Back from the dead.....

Well, the last week has not been a very productive training week by any stretch of the imagination. I started last week off on Monday with an AM swim (as usual) and Tuesday was a scheduled rest day. I didn't feel all that well on Wednesday morning when the alarm went off, so I skipped my Wednesday swim.

When I went to bed on Wednesday night, I told myself that if I felt well enough, I would go the the gym and do a treadmill run Thursday morning. So, when the alarm went off Thursday, I felt OK and I headed to the gym for a 25 minute treadmill run. I didn't feel 100% while I was running, but definitely better than the day before. Needless to say, at about 1:00 Thursday afternoon, I started feeling bad and at about 4:00 the fever came. It got up to about 102.5 that night. It felt like the flu, but a doctor's visit Friday morning confirmed it was not.

As a result, I made the decision to take the whole weekend off no matter how I was feeling.

I returned to the pool this morning and had a pretty good swim (12 x 100 yards at 1:50/100 pace with 00:30 rest per 100)....light intensity with plenty of rest considering I was coming off of some sick days. It felt sloppy at times, but it felt good to be back in the pool. I'm looking forward to a bike ride tomorrow.

For all of you have have already donated to my Walt Disney World Marathon fundraiser, you'll be happy to know that the official DAY 1 of my training for that race starts 3 weeks from today. I gave myself a harsh dose of reality earlier today by mapping exactly how far it is to run 18 miles, one of the longer training runs I will do in December (I will actually do a 20 miler, also). For those of you that live in Jackson, that's the distance from the front door of the hospital at UMC to Walmart in Flowood AND BACK!!! For those of you living in Monroe, if you were to leave running north from the end of Forsythe Extension where it meets Hwy. 165, 18 miles would be behind you about the time you got to the first gas station in Bastrop (or from Ray's Pege in Monroe to Calhoun). Reality definitely sets in once you look at it on a map. Anybody want to voluteer to stand at the finish with a beer during my training runs.

So, what can I say about this challenge before me? I welcome it. I look forward to raising money for congenital heart defect research in honor of Cain (and the other CHD children I have been hearing about lately from Cain's mom). I look forward to honoring our fallen Special Operations Warriors by raising money to send their children to college. I look forward to testing myself, both physically and mentally. There are times when I think I may have gotten myself in over my head. Then I can look at my son and daughter and realize that there are parents in this world who have lost a child to a heart defect and never get to experience the joy that I get when I walk into my house at night and both of my kids' faces light up with big smiles and Jenna Kate runs over yelling "DADDYYYYYYY" and gives me a big hug. There are children who have lost parents to war who deserve help with college...such a small sacrifice for you and I since their parent gave everything for us. Looking at it this way really puts into perspective why I am doing what I am. I'm not a runner! Never have been! In fact, I've always hated running and I might be the slowest runner you've ever seen. But, I have to do it for those kids!

If you can help me with my fundraiser, I would certainly appreciate it if you would just consider it. If not, please tell a friend. It doesn't take much. A lot of small donations go a long way!