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This weekend I will be running my 13th full marathon! Let's hope that 13 is the lucky number! As most of you know I ran my last marathon back in June of last year. I ran the Rock N Roll San Diego for the 4th time, but due to circumstances beyond my control I had a terrible race and a miserable experience. (More on my blog Dealing With Disappointment.) I felt so horrible during and after the race that I actually gave up full marathons all together. (More on my blog I'm Over the Marathon.) I suffered so much physically and emotionally during the race and never, EVER wanted to feel that bad ever again. My best way to avoid this disappointment was to give up trying. (Wait, who was that defeated girl? That's not ME!)
Avoiding the Marathon
After deciding to give up on full marathons I turned my sites on a faster half marathon, and an attempt at a triathlon. (More on my blog 2/3 of a Triathlete.) Since the RNR last year I've completed 4 triathlons and seven half marathons. Recaps can be found here:
Long Beach Half Marathon October 2010 (no recap)
Tri Club Race March 2011 (no recap)
Missing the Marathon
After competing in several triathlons and half marathons, I began to miss my true love - the full marathon. Back in November I received really exciting news ... I was named a Running Ambassador for the San Francisco Marathon! (More on my blog here.) While this didn't mean that I had to run the full distance race, after thinking about it for a few weeks I decided that this was a sign that I should. The San Francisco course is pretty difficult and I didn't want that to be my first entry back into marathon running, so I search for a flat, local race and settled on the OC Marathon ... which is this weekend! Eek!
Somewhere along the way I was also talked into running the Marine Corps Marathon as well, so now I've gone from NO marathons in 2011 to THREE. :o)
Marine Corps Marathon 2009
OC Marathon Training
Prior to getting back together with my love the full marathon, I had set a goal for myself to work my way up to an Olympic Distance triathlon in 2011, and to then work towards a 70.3 Half Ironman distance race in 2012. When I decided to run not one but three full marathons this year, smashing together a marathon training and triathlon training program became a bit challenging. Sure Ironman athletes do this, but I'm not an Ironman athlete! I have a busy job that requires travel, and I'm pretty busy outside of work with Girls on the Run. I ended up putting together a schedule that involved 1 day of swimming, 4 days of running, and 1 day of biking.
Super Seal Triathlon 2011
Well.... I didn't quite stick to that schedule. After a zero-speed bike crash on my first attempt to clip into my bike, I was scared to bike. (More on my blog Facing Fears.) I managed to swim consistently up until my last triathlon in March, but overall my training has been primarily running. I've been training for this marathon for the past 14 weeks, running between 3-8 miles during the week, and up to 20 miles for my long runs on the weekend. (In total I've run 350 actual miles out of 394 planned. I'm 89% to goal!) In the first 7 weeks of training leading up to the Super Seal Triathlon I didn't take any rest days (using swimming as a recovery day from running), but once the race passed I've been taking Monday as a rest day. Ahh, rest days are so glorious!
My Dogs Know How to Relax!
OC Marathon Goals
A friend recently blogged about how she sets multiple goals for a marathon. I thought this was a great idea! While my ultimate goal has always been to break 4 hours, there are so many other factors to focus on as well. For the OC Marathon my goals are:
- Complete the race without getting injured
- Complete the race without a total emotional meltdown like last time
- Complete the race with a smile
- Complete the race feeling like I've pushed myself as much as I could
- And as always... complete the race under 4 hours!
I'm extremely nervous going into this race after my last poor race, but I'm going to try as hard as possible to enjoy myself and not stress out too much. To help me do this, I've decided to run in a BIG PINK TUTU! My friend Christina who is running the half marathon will be donning her own blue tutu! Hey, if nothing else, I'm going to go out there and have fun! (A friend and I are making these tutus for charity, to see all of our styles check out our GLAM RUNNER facebook fan page.)
Remembering to Have FUN!
If you want to track me on race day you can do so on the OC Marathon website. I'm bib number 1128 but you can also search for me by name. The race will provide live splits at the 5K, 10K, half marathon, and 30K locations and I will start running at 6:00am PST.
Wish me luck this Sunday! I'm so nervous!!!
3 comments:
I found you thru the SF Ambassadors page & decided to follow you since I'm also in San Diego. Go figure, we're running the same race! GOOD LUCK ON SUNDAY! Have fun in your pink tutu!!!!
Good luck this weekend!!! Maybe I'll bump into you in my pink foofy costume. haha :o)
I hope it goes well!!!
I'm so glad you didn't give up and you are back at it! Great job woman!! :)
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