Marathon: One Month Out

Today is October 10. This means that one month from today I’ll be running the Richmond Marathon! I still have the 20 mile long run to do, but after that, it will be time to taper (reducing my mileage until the marathon).

To be honest, training for a marathon is not at all as scary as I thought it would be. IT took me two years of running half marathons to finally decide to run a full. I thought training was going to suck. Not really sure why I thought that, since I love training for half marathons! My longer-mid week runs were what I was worried about.  They didn’t suck! During the summer, I felt great about doing my 7 milers in the morning before work. My 5 milers after work aren’t bad either. I’ve said before, and I know this from training for half marathons, is that I really like having a goal and a set training plan! I like checking off the miles. The only big differences is that I’m running many more miles and the long runs take longer. During half marathon training, I probably maxed out at about 22 miles a week. Now I’m running about 30ish, and in reality its not THAT much more.

That being said, I wouldn’t mind training for another marathon in the future.

Obviously I’m no marathon expert, but here’s what I’ve learned so far during three months of marathon training:

• Not every run will be fast. I’ve gotten considerably slower because I’ve dropped all speed training and I’m focusing on distance. Its one or the other for me right now! Although I’m thinking about running some of my runs during the next five weeks at my marathon goal pace…or what I want to be my goal pace (10:30/mile).
• Finding good running shoes is so so so important. The first half of my training was spent searching for the right running shoes–and I think I’ve finally found them. After buying too small a size at first, I finally nailed it–the Brooks Adrenalines! They felt great on my 19 miler and didn’t really think about them at all during my run…which was my goal.
• I am capable of more than I think. Before I started training for this marathon, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it. I always felt beat after a half marathon, so how could I run double that? I’ve learned to trust my training! The last few miles of a long run aren’t going to be pretty–but that’s what training is! Pushing yourself beyond your ability.
• It was a good decision to train for a fall marathon. My last few long runs have had pretty decent weather temperature-wise. The leaves are also really pretty right now and it doesn’t hurt to spend 3.5 hours running by pretty scenery! This might be my favorite part of training right now. And the pumpkin beer consumed afterward doesn’t hurt either. 🙂

Are you trained for a marathon? If so–what have you learned from it?