Planes, Trains, and Running Shoes

Happy Monday everyone! For some reason, today just does not feel like a Monday for me, I'm not really sure why!

Anyway, it's Marathon Monday! This week is marks week 1 of my Training Cycle! I've been Base Training now for 5 weeks and I'm definitely ready to start increasing my weekly mileage. Being on a Training Cycle means 20+ miles per week, hill repeats, speed work and longer, tougher cross-training session. This is also when injury prevention becomes absolutely essential so I'll be taking my Rest Days to the extreme by icing and using my compression socks! I'll be incorporating some strength training into my non-running day workouts and from here on out, my motto will be, "You can throw in the towel, or use it to wipe the sweat off your face." It's not going to be easy and it's not going to be fun but it's definitely going to push me to the extreme and turn me into the best athlete I can be and I could not be more excited about it.

Last week's training was pretty rough. It was definitely one of those horrible running week, but you know what? I still managed to get my 17.5 miles in for the week and that's what makes me feel great about looking back on the week. It was my first time running in the new 'hood and it was an adjustment, I'm also trying to determine if I need new shoes or if something else is going on with my legs and feet. After a great Saturday 3-miler, I went out on the town with three of my best friends from college. The three of us haven't been together in over a year and we stayed out until 5am. Without curtains on my new windows, I was up at 8am with the sun. That meant I was exhausted, drained and slightly hung over. It was also pouring, so did I run yesterday, no? But did I run today? You better believe it. 6 and half miles. And you know what? I'm still counting it towards last week because I still managed to get all of that mileage in in a period of 7 days. Tomorrow, I'll be back at my typical Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday/Sunday running days schedule and this week is going to look a little something like this:

Monday: Rest Day (Actual: 6.5 miles toward last week's run)
Tuesday: 5 miles
Wednesday: Cross-Training
Thursday: 4 miles
Friday: Cross-Training
Saturday: 3 miles
Sunday: 8 miles
Total Planned Miles: 20
*I'm not counting my 6.5 in the planned miles for this week because they go toward last week.

Next week's Marathon Monday, I'll be offering some reviews of my running gear and may, possibly throw in a giveaway somewhere.

Have a great week everyone!