Let's do this!

0 degrees? I would die. I would literally die.

Don't you like when people use the word literally when they don't really mean literally?

It was hard to find an entry that didn't already have 100 comments. Sorry about your injury, Lily. Everyone has already said everything that needs to be said. Give yourself some time. Believe me, I know how important running is to you, but there are other intrinsic things that you can focus on while your body gets right. "Must balance, grasshopper." Sure, it still totally sucks that you can't be pursuing your love, but you'll come back fully recovered and stronger than ever. Good luck, God bless.

as rachelle said, this is a decision that only you can make. if you feel like you can do it, i would say go for it. it may not be optimal given that you ran 13.1 this morning, but it will still put some good mileage in your legs, which is always good for marathon training. if you were treating this like a race that you wanted to run hard in and go after a PR, you probably would have wanted to do some sort of a mini-taper, or at least gone a bit easier with less mileage leading up to the race. however, if you run this tomorrow you will just be training through the race, which many runners do as they are building up for "the big one". you can treat it like a mid-long run/tempo workout. maybe start out slower than you normally would and gradually pick it up until you are at HMP for the final 6-8 miles. OR, just let loose and see what kind of time you can run. there isn't anything to lose by going for it, unless you feel you are on the verge of injury. i know you had a bit of trouble with your knee earlier this week, and that you have had a few random tweaks here and there throughout your training. just be careful with those and don't do anything that you think may send them over the edge. something else to think about: running the half tomorrow will put you over 50 miles for the week. you have averaged 42 mpw this year, and have run 50+ mpw six times this year. this is obviously a volume that you can handle, but it will put you above your average. with the knee scare earlier this week and the 13.1 miles today, is this the right week to push up your mileage? once again, that is a question that only you can answer based on how you feel. i am not trying to talk you into it or out of it, i am just throwing out all the ideas i can think of as to why you should or should not run tomorrow. i personally don't think it's a bad idea, and i think it's good timing as far as fall marathon training goes (one of the main reasons i wanted to run it). it will be a good fitness gauge at this point in your training and may give you a better idea on how you want to approach things over the next two months. also, i would really love to see you tomorrow, as the last time we tried to race together was a disaster (reminder: my leg was broken and there was snow all over the ground).

just give it some thought and do what's best for you. you're smart about these things so i sure whatever you decide will be the right thing.

first: you are prepared. you've put in the miles. you've done your long runs. you've had some great short-distance races leading up to the marathon. and you've stayed healthy through it all. you are going to do great, especially if you remember to have fun.

second: i always feel bloated and fatty patty during taper week -- it just feels that way because you have reduced your activity level. i know you are very fit right now, and that won't change in a week. just focus on rest and getting in a lot of calories from good foods. you don't have to worry about fatty patty until after the race -- you should see how many chins i have right now.