I have officially begun my “official” marathon training. You may think that I have overused the word “official”, but let me tell you why that word has importance when it comes to training.
One could say that any running I have done prior to running a marathon is “marathon training”, but it’s not. The difference between doing training runs for a marathon and running for overall health or pleasure is staggering. And it’s all based in motivation.
I have discussed motivation in the past, that’s because it’s an especially touchy subject for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m the most motivated person you will meet, but motivation has a cousin called following through and I happen to suck at that. So what exactly is “official marathon training” and how has it caused me to follow through? I’ll tell you!
“Official” marathon training can mean different things for different people. For some it can be the decision of “I’m going to run a marathon and therefore any running I do from now on will be towards that goal”. It can also be signing up with a coach, or making a schedule, or buying new gear with specific marathon intention. For me it was a combination of deciding to actually run a marathon (and not some fluffy abstract idea of someday running one) and signing up and paying for an online coach.
The day I decided that I really am going to run a marathon was the day that I signed up for the site Runners Connect. Through the website I was assigned a personal coach who made a custom made marathon training running schedule going all the way up to race day on March 18 2016. It includes a vast array of different training runs, strength exercises and a community of other runners who are constantly posting about their similar experiences.
Let me explain how this has made all the difference. Pre-marathon training Katherine would wake up, look outside, decide that today is not the day to go running and go back to sleep Current marathon training Katherine wakes up, looks outside says to herself “it’s either now, or later, but this is going to happen” puts on her running shoes and goes for a run. I can’t afford to not run any more. Every run I do goes towards the goal of running 42 kilometers. If I skip out once, I will allow myself to skip out again and I will not be able to achieve my goal.
Any of you non-runners need an alternative explanation? Here you go: Let’s say you and your friends want to watch the Lord of the Rings movies. If someone says “Hey guys let’s watch the LOTR movies” you will proceed to sit down, watch one movie, say it’s enough and go your separate ways. If you say “Hey guys, let’s do a LOTR marathon” then everyone will bring an array of junk food, pajamas and blankets and prepare themselves for a 9 hour watching experience. The commitment… it means something.
I needed to set a goal and stick to that goal. In the past half a year I have run more than I ever have in my life. I’m currently running 5 times a week. With my longest runs being between 10-15 kilometers and the shortest being 5. Since the beginning of my training I have not missed a single run. I have woken up at six in the morning to get in a run and I have run at ten a clock at night. I have moved around my rest days, but I have always gotten in every single run for that week. I’m doing it all for the marathon.
I used to be easily discouraged. If I didn’t run in the morning, then I wouldn’t run at all that day. If it’s raining, I wouldn’t even go outside. I let myself be persuaded out of running. I would forget how good running makes me feel, because somehow my brain manages to convince me that sleeping in an extra hour feels better. Now that I have a goal, and a big goal at that, I have not allowed myself to be dissuaded. The marathon is bigger than that. I have held myself accountable by telling friends and family of my goal. Heck, I even put it on the internet! If I don’t push myself mentally, then I face the risk of failure… *dum dum dum*.
And that’s all it is really. It’s a mental push. I’m over a month into my “official” training, you know the one with the fancy schedule and coach. Physically, it has been a piece of cake. My training plan is building my body up slowly so that I don’t experience pain or push myself too hard. The physical part is easy, once I get my body outside it knows exactly what to do. It’s getting myself out there. I feel like I have finally found the secret potion that has turned me into a runner. I have found the recipe that takes my motivation and turns into following through. I needed a goal. A big one. What’s yours?
Katherine! Happy I have found your blog, I am SO glad you have joined the team at RC, and I hope you are enjoying it so far! It is going to be an adventure, but I am sure you are doing the right thing, and I look forward to supporting you in your journey this year 🙂 If I can do anything else to help in this build up to the race, please let me know 🙂
Good luck with your training! Barry had recommended RunnersConnect. I listened to the RunnersConnect half marathon training webinar and, frankly, was scared off by Gaudette saying that I would need to run 30 MILES a week. I have run 3 half marathons and an 18-km (Arad/Masada was originally a half marathon) and never been able to work up to that kind of weekly mileage. I was afraid of hurting myself.
As it happens, I developed high hamstring tendonopathy 3 weeks ago (I suspect it was from hill runs — an 8-minute tempo run up a steep hill was probably more than I should have tried, but it was on a training plan), so now I’m sitting inside, hoping that I’ll be sufficiently healed for the Ness Ziona 18km on Feb 6, and half marathon in Jerusalem in March. These days, I take the elevator a lot at work. Maybe a personal coach would have made a difference, but this happened very suddenly.
I would love to run a marathon someday but am probably not fast enough. If I’m a 5hr+ marathon runner, my distance runs would take a huge block of time. Maybe I would reconsider RunnersConnect in that situation. Good luck and see you (hopefully) at the Jerusalem Marathon! I’ll be with the half marathon herd if I’m back on track by then.
I’m always worried about my time when it comes to the marathon. I’m hoping to beat 5 hours, but with the hills I just don’t know. I also wrote a blog about how I stopped comparing myself to the other much faster runners on Runners Connect and in real life. My goal for my first marathon is pretty much to cross the finish line and hopefully do it in under 5 hours. After that maybe I will focus on running faster half marathons, or do a 10k in under an hour (something which I have come very close to, but have not yet succeeded in doing). It’s still very inspiring to see how much you run and I loved joining you during the Tanach Tashach race. I look forward to seeing you at the Jerusalem Marathon! Oh, and thanks for reading the blog!