Back at it: Setting New Goals

I took a much needed break from everything for about a month after the Ironman as I let my body and mind heal. However, I jumped back in quickly when my husband signed me up for a 5K at the conference he was attending. It turned out to be the "kick in the pants" that I needed to get me back at it! I had not really done any swimming, biking, or running in weeks, but had a great race and won my age group at the event.  I was so happy that day after the race and realized how much I truly do love running.

As I was contemplating this, it occurred to me that the Disney Marathon might be a great winter goal! I have done the race twice in the past and loved it!  Our family was supposed to go on a trip to San Diego in late October, but we ended up canceling due to school, work, and extracurricular commitments that would make it difficult. Anyway, Disney would be a great alternative and get us out of the brutal Maine winter for a bit. I checked out the Run Disney website and was thrilled to see that the Marathon was still open for registration. Next up, convince the husband that it was a good idea! 🙂 Check!! That step was pretty easy, but he was hoping to run the ½ marathon there, but it had already filled up.  Of course, my kids are thrilled at a trip to Disney World, so no problem there. I did tell them that they are "in training" too,  as they will be running the Magic Mile the day before the Marathon.

I am so excited to have this new goal to reach toward. I was not sure where I was with running distances, etc. after the Ironman since my training course was so altered. I started back to running with some 6 and 8 milers that went very smoothly. On a whim, and very last minute, I decided to run the Maine ½ Marathon 2 weeks ago. I had no idea what pace I could run it, etc. as the longest run I had done was 8 miles in the past 6 weeks, but decided to just go out and run at my comfort level. It was a beautiful Fall day here and I am so glad I did it! I started out a bit too fast, but reeled myself in quickly, as it was "training" and I wanted to finish happy!  I ended up finishing in 2:05, which was one of the slower half marathonsI have done, but I was thrilled to have a solid run. It also gave me the information I needed to know where to start my official Marathon training.

I contemplated a few different plans, but have decided to go with the 12 week/55 mile Pfitzinger & Douglas plan from their book Advanced Marathoning. The plan is fairly intense, but I am going into it with an open mind and some loose goals for the race itself. I start the plan next week, so I will be sharing my progress and training here!

Have you ever done a Half or Full Marathon? What is your favorite training plan?

Happy Running!