You're doing great, kat, just keep it up. 16 miles is a great, admirable journey. Sometimes we beat ourselves up the most (I am totally guilty). Go back to positive thinking - tell yourself you can do it. Tell yourself you will make it. Think fast. I really think the positive thinking helps, even if it just helps everything be less stressful.

I ran 3 miles on Sunday, sort of with my husband (he jogged about a quarter mile, but walked about 3/4 mile), completely with my dog. It felt... blah. Not really sure why.

Monday I did yoga. I tried to learn about shoulder stands (against a wall) but was too much of a wuss to flip my legs up to the wall (something about falling on my head). Today I did it again and had no problems. Performance anxiety?

Today I ran 4 miles in the snow! Probably 3 inches of fresh snow on top of an inch or two from yesterday, and the first running day after it snows like that is always the best because there aren't tracks in it that make you wobble and it's not slick or icy. It was pretty sweet. I felt like I was moving well, I was not. 4 miles, including letting the dog smell every other dog's trail and pee 8 times, took me almost 45 minutes! My heart rate was more like a 9-10 minute mile, so chalk that one up to snow resistance and having to tiptoe like fred flintstone doing his twinkle toes thing as you cross slippery intersections. My footprints were nice though, even pressure from the midfoot out, rather than being heel or toe heavy. Wore 2 pairs of toe socks, perfect (one pair is just a little too chilly, if I had trail runners I think that wouldn't be a problem).

On a sadder note, my left big toenail has a terminal illness, purple-toenail-itis. It's getting purpler and purpler... I thought I could save it with ice after the marathon, but alas, it was already too late. Hoping to hang on until the new nail starts growing in underneath. When I replaced my Brooks Ariel shoes, I went a half size down because the ones I had felt like they might just be too big. They are still 1 size larger than I normally wear and I just barely feel the ends of the shoes if I reach my toes, but my feet must really expand when I run long distances. Next replacement pair will be back to the bigger size, I guess. Expensive experiment