7 days to go until the Chicago Marathon!! I am on the home stretch now. Just one more week until I line up with 45,000+ runners for the big race. Overall I’m feeling very good, thanks to the help of my amazing physical therapist who works her magic and keeps me going (and my commitment to doing the exercises!). Race day forecast is looking pretty good, so that’s a plus. Our hotel is close to the start/finish so we should have a stress free race morning. The only thing left is to bubblewrap and stay healthy! Here’s what went down this past week…
Sunday – biking and climbing! My husband and I decided to recreate the Mexico trip feeling and had some mimosas with breakfast… because, why not, we can! He made omelets for us just like at the resort. Then we hit the mountain bike trail, and he was happy to conquer his fears of crashing and complete the trail with no issues 🙂
We picked a huge bag of apples at the orchard with our daughter. Sad our son couldn’t join us, but at least we got to enjoy this fall tradition with one of the kids. They added a corn maze this year too, so that was fun.
In the evening I joined some of the ladies from our She Runs This Town chapter at Adventus climbing gym. My daughter went along too and we had a great workout – two hours of climbing. Phew, it’s a really good workout! I was thrilled to reach the top of a route (and was dripping with sweat too). By the end of the night just taking off my shoes was a challenge haha! This was the first time for all of the ladies in our group and they did great!
Mon – 5 miles running. Nothing too exciting to report about this run, other than it was a bit drizzly! I’m not feeling too sore from climbing yesterday, so that’s a win.
I went to my physical therapy appointment today and left there feeling a bit sore! My arch has been tight, so she worked on that (ouch!). Overall, things seem to be in good shape though and hopefully I won’t need another appointment before we go to Chicago.
Tues – 4 miles, “pace run”. Since I really don’t have a pace plan for Chicago, I decided to just be a little speedier on this run. Luckily I was feeling quite good after my PT session yesterday and I was able to run a little fast. Yay! I did almost skip this early run and get some extra sleep (oops, stayed up too late watching HGTV International House Hunters!), but I’m glad I didn’t!
Weds – Rest day! Nothing happening today!
Thurs – 8 mile run, in the drizzly rain. It wasn’t raining when I started, but within a few miles it was. I had a race outfit preview and everything worked great. If you are in Chicago, look for me in this blue tank top. You will see a few of my Run Toledo Ambassadors friends there too! After my run I went to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 with my mom. Only 5 other people in the theater (at 11am on a Thurs 🙂 ).
In the evening we went to an open house at Adventus Climbing gym. By the looks of it, it was a success! The line to get in and try out bouldering was a long wait so we just walked around and checked the place out. They had a DJ, food trucks, acrobats, and free beer. Yay! Hoping my husband climbs with us soon!
Fri – Rest day – Cedar Point day! We spent most of the day and night at Cedar Point. Hardly a rest day because I easily got my step count and my husband and I were both pretty tired by the time we arrived home at 11pm. We did get to see a lot of fun Halloween stuff (it’s “Halloweekends” at the park) and even stayed late enough to enjoy some of the “scare zones” of the park. Good times!
Sat – 12.5 miles, long run. Despite not getting out for my run until 8:30am, this run went well. In fact, at the first mile my Garmin gave me a Performance Condition of +7!! That doesn’t sound like much, but I don’t think I’ve seen one higher than +4 before, and sometimes it will even give me a “-”, depending on the circumstances. Along my run I saw people from my past training groups out on their long run and I got to run with and chat to a few of them. Quite a social run. Later talks with my husband revealed we both thought eating huge burritos (think Chipotle size) for dinner was not great long run fueling 😆
Sun – maybe kayaking? or biking? Not sure!
Need some more inspiration? I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Check out all of the fun blogs there!
As race day approaches I get more excited with the numbers I see on my Garmin. I added the Chicago marathon as an event and my race predictor went from 4:19 to 4:07!! I do feel 4:07 is a super stretch and would be “absoutely best day ever”, maybe that 4:19 is in my sights. OR, my low mileage, 8 week training plan will leave me completely unprepared for 26.2 miles and I’ll be walking it in from mile 18 on. It could go either way 😂. This week’s plan only has one 6 mile run, plus the race. I know I won’t be able to stick with that, but I will take it very easy.
We will be saying goodbye to our foster Mr Mew-Mew in a few days. Oh man, he is crazy kitten mode and although my hands and legs will be glad he’s gone (ouch, he loves to climb and scratch!!), we will miss his absolute cuteness. I hope he gets adopted right away!
So exciting. Your next post will have your results. Can’t wait.
So good luck. And have fun.
I’m so glad you are feeling good heading up to Chicago! I know you will have an amazing time.
That pumpkin display is amazing!
I’m very excited for you!!! I hope everything goes well and I can’t wait to hear all about it.
i love the “Halloweekend” at Cedar Point! You really fit in some fall activities, with apple picking as well. And… yes, rock climbing looks like it would be a REALLY hard workout. You don’t need to go to the gym if you’re doing that!
Bye, Mr. Mew Mew! I hope he gets adopted right away. You’re house will feel so empty without him- you’ll need some more kittens when you get back from Chicago 🙂
You all do a lot in one week! Have so much fun next weekend in Chicago!
I’m so excited for you to run Chicago. I think you might surprise yourself!! I’ll let you know where we’ll be cheering so you can look for us.
You’re lucky to have such nice climbing facilities there! I’ve only climbed once, many years ago, and it was much tougher (and a bit scarier) than anticipated. I can see where it would be a tough workout if you’re climbing for such a long length of time. Best of luck to you in Chicago!!
Mr Mew Mew may be my favorite.
What a fun week! I love that you are just having mimosas and omelettes just because!
Climbing is not my thing. I have no upper body strength and my right toes have no feeling anymore. Maybe after some more time at the regular gym.
We won’t see the good pumpkins here for a couple more weeks.
I love that Mew Mew slipper! Good luck this weekend. I’ll be cheering
Oh Mr Mew-Mew, you are so fuzzy! Have fun tapering, and hope you enjoy the day!
Hooray for almost Marathon time! Have so much fun!! Enjoy the taper and hope the weather works out for the race.
It’s great to hear that you’re feeling so good and ready for your race! I can’t wait to read all about it. Sending all kinds of good vibes your way!
Aww, I hope Mr. Mew Mew finds a perfect home!
I’m catching up on blogs so by this time you’ll be done with Chicago. I read that the weather was incredible, so I hope you crushed that Garmin prediction!
Spoiler alert, I did not! 😆 But luckily as a first time race, I can consider it my fastest Chicago! (Let’s count the small wins!)