Aesthete Runner

I was reminded a few weeks ago that it has been five years since I ran my first race, which was a 5k. Something I wrote that day after the race really stuck with me: if you asked me 2 months ago if I thought I could run a 5k, my answer would have been no. yet here I am, and its amazing what you can accomplish when you put your mind to something and stick with it.

This is the last Trail Tuesday of the month, and it is finally started to look and feel like fall. This is my favorite time of year to run!

Two weeks until race day!!!! At times I felt like the weeks were going by really quickly, but now that we are so close to the marathon I don't think it can get here fast enough. While most runners using traditional training plans have already started their taper, Hansons still keeps you on your feet..literally.

This week I received my third..yes third..Oiselle Spandos Jane bra. I guess it is finally time to admit that I am a Spandos bra addict. My beauties

It sure doesn't feel like fall here yet, but I do love the sound of leaves crunching on the trail. This is the time of year I love running on the trails and seeing the transition from summer into fall.

This week should just be called perfectly imperfect, as nothing about it went according to plan. In hindsight, using my extra week last week to repeat week 14 would have been better used this week. Rather than pretending everything went according to plan, I embraced the fact that I made week 15 my own.

A day late, but I have had a lot going on the past few days which I will share in a future post. In the meantime, enjoy the trails and my close encounters with a few deer!

A few weeks ago the running community was buzzing about staying safe on runs after there were several reports of runners being killed. While these incidents are not the norm, it never hurts to bring awareness to the issue of safety. Personally I take precautions on my runs, but I find that I get lazy or complacent, and sometimes a good reminder is needed to bring attention back to the topic. I happened to listen to a podcast on my run that did just that.

Deja vu week! I repeated week 14 of the plan since I still had an extra week built in. I debated about moving on with the plan and using the extra week to start the taper or repeat another week, but ultimately the last 3 weeks of the plan are important and I would rather keep it as designed. Week 15 is really the "peak" week of the plan, and I was unsure about doing this 4 weeks out instead of 3 weeks out. Hence...deja vu week!

The first week of September brought some cooler temps and I enjoyed phenomenal views on my trail runs. Here is hoping that fall is right around the corner!

It is hard to believe it is already the end of week 14. I feel like I was just writing about week 13 and the next week flew by. Here was my training schedule for the week:

So long August, and hello September! I could not be happier to think of fall weather ahead. This summer was brutal, and while Chicago will still throw some hot temps at us yet, I feel like there is hope ahead.  My total mileage for August was 145 miles ! This has been the highest mileage month of the year so far.  July : 120 June : 83 May: 66 April: 109 March: 121 February: 96 January: 65 Looking back at August, I feel like I gained a tremendous amount of fitness and I feel more prepared for the marathon than I did in July. August brought the beginning of strength workouts which I enjoy far more than speed workouts, and the first two 16 mile long runs. I both physically and mentally feel strong and right on track to where I should be this close to the marathon.  With two new donations last week, I reached the next fundraising level for Team PAWS which is far beyond what I ever expected to raise. I am so excited to wear my team singlet in just a ...