Arm Challenge, Allergies and Awesome News!

Well, these dadgum allergies finally got the best of me, that and the million races in a short period of time.  Same thing happened to me last year but I have no intentions on ever wising up.  What can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment.  But at least it's all so fun.  With that all being said, all the training and races had me feeling pretty run down early last week.  Although I am glad I raced Orange Blossom Half Marathon, despite being sick, I still pulled off a PR and a 2nd place in my division.  But the after effect had me feeling under the weather for a few days.  I even had to take Monday off!  I didn't feel terrible, just certainly NOT 100%.  Not to mention, I had full blown laryngitis, which is not conducive to teaching spinning!  Luckily, as the week went on, I got to feeling much better (thanks in part to my extra rest as well as some good allergy meds) and I was even presented with a super cool opportunity that I just HAD to jump on.  So without further ado, here is my week in training recap...

Monday was a much needed, albeit difficult, rest day.  I HATE unscheduled taking extra rest days.  I know how much I need them, in fact I totally just blogged about this the week prior!  But I end up sitting there feeling myself get so out of shape when I miss a day or two.  I even had to talk myself out of working out several times that day.  I packed gym clothes and kept figuring out when I could squeeze "just a quick lift" in.  But it was definitely a good thing I, as well as my husband who definitely think I should slow down at times, talked me out of working out.

By Tuesday, I was feeling much better, but decided I should still take it easy.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous so I figured taking a Garmin-less trail run would be a great way to get moving without killing myself.  About a mile and a half into my run, I ran into two of my MRTT ladies and we ran for almost 3 miles together.  They were doing 3:1 intervals, which was perfect since I was still getting over my icky cough and difficulty breathing.  The best part though was having the great company.  I don't get to run with people very often so this was certainly nice being able to socialize while working out!  After they headed back to their cars, I went another mile and a half for a total of 6 miles.  It was one of those runs that just felt right and fun and reminded me why I love running!

Wednesday is my typical lift day and I was ready to get back after it.  My voice was coming back, I was finally able to breath through my nose again and the coughing had somewhat subside.  So I went hard at our gym with hang cleans, hurdle hops, bench press, lat pulls and even finished up with my first sled work in I don't even know how long.  Man oh man did it feel good to work out like that, I felt like forever!

Also on Wednesday, I got a call from Jim at MarathonPacing.com asking me if I were available to pace the Swamp House Half Marathon that Sunday.  He explained several pacers had to drop out last minute due to illness and would like for me to pace either the 1:55, 2:00 or 2:05 group.  I had just talked myself out of signing up for this race and/or the 10k the following weekend, but I did NOT hesitate to say yes to pacing Swamp House when he asked me.  In fact, I about jumped right out of my skin, I was so excited!  I had been wanting to pace FOREVER so this was a total dream come true.

Oh, and also on Wednesday, my new Mizuno Wave Catalyst came in the mail.  The are absolutely beautiful and felt so light, I wanted to take them out for a run right away!

Thursday, my only goal workout goal for the day was to get in a mid distance run at the significantly slower pace I would need to be a pacer on Sunday.  I know this may sound a little silly, but it was actually difficult at first to keep up with the almost 2 whole minute slower place, but I did manage to squeeze out 8 miles with an average pace of around 9:11.  I was pretty pleased with that, knowing I shouldn't have a problem holding a 9-9:30 pace on the hilly Swamp House course.  Since I have to do my runs during my lunch break, it was rather warm out there.  I should have worn some sunscreen because I ended up a little burnt!  On a positive note, my Mizuno shoes felt AMAZING!  I will be blogging about those puppies here soon.

For Friday, I decided to do a light upper body lift and get some foam rolling in.  I was still a little sluggish from my allergy issues and sore from my hard workout on Wednesday.  Hunter didn't want to workout that morning but said he would workout with me if we did our "1000 Rep Arm Challenge."  I have to admit, I was a little nervous.  Anyone who has down our challenge complained of extreme soreness for DAYS!  I didn't want to be a weenie though and agreed.  The first couple of rounds weren't terrible, but by half way through the 3rd (of 5 rounds) I was kinda regretting doing it, lol.  We both pushed through though and when we were done, we actually didn't feel too bad.  However, when we got home and I went to try to take my post workout selfie, I could barely move my arms!

A little foam rolling before coaching MetCon

And now I can barely feel my arms after the 1000 Rep Arm Challenge

 Saturday turned into a rest day.  Originally I had planned on running 10 with a friend of mine who I will be pacing through her first half in April.  I decided to sit this one out to prepare for the half on Sunday.  Then I considered swimming, but thanks to the 1000 Rep Arm Challenge, I really couldn't move my arms, so that would make my stroke rather interesting to say the least.  So they boys and I took advantage of the morning off and ran some errands to Target, Fleet Feet and Whole Foods.  Packet pick for the next day was at Swamp House Bar and Grill so we headed out there to meet the other paces and to get a late lunch.  After that, we spent the afternoon at Blue Springs State Park, hiking, playing on the playground and searching for alligators and manatees.

Hunter and the boys enjoying the gorgeous weather and scenery at the Swamp House Bar and Grill

Saturday night was an early bedtime so I could be up at 4am the next morning and off to pace my first official race...