Thursday of Race Week

Weekly Mileage: 17 (4 days)

Workout
Easy 4 mile run at 7:10 pace
4x100m strides

Breakdown
Well, there is no other way to say it other than that I am sick. Scratchy and sore throat and my body is just tired and weak. This is the worst possible timing in the world. I slept in today and only went to work for a few hours before coming home and sleeping most of the afternoon. After dinner, I waited until it wasn't so painfully hot out to get my run in.

Surprisingly, I didn't feel as bad as I thought I would on the run. I felt weak the first half mile or so but settled into a rhythm and didn't have any issues the rest of the run, except for not being able to breathe very well.

I have been taking Airborne and other vitamins and drinking so much water I feel like I have to pee every 15 minutes, so hopefully by the time I wake up at 4:30 in the morning Sunday, I am at least feeling well enough to get through the race.

Expectations
Well, my original goal of finishing in the top-250, which was probably lofty to begin with, is still going to be the goal. But, I will be honest and say that if I feel like I do today on race day, the chances of running this thing in 7:00 pace are probably pretty slim.

I have had a few friends call me the last couple days and point out that it really doesn't matter where I finish, because this wasn't really about how fast I could run. This whole thing was about raising some money and awareness for a great organization in the Mario Lemieux Foundation and showing some support for a great friend in Bri Dishong.

We have raised a ton of money for the foundation, and I am super excited that Bri and her family are going to come down to see the race on Sunday.

No matter what happens, I won't come away from this with my head down. I busted my ass for the last 3 months and the bottom line is that a ton of good has come from all of this. I finally feel like me again. I will never ever let myself get to where I was before. Looking back, I still can't believe I weighed 206 pounds when all of this started. This is honestly just the beginning of taking my life back. I have a solid 6-8 years or so before my ability to build speed starts to disappear, so why not try to get fast again?

Next Up
Off day Friday. My legs feel fine, but no use in putting in extra work at this point. Easy 2-3 miles in the morning on Saturday. Race day Sunday.