the weekly chase #23

On Tuesdays I join the Weekly Chase link up with Mindy from Road Runner Girl. Below is a recap from how the goals from last week went over, and my new goals for this week.

Weekly goals for September 1–7; recap

Goal #1 - Daily goals – 

A: Log and stay under calorie goals. 

B: Drink 48 ounces of water.

C: Eat healthier snacks/meals. 

D. Hit 10,000 steps per day via Fitbit.

Well, this week wasn't so great on any accounts. I didn't log all of my meals each day, didn't drink 48 oz every day, I ate ok most of the week, but didn't hit my steps.

Goal #2 - Continue Dopey training. Cross train three days.

I ran two days during the week plus my long run on Sunday (was supposed to be 11 miles, but I ran a half marathon instead).

Goal #3 - Roll with the stick, stretch, and ice daily.

Yes, I did well with this goal. I think the icing is really helping with my hip and arch pains, too. So that's good.

Goal #4 - Lose .5 pounds.

Yep! Yippee.

Goal #5 - Would love to PR my half marathon on Sunday, but for me, I know it depends on weather and how my body is feeling... so, I have 3 different goals in mind: PR, finish beating my fastest time from last year, just finish with a smile on my face.

I did not PR, but I did come close. This was really surprising because I had a crazy Saturday that included a wedding over an hour from my house and had very little sleep. I was quite happy with my finish time, though of course I was kicking myself because I believe I could have beaten my time if I pushed myself just a little harder a littler sooner. I ended up running with my mom until mile 11. I didn't think I could push myself to a PR, but was feeling good so I changed my intervals to walk less. I honestly didn't even think I was doing very well, but around mile 12.5 I looked at my watch and noticed I was going to finish not too far off from my PR in May. Argh! Of course I'm beating myself up about it rather than being happy with how well it went on little sleep and tired feet haha. Why do we do this to ourselves? I'm trying really hard to push away the negative thoughts and celebrate my achievement. Happy news: I beat my time from last year by about 13 minutes, and it was my second fastest finish time for a half marathon ever. Sooo... YAY! haha. 

Weekly goals for September 8–14

Goal #1 - Daily goals – 

A: Log and stay under calorie goals. 

B: Drink 48 ounces of water.

C: Eat healthier snacks/meals. 

D. Hit 10,000 steps per day via Fitbit.

Goal #2 - Continue Dopey training. Cross train three days.

Goal #3 - Roll with the stick, stretch, and ice daily.

Goal #4 - Lose .5 pounds.

Goal #5 - Write two more race recaps to post (one for this Thursday, one for next).

Thanks for hosting the weekly chase link up, Mindy!

How about you — what are your goals for this week?

week in review: september 1–7

Monday, September 1: rest day

Tuesday, September 2: unscheduled rest day

Wednesday, September 3: Cross Train (Bar Method – 60 minutes)

Thursday, September 4: 2.63 miles

Friday, September 5: Cross Train (Bar Method – 60 minutes)

Saturday, September 6: 2.56 miles

Sunday, September 7: Chicago Half Marathon (Garmin mileage = 13.23)

Weekly mileage:  18.42 miles

Total mileage for Dopey Challenge Training: 157.29 miles

This week has been pretty bananas. I was going to go to Bar Method on Tuesday, but my friend couldn't make it, and I was feeling pretty tired, so I skipped it. Wednesday's class really kicked my butt. My short runs over the week went pretty well. I'm still having slight pain in my hip and arches, but they've been feeling a little better, which I attribute to icing, stretching, and rolling.

Friday during my lunch break I headed up to the Navy Pier for the Chicago Half Marathon packet pickup. I'll have more details when I get my recap written up. Saturday I had to head to a wedding about an hour and fifteen minutes away. I was quite thankful that the ceremony and reception were at the same location, and so started later in the day. During the day I got all of my gear ready for the race, did laundry, did some house cleaning, got ready for the wedding and left around 3:30. It was a really great time, but I didn't get home till after 11:30, and then had to shower and ice my feet. Wearing heels for the wedding wasn't the best idea, but I did my best to sit when I could to rest my legs for the race on Sunday.

