Find joy in the Journey

Welcome to the blog! Good luck with your training. I'm impressed you have 5 kids and are going to make the time to train for a marathon. I hope you are rewarded with feeling great and reaching your goals!

Callie - I would recommend following the principle: "Diligence before ambition". When followed, it leads to miraculous performances. When not, the fruit are blow ups and injuries.

Switch from the marathon to the half if you can. Running a marathon without proper preparation is not good, and there is not enough time for proper preparation for a June marathon. Yes, some popular running publication may talk about how runner so and so trained for a month and ran a sub-4:00 marathon, but the truth of the matter is that somebody with a moderate level of talent could run a sub-4:00 with no training at all. So do not fall for that "logic".

Speaking of false logic, if I worked for a marketing department of a tobacco company and my purpose in life was to sell tobacco, I would find a guy with 2:10 talent that smokes and have him run a marathon while still smoking. He would run around 2:50, and I would make a big deal about that. False marketable logic is an instrument in the hands of conspiring men in the last days.

Marathon is not something we train for like a student preparing for an exam. Rather, the ability to run the marathon at a good pace is a fruit of consistent training effort that spans several years. The correct approach to the marathon (assuming you want more than just a finisher medal) is build a solid training foundation first. Run 6 days a week gradually increasing your distance. 5 days a distance that it takes you 24 hours to fully recover from, on the 6th go twice that distance. Race short races frequently to observe the effects of your training and make necessary adjustments. Get your 5 K performance to where it is at least the pace of your dream goal in the marathon. Then bring your 10 K there. Then the half. Once you can race a half at a good pace, sign up for the marathon.

Sasha, I appreciate your counsel and totally understand what you are saying. Maybe I set my goal a little high, but I do feel that I can run a marathon. I have ran 5 half marathons 2 5k's and 1 10k, 1 marathon and my 2nd marathon was cut short @ mile 19 because I was pregnant and was not feeling right. That is one big reason why I am running this marathon, to finish it. I feel that I have some experience in running and am really excited to do this.

I will take your training advice and hope one day I will get that time I know I can get in my half marathons.

There is a difference between "survive a marathon" and "run a marathon". Most people who claim to have run a marathon only survived it. There is only one requirement to surviving a marathon - be willing to be in pain for a few hours. No prior training is needed, and a few months is plenty. Running a marathon is much more difficult - you have to train for a while, longer than a few months.

I believe the excessive aura surrounding the marathon does most runners a disservice because they feel they need to run in it in order to be validated as a runner, and thus often do so inadequately prepared. They are barely in shape to race a 5 K, and they are jumping into the marathon. Thus we miss some important principles of developing as a runner. The fruit of such neglect is slower times, and higher rate of injury.

In our culture of wild cheers and expectations it takes courage to say: "I am not yet ready for the marathon". I consider it a sign of maturity when a runner wants to improve his half PR by 10 minutes as a prerequisite for trying the marathon. It more noble to run a shorter distance that you are fit to race than to jog a longer distance that you are only fit to survive.

I agree that the commercial side of running can give people who are not ready to run a marathon a false idea that they can, and yes that can be very dangerous. I am not a world class runner, I never will be, but I don't think that that is a good reason to lower my goals. I am running this marathon for me, not for the time or the medal, but to fulfill a dream of running this marathon that both my Grandfather and father ran for 13 years. It is something that I know I can do and want to do. I think I am a good runner and am preparing for it properly. I joined this blog thinking it would give me encouragement and support, I have seen a lot of it on others. I hope that you can be excited for me and support me.

Hooray for the blog finally working! This blog is such a motivation!

I am excited to see you achieve your goals. You can do it! Day by day and run by run you will get there! Don't let anything get in your way!

We need to come up with a race slogan and need to get chuck to join the blog!

Sorry, but I did not create the blog to support runners who start training for a marathon 4 months before the race. I will support you in training for a marathon properly, though.

I can see how you might think I have just started training by my comments, but I haven't. I have been working towards this marathon since my last child was born 2 years ago. This last summer was a great one with two half marathons. I just ran the St. George half just last month and felt the best I have ever felt.

You have a lot of experience and knowledge of running so you are just looking out for fellow runner...awesome, but maybe you need all the fact before you start putting someone down.

I do have to say in a funny way your comments have made me more determined than ever to work hard and well, show that I can do this and do it to my expectations not anyone else's.

Good luck with your goals and thanks for creating this community. Despite your negative comments I know I will get the support I need from fellow bloggers.

The facts are that you have 4 months before the race, your daily run is 3 miles, and you skip days. To be ready for the marathon in 4 months your current daily run at this point needs to be at least 7, and it needs to happen without skipping. The problem is you cannot just say, I am going to bring myself where I am supposed to be and just do it. If you do, you will likely get injured or overtrained.

So even with the best possible training between now and June, you will be ready for a reasonable half, but you will not be ready to race a marathon. You will survive it probably in around 5 hours, then will take a while to recover, and then a similar cycle will repeat.

I would recommend you study Carolyn's blog in detail (http://cocarolyn.fastrunningblog.com). She went from a 2:07 half to 3:45 marathon in a year by doing things right. She probably could have dragged herself through a marathon much earlier, but instead she gradually build up her mileage and patiently waited until she was ready, and was rewarded with a Boston Qualifier with room to spare in her first marathon attempt.

I see what you are saying. Having 5 children is my main priority in life. If that means I may have to miss a day once in a blue moon than that's ok. Everyone runs for different reasons. You want to be in the olympics and I hope you make it. I find peace in my running and it is a hobby for me. I can't run like you and that is not my goal. I will never run Boston, I don't want. I don't run marathon's to win them I run them because I enjoy the journey. If you feel that I am wasting my time than that your problem.

These blog have a handicap in them, and that is you don't know me and I don't know you. You have a few lines of info about me and 4 entries and you have made your conclusions about me and my running abilities. You're right, I won't run Boston, so what. But that doesn't mean I can't reach my goals. I've run marathons before, I know what is required of me and I know I can do it.

Sasha-I am shocked by your negativity here. I have never seen you be so discouraging to someone and I'm trying to figure out why you seem bent on dragging Callie down when she has just barely joined the blog and is excited about running.

Callie-I think you have a great attitude. With a lot of dedication and good balance, training for a marathon will be very enriching for you. Just keep taking it one day at a time and work towards your goal. If you do start to have an injury slow you down then that will just have to be something you deal with and be humble enough to alter your race plans if needed. We all deal with setbacks, no matter if we're elite or novice. But I do think if you are smart and take good care of yourself there is a very good chance you can get to Grandma's injury free and find joy in the journey. Good luck!

Hahaaha. Oops I did it again. Posted under my husband's login. Sorry. That last post was actually from me.

These are your goals - no one elses. You can do it!

Thanks you guys soooo much! I really needed to here that.

Callie, you can do it. And you know what, never say never!

Carolyn is an awesome runner and a great person, I am sure she could give you great ideas and advice, as could many people. The key to all of this is finding what works for you and your situation---family, kids, LIFE, and then making a schedule that works and helps you feel prepared!

Good luck, I am excited to watch your JOURNEY!