Yes, I'm Still Training For Chicago!

My blogging has falling off a bit but my training for the Chicago Marathon is still in full force.  These past two weeks have been hectic to say the least, with the holiday and our little family vacation, not to mention work is INSANE, which is a good thing when you own a business but it sure can be exhausting!  But I have still managed to squeeze in my training runs, including a 16 mile long run, so here is a quick recap of the past two weeks of training mostly told through pictures...

Week 5

The week started off with the usual of me teaching spinning and weight training.  I had some decent treadmill runs during the week including a good speedwork day and an average tempo run.  Strength training has been going really well and I'm feeling much stronger.

This week, we celebrated our two year anniversary of opening our own facility!  It's crazy how quickly this time has flown by and how much has changed.  Hunter and I have learned so much about business, each other and even life since embarking on this journey together.  It has not always been easy, but it has been totally worth it.  Dream big, work hard and never give up!

Got in a little cross training on my bike on Thursday.  I hadn't been on my bike since my triathlon in May, so it was nice to get back in the saddle.  My legs were pretty spent from my strength training and back to back runs, so it was definitely a little tough out there especially with the heat.  But I love to ride and hope to do more of it, and maybe even "tri" again soon!

This gym mirror selfie is from last Saturday after my 8 mile treadmill run at LA Fitness. I had three group runs to chose from all with wonderful runner friends and I was so excited to join one of the groups that morning.  But by Friday evening, with work, training and the kiddos, I was practically a zombie.  As much as I love pushing myself and staying super committed, I cannot kill myself doing so either.  So I made the decision to turn off my alarm, sleep in, miss the group runs and do my thang on the treadmill.  I did NOT regret my decision at all and ended up having an awesome morning with my boys, a great run then a relaxing afternoon with the family.  Sometimes we just need to listen to our bodies!

Week 6

Fourth of July!  The kids were out of school and we closed the gym down for the day.  It's actually the first time we have EVER completely closed for a holiday and we were so excited to have a full day off and spend it as a family.  We decided to take the boys into the gym with us while we worked out.  They had an absolute blast cheering on mommy and daddy while we "got swole" and even went through a few little exercises themselves.  I think we may have a new little family tradition forming here!

The rest of the day was spent celebrating the holiday with friends.  The weather was absolutely perfect for spending time at the pool but unfortunately our fireworks experience got rained out.  Which actually turned out ok because we were exhausted and ready for bed!

All the excitement of the holiday had me sluggish the next morning.  I decided to use my 5am wake up call for work rather than working out and put off my speed work until lunch time.  I had 8x400's planned for that day and though they were tough, I got it down and felt great!  Right calf gave me a little trouble but other than that, I was relatively pain free and feeling good about my long run coming up on Thursday.

To say those 16 miles were rough is a total understatement, they were downright BRUTAL.  I got a later start than I would have liked and was out there right around sun up.  The temps were already pushing 90+ and the humidity was close to 100%.  The first 6-7 miles weren't terrible, I kept a pretty steady pace I had hoped to keep the entire time.  But as I approached the turn around, I just completely ran out of steam.  The heat totally got to me, I was chaffing bad from my hydration vest and my iPod died.  I ended up doing walk run intervals for the last several miles just to get finished.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed in my performance.  Having these ugly long runs are really starting to make me nervous about Chicago.  Fortunately I do have several more to go, so it gives me the opportunity to make adjustments but more importantly, get more mentally tough!  I used my 24 hour rule for the run, quickly put it behind me and had a great upper body and ab workout Friday before heading out for vacation.

We had a little mini vacation with the family at Bonnet Creek this past weekend.  We stayed here last year so I already had my run mapped out for Saturday morning.  With that ugly long run from Thursday behind me and a fun filled day of family time ahead of me, I just wanted to get in some easy miles while enjoy the beauty of the resort.  I knocked out 5 sunrise miles around the property without any care or concern of my pace and ended up having a pretty good run!

The rest of the weekend was dedicated to family time and making sure our boys had an amazing vacation.  They sure seemed to enjoy themselves in the several pools, splash pads, water slides and lazy rivers!  They also loved getting ice cream, going to the arcade, playing putt putt and riding around the resort on a golf cart!  Family is everything to my husband and I, and maximizing the time we have together is of the utmost importance.  We were totally exhausted by the end of the short trip but it was all totally worth it to see our babies have the time of their lives!

Well, that in a nutshell is what I have been up to for the past two weeks of training.  The summer heat and humidity are definitely getting to me as well as my crazy busy work schedule.  But I try my hardest to make it all work, keeping a good balance, a positive attitude, staying motivated and having a little fun in the process!