chicago marathon | Left Coast Contessa

It was a struggle but I made it on all my runs this week and hit my goal mileage! Wahoo! Work is winding down and I am being more judicious about my after work time so I don’t have to go on as many morning runs.

Monday: rest

Tuesday: 4 mile run

Wednesday: 4 mile run

Thursday: rest

Friday: 4 mile run

Saturday: 12 mile run

Sunday: yoga

Total miles: 24

I made sure to take plenty of walk breaks on Friday and Saturday. I’m still working my way back into shape a little bit but I definitely feel like I turned a corner this week. I fully intend to take walk breaks during the marathon. I’m learning the key to walk breaks is to take them before you really need them. I took a total of 3 walk breaks on Saturday during my 12 miler. My time was slow (2:10) but it was totally worth it. I took a big walk break along the water front and it felt incredible. Why rush past all the beautiful scenery?

In other running news:

I am now the proud owner of a foam roller! I rolled my legs out after the 12 miler and it really helped. I also bought new running shoes. I went to The Starting Line in Marina Del Rey and had a very positive experience. The guy who helped me listened to all my paranoid yammering about planter facitus and the type of shoes I’ve worn in the past. Plus he was cute. That didn’t hurt. I tried on several pairs, ran with them on a treadmill and even run outside. I settled on Saucony Progrid Triumph’s. I haven’t run in them yet, but I did run some errands in them this morning and they felt great!

Goals for next week: Build confidence and keep up with my mileage. I’m setting a personal distance record next Saturday!

Today, Monday June 20th kicks off the first official day of my Chicago Marathon Training Plan! I went on a 4 miler after work and it felt amazing. It was a great way to kick off marathon training.

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I am so excited to embark on this adventure with you guys. I’ve wanted to run a marathon for a while and my enthusiasm has only grown in the past few weeks following my PR in San Diego. I am back in love with running and excited to take on this challenge.

I signed up for the Chicago Marathon back in February for several reasons. The race takes place in my hometown on a long weekend so I probably won’t miss any school. I really want to run my first marathon before law school ends. Running empowers me and next summer (while I’m studying for the bar) is not going to be an ideal time to devote to training. Chicago is supposed to be a fantastic marathon. It is mostly flat and has great crowd support. I am very excited to get cracking on training.

I have put together a training plan based on several I have looked over, including ones from Kelley and Runner’s World. I know Kelley and I trust that she meticulously planned for her marathon. It’s important to me not to be over trained or undertrained. The first few weeks are definitely going to feel “easy” with the base that I have built up but I don’t want to push too much mileage too soon. It is a google calendar so you can follow along at home! CLICK HERE.

As you might notice, not all of the runs are written in. This is because I have not registered for my fall semester classes. I learned my lesson with my last race training plan… if I make a plan before I know what my day to day is going to be like I will not follow it. I have planned all my long runs and I will still be going to my favorite Sunday yoga class but I haven’t penned in Monday thru Friday yet. Don’t worry. Once I know what my classes are I will input it in and update you all!

For the summer I imagine I will run 4 times a week, do yoga once and take two rest days (or one rest day and one happy hour [yes, happy hour is cardio!] or one rest day and one strength day). Once school starts I imagine I will go back to twice a week yoga, since it will be easier to get to.

There are a few other places on the calendar where I plan to just “see how it goes”. For example, I’ll be in Boston for a long weekend in July. I plan to run but since I’m there for a friend’s wedding I’m not sure how much time I will have and that is totally OK. My brother is also visiting in August. I know I will run and do yoga while he is here but I am not 100% sure what my mileage will be like and, again, it’s OK.

So what does this mean for Left Coast Contessa? Obviously, I am not turning into a running blog. I do, however, plan to post weekly recaps of my training. I did this last fall and it helped me remain accountable. In addition there will likely be some other running related posts but I am still a food blogger and I am not going to put down the butter. Don’t you worry!

So marathoners, any words of wisdom?