Sunday was the race, which went much better than I was anticipating. I was so tired, getting less than 4 hours of sleep, and was expecting a very slow finish time. Luckily, I felt pretty good once starting, and I did better than expected. The weather was pretty nice, a bit warm but not unbearable. I actually almost PR'd, but by the time I noticed I was doing that well, it was too late to kick in to a high enough gear to attain it. So close though. I was happy to have done so well, but couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that I missed it by less than 2 minute, knowing that I had felt good enough to have reached it - ugh! Anyway, I'll have more details in the recap.

Unfortunately, after the race, I didn't get to go home and relax. I had to shower really quick and head out to a bridal shower. I was happy to be fed brunch food (EGGS!) and grab a mimosa. When I got home I was so wiped. My husband and I laid on the couch the rest of the day/night watching "Orange is the New Black" — we are almost done with the first season. Hooray! I dozed off a little during one episode, but not so much I didn't get what happened. We ordered pizza and I rehydrated with glasses upon glasses of water and Nuun. It was a pretty great way to end the busy weekend.

How was your week? Did training go well? Any races over the weekend? Let me know how it all went :)

friday five: race day rituals

Hey guys! It's time for another installment of Friday Five! I am linking up with the lovely ladies of DC: Courtney at Eat Pray Run DC, Cynthia at You Signed up for What?, and Mar at Mar on the Run. This week's theme is "Race Rituals." 

1. Get race gear ready. Technically, I do this the evening before the race, but it's still part of my 'ritual', or routine. I have a checklist and go through it to make sure I have all of my clothes laid out for easy access in the morning when I'm dragging, along with everything else I need in a bag to grab on my way out the door (Road ID, charged watch, visor or hat, sunglasses, belt, headphones, etc).

2. Wake up an hour before I have to leave the house. I know a lot of people wake up much sooner, but I am not a morning person. I generally wake up and stay in bed another 15 minutes perusing the interwebs.

3. Eat a Nature Valley Honey & Oats Granola Bar while in transit. This doesn't need much explanation. I eat one of the bars, not both in the package.

I have a nervous stomach and have trouble eating anything, and generally don't eat much in the mornings anyway (I eat my breakfast about 2 hours after waking up most days).

4. Hit up the port-o-lets the instant I arrive to the race site. And then again right before lining up, depending on how long I've been waiting around. I like to start with an empty tank.

5. Take a pre-race selfie with my mom. Most races I do with my mom, so I always try to remember to take a picture of us before and after the race :)

How about you – any race day rituals? Would love to hear about them (especially any quirks!)!

Thanks to Courtney, Cynthia, and Mar for hosting! Make sure to check out their "Friday Five" posts (direct links above in first paragraph) and link up if you are joining in on the fun. Don't forget to read/comment on some of the other link ups – there are always so many great ones, if you have the time, try and get through them all!

13.1 Chicago Half Marathon

Source.

The 13.1 Chicago Half Marathon was held on Saturday, June 7 with a 7am start at South Shore Cultural Center. Packet pickup was at Fleet Feet Chicago Old Town on Thursday and Friday from 10am–8pm. If you were unable to pickup at these times, you could pay $25 for will call pickup on the day of the race. Fleet Feet isn't too difficult for me to get to after work, so I went on Thursday night. It was easy peasy. The dry-tech shirts were pretty nice. I always have trouble with sizing – some times a medium is perfect, other times it's too snug for my liking. Luckily, I learned from last year that I preferred this races shirt in large, and remembered to register for the same this year. It's nothing too special, but if it's a dry-tech shirt and it fits, I wear them for training regardless of what they look like.

I parked my car at the Museum of Science and Industry, which I had selected as my choice for shuttles when registering (the other option was the Millennium Garages). It cost $20 (despite the website claiming it was $16) that you could pay while leaving at the machines or at the booth when exiting in your car – that's what I did and there was a person working. We hopped on a school bus (which they call shuttles) at the front entrance, waited about 5–10 minutes until it was full, and then the driver took us to the Cultural Center. The buses ran from 5–6am, and it was maybe a 10 minute drive. These buses then brought you back after the race (I think we took a bus around 11:15, after hanging around the after party). 

I was one of the first 200 people to register for next year's Chicago Spring Half Marathon, and therefore was able to pick up my hat at the Lifetime booth at this race. I was expecting just a normal hat, but it was an athletic one – the nice, dry-tech material. Hurray!

