The 2021 Chicago Marathon: Race Recap

Wow, after almost two years am I really getting to write about a marathon again!? This whole trip feels a little surreal, but I’m so happy to be returning to racing again - and I’m especially glad that it’s for the Chicago marathon, since I’ve been waiting to run it since 2019. Those of you that have been around for a while May remember that while training in 2019 I took a bad side step on a treadmill, and wound up with patellar tracking disorder in my left knee, which pulled the plug on my marathon plans. 

But this time I made it through training, even if there were a few small hiccups. I had to slow down a bit about two months ago, when I just couldn’t hit the paces on my quality runs anymore, after weeks of them going well. Combine that and some dizziness when standing, and I headed to my doctors office. After some blood work, I found out that I was borderline anemic, which explained the fatigue and dizziness. I started taking an iron supplement, and started feeling better just in time to taper. So while it may not be my fastest race, I’m excited that I at least made it to the starting line. 

We flew to Chicago on Saturday morning, so of course I ran around a bit Friday night. When I got out of work Sophie and I went for one last shakeout run, ending at my parents house. Sophie picked up supplies for a pasta dinner send off, and dad prepped the meal while we were running. We had pasta, meatballs, garlic bread, and some caprese salad.  I took a page out of Becs gentry’s book, and treated myself to a glass of wine with the meal. 

After dinner dennis and I had to make a quick pit stop at BJ’s, and then headed home so I could get all of my marathon supplies together. While I had gathered everything I needed into one room (for the most part), I still needed to physically put it into a bag. The biggest decision was designating a “race day” outfit - I had three all laid out as I tried to make a choice. 

By the time I was done packing my bags were stuffed to the brim, but I managed to keep it to carryons. I really did not want to check a bag for a two day trip, even if said trip did include a marathon. I had taken the time earlier in the week to embroider a few “Chicago 26.2” masks, and took a little time to sew them together before getting into bed - nothing like leaving a project until the last minute, right?

Our alarms went off too early on Saturday morning, and our cats were a little annoyed as we got out of bed. We crammed all of our chargers into our luggage, and waited for our Uber driver to pick us up and take us to the airport. 

We were flying out of LaGuardia, much to Dennis’s grumbles about it. That airport is in a constant state of construction, which can make driving around it a bit difficult. But lucky for us, we had a ride. 

It was our first time at LGA since the new security area opened, and we got through it seamlessly. We headed to our gate to wait for the flight to board. I knew that I am not great at eating enough on travel days, so ordered a smoothie while we were at the airport, since I knew it was important to be well fueled the day before a marathon. The joke was on me though - I am so used to making my own dairy-free smoothies at home that it did not even occur to me to make sure the one I ordered had no dairy - but I found out rather quickly once I started drinking it. I was able to sort myself out well enough before getting on the plane, but it was a less than ideal start to the day.

When we landed in Chicago we ordered a lyft to get a ride to our hotel. There were options for public transit, but since we had all of our luggage we decided it would just be easier in a car. As we made our way through the city my excitement for the race grew, as I got glimpses of landmarks I knew we would spot during the marathon.

By the time we got to the hotel I was dizzy with motion sickness. Between the plane and the car I felt like I was spinning. I usually take Dramamine on flights, but had opted not to this time - which was apparently a mistake. I took one at the hotel, hoping it would help a little at least. 

We were too early to check into our room, but were able to leave our luggage there while we headed to the expo. I needed to get some food in me ASAP, so we went to the McDonalds right across the street- not the best thing to eat the day before the marathon, but I knew that their breakfast sandwiches usually sit fine with me. By the time we were done eating the meds had kicked in, and I felt much better. 

The next plan was to head to the expo. Den really wanted to walk, but I couldn’t justify that long of a walk the day before a marathon. So we took the subway, which was surprisingly easy to navigate. I didn’t even go a station in the wrong direction, like I pretty much do every time I take the subway in NYC. 

It was a quick ride and then a short walk to the expo. Approaching the building it didn’t seem too crowded - and then we got inside and saw the winding line of runners. There was even a whole giant room just of winding lines! It took us about 45 minutes from when we got on line to get into the expo. When we finally got to the entrance they checked our covid vaccine cards and gave us bracelets, which we were told to keep on for the duration of the weekend. 
Once we got inside the expo if didn’t feel too crowded, and there were a few rows of vendors to go through. First things first, we headed for the bib pickup. They checked my ID and scanned my QR code, and directed me to a table. It was a quick and easy process. From there we were able to go and get my race shirt, and then walked through the many tables. 

I didn’t buy much - I was surprised at  the lack of marathon specific merch. Nike didn’t even have the finisher gear available to buy - you had to go to their store or order it online! I did pick up some throwaway jackets for NYC that were only $5 (I didn’t plan to bring throwaway layers to Chicago, as temps would start in the 70s that morning), a saucony marathon shirt, a pair of oofos, and some assorted freebies. The Bank of America was handing out posters with the course map on them, which were really nice! 

Once we left the expo we headed back towards the hotel, and chose a ramen restaurant near by to eat lunch at. Dennis really like to try a ramen place at any city we visit (his running favorite is still San Francisco), so it was on our list of places to eat. Had I eaten ramen the day before my longest training run to see how it would sit? YUP. This may be the most prepared my stomach had ever been. 

By the time we were done eating our hotel room was ready, and we were planning to have a chill night in so I could stay off my feet as much as possible. We watched Jurassic park and the beginning of hocus pocus, and I ate a dinner consisting of crackers, tuna, and mac and cheese - I know, not the best pre-marathon meal, but I was too nervous about unknown food at that point to try to order takeout from somewhere. Before bed I took my time setting up all my gear for the following mornings race. 

We were both pooped from the long day of travel, and were very happy with an early bedtime. 

On race morning Den and I left the hotel a little after 5:30, since the race documentation recommended that wave two runners get to the start area by 6 am. We opted to walk to the start - it was less than a mile and we were sure plenty of runners would be heading in the same direction. 

As we left the hotel and other runner joined us, who happened to be from Long Island too! We chatted with her as we made our way to the start, and parted ways when we passed a Dunkin doughnuts and she popped in for coffee. 

Dennis and I said goodbye at the edge of grant park, since at that point the street was full of runners. He headed back to the hotel, and I headed into the start area. Not gonna lie, at this point I was already ready to cry! I was just so happy to be at a race like this again. It felt like coming home after a crazy two years. 

