I needed some rest

What to you do when you just really want a break? I've never been one to force myself to run - that's how injuries happen. This week was a planned recovery week, but I'm rethinking that after these past two days. Yesterday I went to Richmond and my plan was to get back early enough in the evening to do my long run then, thus giving myself a nice 36 hour break after Saturday's 5K. Well, I ended up not getting back until 9 p.m., and I was exhausted. Then this morning I slept in until about 7:30 and I really didn't feel like running.

So, here's my plan. Instead of trying to make up my long run, I basically feel that these two days have been good in letting my body do what it obviously wants to do - take a brief break from running. I'll probably do some weights with my upper body tonight, tomorrow will be a 5-6 mile run, Wednesday will be a group run, Thursday will be a "rest" day, although I'll be at Cedar Point in Ohio and Friday will be my long run in the flatness of Ohio. Saturday may be a short run, but I have a wedding to go to in the afternoon - that's why I'm moving my long run to Friday. This is sort of like missing a dose of medicine - you have to get back on track if you forget to take it a couple of days. If I pushed my long run tomorrow, I wouldn't want to do a speed workout Wednesday. I'm just all thrown off and I think it's best to not force anything. As valuable as the long runs are, I really needed some rest.

This all being said, week 3 of my training went pretty well. I logged about 20 miles and would have been at 30 with my long run. This week, week 4, will probably be in the low to mid 20s, so all in all this should work out well.