I have now completed the Chicago Marathon and it was awesome! I loved the experience of training, the training program was rewarding and motivating. The actual race day was equally amazing, running with 40,000 people with the entire city of Chicago cheering at the sidelines. What a great way to see the spectacular city of Chicago! Less than one week post-marathon and I'm already thinking about the next one. What a great experience!
Since September 24th, these have been my runs:
Wednesday, September 28: 4 miles
Thursday, September 29: 8 miles
Sunday, October 2: 6 miles
Wednesday, October 5: 3 miles
Thursday, October 6: 4 miles
Sunday, October 9: 26.2 miles!
Total: 51.2 miles
This makes my entire cumulative training over the course of the marathon event (drum roll please!): 445.7 miles!
Enjoy the photos below of my marathon experience:
Saturday, September 24 2011
Almost there! I am officially in the "marathon taper" phase of the training, where you let your body rest and shorten your runs before the big race. The marathon is officially in 15 days! Wow! I was going to try to get one more long run in before the race, but because of some story weather, I didn't manage to do that. However, I still feel confident in my ability to at least finish the marathon. It's been a long training process and I'm excited for October 9th. Since I last updated, my runs have gone as follows:
Saturday, September 10th: 20 miles
Thursday, September 15th: 8 miles
Sunday, September 18th: 8 miles
Wednesday, September 21st: 8 miles
Saturday, September 24th: 10 miles
Due to some late hours I've been working at work, I haven't been able to run as many times during the week, but I've been running home from work at least once a week, therefore, increasing the length of my run. I was feeling badly about it at first, but looking at my total mileage, it's still about the same. And, as I said, I know I can finish!
Total: 54 miles
Cumulative Total: 394.5 miles
I've almost hit 400!
Wednesday, September 7 2011
I spent most of my last week not running, which makes me a bit nervous to do so close to the marathon race. But I had a busy week at work and took a trip home to plan our wedding so running got a bit lost in the shuffle. I have gotten back in the routine, however, and although I feel a bit like I'm playing catch up, I know I will be prepared for next month's race. Since August 21st, these have been my training runs.
Monday, August 22nd: 4.1 miles (just for Daniele, because it bothered him that my total ended in .9)
Thursday, August 24th: 4 miles
Saturday, August 27th: 18 miles
Saturday, September 3rd: 4 miles
Monday, September 5th: 1.5 miles
Tuesday, September 6th: 4 miles
Wednesday, September 7th: 8 miles
Total: 43.6
Cumulative Total: 340.5 miles
Almost there!
Sunday, August 21 2011
Although the posts may have paused for a bit, my training did not. In the past few weeks the long runs have gotten longer, but I have finished them no problem. Next week my long run will be 18 miles, and I don't have any doubts about my ability to finish it. 26 miles still feels like a big jump but at this point I know I'll get there!
Since the last time I updated, I have completed the following runs:
Wednesday, August 3: 4 miles
Saturday, August 6: 4 miles (in Vermont, we traveled there for a friend's wedding. I was planning on taking the weekend off but couldn't resist the scenic running paths!)
Wednesday, August 10: 3 miles
Friday, August 12: 4 miles
Sunday, August 14: 16 miles
Tuesday, August 16: 4 miles
Wednesday, August 17: 4 miles
Saturday, August 20: 10 miles
Three long runs to go: 18, 20, and then 23 miles before the marathon.
Total: 49 miles
Cumulative total: 296.9 miles (almost hit 300 miles!)
Wednesday, August 3 2011
Here are my most recent runs since my last update:
Monday, July 25: 4 miles
Friday, July 29: 4 miles
Saturday, July 30: 14 miles (and in less time than I ran the Boston half!)
Tuesday, August 2: 4 miles
Total: 26 miles (and 18 of those miles within 20 hours of each other).
Cumulative Total: 237.9 miles
I'm taking a mini-break this week because my long run is only scheduled to be 6 miles, and Daniele and I are taking a trip to Vermont for our friend's wedding...I'm just going to take this week off, however, next week I need to come back and run 16 miles! After the 14 mile run I think I can do it though.
Saturday, July 23 2011
We've been having a heat wave for the past week or so, and it's been difficult to keep up with my training runs, but I have managed to do it with a bit of persistence and rearranging. These are my runs since I last updated.