The Chicago marathon doesn’t allow any open bottles to come into the start area, so I had to dump the nuun I was drinking - I had prepared for this though, and had the powder to make another drink and a closed bottle to mix it with. I usually carry my clear gear bag within a drawstring backpack, and today was no exception. When it’s time for security I just dump the contents from the drawstring to the clear bag, and throw the drawstring into my checked bag - but they actually made me dispose of the drawstring at security, which surprised me. 

Chicago is a “world marathon major,” just like NYC, so leading up to race day I anticipated that getting to the start area and the start area itself would be just as intense as NYC. I had even googled “Chicago marathon start village” at least a dozen times, and was shocked that I could not find more details about it. Well runners, if that is the info that you came here looking for, I must report that the start is much more laid back than NYC. Sure, there are a lot of people. But at no point did it feel chaotic. I walked into the start, and easily navigated my way through everything.

The corrals were right after security, but I kept following the stream of runners that were going further into grant park, since I needed to find a bathroom and gear check. I found a row of porter potties quickly, that somehow had no line!? It felt like a race morning miracle. 

But imagine my surprise as the unit rocked as I stepped into it - and promptly stepped out. I didn’t need to fall into that “WHAT IF IT TIPS” thought spiral. I found another, more stable unit to take care of business in. 

It felt too early to get into the corrals, so I kept following the flow of runners and headed further into the park. I kept walking and eventually found my bag check area, and plopped down near the fountain to hang out for a while before the race. I didn’t have to been in my corral until 7:45, and I had more than an hour to kill. 

I watched as the sun slowly came up, but thanks to an overcast sky, there was no grand sunrise on race morning. I hoped that the cloud coverage would last through the race, because they were projecting temps in the high 70s. More runners rolled into the start area as I sat and waited. 

Eventually I decided to try to hit the bathroom one more time, and was greeted by the very long porter potty lines that I had expected the first time around. It was a little after 7 am when I got in line, and I still had to check my bag and make it to my corral before 7:45, so I watched the clock as I waited in line. 

After I finally made it to the bathroom, right around 7:40, I loaded my pockets with race day supplies - manly fuel and body glide - as I jogged to check my bag, which was really just a charger for post race, in-case my phone died while I was running, since it’s four years old and has less than stellar battery life. 

I made it into my corral just before 7:45, and soon after we started moving forward as the 8:00 start time for wave 2 got closer. It was surreal to be in a corral with so many people! 

I was half crying with happiness as we approached the start line, and I had to collect myself before it was time to get moving. I tried to take in the moment, and really appreciate being there. 

I went over the start line, and was just so happy. I told myself to not get caught up in the crowd, and run my pace. There were already crowds lining the street, and we went right into a tunnel. I had set my garmin to manual laps, since I had heard that the GPS has issues in Chicago, and at mile marker one my garmin had accumulated an extra 0.25 miles - confirming the GPS issue. 
At the start of the event the status was “yellow” because of the weather. The temps were in the low 70s and it was humid, but at least there was cloud coverage as we made our way through the streets of Chicago. I snapped a few photos as we went through the early miles, doing my best to take up every moment. I kept yo-yoing with a guy dressed as a banana, and it was fun to hear the crowd call out to him. 

Things went well for the first few miles, and I really enjoyed the crowds as I headed through Chicago. I spotted dennis at mile 3, when we ran by our hotel. He headed to mile 13, where I would spot him again. By mile 5 I could feel the impact of the weather, and started taking two waters at the aid station, to try to stay on top of my hydration. 

I kept moving forward, and by the time I hit mile 10 I knew I wasn’t getting enough fluids. I texted Dennis, and asked him to pass me a bottle of water when I ran by. He was under a bridge, and I spotted him before he saw me. He handed me a water, and it took all my willpower not to immediately chug it. The weather didn’t feel that bad - most of the time it was breezy, but when we hit stagnant air it was suffocating. 

We crossed the River for a second time around the half way point, and I almost fell on my face - the had covered the grating on the bridge with a carpet, that I learned was not totally taught. I didn’t lift my foot enough with one step, and found myself stumbling and almost falling. I breathed a sigh of relief when I regained my balance, glad that I hadn’t taken a tumble.

I usually try to wait until after mile 20 of a marathon to take in Gatorade, but by mile 14 I knew I needed to start drinking electrolytes too. I tried to drink half a cup of Gatorade in addition to water at each aid station from there out, and when they gave us sponges around mile 15 it was so nice.  I also made a mid race decision to take an extra gel. 

The crowd support really kept me going - I was able to run non-stop until mile 17, but my hip was starting to hurt. Luckily I was able to stop and stretch it out and then keep running forward. But as the race progressed, I needed to stop to stretch more often. First at mile 17, then again at 19, and by mile 21 I wanted to walk so bad, but settled for a stretch. I somehow missed mile marker 22, and as I made my way to mile 23, my garmin distance read over 24 miles - I had started to hype myself up that there were only 2 miles left, and when I spotted 23 and realized there were actually 3 miles left, it was almost crushing. Mike 23 to 24 was a struggle, and felt longer than the whole race leading up to that point. 

At the aid station at mile 23 I made the decision to take a quick walk break - and learned that my hip felt even worst walking. I wanted to cry. I wanted to puke from the pain and exhaustion. But with the help of texts from my Dad and Sophie, encouraging me to keep going, to just put one foot in front of another. I ran, I walked, I stretched. It was the slowest mile of the race. But when I finally saw mile marker 25, I knew I could get to the end. 

I pushed myself to keep running. It was one mile more. I could run one more mile, especially since walking felt worst. Around 25.5 “who are you” shuffled onto my headphones, and I thought about everything I had gone through in the last year - I am a resilient person, not willing to let losses define me - and I was going to make it to the finish line. 

I turned the second to last corner and saw the 800m to go sign, at the top of a tiny hill. Suddenly Chicago didn’t feel like the “flat” race that everyone had told me it would be. But 800m is only two laps at the track. I could do 800m. 

I got over the hill, crossed the last corner, and a “fuck yes” slipped out of my mouth when I spotted the finish line. The end was in sight. I could do this. 400 m to go. I started to get choked up, and just focused on getting my breathing back to normal. 

At long last, I crossed the finish line. Every emotion flooded over me. The race that I was supposed to run in 2019 before I hurt my knee, the race I was supposed to run in 2020 before covid cancelled it, I had finally crossed that finish line I had been chasing for so long. 

A volunteer placed a medal around my neck, and I truly shuffled through the “extra mile” that they make you walk to get out of the finisher chute. I collected my drinks and snacks, including a beer that I wouldn’t drink, but would use as makeshift ice on my hip. 

