2 more months!!!!!

Today is August 9th.  Do you know what that means?

Only 2 more months until the Chicago Marathon!

Am I ready?  Uh, no.  Not even close.  But good news...I have 2 more months to get ready.

More good news.  When Ryan and I stayed in Chicago a couple of weeks ago, we looked into getting a room at the Hilton.  Well it was over $500 for a room.  So we decided not to get one.  But mom my travels a lot for her job and said she can use her points to get us a room there.  Now we will be staying right near the start and finish of the marathon. Yippee!

See you in 2 months!

Looking back at my training so far...

What has gone well?
1.  I have been getting in a lot of miles (for me).  So much more than last year.  I have already had a 40+ week.  I hope to have a couple of 50 mile weeks too.
2.  I have been drinking a lot during my runs.  So much better than last year.
3.  I have only ran on the treadmill once.  I have been outside running in upper 70s/low 80s.  I really hope this will help since it should be cooler than that on race day.
4.  My body is holding up pretty well.  I have had some minor IT band issues, feet pain, and arch pain.  As of today, everything feels pretty good.
5.  I am recovering from my runs quicker.  I have never been sore after any of my runs.

What do I need to work on?
1.  Although my fluid intake is good, I need to work on getting in some more calories.  The shot blocks I used to like are getting harder to get down.
2.  I need to work on speed/tempo runs.  I just can't seem to go fast these days.
3.  I need to work on more hill runs.  I have only down 3 or 4?  runs with significant hills.  (Thank goodness the Chicago Marathon is flat-except the one hill that everybody talks about at the end)
4.  I need to work on running negative splits.  I always get slower at the end of my long runs.  Occasionally I am able to pick it up the last mile.  This is the biggest thing I need to work on.  I don't want to crash and burn like I did last year at mile 21.
5.  I don't know how to fix this... But my legs never feel fresh.  They are not sore but just feel heavy and have no spring in them.  Probably why I can't go fast these days.  (Ok, I probably could fix this by taking a few days off in a row.  But I need to get in those miles)

Today I ran 6.5 miles with Alyssa and then ran 2.5 more miles for a total of 9 miles.  This girl is fast!  I am not sure why she keeps agreeing to run with me because I am sure I slow her down.  But I love it because she always has such good advice and makes me go faster.  We were missing Lisa today.  Hopefully our trio will be back together next week.

I felt ok for the first 7 miles but then I suddenly felt like I was going to vomit.  I painfully finished running the 9 miles.  My nausea didn't go away until after lunch.  It was a pretty rough morning at work. Feeling much better tonight!

2 more months!!!!