it be nice" goal. But I never believed I could do 4:45, even though a variety of pace calculators said I could. And while in my head I thought about this quite frequently, I never mentally committed to achieving it. This was my undoing. My 20/20 hindsight says this was well within my reach.

When I got tired and sore after the 30km mark, I knew that I had enough time left to meet sub-5:00 while relaxing my pace. Sub-5:00 was the goal I had mentally committed to. So slow down I did.

An illustration of not maintaining an even pace

Please don't get me wrong. I am beyond happy that I am a marathoner. I am also very pleased with my 4:53:22 finish time. But the feeling that I didn't live up to my potential is nagging at me somewhat. But maybe that's what the next marathon is for?

Now, as I limp around nursing a very strained left leg (I could even concede injured given my swollen and crunchy knee), as the endorphin buzz of the day has worn off, how do I feel?

Chicago Marathon.
I loved every minute of you even when I was hating you.
You were all that I had hoped for and more.
You will were worth all that I put into training for you - every early morning, every mile on the treadmill, every blister, every toenail, everything.

You were the time of my life.

Chicago Marathon Training Week #..., whatever

I've been somewhat absent from the internet as I have been having a small meltdown.

When last we spoke I was considering giving the New York Marathon a go, mere weeks after having theoretically completed my first marathon, aka the all consuming fixation I've had for the past six months, aka Chicago Marathon. I really appreciated the feedback that I got and spent a lot of mental energy trying to make a decision.

On Sunday I travelled to San Francisco and did about three hours of walking around the city before I could check in to my hotel. By the time I got to my hotel my left leg (the leg that isn't actually injured but likes to pretend that it is) was very achy. And at that point I pretty much decided that I wasn't prepared to push myself for NY. Plus by not doing the New York Marathon this year, it can remain on my bucket list and that gives me an excuse to come back again some time in the future. I love NYC so I'll take any excuse I can get to visit.

Now, onto the training. Or not.

The past couple of weeks have been disastrous. I didn't run at all while in San Francisco. If you're a San Francisco lover, I suggest you stop reading now.

I did not like San Francisco. The entire time I was there, no matter which part of the city I was in, I felt pretty uncomfortable. My hotel did not have a gym and I did not want to run outside, so I didn't run. I did, however, walk. A lot. And up hills. A lot. I more than covered my planned mileage so I don't feel like the week was a complete wash. But I do. And then I don't. I can't decide on anything at the moment.

I walked here from down town

And I walked here too

I walked up a hill to take this pic.
Because the government shut down I couldn't actually go to Alcatraz and be a proper tourist.

That's the hill I walked up for the previous photo.

View of down town area from the Presidio. No prizes for guessing I walked here.

And this week I am travelling again for work. And I'm tapering. Which means I've got nothing to talk about as far as running is concerned. Unless you want me to talk about how this is all possibly the end of the world because I'm supposed to be running a race this weekend and I've done virtually no running for the past two weeks.

I kind of wish it was Sunday already. I suspect this is not unique to me but I am more than a little anxious about the disruptions to my routine. Plus, I have so many expectations for this race and I just want to experience it all NOW!!

Anyone else going crazy?

How crazy would it be if?

I was "offered" a (not free) spot in the New York marathon today via someone at my running group. What follows are the various thoughts that went through my head.

"Sure, I'm interested."
"Um, you haven't run one marathon yet. Do you really think you can do another one four weeks later?"
"I don't have to race New York, just finish it."
"You might not be living in the US for New York next year. It will be expensive trying to find a hotel, flights, etc now but it's still cheaper than flying half way around the world."
"You are beginning to hurt from Chicago training. Adding another marathon is insane."
"Remember, you're trying to run smarter here. Two marathons in a month might set you back a long way in running health."
"But I want to!!"

Being the good blogger that I am, I figured the smartest thing to do would be ask all of you what you think.

Additional information that's may be relevant in making this decision:

• I need to decide by Monday.
• Going into Chicago Marathon, I am not injured but I am feeling a bit beat up from the training.
• NY won't be a cheap endeavour but it won't send me bankrupt. It would mean only one or two races total in 2014 though.
• One of my running goals for 2014 is a half marathon PR and stretch goal is to go sub 2:00. Ideally I wanted to try this early 2014 as my fastest 2013 times were all pre-April.

On a scale of "Not necessarily smart but do-able" to "Are you out of your mind? No way!!", what do you think?

In the interest of full disclosure, I will probably end up ignoring any feedback that I don't want to hear. But at this point I'm not entirely sure what it is that I do want to hear.

Chicago Marathon Training Week #15

aka The week that didn't go so well

As I write this - under three weeks to go!!

Monday

Travelling wrote off the morning. I had intentions of getting in a run in the afternoon but my leg hurt, I was tired and basically I threw a tantrum. To compensate for my lack of activity I made sure to have ice cream after dinner.

Tuesday

This week is shaping up to be a winner. Nothing today either - early start, sore leg, inner-three-year-old saying "I don't wanna! I don't wanna". More ice cream (hey, three-year-olds like ice cream).

Wednesday

AM: 4 miles (6.4km) - 41:52

Took this run carefully, straying no further than one mile from the hotel. I didn't really relish the thought of having to walk miles back in the dark if my leg didn't want to play. Luckily it worked out OK.

Nothing exciting to report. I did encounter one spider's web and I'm sure I looked like a complete freak to people driving past while I was waving my arms about trying to get it off me.

Thursday

Another early start and then travel back to Chicago that night left the day run-less.

Friday

AM: Strength session - 30:00
AM: 5 miles (8km) - 51:17

Got in a strength session followed by a run before work. Felt so good to be back in my regular routine (although, I'm travelling so much it really should just be part of my routine). The leg wasn't completely off but it wasn't right either. If I make sure to roll heaps, it definitely helps.

