Mel On....Legs, Lungs, Head, Heart...(and coming a long, long way)

I went on my first run since being sick the other day, yay!  It was a short, quick 2 miler with my friend, Bri, around our village.  The foggy/cold weather coupled with the pile of bricks sitting on my chest didn't make it the easiest run on my poor lungs but my little, ole legs felt awesome! 

For the past few weeks I have been rating my runs in my training log on scale of 1-10 for how I feel during that day's training.  I rate my legs, lungs, head, and heart.  For the past month my legs have been around a 5 or below.  They have just felt heavy and tight and just not right.  However, today they were a perfect 10! They felt repaired and rested and it was a really good run (for the lower half of my body, anyway).  There might be something to this "tapering" thing, afterall. My lungs were a solid 1 in the hole, though.  I could barely breathe and was spitting and wheezing everywhere.  It was fun stuff...

And, although my heart was there, my head wasn't quite in the game.  I was really worried about whether I was going to make myself worse by going out there in that weather with how I was feeling but I was equally as worried about missing another day of running.  I ran it easy though and walked when I needed to.  I'm really ready to get back out there again once I'm over this mess and see what I can do!

Bri helped keep my spirits up, though.  She made a really good point, that even if I have to walk more than I wanted to during the race, that I should be proud of not only finishing it (because she knows I will) - love her confidence in me! - but, that I should really be proud of how far I have come...

...and, I have come a long way.  I ran my first half-marathon this time last year and I've ran two more since then and have cut my time down by over 15 minutes and have logged over 695 running miles this year alone. For someone who used to hate running...I think that is pretty awesome.  So, whatever the outcome of Athens - that one day - that one distance - I don't care anymore.  I made a goal and I set on to accomplish it.  26.2 miles doesn't seem to have anything on 695!  So, whatever happens....I'm proud of me.  

I am proud of me.  

(I just have to remember that come the finish line!)

7 days, 16 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds...