Hi all, 1st marathon, illness

Hi all, this will be my 1st marathon, and my training was going really well, felt fitter than ever, felt as if i was ready for the day already and stuff, that was until last Wednesday when i became ill, it's very rare i am ill, and up until today i have not been able to move out of bed, and been very ill more than ever, and it's got me down in the dumps considering how close the marathon is.  

As i say it's very rare i'm ill, so is it possible i am over doing it / not eating enough / something else?

I am of course hoping it's just a co-incidence, and i'm hoping to start training on Wednesday again so it will be a week off training.  How much fitness will i have lost?  And what are your opinions on how my training should now be until the day? My aim is to just finish the marathon, although im hoping for under 5 hours, but it's hard to say without ever doing anything like this before.

Before the illness i was training 5 days a week, 2 of those days were long runs, the other 3 were long cardio sessions, with a smaller run included in 1 or 2 of those.

Thanks for any help you can give me, and i look forward to seeing some of you on the big day, just gutted i've had to miss a week off training when i was in 'the zone'.  Cheers, Mason.

Mason, the most important thing is that you are well again before you attempt to resume training.   A missed week may actually have done your body more good than you realise as it will have given various muscles the chance to recover from any niggles you may have and you will have lost little, if any, fitness.

I'm currently about a month behind in my training because of illness, but I'm feeling confident as my last few long runs have gone better than I had expected.   I may not currently be as quick as I would like, but endurance is more important than speed in a marathon, so I know I will get round (based on past experience) - and get better value for money into the bargain!

Cheers for the reply mate, i feel better reading that.  I've decided i won't train until Monday, still feel a bit off it but should be fine by then.  Then that gives me a good 4 weeks to get my fitness up, i think i will be ok on the day, i don't mind having to walk a bit, i just want to finish, the main thing is finishing it for the people who have donated to the charity i am running for.  Looking forward to the day, even though i hate not being able to train!  

your training plan looks intense.. 2 long runs per week id say was overdoing it!!.. im no expert but you could be overtraining by the looks of that schedule.. having a week off may actually help you