Over the last couple of weeks, Ohio has had unbearable heat, I took a vacation to a place with even worse heat, I’ve been over-worked and then I started to feel sick.

Yesterday, the temps were mild, I felt great, I was home, it was light out … I went to Antrim Park to do three laps around the lake. I even had the chance to finally wear my new minimalist New Balance shoes!

The U.S. Air Force Marathon is September 15 — only 30 days away. The longest distance I’ve walked is 8 miles once and I should have done at least one 10-miler and two 8s by now. I have not trained well enough to do the 12 miles scheduled for this weekend. Sigh.

So what do you do when your training is so out of whack?

Well, you step back, take a look at where you are and try to make a realistic decision on where you CAN be by race day. With 30 days left, I can do one more 8-mile day and one 10-mile day before tapering. The weekly stuff I’ll do my best with.

In the past I never went farther than 10 miles as my longest half-marathon training day. In the last year, I’ve increased my longest day to 12 miles. The increase in distance has really helped with how I feel finishing a half marathon and has helped with speed. That boat has sailed.

I have no doubt I will finish the half marathon. It will not be a record performance, but this time I will have to do the race just for fun. I can do that.

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