On the mend, looking forward

Good news--the new plan seems to be working. I successfully ran 14 miles this Saturday and felt good afterward. The combination of the sleeve and ibuprofen mostly, with stretching and ice on the side, seems to be doing the trick. Who knew it would be so simple?! The hard part at this point will be getting crazy fit again in short order. Before this weekend, it had been four weeks since my last 14 milers. The 14 this weekend happened, and I'm pleased with how it went, but I did not feel as strong as I did 6 weeks ago. Moving forward, I'm planning 16 for this weekend, 18 for the following weekend, then 12 and 6 for the last two weeks before the marathon.

An update on miles shows that I've finally broken the 300-mile mark! I feel compelled to add here too that part of my recuperation includes switching one more mid-week run to a cross-training day, so while I'm working out just as much (and just as intensely), my total miles will be lower while I finish working through my IT band issues.

284.5 + 1.4 + 9.2 + 3.0 + 14.0 + 4.1 = 316.2 miles

On things not running-related:
This past weekend Elliot did something that amazed me. On Saturday afternoon, he walked into our mud room, picked up my running shoes and brought them to me. He waved them at my feet and put them on top of my feet like he wanted me to put them on. I thought he just wanted to see them on, so I put one on to model for him. He picked up the other one and waved it at me, so I put it on too. As I did that, he walked to the back door and grabbed the door knob (he can reach it, but can't turn it yet). I had no idea that he a) understood that he can't go outside alone, b) understood that you have to put your shoes on first, and c) understood the doorknob. Of course, he's never gone out alone or without shoes (beyond our driveway), and he can't use the doorknob himself, but it was his putting together the whole process of it that amazed me. It sounds so simple, but it amazed me. I love that kid.