Marathon Training Check In

It’s the first week of August and I’m fully enthralled in marathon training. Although I was running in June, because I was so invested in my studio tour, it didn’t really feel like I started my training until July. So it’s now been a month since my brain switched over to marathon mode. I needed to make that mental shift in order to conquer this goal that seemed so personally unachievable for so long. But this blog has been the catalyst to so many new experiences that I decided to take this one on this year.

I love to share. Maybe I overshare, at times (I think my family has gotten used to it by now). But that’s my thing. I have no problem walking into a new environment or situation, scoping out the lay of the land, experiencing the highs and lows, and then telling you all about it so you know what to expect. With running, I am not sharing my mileage as a way to show off my accomplishments (although it certainly helps with accountability and I’ll take every bit of help I can get in the next few months). I share to show you my journey in hopes that it triggers something for someone— whether it be a marathon, a 5K or some other goal they have been putting off this month or their entire life, like me with this marathon. In fact, the reason why I am running the Chicago Marathon in October is because someone shared their experience last year on Instagram. I learned about this particular race and decided that this was the one that I wanted to do and now was the time that I wanted to do it. (Thank you, Stacey).

I recognize that running is not for everyone and most of my readers are not training for anything right now, so I don’t plan bore you guys with only running posts for the next few months. But since the blog is an extension of my life and I write in real time, I may not be able to help myself. So I apologize in advance for being that annoying runner. I’ll do my best to carry on with other aspects of the blog until October 9. I plan to do a few of these training check in’s to update you on my progress and my feelings on training for a marathon. I’d also love to share how I am recovering and what I am eating to fuel my body while I train because these are aspects of training that carry over into other sports and activities.

For those of you who are newer here, I use a running coach. Her name is Megan Robinson and we worked together last fall for the Philly Half Marathon. I have written a few articles about Megan that you can read (here and here). Let’s just say that she is one of the main reasons that I am running a marathon. I’ve done several half marathons before but never had the confidence that I could actually train for and run a full marathon. Even though running is an individual sport, it’s all about the team that gets the runner there. And I get my confidence from my team. More on my “team” in the coming weeks.

I meet with Megan once a month and we discuss the prior month of training and what to expect next. She plans my daily activities and I update her using the Final Surge app. Megan is also “there” after every run I log, responding to the stats that come through on the app. She is very attentive and quick to respond to each and every activity. Sometimes she reacts to my run before I am done my post-run stretch! She’s accountability. She’s expert advice. She’s an empathetic shoulder to cry on. She truly cares about each and every run I do.

So Megan now has me running five days a week. It sounds like a lot but most of that time, it’s just 3-4 miles, and I can easily sneak in a half an hour run most days of the week. I have one long run a week, which I do on Saturdays. And I am resting on Sundays, which is just delightful and much anticipated by Saturday. I always imagined that training for a marathon would involve multiple days a week of long runs that take a ton of time and I never thought I could do that with my job (pre-kids) and then my life (post-kids). I was pretty shocked to learn that my training schedule is so doable. I also never realized that I would be running so slow. Most of my running days are at “easy paces”. I’ve actually never run slower in my life! Slow running, at least for my training, is encouraged because this is my first full marathon and the goal here is just to finish! On my long runs, I find myself telling my running buddy (I’ll get to her in a minute) that we need to slow down.

The long runs are the meat of my training. While I am cardiovascularly ready for this race because of all of the activity I do, the rest of my body is no where near ready to take on 26.2 miles. Your body needs to learn what it’s like to run that distance and the only way to accomplish that is to log in the miles. Life happens and all things can be adjusted but it’s those long run days that I need to hold holy.

Another HUGE help for me is my running buddy, Sara. Sara has done several marathons before so she has tons of advice to offer. I like to say she is a running beast, in the most complimentary way. When Sara turns 40, she wants to run 40 miles and in my opinion, that’s beast mode. But this will be Sara’s first marathon since having her second child in 2020. The last marathon Sara did, she qualified for Boston (shortly after her first son was born! again, “beast mode”). Generally, Sara and I do our long runs together and to spice it up, we visit a different location on our long run days. We will sometimes stick around and make it into a whole day adventure with a post run meal at a new restaurant. And that avocado toast and beer at the end of 14 miles is just about the most delicious reward I can think of.

Another part of my training that totally surprised me is that I HAVE to do other activities. I do yoga one time a week, which I welcome with open arms on Monday mornings. I also need to cross train another day, which I tend to do on Fridays. That can be anything. And for me that’s perfect because I can still visit the studios and do the workouts that I love. One week, I did Pilates. Last week, I went to my favorite spin class. This week I’ll be on the Megaformer in Wilmington. I am hoping to get some swimming in while my pool is still open, and I know that cycling is one of the best compliments to all of the running. And I strength train twice a week. Second in importance to logging in the miles, is building up the leg muscles… especially for this 42 year old body.

Who said training for a marathon isn’t fun? I don’t know why I had this notion of pure torture… and I like to run! But ticking off another training milestone each week is invigorating and exciting. I don't know why I avoided the full marathon for so long. Had I known I was going to embrace training and enjoy it this much, I may have started marathon running a lot sooner in life. All that being said, I am only up to 14 miles (a little over a half marathon). So talk to me at 20 miles and we will see if I still feel the same!