Diamonds on the soles of her shoes...

Don't get me wrong - I definitely thought training for a marathon would be difficult. But I also thought that, if I put in the hours and ran the miles, eventually, I'd be able to do it.

I had no idea just how much my body would fight back. These past couple weeks, it gave me some VERY CLEAR signs that it was NOT OK with my current training regimen.

So, I gave it the long weekend off and I significantly scaled back my mileage. As in, I should have been running 16 miles yesterday instead of 8.15....

I have to say, though, those 8 miles may have been the best, most comfortable 8 miles anyone has ever run, ever. I think there's a LOT to be said for being well-rested. I also think at this point, I should at least take some consolation in that, hey, I can run 8 miles, now!

I'm having some trouble accepting that I ever thought this was a good idea, but it's really way too late to turn back. Baring some wicked as yet unforeseen injury, I'm going to Chicago, and I'm going to try to run as far as I can. I probably won't run the entire way, and that's going to have to be OK.

And if anyone would like to make a donation to my Water.org fundraiser to help make this feel like more of a worthwhile endeavor, that'd be really awesome!

The Running Total:

• September: 12.7
• 2014:  239.91