The Not-So-Marathon

4 5K's +3 half marathons + 2 marathons =  104.1 miles 

As most of you have figured out by now, I didn’t run the Chevron Marathon instead I did the Aramco Half completing it for the 3^rd year in a row. Ultimately it was the best choice for me, although I was the die-hard captain encouraging everyone to train hard and do the marathon last year. I’m not sure exactly when I fell away from the goal of doing marathon maybe it happened in bits and pieces now that I give it more thought.

I have always been the poster woman for “running is awesome” “if I can do it anyone can” and I always would explain it this way – When I started running the closest gym to me at the time was about 20 minutes away and I figured a good work out would take 45 minutes (at least right?) so why go to the gym taking an hour and a half out of my evening when I could walk right outside my house and run for 30 minutes and end up at my own front door! Running is awesome!

Except at the peak of my training I would go out for an 8 mile run on a week night and take me over an hour and a half, come home stretch and shower and taking up almost two hours of my evening at home! or a Saturday morning for a 17 mile run?! Wait what? How did that happen?!

The answer is easier than you think, if you ever thought running was impossible and suddenly you train and realize you can run 3 miles, you feel invincible! You feel like you’ve accomplished something you didn’t realize your body could do, so if you can run 3 miles that must mean you can run 6 miles and if you can do 6 miles you must be able to do 12 miles and 12 miles is almost a half marathon, right? Of course if you can do the half marathon you must be able to do a full marathon. See easy right?

Not so easy, some of us take more work than others. In the end I knew I could do the marathon just not in the time allotted to do it (6 hours). I had become quite obsessed with the idea that I could do it too, no matter the time it took, or the pain (running injuries) or the stress. Then we went on vacation and it was the first time I missed two of my long runs, although I made a vow to run while on vacation I quickly gave into the fun and relaxation instead. I came back thinking I would make up for lost time but I found myself stressing out about it more not to mention covering up nagging injuries. I found that just a few years earlier when I first started running and when I was healthier and fit and full of energy I now was sore, tired and just plain worn out (and hungry)!!

One morning during Christmas break I woke up worried about not having gone out for a run like I was supposed to on my training plan, I made up my mind that I would bust out the jogging stroller and I would take my little bear with me on a run. Until that is, my little bear crawled into bed with me – I asked her about going with me on a run and she said yes and we both fell right back to sleep. Maybe that'e when I made up my mind...

One day I’ll meet that 26.2 for now 13.1 will do the trick :)