4 weeks til the marathon

Less than a month, folks. Commence freaking out.

Overall, I have to say that this week went pretty well. I completed all the running and biking that I intended to do, which is something I haven't really been able to say in a long time.

Monday I biked, and the way back was against the wind. I finished, but it totally drained me.

Tuesday morning I ran 8 miles. Less than a mile in, I had to stop and fold down my sock so it didn't rub my ankle. But I finished. Shins hurt some, but not a lot.

Wednesday evening I ran 4 repeat miles, with a mile of warm up and a mile of cool down. I was wearing a cut-off sock, and there was not a single whisper from my ankle. The back of my knee was bothering me a little, which was odd. Then, right at the very end, one shin started to hurt. I immediately stopped and walked the remaining quarter mile, praying that the sharp pain wouldn't stick around.

I biked on Thursday, and felt the sharp pain in the same spot once on the way there, and once on the way back. This is not ideal, of course, but my shins did not bother me while walking, so I tried to dismiss it. That particular spot has not bothered me since, so that's a blessing.

I took Friday off, then ran 8 miles on the treadmill on Saturday morning. I wore the cut off sock again, and my ankle was fine. My shins hurt some, but not a lot. I did the 8 miles at under an 11-minute pace. All in all, a success.

Still, my shins have ached a lot over the past two days. Sometimes they are fine and I don't feel a thing, but then the next moment they hurt a lot. I've definitely had worse, and I'm not entertaining any thoughts of dropping out. However, it does make the decision of how much to run this week more difficult.

Ideally, I'd like to run 3 miles on Monday or Tuesday, then 3 miles with some speed push on Wednesday or Thursday, and then run 20 on Saturday. The 20 is obviously the most important, so part of me thinks I should skip the 3 milers. But part of me thinks that is a bad idea.

I also am struggling with what to do about biking. It often leaves me feeling totally drained, which seems counter-productive.

So, overall, I am optimistic about how this week went, but I wish the pain were not so prevalent to make some of these decisions easier.

Please, oh please, let this week go well, too. Let me feel as good at the end of 20 as a did at the end of 16.

Apologies at the lack of eloquence. I think I will feel A LOT better when the 20 is over.

Miles on my shoes: 130