I saw myself so much in Cathy's post. I am so addicted to the running thing. Sometimes to the point that it can run my life. If I am training for something specific, I can be obsessive. It is good for my training and my results, but it not the healthiest way to live sometimes. I have a very difficult time taking a break for illness, work, or even vacation. Something in my head tells me if I take a break, I must be weak. I also get to the point that I push too hard. If I can do this then can I do that. Pete takes his role of "coach" very seriously when he sees me get to "that" point again. Now that I have been doing this for a few years I have learned that he is right when he tells me to back off or take a break. He has even taken my training plans that are posted on the refrigerator and drawn a line through days that he says I am not "allowed" to run. He reminds me of how important rest is and he has always been right. When I am forced to rest or take an extra day off, I usually come back much better and faster. With my driven personality (no cracks from you guys that have lived with me), it helps to have someone remind me of balance. The first time I tapered for a big race was the Army Ten Miler in 2002. I had trained hard and Pete made me take off the entire week prior to the race. I thought I was going to loose everything and if nothing else drive everyone crazy. Well, I did drive everyone crazy, but I raced faster than I ever thought I could and felt great afterwards. Pete says I was like a race horse at the gate. Since then I taper more than most people before a race. I have learned that I do well with a big rest leading up to the race. I still drive my family crazy with worrying about my abilities and the potential loss of training during my taper, but every single time I am wrong, Pete is right (which he absolutely loves to remind me of every time) and I race well. This year I was able to take our vacation time off and then jump right back in to my training plan with no feeling of loss. And yes, I worried Pete the whole week about it. Now, I need to work on enjoying my breaks.

Cathy, take your time to heal. You will feel very fatigued when you start back. Don't let it worry you. Watch your food and be sure that you are taking in enough protein before and after your runs for recovery and drink Gatorade instead of water to replace the sodium even for shorter runs until you feel stronger. Don't panic about the upcoming race. The good news is that you got sick now instead of right before the race. This way, you are almost guaranteed to be healthy for the race. Can you imagine how you would feel if you put in all this work only to get sick on race day?

By the way, I neglected to tell you guys that the Starburst was the sour kind. What a trauma, the watery eyes, the watery mouth, the cough, the burn... And of course, I was doing everything possible to maintain my composure and pace so no one would know what an idiot I am. I am going back to jelly beans.