I've been training for my first Marathon, I plan to run the Chicago in October. This is my first real endurance event--longer than 2.5 hours. I'm fairly new to running so this is all new to me.

I'm six weeks into my training and I have eight weeks left. I've done one 18 miler, a fifteen and several 13s. I've noticed the last two weeks that my knees feel weak. I have a hard time squatting to pick up my baby. My legs are just tired. The last few long runs I've taken ice baths and have even iced my knees later in the day. It helps keep them from getting sore, but they are still weak.

I'm wondering, at this point, should I take a week off from my training to let my legs recover . . . or is the weak-knees part of the training process and I should just push through it???? I'm hesitant to take time off as I don't want to get behind in my training, but I don't want to burn my legs out either. Any advice?