Thursday, July 14: 4 miles
Sunday, July 17: 5 miles (Ridiculously hot outside, so I postponed my long run)
Tuesday, July 19: 8 miles (Still insanely hot, but a dense fog had formed which kept things wet and cool. Kinda like running through a cloud forest!)
Wednesday, July 20: 4 miles (115 heat index, but, I ran in air conditioning)
Saturday, July 23: 10 miles
Total: 31 miles
Cumulative Total: 211.9 miles
And it's going to get harder from here. 27 miles seems like a lot of miles within one week, but, in just a couple of months I'll be running 26 miles in just a few hours. Over the next month I will need to do a 14-16-and 18 mile run. Eesh.
Tuesday, July 12 2011
And the training continues....
Friday, July 8: 4 miles
Saturday July 9: 12 miles
Tuesday, July 12: 5 miles
+ 1 hour of zumba (does that count as running miles?!)
Total: 21 miles
Cumulative total: 181.9 miles
Tuesday, July 5 2011
I seem to have gotten into a routine with my marathon training now. Running is no longer something I need to think about doing or schedule for, but rather, something that just needs to happen during my week.
For the past week, my runs have included the following:
Thursday, June 30: 3 miles
Saturday, July 2: 10 miles
Tuesday, July 5: 4 miles
Total: 17 miles
Cumulative total: 160.9 miles
It only gets harder from here!
Wednesday, June 29 2011
And the training continues. Since my last update, these are my runs:
Tuesday, June 21: 4 miles
Thursday, June 23: 3 miles
Saturday, June 25: 6 miles
Tuesday, June 28: 4 miles (in which I recorded my fastest mile ever. Exciting!)
Total: 17 miles
Accumulative Total: 143.9 miles!
Sunday, June 19 2011
Despite missing the entire first week of training because of illness, the second week of training hasn't been too bad. In between my full time job, spending time with my fiancee and visiting with friends, I've managed to fit in three runs. Second week success! Hopefully I can keep it up for the rest of the summer. Here are my run totals since the last time I posed.
Thursday, June 9: 3.5 miles
Tuesday, June 14: 4 miles
Friday, June 17: 3 miles
Sunday, June 19: 8 miles
Therefore, my cumulative total here is 18.5 miles bringing my total to 126.9. (This week's total was actually 15 mile, but I added in the extra mileage from last week that I hadn't blogged about yet).
Sunday, June 5 2011
This week, I took the week off. I had planned to go to the chick's run on Tuesday night but I was simply too tired and just took things easy. I did go for a easy five mile run yesterday, but ended up running only about half that distance and walking the other half. The reason for this was that the Chicago weather was simply too hot for running!
I came home to discover that I was exactly right. During a half marathon that took place yesterday in Chicago, one man died of apparently heat-related injuries and 10 other people were taken to the hospital. Scary. I wasn't running a half marathon, but considering all the training I have been doing, I should have had no problem running a mere five miles. But yesterday was difficult and I'm glad I took it easy.
This week the real 'marathon' training begins, although according to the training plan I'm using, things will actually be quite easy until mid-July. The longest run I will need to do in June is 9 miles, which compared to the 13.1 miles I ran last weekend is peanuts. The difficulty will be the heat, so I suppose I will need to run either early in the morning or in the evenings...
Total for this week: 4.5
Total so far: 108.4 miles
Tuesday, May 31 2011
Half marathon in Boston: success. That is, I finished. We actually spent far to much time the day before the race walking around town to see the sites, and therefore, the race was a bit exhausting to complete. Also, there was not near enough water on the course. Nevertheless, I finished, it was fun, and as always, I enjoyed my time spent with my friend Miss Jenny Cole.
The 13.1 half brings my total to 103.9 miles.
Enjoy some photos of our Boston half marathon, Sam Adams, playground visiting extravaganza.
Thursday, May 26 2011
Weekly runs:
Saturday, May 21-8 miles
Tuesday, May 24-4 miles
Weekly total: 12 miles
Total so far: 90.8 miles
This weekend I will travel to Boston to run a half marathon with some girlfriends. Looks like between mile 9 and 10 I will break total 100 miles!
Thursday, May 19 2011
So I'm usually fairly good about sticking to my training plan but last week my work schedule and Chicago weather simply couldn't cooperate. On the weekend, when I would have been able to take a long run, Chicago was 40 degrees and rainy (at the end of May!). So, I skipped my run. This Wednesday I had a big event at work which required me waking up at 5am so I could not attend Fleet Feet's Chicks Run on Tuesday evening.
