It has been months since I've made a post, and since Daniel finally did his, its my turn. This is going to be a pretty yawnworthy post completely about myself. Pretty much everyone who knows me knows that I love to run. I can distinctly remember my first run. I was 10 years old and my grandpa let me run a mile with him at the bike path at Zane's Landing. We didn't stop for any walk breaks, and I thought it was the greatest thing ever. I ran little distances here and there with my grandpa through junior high, and we did a few 5-k and 10-k runs together. Freshman year of highschool, I joined the cross country team and ran all four years. I was never too fast or competitive, but loved the sport for what it was. When I got to college, i decided that I wanted to challenge myself and tackle a half marathon. My first half was in Columbus in the middle of august... big mistake! It was 90 degrees and the course had very little shade. Two years later I decided to try again and ran the Glass City half marathon. It was in early April, and once again plagued with hot weather. After having been in the 30s and 40s for months, race day was a freakish 85 degree day. After the race, I promptly ignored running for the wedding, honeymoon, work, and everything else that has gone on in the last 10 months.
Last week I saw that registration for the Chicago Marathon was opening and once again, caught the running bug. I went ahead and registered for my first full marathon! I completely whimped out this winter and have only been running here and there, usually on the dreadmill. I decided that it was time to man up, get outside, and get back to regular running. I went out today and it was perfect. Still a few inches of snow on the ground and crisp cold air but not too windy.
I haven't decided on my exact training plan yet, but am leaning towards hal higdon's. I followed his intermediate plan for both of my halfs and felt well prepared each time. I am thinking about doing the half training up until the point of the 9-mile long run, then switching to the marathon plan. This will make it about 20 weeks of training. In the meantime, I am just going to focus on rebuilding my base and staying injury-free.
The race isn't until Oct10, so there is plenty of time to go, but I am glad to have a new goal in mind. In the meantime, I want to rewatch Spirit of the Marathon. For those who haven't seen it, it is pretty motivational. It follows people of different abilities (a first timer, an old guy, and elites) through their training and race day for a Chicago marathon. 8 months and counting!
