Chicago Marathon Training Week 15 & 16

Once again posting for 2 weeks...

Week 15
5 Runs
54 Miles
20 Mile Long Run
1 5K Race - 2nd - 16:55

This was a pretty solid last week of real training before starting the taper.  This week finally set up closer to the way I should set up my Marathon training.  I had an early week mid-long run, this week almost 12 miles (goal was making sure to be over 80 mins) followed by a couple of faster workouts - 8 mile tempo on Wednesday and a fun fast run with the Hash on Thursday.  I decided last minute to push my long run to Sunday and fit in a 5K on Saturday morning.  It ended up being a good decision as I finally got below 17 on the same course I had run a 17:33 on last time - evidence that this marathon training has done something for my fitness level.

I followed the Saturday race up with a solid 20 mile on Sunday with the last 8 at Marathon Pace.  The marathon pace miles didn't feel like I was really pushing, though I was tired from a short night sleep.  The only worrisome thing is that I've started having issues with my right hamstring - I seemed to have done something to it a week or two ago (it may have been in Ithaca or just before...) and it just won't leave me alone.  It seemed to be fine for most of the long run, but reared it's head about 13 miles in and made the decision not to push pretty easy.


Week 16
2 Runs
10 Miles

The nagging hamstring and a business trip to AZ lead to the decision to take most of the week off.  I just put in a couple of short runs on the resort golf course to try to loosen up the legs after the 20 miler, but didn't really test the hamstring too much.

It's annoying and a little worrisome that I'm having this issue now, but 2 more weeks of light training, 1 little marathon, and I'm allowed to rest it completely for a couple of weeks before beginning the build up for the ING in January.  I'm not going to lie, I'm nervous about Chicago, and excited about a little downtime and a little fun running before getting back on the schedule.  The regimen and discipline of staying on the schedule was perhaps the most difficult part of this (my first) training cycle and the part I struggled with most.  Hopefully I'll be more disciplined on the next cycle and I will be more experienced making the next schedule.