Week 6 Summary

Week 6 was a crazy week!

Unfortunately, I had back-to-back student orientation sessions at work which called for early mornings and late evenings. In short, I didn't do any weekday runs because of the chaotic schedule. BUT, I did commit to the Saturday long run of 7 miles. I was expecting for the run to be difficult because I had slacked on my weekday runs. I wasn't tired while running, but the heat was outrageous! I ran with my water bottle and stopped at the Fleet Feet hydration station located at North Avenue Beach to fill up on Gatorade. No matter how much I drank, it wasn't enough. The heat was beating down on me and made it difficult to finish... but I did. I made a promise to myself that I would stay in-tune with my body and when I need to stop to walk, I would. Keeping true to my promise, I walked a portion of my long run, but I'm just glad that I finished the 7 miles. I don't want to be the runner that passes out from the heat and has to have an ambulance come pick them up. Thus, I walk when needed.

I also tried a new energy gel on Saturday. This time I tried the lemon lime flavor and I hate to say it, but the gels taste AWEFUL!! I have made a decision to not use the gels. Seriously, the gag reflex is too much for me to handle. They taste chalky and the flavor doesn't cut through the nasty taste of the "gel". I'm going to make a pit stop at Fleet Feet this week to pick up some Chompers (fruit snack type power tablets) to use next week. Hopefully these work out well for me. I'm just happy I'm trying out the different power-up options out there before my upcoming races.

What was really exciting about this past week was the Children's Memorial Marathon Team (CMMT) kick-off party! It was held on Thursday at a bar called The Apartment (located on Lincoln Ave. right by the hospital). I picked up my official race shirt that I'm supposed to wear during the marathon. They also gave away an inspirational dvd about CMMT. I plan on watching it this week (look for a review soon).

The event had a great buffet of food and an open bar. Thank you to one of CMMT's official sponsors for making the event happen: Baird Warner. It was a great event and I met other runners and listened to their stories. I sat with 2 ladies who are teachers at a north side school. They are running in honor of one of their 5 year old students who passed away. Each lady has run at least 2 marathons. I also sat by a man who is about to turn 40 and decided to run a marathon to prove he could do it. This will be his first marathon, and like me, figured if he's going to commit to training, he might as well do it for a charity. (more on this later)

I am honored to wear the CMMT shirt during the marathon, but it's a little on the short side. I prefer my running shirts to sit on my hips and to be somewhat loose. Oh well. The big white strip you see above the Marathon Team logo is for me to write my name. Runners are encouraged to write their names on their shirts because crowd members will cheer for you by name. = ) Yay!

Next Saturday is a 12 mile run. Goodness gracious!