Six Weeks Out, But Not Where I Want To Be

"Somebody down here crying a river and trying to climb over it?" My husband queried, testing the waters as he approached me basking in the sun and reading a magazine after my abysmal long run.

"I think she's trying to swim across and is drowning in the process," I answered with a hint of melancholy.

I did finish 17.42 miles (goal of 17). But, the problem is, I walked a little over 3 of them. I should have been running those at race pace. And, I had other less pleasant problems during the run. I should have been able to run 13 miles at race pace 6 weeks from my target race. I caved just before 10 of them. I firmly believe if I can't pull that off now, it is doubtful I can pull 26.2 of them off in a month and a half.

I spent the better part of the late morning researching other (later) marathons. While I contemplate the sanity of my goal, I do think I can get stronger with more training. I do not believe that I have peaked, I think I have simply misjudged how long it's going to take me to get to my goal. I came up with a list of 6 from November 30th through February 17, 2009:

1. 11/30: Space Coast (Florida)
2. 12/7 California International Marathon (Sacramento)
3. 12/7 Tucson, AZ
4. 1/1 Texas Marathon (Kingswood)
5. 2/8 Melbourne Inaugural Marathon (Florida)
6. 2/17 "Last Chance for Boston" (Columbus, OH)
   

So, now the question is, do I run Chicago anyway? And if so, with what goal?

I have plenty to think about for the next week.