Training Update: Running Longer!

My training has been all over the place this week! I skipped a run on Tuesday because I had a weird strain in my quad (likely due to sitting for over eight hours EVER SINGLE DAY). However, I really redeemed myself by the end of the week. I was excited about signing up for the Chicago Marathon and did a great job on my long run. Overall, things are looking good for the Hospital Hill Half.

Monday: Rest
This is usually my rest day. Felt good, but I had a weird feeling in my quad so I was a little worried.

Tuesday: Yoga
I still had a weird feeling in my quad so I took another day off from running. I did some hot yoga and felt pretty good by the end!

Wednesday: 3.1 Miles at 8:58 min/mi
This was the usual Wednesday Fleet Feet run, but I decided to do a fast finish run. My mile splits were 9:24, 9:13, and 8:12. I was feeling great by the end! We then stayed for a bit at the bar to drink and eat nachos. Overall, great day!

Thursday: Hot Yoga
I went to my friend’s place to do the Bikram series in her heated yoga room. It was awesome and we spent the whole time laughing and making fun of ourselves. The Bikram series is always great to work out any kinks and I felt great afterwards and into the next day.

Friday: 5 miles at 8:32 min/mi
I went down to campus and ran around the lakes there. I saw a few people I knew from my department running and it was a PERFECT day to be out. I took it at a pretty good pace and felt great. I had great runner’s high and was so glad to be out and about. My going away party was that night and I got the chance to say goodbye to all of my friends.

Saturday: Biked 1.5 hours
I’m not really sure how far I went; I just know that I was out about 1.5 hours. It was a pretty beautiful day!

Sunday: 14 miles at 9:26 min/mi
This was the longest run I’ve ever done! I was so excited to start getting longer runs in, especially now that I’m running Chicago in October. I always get really nervous about running half marathons, so I think running further really helped me get a little more ready mentally for the Hospital Hill Half. Frank rode his bike with me while I ran so I’d have someone to talk to. I think he thinks I’m nuts for running so much. I did yoga after and stretched out, although I am feeling a little sore.

I’m really gearing up to leave soon. I said goodbye to Lizzy today, who left to go back to Los Angeles. She has been a great running buddy and really helped encourage me to run further. I hope to see her again soon!

I’ll be doing my last few runs in South Bend over the next few days. This week will be a tough one, but once I make it to Friday, Frank, our two kitties and me are heading to Kansas!

Do you have any big life events coming up? What are you excited for this week?