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Chasing Unicorns LLC

Setting Goals and Entering the Realm of Possible

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I’m self-motivated but I’m especially inspired today to go chase down scary goals and to keep dreaming big. Chicago Marathoners, you crushed it! Lots of PRs, a World record smashed, more OTQs, and just a whole lot of smiling going on out there today. So much cowbell, so much joy, so much happiness for everyone running out there today. It was a treat to get to be on the sidelines for you today and while I didn’t run, I have a newfound respect for spectators because I’m pooped from spending 4 hours on my feet cheering and cowbelling with 0 miles run! Thank you to the ones who support us doing the thing we love! What a special weekend; my heart is so full ❤️ . . . #chicagomarathon #teamsugarruns #chicago #chicagorunners #marathon #morecowbell #abbottworldmarathonmajors #inspired #runnersofinstagram #oisellevolee #cowbellcorner

Future’s so bright for these #teamsugarruns athletes that we gotta wear shades 😎 . Had the best time meeting up with these lovely ladies this morning and getting to meet some of my athletes for the first time ever in-person! There is so much excitement in the air in Chicago right now and while the weather is breezy, it’s going to be 💯 tomorrow for the runners. It has been a joy to coach from afar and to get to witness the culmination of months of hard work tomorrow. Good luck to everyone racing @chimarathon tomorrow. Look for me with a big red cowbell at mile 17.5 with @oiselle! You have earned this, now go out and let the magic happen! . . . #team #shakeout #runnersofinstagram #chicagomarathon #mychicagomarathon #chicagorunners #runlove #run #marathon #chicago

Believe you can. Believe you belong on that starting line. Believe that your body can and will do incredible things. Hey there, future Chicago marathoner. You’ve probably been training for quite some time now, upwards of 4 months if I had to guess, and race day is almost here. You’re probably feeling nervous, maybe even a little anxious, but I hope more than anything you’re feeling excited. Excited because you’ve put so many hours into this over the summer. Excited because you have a body that allows you to do amazing things. Excited because you’ve arrived to the city with big hopes and dreams and you’re going to have the opportunity to make them come true. It’s ok to be nervous, I think nerves mean you care (the absence of nerves is ok, too), but in moments of doubt or panic think back to those runs where you felt like you could keep going forever. Think back to your family and how they supported you through all those early morning weekend long runs and allowed you to get your miles in uninterrupted. Think back to the runs that brought you to your knees because the marathon is going to be hard, but remember that you picked yourself up off the ground and showed up again and again in the days to come because you were so committed to reaching this day. I might not know you, and I might never know you, but I am so proud of you. Know that you are inspiring so many people in your life and that there are people on the sidelines who are going to be moved by you on Sunday. You’re probably going to change someone’s life for the better and you may never know it but how special is that? Run strong, run bravely, but most of all run with your heart. I am rooting for you always. ❤️Katherine

Team. It’s something bigger than yourself. My team is big and it includes my family and friends who support me, but I’m also lucky enough to have a team that gets this whole crazy running thing. I’ve been a part of Team Sugar Runs since January 2018 and while I initially was just anticipating getting personalized coaching out of it, it has evolved into so much more for me. I have become friends with many of the athletes on this team, some whom I’ve never actually met in person yet but we’ve been cheering on each other in training and in races from afar. Most recently this winter I was able to expand my own “team” as a coach and have added new athletes to the group as a whole. @sugarruns has created a loving, supportive team and I’m so grateful I get to be a part of it in multiple facets. This team is so special to me and it’s a joy to get to celebrate the successes with one another and lift each other’s spirits after the tough days. . This weekend I have the privilege of helping co-lead our team shakeout run before the Chicago Marathon. I think back to the shakeout run I got to do with my teammates also running Boston, and remembering how at ease it put me the day before the big race knowing that while we were all running our own race, we were all out there on the streets together. I remember getting the biggest hug from Coach J after crossing the line in Boston and getting to share the excitement with everyone. I can’t wait to give out so many hugs this weekend and scream my heart out. I love you, team, and I can’t wait to see you all so soon 💕 . 📸 @dualr . . #teamsugarruns #team #runnersofinstagram #chicagomarathon #bostonmarathon #shakeoutrun #runcoach #runlove

Today was a fight. I had cutdown mile repeats on the schedule which meant extra negative-splitting (4 400s in a row cutting down each pace by 10 seconds/mile). I ran a similar workout last week in which the goal was to negative split back to back 800s for more sneaky mile repeats. Last week’s rest period was a half mile run between each set (3 total), today I had 4 of these mile repeats and only 2 minutes of recovery running between each. Last week’s averaged slightly faster per mile than this week’s (intentional), but today’s workout just felt so much harder to change gears every 400 (again, intentional!). It’s funny to me how seemingly similar workouts can feel so vastly different, but I’m really starting to see that 5K summer speedwork paying off both physically and mentally in how I approach paces in the 6:30s. It doesn’t mean it’s easy; there were many, many times I wanted to hit the stop button on my watch today during the mile repeats and take a breather but at every temptation I would ask myself, “can you give me 10 hard steps right now?” And instinctively the arms would pump a little faster, the feet would turn over, and I’d hang in there to complete every set start to finish without hitting that darn stop button. It hurt, I dug deep, but it was oh so satisfying to hit that cool-down knowing that I was able to hang on and that I’m stronger than I sometimes let myself believe. I did my workout on rolling hills today. I’ve come to really love hills because I run the uphill off of effort (ie what a 6:30 pace should “feel” like) and then seemingly fake a “recovery” by letting momentum carry me on a downhill. There’s physics involved but there’s also a whole lot of mind games and today I won the game (even if it was just me vs me 😜). . A.M. - 9.05 miles @ 7:15 pace P.M. - 3.01 miles @ 8:53 pace . . . #speedwork #road2cim #marathontraining #marathon #twosday #runnersofinstagram #runnergirl #chicagorunner #run #runlove #milerepeats

I’m ok with the mundane. . The mundane is where I spend most of my training hours. It’s the 15 minutes I spend before every run doing dynamic stretches to warm my muscles up and get things loose before asking them to work on the roads. It’s the 80% of my miles that are run at a comfortable pace and aren’t flashy. It’s the number of bags of epsom salt I go through during a training cycle. It’s the early bed times and early alarms. It’s the couple hours a week I spend in the gym doing strength work. It’s the meals I whip up at home that contain the nutrients needed to fuel my body both on and off the run. It’s the planning of run routes on mapmyrun and of fueling strategies for long runs. It’s laying out clothes the night before a run. It’s the foam rolling in front of the tv at night. . The mundane are the things you don’t often see but the things that are making the biggest difference. The mundane means I’m healthy and I’m training hard and having sore muscles but not training to the point of over-exertion. The mundane is a good place to be in training because it means things are working and nothing is really out of the ordinary. I’m ok with not having a big story to tell right now and to keep quietly chipping away at things in the background. I’d rather save the extra-ordinary for race day, anyway. . . . #mundane #marathontraining #marathon #road2cim #quietlyworking #thisisfitness #runnersofinstagram #runnergirl

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