Chicago Marathon Training, Week #3 recap:

• Miles Run: 44
• Miles Biked: 90.5 (with a 50 mile ride!)
• Core: 6 days (10 min. a day)
• Pilates: 1 time
• Strength: random push ups and hill sprints

Details:

• M: 6 miles w/ 8 x 400m (1:26 – 1:31)
• T: pilates
• W: 5k race (22:51; 7:19 pace); 2.1 miles warm up; Bike 28.6 miles
• Th: 8 miles (9:15); Bike 11 miles;
• F:6.5 miles (9:11, w/ 5 x 20 second hill sprints)
• Sa: 15 miles (8:06, w/ 2.7 miles at 7:34)
• Su: 3.25 (9:39); Bike 50.9 miles

Things that went well this week:

• core!  Don’t they say it takes 21 days to form a habit?  I feel like my 10 minutes of core, which I’ve been doing for 3 weeks now, is starting to feel like not as much of a PITA.  And I feel stronger and look less squishy!
• Reeling myself in on the hot days and the days that I needed easy runs.  Notice all my 9:00+ paces??  Easy days easy.  Hard days hard.
• My diet.  I’ve been making healthier choices this week.  And mixing in just the right amount of red wine and beer to keep life fun, but not interfere with the training.

90 days til race day!

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Farthest bike ride yet today.  50 miles!  In 85 – 90 degrees and sun.  Yep, I’m a bad ass.   I definitely need to figure out fueling on a bike.  It’s very different than running, in my mind anyway.  First, it’s not as easy to do – at least for me since I’m new to this whole cycling thing and sort of need both hands on the handlebars.  I can’t very easily eat/gu/drink while riding, because I’m a clutz and sort of fall alot.   Second, although biking is certainly tiring – while climbing hills or going fast – it doesn’t feel like as much of a constant workout like running does, so I forget that I should be/need to fuel.  So by the end of my 50 mile ride, I was feeling really weak and a little dizzy, which tells me I didn’t take in enough fuel.  Next time I’ll do better.

Off to an Epsom bath.  The legs feel tired.