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Chicago Marathon Training, Week 11

It’s getting real, guys. The Chicago Marathon is now 40 days away (Oct. 9) and the Chicago Half Marathon is Sept. 25! I feel like these next several weeks are going to be a blur. I just need to keep moving. Just keep moving!

Recap of Week 11 of marathon training:

Monday: Rest day. Graham and I wanted to rent paddleboards but the rental place was closed and we couldn’t find the second place in enough time to allow us a sunset paddle. I was disappointed, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Tuesday: 2.6 miles at Orangetheory.
Floor workout:
  • Rollouts on TRX strap (4 sets, 10 reps)
  • Bicep curls (3 sets, 8 reps)
  • Burpees with weights (3 sets, 6 reps)
  • Plank low rows with weights (3 sets, 10 reps)
  • Pushes to knee tucks with the Ab Dolly (3 sets, 10 reps)
  • And lots more!
Wednesday: 5 miles at group training. It was runner’s choice: either leapfrogs with four other people (the last person sprints to the front) for 40 minutes or fartleks on your own. I chose the latter. I ran 5 minutes at a surge pace, jogged or walked for 2 minutes, then 4-minute surge, 2-minute jog/walk, 3-minute surge, 2-minute jog/walk, 2-minute surge, 2-minute jog, 1-minute surge and 2-minute walk. Then the same thing going back to the start line. My legs felt so heavy.
Thursday: Rest day. I had a terrible day, so that didn’t motivate me to do anything, though I could have benefited from a yoga session.
Friday: 1.5 miles at Orangetheory Fitness  and then an hour of paddleboarding after work. Paddleboarding at sunset on Lake Michigan is incredible. If you are ever in Chicago in the summer and have the opportunity to do it, you should! 
Saturday: I moved my long run to Sunday to go to Millennium Park yoga, but then it rained. Womp, womp. I was sore from the previous day anyway so it’s not the end of the world. 
Sunday: 8 miles. Thank goodness for a recovery week! My average pace was about 11 minute miles because I kept stopping at each drinking fountain along the Lakefront Trail. My quads were still a bit sore from paddleboarding on Friday as well.

Week’s mileage: 17.1

Reflections:

I broke in my new running shoes this week! I love them because they are the exact shoe I had before but in different colors and a half size larger. The reason I wear a half size up is that my toenails and socks rub on my shoes when I run, which has led to loss of two toenails in the past eight months. Don’t worry, they have since grown back. I wear the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 15, though Brooks currently has the GTS 16 out. I kept the same older version because they are cheaper and sometimes new versions have upgrades that some runners don’t like. I’ll give the newer version a shot after marathon training.

I feel consistently fatigued during this marathon training process, but I’m hoping it will pay off at the Chicago Fall Half Marathon and the Chicago Marathon. I aim to improve my time at the half marathon, and my goal for the full is to not walk. Finishing is good enough for me! I saw a sneak peek of the medal for the half this week and it’s the most amazing medal I’ve ever seen! It has two Xs that spin in honor of the race’s 20th anniversary.

Low-quality screenshot from a Facebook Live video below:

This week’s running favorites:

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