Week 8 over and out. Omg. Still injury-free and I somehow got through 25 miles! Super excited about that. I got in two great sessions with NRC last week, but they goes on break during May before resuming with marathon training in June, so I feel like I need a plan for the month. In May, I want to build my base up to 30 miles, strength train, run a race, and have a recovery week, so I should probably start thinking about all of that.
As for Week 8 before I get too far ahead of myself...
SATURDAY (PART 1) // 6.55 MILES @ 8:46 MIN/MILE + 1.4 MILES (WU/CD)
NRC HOME RUN ON THE LAKEFRONT PATH
Finally a cooler weekend for running! I ran 0.6 to warm up, then 6.55 with NRC, then .8 to cool down. As for my 6.55 with NRC, am I allowed to say whoa about my own running without sounding
like a tool?
I don't know what happened. I was going to go with the 9:30 min/mile group. I even declared it to Joe while having breakfast heading out the door. Then I warmed up on my way to NRC and got to NRC and saw two girls who usually run in the 9:30 min/mile group go into the the 9:00 min/mile group. And there I was feeling the need to keep up with them even though I barely know them. So yup! That's how I ended up in the 9:00 min/mile group.
As for the 9:00 min/mile group... the pace started out really fast (8:20 min/mile), but we thankfully hit almost every stoplight on our way to the Lakefront Path. By the time we got to the lake, I felt warmed up and the group's pace had slowed down a bit. Suddenly five miles had gone by and I felt great and saw that my watch said that the average pace of the run was 8:55 min/mile. That's when I decided to split off and see what I could do. Another girl in the group joined with me and we ran really hard for the last 1.5 miles.
Our average pace got down to 8:46 min/mile and somehow I was the first finisher in the 9:00 min/mile group. I totally realize that NRC is not a race, but it feels good to feel strong. For the longest time I was always the one who would end up falling behind the group I was running with. It definitely helped me get stronger, but it was usually frustrating too. Since I've started running with NRC in the fall I've gone from the 10:00 min/mile group to the 9:30 min/mile group all the way to the 9:00 min/mile group for the majority of my runs these days. I'm pretty sure I have my wall sits and hiking 2200 miles to thank for the improvement.
SATURDAY (PART 2) // 1.1 MILES @ 8:25 MIN/MILE
WITH JOE (!!!)
Later on Saturday, Joe decided to go workout with his friend Max and I tagged along. Joe used to be an amazing runner in high school, but hasn't run much since sophomore year of college. We decided to jog over to Max's and then worked out... weights and squats and all. I really need to get some 5, 8, and 10 pound free weights...
SUNDAY // 5.35 MILES @ 10:16 MIN/MILE
SOLO LOOP THROUGH NAVY PIER & DOWNTOWN
If there's anything in my life that makes me feel old and like my parents, it's that I woke up early again on a Sunday morning to exercise. On this run, I decided to take it easy and tried to run to a lighthouse I've only seen from afar. It ended up being a bit of a fail. I may have ran straight through a Coast Guard training and then realized that there may have been a sign slightly further up on the pier that said something along the lines of "No Unauthorized Personnel"...
Anyway, I finished my run just before 8:30 am, and had the rest of the day to do as I pleased (eat/chill/walk around/see Maggie/etc.). Amazing.
TUESDAY // 5.35 MILES (MORE ON PACE BELOW)
NRC SPEED RUN
Last week's speed run was a hard one, but wow was it good! I decided to go from the green group to the blue group the groups are colored and blue is faster than green), and to my surprise found myself in the middle of the pack for most reps instead of at the back.
In addition to a warm up and cool down, we did three rounds of the following (with 1 minute between each and 2 minutes at the end of each set):
- 400m at 10K pace (1:54 each)
- 400m at 5K pace (1:50 each)
- 400m at 5K pace (1:50 each)
- 5K pace building to mile pace (1:46 each)
WEDNESDAY // 4.7 MILES @ 10:15 MIN/MILE
SOLO THROUGH CHICAGO'S GOLD COAST
This run was sooo slow after Tuesday's speed run. My legs were so sore! I literally ran up, then down each eighth-of-a-mile street in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood during golden hour. Talk about cute neighborhoods though!
For the last bit of the run, I ran back down to Streeterville on the Lakefront Path. I pass a group of guys recording an amateur rap video and they even had real dolla dolla bills. Oh man. Too funny!
TOTAL // 25 MILES (!!!)
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