It’s the best weekend of fall here in Chicago. Well maybe not in COVID times, but in a perfect world I’d be headed downtown to cowbell for the Chicago Marathoners at mile 13.
Erica and I cheering from the famous Blogger Press Box.
My first go at the marathon distance in 2007, at the very hot Chi ’07, which was stopped when I was at mile 22. I finished, but vowed to never run another marathon. We all know how that turned out.
Of course it’s all virtual this year, but still, I’m cheering in spirit for everyone taking it on virtually. Here’s how my workouts went:
Monday: Track Workout
Tuesday: Walk 3 miles, Full Body Strength
Wednesday: Walk 4 miles, Trail Run 4 miles
Thursday: Walk 4 miles, Upper Body Strength
Friday: Walk 4 miles, otherwise rest
Saturday: Walk 4 miles, Trail run 5 miles
Sunday: Walk 4 miles, Heavy Strength
Despite some frosty mornings, we had a lovely week of perfect weather and we fully enjoyed having Thing 1 home from college. I made all her favorites, including Baked Ziti, Cheesy Potatoes, and sent her back to Atlanta with Halloween goodies for all of her friends. Gotta maintain my Cool Mom of the Year status.
My track streak lives on. I’ve come to love my speedwork for stress-relief as much as I love my trails. Fingers crossed the track remains open to the public when the middle school opens in a couple of weeks.
I picked the last pepper out of the tiny garden I had this year. I’m going to stretch here and call it heart-shaped. This world most definitely needs more hearts.
Love
There’s so much goodness emanating from my friends at Balega lately. It is one of my favorite ambassadorships because not only are their socks amazing, they do so many good things for the world through the running community.
I’ll be running on the Balega Impi Ambassador team for the California Meaningful Miles virtual 5k/10k, benefitting Back On My Feet. Click the link to earn more and join me!
Balega has two great new socks out right now:
Their new Enduro Relective Quarter Socks (above) have glass refractive beads knitted into the cuff, making them perfect for low-light conditions.
Their latest Grit and Grace series socks are out as well. Last year we lost one of our own Impi team members to Breast Cancer and the new Brave Badass, Defy Gravity and Embrace Kindness socks were designed in her honor. Balega donates $1 for every pair of Grit and Grace socks sold to the Breast Cancer Prevention Partners. Balega is currently collecting ideas for the 2021 Grit and Grace socks. Submit yours here until October 30.
New On YouTube
Total-Body Heavy Strength. Not a week goes by that I don’t get asked where to start with strength training, what to do about bone density loss or how to prevent stress fractures. The short(ish) answer is be careful ramping up your running miles, be mindful of recovery, take in plenty of protein, minerals and lift heavy. This workout sequence is a great place to start.
How was your week? What’s your favorite race to spectate? Do you lift heavy?
I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down. Join us!
I’m not doing any strength work at the moment but that needs to change now. I’m not using the excuse of my exercise room not being ready as I thought it would be, and am going to move my free weights into the spare room and use them. I wrote it here so it must be true …
Great photos and I love the socks!
So glad that you had a nice visit with your daughter, No fall break for my son this year and I cannot wait to have him back next month. Love the daily walks! I have been doing them too and have really come to look forward to them. just feels good to be out there in the fresh air I listen to books so time flies. Have a great week!
Glad you had a nice week with the daughter home; her favorite foods sound a lot like mine LOL I’m envious of all your daily walks; I’ve actually missed daily walking more than running during this stress fracture recovery “cycle” of mine.
I can’t believe that this weekend was supposed to be the Chicago Marathon – that snuck up on me! It’s such a fun weekend and I so enjoyed seeing you and Wendy out on the course last year!
So happy that you had a fun week with your daughter being home 🙂 Love that heart shaped pepper – it’s almost too cute to eat.
I think I need to fly you over here Marcia, for my track workouts. I dread speedwork! It’s so exhausting.
I am in awe of anybody who LIKES them.
But maybe I should just change my perspective and see them as a stressrelief like you do. I have track work tomorrow so I will be thinking of you.
Oh my gosh, I don’t think I knew you were also at Chicago 2007! I also finished, but it was my slowest ever (over 5 hours) and it was so miserable. I remember passing aid stations in the first few miles that were already out of Gatorade and water! So bad…I need to give Chicago another chance some day, as it is also my only world major over 4 hours. I need redemption 🙂
We just don’t seem to have a long enough growing season for peppers. We also haven’t had our first frost yet (we’ve come close a few times), so I’m hoping my last few romas ripen before that happens.
I am actually not really missing running right now, despite mostly perfect running weather, I’m trying to get as much Fall foliage as I can!
Oh man, it sounds like Thing 1 had some good meals this week! It will be so wonderful when the big races are able to come back. I ran a small race today and a lot of the runners were talking about Chicago. As wonderful as it was to be able to run a small (live) race, it’s going to be so sweet when the big races come back.
So excited for your week. I can’t wait to try out your video.
XO
I’m so glad you had a great visit with your daughter!
I’m jealous of your track time – ours remains locked down. I’ve definitely had a few days were burning off some stress through speedwork would have been ideal!
I’m always looking for a good strength workout – I’m looking forward to checking out your new video.
Sad that we didn’t have a turn in the bloggers’ press box this year! I miss the energy from the Chicago Marathon!
Feeling you on the speed–it’s like a stress eraser, isn’t it?
Heading over to check out those breast cancer socks. I just bought the pink roadID. So many great companies are supporting breast cancer awareness. Lisa’s chemo starts on Wednesday.
It’s too bad the Chicago marathon didnt happen in person this year. I think its going to feel weird next weekend when it would be the Baltimore Running Festival which of course is virtual this year too. (I didnt sign up because the prices for a virtual race were kind of crazy). So glad you had a good visit with your daughter!
I keep having memories pop up abut races that I’ve run in the past. Very sad.
We’ve had cold morning – in the 30s but then it always warms up. I’m never dressed right. lol
I LOVE Balegas. I need to take a look.
You are running ZOOMA Amelia Is this weekend?
I’m glad you had a good time with Thing 1. It must be good to see her. I love your pepper – it definitely qualifies as heart-shaped! Those socks are cute. I’ve bought a few pairs over the past few months, but I’m ready for another round of purging and replacing.
(I think I lost wi-fi half-way through my comment a few hours ago, if you see a half-written one somewhere …. )
I was also out there in 2007 running the Chicago Marathon. It was my 2nd one and I did not finish. I was also miserable. I think it was 4 years ago when I saw you and Wendy at the halfway point. That was the last time I ran that race and now have so much fun spectating. Today was a perfect day to spectate the marathon.
Was your daughter on break? How is school going for her? I am glad you spent some time with her.
You do sound like the Cool Mom of the Year! I hope your daughter’s college year is going well. We are in the midst of college applications, tours, all of that fun stuff. It’s a big decision! I have been buying a pair of the Grit and Grace release for the past few years. I love them, and such a powerful message and purpose.
I wish the marathon majors were still happening! It’s so sad how much has changed this year. I love huge races- the energy is just incredible!
I love track work- it’s my favorite workout of the week. Unfortunately all the tracks around here are locked and they don’t open them, even to running groups. There’s one close by that the local road running group has access to so I try to meet them on Thursday nights but I can’t always make it.
I literally just discovered Balega this year. I don’t know why I never really tried them before.
We never get the opportunity to run on tracks. Most of them are affiliated with schools, and campuses in Florida are mostly all closed for security reasons. There is a paved loop in the neighborhood next to mine, but it’s not 1600m around, and it’s always awkward to run there.