I’m about a week away from starting my first ever full marathon training plan, and – we’re friends right? Good. Then I feel no shame in telling you that I’m about ready to soil myself.
do not want.
I can’t lie – there’s a lot of “why the hell did I ever say I’d do this in the first place?” going through my head right now. I’m an idiot. I watched one video about people finishing a marathon and suddenly I’m ready to take on 26.2 miles myself? Come on, 13.1 just became doable like a month ago!
But alas, I made a promise to myself (and paid the registration fee), so I can’t run away from this problem.
although that sprint might be good training, so on second thought maybe I should?
So now I’m staring down a 16 week training plan that will basically change my life: I’m starting it just as a “runner”. If anything, I can call myself a half marathoner. But at the end of these 4 and a half months, I’m going to be a marathoner. Even thinking about it gives me chills!
Am I scared? Hell yeah. But I’m excited too. And I can’t wait to prove to myself that I can do it. I’m going to start a journey that I never thought I’d ever take on, and it’s going to consume a lot of my life. I’ll have to re-evaluate and shift my eating and drinking habits (oh god my drinking habits) for optimum performance. No more late nights – or late mornings, for that matter. I’ll live and die by the mileage. Whatever the number on the plan, I’m sticking to it and following through. Cross training will be for-realsies, too – biking, swimming, strength training; it’s all going down.
Because come October 19th, when I hit that boardwalk, I want to be as prepared and confident as possible. I will leave all of my doubts in my dust, and I’m going to crush it.
basically I’m going to be Dumbledore
Now I want to hear from you – what are you ready to take on like Albus up there? Are you training for your first race? A 5k? Your first marathon? Tell me what’s going through your mind – I want to hear it all!
Jess Runs Happy 
But you’re starting after our fabulous weekend, right? I mean, there is going to be drinking this weekend. That’s JPP Club law.
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YES! I solemnly swear that if I do run at all this weekend it will only be once, recreationally, and that drinking and eating and dessert and staying up all night talking and/or dancing takes precedent 😉
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You’re going to do great! My advice is to listen to your body, do what you can to stay healthy (sleep, cross train, take preventative measures like ice and myofascial release), and allow for some flexibility in your plan but do your long runs religiously. Most importantly, enjoy the journey. 🙂
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Thanks so much, Kathryn! I’m excited to start and ready to learn more about my body and my “limits” than ever before! It’s great to have some advice from people who have gone on this journey before 🙂
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I love your blog already! October 19th and the boardwalk lead me to believe you’ll be running the AC marathon? I’ll be doing the half! I also just started a full marathon (my first) training plan this week. I’ll be running my full on Philly the month after AC!
Best of luck! I’ll be cheering for you and can’t wait to follow your journey!
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So sorry I didn’t see this until now – YES, I’m doing Atlantic City! The Half was such a great course, I love running in AC 🙂 I’m so happy to be “meeting” fellow first-timers like you, I’ll need all the help and inspiration I can get along the way! Best of luck as you start to train for your first full marathon too!
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I just found your blog bc of Instagram! I think you are SOO inspiring!! I wish you amazing luck on your journey as a marathoner!! You can DO IT!! It sounds like you have an awesome plan!
I love that running helped you to lose weight and get fit! You are really amazing!!
What marathon are you doing? I have one on October 19th too!!:)
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Hi there! Thanks SO much for the compliments and encouragement – and the follow! I’m glad my Instagram brought you here 🙂
I’m pretty excited to take on the Atlantic City Marathon, it’s down the shore here in NJ – where I ran the half and tore my ACL back in 2012! Because I’m stubborn, I have to go back on the course and conquer the full there, lol!
How fun that we’re both running a marathon on the same day! Is it your first as well? Although judging by your username I’m thinking you’ve run a few before… 😉
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Lol yes you are correct, I’ve run a little over 20 half/full marathons:) I guess I just love to race!!:)
Hey if I tore something along a certain marathon route I would go back back and conquer it again too!!!:):)
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I’m glad I’m not the only stubborn runner out there 😉 20 races, what an inspiration you are!! I can’t wait to follow your journey to your next race – good luck in your training, and keep in touch! 🙂
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