Slowly Coming Back From the Flu

The last time I wrote was last Wednesday, my first run after 5 days off with the flu.  On that day I ran a slow 1.5 miles on the treadmill.  The next day I did 2 miles, then 3.5 miles on Friday, steadily increasing to 4 miles on Saturday, 5.5 miles on Sunday and another 5.5 today (Monday) slowly but surely regaining some energy. 

My weekly Monday to Sunday total was a personal low of 16.5 miles during a time frame 2 months prior to the marathon in which I had planned to be running 60 mile weeks.  The prior week was only 25 miles total.  As you can see below, I've been on a descent for the last month after a previous comeback from a back injury.

I have to admit, I'm starting to have doubts about my ability to run this marathon at the sub 3-hour level.  There have been too many problems with my training...it seems every other week I get sick or a new injury pops up.  I'm really frustrated that every time my training starts looking good, I'm forced to back off.

That said, I'll continue plugging away. What I really need to do is regain enough energy to run a 20 miler this weekend to maintain my long distance fitness.

On the injury front, a spot below my left knee has had a chronic pain for 4 months now and I'm visiting an orthopedist in Thousand Oaks to assess the problem.  The good thing is that it hasn't significantly impacted my running.  The bad thing is that it has been a chronic weak leak for me when crouching, bending and standing. 

Today I ran a solid 40 minutes after work.  For some reason with the change of the seasons in the air, my body stopped waking up early.  Oddly, this also happened to my entire family.  The good thing is, we get an extra hour of sleep on Halloween night as Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 p.m. on November 1st.  Getting that hour of sleep is always very welcome in my household!