Eventually I got out of the chute and back into grant park, and headed for the gear check. As I limped along a stranger offered me their lightly used bag of ice, and with much gratitude I accepted. I retrieved my bag from the gear check, and texted Dennis to let him know I needed to sit down and stretch for a few minutes before making my way out to him. 

I laid out my heat sheet and started stretching, and acquired another bag of lightly used ice from a passerby. Eventually I could hobble along without wanting to cry, and I got up and started making my way to the family reunion area. I found Den, and we sat for a few more minutes. I switched shoes, and he offer me his arm as we made our way back to the hotel. 

I felt defeated, but in the hours after the race that would shift to happiness. I had done it. I had crossed another marathon finish line. Something that really felt impossible to me at times in the year leading up to that race. 

After the walk back to the hotel I showered and used the massage gun on my hip, which helped it feel better. By the time we headed out for celebratory drinks at three dots and a dash, my hip felt tight, but didn’t hurt anymore. 

After dinner it was time for bed, and I was so fully of happiness. I had somehow already forgotten the anguish of mile 24. 

We were flying home on Monday, but before we headed out we made three stops - one at “the bean,” one at the Nike store for some finisher gear, and one for some “authentic” Chicago pizza. 

I can believe I get to do this all over again in NYC in a month!

Week 3: When it's Humid, I head for the Treadmill.

 I was met by, as my dad says, Hot, Hazy, and Humid weather when I headed outside for my run on Monday morning. It was the end of June in New York, and the humidity was very much out to play. I managed to get out of the house before 7 am and worked my way through the 6 miles on my training schedule. The miles were difficult, and slow going, but I kept going even when I wanted to quit. I walked a little at the end of my miles to cool down, red faced and exhausted, but happy that my miles were finished for the day. I rounded out my day with some yoga that evening, so that my legs would feel fresh when I took on speedwork the following day.

When I had done speed work a week earlier, it was borderline a traumatic experience. I was DREADING another speedwork session. I told myself I was going to get up early to beat the heat, but then just could not get myself out of bed that morning. So, I packed a gym bag, and after work I headed to my parent’s house to get in my interval run on the treadmill. I was honestly worried about being able to hit the prescribed paces in the workout but figured that I had a better chance on the tread than I did outside.

My schedule called for 8 600m repeats, at a 7:50 pace. I took a warmup class, stretched, and then picked out a HIIT class from the peloton, so that the energy of the class would match my goals for the intervals I had on tap. I was skeptical the first time that I rolled the speed up to a 7:53, but managed to hang on for 600m. and after 400 m of recovery, I managed to do it again. It kept going like that – a slight disbelief, a hard effort, another interval checked off. At the end of the 45 minute class I was dripping with sweat, but only had one more interval to go! I popped on a 20 minute Pop Punk run, and made it through my last interval, and glided into a nice cooldown to finish off my run. This run was so welcome after the struggle that intervals had been the week before.

The next day I focused on strength training, and after work met up with Sophie to do a few peloton classes. We did an hour of strength training total, consisting of a 20 minute lower body resistance band class, a 20 minute strength for runners class, and a 20 minute core class. As we are early in our marathon training, we even did a nice 10 minute stretch to close things out. How many weeks do you reckon I will actually manage to keep up with strength training and stretching like this?

Thursday morning called for a 6 mile tempo run, which I knew I was not up for just yet. I planned to run in the morning and had to fight to get myself out of bed. I set a goal of trying to hit around a 9-minute mile for 3 miles, and planned to run 7 miles total, so at least I would get the full mileage that the training wanted, even if the paces were not perfect. I let myself take it easy the first mile so my body would have plenty of time to warmup, and then tried to take the pace down when I got into mile 2. I fought to get the pace to just under a 9 min/mi, and didn’t quite get there for mile 2 – but by the time I rolled into mile 3 I had found my stride, and managed to hang on to the pace for miles 3 and 4. I spent the last three miles slowing down and just getting the miles under foot. It was a hard run, but I was happy that I had dragged myself out of bed at the end of it.

On Saturday I had my first race since march of 2020 – the NYRR pride run! It was a freaking humid morning, so I had no plans to run at an all out pace, but I was excited for the “event” that is a race, at long last! Mike and Jude picked me up, and we headed into Manhattan together. We pre-reserved parking at a lot near Carson’s apartment, and met up with her before heading into central park. They had covid precautions in place, so they had asked runners to pick up their bibs in advance if possible, so Carson had gotten our bibs and shirts earlier that week.

NYRR had set up the race to have a “rolling” start, with different start times based off your pace, but we all decided to start at the later time, together. We headed into central park, checked our bags, and were able to run right up to the start line and begin our race without being packed into a corral. Carson and I stuck together as we made our way through central park. This year the race was a 6k, and when we got moving, I was pretty much immediately dripping with sweat. It was central park, so of course there were hills - first up were the three sisters, then we made our way around the south side of the park before going up Cat hill. It was nice to be running with Carson though, and we did all we could to make it through the miles without melting.

When the finish line was in sight, Carson picked up the pace to fly through the finish, and I matched her stride for stride – although had she gone much faster, I probably would have thrown up. They gave us ice pops as we left the finishers chute, which were so good in the heat. We waited for Mike and Jude at the finish line, and then found a restaurant that served crepes, and we each ordered a different type and shared them, as we caught up. It was a great morning in the city, and made me really miss the days of races!

My last run of the week was a long run of 10 miles. It was humid again on Sunday, so I decided to just take the run inside, and headed to my parent’s house to use their treadmill. I did my diligence with a warm-up stretch and a warm-up run, and then started with one of Bec’s 60 minute marathon race prep classes. When I made it through the hour long class, I was dripping with sweat. I sat down on the treadmill for a minute to catch my breath, and then got up and went into another class, a 20 minute rock run with Andy Speer. By the end of the second class, I was at just over 8 miles, and ready to be done with my treadmill run. I stalled for a few minutes, swapping a load of laundry, and then clicked into a class that I always enjoy, one of Chase Tucker’s 20 minute pop. It got me to pick up the pace a little and carried me through the 10 mile mark I was aiming for. I forced myself to stretch, and was glad that I was done with another week of training.

Week 2: The return of group runs!

Before I jump into how training went on week two, I want to make a few notes about how I am adapting the training plan from Hanson’s marathon method to match my fitness level at the start of this training cycle – since my Chicago registration happened a bit last minute, I signed up about 19 weeks before race day, which did not give me much time to ramp up my weekly training load. For most of 2021 I was averaging about 25 miles a week, but had been derailed for two weeks before training started, first when I threw out my back for a week, and then when my knee started acting up while on vacation.

