A Rare Day Off

Yup, that happened. I wasn't necessarily planning for it--in fact, was easily roused by my 6am alarm--but one look outside at the wind-whipped trees and lashing rain was enough to send me burrowing back under the covers. I made a half-hearted pledge to run at lunch, but with the weather still uninviting at best I made the call to bag it. The last thing I need right now is to slip on a slick patch of sidewalk or get broadsided by a hydroplaning Masshole. Besides, I'm tapering. Lay off me.

Considering I routinely fail to blog about runs that actually do happen, you might be wondering why I'm taking the time to mention one that never even got off the ground (or, rather, off the bed). Normally I wouldn't. But when perusing the archives to identify the last time I took a day off--the last week of June, in case you were wondering--I thought it was neato to see my frame of mind then and my outlook on the upcoming summer of training. At the time, I'd just dropped out of the US Half Champs and then fallen deathly ill at the Fleet Feet Conference in DC. Yet I was optimistic that I'd be able to embark on a summer of quality training and lay the foundation for a solid fall marathon. Little did I know then that the "80-90 miles" I hoped to amass for "8-10 weeks" would turn into almost 15 straight weeks of 100+ completely healthy miles. Without a doubt, I'm a stronger runner now than I was when I wrote that post or, for that matter, at any other point in my life. It's an exciting feeling, one that I can't wait to capitalize on a mere 10 days from now.

But today, I rest. And get a massage. And go to bed ridiculously early. I'm tapering. Lay off me.