run, rest, eat, bitch, buy things, cross-train, blog, repeat.

Monday, May 12, 2014

I Get it and You're Right... But...

I realize that over the past couple of years, this blog has been essentially the same sick cycle over and over again (in gif format, of course!)

Pick a marathon and get excited.
(Coach and me on day one of training).

Start training for the marathon.

Get smacked upside the head by training 
and bitch and moan about it for about 12 weeks.

Run the marathon.

Get fucked by the marathon and 
and complain about how I can't
put a race day together.

START THE FUCKING THING ALL OVER AGAIN.
And as frustrating as it is for me, I know it's super frustrating and boring as a reader. I get it. I read a crap ton of blogs and half of those are written by people I want to shake and be like... what in the bloody hell are you doing, fuckwad??? The clear answer to all of this... is TAKE A GODDAMN BREAK FROM THE MARATHON.

And, I kinda have.... I have just been running around aimlessly for a couple of months now. But, the thing is... as much as I think that the marathon just isn't my distance "racing"-wise... I can't quit it. Am I scared of it? YES. Do I hate marathon race days? YES. Am I a stubborn idiot? YES YES YES.

So, while I can say... training for a marathon in the summer in Middle Tennessee is about the dumbest freaking thing someone can do... I can't say that I won't do it. Also, full disclosure... I think that the pressure of making a huge deal about a race... Weekly training reports on the blog! Telling all my friends what my race plans are! Announcing my goals! can cause me a lot of anxiety. Anxiety that I just don't need in addition to regular race anxiety.

All that to say... I'm probably going to start marathon training in a month or two and I'm probably going to keep pretty quiet about it. So, while I'll still do posts on whatever in the hell I'm up to and certain runs and workouts... there will be no... I'M RUNNING X RACE ON X DAY AND I'M TRAINING TO RUN A X:XX!!!!!! YAY!!! I'm just going to do the work and see what happens.

I agree with those of you who are like... just take an extended break from the marathon. But, unfortunately, I just don't think I can yet. In any case, hopefully I won't be super annoying/frustrating since I won't be droning on about a specific upcoming race. And I just wanted to let you all know that yes, I'm an idiot and yes, I'm going to be training. But, I'm not trying to be covert about it*, I'm just trying to minimize anxiety and pressure and I wanted to be upfront with you guys about it. Rest assured, when I get my BQ/PR in 10 years I will tell you everything about the training. I will definitely NOT be one of those bloggers that's all... tee hee, I signed up for a race and haven't been training, but somehow pulled a 3:19 out of my ass! Cool, right? No, I will immediately tell you about the PEDs I used and the workouts I did. Trust.

So, here's to a cranky summer! Any of you guys training during the summer?

*Mainly, I don't think I can write another "here's why I didn't run my goal" race report.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I hear ya about not being able to put together a race day that matches my training. But I'm going to try again, like a fool.

I actually like training a lot better than race day, but I like having the goal to shoot for. So summer training for a fall marathon, here I come.

Carina said...

I can pretty much identify with all of this. I have a marathon goal, and I want to keep working on it, and even with some seasons off, I don't want to take a year or more off from the distance. I really do want to achieve my goal, even though it's not coming easily. In many ways I do love the training. So I'm about 90% committed to registering for a fall race now, but since I train with a group, I think I'm going to walk away from all my buddies from the last 5+ years and train with a group 30-60 secs slower per mile than I did last year. And hopefully not stress about my time, just run it to have a solid race. Probably not a PR, certainly not a PR by more than about 3 minutes.

Amy said...

Pandora: I'm with you! I like training wayyyyyy more than race day. Race day just stresses me OUT.

Carina: So, is your race going to be before or after your big trip?

Dolly said...

I wish I had the option of a marathon this year. I can't because I can't fit the long distance runs into my schedule right now.

Don't beat yourself up. Instead of running some of your half marathons as training runs. Why don't you try to break your half PR this summer?

Best of luck to you.

chiara said...

I am not one to put goals out there - maybe because I'm chicken shit about never making said goal and having to write said shitty "I failed" post.

However, that being said, if it were so easy as to just achieve a goal on first try, it isn't much of a goal.

Anyway, this time I put the goal out there because there is only one reason to go to St George to run a marathon and that is to BQ (well, usually that is the main reason to go run St George). So, yes to marathon training this summer. This is week 1 of 21 weeks (because I need all the help I can get at this point).