Chicago Marathon Training Week 9

Until this week, training for the Chicago Marathon has been flawless. It’s been smooth runs and smooth rides thought the Arizona summer.

Stopped briefly at Ethel’s Garden in Silverleaf to admire the day

Unfortunately, that came to a crashing end on Sunday. It was long run Sunday with a 20-miler on the cards. It was a nice overcast day with a soft breeze. It wasn’t hot. At around 9AM, it even started to drizzle. If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I love to run in the rain! Instead of running the entire 20 miles on the treadmill, I decided to split it up and run the first few miles outdoors.

I parked at The Village and set out thinking I’ll do about 5 miles outdoors before switching to the treadmill. I felt good and extended my run to just under 8 miles. My heartrate was nice and easy for the first 5 miles but started to flirt up and up and up all the way into level 3 by the time I finished.

The treadmill felt hard from the get-go. It was slow and laborious. Instead of running 12+ miles to complete my 20-miler, I stopped after about 7 miles and then ran on for another 4 before I called it quits. I had bonked. I felt awful. I can blame nutrition, lack of sleep, lack of heartrate management, even a scorpion; but whatever…I bonked. Oh well…

Earlier in the week, I stepped on a scorpion inside the house. You can see his stinger in the picture; but fortunately he didn’t sting me. I suppose I can blame my awful Sunday run on the scorpion but that would be like Trump blaming Obama for the ISIS problem!

Scorpion – I accidentally stepped on it!

Earlier in the week, I ran hard intervals and a few other sessions smoothly:

  • Monday, August 14: Rest Day
  • Tuesday, August 15: Easy Run | 6.5 miles | 54:37 mins | Treadmill (The Village)
  • Wednesday, August 16: Rest Day
  • Thursday, August 17: Fartlek Interval Run | 10.6 miles | 1:28 hours | Treadmill (The Village)
  • Friday, August 18: Rest Day
  • Saturday, August 19: Easy Bike | 19 miles | 1:09 hours | N. Scottsdale (Solo)
  • Sunday, August 20: Long Run | 18.5 miles |  2:37 hours | Outdoor & Treadmill (The Village)
This Saturday (August 26), we leave for Borneo and Bali. I am beyond excited!

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