The "M" Word

It has been almost six years since I ran my first half-marathon, almost 8 years since running became a part of my life. I never would have pictured myself running a half marathon when I first picked up running just as a way stay in shape. But two years later, I did, and at that point I knew I wanted to run a full marathon someday...6 years have passed. Running has been one of the few constants in my life since then. With a packed school and work schedule, I didn't know if I would ever find the time to train for another half marathon, let alone, a marathon, but I kept running as much as I could...for stress relief, if nothing else. Now that I'm done with school, settled in a job, and finally finding more time to venture out for my runs, I think it's time to reach that goal that I made years ago.



When I joined Daily Mile and pointed you to my training widget (to the right), you may have noticed it was entitled "Marathon Training." I've been very hesitant to share my goal of training for a Marathon. It's so much easier to say I'm training for a half marathon, because even if I skip a few runs here and there, the consequences won't be detrimental, and I'll still make it across the finish line...even if my time is a half-hour slower than I had hoped for. But "Marathon" ushers in a whole new level of commitment. It's not something that I can pull off with a few weeks of training or even a few months. In fact, I started a full six months in advance to pick my race, my training plan, and to begin picking up the mileage.



I'm about 5 weeks into my initial increase in weekly mileage, and it looks like I'm going to break 30 miles for the week. I ran 10.4 miles this morning, and somehow I feel a little bit more confident...well confident enough to share my goals without wondering if I'm going to end up failing miserably at some point along the way. I know there will be obstacles along the way and that I may not reach my goal time, but my main goal with my first marathon is to finish it...all 26.2 miles, whether I run, jog, walk, or crawl across the finish line.

As a way to keep you involved, I'm going to post my training plan every week and keep you updated with how the training is going from week to week. If you get hooked and want to come witness my very first marathon, plan to be in Memphis on December 4th, 2010 for the St. Jude Memphis Marathon. Or if you want to make your own goal to run and help support St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, they have a 5K and a half marathon too...or you can run the marathon with me ;).

Hope to see you there!