Week 3 Update (2024 Chicago Marathon Training)

Balancing Travel, Training, and New Friendships

Jul 09, 2024

Dear Duniyawaalo (People of the World),

In my previous post, I shared my progress through Week 2 of my Chicago Marathon training. In this post, let’s dive into Week 3, which is filled with travel, meeting a fellow runner in person, and a continued commitment to my training goals.

Traveling to Cincinnati

I traveled to Cincinnati with my younger son to visit my college buddy over the July 4th long weekend. It was a blast, filled with great food and drinks. The drive back to Chicago left me a bit tired, so I needed a day to recover before hitting the pavement again. As a result, I had to push my 10-mile-long run to Monday.

4-mile walk at Voice of America (Photo by Author)

Meeting Deval Motka in person

In Cincinnati, I finally met Deval Motka in person. We connected through Facebook over our shared passion for running. We had a fantastic four-mile interval running session at the Mason High School running track. Getting to know her and learning about her fantastic running group and how she is giving back to the community was an absolute pleasure.

Running with Deval Motka at Mason High School running track (Photo by Author)

Running Highlights

I fell in love with the Mason High School running track and returned once more for a solo 3-mile interval run. Though I planned for 4 miles, the heat forced me to cut it short. I also enjoyed an early morning 4-mile walk on the Voice of America trail in Mason, Ohio, which was a refreshing experience.

Long run stats and running on track at Mason High School (Photo by Author)

Strength Training and Nutrition

Despite the busy week, I completed my two days of strength training. However, maintaining my nutrition plan was more challenging. Given the long weekend festivities, I stuck to healthy and nutritious food about 65% of the time.