Today is an exercise in understanding the big picture. As I put my shoes on this morning I felt a little tenderness in my achilles. Not too serious and it was something I could have run through but I felt that running today would have negatively impacted the run tomorrow. I would rather miss an 8 miler than struggle through one of the key long runs in the training schedule. It is hard for me to look at my training log and see the days with 0 mileage and weekly mileage that is lower than it should be. Part of me feels like I am just taking the easy way out and need to be tougher if I want to really improve. I do understand, though, that my achilles is getting better and I have to continue to be cautious in order for it to get 100% better. | 