Can I be a marathon mama?

Beautiful, breezy and hilly Big Sur
Photo: You go, mama.

I've signed up for my first marathon. After months of casual thinking, mulling, considering, waffling and lots of encouraging words from friends and my husband, I finally did it. I was casually considering Big Sur in 2012, so when it sold out soon after it opened, I was disheartened. That was all it took to end all the doubting, flip-flopping and indecisiveness. I wanted what I suddenly couldn't have. I became even more steeled in my determination to do a marathon next spring.

When I found out they were selling just 200 more bibs with an extra fee given to their children's running charity, it was like a second chance with the added bonus of donating to a worthy cause. Special online registration opened this morning and I blazed my way through the forms, entered in my credit card info and that was that.

What did I just do? It's like I just signed a form to skydive or bungee jump, but not until eight months from now. The last time I felt this way was six years ago, when I signed up to do my first triathlon but didn't know how to swim. Somehow, I got through that just fine. But, still. Eee!

I haven't had to train for a multihour event since my half-Ironman three years ago, prebaby. I'm feeling like putting in the training time should be possible with the support of my family, but I don't quite know what marathon training will do to my body. It should be interesting to figure out what kind of marathon training plan will strike a balance with the rest of my life. I'm guessing I'll follow the FIRST method, with lots of room to flex the schedule as needed. Maybe it's time to re-read my own post about planning training around work, home and everything else. At least I'll have a few months to try to make the rest of my routine more efficient before I have to start throwing extra-long runs (and the accompanying recoveries) into the mix.

It should be an interesting winter! And like any good critter preparing for the colder months, I'll be stocking up on a lot of Hammer Gel, Recoverite, and arnica gel to get me through the short days and long runs.

© 2011 GUF