I did not want to jump from 25 miles weeks to 35+ mile weeks, because I know from previous training that my body needs to ease into training load increases like that. So, while the Hanson’s plan calls for 6 days of running a week, for the few weeks I decided to cut one of the 6 mile “easy” runs down to 3 miles, and make one of the easy runs “optional,” depending on how I was feeling with the weeks training load. This would allow me to increase my mileage by about 10% per week, which I know is more my speed.

I also modified the tempo runs at the start of the program – Hanson’s marathon method training plan starts tempo runs at 6 miles., holds you there for three weeks, and then adds a mile and repeats that cycle. As I started this training plan, I was really only doing easy runs and 6 miles at my goal tempo pace did not seem attainable. As marathon training approached, I started throwing in a mile at a sub-9 pace during these runs, so that I could start to get the feel for running fast (for me) again. When my training plan called for me to start adding tempo runs on week three, I decided to start them up with a two mile “tempo” effort, and then bring them up by a mile each week, rather than pushing for a fitness level that I just was not at. Since the whole tempo run was mean to be 6+ miles, I tried to keep the mileage at the right amount, just with a slower pace for some of the miles, so that I could focus on building up the load before adding speed.

These may seem like big modifications, but I felt like they were necessary if I wanted to ease into this training plan and not wind up injured. As I get deeper into training and I gain fitness, I hope to ramp up the training back to the full schedule. Could I just opt for one of the “lighter” Hanson’s plans? Sure. But I would really like to hit my “sub-4” marathon goal, and I think this plan gives me the best chance at that.

So, without further ado – onto week 2!

I opted to sleep in on Monday morning, and figured that I would get in some miles after work. When I got outside I somehow settled into a decent pace, and actually felt really good with. It was one of those runs where it just felt like things were flowing, and when I returned home I had a full blown glazed doughnut look going. It was a short run – just a 5k, but it was a reassuring reminder that there are days that running really feels good. Nothing like a run that leaves a smile on your face to start the week.

The next morning was not as magical – in fact, I kinda wanted to throw the whole marathon training plans into the trash. It was meant to be the first speedwork session of this training cycle – my calendar told me that the goal was twelve 400m repeats, at a 7:50 pace, with a 400m recovery between each effort.

It was a humid morning. I got through the warmup mile with no issue, and then hopped into pushing the pace for the first interval. I went a little too fast on the first one, and had to remind myself to reel it in – there were a lot of repeats ahead of me. The second one didn’t feel as good as the first, and by the end of it I felt like I was going to puke. That was promising.

I took my recoveries as needed, made pit stops for water during the rest intervals, and I honestly wanted to quit. I told myself to just make it to six repeats. I could quit after six repeats if I really needed to. I got to six repeats, and I told myself I would make it to eight. It wasn’t too many more than six – even if I needed to slow down the pace, I would make it to eight.

My recoveries turned into walks more than jogs, and there was a lot of self-encouragement happening. I knew that I could decide to quit and try the workout again on another day. But I was so close to finishing the workout – if it was a friend struggling through their workout, I would encourage them to do what they could. The intervals slowed down, hitting in the low 8s instead of the high 7s like they should. But I got through 12 of them and was elated that the workout was DONE. It wasn’t perfect, but I didn’t quit.

After a hard Tuesday, I was happy that Wednesday was a rest day. I needed time to mentally recover from Tuesday’s workout as much as I needed to physically recover. I took my day off from running but did complete an hour long strength session to check off a cross training session from my weekly goals. I created a nice strength stack with peloton, and worked my way through a strength for runners class, some core work, and some total body workouts.

Thursday meant another quality run on my calendar – this time the first tempo run. While the schedule said I should be doing 6 miles at an 8:58 pace, I set my goal for two miles at that pace, sandwiched between a two mile warm up and a two mile cool down. By some small miracle, I even managed to get up early enough that I got out to run before work. It was under 60 degrees outside, and it was a comfortably hard run. I struggled to get the pace under 9 minutes for those two “tempo” miles, but did my best to work towards the pace goal. I was happy with my overall effort at the end of the run. I was a little discouraged that two miles felt so hard, but I am trying to trust the process and choosing to believe that my fitness will catch up with my goals, eventually.

The end of the week brought another no-run day for me, and an hour long strength stack. I like to start with a “strength for runners” class, and then make my way through other muscle groups. I sometimes dread strength training, or worry that it will make my runs harder, but I know that I need to take time to focus on it so that I can support my body as much as possible.

I just could not get my body moving on Saturday morning, and decided to commit to a treadmill run – since I had the time I headed over to my parents house so I could run on the peloton tread. I set up a stack of classes, since I wanted to total 6 for the day, starting with a warm-up class, then a 45 minute endurance run with Becs, and a 20 minute fun run with Matty.

The endurance run had a surprising number of hills sprinkled in, and at times I felt like I was just trying to hang on as I moved through the miles. I know that hills are important though, and that even though I didn’t always want to listen to the incline instructions, I clicked up as they directed, and made my way through the treadmill “hills.”

Now Sunday, Sunday was a great day. After a long year apart from the Merrick Bicycles tri team, I finally got myself up and out for a group run! Was I a little late? Yes. But thankfully Katie and Michal were nice enough to wait for me.

We made our way through the rolling hills on the Bethpage bike trail, and were grateful for every bit of shade that the trees were willing to give us. We ran a total of 7 miles together, swapping stories and comparing fueling plans as we ran. When we stopped to stretch at the end of the run, another group of runners from the tri team found us, and since they had a few more miles to run, I decided to join them for their last 3 miles so I could get up to 10 total… because I really thought that I was supposed to run 10 miles that day. It wasn’t until I got home and checked my schedule that I learned I only needed to run 8…. Whoops!

The last three miles were somewhat strenuous, but I talked with Rob and Laura about their training goals – an Ironman and a ultra marathon! Makes my fall plans feel like chump change, but I love hearing about how people prepare for these big challenges!

All in all week two felt pretty solid, even if the summer humidity started to rear its ugly head. I was discouraged early in the week after a tough interval workout, but was so happy to finally make it to a group run again, and I hope that I can make it to more this summer!

Week 8: Chicago marathon Training

I knew after the long day I had on Sunday, there was no way I was getting up on Monday morning- but that was ok, because I scheduled two days of rest after the Jamesport triathlon. Realistically, I thought maybe I would be able to get in some speedwork on Tuesday- how sore could a two hour race really leave me?

