week 9 was a wash

I've been laid up with one nasty virus since Tuesday night. Shortly after writing that last post, I felt much, much worse. Couldn't stop coughing and shot up into a fever that stuck around until Thursday morning.

So, I've been in bed ever since.

Not training. No practice Thursday night. No practice today. Not gonna run tomorrow. Just recovering.

I feel a little anxious...I've just missed a key week of build training.

On the other hand, I do myself no good by pushing through a cold...as this uncomfortable episode has taught me.

Looking back--I've already put in a lot of training. I did the whole course (except 10 miles of the bike due to flats) two weeks ago, quite comfortably. Just not all in one day.

The plan now...take it easy until Tuesday at the bare minimum, and then do a day or two of recovery workouts...spinning, light running. Go to track Thursday, and either do half the volume, half the speed, or take double the rest (on Stephanie's orders, thank goodness I have her to help keep my head right about this stuff). Maybe a light swim on Friday to restore water-feel and then to practice on Saturday for whatever I can handle. Then ramp back up week 11 for 3 weeks of building before a taper.

In the grand scheme of things, Wildflower half is not intended to be an all-out effort for me. I just want to finish, to see if I can do it. It's my first half, and it's a tough one.

All along my intent has been to use it as a B race on the way to Escape from Alcatraz. Thinking about that is helping me to put things back into perspective and is alleviating some of my anxiety about race day.

The only thing I'm a *bit* worried about is making the bike cut-off...but I dont think that'll be too much of a problem. Now that it's light later in the day, I'll be able to focus on bike training a little more intently.

Sigh. Back to recuperating. I am so sick of chicken soup. :-P