It is Sunday afternoon, 21 degrees and snowing. Today I was supposed to run 8 miles in course of my training for the Athens Marathon on April 5th. In course of this training, I have realized how much I miss it. I miss training for a race and seeing the goal in front of me. For the past two years I have trained for the Athens Marathon, my freshman year I was 11 weeks into it when I broke my foot. That only made me stronger and made me 10 times more cautious last winter when training. I let my life revolve around that marathon last year. It was all I ever wanted and when I completed it, as my first marathon, I felt so alive and I am still beside myself wondering “How on Earth did I ever manage to run 26.2 miles?”
This year something is different. I have been having trouble getting into the training process and cannot seem to make my long runs last as long as they should. The race is April 5th and 6 miles is the furthest I have run continuously. I know it is not always about physical condition, because I believe I am in fine shape, but it is mental. Running a race that long requires some mental simulation. I need to know and believe I can do it.
Some of my friends are all training for the half-marathon race and I have considered doing this with them instead, but I do not think I would be able to settle for hitting the turn-around point at 6.some miles and not crossing the threshold, so to speak, to continue on to the “real” turn-around point of 13.1 miles.
Tomorrow is another day and I am going to try to hit 8 miles. It is so hard to do inside though and way below freezing outside. Oh well, no excuses. Train like a champion.
Standing on the Starting Line 