Chicago Marathon Training Week 17 – 9/21-9/27

September 28, 2015

Hello Monday! As most of you are aware, DC welcomed Pope Francis last week.  It was so funny to see downtown DC so empty and quiet.  Because I live close to work, I still went into the office Tuesday-Thursday (most people were able to telework).  I heard sirens throughout the day (which is not an unusual occurrence with the White House close by) and saw excited parade goers walking towards the mall.  Vendors were even selling pope stuffed dolls…not sure how I feel about this! I snagged this shot when I went to grab some lunch. Anyways…onwards to running + funning!

Monday 9/21– 2 mile walk 

Tuesday 9/22– 2 mile walk

Wednesday 9/23 – 2 mile walk

Thursday 9/24 – 2 mile walk 

Friday 9/25– 2 mile walk + 4 mile run

Saturday 9/26– Clarendon Day Double – 5K @10:27 min/mile and 10K @11:54 min/mile + 3 mile walk

Sunday 9/27 – Rest day

Total: 26.3 (13 walk | 13.3 run)

Run #1: 4 miles easy

Nothing special – a boring TM run at the gym.

Run #2: 3.1 miles @10:27 min/mile (10:19, 10:03, 10:55)

The plan called for a 12 mile long run this past weekend.  I signed up for the Clarendon Day Double (5K + 10K) as part of the training run (after each race I also walked up a 1.5 mile hill).  The 5K was definitely speedier than what I would have liked to run…ummm almost 2 minutes/mile faster.  The first 1.5 miles of the race was downhill…I blame it on gravity haha 🙂

Run #3: 6.2 miles @10K @11:54 min/mile (11:37, 11:11, 11:36, 11:51, 12:35, 12:32)

After walking up the hill with Caitlin and Meghan, it was time for the 10K.  I still went out too fast for the first three miles and I tuckered out after mile 4.  At that point I started to feel a little pinch/odd sensation in my left quad, but it wasn’t hurting so I kept going.  I remember reading Courtney’s recap from last year…. and she was sooo right….the 10K can be a rough one depending how you paced the 5K.  It was soooo nice to see Courtney, Kathryn G., Julie, Kathryn T., and Preston cheering me on at the finish.  Of course what is the best thing to do after a race? Brunch! It is always nice to see the Oiselle ladies.

I wanted to go for an easy 3 mile run on Sunday, but my quad was still bothering me a bit so I decided to rest.

Fun

After the Saturday brunch I headed over to Maryland to celebrate my cousin’s 4th birthday.  How cute is the birthday cake? My cousins (all of them) are pretty creative and thoughtful – I am always impressed with their decor, food and themes 🙂

On Sunday I met my friend Nathasha for brunch at the Fainting Goat.  I couldn’t believe we hadn’t see each other since the Love Run Half Marathon in March.  It was nice catching up on training (Natasha is also running the Marine Corps Marathon) and our 2016 race plans.  In addition to MCM, we’ll be running the Rehoboth Half Marathon in December with our friend Emily. 

I had the Crispy Pork which was a sunny side up egg, salsa verde, fingerling potatoes and pork <-duh haha.

After brunch I went grocery shopping and made two soups – Skinnytaste’s Baked Potato Soup,

and Skinnytaste’s Crockpot Creamy Tomato Soup…all stocked up for the week!

How was your weekend?

Any favorite soup recipes?

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22 Comments
      1. Run Jenny Run

        Brunch after races is the best 🙂 It was a fun party – so much more stuff out there compared to when we were younger.

    1. That tomato soup looks delicious, and I’m loving those Pope dolls. Vendors will capitalize on anything to make a sale, I guess, but it’s funny. Glad you were still able to work. I remember last year when I was in DC, that Clarendon Day 5K was going on bc some runners I follow blogging ran it. Looks like you had a lot of fun!
      Amy Lauren recently posted…Weekly Rundown: September 21-27My Profile

      1. Run Jenny Run

        Thanks, Amy! There were even Pope bobbleheads – wish I saw one in person 🙂 The last time I ran in the Clarendon/Rosslyn area was for MCM 2007 – it was nice to be back.

      1. Run Jenny Run

        It was yummy! I froze some too. Was nice to see you….and I may be back next year…I want to beat my double time now!

      1. Run Jenny Run

        Thanks, Sharon 🙂 Hope you had a good week too! My cousins got a backyard moon bounce for the party… it was hard to stay up haha!

    1. Woo hoo! Way to go, Jenny; you’re in the home stretch! I’m so glad you had a great experience with the Oiselle gals at Clarendon; I loved seeing all the great pics and it looked like a lot of fun. Curious George is my fave; what a cute cake! Duh…pork. That is hilarious!! I love making soups, but we’ve got to have some cooler weather around here first; I think we may get a little cool down later in the week.
      Tara @ Running ‘N’ Reading recently posted…Tuesday Intro – Once a RunnerMy Profile

      1. Run Jenny Run

        It was nice meeting some of the new girls. I enjoyed reading Curious George when I was younger too – fun to see familiar books 🙂 The weather has been odd – random spikes of warmer temps. I SO want to make your chicken once I get back from Chicago.

    1. oh that Curious George cake looks SO yummy!! actually all your food looks good. Great week for you! I missed the Clarendon double. I decided to reconfigure my mileage though I could have just done the 10k. oh well, maybe next year! Yeah only a couple weeks to race day!
      Mar @ Mar on the Run recently posted…Milwaukee Half Training Week 4My Profile

      1. Run Jenny Run

        It was yummy! They also had delicious cookies. Maybe next year for the double (or at least the St. Pats without the ice/slush).

    1. Sounds like the Pope didn’t make things too crazy in DC…it was so weird in Philly because there were hardly any cars on the road….so it was a great weekend for us runners!

      I learned the hard way that I do not like back-to-back races. It just seems like neither of them turn out the way you want them to.

      I need to hurry up and sign up for Rehobeth, so I can hopefully see you there! 🙂
      Janelle @ Run With No Regrets recently posted…Guest Post – Half Marathon Training With a Vitamin DeficiencyMy Profile

      1. Run Jenny Run

        Good good! It will be nice and flat for Rehoboth. I read that Phily runners did enjoy the open roads during Pope-a-looza 🙂 Hope you are having a great week!

    1. Congrats on the double at Clarendon day! I watched people doing that the one year I did the 5K there. It tired me out just watching them hustle back up to the start. Your cousin’s cake is ADORABLE! It must be nice having family nearby 🙂 Enjoy that!
      Kelli recently posted…Woman Crush Wednesday – Pam WahlMy Profile

      1. Run Jenny Run

        Thanks, Kelli! Haha that was me. I made it to the top and turned around as the start just went off. Very lucky to have my cousins in the area.

    1. Sounds like another great week of training! Love that you did a 5k race followed by a 10k race – I bet that was quite a challenge especially with the hill after each race!

      The soup recipes look super good! One of my favorite soups is a recipe from Whole Foods. It’s a nice, light tortilla soup that’s super easy to make and pretty low cal 🙂

      http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/tortilla-soup-tomatoes
      Sun recently posted…1-Mile Repeats + An Upcoming Mile Time Trial Event!My Profile

      1. Run Jenny Run

        Thanks, Sun! In the moment I thought “why am I doing this”, but now I want to do it again. The tortilla soup looks yummy!

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