Between an ear infection, my wedding and honeymoon, and then a case of bronchitis, I missed five out of six weeks right as the mileage was really starting to ramp up in the training program, which of course is unfortunate. Two weekends ago I did seven miles and it wasn't that bad; this past weekend I did 12 miles and it was that bad. Although actually, it's Monday now and the overt soreness is already way down, so that's probably a good sign. The real key is going to be doing good maintenance runs during the week - I haven't really done any of those since July, which is surely part of the problem. Now that we're settled in Lake County, it should hopefully be easier to find the time if not necessarily the space. I haven't decided yet whether to just try to do them on a treadmill or if I want to run around the cul-de-sacs of the apartment complex.
The 12 miles took about three hours and ten minutes. Considering how much walking I did in the last three miles or so, a pace of just under four miles an hour is actually pretty good. The first six miles, from Foster down to Chicago Avenue, where I turned around, weren't that bad. It was the second six, and especially the last four, that were really rough. But hey, I still finished a distance that's nearly half a marathon!
