I used a different term with some folks over the weekend to describe my quest, but since we may have a youngster or two reading the blog, I am keeping it family-friendly.
For the past few months, I have been documenting my quest to run a full marathon and now we are in the homestretch of training. The marathon I have been referring to is going to be very personally meaningful for me, and as I was starting to think about planning, strategy, goal times, etc., it was clear that much of the fun was going to be lost. Back in mid-2010, I actually had what some would call a really crazy thought. Some may say a “Co-Co Crazy” (CCC) thought.
When I started running races, a difference definitely existed between my 1st race at a distance and a 2nd race at the same distance. So I started thinking maybe I should target a “practice” race at the marathon distance leading up to my “real” race. I broached this topic with my former coach over a dinner in June, 2010 when she paced me to a new PR. Her face is definitely not one that should be used to play poker, unless you wanted to win some money off of her, so her reaction was along the lines of “uh, not sure about that.” Now it’s not as though she was off-base in her response as I had not ever run more than 14 miles in my life at that point. But still – it wasn’t the response I was looking for. After all, we would have had plenty of time to execute this plan and I had come a pretty long way as a runner to this point. I then mentioned it to a few other people over the course of the summer – runners, non-runners and a couple of medical professionals I was working with. The response was not positive.
I put the idea on the shelf for awhile and focused on the Disney ½ and a few other things going on in the 2nd half of 2010. I rested up and wanted to come back into 2011 with a vengeance. I took an exercise class that I really didn’t find enjoyable at all in November, 2010, which highlighted some physical weaknesses. So it was a good use of my time because I had some lingering injuries from running and clearly a lack of strength in certain areas was going to be problematic if I decided to run a full marathon, whether it was one race or two. Off to Crossfit I went in December, 2010, and that has been nothing short of a great move for me – the people, the workouts, etc. have really complimented my running and given me some much needed variety in my training.
I also switched running coaches, which meant that I decided to dust off the “CCC” idea again and share it with Kim at TNM at our 1st meeting just to see how she would react. She was definitely more enthusiastic about it, and little did I know that she would actually be crazier than me… more on that later. I went on a trail run in late January and definitely did something Achilles/Plantar related, so that knocked me out of my 1st targeted race of the year. I was disappointed, but I knew that “the prize” was in the 2nd half of the year and I needed to be focused on staying healthy for that. It was in Spring, 2011 when I told literally a handful of people that the “CCC” plan was back on the radar for 2011 but with a twist (CCC+).
The “CCC+” plan is “racing” the 1st race because of the course profile and “enjoying” the 2nd race because of the location and personal significance to JDRF. Yep. I have to thank Marc for really battling with me to stay focused, express his concerns in a constructive and positive way, and just being super awesome. This decision was one that I didn’t fully commit to until late July right after I had the awesome Ragnar experience. But still I didn’t want everyone knowing -- in the event I got cold feet. All in all, less than 10 people knew about either “CCC” or “CCC+” being a reality until Saturday evening when I told our guests at our annual JDRF dinner. The only reason why I even told that many folks prior to the dinner was because we were invited to TWO weddings during the weekend of the 1st race – both very good friends, and I felt they deserved more than a “NO” response card to the wedding invitation. Both couples couldn’t have been more gracious and understanding of what I was trying to do.
So yep, my 1st full marathon is coming up soon…. it's local so that helps. I’m now officially in taper mode, although it doesn’t feel like it since I had to ratchet down some of my training earlier this month when a peroneal tendon issue came up. I’m doing some pretty aggressive massage and anti-inflammatory treatments, which are starting to work. I still managed to do elliptical cross-training, hit Crossfit and get in one solid run per week once the injury happened, and I gleaned some good data points from those runs, particularly last week's run.
I have done the training (running and Crossfit). Kim has helped me get there. So has Marc. So have Tricia and PNak. So have countless others. I’m nervous but I also know that this experience of having one full marathon under my belt will serve me well in my 2nd one later in the year. Kim has a plan to help me “recover” in the month between. That must be an eternity for her since she WON an Ironman triathlon one week and then raced in the World Championships the next week and placed in the Top 10 in her age group – yes, one week apart! LOL. But yeah, she might be crazier than me.
I have no idea how this will all pan out, but I intend to honor a promise I made to Marc when I conjured up the original CCC thought. And as long as I give both races my best effort that I can summon on those days, then I’m good. That said, I think the ½ marathon is a way more civilized running distance to train for. J