The fear of God, plus some disappointment.

So my leg has been hurting for a few weeks now, ever since the training program put us through 14 miles of hilly San Francisco. The regular coach kept telling me to ice and rest it, and so I did, but it continued to hurt. I should've made a doctor's appointment but I've been traveling a bit for work, so I just didn't get around to it. And I figured I'd be okay today, since we were only running 8 miles. (I'm once again the Real Slim Shady.)

After the run today, I asked about my leg and the substitute coach put the ABSOLUTE FEAR OF GOD in me by reprimanding me for running through the pain. He took quite a bit of time to tell me what steps to take next, including new shoes, icing for just an hour two days in a row (10 minutes on, 10 minutes off for 3 cycles - who knew? - I'd been leaving the ice pack on because it made my leg feel better), and cutting back on the cross-training (even though the bike and elliptical seem to help stretch my leg muscle out and they said to do 3 days of cross-training).

Part of my disappointment is that the regular coach didn't give me such detailed advice when I first said my leg was hurting. Part of it is that my opposite knee has started to hurt, probably because I'm overcompensating. Part of it is that I haven't made it a priority to get to the doctor. (Yes, I have made an appointment.)

But the biggest disappointment is the potential of not finishing this marathon in July. It's still early - only halfway through the training - but there's 18 miles ahead of me next week and suddenly things aren't looking so optimistic...

Well, actually the biggest disappointment is that the eggplant parmesan I was so craving, and hobbled to the grocery store and around the kitchen to make this evening, isn't looking so promising.

Ah, the world is right again - all things come back to food.