Marathons/ love of running

I have never done a marathon. Several times I have started a training program... Only to end up pregnant or injured! My most recent attempt ended in injury, but I learned a valuable lesson... The injury rule is too much, too soon, too fast: a sure way to achieve an injury! Although my mileage increased very gradually, my error was in the too fast department. I was ready for a 12 mile long run, and I decided just to do the Frostbite half marathon as a training run. HA! It turns out, trying to RACE a distance that you've never even run before is not such a good plan! My legs were so sore that when I went for my next run, I could feel the beginning if the end in my lower right leg. I made it up to a long run of 17, and then got a pretty black boot to wear for 4-6 weeks.

This year I will have 4 senior BMC runners, and they want to do the St. Jude full marathon after their last season. I agreed to do it with them, and all along, I have thought that if I am going to run 26.2 miles, I would like to do it fast enough to qualify for Boston. (Also, all my friends at church have gone on diets, but I would rather just run extra... I'm going to get a t-shirt that says, "I run so I can eat cookies!")

So there we have it. My running goal for the next 6 months is to train for a full marathon and hopefully qualify for Boston (for my age, that would be around an 8:30 pace). I'm such a sandbagger that it feels very, very strange to just put my "secret goal" out there for the whole world to see. I am very nervous about my ability to do this, but we will see how it all turns out. I

In order to achieve my goal, I knew that I would need help from someone with experience. While I am a running coach, my experience lies in the areas of 5k-8K... Kenneth Williams from Corinth has agreed to help me in my training. I got my training plan and almost had a heart attack when I saw 50 under the total weekly mileage column. Baby steps, and one week at a time. I'm not going to look at those numbers yet...

Last week my long run was 9 miles, and I decided to run with a group of friends. It was my first long run after having my wisdom teeth pulled, and I knew I was not going to worry about pace. Before starting the run, they belittled themselves and referred to themselves as the "grannies."

I remembered why I love running during that 9 mile run... Even though my face was hurting!

For the last year or two, my training has lacked consistency, and yet I have tried to train and race at levels for which I was not adequately prepared. That is miserable. In fact, during the Coke 10K, I told a BMC runner, "I hate running!" And I meant every word at that moment!

As I ran with the ladies, we talked about this and that, looked at houses, and enjoyed each other's company. What a pleasant time! I wasn't exaggerating a second ago; I really thought as I left, "I miss that. That's why I love to run!". It was such a refreshing time- I can't put words to it, but I am so thankful for friends who included me!

I called Scott on my way to BMC and told him that if I reach my marathon goal... Or even get close...or maybe even if I don't, I am retiring from running hard. I am going to join the grannies and quit trying to keep up with Spartans and Toppers!