In 2015, I stood on Beacon street in the damp rain watching the last wave of Boston Marathoners make their way to the finish line. A little voice inside my head said "man, that would be cool to do one day" and I went home and signed up for my first 5k.
I ran my second 5k ten months later, my first half soon after that and officially turned myself into a runner. The marathon still seemed like a distant pipe dream. Then, right before my 29th birthday I officially decided I'd run Boston and began to find a team to join. Watching the 2017 marathon was amazing knowing I would work towards being on the other side of the fence in 2018 to chase my own unicorn.
Well, 2018 became the year of the marathon! I ran my first training run for Boston in November of 2017 and the rest is history.
Hundreds of miles, inches of rain, and one amazing lifetime achievement I will never forget.
After a few weeks off for recovery, I launched right into Chicago marathon training at the end of May (everyone uses a half to start training, right?!).
And here I am. A marathoner. 2 in a calendar year. 2 in 6 months. Roughly 800 miles since November.
So now what?
I am and forever will be a runner. But somewhere during my Chicago training, long runs began to be something I dreaded. It became a chore, not a joy.
I've run through some injuries. Some surgery aftermath. A lot of physical and mental roadblocks.
I've decided that 2019 will be marathon free.
It's time to focus on speed. My gait. Rekindling the love of lacing up and running what I want, not what my plan says.
I hope to run a bunch of halves. Breaking 2:00 is a major goal at the moment and with fine tuning I know I can.
Can I break 7:00 at the Mob Mile next year?
Just typing this makes me excited. I need to find the balance of goals and training and loving my sport.
There are still MANY miles to run and some dream marathons. But for this coming year, its time to pull back on mileage (13 for a half is nothing, right!) and get my legs back under me.
I chased my unicorn. I chased Chicago. I conquered a million miles since November.
Where will the wide road take me now!
the Good.Random.Fun. each Monday and Little Things Thursday...right here!
15 thoughts on the matter:
Good for you! I wish you luck in whatever you choose.
...what's next, another adventure!
I am always so inspired by you, Tamar! And good for you for revising your plan when needed! All too often when the joy goes out of something that we once loved, all we need is a little tweak to get us back on track...or onto a new track. There are many unicorns to chase, I am sure, and you will discover which ones they are in no time! Rock on, my friend.
Shelbee
www.shelbeeontheedge.com
Admire your endurance and perseverance ~ congrats on your training ~
Happy Day to you,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A CreativeHarbor)
That's great that you've chosen some new goals for the next year! I know you can do it!
I so admire your perseverance!
How exciting! You are an inspiration and I can't wait to hear about the next unicorn that you chase!
Really cool hearing your marathon story. My sister in-law and her husband are really into marathon running and for their honeymoon they did this 1 week either 100 mile or 120 male race in the desert. Can't remember what it was called, but I think it's pretty well known. Rough terrain. They loved it. I thought they were crazy, ha.
I love reading this summary of your journey! The 1/2 marathon under 2 hours was my goal and after reaching it and suffering a pretty bad injury, I cut back on my running. Now it's something I do a couple times a week and I enjoy it so much. I met a personal little goal this week (having to do with my new running route) and it felt so good to achieve a little victory! Happy running!
girl you are fierce! Strong and beautiful even running you have that brilliant smile! LeeAnna
Enjoy your journey and do what pleases you. You have done more than wonderful so far.
Sounds like a wise decision to step back a bit and rekindle the love of running. Congrats on managing TWO marathons! That's wonderful.
Amazing, inspiring story. Thanks for hosting Little Things Thursday!
Thank you for hosting the party. Happy Fall, Kippi
In the madness that was last week and losing my computer to repairs, I got behind on blogs, so I just read this. I am so proud of all you've done and am so excited to see what goals you reach this year even if mileage is lower. You've definitely earned a change of pace!
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