Monday, January 11, 2010
When to Commit??
After planning four Madison Marathons and working with countless runners to answer their questions, I now find myself in their running shoes...when do you commit to a race? I think I know which one I'd like to do - Green Bay seems a good choice based on it's proximity to Madison and to the Madison Marathon. I am counting on all this training distracting me from the major stressor that is planning a race. (I usually end up having a "Madison Marathon breakdown" at some point in the planning process, which typically involves me sitting in my car screaming and crying. It is my continuing goal to avoid this emotional flip-out.) Maybe running will help me approach race planning with a more zen attitude? But when to commit? What about injury? What if I'm not ready in time? I put it to you, my readers...when do you take the biggest step in the training process and commit yourself to a race?
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I am looking to sign up for the Green Bay Marathon this week. My friend is a new to running (and doing great!!) and she is asking the exact same question.
ReplyDeleteOne thing to ask yourself, how much do you want to pay and do you want to have the flexibility to pull out?? Or the excuse to? You can wait until race weekend (crazy!) to sign up for the GB and pay almost $100 if that eases your mind, but you could also commit this week and pay the regular (just a bit more than early bird) fee.
Up to you, just my two cents.
Good luck - you are doing great!
I just started my training program for the Madison Marathon! This will be my fourth marathon. Last year I ran one hoping to qualify for Boston but an IT Band injury at mile 24 squelched that idea!
ReplyDeleteI have been recovering and now feel like I am in a place where I am comfortable to train.
For me, running longer distances just came naturally. I like to have goals and as I ran longer distances the marathon was my next step. I signed up for my firt one with a charity organization and having that support team was great!
My second was with my sister (her first) and then I ran a 50K, then my third marathon was last summer (the IT Band dilemma).
I find that without a training program I feel lost so the structure of the distance run makes me feel better emotionally.
I listen to my body more now, after my injury, even though I am still a bit nervous.
I look forward to reading this blog and am excited to get tips, inspiration, and knowledge from everyone!
Basically, when I created my running plan, it was nicely 16 weeks from the InStep Icebreaker Indoor (half) Marathon, which is Jan. 23rd. Seeing that, I paid for my registration at that point as motivation. If you want motivation, go ahead and sign up if you have a plan that will take you to that point. :)
ReplyDeleteBy the way, this's my first half coming up. Good luck to me... I'm tempted to sign up for the MM (half), but I want to know I can handle the first, recover, and get back into the swing of things before plopping down money on another.
I ran Green Bay last year and it was awesome! I just registered for Madison today . . . :)
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