Today, Coach Jeff and I decided that my Spring marathon was a bad idea. There are a slew of reasons/excuses why this training season did not go well but it all boils down to life getting in the way.
Making this decision was not easy but Jeff is right, going into a marathon mentally unprepared is almost as bad as going into it physically unprepared. And mentally, I am not there. Mentally, I am preparing my son for his life at a service academy. Mentally, I am worrying about my mom and my sister who has to take care of her. Mentally, I am not prepared for what a super slow marathon would do to me down the road.
But, that being said, I know that the marathon is something I can do. Not today and not next month but when I have to. And I will have to. I will have to do the marathon in the process of training for Beach to Battleship. I will have to run it as part of the Ironman. And I know I can.
I have never shared a video on here before but this came across my desk this morning, just as I made the decision to give up this marathon and it reminded me of what I can do.
Coming to the conclusion that my heart and mind aren’t ready to run a spring marathon this year was very freeing for me. My training was going great, but without my heart in it, I wasn’t going to be running it for the right reasons.
I know this was a tough decision. It does seem like the right one!! hang in there =)
This sounds like it was a hard decision, but probably the right one!
Which service academy is your son going to be attending?
Kara, he is still on the fence but leaning pretty strongly towards West Point. I am thinking that is where he will end up.
Hang in there Ann. I’m sure you are making the right decision(s.)
It takes a lot of maturity and self-knowledge to realize that just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you should. Nice job with the restraint—I know it’ll serve you well when you’re focused on the main event.
I think the marathon is something you really, really need to want and be up for mentally. And then it is still wholly draining to train and execute it. Good call on your part.
Loved the video clip, thanks for sharing.