One other thing that happened on Monday - I got an awesome package in the mail from ProCompression that included this Ambassador shirt, and these socks!

Well, the answer was it could leave me feeling like I was hit my a small car - I was so much sorer than I expected to be on Monday! My limbs were heavy, and there was no way any running was happening. I had agreed to meet up with Jennie at the gym to weight train, and had it not been for Jennie and Sophie committing to going, I probably would have bailed. We stuck to upper body exercises, and finished with some core work. I left the gym feeling energized, but by the time I got home I was even more pooped. I went to bed early, and was very happy to be under the covers. 

I slept in again on Tuesday morning, but by Tuesday night I was itching to get a few miles in, regardless of lingering soreness. So I shot texts to Mike and Sophie, asking if they wanted to meet up after work for a few miles. Sophie and I had to be ready for Mom’s birthday dinner at 7, but I wasn’t trying to get too many miles in. They both agreed to meet up, and when I got home from work I packed a change of clothes and passed them off to Den, so he could bring them when he headed to my parents for dinner. 

I headed out the door and towards Mike’s house, and he was ready to run. We headed towards my parents house, and ran inside to alert Sophie to our arrival. She groaned at me a little bit for making her come running, but was in better spirits once we got moving. This run marked the first official run of Mike’s NYC marathon training plan, and I was happy I got to share the miles. We chatted as we looped through the neighborhood, and I logged a total of 4.5 miles, which were particularly sweaty. 

It was back to my usual training schedule on Wednesday, and I made sure to get out in the morning for my run, because Wednesday night I was hosting track for the Tri team! Due to conflicting schedules our coach, Jackie, asked if I could help out and run a weekly track night for the summer, and I am so excited that she asked me to help. So, Dad biked over on Wednesday morning and after a slower first mile I settled into the groove of things, and trotted through a big loop, completing a total of five miles with no real pace goal in mind.

After work I headed over to the track, and was excited when people actually started showing up. As much as people had committed to coming out, I was still nervous that other plans would get in the way. I lead the team through some warm up stretches, and then sent them out to run loops of the track to warm up. Jackie had given me the workout for the team, and I wrote it on a white board and explained the plan to everyone. As they ran their loops I shouted encouragement when I could, and guided them through the workout. Everyone did a great job, and I was so happy to be able to support my friends like that! It started to thunderstorm just as everybody finished up their cool-down laps, so we got out of there quickly.

The thunderstorms were supposed to continue through Thursday morning, so I planned to run after work. I had a training at work all day, that lead to more sitting than my hip-flexors prefer. By the time I hot home from work I was having sharp pains in my hip, and decided to play it safe, and save my tempo run for Friday morning, but made sure to spend some time that night stretching and sitting with a heating pad. I had planned to head to yoga with Mike and his husband, Jude, on Thursday night, but got stuck at work late. They headed to the class without me, but we all decided to head to the meatball place, a restaurant on main street, when the class got out. They picked up Dennis and I and we all headed there together, and shared a delicious meal with many laughs shared. The highlight of the meal was the charcuterie board that we all split.

I got up nice and early Friday morning, ready to get in some faster miles. I had a solo morning on deck, and left the apartment, running towards my parents house so I could use it as a water station. After a two mile warm-up I tried to pick the pace up, but despite my best efforts I wasn’t moving as fast as I was supposed to. When I made my pit stop to grab water at my parents, I chatted with Dad for a minute, who was busy painting the dining room. When I got moving again, I had a sharp pain that in my hip that forced me into a walk break. I was having trouble telling if it was just a tight hip flexor, or a cramp. I tried a few more times to get running, but the pain was just too much. I eventually decided just to walk home, because walking felt fine, and it seemed like a better idea than getting a ride home from my parents and then sitting on my couch. I tried to run one more time as I headed home, but the pain persisted. This was the first time that I ever had to quit a run - I have had to slow paces, maybe cut a mile off, but never have I had to completely throw in the towel. I was super bummed, and a little nervous that this was going to become an on going issue. I tried to force the thoughts into the back of my head, and not stress about it too much.

Friday night my family was having a get together to celebrate some summer birthdays, and it was a nice way to take my mind off of things. We headed to my grandpa’s house for pizza, some drinks, and s’mores, which dad had brought his little camping grill along to make. My cousins and brothers ran around playing volleyball, while Den and I sat around with my parents and aunts and uncles, discussing life, travel plans, and

I spent more time stretching on Friday night, and when I woke up on Saturday morning I took my time getting moving. We had a heat warning, and temps were over 100 degrees in New York, plus the humidity was high. I was opting to run on the treadmill, and was nervous that I would have to quit again. I made sure to stretch and warm up my body before getting on the treadmill, and set it to a pace on the slower side for me. After a mile I paused the treadmill, and stretched out some more, as had been recommended to me. I cautiously kept going after, and felt ok as the miles slipped by. Eventually the count hit 6, and I had successfully completed the miles. I did make sure to wear the brace/wrap that I had previously purchased for the rest of the day, just as a precaution. I didn’t want to get too excited about one good run, since I was still having hip pain any time I was sitting.

Sunday morning rolled around, and I slept in once more, since I was planning on getting on the treadmill again. They temps were once again high, and I didn’t want to find myself in too much pain to keep running and stuck outside in hot temps. So after a normal amount of procrastination, I locked the cats in the bedroom, put my iPad on the treadmill deck, queued up some Veronica Mars, filled my water bottles, and got moving. Twelve miles was a long time to spend on the treadmill, but it seemed like the better option. Mentally I tried to focus on four miles at a time, which was about as long as it took to get through an episode. I found myself really wanting to take walk brakes, and just feeling generally fatigued. I tried to limit my stops as much as possible, and just tried not to think about how much was left each time I finished a mile. Slowly but surely the mileage climbed, until I at last reached 12 miles. It wasn’t the best long run I had ever done, but at least I got the miles in, and something is always better than nothing.

I ended the week hoping that my hip would continue to improve, so that I could really get back on track with my training. By the end of the week my body was at least less fatigued, but that didn’t do me much good, if my hip was going to start refusing to cooperate.

Chicago marathon week 7

On Sunday afternoon I got a message from Tara, asking if I would be down for a early bike on Monday morning. I normally start my week with a run, but the offer was tempting. I warned her that I would be slow, but she said she didn’t mind, and I agreed to meet her at the park at 6:20 a.m. the next day. 

