Where's the Beach?

No matter how you end up signed up for a race, any race, you're going to find yourself training. You can either follow a strict plan, a loose plan, but you'll be following some sort of plan if you want to cross the line without injuries and especially if you have a goal in mind. Since I've already touched on how I ended up signed up for the Chicago Marathon and an injury, let's jump into the training. During my first marathon training, I had set up a plan for myself that allowed for 2 weeks worth of padding in case I had to cut a long run short or life in general. I did the same this round. I ended up having to use up all the padding to cover my 15 days off because of my injury. While my plan was fairly loose in terms of the miles or exact pace each and every run, I had a general idea of what I was going to do and had really banked on the extra weeks because I knew the hot weather may force me to cut a long run short. Well, for this Type-A gal, not having that pa...

Well, I did it!  As I mentioned on Friday , I had my last 20-mile run planned for Saturday. Amy has been helping me get through a large chunk of the miles for my long run, but this weekend she needed to get her miles done pretty early. I almost had a panic attack thinking I was going to be solo for 20 miles. Thankfully, I have found two more running friends over the course of this training. Let's just say that during the last two solo miles I was thinking, "It takes a village." I was also thinking, how many people does it take to help one runner train for a marathon? You know, kind of a joke but I couldn't come up with a punch line, because it's really true. You need far more support than you think you're going to need and it comes from a variety of sources. Saturday morning ended up being another randomly warm day, and super windy. How was I wearing double layers in November yet tank and shorts in December? I knew this could affect my run negatively. I s...

I know that I mention running here and there, but I've not really talked much about my workouts in a while. I used to post my weight workouts, my running miles, even cycling miles. So, for Fun for Friday , I thought I'd do a little run down on my workout life .  1. Running   I've been consistently hitting 40-43 miles per week and feeling good. However, I know it's time to take a nice back-off week and let my body recovery. I also know that summer is here and as the heat and humidity continue to go up, my running will become more difficult. The summer plan is to maintain a solid baseline and just try to enjoy running.  2. Cycling   I've yet to take my bike off the trainer. Jason put on the clip on pedals and I'm absolutely terrified of riding it now. However, with all the rain we've had, it's been great having the trainer option and for easy access for riding in the early mornings when I'm not running.  3. Weight Lifting   I fi...

Happy Friday. Not only is it the end of the work week, but it's my rest day. I will admit that I almost got up to run an easy 3 miles. Then I rationalized with myself. I mean really, why 3 miles? Is it going to make any difference to skip it? Nope. So I stayed in my warm bed. Sometimes I can be smart and take my own advice. This kind of brings me to Fun for Friday . I thought it'd be fun to do a list of "sometimes." I did this a little over a year ago, appropriately titled " Sometimes ." This time I thought it'd be more like sometimes I am a walking talking do as I say not as I do person. How does that happen by the way? As a fitness trainer and running coach , I dispense advice on workouts, running, nutrition. I set out plans and prescribe rest days, intensity levels. I help clients learn about proper nutrition, healthier eating options. But, for myself, sometimes ... I don't want to take a rest day. I don't want to run. I don...