Boston Marathon Training & Amazon Sponsorship

It's been a while since I have updated my blog. The last time I posted I had just made a full recovery from Covid and was starting to train again. 

The big news is that Amazon reached out to me about a month ago, offering to sponsor me in the Boston Marathon! They found me on Instagram and said they were running a campaign with the Boston Marathon around the 50th anniversary of women running the race.

Amazon is an official sponsor of the Boston Marathon and as part of their sponsorship, they are promoting female runners for this 50th anniversary. What does it mean to be sponsored by Amazon? They have covered my travel expenses and my registration fee, they have given me loads of free gear (of my choosing) along with some extra cash and perks. In return, I share my training on social media and the gear that I am using from Amazon. 

Here is a link to Amazon's Boston Marathon page, which features the women they are sponsoring.

Here is a link to my personal storefront with all my favorite gear.

I have been enjoying working with the PR agency that represents the Boston Marathon & Amazon on this campaign. It's actually somewhat surreal because I tried for 8+ years to qualify for the Boston Marathon and now this amazing opportunity has come up!

Training Update
Training is going really well, especially considering I had to take over three weeks off in January. I've been able to do all my workouts and hit all my paces without feeling burnt out and without any niggles or injuries appearing. 

For long runs, I have switched from the Nike Odyssey React to the ASICS Gel Nimbus Lite, and that has made a huge difference with my Achilles tendinopathy. The Nike is a bouncy shoe with a 10mm drop. The ASICS has a 13mm shoe and doesn't compress as much. They don't even make the Nike Odyssey React anymore, but I had stock piled a few pairs. The good news is that the long runs aren't painful for my Achilles like they used to be. The problem still exists, but it's milder than it was before. 

My long run progression has been as follows:

February 11: 10 miles easy (8:51 average)
February 19: 14.1 miles easy (8:31 average)
February 26: 17.5 miles easy (8:19 average)
March 5: 18 miles with 8 at marathon pace, MP miles averaged 7:20
March 11: 20.2 miles easy (8:41 average)

I am happy with my endurance and stamina. I have been logging 55+ miles a week for the past four weeks, and I'm on track to run 70 this week. My speed isn't what it once was, as evidenced by a set of 9 x 800m. Those averaged around 3:17, which is slower than my usual 800m time, but it was windy that day so I can't complain. 

I continue to have weekly strength training sessions with my coach and those are one hour long. I do a shorter version of the exercises she gives me on one other day of the week. I want to prepare my quads for all the downhill of Boston. 

I got my bib number and I will be in the same corral that I was in back in 2018. Wave 2, corral 5. Even though my qualifying time is 3 full minutes faster, the race has gotten more competitive so I haven't moved up. 

I am not planning on running any races between now and Boston. I am registered for the Shamrock half, but when I got Covid, I decided that I didn't want to sacrifice training for the taper/recovery needed to run an all-out half marathon. I had also been registered for a 5K on the Friday 10 days out from Boston, but they canceled that race due to construction on the course. 

So everything is coming together nicely and I am thankful for every day I am healthy and able to run. I am cautiously optimistic about this race, knowing that anything can happen between now and then! Exactly two years ago they canceled the race, so now I'm not ruling anything out. I'm taking things one day at a time and I'm so thankful to be training for such an amazing marathon.