Time

Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.
~Earl Nightingale

I put off actually training for a marathon for one reason. It's not the pain, or the hunger, or the actual race that I dread.

It's staying on a strict training schedule. It's the actual amount of time that one has to devote to this goal some 18 weeks in the future. No thank you.

My self-discipline with regard to training has always been below average. When left to my own devices I always find an excuse to skip a workout. After college, I didn't feel like running for awhile. When I got the urge to run, I would, but otherwise I didn't give it much thought. My friend asked me to train for a marathon with her in grad school (turns out 3 days a week is not proper marathon training) and I hated it. I hated spending three or more hours on a saturday running. That memory has unfortunately stuck with me and discouraged me from catching that elusive marathon bug. Fine with me.

I've been running some local races this year, and I've been first or second in the 5ks and 10ks. I'm amazed at how I've been able to get by on residual fitness in the shorter races, although the longer races are more of a struggle. I mentioned before that I may be a bit lazy, right? Well I also hate losing. So, along the way I decided to maybe train for a marathon-- not some crazy 100 mile per week training plan, but something workable. Why? Because I miss the feeling of being in really good shape and being able to beat everyone.

I read an article in the May 2011 edition of Runner's World that compared being in good running shape to a secret superpower that no one really cares about.

(excerpt, link below)

FADE IN

DEEP WOODS—DAYTIME
A LOVELY YOUNG WOMAN lies on the ground, a snakebite on her thigh. A DOCTOR cradles her head, as she bravely fights for life.

DOCTOR
She only has two hours to live, and the only antidote is five miles away! We have no transportation and no way to communicate! She's doomed unless...someone here can run 10 miles in 90 minutes or less!

THE FOOTBALL STAR, THE CLASS PRESIDENT, and THE HANDSOME MUSICIAN look down helplessly.

PETER steps forward. He peels off his jacket, revealing a running singlet.

PETER
I'll be right back.



So it may seem like a pointless endeavor at times, but at least you're using your time wisely. I don't know how anyone else feels, but I get a lot more satisfaction from spending those 60 minutes working out, rather than watching The Bachelorette.

(*to be fair, our new cable hasn't been hooked up and I didn't really want to go back to our apartment just to watch whatever crap is on our DVR anyway)

Week two started off with 8 miles, and 10x100m strides. Pete and I did part of our run with Bella, and she did the strides with me too. Number 8 of 10 was really fast because she was trying to catch a fox that crossed the street in front of our house.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-297-519-13920-0,00.html