Therefore, my weekly total for last week was 4 miles on 5/10/11. This weekend I will do a long run and then next weekend is the Boston half...
Total so far: 78.8 miles
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Again, I failed at getting up on Thursday morning for a 2 mile morning run. However, I did finish my longest training run yet today! This will be my longest run before the Boston half marathon in 3 weeks. And then the half marathon is likely to be my longest run until the mileage really starts picking up at the end of July...
Anyways, mileage for this week is as follows:
Tuesday May 3, 2011: 4 miles
Saturday, May 7, 2011: 12 miles
Total this week: 16 miles
Total so far: 74.8 miles
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Run three times in a week: SUCCESS! Here are my running stats for this week.
Tuesday: 3 miles at Fleet Feet's Chicks Run
Thursday: 2.5 cold brisk miles at 630am
Sunday: 10 miles
Total this week: 15.5 miles
Total so far: 58.8 miles
The Boston half marathon is coming up in just a matter of weeks, so I better continue training at this pace!
Saturday, April 23rd, 2011
Once again, I failed at completing three runs this week. Tuesday night I was going to go to the Chick's Fleet Feet run but it was 40 degrees and sleeting. Good thing I didn't because during the time the actual run would have taken place a huge storm began! I did manage to run 2.5 miles in the gym at work instead of going to the group run. Thursday morning, I had planned on running before work, but simply could not force myself to get out of bed. I think this will become much easier as the weather gets warmer and I can just do a quick 3 mile run outside before getting ready for work. My goal moving forward is to do the group run on Tuesday which is 4 miles, 3-4 miles Thursday mornings, and then a long run on Saturday or Sunday.
Back to what I ACTUALLY ran though---2.5 miles on Tuesday and today I completed a long run. 9.6 miles. I had a new ipod and new music to run to as well...although I admit that the new touch ipod is complicated and confusing. I will figure it out though.
Total this week: 12.1 miles
Total so far: 43.3 miles
Sunday, April 17th, 2011
Although I failed at my short-run on Thursday, I did manage to complete a long run this morning. I set out for 9 miles, convinced myself that I would only run 8.5 but ended up running 9.2 total miles! Go me! I am especially proud of this since it was cold, windy, and slightly miserable. But now that I am sitting inside a warm apartment-I feel great about it.
Also, I loved my new Nike shoes and ipod attachment that told me my distance and speed of my running. The only problem: my ipod is so old that it kept needing to restart and I had to add up the total workout as opposed to letting the attachment calculate the total. I guess it's time for a new ipod! But then again, I guess that isn't a big problem is it?
Total so far: 31.2 miles
Thursday, April 14th, 2011
I was going to run three times this week. I failed! I have done one run this week though-4 miles with the chick's group at Fleet Feet. The run was great and I plan to join them every week-great source of womens' empowerment and fitness. I'm extremely excited to get to know the people there.
I did not get up for my run this morning, but I will run a long one this weekend. More to come.
Total so far: 22 miles
Saturday, April 9, 2011
You may be aware that in 2011 I have decided to run the Chicago Marathon. This is no small task-especially for a non-runner! A friend and I will also be running the Boston half-marathon together over memorial day weekend.
Needless to say, that's a lot of running. 39 miles of races plus who knows how many miles of training. I plan on tracking it here, because, I feel like at the end of the next six months I would love to have a total amount of mileage I have ran. So, check back here for training and race updates. Unfortunately, this 'page' feature is designed to be more of a static page as opposed to a blog, but I will continue to update with my mileage by posting the date in bold font.
I am running the marathon and raising funds for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in honor and memory of Doris Matchett. Please visit my page here (and feel free to make a small donation!)
I've gotten back into running in the past couple of months, but for all intensive purposes lets just say I started my training two weeks ago. So here is my mileage so far:
Thursday, March 31: 5 miles
Wednesday, April 6: 5.5 miles
Saturday, April 9: 7.5 miles
Total so far: 18 miles
This week I plan on trying out the chick's run at Fleet Feet. Might as well add a social aspect to my running! Also, last week I ordered a device that will track my mileage and speed on my ipod, so tracking my non-treadmill (aka outdoor) runs will become a whole lot more accurate. I'm very excited about trying it out! (What has my life come to that the most exciting things are new running shoes and running gadgets!)
Thanks for following my training. And, for your enjoyment/entertainment, here are some photos of Jenny, Sara, I running the Chicago half together last fall.
