Waiting is the hardest...

In February I registered for the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM), my first marathon, and in the months since then, I have been nervously, excitedly, and impatiently waiting for training to start in the end of June.  Wednesday, however, I signed up for my running charity, Run to Remember, which raises money for the National Hospice Foundation and hospice care.  So even though my official 18 week training schedule will not begin till the last week in June, I have decided that marathon training season has started!  I hope this blog will give me an outlet for the highs and lows of training; help hold me accountable; and let my friends and family follow my training.

The idea of running a marathon has been floating around in the back of my head ever since I started running, but I don’t think I actually ever thought I’d be brave enough to take on the challenge.  This January, however, something just clicked and I wanted this year to be the year to try it!

For me, signing up for a marathon is not as simple as deciding I want to run one.  To run outside, I need a running partner to guide me (too bad guide dogs can’t guide while running, right?).  This means finding someone who wants to train with me and run the same race as me at my speed.  Although some runs can, and will, be run on a treadmill, the bulk of training needs to be outside.  I had no friends that were able or interested in training for a marathon.  In spite of my best efforts, I could not convince my husband that he wanted to run a marathon, although he happily offered to drive me to long runs and run during the week with me.  So I turned to the local running clubs for a long run and race day running partner.  I was very happy with the responses I got to the emails I sent out, and surprisingly, I actually had quite a few choices of who to run with.  This is especially great since I am not a particularly fast runner.  Having never run with someone I am not very comfortable with, this will be one more part of the challenge of the experience. 

The next months between now and October 30 are going to be about challenge, dedication, and personal growth.  Running a marathon isn’t just about the physical demands of running 26.2 miles.  It’s about having the dedication to stick with an intense running schedule over 18 weeks.  It’s about making sure I make smart nutrition choices so as not to undermine my running efforts.  It's about trusting that I can train my body to this high level of athletic achievement. It’s trusting in someone who at the moment I’ve never met to guide me through weeks of long runs leading up to navigating a race field of 30,000.  The months between now and October 30 are going to be about putting all of my physical and mental effort into a goal that has become very important to me.