Quick No-Frills Catch Up Post

River of No Return Endurance Run 25k

Time flies when you're having fun...It's been two weeks of flying around the country and running. These week (June 19) marks the official 16 Weeks out from the Chicago Marathon.

A quick recap of the past two weeks...

Week 6

Monday: OFF. Upper Body weights (30 minutes) and Yoga Abs (10 minutes)

Tuesday: 3 miles easy (3.0 miles, 9:18/mi) and Take 10 Yoga AM (10 minutes)

Wednesday: 6 miles easy (6.0 miles, 9:33/mi) and Jasyoga: How to Warm-Up (12 minutes)

Thursday: OFF. Early morning flight to Pittsburgh, PA with Paul for a quick 2-night stay to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in concert. No exercise other than walking around airports and Pittsburgh. Switched Thursday's scheduled workout to Friday because of travel day.

Pittsburgh running

Friday: Fartleks 2 miles easy, 2 miles with 30 seconds stride, 1 minute jog, 1 mile easy. It took me 11 intervals of 30 seconds on/1 minute off to reach 2 miles but I did 12 to get an even number. This was a tough run. I had a bit too much fun the night before and didn't start my run until about 10 am. It was hot. I was hungover. In spite of the circumstances, I love running in Pittsburgh. It's a fun town! (5.2 miles, 9:02/mi). 

Tom Petty concert!

Saturday: 12 miles long run (12.1 miles, 9:49/mi) in Pittsburgh. Flew back to California

Sunday: OFF (flaked on a scheduled 4 mile run. I was tired).

Total Weekly Miles: 26.8 miles (4 hours, 11 minutes)
Total Cross-Training/Prehab: 1 hour, 2 minutes (not a good week for this!)
2017 Miles: 527.8 miles 

Week 7

Idaho Bird Camp - the Sequel

Monday: 6 miles easy (6.2 miles, 9:43/mi) and Jasyoga: Pre-Run Warm-Up (5 minutes)

Tuesday: Tempo Run--2 miles warm-up, 4 miles at 8:35/mi (goal marathon pace), 1 mile cool-down. I asked Coach Becki if she wanted me to run the 4 miles with an average of 8:35/mi for all 4 miles or if she wanted me to hit 8:35/mi for each mile. I asked because of the rolling hills on my usual routes around home. I can get pretty fast on the downhills and slow on the uphills. She told me that average is good, but I really should try to hit the pace for each mile to get used to how they feel. With that information, I decided to run the tempo miles on the track. Tempo miles: 8:34, 8:33, 8:32, 8:07 (7.1 miles, 9:15/mi). In the afternoon I flew to Salt Lake City to begin my Idaho Bird Camp adventure (the sequel-2017). 

Wednesday: It was supposed to be an off day, but I ran 3 easy miles with Tina before we started our drive to Challis, ID (3.0, 10:22/mi).

Oiselle sweep of the
Overall Women Masters--I got 3rd!

Thursday: Juliet Creek Trail Run. Very technical trail run with multiple "creek" crossings. We couldn't get to the top this year because of snow and the creek was deeper and had a stronger current compared to last year. 4.6 miles total.

Friday: 4 mile shake out run (4.0 miles, 9:28/mi) and 1 hour Bird Camp Yoga.

Saturday: River of No Return Endurance Run 25k. My longest trail run/race ever. Very hot and very steep (3500 feet elevation gain in 4 miles) and my lungs aren't used to running at elevation. It was a tough run. Official time: 3:05:33 (11:57/mi). 3rd place female, overall masters. 

Sunday: OFF. Lots of walking in airports as I traveled home. 

Total Weekly Miles: 39.1 miles (7 hours, 42 minutes)
Total Cross-Training/Prehab: 1 hour, 5 minutes (I need to get back in the habit!)
2017 Miles: 567 Miles

Until next year!

Now that I'm back to training, I've rejoined the training link up on Eat Pray Run DC. See the link up HERE. Courtney just started training for the Berlin Marathon. :) 

123 Days until Chicago Marathon!

This coming week marks the start of my strength building phase in my training for the Chicago Marathon. And, oh boy, do I need to build strength. On Sunday, I raced the San Diego Rock n Roll Half-Marathon. I knew I wasn't in PR shape. I only had a month of training under my belt and my longest run was 10 miles. My original plan was to treat the race as a large group long run. As the date of the race drew closer and as I started feeling that I was back in running shape, I started believing that maybe I could run the half in 1:49ish (my PR is 1:47). Working with my coach, the plan was for me to start conservatively (8:45/mi or so) and run by instinct the first 10 miles and build into a 8:20-8:30/mile overall pace and race to the finish the last 3 miles. 

I started the race feeling strong. At 2 miles I could tell this was going to be a warm race.  At the 5k split my average pace was 8:45/mi and then I pretty much kept that the rest of the race. I could not kick it into gear and go fast the last 3 miles. Those miles were tough. I finished under 1:55 (barely, official time 1:54:55 with an overall pace of 8:46/mi). Although initially I was disappointed with my result, I pretty much ran my goal marathon pace for 13.1 miles with only a month of training. My coach said: "This is great fitness going into some more stringent training! You'll get stronger!".
Half-Marathon #18 in the books!

Oiselle Volee Pre-Race Dinner

Base-Building Week 5

Monday: 4 miles easy with strides/drills (4.4 miles, 9:34/mi); 30 minutes Yoga and 30 minutes Insanity Fit Test (Yikes).

Tuesday: 3 miles easy (3.1 miles, 9:48/mi); 1 hour personal training + 30 minutes Yoga.

Wednesday: 2 miles easy, 6 x 2 minutes at goal Half effort, 2 minutes jog, 1 mile easy (6.1 miles, 9:24/mi). Jasyoga: Workout Day Warm Up + 30 minutes Yoga. 

Thursday: Off. 30 minutes Pilates + 30 minutes Yoga.

Friday: 5 miles easy (5.0 miles, 9:38/mi). 30 minutes Tabata + 20 minutes Yoga. 1 hour massage.

Saturday: Easy 2 miles with strides (2.0 miles, 9:01/mi) + 30 minutes Yoga.

Sunday: San Diego RNR Half-Marathon. 1 mile warm-up jog (10:43/mi) + race. I didn't run the tangents well, so I actually ran 13.2 miles (8:39/mi). Jasyoga: Optimal Hip Reset. 

Total Weekly Miles: 34.9 miles (5 hours, 22 minutes)
Total Cross-Training/Pre-Hab: 6 hours, 45 minutes
2017 Miles: 501 miles

Post-Race Beer Festival

Now that I'm back to training, I've rejoined the training link up on Eat Pray Run DC. See the link up HERE. Courtney just started training for the Berlin Marathon. :)