Illinois Marathon Training Recap, Week 19

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Week #19, April 2-8

M Rest
T 3.23
W 2.92
TH 7.24
F Rest
S Ran 4.00
S Ran 15.34

Tuesday was a nice 40 minutes of running.  I also cut off 3 inches from my hair (feels so much better) and bought card stock paper and pens at Michael’s.  I went there to return some ribbon that I had purchased in December.  The paper is pretty!  Someone suggested I use it to make something for Mother’s Day.

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A friend of mine had mentioned the Brooks Asteria as a good running shoe and I ordered a pair.  Got mine on Wednesday in time for my 35 minutes run.  I like the colors and the feel reminds me of the Pure Flow.  That was my favorite shoe before I discovered the Launch.

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I ran in them again for Thursday’s run.  I also received a pair of the Oiselle Pocket Jogger Shorts.  I’ve heard great things about it and am thinking that this might be the shorts I wear for the Illinois Marathon.  The weather was decent and I didn’t know it was going to snow.  It began when I was out there and I did not want to return home to change.  I kept running.  It wasn’t that bad and eventually it stopped.  You can see my legs are red.  🙂

My run was 2 mile warm up, 2×15 minutes @10:43 pace, 2 mile cool down.  I ran by feel and didn’t look at my watch but knew I was running those 15 minutes at a faster pace and it felt comfortable.  I had no idea the second interval was faster.  That was another confidence booster that I needed for my upcoming marathon.

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Saturday morning I went out for 4 miles.  It was cold (20 degrees) but very sunny which warmed me up.  I also ran by feel and felt comfortable on my run.  I had headwind the first 2 miles but knew it would be much better when I turned around for the last 2 miles.  I didn’t mean to go faster than my easy pace (11:56-13:04) and I ended up with negative splits.

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Less than 3 weeks till the Illinois Marathon!  🙂

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Today’s run was a 3 hour run (45 minutes warm up, 3×30 minutes @10:55, 10:45, and 10:35, then 45 minutes cool down).  I was hurting when I was done.  The wind was just too much and no matter where I turned, it was there trying to push me back.  I didn’t hit all of my paces but I am still proud because I ran for 3 hours.  Plus, the average pace for the 3rd interval is 10:44 which is a big decrease from the 2nd interval average pace of 10:57.  Pretty good!

I believe this is my longest run for this marathon training.  No 20 miles for me.  🙂

Total mileage for the week: 32.73
Total mileage for this training cycle: 415.02
Total mileage for the year: 336.19

Here’s how training has gone so far:
• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4
• Week 5
• Week 6
• Week 7
• Week 8
• Week 9
• Week 10
• Week 11
• Week 12
• Week 13
• Week 14
• Week 15
• Week 16
• Week 17
• Week 18

How was YOUR week?  

Random Thoughts Thursday 14

Random Thoughts Thursday

• While I’ve been enjoying my Spring Break, I am sad that it will be over soon.  One week is not enough time.  I want two weeks.  🙂  I just realized that as of yesterday the 4th, we have 2 months left of school.

Spring Break-2

• You know I love Tieks shoes.  I have 2 pairs and ordered a pair in Sapphire.  Aren’t they gorgeous?

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I also want to get one of these.  They’re both so pretty but really don’t need both pairs.  Or do I?

Tieks-15

• Thanks to Facebook I was reminded of the day I completed by first ultramarathon in 2012.  I did another one two years later and then stopped.  I haven’t thought of doing another one till I got that reminder.  Maybe next year?  Who knows.  For now I want to do well in my marathon this month and in the MCM in October.

• Is it really Spring?  It doesn’t feel like it.  On Saturday it was in the high 50s and then every day since then has been a different number.  Yesterday we got a little bit of snow.  I woke up in the morning, saw some snow on the ground, and went back to bed.  It melted by the time I went out for my run.

Weather-1

• I was decluttering and found these tights.  Man, I think I’ve had them for over 10 years.  Not sure why I still have them.  I guess the real question is why did I buy them in the first place?  I mean, fishnet tights?

