The Good, The Bad and the Desperate

I'm now two weeks into my training program in which I'm sticking to the mileage Runners World gave me, and to the advice of all trainers -- never increase mileage by more than 10% a week. It's going very well. I ran 3 miles today. Up and over Twin Peaks from the house. I had a great time.
I'm still having very minor pains, my pain tolerance being so high that I'm sure this is nothing more than my own neurosies. However, this is the reason for caution. I did have a very strange situation from mile 2.25 - mile 2.75. My right leg was cramping up. Not just the quad, but the hamstring as well. My entire thigh seemed to be working on revolt. I think my IT Band joined in just for fun as well. The irony is that mile 2.25 is where the route actually levels off Anyone ever have this happen? What did you do? By following the advice of all the people I've asked for advice, then well, I should be back on the road logging lots of miles in no time.
Which brings me to the Good, the bad and the desperate. THE GOOD: running 3 miles with almost no pain is amazing. It was a glorious time this morning being on the top of San Francisco as the sun rose over downtown. It was warm and gorgeous. Adding to the greatness of it all is the fact that I am speeding up. In the past few weeks I've been able to cut 2 seconds off my average pace. I'm down to 9'34!!!!! (This average includes 60 miles logged while training for the marathon.)
THE BAD: I have to say that the most defeating and difficult thing about running at this stage is coming to terms with the fact that 3 miles is a great run and a great distance! Once you've trained for and run a marathon, it's hard to accept anything short of 8 miles as worth even leaving the house. I think this was part of the slowness in getting back on track for me. I often had that thought that it just wasn't worth getting dressed if I was going to be out there running for 20 minutes. In the end I've conquered it, but be aware, should this happen to you.
THE DESPERATE: The recent success has me very excited about running again, and I'm looking forward to sneeking a jog with DJ on the morning of the wedding. He'll kick my ass, but that doesn't matter. I'm starting to look at the possibility of training for another marathon. This time, slowly and with lots of speedwork. Did someone say BOSTON?

Week in Review:

Miles: 5

Time: 46:42

Average: 9:20

Overall Impression: Believe It Or Not I'm Walking On Air. I Never Thought I Could Feel So Free! (BIONIWOA. INTICFSF!)