I can’t believe the Chicago Marathon is just one week away and the NYC Marathon is four weeks away… What am I going to do with myself in a month?
Aside from feeling like I didn’t run as much as I would have liked (what else is new though), this was a good taper week.
–Monday: easy 4-mile recovery run on the treadmill followed by barre class
–Tuesday: team speed workout in Central Park — warmup + 3 x mile repeats with full recovery + cool down
Our team hats off to Derek Jeter picture!
–Wednesday: unplanned day off
–Thursday: team speed workout in Central Park — fartlek run with a reservoir tempo run in between finishing with light strength training. And the NYC Marathon flags are up! (P.S. I love fartlek runs, they are my absolute favorite speed workout)
It’s really almost here!
–Friday: barre class
–Saturday: easy 8-mile run, was originally supposed to be 4-6 miles but since I was feeling pretty good, I kept going. Last official long-ish run before next weekend’s marathon
–Sunday: swapped Saturday’s workout for today… ran and cheered on my teammates at Grete’s Gallop Half Marathon. Ran with Maria for the last 3 miles of the race.
TOTAL mileage: 29.1 miles
Cheering at mile 6
Cheering squad selfie!
Love my teammates!
I was going a little stir crazy Saturday morning or as Josh puts it, I was going through running withdrawal but I got my fix in! Today was one of the best running days I’ve had in a while. Not because I ran a lot of miles at a fast pace or set a new PR, but because it is intoxicating to be surrounded by so many dedicated runners. They’re all out there pushing their limits bright and early on a Sunday morning and it is such a pleasure to be out there cheering everyone on. It was also awesome to be able to run side by side with Maria for the last 3 miles of the race. She would say that I pushed her to go faster and perhaps, I did to some degree, but she did all the hard work and it is an honor to watch her finish so strong.
I learned this week that I don’t necessarily love race settings. I think it is too much pressure and I get too anxious before and during a race about my performance. I run not for my health but for fun, to be around awesome people, in memory of my grandma, and to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s and today’s run made me realize that even more. So maybe a month from now, I’ll find other ways to channel my love for running.
In the meantime, if you want to follow me next Sunday morning, my bib number is 23195 and check back on the Chicago Marathon website later this week for tracking information. I will also try to post on one of my social media outlets with details leading up to the race!
Now, off to carb load!
Have a great week and congrats to all who raced this weekend!