Chicago Marathon Training: Week 12 Recap

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon Training, Running and tagged with Chicago Marathon, Marathon Training, Mom on the Run, Running, Team RMHC September 1, 2015

Helloooo September!!!! So, I’m officially in the “next month” part of my training. As in, “Chicago Marathon is next month“!!!

For reals tho.

Okay, I’m gonna try and keep this positive with this week’s recap because it was a really tough week. The husband was out of town for the first half so I was in solo-parenting duty. I’m going to have to do this quite a bit for the rest of the year as he is booked to leave the state (and country!) at least once each month up to January. Excuse me while I die.

Anyway, I had my own busy schedule at work as Tuesday was our school’s Open House. That meant I had to move my run to Monday (which I usually bike but haven’t in the last, oh….3-4 weeks). So Monday I rushed home from work as I had an hour before I had to do kid pick-up. I was actually pretty pleased with this run. It was tough, but not horrible.

Tuesday was the longest day eveeeeeeer. I woke up at my usual 4:45 to get ready for work and then had to wrangle the kids and do morning drop off (my husband usually does this since I have my long commute) and this is the part that always stresses me out when I”m solo. Luckily, I was able to make the 45 minute drive and get to work on time. After work, I had to drive 45 minutes back to pick up kids and drop them off so that my sister-in-law could watch them while I drove 45 minutes back to work for Open House. After Open House was over, yup, I had to drive all the way back home–not 45 minutes since there was no traffic at 8:30 p.m. lol!

When I got home, I was greeted at the door by my husband!! He was able to cut his trip short and I gave him the biggest, tightest hug ever. I was so tired that I had no idea how I would’ve functioned the rest of the week without him, and it was barely Tuesday!

Wednesdays are track days and I dragged myself to my run club’s speed work session. I was not at all feeling it though, and after two 800s I stopped to chat with my buddy who recently BQd at Santa Rosa Marathon. She showed off her medal and swag and shared her story and it was way more interesting than Yassos. I managed two more before I just called it quits.

It was another after work/before kid pick-up run on Thursday as we had a play date that evening. It didn’t go as well as Tuesday’s run though, lol!

I took a rest day Friday, and Saturday I woke up to meet up with my friend (the same one who had just BQd the weekend before!) to run my 13 miler long run. She’s training for a 100 miler and said she’d join me and count this as her recovery run. Bad ass status.

My alarm went off at 3:30 for my 4 a.m. start time and I ran 5 miles before meeting up with the 5 a.m. crew. My splits were all over the place and I never could really settle down.

I also keep saying that I’m not gonna turn back and stop for the 5 a.m. crew, and just keep my long run continuous, but I somehow always end up back. Anyway, it wasn’t a long break, maybe 8 minutes or so, before we headed back out.

But again, I struggled to get going after stopping…

The only other stop was at mile 10, to fuel, and I didn’t stop my watch. I fueled one other time, after mile 5 during my first stop.

It was a tough run/one, but I was happy that I ended on a good note. AND, I was happy that despite having a rough start to the week sans husband, I was still able to get my runs in. That’s what I’ve been really proud of this cycle; I’ve consistently been running 4 times a week. My other trainings, the 4th run was always sporadic and I’d always make an excuse as to why I couldn’t add that extra run. This time though, I’m just making it happen, some way, some how. 😀

Total miles this week– 23.88 and total miles for August — 107.77

Hope everyone is having a Terrific Tuesday and week so far!! ❤ , helly

–How was your monthly mileage?

–How do you combat excuses your mind tries to make?

Chicago Marathon Training: Week 11 Recap

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon Training and tagged with Chicago Marathon, Early Morning Runs, Long Run, Marathon Training, Team RMHC August 28, 2015

I know this is late, but can I still get some credit for this?

Oh boy, to say it’s been tough adjusting is an understatement. Going back to work, two toddlers, and a traveling husband has made training that much harder lol! I still try to be productive though, so there’s that. 🙂

Monday I took the day off. I should’ve gotten on the bike….but I didn’t.

Tuesday I met up with some friends for a run. Most though, did 3 miles, but I added another for funsies. It was a hot one at 102 degrees but I managed a good pace of 9:29 and that pleased me.

Wednesdays are track days and these have been tough. I get so caught up socializing that by the time I actually start my workout, the hour is almost up and I gotta go home. I managed 2 miles of speed work and I had to go.

It was another 102 degree run on Thursday for my 5 miler but again, I was still able to maintain a great pace of 9:24 and I was happy. I started my run an hour later than usual and I really feel that helped–not having the sun hovering that is.

