Wait…that’s kinda weird.

A few days ago, I was sick and freaking out about my marathon. I already thought I’d been undertrained, but I vowed to myself that I’d 100% stick to my training schedule for the next three weeks. How hard could that be, right? Then I got sick. Not so sick I couldn’t walk, but just sick enough that I was worried that I’d wear myself out more if I ran, so I decided to take a few more days off.

After lounging around for a bit this morning and taking Bailey to the dog park, I set out around noon for a run. It was pretty hot, but I haven’t been able to do this without DYING since at least July. On my plan, Joel had written “RUN FAST.”

So, run fast, I did.

My Garmin died about 30 seconds after I got outside, so I used the RunKeeper app on my phone. In total social media dorkiness, I plan on using this app during my marathon. Why? So I can unlock the Foursquare Marathon badge when I’m done.

I was hot, I felt all kinds of phantom twinges (apparently this is totally normal during the tapering phase of marathon training), my nose was running all over the place, but I ran my little heart out, and I finished in 34:55—an 8:43 pace! Laurel and I were talking about running last week (shocker!), and I told her how I’d had an awesome run last weekend, and she said there’s a point in marathon training where it seems like it’s finally all coming together. I’m glad I finally hit that point. 

I know I won’t be doing 8:45 miles for a marathon distance, but it gives me faith that I can run a strong marathon at a decent pace. Or, a 4:16 marathon according to Runner’s World. We’ll see about that…

Since I sweat and sneezed out every last drop of water left in my body and got an iced coffee after my run, I rehydrated with a Gatorade. And I ate a bagel because I love them on the weekends.

Oh, and my new obsession is DailyMile. So if you’re on there, be my friend?