Chicago Marathon Training: Week One

Photo from running in York Harbor, Maine with Adam. (Photo credit: Adam K.)

The first week of training went pretty well! Despite it being incredibly hot and humid I was able to get all of my runs done. I was a little disappointed to only be able to get one strength training session in but my schedule unfortunately didn’t allow for any wiggle room. I had a really great first “long” run and I was relieved because for some reason I was a little nervous. This upcoming week I’m hoping to get in more early morning runs and strength sessions than last week. Happy running!

Monday, June 23 – Yoga

XT – 45 minutes of Vinyasa Flow Yoga

A nice and easy Vinyasa Flow yoga class to kick off week one of training for the Chicago Marathon!

Tuesday, June 24 – 4.28 miles

I ran with the local running store tonight and Saucony was there wear-testing shoes. It was perfect because I’ve been thinking about adding a more cushioned shoe into my rotation for training and they were testing the Ride 7. It was much more stable than I’m used to (I typically run in the Mirage 4) but it felt good and I think it will be good for long runs and easy runs. Other than that the run was good. I went a little too fast to start, first mile ticked off at 7:59, but it was a hot one so I dialed in the pace for the rest of the run.

Plan: 4 miles, easy
Actual: 4.28 miles in 37:35 at 8:46/mile pace

Shoes: Saucony Ride 7
Conditions: 85 degrees, sunny, humid

Wednesday, June 25- 4 miles

I ran up 10th Street for this workout (500 ft. elevation gain over a mile). It was the first time I ran it in months so it was pretty hard. I walked a lot but I got to the top and the downhill was so great.

Plan- 4 miles, hills
Actual- 4 miles in 36:42 (0.6-mile warmup, 1-mile up, 1-mile down, cool down)

Shoes: Saucony Mirage 4
Conditions: 84 degrees (real feel 93) with 90 percent humidity

Thursday, June 26- 4 miles

I was testing out some treadmills for work today so I ran two miles on one treadmill and another two miles on the other. I was actually relieved to run indoors because the humidity has been absolutely killing me lately and unfortunately my schedule this week hasn’t allowed for early morning runs.

Plan- 4 miles, easy
Actual- 4 miles in 35:xx minutes (8:45/mile)

Shoes: Saucony Mirage 4
Conditions: Air conditioned, indoors

Friday, June 27- Strength

Strength Training –

“The Dozen” Ab Workout
Ankle strengthening exercises – single leg lunges, single leg squats, hamstring curls with a stability ball
Arm exercises

Saturday, June 28- 4 miles

Just ran an easy shakeout run before my Sunday long run. Did an out and back near my house. It was really humid and I waited way too late to head out.

Plan: 4 miles, easy
Actual: 4 miles in 35:40 at 8:55/mile

Shoes: Nike Volmero 2
Conditions: HOT

Sunday, June 29- 10 miles

This was one of the best long runs I’ve had in quite some time. My pace was extremely even, I even had enough energy to pick it up for the final two miles. I ran on the Saucon Rail Trail path because it’s incredibly flat and just about the only flat terrain around where I live. I wanted to run long on flat terrain because Chicago is going to be much flatter than anything I’m used to running. While I’m still incorporating hills into my weekly workouts, I want to also incorporate some long, flat runs as well to practice running on similar terrain as Chicago.

Plan: 10 miles at 10:00/mile pace
Actual: 10 miles in 1:33:xx at 9:18/mile
Nutrition:

Prerun: 1 everything bagel with butter an hour before the run, 1 cup of coffee, water.
During: 1 vanilla bean Gu 6 miles into the run, water
Postrun: 1 32oz Gatorade and Brunch with friends!

Shoes: Asics Gel Flux (still waiting for my new Saucony Ride 7s to come in)
Conditions: 63 degrees to start, humid, sunny

Mileage total: 26.28

Also, with my new Nike+ Sportswatch I’m now on Nike+.com. Add me as a friend if you’re on there too!