Fresh slates are additive for me. Mornings, Mondays, 1st of the month, and the creme de la creme JANUARY! I have been letting myself start goals early [meaning, right when I decide to do it, whether it be the afternoon, the 15th of the month, or March] lately, which means I have a running to do list of items needing to be checked off at all times. But January brings order and determination with it, and so I seem to set my grandest goals at this time of year! With my goals written out, posted in my most often view areas, and broken down into steps [yeah for manageable segments!] I have busted through the 2012 starting gates and am feeling great! One of my resolutions is not yet set though, and currently, I'm okay with that. I created this blog to track my progress back to the marathon starting line, and all the wonderful adventures that I encounter along the way with my little family. Now, I'm wavering as to whether I will be doing another marathon in the next couple of years, or whether I will stick to the half marathon distance. Here's the internal debate:
Marathon
[POSITIVES] lofty and courageous goal; feels great to finish; only a small percentage of the population will ever even attempt a marathon, and fewer will complete one [or more in my case ;)]; [OBSTACLES] time consuming training plan which is trickier than a rubixcube with a young family in tow
Half Marathon
[POSITIVES] long enough distance to challenge me and keep me interested; easy on my body; training fits my schedule; more races to choose from; more training partners to run with [a serious plus!] [OBSTACLES] does not give me the same thrill that a marathon doesAnd so you see, they're both great options, but neither is completely perfect for me right now. Either my family will need to make great sacrifices so I can run another marathon right now, or I will change my mental state and meet the half marathon with the same zeal and passion of a marathon. One of my sisters, who is also a runner and my favourite person to run with, suggested running back to back half's [for example one on Saturday then another on Sunday] which would be a challenge, and may just be the tipping point towards the half for me.
January is rolling along, the rest of my goals are formed and stepping along to greatness, and soon enough my running goals will be solidified and ready to pursue full throttle.
Both are fantastic - which would you choose?
I've only done one marathon and it was fun and I'd like to do another but I think, at least while I have small children, I'll stick to half marathons. Like you said, training for a full marathon is way more time consuming and I was still nursing my youngest which I think was too taxing on my body. So, I'll be sticking to halfs for a while, I think.
ReplyDeleteWell considering the longest run I've done yet is a 10km. I would starry with the half. I think the question is what is the goal behind the goal? Be fit and have fun? Or rock a new challenge and push yourself to the limit? Is the reward of the sacrificd worth the cost. I think you are amazing for doing both. I'm going to set more firm goals now for myself. Thanks for the motivation!
ReplyDeletei love a half marathons. you can do them without training (ok admittedly not the best idea...but very possible). marathons are kind of overwhelming.
ReplyDeletei can't run as much as i used to. too hard on my old lady bod. every time is see people running on a beautiful sunny day i feel kind of sad....but i dont miss the constant aches and pains.
i'm all about the yoga these days.