This week ended up being an easy one with just 20 miles.

I’m still struggling with my running and I seem to be running less and less now.  I decided to go see a doctor and get a blood test done just to ensure that there isn’t something wrong. That appointment isn’t for another 2 weeks though.

I’m seriously starting to think about abandoning the Chicago Marathon.  I had to prepay about $800 for the hotel and if I cancel before September 11, I can get a full refund.  I’ll wait and see what the results of my blood test are before making a decision, but my confidence in finishing the marathon is at all time low right now.

Posted by derek as Training, Chicago, Marathon at 6:22 AM PDT

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This week was somewhat of a mixed bag.  The week started on Sunday with a planned 15-mile run.  The run was going so badly that I ended up abandoning it after 9 miles.

I then decided to run 6 miles each of my other running days, but on Wednesday, I ended up running just 4 miles.

Today I had my first glimmer of hope that things are improving.  I still had to take multiple walking breaks, but I didn’t feel as badly as I did for the last few weeks.  I actually ran the running portions at a sub-9min/mile pace.  Part of me is hoping that this is a sing that things are going to improve from this point forward.

Saturday is a rest day and I plan to start next week’s training with a 15-18 miler on Sunday. We’ll see how that goes.

Posted by derek as Training, Chicago, Marathon at 2:44 PM PDT

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Week 15 has been an “ok” week.  I ran another 30 miles.  I’m back from vacation now and the Chicago marathon is drawing close.  I have just 9 weeks left and if you factor in a 3-week taper, that leaves just 6 weeks of training.

My longest run so far has been 18 miles, but I would like to get in two 20-mile runs.  I figure will do 15 miles tomorrow, 17 miles the following Sunday and then 20 miles the Sunday after that. I’ll then run shorter the following 2 Sunday’s and run my last 20-miler 3 weeks before the marathon.

I’ll aim for 35-40 miles per week for the next 6 weeks.

My body still isn’t feeling right and I’m actually doing quite a lot of walking during my training runs.  I’m hoping things improve drastically over the next 2 months.

Posted by derek as Training, Chicago, Marathon at 5:31 PM PDT

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