Time to get back on track, because there’s a huge difference between 5 miles and 26.2.
Maybe it was because deep down in the corner of my mind, I knew it wouldn’t last…or because I knew that if I “came out” to everyone about my quest to run every day between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, I might receive comments about how it’s probably not the best idea to mix training for my first full marathon with trying to run every day straight for over a month. It could lead to injury, or even worse, me getting sick of running. Well, neither of those things happened, because my holiday challenge didn’t last more than two weeks.
It started out well enough. I had just enjoyed a one-week staycation from work, which included lots of running and healthy eating. Then Thanksgiving came, I enjoyed some turkey, and started my streak. Refreshed from my recent vacation, I looked forward to running, and had no problem incorporating it into my schedule the day after the holiday, over the weekend, and even the following week, when I returned to work. Running was the highlight of my day (it always is!), allowing me to get away from everything…except my husband, with whom I share the basement when I’m running on the treadmill. Usually I’m running, he’s playing video games. Anyways, all was well, until I got the stomach bug. As in, the only place I would be running to was the bathroom. That was on Day 10 of my holiday challenge.
I’m ashamed to admit that I only ran a few times after that happened. I haven’t even had any really good excuses as to why I hadn’t been running either: I’ve been too busy Christmas shopping doesn’t work because I’ve done all my Christmas shopping online. The best excuse I can come up with is this: it’s the holiday season, I get home from work and am exhausted because it was dark when I got up in the morning and it’s dark when I get home, AND because I’m still in hibernating phase, all I want to do when I get home is stuff my face with unhealthy food, do my homework, and go to bed so I can start this cycle all over.
I was finally able to sit down and write this post today because I’m on my second staycation, and although I was really looking forward to spending a significant time running while off of work, I now have a terrible cold. To some, this probably sounds like an excuse. But at least I know it’s the truth. It’s one of those horrible colds where I’m awake all night because I can’t breathe and then I want to sleep all day because I haven’t been able to all night. Hopefully this lasts just a couple of days and with the right amount of rest and drinking enough fluids, I can start running again within the next day or two.
There is one thing I know for sure: if I want to make 2014 the year of the marathon, I need to get my butt in gear, get healthy, and make time to go running! Because you’re not going anywhere if you’re not running!
-Lis
26.2 x 2 
It’s always hard on me when I want to run and I can’t. I’m sorry you have been sick and now have a cold. A cold like the one you described is the worst! Keep taking good care of your body and give yourself plenty of rest! It probably ended up being a blessing in disguise that you couldn’t run every day from Thanksgiving until the new year. Like you mentioned in your post, there could be a lot of risks doing that. I also hope to run a marathon is 2014! We both just have to make the time for those long runs!