I’m writing this very important, breaking-news blog post from my couch where I have my feet propped up, and I’m from a mixing bowl full of salty carbohydrates. I’m on week 10 of training for a marathon, so this is sort of my m. o. these days.
That’s right, Mom’s training for a marathon.
Before you continue reading, please know that I am being as dramatic as possible about this. I act as if I’m the first person to ever run a marathon, fully knowing that people run marathons all the time. People who are not runners sign up for and complete marathons. People train for marathons on whims, as first races. That happens, truly, all the time.
There are marathoners-on-a-whim, and there are people like me. I’ve been a dedicated runner since I was a teenager, have never missed an edition of Runners’ World, and my entire Instagram feed is mostly professional runners and endurance athletes.
Running a marathon feels like a huge, gigantic, maybe-even-impossible deal to me. Yet, when we mentioned to my brother-in-law that I was running a marathon he was like, “Your FIRST marathon? I thought you had run hundreds of marathons!”
Nope.
I’m a person who has been running for almost three decades, and would tell ANYONE that they should totally run a marathon! You can do it!
But I sort of don’t think I can run a marathon.
The Ashland Half, the world’s worst race. If I finished this then maybe I can do anything?
I say this a lot, but to hear me talk about running, you’d think I was a really experienced accomplished runner. My actual experience and accomplishments as a runner, though? Different thing entirely.
When I was 14 and on the cross country team, racing a 5k absolutely pummeled me. I remember learning about the existence of 8k races and thinking “I will NEVER race that far.” Since then, I’ve been terrified of the marathon. For decades I’ve had so much respect for the distance and the runners that tackle it.
But under all that intimidation there’s also been a lot of curiosity. What if I tried it? It might be awful, but what if it’s not? There’s only one way to find out.
I’m taking this on with the help of a great training plan (shout out Marathon Training Team), my trusty training partner (shout out Cabell), a LOT of support from my husband (shout out Tom), a ton of trepidation, and a teeeeeeeeny bit of excitement.
I’m writing about it here for lots of reasons. The main reason is that I’m nervous to even tell people because I worry that I’ll fail. And if I fail and no one knows, well then no harm no foul. But I also really like to talk about it and process the experience. And if blogs aren’t for writing about big goals and milestones, then what are they even for????Remember when this was part mommy blog and part running blog?!
Plus, I can’t think of a better post-long-run-recovery activity than sitting down with a lot of emotions and a blinking cursor. Plus, I need all the encouragement and advice I can get. Stories about how my soul might leave my body at mile 22? Or about how a marathon is WAY harder than childbirth? I don’t need those. In fact, I might tear a hamstring rolling my eyes at that childbirth one.
What’s helpful is lots of high-fives, success stories, and anecdotes about how running 26.2 miles is both life-changing and also “not really as bad as everyone says!”
On deck: 15 miles this Saturday. Let’s go, team.
Sounds completely terrible!! But ALSO, pumped for you!! You got this!! – Katherine
You can do it! Thinking about it is worse than the actual running! Each mile has its own personality, and there will be tons of people who will be cheering for you along the way!
Go for it!