Move It Monday #MarathonTraining

Happy Monday Morning!  I hope you had a great weekend!  

As you know, I've been training for the Maine Coast Marathon on May 10th.  My training has been going well and last weekend, I ran my first 20 miler of this cycle with my marathon training pal - Carrie.   Of course we look awesome in our Spandits!  See those snow flakes?  Ugh.  Please stop snow.  I'm done with you.  

Ignore the backward 20.... apparently, I have a hard time functioning after a 20 mile run!  In my defense, it was cold and for the last 10 miles, snow pellets were hitting me in the eyes.  I am pretty sure Carrie got tired of listening to me whine about the snow in the eyes.  Thank goodness she's a great friend!  

The next morning it was even colder.... hello!  Where is spring!?  I would like for it to come to Maine and melt all of this snow!  I'm not asking for much.  Really.  I'm not!   So, I hit the treadmill for my recovery run.  My legs felt fantastic, so I pushed myself a little.  

Monday was a little treat - rest day.  I have grown to appreciate rest days because I know my body needs them.    

Tuesday I had a second round of allergy testing.  I had asked my doctor to refer me to another allergist because I wanted a 2nd opinion regarding a recent allergy diagnosis.  This meant I got to spend 3.5 hours hanging out with a new allergist, getting my back pricked by all kinds of awesome allergens and do tons of great asthma breathing tests.  So much  fun.  Not really.  But so worth it!  Update coming this week!   

Part of my appointment was new medication and a quote from my doctor "you came in here and said you were breathing just find, when in actuality you were breathing at 50% efficiently.  With these new meds, you should be breathing better and will be a better runner.  So, try these medications and go for a run to see how it feels."  Doctors order!  Go for a run.  So I did!  6 miles.  And he was right!  I could breath so much better.  Such a difference new medications make.  

And then Wednesday, I was able to squeeze in another 6 miles!  

Later Wednesday night.....this happened.....

I couldn't believe my eyes!  I thought for sure it was wrong.  How in the world am I RUNNING THE BOSTON MARATHON?  But I am!  I won the invitational entry through a contest I came across on instagram.   To enter, I had to post a photo of myself in running clothes holding a sign that said "Boston Strong" by last Friday at 5pm.  Easy enough.  So, I put on my favorite Spandits shorts with my favorite MDI Marathon shirt that also said "Boston Strong" on the sleeve.  And had Tucker do a little photo shoot.  Finally we got one I wanted to post....  

From those entrants, 10 were chosen.  And from out that 10, there were two winners announced Wednesday night. And I was one of them!  

And it's all coming together because yesterday - my paperwork came to complete my registration!  

This meant a little flip in my training schedule. 

The old plan:

March 28 - 16 miles

April 4 - 20 miles 

April 11 - 16 miles 

April 18 - 20 miles 

and then taper....  

So now, my plan is: 

March 28 - 20 miles 

April 4 - 16 miles 

April 11 - 8 miles 

April 20 - BOSTON MARATHON!  

Let's go back to my week in running!  Saturday I woke up ready for 20 miles.  I had my route planned out but then saw the real feel was 15 degree with some strong winds....and then snow.  I had no desire to run outside in the cold and snow again.  So off to the treadmill I went....and happy to tackle a new record distance on the treadmill.   

Ward cautioned me to have a quality 20 miler and not push it too much.  So, I listened.  Sometimes I do.  Sometimes I don't.  But this time I actually listened to him.  

Sunday, I was supposed to run 5 recovery miles.  I was scheduled to work at the gym (and it was cold again)...so I just went a little early and ran my recovery miles on the treadmill.  While I was running, I realized that 5 miles was going to put me at 199 miles for the month.  I seriously have a problem and couldn't stop there and had to have it end at an even 200 miles...so 6 easy miles it was.  

And my legs are tired but feeling great!  There are 2 more days left in March, so I know I can add a few more miles to the 200!  We will see, but no worries.  I'll be smart about them.  

How is your training going?   This time around I'm feeling way better than I've ever felt training for a marathon.  I'm doing things so much smarter this time around and wearing ProCompression all of the time.