Training

I hope everyone's training is going well.  It's less than 2 weeks until the Chicago Half Marathon and I have been training out of my mind.  Ok, well, the training I've been doing is for the Chicago Marathon, but still.  In just over 8 weeks of training I have put in over 224 miles of running.  I've gone from an average of about a 9:30 min/mile down to about a 9:00 min/mile.  My goal is to finish the Chicago Half Marathon in less than 2 hours and the Chicago Marathon in under 4:30.  Time will tell if these goals are attainable but I am confident that if I give it my best then I will conquer.

New Training Aids

This years racing got off to a slow and painful start with my knee acting up quite a lot and no matter what brace or sleeve I tried, it would always swell up during my runs which started a cascade of issues including my calf cramping and eventually my foot would go numb.  Unfortunately, I had these issues during my first few races this year including a poor showing at the Chicago Spring Half Marathon and the Soldier Field 10 miler.

On the advice from a friend, I purchased a new sleeve for my knee with the hopes that it would help alleviate the in-run swelling.  I purchased my Copper Wear Knee Sleeve but did not receive it in time for my spring races.  After I got the sleeves in the mail I immediately started using them and noticed an immediate improvement.  Since getting them, I no longer have any issues with in-run swelling in my knee nor any of the other issues related to it.  I have all so improved my stride and cadence to better suit my running style which may have contributed to the improvement but the sleeves were very helpful nonetheless.

Just recently, I have added Tailwind Nutrition Endurance Fuel to my training regimen and have noticed substantial improvement in my energy levels during my run.  I am still just starting out with it but felt it was worth mentioning for anyone looking for an energy boost during long training runs or races.  I plan on incorporating it into my half and full marathon races  as well as the Huff 50k that I plan on running in December.  I have been using the Caffeinated Raspberry Buzz, which contains caffeine for an extra boost but will be purchasing the non-caffeinated version as well.  I will post more about it later on once I've really had the opportunity to evaluate it's effectiveness during long endurance races.

 Good luck to everyone in their upcoming events!