I packed up my bike stuff, and got everything into the car, and after a frantic moment when I couldn’t find my Tri shorts, had everything together and ready to go, so when my early alarm clock went off I just had to roll out of bed, get dressed, and be on my way. 

The alarm went off Monday morning, and I was greeted with a dreary day. I hopped in the car and under gray skies headed to cedar creek park, where a few members of the Tri team were waiting for me to get going. Of course, my bike had lost air in one of its tires, so I had to fill it up before we could get on our way. 

The ride itself was uneventful overall. I thought about how much I prefer running, was thankful that Tara had gotten me out on the bike, eventually was unable to keep up with the rest of the team, got rained on a little bit, and cursed at the bike, which was refusing to switch gears properly. When I turned around at 7.5 miles my teammates continued on, going all the way to tobay, and I rode back to the parking lot solo. 

That night I brought my bike to dad to check out- apparently my derailer wasn’t lined up correctly. I’ll add “learn more about bike maintenance” to my to do list I guess. Once that was taken care of I headed home and hopped in the pool, swimming 500 yds in an effort to flush out my sore legs. 

Monday rolled into Tuesday, and when my alarm went off my body was not having it. I was still recovering from a cold, and every part of me screamed for more rest. So, after checking the weather and making sure the temperature would be tolerable after work, I rolled over and opted to sleep in a little. 

Tuesday night I stopped and picked up my race packet for the Jamesport Triathalon, which would be my first official Tri, and then headed home to get in the miles that I had promised myself. Dennis and I were planning to head to his parents for dinner, and we decided to take alternate transportation over there- he would be biking as I ran. We took the long way out of our neighborhood, and managed to make it a 5 mile trip. Despite the cold I was still dealing with, this run felt great. We chatted a little, and I just let my legs do the work. It felt difficult at times, but I reminded myself that running marathons isn’t easy, and that I needed to get comfortable being uncomfortable. We had one hill and one overpass that were less than stellar, but I managed some sub-9 miles and was pleased with myself. 

My excitement of Tuesday night was short lived though, when I rolled out of bed on Wednesday morning to head to the track. As I was running Tuesday night I had considered backing off the pace a few times, but I felt so good that I just let my body roll with it. Well, when I got to the track it quickly became clear that I could have used a little more rest between runs. 

I had a ladder workout planned, which would start at a 400m repeat, go up to a 1600m repeat, and then come back down. A total of 7 hard steps, and then a run home. While I hit my paces for the first two repeats, the rest just weren’t happening at the paces I wanted. Dad had met me at the track, and thankfully brought along some water in a cooler, which helped on that hot morning. By the time I was on the last repeats I was going slower than I should have been, but was giving it all the gas I had. The cooldown was arguably the hardest part, because by that point I just wanted to be walking. But I trotted along, getting in a total of 7 miles. 

I knew I was in need of some recovery, so on Wednesday night I met up with Den’s sister, Liz, and we headed to yoga together. We picked out a Yin-restorative class, and I was ready for some relaxation. It was as if the teacher was aware of my chronically tight hamstrings, as she propped us up into deep releases. Did I fall asleep during the class? Well..... yeah. But you try to stay awake when you’re feeling that relaxed!

Thursday morning called for another run, but an easy one this time. I headed out before work, and met up with Dad as I weaved through the neighborhood. My brother Tom was planning to meet us, but we got a text from him moments after his planned start time that it wasn’t happening for him that morning. I was a little bummed, but it enabled me to get my full prescribed distance in within the pace range I wanted, so we just kept looping, slowly shifting away from my parents house and back towards the apartment. My watch buzzed as I hit 8 miles right in front of the complex, with the average pace coming in around 10:40. It was a solid morning run, and I was glad that I wouldn’t feel like I needed to make up miles later. 

The final weekday run was to be a tempo run, and I decided to plan to run after work. I had races planned for both Saturday and Sunday- which meant early mornings all weekend. So, I let myself sleep in more than usual Friday, and after work only procrastinated the run for a solid two hours before getting out the door (I mean, it was hot out! I had to wait for it to cool off a little, right?). 

When I got out the door I debated which path to take. I needed to warm up for about a mile, then the goal was for 6 miles at a pace between 8:30-8:45, followed by a cool down. The thought of picking directions gave me a feeling of major decision fatigue, so I did something unusual for me- I ran towards the track, even though I wasn’t doing speed work. I figured it was a good central point between the apartment and my parents house, so if I decided I needed water I could run either way, and it just felt like an easy choice. 

By the time I got to the track I was up to a mile and a half, and my second miles pace was tracking in the high 8-minute-mile range, so I decided to start see if I could bring the pace down a little and count the second mile towards the tempo miles. My efforts paid off, and the second mile rang in at 8:37. A good start, I told myself. I listed to music as I ran laps around the track, one mile flowing into another. I kicked a soccer ball back to the group playing in the middle of the field a few times, ran into Mike’s brother, who was also running some laps, and found a really great groove, where I just felt good. I did wish that I had brought some water, but I managed without. At 9:00 on the dot the lights shut down at the track, just as I was midway through the lap that would finish my 6th tempo mile. I panicked for half a second, as the teenage boys that had been hanging out hooted and hollered into the darkness. I called dad on the phone to have some company and reassurance as I left the area, and got on the road to run back to my apartment. I took the long way, that was I would have a two mile cooldown. 

When I reached the apartment I immediately chugged a bottle of water, and then sat outside as I sipped a second. I had run 9 miles at an average pace of 8:57, with the tempo miles coming in at 8:37, 8:27, 8:30, 8:36, 8:39 and 8:41. I was super pleased with myself, and glad that I had eventually got my butt off the couch to get the work done.

The weekend was full of races- which will have their own reports up soon! To give you a little preview, on Saturday I completed the Retro Run 4-miler with the New York road runners, and on Sunday I did something I swore I wouldn’t do: I completed my first Triathlon, at the Jamesport sprint distance Tri. 

Chicago Marathon Training: Week 6

If you’re looking for recaps 1-5, bad news: This is the first official weekly recap as i train for the 2019 Chicago Marathon.

Of course, as luck would have it, I wound up with a cold this week, so it was likely the least interesting week of training so far. If you’ve been with the blog with any of my previous training cycles, you probably know that I have asthma, and when I wind up with a cold it can take me out for a long time if I am not super on top of it.

