Darn Cold . . .

I have been delinquent in blogging because early last week I came down with a cold :-( Not feeling well coupled with temperatures in the teens put a damper on my training, and by the middle of last week I was either at work or chilling on my couch. I skipped last Saturday's GTS so I could sleep in, go to the doctor and make sure it was only a cold, and try and get better. I unfortunately didn't start feeling better until this past Monday so my training ramped back up with a group run Wednesday night that left from the Big Peach in Brookhaven.

Wednesday brought storms so it was pretty dark by the time we gathered for our run. Thank goodness I had the good sense to purchase a reflector vest at the running store because I ended up really needing it later! My coach told me to ease back in with a 2 mile run which I figured would be easy enough. Everyone else was running at least 3 miles so I knew I was going to be on my own for part of the run. My turn around point was the water stop so even though I had a map with me I didn't pay attention to it as I figured a water stop was a much easier marker to look for. It probably would have been if there actually had been a water stop! I ran, and ran, and ran some more, and thought it must just seem like a long way because I wasn't feeling 100% yet. There finally came a point that looked like it might be my turn around so I asked some girls behind me and they confirmed that indeed, it was. They instructed me to keep going and take my next right. Please remind me never to ask them for directions again! I did this and ended up on the darkest possible side street that you could find in all of Brookhaven (hence my need for a reflector vest). Thank goodness we were running in a country club neighborhood or I might have feared for my life! I ended up running into some teammates as I had looped back around to the main road I had been running on and they instructed me which way to go (since at that point I was utterly lost) and I was on my way. It wasn't until I was what felt like almost "home" when I stopped and checked the map. It was then that I realized that I still had a ways to go and that I had definitely ran further than the 2 mile turn around point. I was still on my own since everyone else was on a different route which didn't help either!

I finally made it back to the starting point and pulled out the map to see where I went wrong. I realized that I actually ran a revised version of the 3 mile route so I ran somewhere around 3.25 instead! So much for "easing back in!!!" Oh well, I survived! I then met with Rebecca who is one of the fundraising advisors and discussed some fundraising strategies. She LOVES to talk (she said so herself so I don't mind calling her out) and talk she did! I grabbed a piece of pizza to reward myself for my run and headed on my way. I was a bit sore yesterday (Thursday), but I feel pretty good today.

I have another GTS tomorrow morning which I plan on attending unless its 45 degrees outside and raining, as I DO NOT need to get sick again! Wish me luck!