A Maniac is Born

So I've decided to run the San Francisco Marathon in July. Well, more than decided...I've registered. And booked my hotel. And put in for the PTO at work. And started looking for a plane ticket. And did I mention I've also registered for the Omaha Marathon in September? Long story but that one will actually be a local race for me; a move from Denver to Omaha is rapidly approaching. Did I mention we are moving from Denver to Omaha?! Yeah, it's been that kind of month.

So, apparently I am going to continue the marathon madness, and maybe I'll scootch a June or August race in there and become a maniac along the way....

First-off, congratulations to all you runners who did the New York Marathon yesterday. I find it extremely humbling that Meb won the Marathon yesterday with a time that was faster than my last HALF marathon. Wow, it just amazes me to see the elites run that fast, for 26.2 miles. Simply amazing. My goal is to one day run ONE mile at that pace.

In my own running news, I am happy to report that I completed my first mile in nearly a month this weekend. Saturday I purchased my new Asics 2140s (pink and white--cute but they will be dirty quick in the winter muck) and then took them out for a spin at the track. FInished a mile and the foot felt fine. Felt fine the rest of the day, and weekend too. And, it STILL feels fine! Woo hoo! Now, my lungs on the other hand were a different story. I have been swiming some and walking and trying to stay moving in my running sabbatical; however, nothing compares to running for keeping me fit. After that single mile, I looked and felt like I had done 5. But, I know that it won't take long to be running 10 again with ease. And I look forward to it eagerly.

Though I am running again, I have completely resigned all hope of running a full marathon in 2009. BUT, early 2010 seems doable. I am scoping out alternatives for my marathon...Miami in January? New Orleans in February? Bataan Memorial Death March in March? (eh, maybe not...)

Hump Day

A summary of yesterday's run: 6 miles in 56:54
I planned to do a Cinco Cinco, but found I had exta energy so ended up with a Seis Cinco. Random items of mention:

1) I have discovered my new pace is about 8:30-8:45 since that's what I seem to be running most consistently and comfortably lately. That's a nice improvement over the 9:15 of two months ago. Not sure that I can maintain it more than 6 or 7 miles, though. We'll see...

2) I swallowed THREE bugs. I'm running, I see them in the distance, I see them coming at me, I think, "that would really suck if that bug flew into my mouth" and then....that bug flies into my mouth. This seems to happen to me a disproportianately frequent number of times. I am not sure if it's due to my height, that perhaps my mouth is just positioned exactly at bug-flying altitude? Is it the gum I chew? Perhaps they are attracted to peppermint? I don't know, but I came frighteningly close to vomiting 2/3 times yesterday. Not good.


I was performing a similar ritual yesterday...times three.

3) My training plan since January has been to get up to a half marathon (May 17 Colfax Half) and then from there build up to the Denver Marathon in October. But now that I am knee-deep into this, it is going better than I expected, and I am liking the distance...I am starting to think I might want to try an earlier marathon.

My question is: how long do I really need to work up from a half to a full marathon (I am at 14-15 mile long run right now)? Could I get there by July 26 (San Francisco Marathon)? Maybe August 22 (Park City Marathon)? How about September 20 (Boulder Marathon)? I'm just worried that if I don't have something sooner than October to work toward, I'll lose steam or get bored doing all those long-ass runs. I'm just not sure I need 6 months to get up to the first one?

My goal for the first marathon I run will be simply to finish...I'll move on to pace/time goals (and related training) for subsequent races. Since I can find a training plan to fit virtually anything I want to do, I thought I'd gather thoughts from those of you that have done it before...how long do you need to reasonably go from half to full?