This article was originally posted by Charlene at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

This week I planned to front load a 1000 meter interval workout and my long run, take Wednesday off, run easy with strides Thursday and Friday, and race the Crazy Legs Classic on Saturday, and then to take an easy day on Friday. Crazy Legs is a huge 8k with lots of great competition and I was hoping to get good insight into my current fitness. As my 1k repeats went great on Monday I was feeling very optimistic.

Of course God laughs when one plans anything (esp running) and my plan abruptly changed late Thursday night as I came down with a horrible stomach virus that made me wish for death numerous times between bedtime and sunrise. I only seem to get stomach viruses every few years right before races. Friday was not a whole lot better as the most I managed all day was to get out of bed to clean and disinfect my laundry basket. It is hard to be sick when you are Mom and esp when Daddy is away but my own Mom did come to take my littlest one to the farm as he had the day off from school.

I decided quite wisely to cancel my race plans on Saturday and hoped to at least get in my other quality workout for the week on Sunday. My appetite and strength failed to return however and today I set out on my warm up to the track worried that it was too soon for a hard workout. I decided to attempt a tempo run but to back off if it felt icky at all. The temperature had risen from 50 to low 70s degrees since Thursday so I was a little worried about being under hydrated in temps although mild not what I an acclimatized too.

Once I got to the track I noticed a young man training for a Special Olympics Track meet. He told me he came early to practice to enjoy the weather. He also asked for help in training for the 3200. I had a tempo run planned so I thought for a moment and suggested that I run in lane 8 and that he run in lane one but that he should just run every other lap with me. I was hoping to do 5 or 6 miles but only ended up doing 2 as I decided that my body needed one more day as the 2nd mile did not feel right. This was most likely just the right amount of running though for my new friend before his regular practice and he did very well and impressed me with his work ethic.

My appetite finally came back several hours post run so I know that I will be ready to do this tempo on Monday. I only ended up with 36 miles for the week but that was not bad for only 4 days of running. My half marathon is only 3 weeks away and I am not too worried about missing a few days. One low week due to sickness is not so detrimental to training when one has 4 months of good mileage stacked up already this year. The next two weeks I will work hard, then taper one week, and hopefully be in peak condition for Green Bay. That is the plan anyway….

This article was originally posted by Charlene at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

This is an uncomfortable post for me to write. But sometimes uncomfortable things should be talked about.

I live in a small town where very people run. I am known by strangers as, "The girl who runs." I am used to people asking me in the grocery store how far I run each day and that is something that I am sure you all encounter.

A few things though the last few months have started to trouble me. I have always felt safe running. My only worries for my own personal safety have only been about traffic or falling. Like I stated before people often use my running as a way to start a conversation or introduce them self to me. Usually those conversations are quite normal. But lately some of these conversations have been strange. Like people say things that they really should not. Like things that make me think that they might have a somewhat unhealthy interest in my running. I am not a person that is easily offended and as a long time regular of the dive bars in this town I have heard about everything and am quite used to the more suggestive comments that people sometimes make. Most of those comments are actually pretty normal considering the people that they come from. I have some friends in low places. Those type of comments or cat calls no matter how crude are not what I am writing about here.

People sometimes slip up and say more than they mean too. Sometimes this is just a small slip like instead of saying that they see me run they tell me that they watch me run. But then there was the lady in the van that stopped me one day and told me how worried she was about me as she she had been monitoring my weight and my running for years. She repeatedly asked me to get in the van with her. Perhaps she wanted to abduct me and fatten me up -JK. She was an odd one but harmless but the incident did cue me in to the fact that people that I did not know were taking more of a notice of my hobby than I was comfortable with. I think every runner struggles with feeling a little bit self conscious at times but as the years go by we would like to think that we just blend in.

I do a lot of my speed work at the HS track as there are very few safe places to run fast around here. Sometimes there are people there as the infield is used for various practices that do not involve the track. I go ahead and do my workout and just make sure that I stay out of the way and do not run down any small children. One night at a social function a man asked me if I run at the track to show off my body to the dads and the boys. This was the most offensive thing that anyone had ever said to me in my entire life. One other man recently asked me if I think about him when he drives by me. But he stated it in a way that indicated that he thought I ran to attract his attention. Both of these men are from the Dad practice group at the track and are of a profile (married, mid forties, ex jock, and giving off a certain vibe) that way back when I got boobs I decided should be avoided.

Obviously, I sense a lack of respect for female athletes behind these comments. I know that many people perceive women who train to be competitive with all having eating disorders but the whole running to attract male attention really threw me for a loop. That to me is an unhinged rationalization that reminds me of those stories of juries acquitting rapists because the victim was wearing a mini skirt. These comments also lead me to believe that perhaps I am watched more than I ever thought. Part of this is that commentary in general on my running has been increasing in frequency to the point that my friends notice and tell me how weird it is that so many people bring it up. I still feel safe in my little town but I got to admit this totally creeps me out.