Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Going Half the Distance

Soooo, after being injured for months, I decided that I was going to train for - and run - a marathon. Not just that, I was going to run a marathon and kick it in the pants and BQ that mofo.  About a month ago I began a 16 week training plan, and was aiming for a certain lovely flat course in September.

But wait. Do you even have time to train for a marathon? Oh that's right, you're a full-time lawyer with a daily 3-hour commute, a musician, a wife, maintain two blogs AND you're in the midst of packing your things to move across the country.

Sure you have time. If you also have amphetamines.

In the absence of my access to, or willingness to rely on,, illegal substances, I have quickly realized that as my mileage increased, my ability to fit 26 hours of activity into each 24 hour period was rapidly diminishing, if not non-existent. I just don't have the time to train for a marathon (at least right now). Similar to Kristen's recent change of pace, my life outside of running dictates an adjustment in running goals.

On top of that, I feel like I am only just coming into my own as a runner. When I finally do train for, and run, that marathon, I want to KILL IT. I don't just want to finish, I want to run it fast, and not be injured at the end. Right now, I have the fitness, but my legs need to be stronger - much stronger - to do that. I need a lot more miles, and a lot more slow build-up before I can run the 26.2 the way I want to. And to be honest, I care WAY more about running long-term, on a week-to-week basis, to risk getting injured for the sake of one race, with one arbitrary distance to succeed at.

So I decided to abandon the marathon for now, and focus on the half-marathon. I have some time goals in mind, but then main goal is stay injury-free and running happily. A fast time is to be the icing on the cake - not the main meal.

Penny - LR#1


1 comment:

  1. Ok, I must know, what instrument?

    I'm a piano gal myself (started at 7 years old - took lessons through college at Columbia fresh/soph years while studying engineering).

    The last two years, I have been working on teaching myself guitar. It's a slow process but I've semi-mastered a few KT Tunstall songs and some others. Time is the issue.

    ReplyDelete