Week 1 of Marathon Training in Photos
This is it. It’s finally time! Last year I said, “if all goes well [speaking of the half-marathon], it’s on to the full”. Guess what! IT’S ON!
I started running races three years ago with the thought of a marathon simply that, a thought. I was struggling with knee problems and no matter how great I thought it would be to run a marathon, I figured it wouldn’t be in the cards. Then, I was told by a very good friend, “If you want to run a marathon, your knees will find a way.” I took this piece of advice without a second thought and since then, it has echoed in my mind.
So, I kept running. My muscles and knees became stronger. I ran some 5ks, then a 10k and last year was the half-marathon. Now it’s finally time to complete this serious life goal that I’ve had my eye on.
I did some research around the country on different marathons and I chose Ojai 2 Ocean for numerous reasons. The fact that the race is limited to 1000 entrants caught my eye, mostly because some of the bigger races are frustrating. People end up in the wrong corrals and cause traffic jams due to their slower pace, which means those people who accurately gauged their corral number/time end up being slowed down. In addition, the race is partially downhill, which meets my requirement of “not uphill”, and the temperature is ideal in 50s and 60s. The main reason, though, is that the mere thought of running through the beautiful scenery of California, completing such an important life goal of mine, running my way to the pacific ocean just makes me smile.
I’ve already started running this year and am up to 8 miles on a good day. Marathon training officially starts next week, but I feel like I’m already pre-training. I’m following Hal Higdon’s plan again, probably boosting the mileage slightly as I had done for the half.
I can’t even express how excited I am to start this journey. Some people don’t quite understand why this is so important to me, but the fact remains, it is. I really want to prove to myself that I can do it. I want this accomplishment under my belt. My first goal is to finish. My second goal is to finish in under 4 hours, 20 minutes, which means 10 minute miles. The first goal is the big one, the one that matters most. The second goal would be icing on the cake.
Wish me luck, and for any of my friends in the SoCal area, I’d love to see you out there on June 3rd. :)
