FVM BQ or BUST Week 3

Week 3 of Fox Valley Marathon training.

Weeks 1 and 2

July 1- July 7
This week marked the first time in recent memory I ran 4 days in a row-  AND my legs didnt beg for mercy!

Monday- Easy 5

Nothing to see here. Just some relaxed recovery miles.


Tuesday: REST DAY!!

Went out to dinner with L and drank some all the beers.

Wednesday: Tempo (speed). 7 miles, 55:30 with 5 miles @ 7:47-7:38 pace. 1 mile WU, 1 CD. 2x20 Squats, lunges n things, 2 x 25 triceps kickbacks. 

Strapped on my fast feet, aka Saucony A5's and hit the mill because it was raining out. Maybe one of these days I'll get up the cojones to do a speed run outside, but until theres no threat of thunderstorms, wind, or extreme heat, I'll stick to the running machine.

Had a pack of blue gatorade chews before this run, the miles felt very controlled and *gasp* I was sad when this workout was over. I wanted to keep going. After the run, I did some dynamic stretches and then the squats, lunges, planks n stuff. This workout was encouraging because I did the same quantity of squats n things as the first week but did not have abnormally sore muscles the days after
(like what happened in week 1).  Progress is encouraging.
Thursday- Easy 5 with the pup

Started the run with L and he took off to do his long run, CB wasnt happy that his daddy ran off without us, so we sprinted to catch him and ran a few miles with him before he continued on. It was pretty hot when we ran, so after the sprinting we took the run very easy. The lakefront was SOOOO crowded with tourists on rent a bikes...

CB was jealous he didnt have snazzy Mizuno Wave Sayonaras.

Midway through our run we sat in the grass and enjoyed watching the runners/cyclists pass by, the scenery, and tried to eat bugs. CB dog was pretty damn happy. It was a great way to spend the morning of the 4th of July!
Later in the day I achieved a new badge on Untappd. I drank 500 unique beers between 12-15-2011 (the date I started logging beer on Untappd) and July 4.

In case youre curious, my 500th unique brew was Russian River "Supplication" batch 010. "Ale aged in Pinot Noir barrels with cherries added." If you ever go to California, check out this brewery. This beer was a sour, but not lemon pucker sour, and went excellent with our grilled burgers.

Friday- Easy 6. Some Squats n things, Triceps Kickbacks.
Not much of a show here, minus being called a "mean lady" by some punk 'tweens who decided it was a good idea to play dodge ball with the exercise balls in the gym/ monkey around on the equipment unsupervised. I called security to have them removed because I would have flipped a gasket had they broken one of the large mirrors. Yeah, I'm so mean. You're welcome parents for preventing your punk ass kids from splitting their heads open on the treadmill.

CAUTION! The feeling I had going into Saturdays run.

Saturday- Long Run. 16 miles, 2:12:23. 16 miles with 6 @ GMP (goal marathon pace of 8:00-7:50) 

Woke up freaking early and pretty much threw on my running stuff and started running by 6am. I was concerned because:

1. This was my first GMP workout of the training and I was a little nervous. I wanted it to go well, like every run, DUH because I work hard to maintain consistency and not have surprises during my runs. As a result, 99% of my runs go according to plan. And that builds confidence. And confidence is what I need, it's what I crave... But mainly for the fact that this is going to be my pace come 9/22 and we need to become BFF's quickly.

2. It was already 71 degrees and 71% humidity at 6am. 

3. Getting attacked by Red Winged Black birds.

First mile was a slog, I was a rust bucket zombie. By the 2nd mile I had side 5'd Jeff and said hi to Chanthana, after that things fell into place. (no music, just people watching today, like every run outside)

I fell into a comfy "easy" cruising pace (much faster than I would have anticipated) and just went with it. Miles 8-13 were GMP and felt fantastic.  Saw Chanthana again at Olive beach which was a nice diversion for a minute.  Then I continued on with the GMP and decided to run around Navy Pier. Near Monroe harbor I saw an impressive side 5 happen directly in front of me, which later turned out to be friends of friends. Small world.
Overall I was beyond happy with how this 16 miler turned out. Even with the heat n humidity the GMP felt very controlled and that my friends has boosted my confidence tremendously. There were also no bird attacks. Mission accomplished on all fronts.

Nutrition/Stuffs:
1 Gatorade prime 15 min before run*
1 Salt stix @ mile 5, 8, 12
1 gu @ mile 6
Water fountain stops to drink, but more importantly splash cool water on my head.
Wore my Newtons. I really like them a lot.
Massaged my calves with the racquetball as soon as I got home. This is a life saver!
*Should have woken up earlier to eat a crumpet, but alas, this run was fine on an empty stomach.

Sunday- REST DAY!!!

Celebrate my pseudo birthday with beer and yummy foods.


- xaar