Five Things Friday

I thought I would do a "Five Things Friday" in an attempt to catch you up on my June and lack of blog posts.


1. Chicago Marathon training started this month! I am nearing the end of week 3 and so far things are going well. I'm trying to stick to my training schedule because for past marathons, I've either...1) followed the programs to a "T"; 2) "mostly" followed the program; 3) not really followed much of a program.  I have to say, the times I've followed the training schedule mostly to a "T" have been the best marathons for me. That's not to say that an occasional weekly run might be missed due to other obligations, injury, or whatever...but I try to follow it as best I can while still being able to live my life.


2. I have the Intent Tinley Park Duathlon this coming Sunday in Tinley Park (about a mile from my house in Tinley).  This will be the 3rd time I've done this duathlon, and even though it's under new management, the course still looks mostly the same as previous years.  I almost didn't sign up for it this year but I know it's always a good stepping-stone for my triathlon, which is in July.  It mentally prepares me for the transitions and for the bike-run "brick" legs.  I still haven't fully decided whether to wear my clip-in shoes or just gym shoes on the bike. Since my "accident" with my clip-ins, I'm very scared and cautious when using them around other cyclists.  I can control what I do but can't control what they do. I have been practicing with them so we will see. (2013 Race Recap and 2014 Race Recap)


3. I started physical therapy on my shoulder.  I made an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon to possibly start the process of having surgery. He adamantly recommended me try physical therapy first. I went this past Monday and got some exercises from the physical therapist, who by the way is super nice! I asked him if he thought the exercises could help someone "like me", meaning someone that has dislocated their shoulder between 12-15 times in the past 3 years. He told me that if I'm diligent in doing the exercises, they definitely could help. So I'm doing my exercises. Every day. Even twice a day most days. Fingers crossed.


4. I have a triathlon in mid-July. And I haven't practiced swimming once yet. For a  couple of reasons. 1) I had that surgery at the end of April and the incision was/is taking a long time to fully heal. I was advised not to swim until it's healed. Since it's still occasionally bothering me, I kept waiting to jump in the pool. 2) Since I'm using the surgery as a great excuse not to swim, I haven't been telling everyone that I'm a bit nervous to start swimming again with my shoulder. I know I can swim so it's just a matter of getting some swim cardio in. I'm planning on starting next week, hopefully.


5.  I've gone to the new FNRC Tuesday morning speedwork before work 3 out of the last 4 weeks!  This is pretty huge for me because I DO NOT like getting up early and working out before work. But I have a lot of fun during these morning runs and it gets me doing something I probably wouldn't be doing on my own. The first week we did a ladder on the track, the second week we did a 25 min tempo run, and this week we changed it up and did some bleachers and core work along with running 400 meters in between on the track. I missed the 3rd week when they did hill repeats because I desperately needed the extra sleep.  But I'm looking forward to more Tuesday morning runs with the group!


P.S. Sorry for the lack of pictures. Technical difficulties!