The commitment of a marathon

Busy busy busy!  Things are starting to get busy as the summer approaches and weekends become full with activities!  Of course this is also the time my miles for my marathon training are really starting to pick up.  It makes hard to plan anything else on the weekends knowing how important it is to keep up on my training, going from 13.1miles to 16, 18 and 20 miles every weekend is pretty time consuming!  Last weekend was the Helvetia Half marathon and this weekend I thought we were running 14.5 miles for our long run Saturday but it ended up being 15.5 when we got done...what's an extra mile anyways??  Well it took about 3 hours to run the whole amount. We train at a slower pace to get our bodies use to the miles and prevent injury.  It's nice to pace myself and although I couldn't wait to get the run over with, it was nice to still feel good after the run, besides just being tired from working all night as usual!  I also had a small mishap, I forgot my sports bra at home!!  This was probably one of the only times I was happy to be smaller busted!

Now that summer is almost here I have something going on almost every weekend and some of those things will keep me from the group runs on Saturdays, so I'll have to try and squeeze in the long runs on my own.  It really hit me how much commitment it takes to train for a marathon.  It's not something you can decide to do and then do it the next weekend.  It's good to start with a good base, I had been running for about a year before I started running with the group and training for a half and full marathon.  Having a year base behind me has really helped get me through the longer runs.  On top of that, it takes about 16 weeks or more to train properly.  So I stated training in March for the half, and June for the full, and the marathon is in October, so about 7 months total.  I feel really good about that, but just know how busy I will be!  It's almost discouraging and I have already been telling myself this will be my 1 and only marathon because I don't want to have to continue to sacrifice so much time to get in the training!  Who knew you had to run 1,000 miles before you could run 26.2??  Maybe I'll stick with the smaller races that don't require as much training, like 5K's, 10K's and some halfs.  I like the smaller races because they are quick and fun and don't require much training, and they still commit you to running regularly.

This weekend I was thinking to myself about why I started running and why I enjoy it, and almost felt all this crazy training was taking some of the fun out of it. I like that it keeps me running and keeps me committed, but now that I HAVE to run versus getting to run.

Training takes sacrificing time with friends and family, sleep, tv, a lot of free time and requires a whole lifestyle change.  It's important to have a good support system behind you that will understand and support your training and sacrifices.  Of course I know it will all be worth it when I'm crossing that finish line!!  Even if it's the only marathon I ever do, I will always know I have what it takes to do it!  And that in itself is an awesome feeling!  

How to you get through the discourages of training for a long run?


What sacrifices have you had to make for training?  How have they effected your life and the lives around you?