Don't think this counts as "hitting the wall" but...

......it's not looking good this week. So far, I have adhered to my training schedule like a militant religion, but this week is going to be a bitch. Mainly due to the fact that I'm headed back to work tomorrow after a wonderfully relaxing two week hiatus. This means that I will be back to fitting in my runs (which are now considerably longer than the last week I worked and ran) mainly in the evenings. Being January, it's still pitch dark by 5:30 but, hopefully, my Netflix Instant Queue will help get me through. On a more worrisome note, the seven miles/84 minutes of running yesterday has left me with a dull pain in my right knee. I am really hoping that it will either go away (not likely), or can be easily managed with one of those neoprene braces - of which I may soon be a proud owner. I've been running all of 5 weeks and I already have 'Runner's Knee'.

So, otherwise, this week holds my company's only annual conference/meeting/dinner and will end with not my usual Saturday long run (did I mention I'm up to 7 miles?) but a 5k road race with my mom. I think I would be more excited about the race except that snow is in the forecast for Friday and the high on Saturday is only supposed to be 29. It's projected be a balmy 18 degrees when the race starts at 10 am. Yeah.

On a happier note, my dad is now planning to join my mom in the race (both mainly walking), which is a nice show of support. I am already picturing the three of us, covered from stem to stern in uber-attractive polar fleece, running/walking into clouds of our own breath - my frosty husband cheering from the sidelines with a mug of something warm and maybe alcoholic. Hopefully, he'll have a little left for me at the finish-line. It should be fun. Really.