Juneathon: Day 4

This sums up how I felt yesterday!

Although I forgot to post last night, I did get a workout in.  Yes!  Week 2 of my Chicago marathon training started with a tempo run of 1.5 miles and a total of 3 miles with my warmup and cool down.  It was a hard run for me and my running budding Eileen, although probably more so for me because my body is still recovering from the North Face race.  I'm also still working on getting my protein levels right.  It wasn't terribly hot outside, but when you run it feels about 20 degrees warmer than it does outside so we were looking at the 90s during the run.  Normally I don't have much thirst on 3 miles run, but halfway through yesterday I was thirsty!  I need to start bringing a little bottle with me.  Anyway, we got through it and she helped me keep my goal tempo pace of 10:45/mile during the 1.5 miles.  Eileen is faster than me so chasing her kept me right on track :)

It's a strange thing for me to warmup.  In the past I've never warmed up.  I find it difficult to run slow for a mile and then pick up the pace.  I usually run my first few miles the fastest and then tire out after 2-3 miles and my pace drops. I'm guessing this is a reason that my running coach has me doing tempo runs.  By the way, did I mention that I hired a running coach?  Her name is Nicole and I got to know her through my running club.  She is a very accomplished runner and triathlete and I know with her help and support my running is going to improve.  You can learn more about Nicole and her programs from her Fit4You website.

On the agenda today is a 30 minute bike ride.  I haven't been on a bike in a couple years and I have a triathlon next weekend where I'll be doing 5 miles so I need to get a little practice.  Plus, it's great cross training :)