It has been a while since I felt this good. Today is a rest day but this time I feel like I really deserve this one.

For the first time in seven weeks I have completed all of my training runs during the week. This is huge!

Even better is that there is a an extra bounce in my step today. It can also be because it is Friday and there wasn’t a line in my Starbucks this morning.

Last night was my second Deep Water Running class and so far it is doing what I hoped it would. That is to give me a good, low-impact workout that fits in with my marathon training. I took this a few years ago and enjoyed it then but this would be the first time incorporating into major marathon training.

I always recommend taking this with a good buddy, so of course that meant Doreen was recruited for this. Not that you need to have a good buddy but it helps when you want to be a part of the peanut gallery. Important note: You will be getting a tough workout so there really isn’t an opportunity to fully be peanut gallery-ish.

Since this is my second time at this I have a bit more confidence in what is expected and feel that I am getting a better grasp of my form. With that comes the feeling of getting a good workout in. I love that my legs feel little wobbly when I get out of the pool and having that “you had a good workout last night” feeling when you get up the next morning.

That feel good feeling thing is making me look forward to this weekend’s training and I can’t remember when that last happened.

Eight miles is on the plan for tomorrow, and inspired by my aforementioned buddy Doreen, I’m going to run a route that I haven’t run since November. It’s my go to eight mile route near my house that’s a little flat in parts and a little hilly in others with some great scenery.

Making it’s debut on this run will be some new gear that I’m hoping will help alleviate some of the kidney pain I have been experiencing.

When I was reviewing the things that went wrong on my aborted 17 mile long run and my previous long runs was that at about the five or six mile mark my kidney started to hurt. Yes, this is because I had a shock wave procedure to remove my larger kidney stone. Well that procedure left me feeling beat up and with a very tender kidney. When my trusty FuelBelt rubbed up against that side and caused most of the kidney discomfort.

So I broke down and got myself a CamelBak. I figure this will come in handy for a few reasons but mainly because I’ll be having this procedure again at the beginning of May. My hope is that since this won’t be cutting across my kidney area I’ll be relived of that discomfort of along and can just focus on the usual bits of discomfort that we’re all used to.

This injury has at times taken a toll on me. I’m not used to having such an injury that just completely took me out. It makes me wish for the days when I used to complain about a little tendonitis in the foot or a tight calf.

That is why this week of consistent training has been exactly what I needed — physically and mentally — to get over my little slump.