18 miles and 20 to go...

Long lapse.. I know.
Well this past week has been super frustrating as I've been trying to shrug off some sort of a cold I came down with on Sunday. It's now Friday and it doesn't seem to want to let me get better. It has now morphed into the sniffles, a rattling cough, and sore throat. Not to mention the killer headache that arrived yesterday and hasn't left since. Enough complaining though- is only really getting to me because I couldn't train all week. We had our longest run yet last weekend of 18 miles! I did it like a champ and finished strong in 3 hours 19 minutes. My legs were killing me towards the end with some crazy muscle cramps but I kept on going. Luckily I hooked up with a new group of ladies that are still in training as my old group either got injured or were only doing the VA beach 1/2 over Labor Day. Then I ran with an interim group who is awesome but they were running at a much faster rate than I was and I was finding it increasingly harder to keep up. It was great to have them to push me along for the 16 miler a few weeks ago and I ended up running straight the first 10 of that with their support and then lagged back to run/walk again. That ended up being a horribly hot and humid day and everyone by the end was exhausted. I even caught up with the group in the last three miles and finished it out with one of the guys which was nice to have someone to talk to again!
So back to my new group of ladies.... They are all doing the Marine Corps. except one who's in the Nike with me, FINALLY I met someone else in the Nike! I know we won't be best friends, but hey- it's someone to run with!! They were doing a 4:1 ratio which I thought was going to be a LOT slower than what I'm used to with the 6:1 but on that 18 miles those 4 minutes were the longest of my life! The ratio worked well and I think I would have just about dies if I had been going any faster. We made good time and kept up a solid 10:30-11 min. pace the entire time which was really good. The way we were going we were right on target for a 4:30-5 hour marathon. Which feels good. Erik caught up with us and doubled back to finish the last 4 or 5 miles with us too which was fun. He ended up running about 23 miles which is just INSANE though. Crazy man. I liked running with him though.
This weekend we have a down week, ONLY 10 miles. Which is a very good thing considering I have low expectations for feeling any better come tomorrow at 6am and 10 miles will still be pushing it with the way I'm feeling. Erik and I are signed up for the Army 5 Miler on Sunday as well but I think I might be joining him as just a spectator since I certainly don't want to push it anymore. Weekend after this one we have the longest run in our training which is the big 20 MILES! I'm nervous but excited that I have this group to run with now. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that I can perk up and get back to full training by next week.

Anyone got any fundraising ideas??? I am SO far away from my goal and I'm dying for any help here. Anyone want to help me plan something? Thanks!!