This might be what can be called “lousy Smarch weather”.

(Simpsons fans will automatically recognize a line from “Treehouse of Horror VI” for my quotation in the title.)

It’s the beginning of April. It’s supposed to be spring, right? It snowed in the higher elevations earlier today; elsewhere, it was just a cold rain. I didn’t mind all the snow this past winter, but I do have a tipping point when it comes to enduring cold, rainy weather. And I think the volatile weather of late is part of the reason I’m now fighting a cold.

In theory, I could have gone for a run this week; supposedly, that can help fight the effects of the cold at the same time. But after my hill-training session last week in the same dreary cold rain, even I couldn’t face another round, particularly on a planned steeper course. Mind you, hill training is essential for the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon, with a killer hill in the middle of the course.

I know that a runner in Vancouver inevitably has to run in the rain, and I’ve accepted that. But I just might have run into training fatigue. Until this week, I’ve followed my three-day-a-week training program pretty well. And with my schedule busy enough as it is, that is an accomplishment. But have I been overtraining? I still have three more long runs before I taper for the BMO Half. When I told that to a fellow Twitterer who is also training for the same race, she told me that she only has one long run left before the taper. Hmm, I don’t know if there is an ideal taper time; it is different for different people, even different for the type of distance about to be run.

I think the priority for me would be to get better, then get back out and pick up the training where I left off. The rest will certainly get me itching to get back to the running!