Journal: First Marathon 47 Days Away

UPDATE: I was unable to compete in the Rock & Roll Marathon, unfortunately. I’ll give detail in a future blog post. Meantime, I have my sights set on the Nashville Marathon this November.

Might need to resort to a run-walk strategy for 1st marathon. Maybe.

Rock & Roll Nashville is 47 days away and counting. By this point I should be running 15 mile long runs, and averaging 26 miles per week or more.

I ain’t there. It’s still doable but I’m a little worried.

Excuses, excuses…

Mostly, I’m blaming the weather.

I’m accustomed to rough February and March weather in the north. In Michigan, days or weeks of snow ain’t a big deal. You can layer up to protect against the cold, there’s gear for winter runs, and snow doesn’t make you wet.

But now I’m in Tennessee. The weeks of (seemingly) endless heavy rain and flooded streets have been mucking up my weekly mileage. I’ve been told a lot of rain this time of year is typical, but this year has been worse than usual.

I’m behind on my goals by at least a few weeks now, thanks to Ma Nature.

My situation isn’t so hopeless that I need to drop down to a half marathon; but if I fall much further behind on my training plan I’ll need to resort to a backup strategy to get through my first 26.2 mile race.

Plan B

So, plan A is to stick with my current training plan. I still have time to get up to 15, and then 20 mile runs safely and comfortably, and then to get my body used to that distance.

Plan B is to create a 26.2 mile run-walk plan that I can utilize if necessary.

This is my first marathon, any time is gonna be a PR and it ain’t as if I’m trying to BQ any time soon. I need to remember that I want to have an enjoyable first race, and that’s gotta be my ultimate “A Goal.”

Lesson learned

Note to future self: I need to invest in a treadmill or a Planet Fitness membership. These rainy seasons suck.

Photo by Joshua Ness on Unsplash

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