Saturday

Quiet day. Following my training plan I rested in preparation for the Ready to Run 20 Miler on Sunday.

Sunday

AM: CARA Ready to Run 20 miler (32km) - 3:40:45

My second 20 mile run in this training cycle (also my second 20 mile run ever) and my last "long" long run before the marathon. Hello taper!

I actually really enjoyed this run. I started off with my training group, then got separated somewhere along the way (because I can't keep a pace and shot off on my own). Then found them again after I took a restroom break (need to avoid doing that during the marathon). Finished out the run with one of the girls from my group, feeling strong and practicing a fast finish (actually sprinted to the finish line because I'm stupidly competitive (when I think that I'm ballpark same level) and just had to win).

Other than a couple of minutes after the run where I felt like I might pass out/throw up/die (I just needed to eat something), I pulled up pretty well.

One of the highlights of the day was the transportation back to downtown/start line. School buses! For this Australian girl, riding in a yellow school bus was embarrassingly exciting.

After I got home, had a shower and ate some lunch (hot soup and a grilled cheese sandwich never tasted so good!!) I took myself off for a massage. This confirmed exactly how tight my hips and left leg are (were? hopefully the massage reduced some of that). Unfortunately, by Sunday night it became apparent that I've inflamed my foot again. Luckily I have a good supply of ice packs in the freezer now, in anticipation of such events.

This Week's (less that ideal) Stats

• Total miles: 29 (46.4 km)
• Total running time: 5 hours 13 minutes 54 seconds
• Total running workouts: 3
• Total cross training workouts: 0
• Total strength workouts: 1

Chicago Marathon Training Week #14

One month out! The anticipation is really beginning to build now.

Monday

AM: 5.75 miles (9.2km) - 1:01:08
PM: Strength session - 30:00

After blathering on in my weekly recap last week about loving running and feeling so lucky to be able to do what I do, I dragged my tired self out the door this morning for a 6-ish mile run. Those Boomtown Rats had it right - I don't like Mondays. But I do like running and I remembered that about 2 miles in. This was a sluggish and slightly petulant run and came up a quarter mile short of my intended distance.

After work I snuck in a strength workout.

Tuesday

AM: 5.25 miles (8.4km) - 54:33

Too much strength work Monday night left me pretty tired this morning. Add in the summery temps and this was just hard work. Felt like I was dragging the whole way.

Wednesday

AM: 7 miles (11.2km) - 1:11:14
PM: Strength session - 30:00

Still tired. Still hot. But much better run today.

More strength stuff after work.

Thursday

Rest Day! Seriously, Thursday is my most absolute favourite day of the week!!

Friday

AM: 8 miles (12.8km) - 1:14:02

I already did a happy dance about this here.

Fab running temps and humidity today! The run was effortless, even with the application of some effort to my run. There was a decent wind coming from the north which had the lake stirred up. I saw one guy get hammered by a wave over the path at Fullerton. Felt bad for him but was kind of glad I saw it happen as it made me push my way through there As Quick As Possible!

Saturday

AM: 5.32 miles (8.5km) - 58:04
AM/PM: Cycling - 40:00
PM: Strength session - 30:00

Started off my day with my weekly long run. 14 miles on the cards.

Made it 4 miles south before deciding to cut things short and turn around for home. Only managed another mile or so (OCD tendencies are so not happy about that .32) before I decided enough was enough. Caught the bus back home. My left heel had been hurting a little Friday but I iced it and had high hopes for Saturday. After I woke up it felt OK and figured I'd be good to go. I walked for a mile to join my training group as a warm and was generally feeling OK. Two miles in I was feeling a fair amount of tightness in my left leg from hip to heel. Three miles in I knew this wasn't loosening up and the pain in my heel was coming back. Four miles in I figured it was safer to skip the full run than really hurt myself. Five miles and I was so uncomfortable that catching the bus just seemed like the best option.

I foam rolled, used the stick, a tennis ball and ice at home. This seemed to help some. Then I headed to a training session with a strength coach. I rode my bike there and back (it's clearly been a very long time since I rode my bike because it was Hard. Work.) to keep me off my feet. The session was really good and left feeling nicely shaky.

Thankfully I wasn't too shaky because I finished out my day with a seminar at Fleet Feet called Run Your Best. It was hosted by Newton Running and Runner's World and had Bart Yasso and Paula Newby-Fraser and speakers. There was also a running clinic where we practiced some techniques for improving speed and efficiency. Possibly not my best move doing more running but it was pretty low key and I had felt like I got a bit out of it. xaarlin was there too and we had a chat while practicing the 'superman' and other drills in the clinic. I also got some marathon pacing advice from Bart Yasso - planning my negative split for the marathon - so clearly I'm now pretty much set.

Sunday

Was hoping I'd get in a few miles to top up yesterday's shortened run but my leg was still not up to it.

This Week's Stats

• Total miles: 31.33 (50.1 km)
• Total running time: 5 hours 19 minutes 01 seconds
• Total running workouts: 5
• Total cross training workouts: 1
• Total strength workouts: 3

Loving it!

I'm feeling extra happy today and felt the need to share.

I woke up this morning and knew the wind was blowing out of the north - my building creaks in a particular way. And a wind from the north means cooler temps.

I love it! Temperatures somewhere in the 50s and low humidity. Ideal running weather (well, a little colder wouldn't hurt).

Today's run was effortless. And yet I ran an average pace one minute faster than usual. My entire eight miles were between 8:30 and 9:50, something previously unheard of. It would appear that the miles of training really are paying off.

I am a much better runner now than I was this time last year. I am a much better runner now than I was six months ago! I feel like I say this far too often and yet not often enough - I am so happy training for this marathon.