Planned Miles: who cares?
Completed Miles: I dunno
Like Missy Elliot once said (sometimes) you gotta flip and reverse it.
In last week’s “training” update, I mentioned that I was having a lot of trouble finding my WHY in regard to training for the One City Marathon.
I have to give a shout-out to my readers who provided some great advice about losing and (more important) rebuilding one’s motivation for running and taking much-needed breaks from running when life hits you hard. In terms of my decision to run or defer, most folks recommended going the deferral route. From that advice, I decided to take the best of both worlds. Instead of running the full marathon, I’ve decided to change my registration from the full to the half marathon for the following reasons:
I will still have a running goal for the spring:
I can be pretty hard on myself whenever I cancel half or full marathons for reasons other than injury. Changing my registration option will still give me something to look forward to in March. Hey, running something (13.1 miles) is better than running nothing.
Low-hanging fruit:
Having worked in Higher Education with a focus on DEI for the past five years, I kind of have grown to hate this term, but I think it’s fitting here. Although my training motivation for the full marathon has been kind of low, I have been doing “longish” weekend runs ranging from 8 to 12 miles. Ok, I haven’t done a long run in two weeks, but the distance is still there . . . somewhere. Since I’m already (more or less) at the half marathon distance, I can use this month and a half to focus a bit more on speedwork and strength training. Oh, I’m gonna add really getting on with a nutrition plan. Part of my reduced motivation has occurred because I have gained some weight over the past few months. Simply put, this weight gain does not make me feel like a runner.
It was cheap:
Changing my registration was only 20 bucks. I would have preferred a freebie since I’m going from a higher distance to a lower distance, but I think those days are long gone.
Concluding thoughts:
Even after changing my registration option and writing about it, it feels like a HUGE weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. While I’m not a huge fan of quitting (one of the reasons why grad school became a hot mess for me), I guess sometimes you have to take a few steps back to move forward.
One other thing. In these parts, the Shamrock Marathon and Half Marathon are super popular. I wonder if it would be crazy to register for the Shamrock (technically Anthem) Half Marathon which is a couple of weeks after the One City (Half) Marathon? Would running two half marathons in one month count as running one full marathon? 😉
Long Run Chronicles:
N/A
Training Plan:
One city (half) Marathon 2023 Training Plan:
TBD
Goals for the week:
-Simple, start running!
-Come up with a 1.5-month training plan for my upcoming half marathon.
-Up my intermittent and nutrition game. For the last couple of weeks, I have been fasting for 14hrs, I guess I crank it up a little and start my 16hr fasts.
-Find a race to volunteer for. I loved this suggestion that was made by one of my readers. I will admit volunteering to hand out bibs for one NYC Marathon made me that much more excited to run it the following year.
-Update my Spotify running playlists.
Long Run Playlist:
N/A
Questions of the Day:
-If you have ever deferred a race because of something outside of an injury? If so, how did you feel afterward? Defeated? Relieved? Excited?
-Any music recommendations? I’m always looking for new stuff (even if it was released by in the day) to listen to.
Social Media Plug:
Run There, Drink That 
a half marathon (which they’d change that name to something else) a friend finished his 100th half in 10 years in 2019….I just bailed on a full in Vancouver to do a half, I’ll get that full in August….I’m beyond bucket list things, now I just do fun…..but 13 miles is 13 miles
LikeLiked by 2 people
I had a to bail on a couple of international marathons and settle for the half marathon option (Montreal and Madrid). It actually worked out because I could enjoy more of what those cities had to offer since I didn’t need nearly an entire day to recover from those races.
Yes! 13.1 miles 13.1 miles. That 0.1 makes all the difference. 😉
LikeLike
I think that’s a great move to downgrade to the half given you haven’t been able to train. I’ve deferred Marine Corps over the pandemic years, rather than run it virtually. I think i first deferred it in 2020 (?) but this year i’m running it coz i have to use it or lose it. I’ve not deferred other races but I have pulled a no-show at a couple halfs because life got in the way. I did feel relieved since at the time going and doing the race was stressing me out. I scrapped my initial plans to run Shamrock but i think your math is correct! 13.1 x 2 =26.2!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve definately have pulled a few new shows for 5K and 10K races – mostly related to the weather (signing up for a Jan 10K in NYC sounds like a good idea in June) or hanging out too late on a Friday or Saturday (the more common reason for me).
I’m a little annoyed with myself because had I not pulled a couple of these no shows, I would have had my 9 NYRR races for guaranteed entry into NYC Marathon 2023. Actually, I take it back. I’m not annoyed because this will give me an opportunity to check out another fall marathon.
Maybe we’ll see you at another Shamrock, and good luck with Marine Corps (I’ve heard a lot of good things about that one).
LikeLiked by 1 person
if you’re looking for a fall marathon that’s not NYC, Marine Corps is 10/29 and i think lottery registration has not yet opened up yet, just something to consider 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the info. I guess the Marine Corps Marathon is where all the fun happens because so many folks have recommended it.
I’ll take a look at the lottery, but I do not have a great track record with marathon lotteries. This year, I was not selected for Chicago, London, AND Berlin Marathons. Prior to learning about the Marine Corps, I was thinking about Marathon Beneva de Montréal (I think it’s in late Sept/early Oct). A few reasons:
1. I love Montreal (with the exception of Montreal during the winter months)
2. I don’t think the marathon route involves Mont Royal (phew).
3. It’s only around $100. Actually, I gotta double check the Canadian to US Dollar exchange rate. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sometimes lifting a weight which is too heavy allows you to truly master a lighter one. A half marathon is still an amazing achievement and I think we all have those times where it would be very easy to just take a complete break, but doing something a little more challenging can be more satisfying and fulfilling 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
When my motivation is down, I’m always team ‘something is better than nothing’.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exactly 🙂
LikeLike
If you feel better after deciding to go with the half, you know you made the right choice.
If you had regrets, it would be because deep down inside you knew you could do the full.
I haven’t deferred but I have given my bib to someone else a couple of times. And I’ve received a bib a few times also. A bit of good karma.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think switching to the half was a smart move! I’ve never deferred a race but I would rather do that than have a DNF.
In 2020 I ran a half marathon on a Sunday then five days later ran another one. I never thought about it as running a marathon but I suppose it counted in a way! It hurt way less than the actual marathon I ran in 2021!
LikeLike
And here I am finally catching up with the decision! A good one, I think. I have DNSd races and I deferred Manchester Marathon because I thought I was going to be having an operation three days after the race, which didn’t seem very sensible – but the operation was nothing to do with running or injuries. Of course then a) the operation was deferred to the next month itself; b) when the deferred race came around I was sick and had to DNS!
LikeLike