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I might run a marathon
It’s Saturday, time for a long run on the Pam LeBlanc hamster wheel of fitness.
I’m thinking about running the A&T Marathon this year. I’m haven’t pulled the trigger yet, but I get closer every day. I had such a great time running the 3M Half Marathon last winter that I officially started down the slippery path.
I’ve written before about how I used to hate running. I’ll always be a swimmer first and foremost, but I’ve come around with running. It happened slowly: I signed up for an employee training program for the Capitol 10,000 two years ago. That was fun. Suffering in a group environment is a lot more fun than slogging it out solo. Coaching made all the difference.
So did finding a few friends who ran at about my same speed. Now Marcy, Tony and I get together every weekend for a long run. At least we call it long. For the summer, we’ve mostly been running a 5-mile loop. A few weeks ago, we ramped it up a little to 8 miles.
When it’s hot, it’s brutal. But we figure that if we can hold onto 8 miles through the hottest months, running will become suddenly easy when it cools off. We’ll be that much farther ahead in our training program.
Last year, we trained ourselves for the 3M Half Marathon. And we did fine, averaging 10-minute miles through the 13-miler. I think we’ll need more guidance, though, to do a full marathon. I’m worried about the mental fortitude both the training and the actual race will require. That and the time commitment. It’s not just the 2- or 3-hour weekend runs, it’s the afternoon of lounging on the couch I’ll need after the runs.
I think I can do it, though. That’s why we’ve been perusing the training programs offered around Austin. Our city offers some good ones, from Rogue Training Systems (http://www.roguerunning.com/) to Team in Training (http://teamintraining.org/20th), Austin Fit (http://www.austinfit.com/) and Gilbert’s Gazelle’s (http://www.gilbertsgazelles.com/). RunTex offers a fairly comprehensive list of programs at http://www.runtex.com.
Now, time to go run.
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By Jane Kovacs
September 3, 2008 4:44 PM | Link to this
We look forward to seeing you and 5,999 of your closest friends at the 2009 3M Half Marathon & Relay.