Last Sunday I headed to Jones Beach for my long run, with my parents along on their bikes for the miles. Lately we have been riding up and down the boardwalk early on weekend mornings, dealing with a breeze in one direction and the sun being just a little too hot in the other. We got in 12 miles at a 9:19 pace - a little slower than my goal of 9:06 for long runs, but still within the upper end of the range I wanted to hit. After the run we stopped and got bagels and I hung out with my parents at their house for a bit, until I got a call from my husband - he was running a fever. Eek! As I headed home I swung by target and stocked up on cold supplies, and delivered them to Dennis, who spent the entire day in bed. I started taking Zicam, in hopes that I could avoid the wrath of the cold. I went for a swim in the afternoon, and generally tried to avoid being in the apartment as much as possible.

Den’s fever broke on Monday, and while he was still sick, I crossed my fingers that since the fever was gone, I had avoided catching his cold. I headed out for a run before work, with Dad along on his bike, and aimed for some easy recovery miles. Dad and I chatted as we looped around the neighborhood, and six miles flew by, despite my legs feeling a little heavy at the start. That night I was still feeling okay, so I headed to hot yoga with Liz and Rachel, who were both in NY for the week. We got to the studio a little later than I prefer, and wound up on the right side of the room, AKA the hotter side, right under one of the heating panels. We were in for a doozy of a class. I was dripping with sweat within the first five minutes, my hamstrings screaming any time a pose made me stretch them out. We somehow survived the hour, although I found myself wondering how I used to do hot yoga on a regular basis. I have another 8 classes left on the package that I purchased from the studio, so I suppose I have plenty of time to re-acclimate.

The plan for Tuesday morning was track to do some speed work - I set my alarm early, and dragged myself out of bed bright and early rolled into my running shoes. I had about a mile and a half run to the track, which was perfect for my warm up. My legs were unwilling to get with the program and get moving, but I pressed onward hoping I would hit a groove eventually. Dad was already at the track walking laps when I got there, and I pressed the lap button on my Garmin to get started with my repeats. The plan was four 1200m repeats, with 400 m of rest between each. I wanted the pace to be between 7:30 and 7:50 with the faster end of the paces being preferable. The first repeat rang in at a 7:49 pace, and wound up being the fastest of the morning. I struggled not to take full stops or walk breaks instead of jogging the 400m of rest, but my body was just not up for the fast paces. The other three repeats came in between 7:50 and 8:03, which isn’t bad, it just wasn’t quite what I was looking for. Dad biked along as I ran back to my apartment, on the cooldown after the hard work. All in all I had finished, 7 miles total, and I was wiped out when I got home. I questioned why paces that I have been able to hit lately had been so hard - and a few hours later I had a sore throat and was congested - I had the cold that I tried so hard to avoid.

I was wiped out on Tuesday night, so I opted to skip the swim that I usually go for. Wednesday I had a planned rest day, and truly took it easy, not even cross training like I usually do. By Thursday morning I was full of cold medicine, and getting out of bed was more of a struggle than usual, even though it was at a slightly later hour than normal - but it was the Fourth of July, and I was registered to run the annual Bellmore Striders 4th of July 4-miler with Rachel. Its not often that i get to run with her, as she has moved to California, so I didn’t want to miss the opportunity.

I scooped her up on the way to the race, and when we got to the train station we had about 40 minutes to go before the race was set to start. We collected our bibs, and had numbers right next to each other, now that we share a last name. Unfortunately they had run out of small shirts, so despite the fact that we had pre-registered, we wound up with tanks that were mens mediums, a little big for me and a lot big for Rachel.

Once we had our bibs we walked back to the car and stashed our tanks, pinned on our bib numbers, and pulled on our red, white and blue ProCompression socks. I had just gotten a new pair of their Sonic Boom print, so I loaned Rach my old flag pair.

The race was delayed by about 15 minutes due to long porter potty lines, but while we were waiting Dad made it to the start area on his bike. He had gone for a ride at the beach that morning, but had made it to the race just before the start to spectate.

Rach and I lined up next to the LIRR in the start area, and once the national anthem was sang, we were off. It was hot and humid, and when we spotted a sprinkler in the first mile we ran right through it. There are a total of 9 turns on the course, and we counted them off as we went. We clocked the first mile in 8:59, and I was feeling better than I expected to. Rach and I stuck together, chatting a little as we began to sweat our butts off. As we approached mile 2 Rachel needed to back off of the pace a little, as she was starting to feel nauseous. We walked into the a water stop at the second mile, taking a moment to cool off. The second half of the race didn’t go as well as the first, as Rachel was quickly overheating. Dad spotted us when he was spectating, and headed to a 7-11 to pick up some cold water for her. We did the best we could to alternate between walking and running, and Dad caught up to us with the cold water, which seemed to help. Eventually we ticked off mile three, and had just one mile between us and the finish line. Dad biked with us as we walked for a bit to make sure Rachel was okay, but eventually headed to the finish line as she managed longer run intervals. Since she moved to California she’s not used to running in humidity any more, and it certainly took its toll on her race today. We managed to run through the finish line, and then found Rachel a shady spot to sit while I grabbed us water bottles and watermelon. She cooled down, and started to feel a little better. I dropped her off after the race, and spent the rest of the day relaxing and hydrating.

I was bummed that I wasn’t getting in as many miles as I wanted to this week - my initial plan had been to run the 4-miler at a tempo pace, with a few warm up and cool down miles tacked onto it, but my body just couldn’t handle those paces while full of cold medicine. I decided to just go for a few easy miles on Friday morning, because something is always better than nothing. I got in a easy 5k before work, emphasis on the word easy. Even those three miles were a struggle - I was so ready to be back to 100%, and training as I intended. I wound up feeling like crap for the rest of the day, and actually headed home from work early because I just couldn’t breathe, and needed to use my nebulizer.

On Friday night Dennis and I attended Mike’s wedding, and I was so excited to watch him and Jude tie the knot. I wondered how many times I would wind up blowing my nose, and if it would lead to me having to re-apply my makeup. The wedding was beautiful, with their ceremony on the shore of Lake Ronkonkoma, where they exchanged vows that they wrote each other. I would be lying if I said happy tears were not cried more than once. We danced the night away, thankful that all of our miles gave us the cardio we needed to jump up and down to the music. When Mike’s brother gave the best man speech, he even paused for a shout out to Mike for qualifying for the NYC marathon - I was a proud run bully in that moment.

