Thursday, February 9, 2012

Kinda changing my mind about the marathon

Look at the sweet medal I received in the mail earlier this week...

Love getting medals and I haven't raced yet this year :)
It was for running 2 Rock n Roll events last year. Seattle RnR marathon and Las Vegas RnR half.

So I didn't get around to posting a recap of my workout last week.
I ran 18 miles total. The best training day I had was last Friday. I had the day off so I went to the gym in the a.m. and  ran 1.1 miles on the treadmill and did about an hour of weights. Then later that morning went out for a 13.1 mile run! It definitely was an awesome way to start the weekend. But I noticed that I can't lay around the house for too long or it gets harder and harder for me to get out the door. So there was no running on Saturday and Sunday.

This week has started off slow. I have only ran 2 miles. I'm hoping to get to the gym after work and get a few more miles in and some do some strength training too. Which I have to say I am loving! I can feel myself getting stronger and starting to see more definition in my arms. I have mostly been focusing on my upper body but would like to start incorporating lower body too. I just have to find the time for it all.

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So I am having some second thoughts about the marathon. Do I still want to run one this spring. YES. My second thoughts are which one. The one I wanted to run is the Lake Lowell Marathon. The reason I am thinking about running a different one is cause there is only 14 people registered for this one. I'm sure more people will register as it gets closer but I doubt very many more. I just don't know if I want to run pretty much all 26.2 miles alone. Can I do it? Yes, the majority of all my training runs are alone especially the long runs. But I love running races to get that energy from other runners. Especially at the end of the race when all I want to do is stop or walk I focus on runners in front of me and try to "catch" them. I tell myself just keep running till you catch the one up ahead and pass them and so on till I get to the finish line.

The only other option for a local marathon is the Famous Idaho Potato Marathon which I ran last year. It's on May 19th so it's exactly 2 weeks after Lake Lowell. Last year there was around 200 - 250 people. I know the course well since most all my long runs are on it but I didn't like the heat from last year. Guess that means I need to finish faster to avoid it :)

So right now my thoughts are to switch down to the Lake Lowell half marathon and run the Famous Idaho Potato full marathon. But I haven't decided 100% yet.

Any thoughts are welcome...what would you do?

11 comments:

  1. I actual prefer small races - but only 14 people in the marathon? That would be too small for me, personally!

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  2. Both? Just kidding, though I know you could do it!

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    Replies
    1. The thought did cross my mind for a second :) it would put me at marathon maniac status

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  3. Oh gosh! Energy of the racers is my fave

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    Replies
    1. ...part of race day!!! I would def switch races over that! Just cause I train alone doesn't mean I want to race alone! :)

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  4. I think a 5k or 10k with only 14 people would be no big deal, but a full marathon? It'd get really lonely.

    I like your medal, by the way!*

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  5. so my answer is biased, but join me and Kim R for the 1/2 would be my answer :)

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  6. I vote for both. Spend some time in the sauna to get heat trained. I will do this 6 weeks before a race, 2 to 3x per week for 20-30 min. I also wear running cloths as if it's 20 deg cooler outside to let my body adjust. Go slow with the first marathon and max recovery between. You can do this.

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  7. I tend to feed off all the other runners, so the more the merriier. Marathons with very little people would make me very lonely. I know you have it in you to do both.

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  8. I think I would do the Lake Lowell as a half and the other as a full. I wish there were more spring marathons around here. The closest one I could find is 6 hours away..boo.

    Love the Rock and Roll medal!

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  9. Last year the majority of the people who ran the Lake Lowell Marathon signed up at the last minute. I was one of them! My reason, as was the case for others, was that I didn't want to sign up before the price went up just in case I had a conflict or worse got injured. It was a fun event and the volunteers / aid stations were great. I liked the country atmosphere. My wife was one of the slower 1/2 runners and it worked out by chance that we got to finish our races together which was really cool too.

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