Crazy Post Marathon Ideas

On the drive home from the Twin Cities Marathon, we spent a lot of time talking about our races (duh). And it didn't take too long into the drive for the wheels in my brain to start turning. And to think about another marathon.

Perhaps a redemption marathon.

My next scheduled race is the Dallas Half Marathon on December 9th. Last spring I signed up thinking that I'd have a monster endurance base after TCM and a short cycle with some extra speed might lead to a speedier half marathon. Plus it's always nice to get out of South Dakota in the winter. 

But as I got to thinking, the more that I felt like TCM was like a 26.2 mile long run. My heart rate stayed nice and comfy because I wasn't able to open up and really run hard due to the stomach/side cramping. I thought that maybe I could recover and do a VERY short marathon cycle.

So the past few weeks I've taken very easy. Probably focusing on recovery better than I ever have before after a marathon. I know my odds of training for another marathon in such a short time hinges on recovering to the best of my abilities first.

I have a plan that gets me from now until race day, and the option to switch to the full marathon basically at any time (the race crew confirmed as such when I was nervous about pulling the trigger quite so soon). I was worried if I changed but still felt really tired and extra labored on long runs, I'd be forced stick with 26.2 even if my body, heart, and/or mind weren't in it. Luckily I can wait!

So barring any crazy disasters (knocks vigorously on wood) I'll be lining up for one last 26.2 miles in 2018. I really hope that I can have another attempt at proving where my fitness is over the marathon distance this year. I worked incredibly hard for Twin Cities and really thought I would hit the 4:02-4:05 range. I thought on a rough day, I'd still snag that sub 4:12 for a PR. So I'm really hopeful that I can have another crack at that in just a handful of weeks. Gulp.

Reigning in the Focus

Over the last several weeks, there have been a ton of discussions about goals for the upcoming year. I love goals. They keep me on task, they keep me motivated, and hitting the goals helps keep me going toward the next big goal. While chatting with some running friends lately, I was reminded about the importance of looking at the big picture when setting goals.

It's so easy to just cast a big list of goals out there for the year. I want a marathon PR this year. I want a half marathon PR this year. I want to run all the miles. I want to be fast. I want to have fun. But I also know that the older I get, and the longer I'm a runner, the harder I have to work to run a personal best.

In 2017 I had a few time goals: sub 2:05 half and sub 25 5k time. My ultimate goal was to build back consistent mileage so I could tackle another marathon in 2018. Whoa. Who thinks about and prepares for a marathon almost two years in advance? Well, me I guess.

I know that my best years of running (time/performance wise) was in 2010 and 2011. My most consistent years of running were 2009, 2010, and 2011. So I've tried to put myself in a position to emulate my mileage with a smarter understanding of the sport of 2009. Check and check!

I PR'd my half marathon while training for a marathon in 2011. I have gone back and forth about running a half marathon in August leading up to Twin Cities Marathon. It's 6 or 7 weeks out from TCM and is a slightly downhill course, and a really great race time would give me all the confidence in the world toward my marathon. BUT, a downhill course could piss of my IT bands and cause me to not be able to train very hard the final 4-6 weeks. Looking back at my marathon in 2011, I may have sacrificed my chance for a PR because I focused on a half PR and 10k PR as well.

So to reign in my focus for 2018, I'm excited to focus on a speedy half marathon this spring. Higher mileage, 3 races 3-4 weeks apart from April to June. I don't think I'll snag a PR this spring, although never say never, but I do think I can run a really strong fast half. So that's my goal for the first half of the year. After the half in Duluth, the focus shifts 100% to a marathon PR. Because that is *the* goal for 2018. I hope to be able to ask myself the question "does this help or hurt your chances for a marathon PR?" and answer it honestly anytime I get a hair brained idea about a new race/adventure throughout the year (as I'm apt to do).

What's your focus for 2018??

Capital G Goals

I love my BRF. Let me just preface this post with that declaration, although I'm sure it's not the first and probably not the last. I'm 100% a planner and she's 95% down with whatever I say. Haha, that maybe sounds like a dictatorship, but that's cool. We were spectating the Twin Cities Marathon and she asked what our "plan" was for next year when it was our turn.

J: Well, we run 26.2 miles. That *is* the plan.

T: But we always have a plan. Like what's the goal?!

J: It's your first, so you finish. I want to PR. Ideally I'd like to be under 4, but a 20 second PR would even make me happy at this point.

T: Well what if we ran it together and did sub-4??

And then I shrieked. We talked about it, and I said that at this point, I really think I could run a sub 4 in a year, but I don't know for sure.

But it's important to have BIG goals, right? The worst that could happen is that it doesn't happen, and then I try again.

#marathontimesthatstartwith3

#prparty

#sub4