We had a late night on Friday, and when I made my marathon schedule I budgeted in a rest day for that Saturday, and was happy to sleep in. Since I had taken it easy with my runs on Thursday and Friday I considered going out for some miles on Saturday, but my body really was not up for it. Any time I tried to do little activities (such as cleaning up or cooking) around the apartment, I was feeling light headed, so I opted to park myself on the couch, and hope that another day of rest would give me the recovery I needed to get in a long run on Sunday. Dennis made us a hearty dinner on Saturday night - Fartlek Chili from the “Run Fast, Eat Slow” cookbook, and it was an excellent pick me up.

I didn’t bother to set an alarm for Sunday morning, as there were thunder storms in the forecast for the early morning hours. When I eventually woke up I procrastinated getting outside, even though there were no storms in sight. I ate some breakfast, used my nebulizer, and then watched some T.V. as i assembled my running gear. Eventually I was fully assembled, and there was no more reason to stall. It was going to be a solo 8-miler, as Mom and Dad had headed to Norman J. Levy preserve (AKA garbage mountain) to go for a walk before I got out of bed. It was in the 80s, but the sky was blue with a little bit of cloud cover, so it wasn’t too brutal outside. My only goal was to get some miles under foot, regardless of how fast or slow they wound up being. I popped on my headphones, set my garmin to show the time, and put on a podcast to keep me company.

The run felt better than I expected, and I made sure to keep the pace low- effort. Slowly but surely the miles ticked by, and as the miles stacked up it was more work to keep moving forward. But when the run came to a close, I was glad that I made the decision to get out there, despite not feeling 100%.

Here’s to hoping that things turn around next week, and my training gets back on track!

Chicago marathon Training: The First Month

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you probably know that with previous marathon training cycles I’ve posted weekly training updates, where I talk about what I’ve been up to and how I’m feeling. It keeps me accountable, and lets me compare how I was feeling in previous cycles with how I’m feeling today. 

Well, if you’ve been wondering “aren’t you marathon training, where are the updates?” I’m here to let you know, they’re coming!

I opted for a longer than usual training cycle with Chicago, so that I could have a bit of wiggle room built in for travel that I knew was going to happen between June and October, and the first month of training was going to include travel for 3/4 weeks, so I opted to not make a hectic month even busier with trying to squeeze in weekly training updates (but don’t worry, I still clipped together some race recaps for you guys!). 

But going forward, somewhere between weekly and bi weekly training updates will be coming back to the blog, starting with a quick recap of what I’ve been doing for the last month. 

This time around I decided to try a new (to me) program for training: The Hanson’s marathon method. I ordered the book, read the reasoning behind the program, and took a deep breath at the thought of such a large undertaking - it’s a lot of miles, and a much shorter ultimate long run distance than I am used to, but I am a believer that growth can only occur outside of your comfort zone, so I am going to go for it.

While I try to tell myself that my “A” goal for any marathon is just to finish and to have a good time, I also get a lot of joy out of pushing my limits - and that is why this time around my goal is to aim for 4 hours. So using the Hanson method, that means longer tempo and track workouts, and higher mileage weekdays. Then weekend long runs cap at 16 miles - this part scares me, and I can’t promise that I’m not going to do at least one 18 or 20 miler at some point.

So far, I’ve been feeling strong with this training plan. There have been a few times that I am definitely feeling the cumulative fatigue of so many miles, but I just make sure that I am listening to my body, and really slowing down on easy days.

Since I was travelling most weekends in June, two of my long runs happened out of state. First, when I headed to Disney for memorial day. It was a short trip, just Saturday to Tuesday, but Dennis’ whole family was going to be there, including his sisters who currently reside in California and Grenada (for most of the year - she is in vet school, so when school is in session she is far away). Our decision to tag along on this trip was somewhat last minute, but we were both happy that we were able to make it work. It was already HOT in Florida, even though it was only May. We were hydrating a ton throughout the day in the parks and were exhausted anyway, largely from the heat, by the time we were back at the hotel . One morning I woke up before the rest of the family, and went out to get my first “long” run of the training cycle in, since I had the time. We were staying at Saratoga Springs, the same place we stayed when we did the Dopey challenge in 2017, and running loops around the resort brought back memories of Greg and I running our make-up half marathon when the race was cancelled due to thunder storms. It was hot, but I found a water fountain on one of the paths, and would stop for a drink every other loop. Of course, my garmin died mid-run, but anticipating this happening I had started Strava on my phone when I began running. To my own surprise, I pulled off 8 miles at a 9:07 pace, which is my “goal” pace for long runs, and according to my schedule every other weekend I am supposed to be hitting this pace. It was humid and hotter than I was used to, so I was really pleased with myself.

The following weekend I was in Gettysburg, where my Aunt and Uncle live, to celebrate their 50th anniversary. The start of the weekend was dedicated to the party, but on Sunday morning Dad and I headed out to the battlefields and did an 8 mile run/bike ride through all of the memorials. It was super hilly, but the sights were well worth it. I loved running through all of the history, and was surprised by how many other runners and bikers were out there getting their miles in. This one was slower, coming in around 9:50 or so, but I was happy with it, and it was a great run.

As for hometown runs, I have spent three weekends at Jones beach with my parents, running up and down the boardwalk and bike path as they bike along to varying degrees of success. The weekend that I raced the queens 10k, I somehow pulled off 10 miles at a sub-9 pace the day after, and while I was exhausted as a result, I felt so good about it. The other two weekends weren’t quite as successful - one weekend I decided to do a tempo run that was 9 miles total, with 6 of those miles being around an 8:40 pace, on a Friday night and when I went to do my long run Saturday morning, I managed to stay at goal pace for the first half of the run, but then had to back off in the second half, as I crashed and burned hard. That particular morning may have even included a mid run temper tantrum, where I had to fully stop and sit down on the side of the path for a few minutes. It was just hard and mentally, I wasn’t coping well. Most recently I had a 12 mile long run, where I managed to stay on pace when the wind was to my back, but lost it once I had to run into the wind. The final pace came in around a 9:20, and I was happy enough with that.

My weekday runs were pretty standard for the first month, if it was a Tuesday or Thursday and Kasey had school she joined me for a few miles. Dad biked along for most of my morning runs, and my younger brother Tommy even gave running another chance, and joined me for about two weeks for the last miles in the morning. Most Wednesday nights I headed to track night with the Merrick Bicycles Tri Team, and most Tuesday mornings I did a track workout of my own, either on the treadmill or at the track. I also squeezed in tempo runs on Thursdays or Fridays, and boy, are those harder than I anticipated! This is the first time I am doing a training plan with tempo runs, and they are more challenging than I expected.

Despite the cold that I am currently dealing with, I feel strong in this training cycle so far, and I am very much looking forward to the miles that lie ahead.