Ok. So I’ve been on the fence about this whole running-a-marathon-thing.
Some reasons FOR:
- Right now I have plenty of time to run a lot with my part-time work gig
Tip: Don’t move to CA and plan to continue a career in education
- SoCal weather is very conducive to running a lot
- I have people to train with, and they run near my pace
- I have several half marathons under my belt
- I’ve been running over 30 miles per week for the last month, comfortably. And enjoying it.
- Personal preference for longer distances (read: 5ks are not comfortable)
- At least I’m not a guy (<—source)
Some Against:
- I’ve been lucky and able to run pretty injury-free…since starting to run, with the half marathon being my longest distance (well, 15 mile training runs). I don’t want to break myself.
- I don’t want to jump into a marathon solely because it’s the “next thing to do” after a half or feel like I should because so many people I know have run marathons and beyond. And I don’t know if that’s why I’m considering it.
- Planning travel (i.e. flying back east to see family. or for fun.) is tricky in the middle of marathon training
- Marathons are more expensive than half marathons
- Freak collapses/deaths at races freak me out. I just scheduled a physical.
I guess it comes down to:
1. Just because lots of people run marathons, does that mean it’s a good idea for me? AND
2. I don’t want to hurt myself. Because I want to keep running.
I have a friend who runs at a similar pace running her first full at Long Beach (October 7).
I had it in the back of my mind that I would run the half marathon in my town on November 4th since it’s close, cheap, and pretty flat (another opportunity for sub-2 if I need it). There’s also a marathon on the same day, but I hear that things get a little lonely after the half marathoners split off, and I don’t know if that’s ideal for a first marathon.
I should also add: a few weeks ago I won a free entry to the Griffith Park Trail Half Marathon which is on November 17th.
Thoughts on the subject are appreciated!
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And now for last week’s running (May 7-13):
Monday: Awful attempt at a hill run at 11:30am on a 90 degree day. 3.39 miles/SLOW pace.
Tuesday AM: 4.81 miles on hilly roads & a trail/avg pace of 9:50 with 3 miles between 8:53-8:58.
Tuesday PM: 5.21 miles at the Track: 4x400m, 4x400m, 4x300m
Thursday: 5.57 miles on hilly roads/9:23 avg pace excluding the cool down
Saturday: 13.83 miles. Included a nice mile-long climb, the rest was flat/9:56 avg pace excluding the cool down
Total Weekly Miles: 32.80
