Will Run For Ice Cream

So after my last 20 miler last Friday, Lil Man sneezed in my face. By the afternoon he was running a fever. By that evening my throat was sore. Sore throat, head congestion, chest congestion, vomit, poop, going on 8 days later, we are still sick. :( I'm telling myself that missing this week's training is no big deal. It's ok. But after running 3 miles today, and feeling how weak I am, and knowing I'm not 100% well, I'm getting a little nervous. The marathon is fast approaching.

So I'm sore... not just a little tender but flinching when I sit or try to walk up stairs sore... sore to the point that today's 5 miler didn't happen and tomorrow's isn't looking real hopeful that it will be pretty... sore to the point that this weekend's 20 miler isn't a go either... That's right, my training plan has been revamped. I'm beat up. I'm worn out. And it's time to regroup and reexamine. This week is now a fall back week. Next week will be my last extremely long run (20 miler), then another fall back week, followed by a 16 miler and then we are pretty much done folks... that's right... it will be the taper until the big day on November 18. Wow, I can't believe the race is really this close.

I did it! I completed my first 20 miler! I set the alarm for 3:45am, but was up by 3:30am. I have an achy lower leg issue, and am generally sore. I wasn't so sure how this was going to go. But I was meeting a friend for the first 12. I knew I could stop at 12 if I needed to, but I really wanted to push through and get my first 20 today. The first twelve had several rolling hills. I might add this is my first long run that contained hills. The first 4 miles, I was really feeling my tender spots. I considered stopping at 12 if the discomfort continued or got any worse. But then after 4 miles, either I ignored it, or the discomfort for the most part went away. We made our turn around at 6ish miles and headed back toward the car. Overall, I was feeling pretty good. I could tell that we did some hill work, but I wasn't beat. My friend only needed 12 today, and ran with me in the dark (because I'm really scared to run alone in the dark alone). So he went his way, and I started o

Since my 16 miler last Saturday, I did an 8 miler on Sunday. Monday was supposed to be 5 miles, but since I didn't have a rest day, I bumped it down to 2. I did Boot Camp class Monday night and she killed my arms and core! Tuesday, was a rainy, sleep in kind of day so I decided to do my speed work instead of my 8 miler. It was only 3 (1 mile repeats) at 8:15 pace. I thought, piece of cake right? I made it through the first one ok. By the time I got half way through the second one I was glad I only had three. By the time I was in the third one, I was struggling, but made it through. Today, I'm sore. And I'm mentally tired. My options were face the .5 mile loop 16 times or get on the treadmill. I chose the treadmill at 5:20am. But as I started running, I was sore. I was tired, and I just didn't want to do it. I decided I'd walk for an hour and half. About 4ish miles in of run/walking, I realized that if I started running I'd be at my 8 miles at about an hour and h