Marathon training changes your life. I am not talking about the cliché “I am a new and better person sort of way” either. I am talking about basic, day to day stuff. For instance, my poor friends. ALL I TALK ABOUT IS RUNNING! I hear the words coming out of my mouth and can’t stop them “on my run this…” or “oh I have to do 14 miles that weekend that…” All I talk about nutrition, carbo loading, vitamins, stretching, cross training, head lamps, wicking gear and repeat my personal favorite phrase “I am training for a marathon” (usually as I shove a bite of pie or cake or a Cadbury Cream Egg in my mouth) as an excuse for everything! I know that there are a few people who find this interesting. But I wonder if I am annoying the heck out of everyone else?
I want to be more interesting than my training schedule, but I can’t seem to help it! I’ve been trying to figure out why this is. If I have some deep seeded inner need for approval or attention I am trying to seek. But that’s not really it. I settled on a conclusion as I lay on the couch on Saturday after my 10 mile run. I talk about training all of the time because it’s all I think about and do. Of course I think about work, and friends, but the time most people spend watching interesting televison shows, sports and movies or reading great books, I have spent devoted to training.
It’s not just the time runs/workouts take. That’s only an hour most days, and a couple of hours on the weekends. That alone would not merit this kind of obsessive, one-track thinking. No, it’s more than the workouts. It’s time I spend waking up early enough so I can eat something long enough before my run. It’s time I spend stretching, showering and changing after they’re done. It’s time I spend washing my workout clothes, which are now dirty most of the time. It’s the extra sleep my body demands and the recovery time after a tough workout. I can’t just run 10 miles and go about a busy Saturday. I took two naps and spent most of the day on the couch! I wear only good shoes now to preserve my feet, and stay far away from anyone with a trace of a cold. It’s planning good meals and drinking water and taking vitamins so I feel good on my runs. It’s reading about training and mentally preparing. It literally takes all of my free time! I was starting to wonder if I was just overdoing the whole thing when a friend who has run one reminded me that no one knows how intense training for a marathon is until they have done it.
Training demands a lot of attention, focus, energy and sacrifice. It changes how you see everyday life. I only hope it isn’t too challenging to my friendships. For all of you out there who have listened to me, thank you. If we are still friends after the 25 of April, it will be through your grace and patience. And for those of you who have run with me, read this, and shared your running/marathon training wisdom, there will be miles dedicated to you at the race. It is with your support that this will move from everyday changes (and craziness) to a change for the better.
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