Is There a Marathon in My Future?

I was sitting having dinner with a good friend on Thursday evening.  Dinner was delicious – couscous, green pepper, onion, tilapia all together with a citrus vinaigrette.  We each had a glass of cold chardonnay.  It had been a long, hot day and it was nice to have adult conversation with dinner.

My friend, in the middle of our meal, looked over at me and asked if I had considered running the Wineglass Marathon this October.  I nearly dropped my fork.  While I may not have portrayed true panic on the outside, I think my stomach actually tied itself in knots right then.  My verbal response was no.  My ultimate goal, when I set the goal to run a race a month for this year, was to run most of these same races again next year and then run Wineglass next October, a month after turning 50.

For those of you who may be visiting for a first time, let me say I never ran early on in my life.  I became a runner in 2007, starting Labor Day that year.  I never called myself a runner until this year.  I never ran a race until December of 2009.  Since that 5K in December in Seneca Falls, I have run 2 half marathons (Celebrate Life and the Skunk Cabbage), 2 additional 5Ks, a 10 miler (the Mountain Goat in Syracuse), the Vestal XX (the oldest road race in my home county of Broome, NY – 20K), and the Boilermaker 15K.

So, Friday morning came around and I slept in, as I had a few days earlier in the week.  I had said I was going to do 5K Fridays.  I had to get up and run – before the heat and humidity was ugly.  I did, eventually.  As I ran, I thought.  Could I pick up my training?  I am already running between 25 and 35 miles a week.  Would I be able to find a reasonable marathon training program that would fit into the life of a single mom and into where I currently am?

After getting back from the 5K run, I showered and ate.  More thoughts through my mind.  More questions forming.  As I was having a bagel, I popped open my laptop.  I went to the same site I had gotten my half marathon training program from and looked at marathon training programs.  Novice ones were hardly any miles at all.  They scared me – not enough real long runs in them.  I looked at the two intermediate programs.  I counted the weeks until Wineglass.  It is doable.

I, then, looked at a few more programs.  I decided I need a hybrid one.  I have not done any cross training to date.  I have not done any speed work to date.  I am going to make a program that will incorporate most of the training program I found that I liked with some speed work, as there is none in it.

Today, I rearranged my life and registered for a September race other than the Dogfish Dash.  I can go to Dogfish next year.  I can’t be driving to Delaware, to a race sponsored by a brewery, the week before my first marathon.  I had already registered for a half marathon in August which happens to fall on a week in training where 13 miles is the long run.  Things are falling into place.  I do not have the money to officially register for Wineglass until next week but …

…I am going to run the Wineglass Marathon this October 3rd.