I have to take a moment to thank friends and people I only know through blogs for so much support and encouragement after my frustrating attempt to run 30k last week. I have had so many positive thoughts passed on to me both in person and by email for which I am very grateful. So many words of wisdom, so many perspectives and so many pieces of solid advice, thank you, thank you, thank you!

I have now taken 6 days off from running, my longest stretch since last spring. I am still stretching, icing and foam rolling my ITB and it certainly feels better than a few days ago. The big test of course will be when I actually go out and run again which will hopefully be tomorrow.

In my attempt to be positive, I have tried to think about why having a week off at this particular time might be good for me. Here is the list I have come up with:

1. It really was hot and humid this week, not ideal running weather. That said, I couldn’t actually tell you the temperatures of the past few days because I have discovered that when I don’t need to schedule runs I never bother to check the forecast.

2. I have just enough of a cold to feel a little under the weather. Having some time to rest can’t be a bad thing.

3. On Tuesday I go back to work teaching. This past week I needed to start easing out of summer mode and into working mode. Not having to run let me focus on other things. And since running does not result in a paycheque and teaching does, well the latter does have to take priority sometimes.

4. Normally after 2 or 3 days off I get antsy to run again. That didn’t happen this week. Maybe it was just because of my change in focus, but I can’t help but wonder if maybe it wasn’t only my body that needed a break. Maybe a mental break was needed as well.

5. Best part of my break – I got to be a spectator at a race instead of a participant. My son Evan ran the 3k race at the Canadian this weekend. We also took one of my friends for the 8k and her daughter who was also doing the 3k. I got to be chauffeur, gear-holder and head cheerleader. I don’t always get to cheer on my kids at races as I am quite often out on my own course when they are crossing the finish line. This day was particularly exciting since for the first time Evan made it into the top 3 of his age group :)!!! He received a “bronze champion” lanyard and even had the opportunity to stand up on a podium. Needless to say I was one proud mommy and he was a happy boy.

So, it wasn’t a bad week off and hopefully I will be able to ease back into my training this week. A few days ago I was looking at taking time off as something of a disaster. Now I am thinking, who’s to say a holiday in the middle of marathon training is a bad thing? Maybe I am the type of person who will in fact thrive from the break. And if not, well it is not like I was trying to break a world record or qualify for Boston. I just need to get myself across that finish line on October 20th. Seven more weeks to go…