A clydesdale no more!

The cold temperatures continue.  It was -1 degrees when I headed out the door this morning.  On top of this, I have a cold that is threatening to move to my chest.  It probably wasn't the best idea to be outside running today.  Felt completely wiped out after 2 miles so I thought I would cut the run short at 5 miles.  At the 5 mile turn off, I decided that I felt good enough to get 1 more mile in.  Got to the 6 mile turn off and figured that I may as well make it 7.  I could see the 8 mile turn around so I ended up doing the full run.  The last 3 miles were pretty slow.  Mile 6 was run mostly on ice and my chest started to feel heavy during miles 7 and 8.  Hopefully, this won't make my cold any worse.

Total Time: 1:02:20 (7:48/mile)

Too sick to run today.  I hate missing runs but know that it is for the best.  This is a cut back week anyway so 1 extra day of rest won't hurt too much.

Taking one more day off.  Slept most of the day yesterday (something that I can't remember ever doing before).  I thought about running today but with the cold temperatures and poor air quality, I want to take one more day off to make sure that I get this bug out of my system.

Thought that I was ready to run again but I was wrong.  I had very little energy during the run this morning.  Had a nasty side stitch for the first 2 miles.  Legs started to get really sore the last few miles and my chest was heavy for the entire run.  Hoping things will be better tomorrow.
Avg HR = 154 (Too high.  This is my 7:30/mile HR)
Total Time = 1:05:44 (8:13/mile)

Felt a little better today but still not 100%.  Temperatures hit double digits (10 degrees) so that certainly helped.  Energy was pretty low at the beginning but I started to feel stronger toward the end of the run.  While running by the cemetery, I decided to stop by and clear off my dad's head stone.  Haven't been by for a while so maybe that helped with the energy at the end of the run.

Avg HR: 149
Total Time: 1:11:50 (7:59/mile)

Felt a little sluggish for the first couple of miles but started to feel pretty good once I warmed up..  Felt like I was holding back on the pace but it was pretty close to my usual long run pace.  I didn't take anything to rehydrate or refuel and I could really feel it at about mile 12.  I was going to stop at the convenience store but figured that I was close enough to being done that I would just tough it out.  Glad to have this week behind me.  I fell well short of my mileage goal.  It was a cut back week anyway so it was a good week to be sick.  Next week is a pretty big week training wise.

Avg Hr = 148
Total Time = 1:58:00 (7:52/mile)

I've been trying to figure out my racing plans for the rest of the year.  The only thing scheduled now is Boston then the rest of the year is wide open.  I'm either going to take a break from marathons for the rest of the year or run the Utah Grand Slam.  The Slam is spread out enough this year that it won't be too tough/  I think that I can still give a pretty good effort in each marathon culminating in my first sub-3 attempt at St George.  In reality, I don't think that I will ever be much better than a 2:57-2:59 marathoner.  I can't handle the mileage (physically or time wise) required to achieve much more than that.  It is tough being too slow to be competitive but not slow enough to be able to run events just for the fun of it.  Even if I focus on shorter races, I feel as though I will be in the same boat the only difference being that there is some additional satisfaction of just completing a marathon.