Late winter/early spring half marathon. Marathon training. Fall marathon.
Repeat.
With the exception of early 2011, I’ve been in a pattern that I’m ready to break.
I haven’t talked much about it because I wasn’t sure I was sure, but I’m starting to feel really good about my decision to not run a marathon this calendar year.
Duke and I on a trail by the James River on Saturday. More trail runs are definitely in store for us this year.
I don’t have that itch anymore. It’s gone.
I thought running the Shamrock Half Marathon might strike up some desire to do 26.2 again later this spring or early fall.
But nope. It’s just not there.
I’m pretty excited about the next few weeks of running — the Monument Avenue 10k is going to be a pure fun event with my sister. I can’t even begin to hint at what is going to happen that day because it may cause me to break out the word “epic.”
A week after that I’ll be tackling Mill Mountain in the Blue Ridge Half Marathon. Many of my runs in the next two weeks will be focused on hills.
Hills, hills and more hills. Except for the complete flatness in Ohio this weekend.
It may be some of that “too little too late” type of training — similar to the speedwork I did for Shamrock — but I’m excited about this challenging event. I’m approaching it with more focus than a year ago, but not enough that I’m taking it too seriously.
After that I have a nice huge gap on my race calendar. Nothing is even on my radar from mid-April to mid-November. That will change, but I like not having this self pressure to turn my focus on “what’s next” with training.
This past weekend I realized how much I’ll enjoy doing some different things this spring and summer. I did a short trail run on Saturday with Duke and a 40-minute bike ride on Sunday. It was such a nice change from a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call to go run for 90-120 minutes.
A year from now I could very well be focused on a marathon again, but I’m not peeking into my crystal ball to worry about that. For now I’m happy with what’s ahead and it’s been a while since I have felt that way.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
It sounds like you know what you need. Sometimes we just get so focus on a goal that we forget that it is about enjoying the run. Enjoy those hill repeats
I have to do some of those too..ugh…I hate hills!
Sounds like you are focused on what is right for you, so the rest should just fall in place.
Good for you for being easy on yourself. Fun is so important yet so easy to forget about when you’re always focused on nothing but training. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes after April.
Sometimes its good to step out of the norm for a while. Sounds like you have given this some thought. Can’t wait to hear about the “epic” event with your sister. Oops, there’s that word!
This is a great approach. Look forward to seeing what comes next.