I should start taking vitamins... hmmm I eat a ton of veggies every day and I love dairy so I get my calciYUM in... I wonder where my vitamins are low. Any good recommendations? I have a lot of allergies so I have to be careful. I once took glutamine supplements and I had the worst allergies! Anyhow... should I just take something like Centrum? Feeling a LOT better now.

damn girl you need to cut some hours from work! It will probably do wonders. I'd go with a simple multi vitamin (centrum is good). Glad to hear your feeling better! And your welcome hun

Hey! Jen! Come out come out wherever you are.................

Seconds this!

Hey Gals, So the virus I've had is still hanging on. The only way I can describe it is that it's like a flesh eating disease. In fact I'm eating more (which is fun) and I'm just barely maintaining my weight. The problem is that my endurance is sucking horribly for some odd reason. I am still integrating hard workouts but less longer mileage which means less MPW. At first I was totally freaking out but I'm learning to understand my own battles with control and my own self-messages of perfectionism. It's definitely hard to want to look like a body builder (hah!), be a better runner, and be a great student all together. You know something's gotta give when you attempt all of those things. For me, my immune system finally cried out "F--- you!" It's scaring me how weak I am because marathon training is coming soon. However, as part of my renewed approach to all of this, I'm just seeing it as meant to be. I'm going to peak at 60-something miles per week in my next marathon training cycle. This is a ton of mileage and research suggests that this high of mileage taxes your immune system. So with that understanding of what is to come for me, it's in my best interest to let myself heal. In letting myself heal I realized how much lactic acid I was carrying around in my legs on a daily basis. I feel so much lighter in my legs and they are not so tender all of the time. I will need to figure out a good way to avoid leg-burn out when I am training hard. Anyhow it's been a good experience (though bad because being sick is horrible) for me. Slowing down by force was something I didn't want to do but with having the flu/virus AND having the metatarsal trauma in my foot I realized that I was breaking down a bit. Sure I don't run like a lot of others do, but I never really gave myself a big mental break after my 1st marathon. I deserve to look back and take stock and just relax for a while instead of rushing to assess options for motivation (e.g., 10k's etc). My 10k improvements will happen when I'm ready. Not when I'm burned out. And even with wavering motivation since Feb, I've still PR'd a lot . That is saying quite a bit. So anyhow the goal now is to get my strength back and just to maintain my fitness. Nothing amazing for now. Then not next week but the week after I start half-marathon training (a short program) which will bleed into the base training for my marathon training schedule. so that's the plan. knowing what is on the horizon for me, and having had experience marathon training makes me a much more calculated runner than the person I was before. I just dove into things without thinking...

Sorry to hear your immune system has taken quite a beating. I'm still waiting for mine to turn on me. Being a full time mom, running 50 or so miles a week, working out 2-3 times a week and all the other crap that I have to do through out the week is tough. So far the healthy gawds are watching out for me. Good luck in getting your strength and endurance back! Have fun half marathon training and don't be a stranger!