Training for the 2018 Chicago Marathon

Chances of getting drawn were slim to none I thought.  It was November 30th and the last day to enter the lottery for the 2018 Chicago Marathon.  "I'll never get drawn anyway" I remember thinking as I completed the on-line registration.

The very next day I got fired.  My very first thought as I stared at my boss as he delivered the message was "shit, now I'm not even going to live in Chicago.  I'm going to get drawn for sure now". 

Not that you need to live in the area of the event, but it does make it more convenient, much less expensive, and you don't have to burn vacation days to do it.

Fast forward, and here we are, day 1 of official training.  I like to do my training in reverse of most conventional training schedules and start with the long day.  This way instead of dreading
the impending doom of the long run I "eat the frog" and get it done first.  The whole rest of the week is a piece of cake.  Leading up to this week I started piling on miles to prepare for a 1/2 marathon in April and continued getting in one 13 miler per week since then.  Last month was a record month for me logging 148 miles, something I've never done before.

Here's this week's plan
Sunday - 13 miles Check. Done!
Monday - Shred class at Lifetime Fitness
Tuesday - 5 miles
Wednesday - 10 miles
Thursday - 5 miles
Friday - 5 miles
Saturday - 5 miles or cross train depending on how the legs feel

Entire schedule