A couple months ago I was chatting with my parents about my running plans, and mentioned that I was kinda cooling on the full marathon.* I think the entire running community now knows exactly where this post is going.
* Excepting the WDW Marathon, which is where joy lives.
Hold, please; you’re right, but there’s more to it than that. What if I told you I had the ambitious A goal of finally breaking 2:00 in the half marathon… and then PRing the marathon the week after?
Crazy, right? Yes, crazy. I just thought I’d point that out. End of post.
Haha, kidding! Obviously that’s exactly what I’m setting out to do, albeit with the knowledge that there’s an odds on chance one or both halves won’t come to fruition. It’s okay. I’ve metabolized this information and won’t be mad if things don’t work out. But why not try?
Here’s why I want to try:
Last February I ran the Oak Island Half Marathon and came agonizingly close to sub-2 at 2:01 even.
Since then, I have made good strides in my training, both generally and specifically re: fueling; namely, I needed to do more of it. I took energy chews all through my last Wilmington Historic Half & 5K Challenge and shaved six whole minutes off my time.
In a strange dichotomy, I managed to prove this principle to myself during last month’s WDW Marathon. I completely botched my nutrition the day before the race, and compensated by eating pretty much the entire time – gels and every banana the volunteers gave me. Lo and behold, for possibly the first time ever… I never hit the wall?! I was tired toward the end, sure, but chugged along right up to the finish line.
Indeed, despite my COMPLETE lack of sleep, squirrely nutrition, quadruple bathroom breaks, multiple race costume fixes, and riding a freaking ROLLER COASTER during the race, my time was as fast or faster than previous marathons where I lined things up better, tried harder, and suffered more. And I thought to myself, that being the case, I wonder what my time would be in a non-Disney marathon now…?
I had already committed to being in North Carolina for the Oak Island race, and the Wilmington Marathon is exactly one week later. So I figured hey, what the heck, and signed up for that too. (Shout out to my parents for their cheer in the face of my continued presence. 🤪)
Is this a good plan, attempting a PR and then attempting another PR not even two months after running an additional full marathon? I mean, from a technical standpoint… no. It’s a terrible plan. Am I gonna do it anyway, if only because the timing works out and the locations are convenient? You know it!
Like I said, I am fully cognizant of the fact that I’m attempting something a little crazy. Don’t worry; if circumstances don’t come together for me, I won’t be a hero. I’ll listen to my body and pull back if the need arises.
But if things do work out… well. A girl can hope.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to buy Honey Stinger in bulk. I’m gonna need it!
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