My free hat!

After claiming my hat, I headed to the port-o-lets. There were lines, but they weren't too horrible. I waited maybe 10 minutes? 

The start line.

Corral set up.

It was in the mid-60s and sunny when we started, and low 70s at the finish, with humidity around 66%. Corrals were let go about every 2–3 minutes, and I crossed the start line at 7:30am. I ran with my mom, and we did 30 seconds of running/2 minutes walking as our intervals. There was a maximum 16-minute mile pace, as seems pretty normal for most races these days (and I'm totally cool with).

The course.

I really like this course, because it goes off the Lakefront Path for a while and through Jackson Park, so it's a little bit different scenery for a while (compared to a lot of the Lakefront Path races – usually see and pass the same things). Parts of the course (mostly at the beginning and within the first 3 miles) are on the street, and then the remainder is on a path.  

It was really nice staying with my mom for the race – I have someone to chat with, and the miles just slip on by. This race had plenty of course support with water/Gatorade stations (maybe 8?), and one stop with Clif Shot Gels (I bring my own Shot Bloks and took one every 3 miles). I felt the course was well marked, as well (cones, volunteers guiding runners, etc). There were also some bands on the course, and some bagpipers I knew, so that was a nice change and helped break the miles down.

My only issue with the course is that there is so little shade, and my pale, Irish skin got fairly burnt. Unfortunately, sunscreen only lasts so long (I'm convinced it wears off before the race even starts), and I haven't quite figured out how to re-apply during the race without having to carry a large thing of sunscreen, or if I bring a small tube, how to clean my hands so that I don't wipe my eyes and wind up with sunscreen burning them. Any tips? I suppose I could add a wipe to my belt, but it's already pretty full. I also hate the idea of having to worry about one more thing during the race other than staying hydrated and finishing. It's quite the dilemma, though I suppose it's more important to just add more on halfway through.

All done!

The post-race party area = beer and band inside.

At the finish line they still had plenty of post-race treats for runners that were slower. I received water, Gatorade, fruit cups, and protein bars. There was also some deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati's that I devoured. Delicious. Post race beer was Michelob Ultra, obviously, which I am not a fan of. Mom and I went inside the party area in order to snag a table, eat our pizza, and enjoy the band. When entering, we received a drawstring backpack that had a water bottle and sunglasses inside. Score!

The medal itself isn't anything too special. It's fairly heavy and is a bottle opener, but as far as design goes, it's not that special.

The medal.

Like I said earlier, we took a bus back to the museum and headed home. One of the worst parts is having to sit on the warm bus, all sweaty and smelly, waiting for it to fill up enough to head back. Poor timing on our part, getting on the bus so early haha.

Back at the Museum of Science and Industry.

An added bonus: On each participant's bib was a QR code, which could be scanned in order to obtain your results (using your smartphone; it took you to your own personal results page). I thought this was a nice touch. 

What I didn't like about the race this year were the photos! I'm pretty sure they went with a different company this year, and the price for photos was outrageous! $20 to download (per photo!) and $10 for a 4x6. That is just bananas. Plus, the one photo I really liked with my mom and I after the race only came in a size 30x45.5 for $177. Come again? I mean, who spends that kind of money to purchase photos? I tend to go for the download option, or high-res versions on a disc, but I won't pay $20 per download. That's $100 to download 5 photos. Again... bananas. I mean, maybe other people don't care about photos, but I always check out my half marathon ones, and usually buy one or two (or all if there are a lot of good ones), so this was disappointing to me.

If you read my Chicago Spring Half Marathon recap, you know that this was race 2 in the Chicagoland Half Marathon Series Challenge. One more to go, the Chicago Half Marathon, in order to receive my special medal :)

You can read my review on BibRave.com here. Make sure to review all of your races on there, too!

the weekly chase #22

On Tuesdays I join the Weekly Chase link up with Mindy from Road Runner Girl. Below is a recap from how the goals from last week went over, and my new goals for this week.

Weekly goals for August 25–31; recap

Goal #1 - Daily goals – 

A: Log and stay under calorie goals. 

B: Drink 48 ounces of water.

C: Eat healthier snacks/meals. 

