Building Begins

Cassie and I ran our first high mileage long run on Friday night. We were having company from out of town staying with us for the weekend and we were scheduled to go condo shopping on Sunday afternoon, so we needed to get our long run in on Friday evening. I consider the 14 miler the first week of the mileage build towards the marathon, since the 10 and 12 milers the last month have been about having a foundation and they are a relatively easy distance. The weather was perfect for it in the low 60s and a nice breeze. It was my first spring run (in Chicago) in shorts AND a t-shirt.

The 14 miler put me at 43 miles of training for the week. This was 10 miles more than my previous best for one week. I also jumped nearly 20 miles in training from my previous week and ran 5 days total, instead of my usual 4 days. I typically would not push myself so much, but it sort of needed to happen due to my schedule. I actually felt great all week despite the high mileage. We broke up the 14 miles in a nice way with 10 miles on the lakeshore and 4 miles on the river path. I felt strong throughout, like I could have kept going 2-4 more miles easily. Cassie struggled more than me. 14 miles is her PB distance currently. She did really well until about mile 12, then we had to walk a couple times, but she made it to the end.

I'm finding out that I run really well in the evenings, after my body has had a chance to stretch out and move during the day. I've been more sluggish in the mornings and it takes me longer to warm up.

Erik, Cassie and I ran a 4.5 miler this morning around Ravenswood. It was a bit cooler with temps in the high 40s. I had some mild soreness, but I am not sure if it was from the 14 miler on Friday or playing frisbee in the park yesterday. I think it was from frisbee actually. I'll probably take it a bit easier this week on mileage so I dont hurt myself. We also have the Lakefront 10 miler on Sunday morning, so I want to be fresh for that. I'm looking forward to the race, I'm going to try a more conservative approach at the beginning and see how well I do. I want to finish strong this time.