The next journey

A new journey is beginning. On Friday I registered for the Wineglass Marathon in Corning, NY on October 5^th. No, this is not my first marathon. In 2010 I ran both the Disney Marathon and the Marine Corps Marathon. If you’ve read my blog for awhile then you know that this is my first full marathon since I was unable to run the 2011 Marine Corps Marathondue to a three month bout of planter fasciitis.

So the question is, why this and why now? Simply, it’s time.

I’d be lying if I didn’t say I have some unfinished business after 2011. Before I had to stop my training, I was on pace to run about a 5:45 at MCM. If this happened, it would have been about a 20 minute PR for me.  I had actually declared to some friends early in 2013 that I was going to run the Baltimore Marathon that year, but when it came time to register I went with the half. 

As I said to my trainer last month, I’ve wanted to do another full for some time but it wasn’t fair to my body to do it in the shape I was in. If I was going to devote the summer to training, I want to do better than the last. 2012 was a year of getting back on my feet and staying injury free. 2013 was to continue that streak, and begin finding some of the speed I’d lost, and I ended the year with very good races. Two months into 2014 and I’m already down about 8 pounds and have had very solid training over the winter. The time is right.

I’ve also entered the lottery for the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October. Yes, I could potentially be running two marathons in the same month. Honestly, I would be surprised if I get picked. If I do, then there will be some decisions to be made. It is possible that I will defer to 2015, but it is far too early to tell for sure.