Chicago Marathon Training: Breaking barriers and the Big Ten.

I looked at my marathon training plan the other day and I could not believe that I am already 1/3 of the way on my way to Chicago.

The past two weeks of training has been highlighted by some major wins for me health and training wise. Last Sunday, I will be the first to admit that I was not feeling quite so fabulous. My personal training session was rigorous and my upper body body felt the sting pretty much all week. It may have been the first time every since I began working with my trainer that the urge to fall asleep on the beach was a very real prospect.

Needless to say, when my trainer told me to hop on the scale after the workout, I could think of ten reasons why that would be a no for me. The results were shocking to me. I was finally down in the 130s which was a hurdle I had been trying to overcome for weeks. That hour of torture was momentarily forgotten and I felt truly elated and proud. The next day was a public holiday observance and I spent that time completing my recovery run for the week and re-creating a photo that I took near my residence at the beginning of the year.

Things were going well. My recovery runs were outstanding and I battled through the heat and humidity of my afternoon speed runs. But for some reason, I could not live in the moment. My sights were set ahead to the Saturday long run training: ten mile run. I let my nutritionist know that I was hella nervous. This would be the first real test of trust between him and I. This would be the first double digit run I attempt without the use of my long trusted energy gels and bars. While I was nervous, he was confident and I suspected that this is mainly because he is not the person clocking these miles. The truth was he was confident because every thing he had done up to that point was to prepare me for this one. My pre long run lunch was exceptionally outstanding.

Saturday morning I set off with a lone bottle of organic coconut water in hand. I had a plan to pace myself through the run and I was determined to stick to it. To my pleasant surprise, the pacing was on point. I showed no signs of fatigue, I hydrated accordingly and before I knew it I was at my halfway point along Caves Beach. My nutritionist was excited as well to know that not only was I halfway, I felt very good.

As I continued on and my Garmin beeped at mile seven, this sense of pride washed over me. It was at this point that I knew I would successfully complete this training run. I felt amazing. At mile nine, I knew that I would crush it and finished with a strong pace. My average pace of 11’57” min/mile may have been the best gift of all.

I reached a new level of trust in the process and in the person guiding me through the process. I am excited for the weeks ahead when the runs become longer and the roadmap begins to shift.

What are you excited for in your race training process?

Linda