Chicago Marathon Training Week 5
Another week of training completed, although this was hardly a week for running. I was pretty sore and tired after the WFG Xtreme 10 last week, and I was glad for an easy week of running and some rest.
With a short camping trip thrown into the mix, I only completed one quality workout, with the rest being easy runs. I missed my long run, to which I feel a little guilty about, but the hiking I did was pretty challenging at times with all of the climbing and stairs involved, so I think that my time on feet was about the same as a long run. I am happy to find that a week later I feel back to my usual self and ready to push on with training. One of the best perks of running year round and keeping up my fitness base is that it is not very hard for me to take some weeks off without losing motivation or fitness. Here was what my week looked like:
Sunday: 4 easy miles, Jasyoga - High Mileage Reset
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 3 easy miles
Wednesday: Speed run- 7 X 400m with 200m recovery, 3 X 200m with 200m recovery, with a warm up and cool down
Thursday: Hiking - Starved Rock
Friday: Hiking - Starved Rock
Saturday: Rest
Total: 11.47 miles
Sunday's run was a bit rough as my legs felt tight from the race, but I kept it at a very easy pace and followed it up with yoga. Wednesday was my first speed workout of the McMillan plan, but I am no stranger to speed work, especially after the challenging Daniels 4 week plan I did before this training cycle. What was interesting about this workout was that I had to do it on the treadmill. Yep - I finally used my treadmill. A storm hit just as I was about to run, and when there is lightning and flooding, I prefer to be cautious. I wore my watch so that I could have a record of what intervals I needed to do, and ran on the treadmill. I can't say it was all that horrible. With a built-in fan blowing on me and my music playing through the bluetooth speakers, I found it somewhat enjoyable. I think the fact that it was a speed workout and not just an easy run that made it less boring because I was constantly changing speed, and I enjoyed the feature on my treadmill that lets me adjust the speed from the handrail so I didn't have to constantly be touching the main display.
I think the camping trip came at a great time in the training cycle. I really appreciated the additional rest, but more so, the mental reset. While I am glad that I recovered well from my ultra-marathon, I still continued to run and when I began to train for the Chicago Marathon, I realized that I was not looking forward to another training cycle as much as I should have been. I think this was more mental than physical, as physically I felt great. My hesitation to pick and start a plan was a good sign that mentally I needed some time away from running. I certainly still enjoyed running, but needed a bit of time away from all things training. Thankfully my trip to Vegas and camping have been nice distractions from all things running and training. I've enjoyed being active and enjoying nature, while not having to focus on miles and speed. This has been just the thing to get me excited and focused for training again.
Week 6 brings another speed workout and one of my first long runs in a while. It may sound strange, but I am actually looking forward to a long run!
With a short camping trip thrown into the mix, I only completed one quality workout, with the rest being easy runs. I missed my long run, to which I feel a little guilty about, but the hiking I did was pretty challenging at times with all of the climbing and stairs involved, so I think that my time on feet was about the same as a long run. I am happy to find that a week later I feel back to my usual self and ready to push on with training. One of the best perks of running year round and keeping up my fitness base is that it is not very hard for me to take some weeks off without losing motivation or fitness. Here was what my week looked like:
Sunday: 4 easy miles, Jasyoga - High Mileage Reset
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 3 easy miles
Wednesday: Speed run- 7 X 400m with 200m recovery, 3 X 200m with 200m recovery, with a warm up and cool down
Thursday: Hiking - Starved Rock
Friday: Hiking - Starved Rock
Saturday: Rest
Total: 11.47 miles
Sunday's run was a bit rough as my legs felt tight from the race, but I kept it at a very easy pace and followed it up with yoga. Wednesday was my first speed workout of the McMillan plan, but I am no stranger to speed work, especially after the challenging Daniels 4 week plan I did before this training cycle. What was interesting about this workout was that I had to do it on the treadmill. Yep - I finally used my treadmill. A storm hit just as I was about to run, and when there is lightning and flooding, I prefer to be cautious. I wore my watch so that I could have a record of what intervals I needed to do, and ran on the treadmill. I can't say it was all that horrible. With a built-in fan blowing on me and my music playing through the bluetooth speakers, I found it somewhat enjoyable. I think the fact that it was a speed workout and not just an easy run that made it less boring because I was constantly changing speed, and I enjoyed the feature on my treadmill that lets me adjust the speed from the handrail so I didn't have to constantly be touching the main display.
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| a little taste of those stairs.. |
Week 6 brings another speed workout and one of my first long runs in a while. It may sound strange, but I am actually looking forward to a long run!
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