D. Hit 10,000 steps per day via Fitbit.

Did well with logging calories, staying within my calorie allotment for the days. Not so great with drinking water or getting in my steps. I'm still having a bit of arch and hip pain, so I've been taking it a bit easy (minus my Bar Method classes and training runs). Water and eating healthier snacks/meals went fairly well, but not great. This will always be an uphill battle for me, I think, but I do my best each week.

Goal #2 - Continue Dopey training. Cross train three days.

Yep! My one weekday run was a bit shorter than was scheduled, but I did an extra 10 miles on my weekend run (I raced in the Magnificent Mile Chicago Women's Half Marathon). 

Goal #3 - Roll with the stick, stretch, and ice daily.

Yes, I think the icing really helped my hip and heel make it through the half on Sunday with little pain.

Goal #4 - Lose .5 pounds.

Down .8 pounds this week and 2 pounds overall.

Weekly goals for September 1–7

Goal #1 - Daily goals – 

A: Log and stay under calorie goals. 

B: Drink 48 ounces of water.

C: Eat healthier snacks/meals. 

D. Hit 10,000 steps per day via Fitbit.

Goal #2 - Continue Dopey training. Cross train three days.

Goal #3 - Roll with the stick, stretch, and ice daily.

Goal #4 - Lose .5 pounds.

Goal #5 - Would love to PR my half marathon on Sunday, but for me, I know it depends on weather and how my body is feeling... so, I have 3 different goals in mind: PR, finish beating my fastest time from last year, just finish with a smile on my face.

Thanks for hosting the weekly chase link up, Mindy!

How about you — what are your goals for this week?

week in review: august 25–31

Dopey Challenge Training: Week 9

Monday, August 25: Cross train (60 minutes Bar Method)

Tuesday, August 26: 2.6 miles 

Wednesday, August 27: rest day

Thursday, August 28: Cross train (60 minutes Bar Method)

Friday, August 29: rest day

Saturday, August 30: 3.29 miles

Sunday, August 31: 13.4 miles (Chicago Women's Magnificent Mile Half Marathon)

Weekly mileage: 19.29 miles

Total mileage for Dopey Challenge Training: 138.87 miles

I was only able to go to Bar Method twice this week, but it was still pretty hard! I'm not sure why, but on Thursday, my arms were quite tired, even at the beginning of class. I'm still loving it, and even though I'm getting the hang of it, it doesn't get any easier, mainly because you can always challenge yourself by going deeper into the move, or raising your arms during certain exercises to work on balance or engage your abs even more. It's awesome!

Tuesday night I went to see Arcade Fire at the United Center with my friend from college. It was a great concert, and we had a lot of fun, just like back in the old days :)

Arcade Fire Reflektor Tour – Balloon Drop!

I was able to get my three training runs in this week, though it was a bit off. On the schedule were two runs of 45 minutes during the week and 3 miles on the weekend. I cut my run on Tuesday short by 10 minutes, and then I registered for the Chicago Women's Magnificent Mile Half Marathon for Sunday (I didn't decide to register until Wednesday. I had been thinking about it for a while, but didn't make my final decision until fairly last minute.). The race was hot and sunny, so a bit tough for me, but I still beat all of my half marathon times from last year, so I always am happy with that result. Hopefully, each year will be like that :) The race was well organized and I was happy that I decided to register. I will have more details in my race recap, as well as writing up a review on BibRave.com.

I met my @Oiselle #Flystyle Thirteen Point One twin at the expo Friday night :)

After the race, I went over to my friends house to have a pool day and re-hydrate session with beer (don't worry – I also drank plenty of Nuun that day). It felt so great to be in the pool, not only because it was so dang hot out, but it also felt great on my tired, slightly sore muscles (hips, legs, knees... pretty much everything haha).

Overall, the week in training went well. I'm feeling stronger thanks to Bar Method, and I think it's helping me become a better runner. Yay! Now on to a new training week (is it really week 10 of Dopey Challenge training?!) and another half marathon on Sunday. I should be able to manage all three training days plus three days of cross training.... that's the plan, anyway :)

How was your week? Did you race this weekend, and if so, how did it go? Would love to hear about your week in general, in training – whatever! 

P.S. If you did race, it would be great if you would review it on BibRave.com – help out your fellow runner! It's a great place to find information regarding races, which can help others find a new race, or decide if one they're considering is worthwhile. Thanks :)