Day 115

Back on the road after three days of rest and excessive icing. The weather is a robust 51 degrees (hopefully same as marathon day!) and slightly rainy (I could do without this part). I decided to treat today like a marathon trial run to make sure my gear was in order.

Distance: 10.0 miles
Duration: 1:18:46
Pace: 7:53
HR Avg/Max: 150/173
notes:

First couple steps I felt a little stiff and the shin was aching, but after a few strides I loosened up and felt good. I decided to run at a strong base pace which turned out to be just about marathon pace after taking three days off. After I hit the first mile in 7:50 I decided to make it a marathon pace run since I've only ran 4 other miles this week and I felt so refreshed.

The cold was a bit bothersome for the first couple miles (the rain certainly didn't help)... My knees ached a little and it took a while to warm up but after the third mile I felt good.

I got a couple side stitches about the 7 mile mark and they haunted me for the rest of the run but didn't really slow me down... I'll have to be sure to research stitch strategy since I'd hate to have to run 20 miles with side stitches.... Also one of my shoestrings was a little floppy, so I'll have to be careful of that on race day... other than that I felt good... With another week of taper and good weather I think Chicago is going to be awesome!