Week 8: Slippery slope, also a powdery one

Tues-Thurs: 0 miles
Friday: 5 miles
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: skiing!

Since training began in January, every week added more miles and longer long runs up until last weekend, the 16 miler. This past week provided a respite - the long run was scheduled to be merely 12 miles, and I looked forward to that break.

And, boy, did I need it. My knees felt weak and tired after the 16-mile run 8 days ago, and then life got in the way of running during the work. (My guniea pig got sick, I had to make a last-minute trip across the state for work, blah, blah, blah). I figured, if there's a week in the 5-month training schedule to let things slide, this is a good one to choose.

I tried to get back on track by running on Friday (a day off) and running a little extra on Saturday. I spent Saturday night at a ski condo with a fabulous group of friends (I hope you're all reading this) and was pretty easily talked into skiing instead of running on Sunday. "It'll be a great workout for your legs!" they claimed. True, but I'm not skiing the marathon, I'm running it. All the same, we had an excellent time in the freshly fallen foot+ of snow that came with this weekend's storm.

It actually never stopped snowing the entire weekend up there on the mountain. Hello, it's MARCH already! This morning's forecast called for an "Arctic blast of cold air." Awesome. My plan to start running outside in March may be pushed back to April...

This coming week I've got to be disciplined: Sunday calls for 18 miles, and I need to run 17 miles in the days between now and then. I might call a physical therapist for knee advice - I can't tell if this is a normal tired out feeling or a harbinger of injury.