Wow - under 80 days until the Chicago Marathon. Crazy.
So I have no race updates as I haven't been racing. But training? Oh yea - and lots of it.
This is my first summer training with a group, and really my first summer seriously training for a race. It is really tough saying no to all the delicious beer on a Saturday night as I know I need to be up at 5 for our Sunday long run. Really, really tough.
The heat hasn't been too bad - except for 2 weeks ago. Morning runs help but it still sucks. You need to be careful, hydrate, not die, but you can workout in it.
The other really tough thing is that we are still going on vacation, camping, cottaging, etc with the girls. I can't believe that so far I have not missed a run but have had to do some of the solo on Sunday nights. Tough to believe I used to do only the solo runs. Now - no way. 21km by yourself sucks.
So the program is fairly similar to my ATB program. Tuesdays are interval work. The only difference is that I am now running in the morning instead of the evening (getting up at 4:45am is not really that fun). But once you are done, you are done. Feels great.
Wednesday is your solo run - either easy or a tempo run. Thursday's so far have been hill repeats. We are running on trails now and wow what a difference. Longer, steeper, tougher. A great workout. Saturday runs mimic the Wednesday runs.
And for the long runs....Not much has changed. They are long and they are tough. 22 hills with 7 "big" climbs in a long run will test you. Just a bit....
The other key thing I am playing around is my fuel. If you have read my ATB race recaps I have had issues with cramping around the 27km mark. I don't want that to happen with 15km to go in Chicago. I have switched to the eload for my electrolytes and taking salt tablets. I actually can feel a difference in my legs when it comes to the 2km push. The key with any hydration is to play around with it on your long runs to find out what works best for you. So far so good (we are up to 27km now).
I still haven't planned any races until Chicago. I am sure I will be talked into one but we will see.
Can't wait. Less than 3 months...
Cheers,
Steve
