TOO MUCH TRAINING: A TOP 10 LIST

Still going.

It keeps going, and going, and

going…

~ Energizer battery slogan

Last year, my running bud, Kirsten, and I signed up for the Maine Coast Marathon, which took place yesterday.  This post, however, is not a race review.  Sadly, neither one of us made it to the starting line.  Back in September, Kirsten got sidelined with a broken foot.  There would be no spring marathon for her.  But, since I had already signed up for the race and booked the hotel room, which was non-refundable, I decided to forge ahead with the training on my own.  I started to ramp up in early January, sticking with my tried and true four month plan.  And then, it started snowing.  And it kept snowing week after week.  Not just a little bit here and there.  Oh, no.  Huge-ass blizzards kept sweeping through the MA area; storms that would dump multiple feet of snow and shut the whole town down for days.  So, while I did what I could to train through each storm, running on the treadmill for hours or even outside with my ski gear on, by the end of February, I was still nowhere near where I needed to be from a mileage standpoint if I was going to run a decent marathon.  Thus, between the lack of necessary training and the fact that I would be making the trip up to Maine on my own, which in and of itself didn't sound very appealing, I finally decided that a May race just wasn't in the cards.  Kirsten had already deferred her entry until 2016, so I did the same and just ate the cost of the hotel room.  Shit happens.  Despite not being where I'd hoped to be at the end of February, I did have a pretty solid base and I didn't want to totally scrap the marathon idea all together.  So, I got on marathoneguide where I quickly learned that there is basically some kind of marathon (road, trail, super hero themed, beer chugging) being held every week-end of the year and even on some week days.  Lucky for me, I found a June race, the Walkway Marathon in Poughkeepsie, NY, which would give me another five weeks -  just enough time to catch up on my lost miles and hopefully get back on track.  Done and done.  The long and the short of it is, I now feel like I've been marathon training for eons.  It's been over four months since I started and I still have over a month to go until this new race.  The light at the end of the tunnel is there, but it is definitely not shining bright.  I love running. Training, even.  But this is getting kind of nuts.  I had a good chuckle over the week-end as I thought about the many ways I can tell that I've been marathon training for, perhaps, too long.  Here's what I came up with.

TOP 10 SIGNS THAT I'VE BEEN TRAINING FOR A MARATHON FOR TOO LONG

1. I'm hungry ALL the time.
2. I check the weather constantly to determine what to wear....for my run.
3. I call everything I eat 'fuel' and everything I drink 'fluids'.
4. I'm in bed by 9 pm every night. And sometimes earlier.
5. My running playlist is over 8 hours long.
6. My laundry is 80% running clothes and 20% other stuff.
7. My social life is pathetic.
8. My coffee intake has increased substantially.
9. My sock tan is in full force and it's not even summer yet. (see photo)
10. I'm on my third pair of running shoes since January.

It's 6:30 in the morning.  I'm on my second cup of coffee.  I have a 22 miler to tackle today.  And I'm really, really hungry.  Just another day in marathon training land.  Yes, it's definitely been too long.  #stillgoing

Listen to this:
Moony Eyed Walrus - Cayucas