Swine something-or-other has struck!

Not Swine Flu...not the flu of any sort, really. More like "Marathon Peak Pig-Out" disease. What...that's not a real disorder? Well, it should be. I feel like a bottomless pit...or, as my mom said when we were kids, like I have a hollow leg to fill.

In the last few days I have eaten the following:
• combo #1 at Taco Bell (soft shell taco supreme, beef burrito supreme)
• 1 pint Ben & Jerry's Mission to Marzipan (yum!)
• half a box of Lemonades GS cookies (do they lace these with CRACK?!)
• 4 Caramel Delight cookies
• Panera bacon spinach soufflé (this is that little quiche thing with the croissant crust)

This is all in addition to more "normal" eating. I stepped on the scale and expected it to read at least 3#s heavier than it did. I was pleasantly surprised. But I know that after tomorrow this has got to stop. Tomorrow is my last 20 miler and then I'm on to taper. If I keep eating like I have in the last 3 days I WILL gain weight...which will slow me down on race day. I seem to recall gaining about 4#s during taper for Milwaukee. Granted, some weight gain is normal during taper, since the body grabs up water as it heals the muscles. But it's still weight I have to lug along on race day. They say a person can expect 3 seconds/mile for each pound...that's -3 seconds for each pound lost, but it goes both ways. So if I were to gain 4#s this taper I can expect to add an extra 5 minutes to my time. Yuck!

Speaking of Swine Flu...as if I need anything else to potentially tweak-out over. I'm not really any more nervous about this particular flu than I would be about your run-of-the-mill flu varieties...except for the fact that there is no vaccine yet and I shouldn't even have to think about the flu this late in the season. As an asthmatic I always get my flu shot and it's generally very effective. Last year was an exception. And I REALLY don't want to go through that again--but least of all within 3 weeks of a goal marathon. Crap, I have trained too long for this and training has really gone well. Plus I have my trail relay 3 weeks after that.

And even if I do survive unscathed...the way this thing has been built-up is pretty nutso. There's a lot of talk in the running community about races being cancelled. I don't think race directors have to refund money in the event of cancellation for weather or plague or whatever, either. *sigh*