Friday was my usual rest day and it was spent thinking about

my long run Saturday. I had a 2:45 a.m. alarm wake-up. Yes, you read that right. I was gonna be meeting up with other crazies at 3:30 for an 18 miler. The plan was to run 8 by 5 o’clock to meet up with the rest of our run club.

Those 8 miles went by without a hitch and I was feeling good. It was humid as all hell but I managed to get by and still maintain a good long, slow distance pace.

Temp stats at 3:30 in the morning

I reached the meet-up spot just before 5 a.m. where I stopped to wait for everyone to arrive. It was about a 10 minute or so break and I wondered how this would affect the rest of my run. I had felt that I was on a roll (despite the last 3 miles being on the slower end of my LSD pace) and was warmed up.

It wasn’t too long before we got going but sure enough, I could feel the break messing with my mojo and I struggled the first few miles.

It helped having my crew though. I had convinced 3 of my buddies to run 10 miles with me (none of them are training for anything!) and keep me company. They were amazing at keeping me going after that rough start.

I got back in my groove when we headed turned around after the 5 mile mark (mile 13 for me) and the last 5 of my 18 felt great. This made me so happy since it was at the end of my run and then Runner Jenny even convinced me to run my last mile fast–Mile 18, 9:32!! Boo-yah!!

I was on cloud nine especially when I thought about last week’s awful 12 miler. This one was such a confidence booster! I took no breaks the first 8 miles I ran solo and in the 10 miles following, I stopped twice– once for a potty break and once to fuel (the other times I fueled, I did it on the run). It was important for me to not stop a lot as I want to practice running continuously. So I’ve been training fueling on the run and preparing myself mentally to minimize any stopping.

Crazy is running at 3:30 in the morning.

When I got home, my husband had a fabulous ice bath ready for me and luckily, I didn’t feel too bad the rest of the day. I was even able to squeeze in a 2 mile run the following day, Sunday.

Overall, it was a great week (31.16 miles) and one I really needed after a previous week on the struggle bus. Now, I’m almost done with Week 12 and Chicago is getting closer and closer! Eeeep!!!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!! Who’s long running? Who’s racing?? ❤ , helly

–Do you take stop breaks during long runs?

–What’s the earliest you’ve woken up to go run?

Giddy Up and Go!!! MRTT Summer Virtual Race Recap

Posted by hellyontherun in 5k, Race, Running and tagged with Moms Run This Town, Running Club, Virtual Race August 20, 2015

I mentioned in my previous post how last Sunday I met up with my Moms Run This Town ladies.

A little backstory on MRTT: I started my city’s chapter a little over a year ago having no clue what to expect. I was sorta involved in neighboring cities but thought that having one in mine would be fun (and convenient) so I went for it.

Over 150 women later, my chapter has become very active and super fun. It’s been a blast to see the group grow and meet people starting their fitness journey, coming back from a hiatus, or trying out a “run club” for the first time.

We have weekly meet ups on Sundays, but because both my husband and I are currently training, I’m not always able to attend (I’ve been long running Saturdays and my husband Sundays). I do have an amazing co-leader who has been instrumental in helping the group grow and making our meet-ups successful though.

With her help, I finally felt like our chapter was ready to take on a summer virtual race. MRTT national hosts two virtuals a year, one in summer and one in winter. I passed last winter as I was reluctant (and really, still a newb) to take on such a task. But with my buddy Jennifer, this summer I was in.

The theme was “Giddy Up and Go!” and the medals were suh-weet!!

A lot goes in to making a race happen (and this was a suuuuper small one, lol!) and organizing was tough, but after months of planning, last Sunday, we were finally able to see the fruits of our labor. And it was….AWESOME.

We had such a great turnout for our first!

Jen and I created swag bags that our runners would receive (and swag for their littles if they ordered medals for their kids!), mapped out a 5k course, and even had bananas, oranges, and water as post race fuel.

Everyone loved our swag! We had MRTT colored bandanas, headbands, an MRTT magnet, and really cool drinkable glass jars (that had chalk tops to write on!). Inside the jar were hair ties, a rubber MRTT bracelet, running fuel, and a discount card to a local burger joint.

I decided not to race and take pictures for the runners. That way, they could get free race pictures 😉

I also wanted to be at the end so that when they’d cross, I’d be able to medal them. The mom who finished first was so excited that she was the first to cross, saying that she’d never finished a race first in her life. It was so cool to see her excitement 🙂

All in all, it was so much fun and even though it was super tough behind the scenes, the big day was such a success that yes, I’d do it all over again ❤

–Have you ever organized a race?

–Have you run a virtual race before?

I hope everyone has a great weekend!! Who’s racing? Who’s long running? (I’ve got 18!! Eeek!) ❤ , helly