Week 5 Summary

I am almost one-third of the way done with training, as the marathon is just under 3 months away.

My short runs last week were a little rough because I was coming off a week of non-training (remember, I was on vacation in Florida). I figured out that I would not be in Chicago on Saturday for my long run because I was going to Washington, D.C. for a wedding (Friday-Sunday). I told my supervisor that I wanted to do my 10 mile long run on Friday morning, before work because I was going to be out of town on Saturday. She let me come in late to work on Friday (at 10 am) so I could run my 10 miles that morning. I'm so happy she understands what kind of time and personal commitment it is to train for a marathon.

Alright, let's get to the main event: the long run. Overall, it was fantastic. I changed things up a bit this time. First, I ran with a strap-on water bottle so I didn't have to stop at water fountains. It was really nice to hydrate without having to wait for the next water fountain along the lakeshore path. I also drank a full glass of water right before I went to bed on Thursday night. Second, I started to carbo-load two days prior to my run. I think this made a HUGE difference in my energy level. Third, I used an energy gel mid-way through my run. I want to learn what flavor my body reacts well to. At just $1.20 each, I purchased three different flavors: orange burst, lemon sublime, and espresso love.

I tried the orange burst flavor last week and it wasn't pretty. The gag reflex against the flavor was enough to make me never want to use orange burst again. End of story. This week I will be trying out lemon sublime. I have a feeling this flavor will be much better! Hopefully it works out because I would like to know what flavor I will using for the Rock & Roll Half-Marathon on August 1st.

I was really impressed with how well I did on my long run. I continued to run along the lake, but this time I actually ran over the Chicago River just along lower Lake Shore Drive. It was the most amazing feeling to cross the river because this is the farthest I've ran during training. I thought I ran 5 miles, so I turned around to head home and finish up the second 5 mile (for a total of 10 miles). Unfortunately, when I got home and mapped out the route I ran on Google Maps, I discovered I only ran 9.2 miles. I was pretty frustrated because I was felt really good and I could have ran another 0.8 miles to complete 10. Oh, well. I rocked out the 9.2 miles. My endurance level felt fairly strong... an obvious good sign of conditioning. I just wish I would have iced my knees once I got home because they were sore later on that day. Now I know for next time.

Mileage Tracker:

Monday - 3 miles

Tuesday - 5 miles

Wednesday - 3 miles

Friday - 9.2 miles

TOTAL: 20.2 miles