Back in January, I signed up for a marathon in January 2020. I was focused and ready. I knew this was going to be my best year yet, and I would finally finish a marathon. I was going strong for six months.
And then I broke my leg.
I was devastated at the time. I figured that was it, marathon chances out the door. Before I got the cast-off, I started thinking, maybe I could still do this. I was well trained before so I can recover quickly! Once the cast was off, my optimism began to wear off. It was a struggle even to walk. The doctor had me wait a few weeks to start running. I did and then started out really slow.
It felt like I was never going to get to two-mile runs, let alone 20. I gave up on the idea of a marathon. Again. September came, and I would have been starting a marathon plan. I was depressed a bit. I decided I would never run a marathon.
I spoke with my running coach and asked to get back on the schedule for October. She asked about the marathon, and I told her I wasn’t planning to do it. I didn’t want to defer to January 2021 or drop to the half marathon, so I was planning to do the 10K in January.
I got my October schedule and looked it over. I was a little surprised at the number of miles, including long runs. I asked her if she was still planning for me to run the marathon. She said no, but we ended up talking a bit about it, and I decided to give it a try.
I am running a goddamn marathon in January.
Depending what plan you look like I am either 4 weeks or 2 weeks behind or right on schedule. I am definitely not planning to push myself for my original time goal. My only goal for January is to finish twenty-six point fucking two. When I finish, I can always decide to go for a better time at another marathon. My first and only goal right now is to complete a marathon finally. I feel like I’ve been chasing this dream for several years. I need it to happen.
I want to try to document this journey better than I have been. I want to try to write a weekly post about training.
So here’s a little mini summary of marathon training, week 1:
Monday:
3.25 miles
Glute-focus total body weight lifting
Tuesday:
2.05 miles
Upper body focus total body weight lifting
Wednesday:
4.05 miles
Thursday:
2.0 miles
Lower body focus total body weight lifting
Friday:
Rest day (mental health break)
Saturday:
6.1 miles
Sunday:
Rest
Total miles run: 17.45
Mile goal for October: 90-ish miles
What’s one goal you’ve been chasing for a while and really want to accomplish?
As always, I post my daily workouts on Instagram and Twitter if you want to follow along!