Since I’m two weeks away from running my 2nd marathon, I thought I would offer up some advice on how to train for a marathon –when you have a lot of excuses.. aka three kids, a full-time job, live in a swamp, traveling for work…{insert your excuses here}. I mean, everyone wants advice from a one-time marathoner on these things right? That’s what I thought.

Here goes…

1. Run.

Duh.

2. Convince yourself that you should run TWO marathons back-to-back and not just one. Because…you are smart stupid.

3. Take a lot of pictures of your Garmin.

Isn’t your Garmin the most beautiful part of your body once you’ve completed a long run (or any run)?

There are more. A lot more. I’ll spare you.

4. Distract your family with a vacation.

As far as I can tell, my kids have no idea that I’ll even be running a marathon. Most of my runs start when they are a sleep and then I come home all sweaty. They do, however, know they are going to Chicago and get to go to the zoo and eat pizza. It’s all about the pizza.

5. District yourself with a vacation.

I’ve never been to Chicago (well, more than flying into the airport and out again) and I have to admit at this point the running is taking a backseat to visiting a new city. We are flying in on Thursday and we’re going to attempt to see as much of the city as we can in 5 days (I have a feeling I will see a lot more of the city than the rest of my crew).

Of course “vacation” might be stretching it. It is really a vacation when you’re not really relaxing or sleeping and you run 26.2 in one day?

6. Buy more running shoes than you need.

Everyone buys three pairs in three months, right?

Just say yes.

7. Makes new friends, convince them to sign up for a marathon, and force them to run with you.

Tyler is also running the Space Coast Marathon. It sounded like a good idea, at the time, to convince him to join us.

8. Run in pretty places. 

Sometimes they’re there and you just didn’t realize it. Sometimes you have to travel over a thousand miles to see them.

9. Make your husband change careers.

So, this has been a lot time coming, but Chicago was a major impetus in Dan FINALLY finding a Monday-Friday job. Yes, it’s true. In August, Dan started a new job with weekends AND HOLIDAYS off.

How did this help marathon training? I wouldn’t have been able run with Tyler on Saturdays. I would have continued running on Sundays by myself, for sure – but it would NOT have been easy. In fact, the week before my schedule changed, I ran a 20-miler by myself and I wanted to quit at 18.5 miles. I did not feel this way AT ALL when I ran my 22-miler. Also, I love getting my long run over with — it gives me more time to spend with my favorite people (and sometimes I can even sleep in on Sundays!!).

10. Bore your family, friends, and coworkers with details about your training.

Don’t forget to pretend like you don’t feel like a badass after completing a 45-mile week.

Bonus tip: Have fun. Enjoy your life and the people in it. Remember that training is important, but it’s not everything.

I hope Chicago is ready for us!!

I think I’ve lost track of what week of training I’m on, but I CAN tell you that I’m now less than a month away from running the Chicago Marathon. Ack! (so that puts me at week….12?)

Truthfully, I cannot figure out how I trained for 22 weeks for Savannah because 15 weeks feels ridiculously long. Haven’t I been training FOREVER??

In the past 12(ish?) weeks I’ve run two 16 milers, two 18 milers, one 20 miler, some other long runs that I can’t remember — and on Saturday I’ll finish out my peak week with a SUPER FUN 22-miler.  “I’m so excited! I just can’t hide it!”

Thank goodness for Tyler because he tolerates my whining and complaining at end of the run — and my rambling throughout. He is training for his first marathon and every long run is incredibly motivating for him. It’s so cute. Ahhh, youth.

For the most part, I’ve hit my training schedule every damn week. There have been a few shorter runs that I skipped, but I assure you, you would have skipped them too with sick kids, thunderstorms (I draw the line at lightening), and late nights spent working. Life happens and thankfully, my body understands that.

I’ve reached the point of training where I begin to doubt myself and a little anxiety sets in. I think – did I do enough? Did I push myself hard enough? Thanks to my previous experience, I know that race day does not boil down to one singular training run, but the accumulation of the time spent on your feet (and I have DEFINITELY spent some time on my feet this go round), but I won’t pretend I’m not feeling nervous and jittery. My mind is full of questions — will I start out too fast? Will the adrenaline hurt me in the first part of the race — or maybe carry me through those last few miles? WHAT WILL THE WEATHER BE LIKE? Should I wear my hydration vest?? Will I bonk at Mile 22? Obviously, these are questions I can ONLY answer on race day, but it doesn’t mean I’m not driving myself crazy.

Then I remember I’m running a second marathon at the end of November. What the hell was I thinking?

Yeah. I’m ready for taper. Can you tell?