Being the obsessive planner that I am, I gave myself all of one day after this years half to decide and make a plan if necessary.
I talked about it with my mom, with friends (one of which has the same idea to run the full), and with Ryan. I had to weigh the pros and cons of committing to this idea.
Cons:
The biggest con of training for a marathon is the time commitment. This summer and fall I'll be working and doing my internship. I have no idea what my schedule will be like and how easy or difficult it would be to schedule in time to run every morning. The weekend long runs would not be a problem, I'm used to planning runs on weekends, but finding time to train 4 out of 5 weekdays would be a big challenge.
Another con would be prioritizing on the weekends. Late nights and lots of drinks won't be happening if I have to wake up and run 10+ miles the next morning. Okay let's be serious... I could still enjoy 1 really good beer ;)
Pros:
I'd be running a marathon. I'd be a marathoner. I could brag and buy all the 26.2 stuff that I just drool over now.
Most importantly, I'd be doing something that has only seemed like an impossibility up until recently. When I sit and think about it, I've only been seriously running for about a year. It was last November when I got the idea of training for a half, and I distinctly remember saying "I could never run a full marathon" on numerous occasions. Now, I don't know, I think it could be possible.
So after weighing the pros and cons and getting support from the people I love, I've decided that I'm going to do it. Yes, I know I won't actually start a training plan for months and months and months, but once I made my decision, I knew I had to stick to it.
I immediately started looking online for training plans. This is one I found on the ING New York City Marathon web site for first-time marathoners, and I'll keep this one in mind for what to follow unless I find another that I like more. And I might switch up the Saturdays and Sundays depending on whats going on each weekend.
Mon T W R F Sat Sun Total
| Base | off | 3 | 4 | 4 | off | 6 | 3 | 20 | |
| Week | |||||||||
| 1 | off | 3 | 4 | 4 | off | 8 | 3 | 22 | |
| 2 | off | 4 | 4 | 4 | off | 8 | 4 | 24 | |
| 3 | off | 4 | 4 | 4 | off | 10 | 4 | 26 | |
| 4 | off | 4 | 4 | 4 | off | 8 | 4 | 24 | |
| 5 | off | 4 | 4 | 4 | off | 13 | 3 | 28 | |
| 6 | off | 4 | 5 | 4 | off | 10 | 4 | 27 | |
| 7 | off | 4 | 4 | 4 | off | 15 | 3 | 30 | |
| 8 | off | 5 | 5 | 4 | off | 12 | 4 | 30 | |
| 9 | off | 4 | 4 | 4 | off | 18 | 3 | 33 | |
| 10 | off | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 35 | |
| 11 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | off | 20 | off | 38 | |
| 12 | 5 | 6 | off | 6 | 4 | 13 | 6 | 40 | |
| 13 | off | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 20 | off | 40 | |
| 14 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 6 | off | 13 | 6 | 40 | |
| 15 | off | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 20 | off | 36 | |
| 16 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | off | 15 | 3 | 33 | |
| 17 | off | 5 | 4 | 5 | off | 4 | 6 | 24 | |
| 18 | off | 4 | 4 | 4 | off | 2 | 26.2 | 14+race |
I'M GOING TO TRAIN FOR A MARATHON.
That being said, if anyone reads this and if you're a runner, let me know if you want to be a running buddy and help me with some of these runs next sumer/fall! Until then I'll sign up for occasional runs (hoping to do a 5k next weekend, Turkey Trot, and maybe a new years eve run) and keep in good running shape. Except for this week... you know, midterms and papers and all that fun stuff.
And before I go, I'll leave you with a description of the amazing breakfast I had this morning. Oatmeal with unsweetened almond milk, a diced up apple with cinnamon, cooked then I stirred in some pumpkin butter. Like I said, aaaamazing. :)
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