4 weeks to RnR Chicago aka this was another great week.

This was my highest mileage week in over 1 year with 40 miles of running. And I feel great. RnR Chicago is 4 weeks from today!!! Yikes. I feel like I still have a lot of work to do before then to feel comfortable running longer distances again.

With the increased mileage I started toying with the idea of training for another marathon on Saturday afternoon. By the end of my long run on Sunday I had began rethinking that idea because I really didnt want to run an additional 5-8 miles once I was finished. Marathons and Halfs are my favorite distances, and I miss running marathons. BUT, I have been enjoying my free time since getting injured a year ago and the lifestyle changes that would accompany marathon training is something I'm not 100% sure I want to switch to right now. Either way, I've got 2-3 potential marathons I could train for in less than 15 weeks if I decide to do one.
The highlights of my running week were: Running 12.87 miles in 1:42 on Sunday morning. While it was a bit warm, I felt really good. Miles 6-9 were at 7:31, 7:26, 7:30, 7:35. I wanted to do 5 miles at this pace but it was too warm.*

I ran south, all the way to 51st street- which is the furthest south on the LFP i've been in a long long time.

                                         
Another highlight was a speed sesh of 6x800's @ 6:39 pace + 2x1200's @ 6:39 pace on Tuesday evening.

The next day CB and I did a recovery run.

Friday morning Vicky and I FINALLY ran together. We've been friends for a few years and have run many of the same races but have never run together before now. It was so nice to actually run together and chat.

In non running related news, 

CB and I were happy the Blackhawks won the Stanley cup again.
I got my 1x yearly haircut this week. Instead of just a trim, I got 6+ inches chopped off. I feel 10lbs lighter and wonder why I waited so long to get it done.
My hair looked so nice leaving the salon- I hope I can master curling my hair now... I learned how to french braid my hair at 30+ years old, so maybe with the right styling products (Which I asked about and subsequently purchased), I can get a curl/wave to stick in my hair longer than 4 minutes.
I went to the Daley Plaza Farmer's Market Thursday in the pouring rain. I got a savory buckwheat crepe filled with goat cheese,turkey and olives. It was delicious. Saturday evening there were bad storms in Chicago. CB was so freaked out from the lightning and thunder. I gave him some calming chews, but nothing really calms him down. I feel so bad for him when it's storming because there is nothing I can do to reduce his anxiety. Post long run and after organizing the kitchen and all my running clothes, I got a salad and huge meatball from my local Italian restaurant and opened a bottle of 2007 "Le Cigare Volant" red wine by Bonny Doon. L and I always enjoyed going to Bonny Doon's tasting room in Santa Cruz, CA when we lived there. We have a few bottles from Bonny Doon left that survived the cross country move of 2011. 
Looking Forward:

*I really need to get more consistent with my long run fueling. I ran the 12.87 miles without  GU, sports drink or breakfast. I usually dont eat before shorter "long" runs, but I started fading in the heat without replacing electrolytes as I was solely taking water from the fountains. I'm good about using my Osmo for the speed work, and usually run longer races with a bottle of Osmo in hand, but I've been ridiculously lazy on my long runs lately by not taking anything with me (since it's "only" 13 miles or less). With 3 more longish runs left, I will make an effort to get my fueling consistent again and quit being lazy.

Other than that, I'll keep eating well, and plan to hit 40+ miles again this coming week.

Yay running, YAY.

The Original 5k 2015

Time: 21:00 a new PR by 13 seconds!

96/877 OA (top 10.8%)**

16/501 women (top 3.2%)**

4/131 AG (top 3.1%)**

**Yay stats and analytics!

I couldn't resist signing up for the second running of The Original 5k. I ran it last year and had a blast even though I was injured with peroneal tendonosis. I love the theme of this race "1970's original running boom" as well as the $19.72 entry fee. No frills, no shirt just an extremely well organized race put on by Fleet Feet. We did get a super cool hat though- much better than another tech shirt IMO.

The night time start made logistics challenging for me since I like to run on a near empty stomach. But after consulting with Kim, she suggested eating a larger than normal breakfast which helped a lot. I had a breakfast burrito that was much more plain for me than usual since I didn't want spicy things dancing around in my belly for a 5k. I ate a turkey sandwich around 2pm and felt good for the 7pm start.

The weather couldn't have been any better- low 60's relatively low dew point, overcast, no wind and intermittent light drizzle. I really expected it to be 85 degrees, windy and humid.


My goals for the race were to break 21, and-or PR. I was feeling good going into the race, but didn't feel I was quite at the same level of fitness I was at for the Vancouver 5k. Losing a bit of momentum running wise + eating and drinking all the things in Europe left me feeling a bit more sluggish. Plus I've been adding miles the past 3 weeks and had to back off on intensity because more miles and more intensity equal injury.

L and I took a bus to the start of the race- 5 miles away and 45+ minutes, And got there nice and early. We ran into Vicky who was super awesome to come out in the dodgy conditions to spectate. We also ran into some Fleet Feet Cheer team members and had fun taking some photos.


I warmed up for a bit with some strides and positioned myself near the front of the race. After the national anthem, we were off!!

Mile 1: 6:35  "I love this! This is so fun!"
I felt really comfortable the first mile- and though I could hold this for a while. Heh.

Photos courtesy of Vicky and L

Mile 2: 7:02 "Things are getting difficult. That is expected. Just a little more to go."
Every. Single. 5k Race. I fade the second mile. My effort was the same but I was comfortably uncomfortable now. Around mile 1.5 a girl clipped my heel and then passed me. Like seriously why run so close to people especially since we were pretty spread out by this point.

Photos courtesy of Vicky and L

Mile 3: 6:53 "I currently feel like shit and will never do another 5k again."
I kept chugging along and saw Vicky and L cheering for me which was nice. I started picking off folks and passed the girl that clipped my heel. Shortly after she clipped my heel again trying to pass me and I got pissed and sprinted off and left her eating my dust. Like once, forgivable accident but 2x!? WTF is wrong with people? I checked the results later on and was pleased to know I got a faster time than her.

Mile 3.1: 33 seconds (5:57 pace) "Collapse and die."
Hyped up on adrenaline, I sprinted hard. I also knew sub 21 was THISCLOSE. I kept my head down and ran as hard as I could. I stopped my garmin after the finish and saw 21:02 so I knew it would be close.  I saw the results posted post race and was pleased to see 21 freaking flat. Which reminds me of the time I was trying to go sub 2 in the half and got a 2:00:00.58... My next 13.1 I smashed that by 8 minutes. Im expecting a similar breakthrough to happen in the 5k- jut not 8 minutes worth obvs.

Finish photos- by Pete

I quickly found Vicky and L and ate some watermelon and 5 minutes later forgot how uncomfortable I felt running 5ks and joked I was ready to go again.

We found Pete who took some great photos at the finish and chatted for a bit.

Then we ran into more Fleet Feet cheer folks and took some photos.

We celebrated my new shiny PR with some PBR.
And then we went to 5 Guys for a celebratory burger.

I'm really happy with how this race turned out. I do feel there is a mental hurdle I need to overcome to race more efficiently at this distance. I know I could keep 6:3x pace for longer than 1 mile, but somehow I let myself give in and back off. Since I like challenges, I'll be working on embracing being uncomfortable more which means a few more 5ks are in my future.

I also feel that I'm better suited for longer events like half marathons because I can sustain a moderate uncomfortable pace over a longer distance and push through that discomfort better than the extremely uncomfortable feeling in a 5k where I give up relatively fast.

It was a great evening and I had a lot of fun doing this race.

Next up: Rock n Roll Chicago! My first half in over 2 years.