Black Tights-1

• A cat picture just because.

Lola-1

A+ for March!

Happy to know that March is over.  It was a LONG month.  Three months done for the year.  I am on Spring Break and am excited to be relaxing and plan to do more decluttering…or not.  I am still looking for a house and now is the perfect time to get rid of stuff that I don’t want anymore.

• Training went very well this month.  I didn’t miss any of my runs and pretty much hit all of my paces.  The weather wasn’t as horrible as in previous months but it was definitely too cold for March.  I think we had one day with a little bit of snow?

• Ran 121.43 miles.  I was very happy to see that number.  After missing my goal in both January AND February, it finally happened in March.  That put me with almost 25% done of my yearly goal.

100miles

2018 Goal

• Total time running was 23:00.  Yikes!  That is almost a whole day of running.  Pretty cool!

• Ran my first race this year and came close to a PR.  I ran the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K and while I didn’t PR, I did better my time by more than 6 minutes.  My finish time was 50:03 and last year was 56:26.  I’ll take it!

• 22 days of running.  I’ve been running 5 days a week and for the most part really like it.  My rest days are Monday and Friday which is good because those are the two days in which I am the most tired.

March 2018 Calendar

• I had some great quality session workouts.  These workouts are my favorite.  I love the variety and the challenge.  I seriously need to stop doubting myself.  

• I have not kept up with strength workouts.  I am still failing in this department.  Rachel has another challenge for April and I signed up for it.  We’ll see how I do.

Overall, I am proud of myself with the work I put in this month towards my training for the Illinois Marathon.  It has been a wild training season with many ups and downs.  I have my moments of panic and fear which is normal, right?  I know I can do this but yet my brain likes to mess with me.

March 2018 Report Card

So how did March go for you?

Linking up with MarciaPatti, and Erika for Tuesdays on the Run.

TuesdaysOnTheRun

Illinois Marathon Training Recap, Week 18

Illinois Marathon-2

Week #18, March 26-April 1

M Rest
T 3.19
W 3.26
TH Rest
F 7.35
S Ran 11.68
S Ran 4.00

I took it nice and slow on Tuesday.  I was actually very tired and seriously questioned why I was out running.  My splits were 12:08, 12:38, 12:32.

I almost bought these DD/Saucony Kinvara 4 shoes but they were sold out by the time I made up my mind to buy them.

Saucony Kinvara 9 DD

Wednesday’s run actually felt better.  I wore shorts and a new Oiselle top that was sold out but miraculously one became available for me to order.

My left knee is being a jerk and I’ve been using RockTape.  I am a little worried because my marathon is in less than a month and I hope I can still run it.

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I wrote in a post last week that I entered the lottery for the Marine Corps Marathon.  I received an email on Thursday morning letting me know that I got in.  I am excited about it and have until Monday evening when I can officially register.

MCM-2

Thursday afternoon was the start of Spring Break.  I came home and stayed in bed for a bit.  I was very tired.  I did not want to run and I didn’t. 

Spring Break 2018-1

Lola was more than happy to cuddle with me.

Since I skipped my run on Thursday, I went on Friday morning.  It was a gorgeous day for running!  My workout was 1.5 mile warm up, 4 x 1 mile @10:01 with 4 minutes recovery, and 1 mile cool down.

I did pretty good!  It was hard.  I didn’t look at my pace for the mile repeats (except for the last mile) and ran by feel.  The last mile felt ever harder.  My legs were tired and the wind was making me even more tired.  I did stop about 3 times to catch my breath.  I just wanted to finish.  When I was done and checked my splits, I saw why I was tired at the end.  I was running faster than I should have.  But I can honestly say those paces felt hard but not enough for me to stop and walk (except the last mile).  Overall, VERY PLEASED with how the run went.

I decided to switch and do my long run (150 minutes) on Saturday, so I could have all day to rest and recover.  Mother Nature likes to mess with us.  There was rain and lots of wind on the forecast.  Sigh.  

