Rock n Roll Chicago Recap

Emmanuel Mutai, Shalane, Galen Rupp's kick, Tyson Gay says 9.7 needed to medal, Lolo, Meb, Haile coming back to Newcastle, Olympic viewer's guide, London odds, and the lovely Miss Kara Goucher.

Wednesday, July 18th - 4 miles.  Ran with Megan late at night.  Did 270 loop with her at 9:40's pace, then did 1 mile solo a little faster.  Hot outside.

Thursday, July 19th - 5 miles.  Dreadmill run at lunch, since I completely slept in and missed a morning run with Crystal.  Started at 7:30 pace and worked my way down.  Didn't feel the best, but I was on a time crunch and needed to be done fast.  4 mile split was 29:04, and I ran my last mile at 6:30 pace (ugh) so 35:34 total.

Friday, July 20th - 0!  Travel day to Chicago, and didn't get a chance to run at lunch because of many meetings.

Saturday, July 21st - 0!  Couldn't get up in the morning to save my life.  Worked the Brooks expo at McCormick Place which was super fun.  Megan and I worked the ticket booth and directed people to the games/prizes section, where Brooks was giving away many gifts.  Worked the run, then headed back for lunch.  Considered running, but it was too hot outside to do anything productive.  Went to the River North street festival, then grabbed dinner before heading to bed.  While I didn't get in any mileage, I was on my feet all day if that counts for anything.

Sunday, July 22nd - 17 miles (2 up, ROCK N ROLL CHICAGO 1/2 MARATHON, 2 down).  Woke up bright and early, and eventually made it to Millenium Park for the race.  Quick 2 mile warmup around the area, then lined up in Corral 1 to get this show on the road.  Nice to see a 1:25 pace group, so thought I would go out with them and ease off as there were no time goals today and was just treating as a long run.  Went through the first 2 miles at 6:30 pace, but pretty much died off since my legs weren't really working and settled into 8 min/mile pace.  Really enjoyed the nice pace, and traversed around the city and worked in a group for awhile.  Ran 1:41, but enjoyed the ride.  Cooled down with Ben, Anne, and Megan on Lakeshore trails when we got back to finish my workout.  Fun times.  39 miles for the week, 116 miles for July, 1111 miles for 2012.

Monday, July 23rd - 3 miles.  Ran late at night.  Legs were pretty tired, and the heat wave has really been bad around home.  106 today, so skipped out on group run.  270 loop - was still 91 at 9 p.m. and HUMID.

Tuesday, July 24th - 4 miles and drills with Crystal.  Got up and ran to the track.  Pretty standard - felt sluggish and my quads are still on fire, but glad to get in an early workout.

Need to lay out some sort of plan this summer, and working on figuring out what the heck I am doing for the fall/winter running.  For now, I am drinking a ton of water and trying to survive this brutal summer!