With running, I'm always amazed how a weekend long run can feel so great and then a super short weekday run can be such torture.

My 17 miles on Saturday were awesome. It was smooth sailing for most of the run.

Last night's five miler was terrible. So terrible, in fact, that I cut it down to a 3 miler because my legs were killing me. I thought a nice slow run would help shake things out. I couldn't have been more wrong.

When I felt my left calf seizing up and my right IT band starting to pull on my knee, I knew it was time to call it quits.

Running can be humbling like that. Just when you think you're on top of the world and are totally ready to tackle whatever challenge you throw at yourself, a short crappy run will knock you down a few pegs and keep your ego in check.

I don't think that's a bad thing. We all need to be reminded every once in a while that we're only human. We're not Superman.

To get back in the game, I'll be spending lots of time this week stretching and foam rolling to get my legs loosened up. I'll probably try something short again tonight. Yesterday was just a building block in the whole marathon training process.

Onward and upward.