So. I ran yesterday for the first time since the Mississauga Marathon. Usually I take a week off of running, then ease my way back into it. But 3 days after the race, I came down with a bad cold that refuses to entirely go away. The worst of it lasted for a week, and now it’s tapering off, but way too slowly. I’m tired of coughing, blowing my nose, and sounding totally stuffed up.

No matter where we live, what we do, how fast we are, what our dreams are, what we are running from, or where our miles lead - we are a running family. We mark miles, we ache, we try, we fail, we triumph and we endure. – Kristin Armstrong Finally, after 4 months, and not nearly enough training, race day was here. I’d stayed up a bit too late the night before running around and getting everything ready.

Yesterday I had one of the WORST long runs in a long time. One of those really tough, lonely demoralizing runs, which make you wonder what the heck you’re doing, and why. Most of it is my own fault. I haven’t done the requisite training for my marathon. Not even close. So the base, or foundation wasn’t there. So what made me think that I could run a 32km long run?

Well, so much for my grand plans. I wasn’t able to get my minimum 5km run in yesterday. I intended to do it after coming home from work, before I had to go out again, but ended up leaving too late. SIGH. Story of my life. Other bad habits are also creeping in; I stayed up way too late on Tuesday night trying to catch up with the Walking Dead, and became a walking dead person.

With just over one month until the Mississauga Marathon, I decided that it’s time to get a bit more serious with my training. I may never get totally ready in time, but at least I won’t die after 10km. I’ve also thought about ditching the schedule I’m currently doing, for the most part, and just trying to run at least 5km every day. Of course, I’ll have to put some speed work in there, as well as a long-ish run (over 20km) on either Saturday or Sunday, but more importantly, I want to see if I can force myself to go out and do a minimum of 30 minutes of running each day, and see how long I can keep the streak alive.

This week I started running again, the first runs since the ENDURrun almost 3 weeks ago. Why did I wait so long? Well, the delay has been mainly due to injury. I had problems with my left IT band and right Achilles heel the whole time, and knowing my body like I do, rest and recovery is what is needed. I was itching to start running again after a week, but I knew that both injuries were not healed yet, and even when they do feel like new, it’s best for me to take another week.

It hurts up to a point and then it doesn’t get any worse. – Ann Trason Today’s stage is the shortest of all, a mere 10km down a nice flat net downhill route. Sounds easy, compared to all the other stages we’ve run this week. But it does come after arguably the hardest stage, and the idea is to run fast and catch up to the person in front of you.

(This blog entry has both stage 4 and 5 in them. I was lazy in my day off, and didn’t manage to get the entry finished. Sorry!) The one thing that I really appreciate about being a runner is the incredible friendships and camaraderie that we, as runners, share. Although it will always be a cutthroat competition for every spot on every team, our companionship transcends these competitive rivalries. – Jen Rhines

You have a choice. You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off of your face. – Gatorade Ad Today’s stage is the first real test of endurance, both physical and mental. With the problems I’ve had with my IT band and knee, it will be the make or break stage; decide whether I continue with my quest to finish my fourth ENDURrun, or whether I succumb to the injury and watch from the sidelines.

Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction” – William James Today’s stage is slightly different than the other stages, in that it is a time trial. What does that mean? All the runners are ranked in reverse order based on their finishing times from Stage 1.