Chicago Training [Week 3] & I’m 25!

Chicago; week 3 training is in the books… almost! I need to complete my long run after work today (boo!). I’m happy with my decision to reschedule my long run to after work because yesterday consisted of birthday activities. Waking up early to run was out of the question… unless I followed through with the half marathon race I previously mentioned, but as you can see, that was a no go. The only reason I say boo! is because it’s going to be pretty hot out when I leave work. Oh well, I had planned on taking it relatively slow & easy anyway.

I’m looking forward to receiving my August training plan from my coach. Right now, I have all my runs scheduled in to my planner but nothing filled in after Friday… meaning I have no idea what my long run is supposed to be this upcoming weekend! I was able to talk with my coach on the phone last week for a bit about how training is going and anything I may like/dislike about the plan he came up with. So far so good, but I asked him to include Yasso’s for speed work because I enjoy them (weirdo). I love having a coach -> he’s extremely knowledgeable on the running front & only a phone call/email away whenever I have questions. We’ll be chatting again on Thursday to go over August.

Chicago Training – Week 3

• Monday – Rest Day
• Tuesday – 5 miles + 20 min tempo
• Wednesday – 5 easy miles
• Thursday – 6 miles w/ 8 x 25 sec hills @ 95% effort -> this workout kicked. my. butt. Those extra 5 seconds of sprinting up a big hill (compared to last week) is no joke.
• Friday – easy 3 miles
• Saturday – easy 3 miles
• Sunday – 13 miles but I’m running it tonight.

TOTAL WEEK 3 MILEAGE = 35 MILES

Time for 2 truths: First, I wasn’t on top of my post run stretching/foam rolling last week. My goal this week is to make sure I take the time to include these in my training as they are important in keeping me physically healthy. Second, I didn’t complete BBG week 1 like I said I was going to… again. I’m seeing a reoccurring theme here. I know for a fact that I won’t be doing week 1 legs later, but once again, I’m attempting to start the program again this week. I will probably just move leg day to Thursday. Let’s see if I actually follow through this time.

Now on to the fun stuff -> I’m officially 25! 

No, I’m not going to go through a quarter life crisis. I’m actually enjoying growing up, minus the whole having to pay bills & go to work full time thing. After reading my friend Hannah @ Moscato and Curls post about growing up, we chatted a bit on how different our lives are and how our mindset has changed, unintentionally, since the glory days have ended (a.k.a. college). This is all a part of the process, but neither of us bet it would happen this quickly. After chatting, I took some time to reflect on how much I’ve grown in the last 3 years. I realized how much different of a person I am, for the better. If someone asked me 3 years ago if I saw myself rarely drinking, running marathons, and transitioning to a plant based diet, I would have told them that they were loco. However, I’m so thankful my mindset has changed. While I thought those were the best days of my life, and they were really great, I now know that the best days have actually yet to come.

I celebrated my birthday all weekend 🙂 On Saturday, my girlfriend Rachael came up to visit me for the day. Although we talk almost every day, I hadn’t seen her in a while so it was nice to spend some time with her. We went out to lunch, walked around Church Street, and did what we do best -> shopped! Thanks for spending the day with me, Rach! Sunday was my actual birthday so we had bagels for breakfast then made a trip to the Whale Tails! I’ve been dying to check them out up close ever since I moved to Vermont. Afterwards, my boyfriend took me shopping and bought me some new running gear that I so desperately needed. I decided to buy myself a fitbit, too! Last but not least was a birthday dinner at a surprise restaurant. It was fun for me to not know where we were going & my boyfriend did a great job of picking a place! Thanks to my babe for making my day special! Also, thanks for all the birthday love from anyone that I talked to yesterday! Overall, solid birthday weekend.

   Cheers to 25 being my best year yet ❤