Five Weeks until Boston! Ohhhhhhh yikes!

Another Maine week has come and gone, and while we are that much closer to Spring the whole weekend was full of raw wind and wet snow. Yuck! GROSS.

I did my long run on Saturday in the midst of an on and off blizzard. It was just above freezing so while it was most unpleasant out it was not cold enough for the roads to get icy. There were a few fleeting moments around mile 16 when I thought that getting run off the road might be preferable to continuing but since that did not happen, I soldiered on, suffering in many obvious ways.

I am still in the midst of suffering the ill effects from my post vacation upper respiratory crapola. Running in the cold air seems to trigger some lengthy and intense bouts of coughing. To the extent where I genuinely feel that I may have coughed some of my internal organs out of place! (while I expect this is an exaggeration it's only a slight one, I certainly seem to be keeping my abdominal muscles strong with the remnants of this pesky bug. I need a breathing treatment.)

My brain is getting really excited that Boston is only five weeks out!
My legs and body (and the weather) however seem to be on a slightly different page at this point. GAH! Could it please be warmer than 12 degrees for more than 24 hours? Maybe no more snow? I really feel like we might run Boston in some kinda blizzaster.

It might be this or 95 degrees. And I'm used to blizzards, bacon and shame so BRING IT...

 I am trying (and only failing slightly) not to fall into the trap of comparing this years training to last years. Last year I was absolutely on track for a PR and made a lot of sacrifices to get in every ounce of training that I possibly could. I chose to make training a top priority, over almost everything else and while I am glad that I did (even though I did not meet my goal) I am not willing to prioritize my running over my business at this point in time.
Clearly, I need to focus on what I am good at now (walking, bathroom breaks, snacking, complaining and running 10 minute miles and drinking beer) VS what I was good at last year (running fast, ninja skills, being a rock star and... bathroom breaks. And beer. That goes without saying.)

Thank the sweet lord baby Geezes for beer.

So where does all of this leave me?
The great news is that my legs and body feel good (with the notable exception of the cough of doom) Currently no aches or pains, and while I do notice the lack of Yoga practice I simply can not get there right now. I am making the best of it and trying to do some quality stretching a few times a week.

Mileage wise I feel that I am meeting my goals. We all know that I'm not a super high mileage runner and, with the exception of my sick week in February, I have been happy with my mileage totals!

My speed goals though? Not even close. As in, so far off that I get a little riled up occasionally! Where did my speed go?
My logical thought is that first and foremost I'm transitioning directly from the treadmill to the road and into my peak training weeks. I am hoping that the gains I'm (trying) to make will become apparent soon..... PLEASE RUNNING GODS.
This is the first year in EVER that I have not tested my race legs mid winter in a half marathon situation to see if I'm on point- so I feel a little lost. And a little slow. Like a turtle kind of nonsense. No clue what to expect in 5 weeks.

My plan at this point is simply to stick to my training schedule and hope that my legs and lungs get on board. I have a few more long runs planned to work on the endurance before time runs out, and if the weather continues to be slightly less sucky road work should begin to feel more normal!

And I will WIN the marathon, just like I normally do!!

So hey you guys? Send me some good training vibes. Maybe some good weather vibes too? I'm ready to get my ninja rockstar mojo back and am happy to enlist the power of positive thoughts.