"There will be days when I don't know if I can run a marathon. There will be a lifetime knowing that I have."
- Unknown
I came across this quote tonight and I feel like it really sums up how I feel. I didn't meet my original goal of running the Baltimore Marathon, as I have said, I hate running in the heat. So it made training pretty much insufferable. However, I remembered that I didn't mind running in the cold because it is easier for me to be motivated to run. But, despite me knowing that I can probably run the Shamrock Marathon, I am still nervous. There are days when I look at the countdown clock and I have a mini panic attack, and then I realize that if I train I have nothing to be nervous about. And, truthfully I will probably never run a marathon again. Its my 30s bucket list goal and I must accomplish this in March. I want to know that I have achieved a goal that I set for myself in high school. For years I have never thought I could do what I am currently doing, and yet here I am. I want that memory and I want to be a person who has completed a marathon!
So, I have started back up with my training. Over the past few weeks I have been increasing my mileage. A couple of weeks ago I was bouncing between 5 and 10 miles. This week I ran Saturday (6 miles), Sunday (2 miles), Monday (3 miles), and tonight (6 miles). I am still building up my stamina. My lack of training has caused me to take a while to warm-up my muscles. The good news is after about 2 miles my muscles warm-up enough that I can run a relatively flat course continuously at about a 4mph pace. I know that's not super fast, but its a start. Consequently the Divas race that I am running next weekend is through Eisenhower Park and it is billed as a fast flat course. This makes me feel better since it is only 3.5 hours. I know if it isn't a hilly course I can run it fairly quickly. I have a 6 day turn around before I run Baltimore, but I have a 6 hour time limit there and I know for a fact that I will definitely not need that much time :-)
I decided that aside from a recovery run I am taking a week off before beginning full on marathon training. I actually I am going to start at about 10 miles and I think that is a good jumping off point since I will have completed two 13 mile races in a week. That means I will have about 6 months to get to the 26 miles, which I think is definitely doable.
Oh, on a cool note. My friend Kathleen is not only coming to see me run the Shamrock Marathon, but she is going to run her 1st half marathon!!! I am so proud she is committing and trying something new. I also have my father-in-law, husband, bro-in-law, and his girlfriend running a the Headless Horseman 5k on Oct. 27th. Its going to be pretty cool! I am so glad I am making a positive impact on my friends and helping them discover a potential new hobby.
Until next time, happy running!!!
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