Zero mileage last week! I sensed a cold coming on while on my long run up the North Shore, and it hit me hard on Monday. I don’t ever seem to get colds I can just power through anymore, so there was no question of running. The only day I felt well enough to run was Sunday (Saturday I possibly could have run, but spent the day volunteering at Voyageur), and I just didn’t. Whoops.

I’m having all kinds of second, third, fourth, fifth thoughts about this race. It is a really big stretch for me, and my training hasn’t been stellar. There’s plenty of time to fix that, I know, and I’m going to keep plugging away, increasing my mileage. I don’t want to mentally quit on myself now, and my running overall will benefit whether I run the race or not.

What’s tripping me up and might tip the scales in favor of staying home (and running the Grand Traverse) is the financial situation. If this race was local, I’d have no qualms about giving it my all and just seeing if I could make it. It’s not really that far away, but due to the early start and my projected late finish, it means a hotel for 2 nights. That isn’t a huge deal, but it would come right on the heels of a road trip to Maine and some other larger expenses. The race fee is a sunk cost, but the hotel room is not. I can’t tell if I’m looking for excuses and happy to use the money as a way out, or if I am letting pride get in the way of making a good financial decision.

I haven’t made up my mind yet, and I have plenty of time to mull it over, but that’s where I am, 5 weeks in to training, 9 weeks to go until the race.