Half Marathon Training, Countdown: 5 Weeks To Go

This was a rough week for me.  Around the middle of the week, I got some type of fever virus, so I had around a 100 degree fever and just felt plain yucky.  I ended up taking extra rest days on Wednesday and Thursday.  Then, on Friday, I brought Libby home from school with the stomach virus, and by Sunday, I had a touch of it myself.  So here's the breakdown:

Monday:  3.5 recovery miles (I don't think I'm technically allowed recovery runs after only 6 milers, but so what??)

Tuesday: Walked (aka stretched my legs out from all this running) 2 miles with friends during soccer practice

Friday: 5K in 24:30.  Fastest ever.  I'm signed up for a 5K next Saturday, and I'm really hoping to beat 24 minutes.  Something like 22 minutes would be awesome! (Plus, the faculty member who comes in first wins a $50 gift card--talk about motivation!)

Sunday: 3.5 miles.  The plan said 8 miles, but I was doing good to finish what I did.  Jumped in my car and rushed home, shaky and clammy feeling.  Stomach pains.  So far, I haven't been sick--fingers crossed this is all I get from Libby's bug.

Total miles this week:  11.5

While reading some of the running blogs I stalk frequent, I noticed on a few a list of top mistakes newbie runners make.  While I'm not a new runner, training for a race of this distance IS new to me.  The only mistake I'm currently making is not cross-training.  Apparently, this leads to injury.  So my goal for this upcoming week is lots of speedwork, to get ready for Saturday.  And at least 2 days of some type of cross training.