What Hills?

Saturday morning I got up and went for a 6 mile run with some folks from my marathon running group, and my friend Kate joined us as well. We did the course of the Palos Turkey Trot and added in 2 extra miles for a total of 6 miles. The weather was perfect and the hills were killer. Since I haven't run the course before, I was happy to get in a practice run to help make sure I don't start out too fast, etc. I wore my trail shoes as I thought part of the course was on a trail. That wasn't the, and I'm probably going to wear my normal trainers for the race on Thursday. Amanda wore her trail shoes too and I made sure to get a pic of us both wearing them!

Hot Choc windbreaker, Target running tights, GR Marathon long sleeve, Shamrock Shuffle short sleeve, Saucony trail shoes, Under Armor running gloves, headband

I ate my normal protein dinner the night before of fish with some sweet potato fries (I normally eat the fish with brown rice, but those sweet potato fries were just staring at me). For breakfast I had a bagel with butter. I just realized that I should have probably had some peanut butter on the bagel instead of butter, but I felt good during the run regardless. We didn't run the course fast, but I think that was a good idea based on how hilly things were. I enjoyed the company of my running folks, and we were talking a lot about next year and upcoming races. A lot of them are planning to run the Illinois Marathon on April 28. It sounds like a great idea because I could be done with all of the race before my cousin's showers and bachelorette party (she's getting married in June 2012). However the reasonable side of me knows that I shouldn't run another marathon so close to my other one(s). The Illinois Marthon in 2013 sounds like a much better idea, but we'll see how things go next year first. After talking with my pace leader about the Schaumburg Half Marathon, we decided we're not going to do it. I haven't trained more than 6 miles in the last 4 weeks, so I don't want to run it too fast. But I also don't want to run it slow, because then what's the point. I do, however plan on increasing my normal distance to more than 6 miles. I'm going to try to keep the average weekend run between 8-10 miles, just in case another opportunity like this comes up.

My next 5k is on December 18 (Frigid 5K in Lemont). I'm going to try to do some speed work this week as well as some weights and cross training. I want to PR this course and I know it is possible. I just need to put my mind to it and make the time. Thankfully things at work are a tad slower so I should be able to get it done.

My favorite running buddy hasn't been able to join me out on the trails since she was spayed on 11/7/11. She is finally back to her old self and I hope to have her join me this weekend!

My goldendoodle, Pepper