Every accomplishment starts with a decision to try

Firedance

Warm weather training / high humidity day 2:

2 miles steady @ 9.30 with 4 x 100m strides. Put in the earphones for this & went out late afternoon, while it was hot & humid the pace was comfortable but the strides at the end were - emmm sweaty!!!

Firedance

Saturday 6th June Chicago Volition America Half Marathon - 2hr:07
@ avg 9.50

I signed up to this immediately after I booked my flights last April. The hope was a sub 2hr PB and after my 5 mile race in Dunboyne even Mcmillan agreed I could dot it.

The weather has been heating up here since I arrived on Monday and while this morning was slightly cooler humidity was 75%, temp was 18 degrees. So, with that in mind, and having made the mistake in Athlone last sept of trying to stick to 9.09 min miles regardless of the heat, I adjusted my target. Today I would be happy with a PB and and enjoyable race and that is what I got. My first half marathon in March 2014 was 2:12:40, my second attempt was Athlone 2.15.xx disaster, so todays 2.07.45 is a 5 min PB and I'm going to take that and be happy with it, a good day at the office!

The first mile clocked off at 9.06 but I decided to take it down a notch as I went into the second and third miles 9.34 & 9.32, I passed the halfway point feeling hot but OK, I took 2 cups of water at every station, one I drank the other went over my head and this helped massively, it was an out and back course along the beautiful Lake Michagan and when we turned around to come home the Chicago skyline was in front of me the whole way back - so was the gentle breeze which probably helped as much as it hindered :-) I was picking people off on the return leg miles 5-8 still averaging around 9.30-9.45. There were a few small hills so it wasn't completely flat and I had to bring out Dubgals wand a few times in the last few miles, the pain started seeping in, the heat was taking its toll but I only had a parkrun left to do! then 4 laps of the club track, then turn a corner and there was the finish line!! I saw the clock and sprinted home with every last bit of effort I could muster, bitter sweet that it was not a sub 2 hour but very happy with chunk off.

This is the most picturesque race I think i"ve ever done but what it lacked was support along the route. Thankfully I had my brother out with diorolyte bottles I'd made up before hand. I took no gel today as my stomach does not like the heat so felt I could go without and just had decent breakfast of porridge & banana before hand. The good thing about races here is that they start early, 7.20am!! so by 10.30 I had run a half marathon and was back home to jump in the jacuzzi bath - heaven....

So, I'm thinking that longer stuff is not where my strenghts lie and that I might concentrate on 5K & 10K certainly for the rest of the year and think again next year about halfs & fulls.

laura_ac3

Congrats on the PB. I didn't realise you were racing. Sounds like you took a sensible approach given the conditions. Nothing to say you can't go sub 2 or more next time, especially after more solid training. From what people say focusing on the short stuff and faster times helps when you build on that for the longer stuff, that's what I'm flip flopping about at the moment as well trying to figure some targets out!! Hope you're having a great time

Firedance

Thanks Laura, I didn't tell anyone in case it went completely pear shaped!, yep I know itll come if I keep up the training although I'm happy to park it for the time being. Just back from the most incredible mani/pedi with massage chairs - perfect post run treat :-)

nop98

Well done! I didn't realise you were targeting a half either. Running such a chunk of your PB in what sounds like challenging weather is really good work. Pity there wasn't much support, I always find it makes you find that extra gear. It sounds like you got the pacing spot-on, nicely emptied the tank. Well done.

I agree with Laura - nothing to say that sub-2 isn't on the cards. Oh, and you'll obviously cruise to a 10k PB in Dunshaughlin.

annapr

So you snuck off and did a HM without telling us!!!

Congrats on the PB, you're right to be very happy with that... you made the right call in the heat and humidity to pace yourself. If you had tried to stick with your original goal, you could have ended up dehydrated or with heat exhaustion....

So well done, deffo a sub-2 there for you... Race series maybe?

Firedance

annapr wrote: »

So you snuck off and did a HM without telling us!!!

Congrats on the PB, you're right to be very happy with that... you made the right call in the heat and humidity to pace yourself. If you had tried to stick with your original goal, you could have ended up dehydrated or with heat exhaustion....

So well done, deffo a sub-2 there for you... Race series maybe?

I did Anna :-p I had your race report in my head during the race as motivation to push through the last miles :-)

Firedance

nop98 wrote: »

Well done! I didn't realise you were targeting a half either. Running such a chunk of your PB in what sounds like challenging weather is really good work. Pity there wasn't much support, I always find it makes you find that extra gear. It sounds like you got the pacing spot-on, nicely emptied the tank. Well done.

I agree with Laura - nothing to say that sub-2 isn't on the cards. Oh, and you'll obviously cruise to a 10k PB in Dunshaughlin.

Thanks nop! I hope so :-) I think itll be mostly easy runs with some strides thrown in before Dunshaughlin.

Bungy Girl

You kept that quiet! Well done on the PB and your very sensible strategy to adjust your race to account for the heat. All this warm weather training will stand to you so you can smash it up in Dunshaughlin!

aquinn

Another sneaky race without telling us.
Brilliant, delighted for you as just read about 5 mile PB and now a HM and especially whilst on holidays. Even more impressive. Well done and hope you are enjoying yourself.

hillsiderunner

Congrats on the PB , and I agree that the sun will take a big difference for Irish bodies .. would probably be sub-2hr in cloudy cool weather.

