A Patience-Testing Week

"The marathon's about being in contention over the last 10K. That's when it's about what you have in your core. You have run all the strength, all the superficial fitness out of yourself, and it really comes down to what's left inside you. To be able to draw deep and pull something out of yourself is one of the most tremendous things about the marathon."
Rob de Castella, 1981 world record holder of the Marathon from Australia who was also a 3--time Olympian

It's been a week since I was hit with a cold. I thought I'd recovered only to discover that there are still remnants of it - if you can call a cold that. I found that out while attempting a 20K with the Saturday Gang and I started out well. After reaching the 5K point, the mucus in my nose were becoming quite irritating to the point it's distracting my breathing. At the pace I was going, that was a major thing - I was unable to inhale and exhale comfortably and trying to do all that was tiring me out. I cut short the long run and turned back to the surprise of the others who were trailing behind (I had started ahead of them). As expected my week's mileage was shitty but a good thing was that I could still run at sub-6 minute pace. I rested today and resumed my cold medication and had a good afternoon nap.

There will be further disruptions to my training come May 26th when we're sending my Mom and 2 kids back to Penang to spend the school holidays there. We should be leaving KL at 10am after I return from the usual Saturday ritual and coming back on Sunday after lunch. Then we will be returning once again to Penang to pick them up on the same weekend that I am scheduled to do my longest and final run. Now how the heck am I going to work around those 2 Sundays?!