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The original plan was to be out on the lakefront at 7am.  I woke up at 7 but stayed in bed and didn’t get up till 9.  Then I made pancakes and procrastinated.  Then I got ready and by noon was hungry again so I ate a light lunch and watched TV.  I was finally out the door st 2:30.  

This run was HORRIBLE.  It was windy and windy.  No matter which direction I turned there was wind.  I got tired early in my run and didn’t want to continue.  My paces were all over the place.  My fastest mile was 11:24 and my slowest was 13:53.  

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I wanted to quit but didn’t because thanks to Facebook I was reminded of my first ultramarathon 6 years ago.  This run felt harder than the race.  🙂  I had to run the first 100 minutes at an easy pace and then the last 50 close to 11:00.  Obviously that didn’t happen and I didn’t care.  I was just so tired and wanted to be done.

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Even if this run sucked, I am happy I didn’t quit.  But I don’t know what it worse, quitting on a run or continuing but hating every minute of it.  On a positive note, I was also happy because I ended March with 121.43 miles.  Yay!!

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To end the week I ran 4 miles today.  It was cold but surprisingly didn’t feel too cold.  I should have done my long run today but I really thought it was going to be very cold today.  Illinois Marathon-173

Total mileage for the week: 29.48
Total mileage for this training cycle: 382.29
Total mileage for the year: 303.46

Here’s how training has gone so far:
• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4
• Week 5
• Week 6
• Week 7
• Week 8
• Week 9
• Week 10
• Week 11
• Week 12
• Week 13
• Week 14
• Week 15
• Week 16
• Week 17

How was YOUR week?  

Link back to the host and let’s support other bloggers linking up as they train for a marathon, half marathon, or any other event.

Random Thoughts Thursday 13

Random Thoughts Thursday

• Pens and more pens!  One of my students gives me sweet notes here and there.  One day she gave me a very pretty one colored with gel and glitter pens.  I made a comment and asked her to bring me a few so I could see the brand.  She showed up the next day with the WHOLE SET!  Isn’t it pretty?  I had fun that day picking different colors to use while grading papers.  I might get a small set for me.

Pens-1

•A few students like giving me notes/drawings.  They’re so creative and definitely draw better than me.  🙂  They know I like cats and that I have a cat, so they’re always drawing cat pictures.  Each one definitely warms my heart because I know they’ve taken the time to do something for me and I love seeing their smile when they give me their drawing.  I have so many of them on the wall behind my desk and it brightens my day when I see them.

Student Drawing-1

• Have you seen the Boston Marathon limited edition shoes?  I have a pair and cannot wait to run in them.  I don’t know when that will be since I am already rotating 4 pairs of shoes.

• How about these Dunkin Donuts Saucony Kinvara 9?  I got very excited when I saw these at school on Tuesday (not sure when they were made available for sale).  I quickly posted it on Instagram and didn’t think about them again till I got home.  I wanted to order them but apparently my size was sold out.  I checked again on Wednesday and they’re no longer on the site.  Only 2,000 pairs were made and ALL were sold.  I wasn’t too upset that I didn’t get a pair.  The way I see it is that I saved $110 and I definitely do not need another pair.  Right?  They’re still very cute.

Saucony Kinvara 9 DD

• Have you tried a Pour Over Coffee Maker?   I have a Keurig and a coffee maker.  For sure I don’t need this, right?  Am I missing on some great coffee?

Pour Over Coffee Maker-1

• The other day I was on Facebook reading about some songs that don’t mean what you think they meanOne of them was “Waterfalls” by TLC.  I was in college when that song was out and remember it being a catchy song, but didn’t pay too much attention to the lyrics.  Anway, 20+ years later I am finding out that that song is about HIV/AIDS and drugs.  What?  I had NO idea.  I just saw the video and listened to the lyrics.  I can’t find the post on Facebook but I was appalled at the comments people left.  Some went as far as calling some people “stupid” because they didn’t know the real meaning of the song lyrics.  I don’t understand how some people can be so RUDE and going as far as saying things like that.  Sometimes I really diske Facebook and don’t check it at all.