T-Minus 102 Days and Counting. . .

Good day for running. It was low 60s tonight and cloudy. As I've said before to Jen on days like these; "if you can't run well on a day like today, you can't run well." Cranked out 4 x 1200 intervals on the riverfront path near the Y tonight at 6:10 pace, with the last at 5:55. Felt really good during all of them and didn't feel that sucking fatigue during the last one that I expected.

Legs were hurting during the first interval. Had hit the lower body weights a little too hard on Monday night and really felt it. Note to self; go easy on the weights on a night before a run. Dumb!

Going to hit the upper body on Wednesday and give the legs a chance to rest in advance of our 12 mile run on Thursday. We're altering the schedule a bit because of our holiday weekend trip to Wisconsin. We'll do our 5-mile tempo run up in Merrimac on Saturday.

T-Minus 103 Days and Counting. . .

After a well-deserved day off on Sunday, following our 10-mile run Saturday, I came back pretty refreshed today. Did an easy mile on the track just to wake up the legs and then hit the upper and lower body weights fairly hard. Been trying to work more higher reps and lower weights to tone and go easy on the joints and it seems to be working.

We're set for 4 x 1200 repeats on Tuesday. While I enjoy the variety that running intervals brings, it's not easy running. The warm up is key, as you need to have your heart pumping fairly well before you launch into a 6-minute 1200. We'll typically jog in between repeats and then cool down with a final quarter or so. Weather's supposed to stay cool so can't complain. . . .

T-Minus 105 Days and Counting. . .

It's been a good couple of days. Friday night, I did an easy mile warmup on the track at the Y and then hit the upper body weights pretty hard, holding off on the legs to save 'em for the long run on Saturday. Friday nights at the Y are great; it's always quiet and there's few people in the weight room.

Today, Jen and I did 10 miles with Mary, our good friend with whom we trained last year. We left from our house, went out about 3 miles, came back, grabbed some gel and Gatorade and did another 2 miles out and back. Temps were probably in the high 70s to low 80s but we did catch a break with lower humidity than we'd been having. Not good running conditions, by any means, but we'll have to get used to the heat again.

The run itself felt pretty good. I was a little sluggish for the first 3 miles, really felt great between 6 and 8 and then had heavy legs for the last two. This was the longest run I've had since the marathon last October and it felt good to hit double digits again. That will be my last reference to "that was the longest run since last October," since now every run will be. Nice.

Taking a rest day on Sunday and then will hit the weights again, or possibly swim, on Monday.

T-Minus 107 Days and Counting. . .

Tuesday, we kicked off our official 16-week training program. We’re doing the FIRST (Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training) Marathon Training Program, which involves three days of running, two days of cross training and two days of rest. It’s a fantastic program that we first used back in 2007 and it’s left us much fresher between runs and less prone to burnout.

We do fast intervals on Tuesdays, tempo runs of up to 10 miles on Thursdays at faster than race pace and then long runs on Saturdays. We supplement that with cross training two other days. For us, that means biking, weight training and swimming.

Our first run was 8 x 400 meter intervals on Tuesday. In the grip of our first heat wave of the year, with temps in the upper 80s with massive humidity, it was tough.

Wednesday we did an easy warm up on the track at the Y followed by upper and lower body weights. Nothing too exciting and felt a little sluggish as well.

The Kickoff of 108 Days to the Finish Line

Well, our 16-week Chicago Marathon training program kicked off yesterday and this year I’ve decided to do something different as we embark upon our quest for our fourth finisher’s medal. In the past, I’ve written long, post-race essays after the races. I detailed the drama of 2007’s heat wave, which you can read about HERE, or my knee injury and subsequent training hiatus and march across the finish line in 2008, which you can read about HERE.

Not this year. This year, I’m hoping for no drama. No major incidents. For once, I'd like an incident-free training and race experience.

So, I will attempt to blog every day and provide the training minutiae that details what it’s like to put your body, and mind, through 16 weeks of progressively longer training runs and everything that comes with it.

I’ll cover the miles, the soreness, the frustration, the boredom, the pain, the fun, the nutrition, the blisters, the chafing, the Gatorade, the camaraderie, the PowerGel and, I hope, the incredible feeling of crossing that finish line in Grant Park and enjoying the weight of a medal around your neck.

It’s 108 days to go until we toe the line in Chicago’s Grant Park with 45,000 other crazies at 7:30 a.m. on October 12.

I hope you’ll come along. . .