I am not sure that I have yet disclosed this, but I will be running a marathon in October. It will be my first full marathon. I told my husband for a few years now that we were going to do one and this year, the one I wanted to do we both actually were available for. We’ve been saying we were going to do it and ran a half last month to see where we were and we were going to, going to, going to.
We hadn’t registered though. That was a scary thing, registering to run over 26 miles. I am usually the one to register us for these things but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. So, I was having a real bad day one day and next thing I know I get an e-mail saying I’m registered for the marathon. My wonderful husband decided it would make me feel better. It, of course, did. Once registered, there’s no turning back. That’s the final step in actually doing it for me. Once I’m committed, it doesn’t matter how much I want out!
I will admit, I am a bit behind on training. I’ve only been doing my normal 3-5 miles regularly and realized that it was time to step up the miles a little bit. While my wonderful husband is home this month (most of this month at least), I decided instead of getting up earlier or taking up the weekends, I would run to work a couple of times. It’s 10.5 miles there so it will get me a couple good long runs in before I start having to step up the mileage again.
Today was my first run to work. I was a little worried about it. It’s not the best route in the world. Busy streets, detours to stay on sidewalks, under overpasses. I was worried about how I would feel sitting at my desk after a run as well but, the day is going by faster, I am more alive than usual and I am just ready to go still.
I was surprised. I did get turned around when I had to take the pedestrian detour around the on ramps. There were three exit ramps that needed to be taken for pedestrians to not have to be in the road to keep going the same direction. And it wasn’t just off and back on and through, it was off and around and across and over and through and the signs are all meant for vehicles so point pedestrians in the wrong direction. I almost stopped to call someone and say I needed a ride the rest of the way! But, I figured it out much easier than I thought I would when I first got caught up in it and once I got through that, the sidewalks were back and went straight through (for the most part).
I also wore a hydration pack for the first time ever during a run. When I did my half, I didn’t like having to stop for water because it slowed me down and that time I was actually competing. So, my wonderful husband bought me a CamelBak for runners and I tried it out for the first time today. I carried 2 liters of water plus my phone and keys and breakfast and it was surprisingly unnoticeable. I was excited about that because I knew it would be handy to have one for a marathon (and I don’t like the water belts or hand carries) and it did not disturb my running at all.
So now I’m ready to go! I made my training plan and there’s no turning back! I think I am going to wonder once or twice why in the world I would decide to run 26.2 miles, but I need to say I was able to do it so I’m going to do it!
We hadn’t registered though. That was a scary thing, registering to run over 26 miles. I am usually the one to register us for these things but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. So, I was having a real bad day one day and next thing I know I get an e-mail saying I’m registered for the marathon. My wonderful husband decided it would make me feel better. It, of course, did. Once registered, there’s no turning back. That’s the final step in actually doing it for me. Once I’m committed, it doesn’t matter how much I want out!
I will admit, I am a bit behind on training. I’ve only been doing my normal 3-5 miles regularly and realized that it was time to step up the miles a little bit. While my wonderful husband is home this month (most of this month at least), I decided instead of getting up earlier or taking up the weekends, I would run to work a couple of times. It’s 10.5 miles there so it will get me a couple good long runs in before I start having to step up the mileage again.
Today was my first run to work. I was a little worried about it. It’s not the best route in the world. Busy streets, detours to stay on sidewalks, under overpasses. I was worried about how I would feel sitting at my desk after a run as well but, the day is going by faster, I am more alive than usual and I am just ready to go still.
I was surprised. I did get turned around when I had to take the pedestrian detour around the on ramps. There were three exit ramps that needed to be taken for pedestrians to not have to be in the road to keep going the same direction. And it wasn’t just off and back on and through, it was off and around and across and over and through and the signs are all meant for vehicles so point pedestrians in the wrong direction. I almost stopped to call someone and say I needed a ride the rest of the way! But, I figured it out much easier than I thought I would when I first got caught up in it and once I got through that, the sidewalks were back and went straight through (for the most part).
I also wore a hydration pack for the first time ever during a run. When I did my half, I didn’t like having to stop for water because it slowed me down and that time I was actually competing. So, my wonderful husband bought me a CamelBak for runners and I tried it out for the first time today. I carried 2 liters of water plus my phone and keys and breakfast and it was surprisingly unnoticeable. I was excited about that because I knew it would be handy to have one for a marathon (and I don’t like the water belts or hand carries) and it did not disturb my running at all.
So now I’m ready to go! I made my training plan and there’s no turning back! I think I am going to wonder once or twice why in the world I would decide to run 26.2 miles, but I need to say I was able to do it so I’m going to do it!