Week 1 of 16 Recap - 24 miles

RUNNING DOWN THE ROAD TO TAMPA
MARATHON TRAINING – WEEK 1 OF 16

I again spent the week in Chicago to work at the Plainfield office. This week was especially significant because Jen came on Thursday evening. Our plan was to really determine whether or not we should make the move to the area. With all of the daily challenges of work and deciding if we should make this huge move, I still had to knock out some mileage.

Tue 11/8 – Burr Ridge, IL

I went to bed very early at the Marriott on Monday night – like 8:45 Central time. It was great. I was exhausted from a long Monday. We had a hockey game on Sunday night and I had to pack late.

I rocked out this run with a retro 90’s mix of Use Your Illusion 1 & 2 by G’n’R. The Polar said I did a 52:40 for 7 miles.

TIME 52:40
DIST 7.0
PACE 7:31

Thu 11/10 – Naperville, IL

I was really proud of myself for getting out early for this run. I had a terrible night’s sleep. We had a super late dinner with Oli and the PLT. It was fricken’ ridiculous. I need to learn to say “NO” to these late on-the-road engagements. It screws me up for the next day. We also had a late dinner on Tuesday night that knocked me out for Wed AM.

Anyway, despite getting to bed at 11:15 PM and waking up at 4AM with sleeplessness, I managed to push myself out the door for a brisk 4. The weather was ultra-chilly, but exhilarating. I ran from the Courtyard Marriott toward downtown Naperville and back. I got in the run on a poor night’s sleep and was at the office by 7:50 AM.

TIME 28:04
DIST 4.0
PACE 7:01

Fri 11/11 – Naperville, IL

Jennifer arrived on schedule at O’Hare in the evening. I picked her up in the rental Camry and we headed to the Naperville TGI Friday’s for a quick dinner. I had an Oriental chicken salad and iced tea. I was in bed by 9:30 at the Courtyard. I was awake at 5:50 AM for another cool morning of running.

TIME 44:07
DIST 7.0
PACE 7:23

Sun 11/13 – Aurora/North Naperville, IL

We spent most of Saturday exploring the housing market with Lisa; the person who I suppose is our new realtor. For Saturday night, I put us in a Red Roof Inn at I-88 and 59. We went to the city on Sat night. The commute was atrocious. The rain had something to do with it I am sure, but it was 90-100 minutes to downtown. After the drive and some walking around, we had a nice Thai dinner. We were on our way back shortly thereafter.

In the morning, I headed out around 9:30 AM on Diehl from IL-59. The Gale force winds were crazy intense. I crossed over I-88 and looped around back over IL-59 to the Aurora Running Trail.

TIME 51:09
DIST 7.0
PACE 7:18

WEEKLY SUMMARY – 4 Runs
Tue - 7
Thu - 4
Fri - 6
Sun – 7
Total: 24

Week #1 is successfully complete. The Intermediate plan I am following called for 5 runs for a total of 25 miles, but I feel good about getting in 4 solid runs with everything going on this past week.

The news is that it looks like this blog will eventually change names to “Ryan’s Suburban Chicago Run Blog”. Jen says she’s ready to make the move – so it appears I will have yet another set of activities to keep me busy as I train for Tampa.