Howdy y’all! It’s been a busy few weeks kicking off wedding season with lots of travel, starting an intensive summer course at school, hectic times at work, and oh yeah… officially starting to train for the 2016 Chicago Marathon!

I switched up a lot of the pieces of training that didn’t work for me last year, and I couldn’t be happier I made the decision to join the Heartbreakers, a team based out of local stores Heartbreak Hill Running Company/South End Athletic Company. I absolutely loved the group I trained with last year but this new group offers lots more chances for speedwork, access to one of the best coaches in the biz, and some incredibly fast teammates who I know will push me in the way I need–all within a couple miles of my apartment. Plus, team members get tailored training plans with in-depth weekly guidance specifically for NYC and Chicago runners. And you can’t beat the swag! Even if I look like a nerd in trucker hats. #tinypeopleproblems

Given the fact that I’ve been doing a fair amount of running this winter/spring, I’m jumping right into an intermediate training plan. I know this may not sound like a big deal, but given that this is my only second marathon, it feels like a leap for me. However–I’ve been hitting PR’s in almost every recent race and feeling stronger than ever, so I think this is the right time to kick things up a notch. The plan has me running 6 days a week, which I’ll likely work up to slowly, but 5 has been feeling pretty good. Here’s a recap of how things have gone so far… I definitely need to work on varying my speed and taking the slow days slow, but I’m happy about a strong start.

Week 1 [plus a couple of bonus days]

• Saturday: 10 miles @ 8:15 pace
• Sunday: OFF
• Monday: 3.8 miles @8:27 pace
• Tuesday: Track! I don’t wear my watch for these, but I ran 1 mile to/from and we did warm ups, drills, and then 200 @ mile, 400 @ 5k, 800 @ 10k, 1600 @ marathon, 800 @ 10k, 400 @ 5k, and 200 @ best. Plus some corework for good measure. Appx. 5 miles total. Woof!
• Wednesday: 5 miles @ 9:28 pace (recovery run with the work crew)
• Thursday: 5.5 super windy miles @ 7:59 pace (miles 3-4 @ 10k pace–7:11 and 7:26)
• Friday: Hip Hop Yoga @ Yogaworks Back Bay
• Saturday: 10 hilly miles @ 8:12 pace
• Sunday: OFF

Week 2 [so far]

• Monday: 5 miles @ 8:17 pace
• Tuesday: 5 miles @ 8:30 pace
• Wednesday: 3 miles @ 8:30 pace (to and from 60 minute of yoga)

I’m having a lot of fun documenting my training on Strava and Instagram (#leahrunschicago), so feel free to join me either place to follow along on my training journey. I look forward to lots more marathon-related posting–where I’ll talk a little bit more (teaser alert) about why this is my year to aim to qualify for Boston (eek!!!)

Leah