Big Sur Marathon (9 weeks out)

(A.K.A. Cramps and Lethargy and the Marathon Countdown...Oh My!)

Well, it's been interesting.

This last week has been a good mixture of actually training well and having cramps to the point where laying on the couch all day became completely acceptable. I hope that's not TMI for some (sorry not sorry), but every once in a while it completely messes with my well cultivated and carefully thought out training plans. All I want to do is knock myself out with a Benadryl and sleep it off. Of course this has happened before and it'll happen again, but each time I get SO frustrated at myself for not being able to pull through on my training plans, so right now I'm trying to give it a few days and just wait it out.

This week has been a seesaw of positives and negatives where training has been involved, and I want to be real here and not make anything out to be like it's been perfectly smooth sailing this entire time.

Training for me usually means sticking pretty well to a plan, but sometimes things happen that derail those plans, and after an initial freak out about not being prepared, I take a deep breathe, shake myself out of it and get back on track as quickly as I can. Things happen, right? They come up and have to be dealt with, whatever they are, and we deal with them the best we can. It's really all we can do.

But because this has been a different week, this week's breakdown will be different too. 😄

THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN TRAINING THIS WEEK:

POSITIVE:

1. I got to go visit my boyfriend and train with him for our upcoming marathon, yay! 😎😍
2. I incorporated weights into my training, including squats and jumps
3. I did speedwork for the 3rd week in a row! (I'm on fire here!!)
4. I got to run with my boyfriend this weekend (when we're treadmill racing I still get beat by his fast mileage haha!)
5. I got to run in some perfect 50 degree weather Thursday
6. The Woodlands Half Marathon this weekend will get to be my long run, so that's cool! 
7. So far my new shoes seem to be doing the trick! No pain at all. 

NEGATIVE:

1. Cramps suck. I had to take a few days (including today) off just to feel normal again. 
2. I had allergies SO bad last week, probably because our trees and plants are already blooming and acting like it's Spring. It killed my running for a few days earlier last week because I just couldn't breathe at all. 
3. I'm wondering about being fully prepared for the Woodlands Half next weekend because my long run (10 miles) didn't happen this week/weekend.