I'm in trouble

I'm in trouble. Really. That's the short of it. And here's the reason:

I went for a short run today. I didn't plan on going fast; I figured that I would do an east 3 miles or so, and take about 25-26 minutes at least, and really, I planned on holding it down so that it would take me almost 30. After all, it was hot, sunny, and I had spent several hours at a park already, chasing after DS on his bike, and 3 of his friends. Plus pushing them all on swings, teeter-tottering, climbing up ladders, going down slides, and so forth.

And, it felt fairly easy. But it was fast. Too fast. I'm talking like under 22 minutes.

Oops.

So much for taking it easy.

I didn't hurt myself or anything. But it's not a sustainable pace for a marathon. Not yet, at least for me. So, all my other runs for the week (such as they are, with the Sunburst marathon on Saturday) have to be on the hamster pad, at a set speed, just so I can remind the legs of the pace they are supposed to hold. I have no desire to crash and burn on this race - if nothing else, because I have to drive back home afterwards.