Fastest Tempo Run to Date

For my second run against the Garmin Virtual Racer I set out to do 6 miles. I kept the pace set at 8:40. Coming off a good effort the day before, I wasn't sure how my legs would respond. Apparently they like to be worked. I surged ahead of the VR from the start and never looked back. I'll have to adjust down to 8:30 for a fair race next time.  Still can’t say enough about this feature on the watch.  It really helps keep me focused on my solo runs.

 
Distance: 6 Miles
Time: 50:48
Pace: 8:28

5 on the 4th

Thursday July 4th.

I've been making this 3 days off in a row a habit, a bad one. Coming off a good 8 mile effort last Sunday, I was feeling funky fresh Thursday morning. I decided to give the Virtual Racer a try on the Garmin and absolutely love it. I set the pace at 8:40 and set out for a 5 mile run. The VR got off to an early lead and didn't have to wait for traffic at my first crossing so I was trailing by 100 feet after the first mile. This along with the red bull starting to kick in got my competitive juices flowing. I reeled him in over the next mile and added distance each subsequent mile. Paired with some good tunes VR made for quite an enjoyable run. In the end I ran an 8:33 pace and comfortably beat by 16 bit opponent.

Distance: 5 Miles
Time: 43:00 Minutes
Pace: 8:33

I'm back

I have been away from my blog for two weeks but am making a comeback. I run more often when I write about it.  Training has been going really well as we start to ramp up the miles. 17 weeks until the marathon.

Today I went out for a nice 2.3 mile run along the Salt Creek trail before work. It was my first day with my new watch. I had been contemplating buying one for some time now and saw the Garmin 310xt on sale last week. Pretty much just charge and play out of the box. Even paired with the heart rate strap automatically. Looking forward to a lot of runs with this little gadget.

Distance 2.3
Time 19:29
Pace 8:28

Easy 5k

Just a simple 3.1 morning run along the Salt Creek trail today.

Splits:
10:06
9:28
9:07

Im excited about the official marathon training. First weeks are easy so it is a nice break from the running I have been doing the past 2 months. It ramps up pretty quickly and so will the temps. Looking forward to some great runs.

CMT – Chicago Marathon Training begins

I met up with the club Monday night for a training commencement run.  I think there is upwards to 10 of us that are registered for the Marathon in October, so we have solid group to keep training interesting over the next 18 weeks.  We went for a 5 mile out and back starting at Brookfield Woods.  It was warm and humid and I was still feeling the effects of Saturday’s maximum effort but managed to keep the group in sight.  I covered 5 miles in 43 minutes.  Swallow Cliff is on the docket for Thursday.  Looking to stretch and rest until then.

Allstate 13.1 Chicago Marathon Recap

The 7:00 AM start coupled with my commute downtown plus a shuttle bus to the South Side made for an early morning.  Any alarm set with a number 3 as the hour is bit ridiculous for a “local” race.  Logistics aside, couldn’t have asked for a better race day.  54 and sunny at the start, probably 64 by the time I finished.  It was getting warm and the sun was relentless, but humidity was low, so almost ideal racing conditions.  Throughout the course there were bands and other entertainment.  Ample bathrooms, which I sadly had to use at mile 8 (#1 luckily), and water and Gatorade stations were evenly spread throughout the course.  I really liked the fact that our names were on our bibs.  Random people cheering out your name is a good motivator.

I had my first negative split in a race which made for a rewarding finish as I passed other tiring runners.  Starting out slow to let the blood start pumping seems to be the way to go.  I reached the halfway point in 1 hour and 30 seconds and finished in 1:57:48.  This was a 9 minute improvement from my Palos Half in May.  I figure if I run a half each month and improve 9 minutes each time I’ll punch my ticket to Rio 2016.

Allstate 13.1 Chicago - Less than 10 hours to go!

I had some cheese pizza for dinner since it worked out so well on a training run last week.  I'll have a light breakfast when I wake up along with 2 big glasses of water.  From there its all about staying relaxed and having fun running on Lake Shore Drive as the sun climbs up over the water.

Four of us from the WCRC are car pooling downtown together.  It's a rematch from the Palos Half in May.  The Irish Kenyan is still the underdog, but the others will surely be looking over there shoulders hoping not to be swallowed up by his devastaing final kick.  Good luck everyone.  See you in the beer and pizza tent after the race.