So today marks day three since I last ran, though there's still a chance that I might go tonight. I really don't think this few days of rest is a bad thing, since my leg is still giving me odd twinges when I walk. I'd planned on testing it a little this morning, but a late showing of Batman Begins and a nice pint of Newcastle were enough to tip the balance in favor of an extra hour of sleep.
In terms of where I am now with my running, that still being "marathon recovery phase", I deem both "injury avoidance" and "sleepiness" to be good reasons to forego a run. Generally though, I play a lot of mind games with myself just to avoid reverting to excuses. It's just so easy to come up with some sort of reason as to why it's better to just skip a workout. On a grey and drizzly day non-runners are prone to making the observation, "But it's raining!", but the weather has to be the last consideration on your mind if you're really serious about training for a goal. The phrase or mantra that I found most effective this last time around was, "How bad do you want this?" ("This" being the three-hour-marathon) And the answer was always, "Pretty damn bad". It worked every time and unfortunately, I guess I'll be using that line again soon.