Woohoo!!! I'm Sick!!!

I have caught the cold... complete with a mild sore throat, achy head, and runny sinuses. And I like it! Why? Well, one of my fears was being sick on race day in two weeks. So, with being sick now, it gives me a chance to get it over with and enter race day with a healthy immune system. Perfect timing. Kind of like that scene in "The World According to Garp" when a plane hits a house they were looking to buy, and the decision is made to purchase it since the odds of another plane hitting it are astronomical.

Also, with me being in the taper, it's not really derailing my training. Had I gotten sick during a key phase in training, it'd potentially mess things up. Today is a rest day, but I suspect I'll be fine to do the five miles at an easy pace I have on tap for tomorrow. Which leads me to....

... Taper madness is definitely starting to set in. Last week wasn't so bad. It was the first week of a three week taper, which meant an 80% reduction in mileage, essentially a step-down week in the normal training cycle, so not a big deal.

But this week? A 60% reduction in mileage. That means light, easy runs around five miles most days, sans the abbreviated track workout on Thursday and an 11-miler over the weekend. When I realized that last night I was like "#$%&!!! This is going to be tough."

Next week will be even worse. Only a third of what I'd normally do during the week. But as my buddy Ryan pointed out, I could always sacrifice my marathon time in favor of not following the taper.. something I will of course pass on.