Thursday, February 5, 2009

2 better than 1?

Back sometime in December or January I thought it would be a fantastic idea to run 2 marathons this year with a couple of mini-motivational races throughout the year to help me stick with my training. I became more wary of this internal deal I made because I haven't run a single marathon in over a year (now I'm trying for 2!) and I have a problem committing to races. I go to the website, read through all the information, click the register button, stare, then close out of the browser without doing anything. The only reason I signed up for the Shamrock Shuffle 8k at the end of March is because all my non-running friends decided this is the year to run and I couldn't be the one who didn't ;) Now I did just give the Bank of America Chicago Marathon $125 of my hard earned cash to confirm my entry on Oct 11th and that is a huge commitment so far away. But my reasons for this are 1) the race usually fills up by March/April and if I didn't sign up while I was thinking of the race, well, it would be too late (I forget things very easily) and 2) I have some things to settle with the Chicago Marathon after the debacle 2 years ago (hospital, not finishing, etc). Even though I have committed to Chicago in October I can not bring myself to sign up for Cleveland in May. I have even gone as far as print out my training schedule which I started last week to get a "feel" for it! Am I scared? Hell yea, and nervous. Is it the course? Probably a little bit. Being from the Cleveland area I know it's not that exciting or spectator friendly. But I would have my family support since they all live around there still. Other than the 1 man team my husband makes up I don't have the family support in Chicago. Plus, a free room at my dad's house for the weekend so it makes the travel a bit easier. Maybe I'll go another week in this training and see how I'm really feeling. If anything I could at least run the half! I really just need to find a way to get over my race commitment phobias. It would be a lot less stressful if I could find a way to do that!

5 comments:

audgepodge said...

Oh, I'm thinking about Cleveland, too! But just the half... my family is there, too. If you sign up, maybe we can combine support crews? :P

Aron said...

you can do it :) !!!!!!

Jess said...

I think taking another week and seeing how training goes is a great idea. If the race isn't going to close soonish it sounds like you still have some time.

Anonymous said...

I've had the same issues since my last marathon in 2006. Don't pressure yourself just do what is right for you.

The Laminator said...

If there's no time pressure to sign up for Cleveland, I think it'd be wise to try training for a month and see if you have the time/energy to train for it. If not, then you can always just sign up for the half.