But I know what I always end up doing, I try to do every run to test how much goes away once I warm up.
Monday: Recovery run, 6 miles. I ran this real easy and slowed down any time I felt any tightness or ache. No reason for time concerns today.
Also my kiddo has been sick since Sunday, so I've been getting mentally prepared for catching what she has... and I did.
Tuesday: Hanson plan called for a strength run of 4 x 1.5 miles at marathon pace minute 10 seconds. Now I've been aiming to do that at 6:53, as that is based off a BQ time. In reality, I'll be running at 7:12 or so, so I would only need to be doing like 7:02ish if I was being realistic.
I woke up a fair amount over night every time my kid started coughing. As a parent, you are very alert to the sounds of your child. I would wake up and wait to see if she was just coughing and going back to sleep, or if I was needed to comfort her. Also, the cat was being very annoying scratching on paneling the last couple hours of my sleep...
Finally 3:40am. I was real tired and as soon as I came to my senses, I realized I was sick. I knew that nobody would think less of me if I slept and rested. I remembered though what the Hanson Book says, try to at least get in a few miles if you can to keep your legs. And I figured, I'll just be feeling worse after today, so let's just try it. I imagine I'll miss 1-2 days or have to just do easy runs until I'm recovered.
Get outside at about 4:15am, a little brisk. I also am sporting my last pair of kicks for the training season and they'll take me into the Chicago Marathon:
As I warmed up, I tried to get a feel for what the hurdles would be. Wind out of the SE, that's going to suck. My wind felt off, no surprise considering the cold. Energy felt like it was draining faster than normal, not that much of a big deal. Okay, lets try the run. Rather than force the issue for pace, I put in the effort that was safe for today. My pace for the 1.5 mile intervals ranged between 6:45 - 7:15. I was okay with it, just glad I didn't quit. My stomach started going sour around mile 3. Stopped at Belmont to help take the pressure off.
The return run felt easier with the wind out of my face, but my energy started dipping off and on and my stomach just wasn't happy. I managed to get one last good half mile in at full speed, then settle again.
Overall, I am glad I got through it. I'll probably need to make some adjustments over the next 3 days to either rest/shorter miles/or just easy miles, until I feel like I'm on the upswing. Otherwise, I'll end up in the...
And just because:
