I first began running competitively my freshman year of high school, I immediately fell in love with it. I mainly ran the 5K distance for my four years and while the 5k is one of my favorite distances to run, and one of the most challenging, I recently began feeling like I wanted to attempt something even bigger. And so somehow, I now find myself nearly 2 months into training for my first ever marathon, which I’ll be running in late May. While the training itself has been extremely difficult (my longest run so far has been 16 miles!), it has also been very rewarding and challenging in the best ways.
Here are just a few key things I’ve realized along the way:
1. After awhile, a 10 mile run will feel like nothing.
You would think that seeing 10 miles on your training schedule would be intimidating to say the least. And believe me, at the beginning it was. But somewhere along the way, my mindset went from “10 miles? Can I actually even do that?” to “Wow, only 10 miles! Easy!” And that’s truly something that I never thought I’d be able to say.
2. Finishing a workout is the greatest feeling in the entire world.
Before I started training, the longest distance I’d ever run was a half marathon (13.1 miles). And that felt insanely long. Now, once a week on my Sunday long run, I go out and run distances much farther without thinking twice about it. There’s something insanely satisfying about finishing runs that long and feeling accomplished for the rest of the day (And also sleeping through the rest of the day too).
3. Just do it.
Really. If you see the workout for the day and start to talk yourself out of it, it only gets more frustrating. Sometimes you need to turn your brain off and force yourself to get out there. But on the other hand…
4. You can miss workouts.
At the beginning of my training, I wouldn’t miss a single run or workout. But I quickly learned that it’s just not realistic to hold yourself to those kinds of standards. Especially on a training plan that’s four months long. Sometimes life gets in the way, or honestly you’re just too tired, and that’s okay. It’s not supposed to be torturous, it’s supposed to be something you genuinely enjoy. And missing one run isn’t going to make your weeks of training magically disappear. You can’t be so hard on yourself!
While training has certainly been tough, it’s also made me realize that I’m capable of things I never thought I could do. I’m going to do my best to stick with it, because nothing makes me more excited than the thought of race day!
Source 1: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/11/massachusetts_native_shalane_f.html
Source 2: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/124834220900607216/
Cover Photo: http://thebestrunningshoes.info/best-stability-running-shoes/