One month countdown

Today is a big day, one month count down to my first of three autumn marathons.

How do I feel?

If you had asked me last week my answer would have been very positive as I was on the back of a 7 day runstreak and feeling strong and fit. 

However I have been ill since Sunday with some kind of nasty stomach bug, been off work all week barely well enough to leave the house let alone train. 

I feel so much weaker, feel like I have lost a lot of strength and my body has really struggled in its attempts to fight off the illness. 

As is always the way your diet goes out the window when your ill as lack of appetite and the desire for comfort food lead you to not always eating the healthiest of food choices.

So at the moment I feel pretty demoralized as missing a key week of training at this stage is a big blow. I am hopeful to get out for a decent run at the weekend if I feel well enough so fingers crossed for that.

My concern before falling ill was that although my training had gone well and I had pushed myself hard I was still some way short of being fast or fit enough to run a sub 4 marathon. After a week off I now know that the sub 4 mark is now even further out of reach. 

The challenge when getting back to training after illness is knowing when to start and then getting the balance right of how hard to ease yourself back to training and how hard to push. 

I know I need to just get back up and running but I also know I need a good long run of around 20K+ to stay on course with my training but am fearful that I will not have the energy or strength for this and it will be too much too soon after my illness. 

Any way fingers crossed I get back to full strength and fitness quickly so I can power on with my training and head full steam towards the marathon! 

Enough of my ramblings, thank you for reading, I hope everyone is fit and healthy and any tips or advice on training after illness would be gratefully received.