Chicago Marathon Training - Week 1

I ended week 1 with a nice 12.26 mile run yesterday. It was a beautiful morning and I finished just before it started to get hot. I tried a new route and only encountered one ill-tempered dog.....he got a face full of Gatorade too.

Week 1 called for a total of 36 miles.....a bit high for the first week, but I rolled with it. I'm using a training plan from Runner's World Smart Coach. I'm still working on getting my pace to where it should be, but my endurance feels pretty good. I have noticed some pain in my left leg....perhaps new IT Band issues....so I'll have to watch it. I've read about runners who get IT Band syndrome in one leg, let it heal, and then get it in the other leg right away......

Yesterday's run:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/38328055

Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday: 7 miles
Thursday: 8 miles
Saturday: 12.26 miles

Easy Rider

Thanks to my bro, Hendo, yesterday I was able to get in my first ever road bike ride!! After a quick 4 hour 'nap' (thanks to a night out with friends), I woke up and drove to Hendo's house. We were on the road just before 0730. We hit a route through the deep...deep back country.....and it was a BLAST! We were planning to do around 20 miles, but we were both feeling pretty good so we made it to 27.27 miles. It was absolutely awesome....I loved it. I'll admit, there were a couple of hills that really kicked my butt, but I truly enjoyed the challenge. I think I could definitely get used to the biking thing on my non-running days.....or maybe even on my running days???

Later yesterday afternoon I found myself with a really strong desire to....SWEAT! Plus, the weather was amazing (read: HOT), so I had to get outside. I did a very nice and relaxing 'recovery' 5 mile run. It was awesome just to get outside and sweat some more.

Today is Father's Day, so I'm sitting back and replenishing all of the carbs that I lost yesterday!! :)

Turkeying Around

I did another last minute decision 5k this weekend....the Tremont Turkey Festival 5k! Believe it or not, but this was my first ever Turkey Festival 5k....which is strange because I went to school at Tremont! I was pretty nervous about the race...I really wasn't planning to do any 5ks this summer because I figured the speed work might be too stressful on the knee, and I certainly don't want to do anything that will delay my training plan for Chicago. But....I woke up to a very muggy morning on Saturday and decided to make it happen. AND...the wifey AND the Mom2 ran it with me!!!! This was the wifey's first ever 5k...so how cool is that??!!

I saw a lot of folks that I know/went to school with....many of which did not recognize me! ;) I also saw the Johnson family, who completely ROCKED the course, as always (those dudes are amazing!!).

Considering that last week was really my first week back from IT Band recovery, I was pretty pleased with my time - 21:45. Not a PR, but I still pushed it pretty good. Overall, it was a great experience and a race that I'll probably continue to run. There's talk of a mini-triathlon in Tremont in a couple of weeks....Hmmmm.....

Race results: http://www.lakerunclub.org/results/2010/TTF_5K_OVERALL.HTM

Me with my Turkey...errr...game-face on pre-race

The wifey and Mom2 ready to pound out 3.1!!!

Sixes and Fixes

I'm up to 6 miles now!! I did 5.5 on Wednesday and then 6 yesterday. Still not fast by any means, but I'm getting there. Wednesday's pace was around 8:32 while Friday's was close to 8:44. It was friggin hot out there folks!! My IT band was hurtin a little bit on Wednesday.....BUT, on Friday....there was NO pain!!!! Not sure what changed really. I did wear an IT band support wrap on Friday's run, but that hasn't done much for me before, so who knows. Regardless, it felt SUPER....for the first time in a while, I felt FIXED.

I'm still going to take it slow as I build myself back up, but I really feel like I'm getting there. It's amazing how far back I fell though in terms of speed and endurance. I have some serious work to do on my breathing and hydration which should help things a bit.

Rock out!