The other night I sat at dinner with a few runner friends.
Over a few glasses of wine, the topic turned to marathons, as it is wont to do with a group of runner friends.
There was a lot of talking about how difficult training is, how difficult marathons are, how they’d all gotten slower while marathon training. How they weren’t sure if they had another one in the cards.
I have no idea what my post-Marine Corps race plans look like, but I can tell you I don’t think this will be my last marathon.
This will be my third marathon (first, Chicago; second, NYC!), and while I definitely agree with all of the comments about how difficult marathons are and how intense the training can be, I LOVE IT.
I love waking up on a weekend morning with a huge mileage goal in mind.
I love when I get home, and I’ve achieved that goal.
I love that somehow my body defies the odds, and that I’ve gotten faster for each marathon that I’ve trained for.
While the waking up early took a lot to get used to, I love getting to work with a 9-mile run under my belt.
I love looking at my schedule as a giant puzzle and making sure that the marathon pieces are the next pieces to be laid after the work pieces.
I love the crazy emotions I feel crossing the finish line: pride and happiness for finishing, but a little sadness that it’s all over.
I love that I can do this. I never thought I’d be able to run a half-marathon, much less a marathon, much less be training for my third marathon.
Oh, and I love carbs. Obviously.
Marathons: love ’em or hate ’em?
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I love marathons. I love having a plan. I love having a deadline. I the feeling of accomplishing something I didn't think I could do. I LOVE the feeling afterward. However, the only downside is that it consumes your life.
Ditto. To every single word. Also pretty much every post you write makes me 9 bajillion times more excited to run my first in 12 days!!!
i think i would love marathons if doing a half marathon didn't make me feel like I was about to die after. as in seriously, i was close to going to the ER. but i love that other people can do them!
I love knowing what my training looks like for months down the road. I thrive off of having something to train for and look forward to. I love marathons too! I definitely love the challenge too!
I love the actual marathon (the energy and excitement!) but I don't love the way training sucked my entire weekends dry. People with more energy or who bounce back more quickly than I do have an easier time, but last year my entire weekends were shot. But the race day feeling just might be worth it.
If I keep reading your blog I'm going to find myself signing up for longer and longer races! : )
I LOVE the actual race but not so much the training...
Awesome post!
I loved this post! I love reading half marathon and marathon recaps and hearing how people got involved with running. I want so badly to try both! I really want to do the DC Rock & Roll Half this Spring, but haven't found the courage yet to sign up & start training. Looking forward to reading your recap of the Marine Corps Marathon - good luck!
I did my first marathon on Sunday and had you asked me Saturday or the Saturday before that I would have told you that I would never run another marathon. The training was grueling, and it was so difficult to manage between work+family. Even as I crossed the finish line, my butt literally hurting, I would have said no. Two days later and still basking in the accomplishment, I say maybe. It's hard to run away from the pride that goes along with the medal.
I vowed after running the London Marathon last year that I would never do another marathon again... but now I am so tempted to do it again next year. THey are addictive!!
I love races because it helps me feel like my workouts have a purpose/goal. That said I haven't run a marathon yet. I'm currently training for the Rock n Roll in DC and am completely stoked! What's weird is that I've already started jumping the gun and started to think about the next one before even having a single marathon under my belt!