TimeHop just reminded me that at this time last year, I was out on a 15 mile training run for my upcoming January marathon. For the first time since 2012, I’m not currently training for a marathon. And I have no regrets about that. None. Zip. Zilch. Zero.
I’m a slow runner. While I’ve fallen a bit out of shape over the past few weeks and am still easing back in, my ten mile run this weekend took me over 2:20. (No time shame here – a mile is a mile.) I have 12 miles on the schedule for next weekend, but unless something goes terribly wrong, it should still take me under 3 hours. The idea of spending any more time than that out running makes me cringe.
It’s a curse of the slow runner. If we want to get in our training distances, we have to put crazy amounts of time into training. The amount of time it will take me for 12 is the same amount of time it takes some people to do 20.
Is it worth it? Sure. Do I miss it? Nope.
Some of it is matching my limitations with my desires. Can I run a marathon? Absolutely. I’ve done it twice. Did I enjoy it? Well, that’s questionable. I enjoyed the sense of accomplishment that came along with it. So that’s something. But right now, I just don’t have the desire to do it again anytime soon. Will I run another marathon? Probably. At some point, I will either have forgotten how much I didn’t enjoy it or I will decide that I don’t care and that I really want to run another one.
But this year, at the Disney Marathon, I’m excited to be out there cheering for my friends running the marathon. And then I will enjoy my ability to walk properly for the rest of the day.