Last week, I ran woke up on Monday not REALLY feeling like running but I got out and tried.  On Tuesday, I had a headache, my throat was hurting and I felt tired and out of it, BUT I got on the treadmill and ran anyway.  When Wednesday morning rolled around, I had no energy, my throat was REALLY hurting, I had a runny nose, headache and my body was tired and hurting.  I didn’t run on Wednesday.

I didn’t run on Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday.  It was pretty stressful.  Saturday was supposed to be my final long run before the marathon.  Oh, boy!

I went through a myriad of scenarios during the week.  At first, I thought may be I could just rest a couple of days and do a short slow run on Friday and then just gut it out and run 22 miles on Saturday.  I just had this gnawing feeling that I shouldn’t run.  Then I’d have this awful feeling that I should at least TRY to run.  I went back and forth like that for most of the week.  As the days ticked by, it was obvious that I wasn’t going to run so I think I just gave up the idea – which actually felt good.  That good feeling was eventually replaced by the worry that I would be out of shape after a week of not running.  Would I be able to just pick up where I left off?  I’ve struggled during my training if I took two days off between runs.  I need consistency.  Sitting on my butt for 6 days without running is not consistency.

I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.   I was doing so well, too.  I hadn’t been sick, had a headache or had anything that got in the way of my training for 16 weeks!

On another note, my running shoes have been on their last ‘leg’ for a couple of weeks.  The shoes I got 3 months ago have 400 miles on them!  That is crazy!  On Sunday, I went to Luke’s Locker and tried on some shoes.  I always TRY to find a different shoe than I already have but it never works out.  If I weren’t so close to my marathon, I would have tried some Asics this time.  They felt very similar to my current Brooks Adrenalines and they were PURPLE!  I’m not that hot on purple, but this blue/grey that I’ve been wearing for two years is so boring!!!  I got the Adrenalines again.  (snooze)

I wore them this morning for my easy 5 mile run and they felt pretty good.  I was starting to have some arch pain in the old shoes.  The guy at Luke’s Locker explained how the compression of the sole caused the arch part of the shoe to be too elevated and thus ‘poke’ my arches too much.  (Okay, I’m not explaining it well, but it makes sense.)  My new shoes feel a little too new right now, but by Feb 5, I’ll have over 100 miles on them and they should be perfect. 

So, I ran 5 miles today.  At least I THINK I ran 5 miles today.  I ran for an hour and 4 minutes.  ALL of the regular treadmills were full at the gym today.  It IS January…  😉  The only treadmill that was open was one of the big fancy ones with WAY too many buttons and options.  I couldn’t figure out how to fix it so I could see the speed and miles that I’d run.  Every time I tried to fiddle with it, it started over…  That is annoying.  So anyway.  I just put it on a speed that felt like 12 minute miles. 

I FELT PRETTY GOOD!  I was so worried that I would somehow forget how to run or I would be overly tired or something.  That didn’t happen.  I got a little tired/bored after about 45 minutes, but that’s what happens when I’m on the treadmill.  Nothing hurt, I wasn’t out of breath.  I felt pretty happy.  I guess I was worried for nothing last week.  Everyone said I needed rest.  I knew I needed rest.  Everyone said that I’d be fine this week.  I didn’t believe it.  I guess I was wrong!

This week, I am going to run last week’s miles.  I’m basically pretending that last week didn’t happen and that I have one less week of tapering than originally planned.

So, here’s what I’ve got planned for this week:

• Monday:  5 easy miles (it’s raining so I ran on the treadmill – considered running outside anyway but since I was JUST SICK last week, decided that was a stupid idea)
• Tuesday:  8  miles at marathon pace
• Wednesday:  5 miles at tempo pace (or doing intervals – I’ll decide Wednesday)
• Thursday:  rest
• Friday:  5 easy miles
• Saturday:  22 miles
• Sunday:  rest

This week, I am going to work on not getting too stressed out about my long run, making sure I’m hydrated during the week and eating better. 

26 days til my first marathon