Chicago Marathon Training: Week #6

Rainy Start

Running in hot, humid weather is never fun, but on Sunday I finally caught a break and ran in the rain and it was fantastic. It was a tremendous feeling to be able to run and get the cooling effect from the rain. It reminded me of the conditions I ran my marathon PR in. On my way back from Oak Street Beach, I stopped off at Fleet Feet in Old Town to pick up my race packet for my 5k on Thursday. Also, on my way back my Garmin battery gave out at mile 10 and I decided that I needed to order a new GPS when I got home. It will take me longer than one hour to run a marathon, which is how long a charge it holds.

At my turnaround near Oak Street Beach in the rain

Total Miles: 13.58 @ 7:45 + 5 mile recovery later that afternoon

Tuesday: My profile was in the Chicago Tribune's marathon section:

Track Work Thursday:

Oktoberfest 5k.  This was my track work for the week. It isn't the typical six miles, but the effort was greater, and I ran faster, so I'll take it.

Near the finish of the Oktoberfest 5k (src)

3.14 miles @ 6:20/mile.

Friday: New Garmin 310xt arrived. I like that it can upolad data to my computer wirelessly, has a longer battery life and seems to acquire satellites much faster. Oh yeah, and it's slightly smaller.

Left: My old Garmin 305 with a white eraser for a button
Right: My new Garmin 310xt

Summary

This was likely my highest training mileage of this cycle as my taper starts in just 1.5 weeks and the marathon is 1.5 weeks after that. I am feeling really good right now. Just have to keep this going for a little bit longer!

Week #6 Total: 60.3 miles
Average Pace: 7:43
Other Training: 4 strength workouts and 1 yoga session

Six weeks down, three to go!

Sunrise in the City

In Chicago this morning, we had another spectacular sunrise. Maybe it's due to the cold, arctic winds blowing in our direction, but in any case the air is crystal clear and is perfect for picture taking. On my run this morning I took a few:

Montrose Harbor Sunrise

Geese in Montrose Harbor

Sunrise with clouds

Skyline

Montrose Harbor Geese in Flight

5.75 miles total. Next up: 16 miler on Sunday, then taper for 3 weeks.

In Search of the Giant Ice Pancakes

I haven't run on the Lakefront Trail in over a month. Due to my injury, I was sidelined for over three weeks then last week I ran a total of 14 miles in 2 to 3 mile per day increments. That's not enough mileage for me to run to the lake and back. Then, yesterday, I read Xaarlin's blog entry and saw her awesome pictures and video of the "ice pancakes" that had formed along the shore of Lake Michigan. I knew that I just had to put some bigger miles in, so I could get back on the trail in search of these magical ice formations! So I took off for a long run with my camera to take some pictures and videos of my search for the elusive ice pancakes. That is, if I was lucky enough to come across some!

Once I reached the lake, the first thing I saw some ice fisherman in Belmont Harbor

and then I spotted something in the water...

My first Ice Pancake sighting! but they are kinda small and hard to see...

then I saw the skyline...

and the sun on the lake.

I also saw ice ladders...

and ice ladders and the skyline....

and even ice rocks.

Could these be ice marshmallows?

Then I saw waves and ice posts...

and more waves by the ice posts...

and even an ice cable, but still no pancakes...

What's this? Could it be an ice pancake field?!

Yes! A giant ice pancake field! Chock full o' ice pancakes!

Ice Pancakes as far as you can see..

I even took a video of the ice pancakes in motion:

After shooting that video, I went further north, and I came across this heart-shaped i.p.

Then I found a harbor full of giant ice pancakes. Wow!

My day was complete. I found the incredible ice pancakes!

My Long Run vs. The Newton Ready to Run 20 Miler

My longest run of my Chicago Marathon training cycle is 16 miles. So I tip my hat to everyone who did the Newton "Ready to Run" 20 Miler on Sunday. As I was entering the Lakefront Trail at Irving Park Rd around 7:15am,  I got mixed in the first wave of runners. It was fun to run by the aid stations and hear the cow bells (all for free), which is good race day simulation. Luckily, the lead groups were thin as I made my way down to Navy Pier:  

Gatorade! Gatorade!

At my final turn-around of the season at Navy Pier, it was a picture perfect day for my last long run. Looking out near the end of the pier, I saw the sun shine shimmering on the water around the lighthouse just off shore in Lake Michigan:

The lighthouse is over my shoulder in this pic

However, the relative calm was soon gone, because on my way back, I saw walls of on-coming runners:

Densely Packed and Ready to Run

Despite the amount of on-coming traffic on the trail, I still was able to put in a "fast finish" long run over the last 8 miles. I can use the average of the final 8 miles to help predict my marathon pace. I am now officially "ready to run" the Chicago Marathon. Too bad I have to wait 2.5 weeks...

Last long run stats: 16 miles at 7:22/mile. Last 8 were at 6:56/mile.