April 11, 2013

Major Goal Underway

So it's been on my radar for months now but at the Cherry Blossom Race Expo last weekend I officially took the plunge and signed up. Saturday, October 12, 2013 in Baltimore, MD I will be taking on my first full marathon! AHHHHHHHHHHH!

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 I ran the half marathon last year, which was a month after my first ever half.  I hadn't really trained much for it and the hills were killer, but I beat my previous time so it clearly wasn't that bad .  I felt unprepared and even forgot my Ipod at the start line, but I rocked a purple and black tutu so I got lots of support from people cheering on the girl in the tutu.  

If you want to see why I'm scared you can see the 2012 elevation map here.  Yikes. 



My goal is just to finish the race and become a marathoner so why should some hills bother me though? I might try to join one of the Charm City Run store's training groups since I've never ran more than a half marathon and doubling my mileage is a daunting task to me. I think I would like having a group of people to run with and to give me all the support I need.  This is a major life goal for me but people need to challenge themselves to push themselves to be their best. 



I didn't think in October 2011 when I ran my first 5k that in 2 years I'd be a semi-speedy runner girl taking on a full marathon. 




 I was going to run the Philadelphia Marathon because I heard such nice things about the race and the course but in the ended decided to run my first full in Charm City.  I live in the city so I won't have to get stressed out about travelling and also can do all my training along parts of the actual course! I'm going to run the Philadelphia Half due to a sweet discount I got on the day registration opened though :)



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If you are in the area, I highly recommend running at the Baltimore Running Festival. It's a challenging course, but there is a lot of support along the way and really great Under Armour shirts!  I know it's in October which feels like it's far away, but my training will have to start soon. I'm nervous because I just started Crossfit and love it so I might have to try to balance it with running. 



Anybody have any tips for gearing up to run a full marathon?

31 comments:

  1. This is so exciting girl!!!! When I'm done with track in a couple weeks we need to get out and run together!!!!

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  2. congratulations!!! I signed up for my first marathon this week, too! mine is disney next January!

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  3. Congratulations!!! I ran my first in December. It is definitely a huge accomplishment. Just remember to enjoy the experience!!!

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    1. Well congrats to you too! Can't wait to join the marathoners club :)

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  4. Congratulations! A local for your first full is probably a wise decision.

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    1. That's what I'm thinking, definitely nice to be in a comfortable setting.

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  5. Great job! It's such a great experience! I chronicle training for my first (DC Rock n Roll) full on my blog! http://livefreeandrun.blogspot.com/p/training.html

    You will be so glad that you did it! I would do Baltimore, but I got into MCM which is the same time of year.

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    1. Yeah I looked at MCM too-I heard it's awesome! I'll definitely check out your training!

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  6. thats awesome.. no tips because I am doing my first half in Oct but good luck and cant wait to follow your journey :)

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  7. Wahooo - congrats! I'm signed up to run the half :)

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    1. Awesome it's super fun and maybe I'll see you on the course!

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  8. Yay for you! I ran Philly last year for my first marathon, and while it is a great race (although not as flat as advertised. Buyer beware), I definitely think you made the right choice to run in Baltimore. Being able to sleep in my own bed and have friends and family on the course made a huge difference to me last year. Hope it does the same for you! Good luck with your training.

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  9. Congrats on registering for your first full! I think it's a good idea to run in your hometown. You already know part of the course from last year, which will help on race day. I'm traveling to Baltimore this year for the half!

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  10. Huge congrats!! I agree with others that a local race is a massive plus for sleeping-in-your-own-bed reasons. My advice is to be flexible with training--it's hard not to get burnt out when the training period and the individual runs are so much longer than you're used to. Get some awesome new music queued up, if you're into that, and reward yourself after long runs. Good luck, you can do it! :)

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    1. Great suggestions, I'm pretty flexible in my running already so that's good.

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  11. Read Marathoning for Mortals by John Bingham and Jenny Hadfield. Lots of great info and it will make you laugh.

    T.

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll need all the laughing and smiles I can get!

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  12. Congrats on registering :) Have fun with the training, listen to your body and do the work but don't be afraid to back down if there are issues.

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  13. Congrats on deciding to run the marathon in Baltimore! I did the relay several years ago and had a blast! Minusing out the pulled hamstring. LOL!

    Hubby trained for his first marathon (Yuengling Shamrock Marathon 2011) with Charm City Run and he really felt they did a great job. He didn't do all the weekday runs with them because we live about an hour and fifteen minutes away, but the long runs he said really were great to keep him on track and to have people to talk to about issues and such. Congrats again and good luck!

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    1. Pulled hamstring? Ouch! Thanks for the feedback about CCR-I'm glad to hear it was helpful!

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  14. So exciting! Congratulations on the first step - I sometimes think registering is half the hardest part! Looking forward to following along your adventure! I just ran my first half in February, so it's all still very fresh. :) Good luck!

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    1. I agree-once I've paid to do something it's actually happening haha. Keep following I'm sure I'll have lots of issues to blog about and CONGRATS on your big accomplishment!

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  15. My cousin ran that race and enjoyed it! Good luck and congrats on signing up! Marathoning is super fun!

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  16. Hi! New follower here and I'm training for the same marathon which will also be my first too. AND we started our running journeys at the same time as I did my first 5k in Sept 2011. You're heckuva lot speedier than me looking forward to your posts in my reader :)

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