Chicago Marathon Training Series: From having options to keeping it simple.
Weeks Three and Four of my Chicago Marathon Training plan are in the books!
I began to reflect on how the last two weeks of training have been for me. The truth is, they went by so fast that I had to scroll down my Nike Run Club app to jog my memory on how this most recent block of training panned out.
Week Three was a mix of fairly minimal miles requirements with a mid-week jolt of a fartlek run drill that I never completed before. Still on an adrenaline high from my HIIT workout earlier that morning, I agreed to a 21 minute speed play drill with my marathon training part. I really should have given that decision more thought. We huffed and puffed around Caves Village at a very humid 7a.m. I had seemingly forgotten that I had an afternoon client to train doing tempo run drills. The Saturday long run was even more humid and while I was proud of keeping an respectable 11 min/mile pace throughout, I felt that I could have improved on my time.
Week Four I must confess, I was excited. Not so much about the training, but about the menu options my nutritionist had laid out for me for the week. The start of a new training week is where we touch bases on the type of runs I have on my plan and which days I have dedicated to particular runs. I made my choices and he was quite agreeable. That love fest would come to an abrupt end mid-week, but I’ll get back to that.
Mother Nature was less agreeable last week. It was an entire week of forecasted thunderstorms, heavy rains and just generally sucky weather. I had arranged a group strength training session for my clients and offered up my standard 5:15am spot for them to get a taste of going through a workout with my trainer. Great experience all around. My session began after. I was mildly frustrated from being half a pound away from my goal range. As I spread out my mat and took my water which was now a beautiful shade of pink, I watched my trainer’s entire demeanor change. Apparently, hydration tabs are not a part of what it is that we are doing. I had already conceded the energy gels, and honestly I didn’t see the harm in the hydration. I guess on that day it was clear that what I see (or don’t see) the harm in is a non-issue. I agreed to let him coach me through this process and that means taking the advice that I don’t like.
His message was clear: “You don’t need all of that. Keep your hydration simple.”
My Saturday long run, I traded in my hydration tabs for a bottle of alkaline sprig water for my 10K run. Better pace than the previous week under even more dreadfully humid conditions. While running with plain water isn’t really a favorite of mine, I sucked it up and made it work. It is amusing how I went from being excited about my nutrition options on Monday to having one of my main options taken away by Saturday.
I remind myself often that to get what I never had, I have to do that which I have never done.
So while I am trusting my training, I am trusting my trainer’s guidance.
Simple, huh?
Linda