100% Chance of Run

Here’s my monthly and annual mileage update with one of my favorite race pics from the Flying Monkey Marathon🙂  It feels good to have another month in the books!

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Track Tuesday.

Prep the night before…

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Woke up to cold rain.

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I put my stuff in ziploc baggies and hit the track.

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I arrived early to get in some extra miles and felt a little nuts running alone in the dark, in the rain, in circles.  Luckily my friends joined me!

Here’s my before shot.  I may have been delaying the rainy run by taking a selfie.  Scroll down to see my after…

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The workout:

4.5 mile warm-up

4 x 1200m (400 recovery jog)

(with the first 800m at tempo pace and the last 400m at 5k pace)

1 mile cool down

It wasn’t my greatest workout.  At one point we just started laughing at ourselves, because we were so wet.  It’s hard to run fast when you have squishy shoes.

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Here’s my after shot…

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My husband must love me…even though I look like that, because I came home to another awesome post-it.  Obviously, I married him for his artist abilities.

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The rain never let up.  Luckily I put Body Glide everywhere.

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Whenever I’m putting Body Glide on everything, I think of the Frank’s Red Hot Commercial!  Has anyone else seen these?  Body Glide—–>hot sauce.  It makes sense in my mind!

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And it was the ultimate test for my favorite Asics Storm Shelter Jacket.  If it’s possible, I love it even more after today’s workout.  My tank that I wore under the jacket stayed dry.  Amazing!

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Obviously I got distracted while working on this post…

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And this is completely unrelated, but my friend Corrie gave me the most aweome mug to celebrate the Flying Monkey Marathon!!!

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Do you ever do your speed workouts on the treadmill or do you prefer the track?  I avoid the treadmill at all costs.

Do you wear any special rain gear?

Do you keep track of your mileage?  How was your November?

Any tips for warming up after a cold, wet run?  My goosebumps wouldn’t go away even in a hot shower.  Shaving on top of goosebumps is not fun.

#choosejoy

Chicago Marathon Day

I woke up excited to run!! I’ve never tapered properly until this race and I really missed running…a lot.

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Temps were perfect for race day!

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I bring my banana bread with me for destination races. It’s tried and true, and I enjoyed it in bed with a cappuccino.

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Here’s the rest of my race prep. THANK YOU Fleet Feet for the throw away gloves!

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Use code: JENCHOOSESJOY (all caps) at Cocogo.com to save 10% off your order!

Don’t forget the all important Body Glide!

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We bought passes for the hospitality tent. A little pricey but so worth it. We stayed a block away from the tent.

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It was a nice warm place to sit down and drink some water before the race. I didn’t get to enjoy their yummy breakfast spread.

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But it gave my husband a nice spot to hang out with TVs to watch the race.

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The crowds were crazy walking to my corral but I found my 3:50 pacers and we started at 7:36.
It felt like we were running in slow motion. In hindsight I was probably a little too conservative, but I desperately wanted to have a negative split and finish strong.
As promised, the course was flat and the spectators were incredible.
I started my garmin and changed the screen to the clock view. It’s the first time I’ve run by feel. I trusted the pacers for the first half and picked up my pace around the mile 13. I didn’t look at my watch until mile 25.

Splits:
8:40, 8:26, 8:57, 8:28, 8:37, 8:35, 8:30, 8:58, 8:51, 8:50, 8:20, 8:31, 8:11, 8:30, 8:27, 8:25, 8:20, 8:23, 8:11, 8:21, 8:20, 8:08, 8:03, 8:08, 7:52, 7:42

Gu 15 mins before race, 1 hr, 2hr, 20 mile marker.
This was the most fun I’ve ever had running a road marathon!  Can you tell? 🙂

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1st Half: 8:45

2nd Half: 8:15

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After meeting up at the hospitality tent after the race, I came back to the room, took an ice bath and shower and I ate pretzels in bed. Guess I needed salt.

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After some rest we had celebratory bubbles!

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And dinner at Osteria Via Stato

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Gnocchi and butternut squash ravioli

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And brought a slice of fudgy chocolate cake back at the room!

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Did you race this weekend? I’d love to hear about it!!
Have you run the Chicago Marathon?
How do you celebrate after a race?

#choosejoy