(quick google) hope the thunderstorms don't hang around too long!

Firedance

Cant multiquote on the phone (why?) so thanks BG, AQ & HR :-) yep weather today is hotter, more humid & storms this morning - perfect hangover recovery weather :eek:

Firedance

Monday 8th June

30 min recovery, nice n slow, legs feel a bit tired but ok, turns out the brother has a foam roller so made use of that last night. Got this done early so I can soak up some rays before heading downtown later. Happy Monday :-)

spaceylou

Just caught up on your log. Enjoy the rest of your holidays Firedance and well done on the PB in the half!

Firedance

Tuesday 9th June

16.8 mile cycle around the lakeshore & up thro Grant Park to take in the bean, Michigan ave, the Tribune building & river, very pleasant way to spend the morning. Sunny & hot..

Wednesday 10th June. Hot weather training: 30 mins at 10.20. 83 degrees' before 9am, forgot to wear Hr monitor but you can really feel the difference in the heat.

Dubgal72

Well done on the sneaky PB, especially in killer humidity! Sounds like you're having a great holiday too Glad to see that wand got an airing in foreign climes

Firedance

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Well done on the sneaky PB, especially in killer humidity! Sounds like you're having a great holiday too Glad to see that wand got an airing in foreign climes

Yep its gone international! You should patent it...great going over on the novices thread btw :-)

Firedance

Thursday 11th June: 4 miles easy @ 10.15. This turned into a bit of a tempo run when I realised id taken a wrong turn and was quite lost :eek: Chicago grid system is not so square when you meet junctions with 5 or 6 roads - going straight on is harder than you'd imagine! Anyway, thank god for a good sesne of direction meter :-). Cooler today so this was very enjoyable. Followed by one hour showing my niece how to use daddy's credit card, it seems she likes shopping!

Cubs baseball game later in Wrigley Field which I'm really looking forward to.

Firedance

Sat 13th June, last Chicago run, 2 miles at 9.55, another lovely morning after yesterdays rain. Will miss is here where motorists dont try to run you over and actually wave you across a junction first :eek: But mostly will miss my gorgeous niece, obviously she's the cutest baby ever..

Firedance

Monday 15th June: 3 miles @ 10.04 avg HR 139

Tuesday 16th June: 5 miles @ 10.14. Club run, instructions were 'steady' and forgetting that I'm waaay slower than the others I tootled along behind giving me mile 1 at 8.50 :rolleyes: pulled it back to 'easy' instead when they got away from me to 10.30, 10.30, 10.12. Beautiful eve for a run although a little warm! Feeling quite tired still so should probably keep it easy until Saturday.

the foot didn't give me an ounce of trouble over the last few weeks including the half marathon but has been bothering me since yesterday. I've been very lax with the AIS and no strength at all in recent weeks and now its showing. Will get back to both and proper foam rolling this week.

Dubgal72

Welcome back!

Ososlo

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Welcome back!

+1 and fair fecks to ya for managing to run almost every day on your hols in the heat and even managing to fit in a sneaky pb race!
That's dedication which will stand to you!

Firedance

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Welcome back!

Ososlo wrote: »

+1 and fair fecks to ya for managing to run almost every day on your hols in the heat and even managing to fit in a sneaky pb race!
That's dedication which will stand to you!

Thank you

Bungy Girl

See you Saturday . Another PB outing for you I suspect!

Firedance

Bungy Girl wrote: »

See you Saturday . Another PB outing for you I suspect!

Oh crikey, well see, not a given - hopefully for you too!! See you at the cake table afterwards :-)

annapr

Firedance wrote: »

Oh crikey, well see, not a given - hopefully for you too!! See you at the cake table afterwards :-)

What, a race that you're telling us about in advance...? how did you let that slip out

Firedance

annapr wrote: »

What, a race that you're telling us about in advance...? how did you let that slip out

good point, although I've only kept two out of four races a secret - I'll probably wish I said nothing about this one come Sunday!! I must visit St Anne's one of these days too, have yet to do that parkrun..

annapr

Firedance wrote: »

good point, although I've only kept two out of four races a secret - I'll probably wish I said nothing about this one come Sunday!! I must visit St Anne's one of these days too, have yet to do that parkrun..

come on over, it's a lovely one... let us know when and I'm sure we can have the Fairview crew out in force (I know a particularly persistent pacer if you want to make a race of it, I'd be happy to lend her to you... )

Firedance

annapr wrote: »

come on over, it's a lovely one... let us know when and I'm sure we can have the Fairview crew out in force (I know a particularly persistent pacer if you want to make a race of it, I'd be happy to lend her to you... )

I read you're report, I'm not ready to die just yet but will most definitely call on her when its my turn to crack that particular goal - by the way, did you update the round numbers table?? isn't that for sub 25?

aquinn

Firedance wrote: »

I read you're report, I'm not ready to die just yet but will most definitely call on her when its my turn to crack that particular goal - by the way, did you update the round numbers table?? isn't that for sub 25?

Die? Sure it was great, when suits? A man may have mentioned close to the finish not to kill her but she was grand. Totally exaggerated on his part :rolleyes:.

annapr wrote: »

come on over, it's a lovely one... let us know when and I'm sure we can have the Fairview crew out in force (I know a particularly persistent pacer if you want to make a race of it, I'd be happy to lend her to you... )

You thought I'd never catch up . Less easing off next time so :P