Move It Monday!

I definitely picked the best marathon this fall!  My week "off" fell on Thanksgiving Week - which is busy anyway and means all of the food!   

A week off you say?  Yep!  It's my reward to myself and my body for all of the hard work I put it through to rest and recover.  I have finally learned that if I don't give myself ample time to recover, I'll have a miserable return post-marathon and more than likely will end up injured.  

mmm...popcorn!  

This week I let go of my clean eating and just enjoyed the food.  I mean all food  It was rather nice to not worry and just enjoy!  

guac and chips!  yummy!

And no running?  Seriously?  It was a little dicey.  My sanity wained and I felt a little anxious...which is easily settled with running.  But I needed to listen to my body (and Ward) and not run until Sunday.  My arches were a bit achy earlier in the week...and I didn't want that ache to progress to Plantar Fasciitis...so I rested.  

Butternut squash burrito at Lisa's Legit Burritos, downtown Gardiner.  The best!

In addition to the food and no running - I made it a point to spend far more quality time with the kids.  

no ponytail?  makeup?  who am I?  

hugging this kid a lot more lately...more on that soon

They are my heart and soul and sometimes I feel like I don't do enough with them when I'm training for a race, especially a marathon - which is like having a 2nd job.  

I was still active in other ways.  We walked the dogs.  I practiced yoga. Did cart wheels with Izzy.  I cross trained with the elliptical.  I wasn't a complete couch potato.  But there was a lot of resting too.  

And you know what?  I survived!  REST is just as important to training as the active part too.  Well, for me anyway!  

But as I said, 1 week off from running meant my first run was Sunday.  Which was seriously at the top of my priority list on Sunday!  I enjoyed an easy 4 mile jog, no time, no looking at the GPS,  nothing.  Just me, the fresh air, my GORE jacket, Karhu shoes, ProCompression PC Racers, GORE windstopper gloves, and Royal Fowl Thermal Spandits....loving the feeling of running again.  

Now.... to think about what races I'll be doing in 2016.  I've already signed up for one - the MidWinter Classic 10 miler on February 6th.    That's all I have so far!  

talk about torture when I'm on the elliptical and ALL of these treadmills are empty and calling my name!  

Tell me - are you still racing until the end of 2015?  Do you have your 2016 race schedule filled already?