Naples Half / Broke Man's WWU Training Week 6

Here are my feet. And my formerly clean shoes.

Happy Monday! Time for the Weekly Review linkup with Hoho Runs and MissSippiPiddlin. My training cycle focuses on the Broke Man's Winter Warm Up (7.5 miler) and the Naples Half Marathon. You can read about each race in Week 1's recap. 

WEEK OF Dec 7–13

A goofy fortune cookie from Monday

Monday: 4 miles, 9:06 pace
Tuesday: 6.2 miles, 9:04 pace (lots of stops for photos)
Wednesday: 5 miles, 8:56 pace
Thursday: 1 mile, 8:44
Friday: 3 miles, 8:50 pace
Saturday: 3.1 miles, 9:44 pace
Sunday: 2.7 mile, 9:07 pace

Total: 25.2

I'm writing this recap from the Evanston Public Library just north of Chicago. Alex and I are on a little mini trip. (By the way: someone is snoring loudly near me. I'm on the quiet study floor.)

Antrim Lake on a hot morning.

Last Monday feels like a billion years ago.

My legs felt like lead this week. Monday was one of my coldest runs of the month (about 35 degrees), but I didn't have to stop for traffic, so at least I kept my body temp up. On Tuesday I ran after work and found a few more items for #RunChatHunt. Wednesday's run was also after work, my strongest run of the week, and only required quick stops for traffic. Thursday was one of my slowest mile days for a while, mainly due to my super tired legs after Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Rounding out my weekday runs, I woke up late on Friday so I almost skipped a mile of my run, but after I finished 2 I figured I'd better do one more, even if it meant I'd be late for work (no one notices on Friday).

My long run was supposed to be 8 miles on Saturday. I met up with my friend Angie for 3-4 miles, figuring I'd do the rest after. Wowee, we were both unprepared for the heat and humidity! At 8:20am it was already 67 degrees and super sticky. We ran 3 miles while chatting and both felt terrible. I took a few photos of the lake and decided to go run errands before places closed... I thought I'd finish my miles later in the day, but somehow it never happened. Whoops.

My poor shoe! (It was worth it)

On Sunday, Alex and I made the drive from Columbus to Chicago. I asked Oiselle ladies for some cool paths and we found one near our hotel called North Branch Trail. Because it'd been raining on and off it was an exciting off-road experience. We were dodging puddles and I was trying hard to stay upright. Alex said one of the nicest things ever: "You're a badass now! I don't have to slow down!" (He's a really nice guy so if that sounds douchey, I promise it wasn't.) It was really nice to run on a trail at a quick pace. My trails runs are historically in the 11-12 min range. Admittedly, there were less hills, but there were a few baby ones and a few tough water crossings. Oh, and my shoe got sucked off my foot and my socks were ruined (luckily they were crappy). It was pretty awesome and I was surprised we found such a great nature trail just outside of the city. We probably would have kept running but we were very messy and the rain started to pick up. The front desk people at the hotel looked at us like we were crazy when we returned. Always a good feeling. ;)

Even though I didn't finished my long run, I was only .8 mile short on my weekly distance. I've never had a plan with a 6 miler in the middle of the week, so that will take some getting used to. Remember, I'm used to running 3 times a week so this new plan is kicking my butt. BUT I am seeing the results. If I can remember what the good runs feel like, I'm hoping to power through the tough ones. (Easier said than done!)

Goodness, the sun sets so early here. Time to get back out and explore Evanston.

Are you enjoying the warmer than normal weather or looking forward to a cool down? 
Stupid question: do those of you from the South get any snow... ?