Marathon training update [week three]

For those interested, I thought I would post a quick update on my marathon training thus far. Last night, I completed the last run in my third week of training. The last run of the week is always your long run which at this point for me is seven miles.

In the first three weeks of my training I have run 15 miles in the first week, 16 miles in the second, and 17 miles this past week. Each of these are over the course of four separate runs. By contrast, the most difficult week of training will come in mid-November which will be 36 total miles for the week.

In other words, I’m just getting started.

That being said, I am feeling pretty good about how things are progressing. My body is holding up well to the stress of four runs a week and my energy level has been good. I’ve slept really well the past three weeks and  have not dealt with any soreness from training.

The aspect of training that I know is going to be the most difficult for me is the mental preparation. I have found myself during my long runs thinking, “I’m only at mile five and I’m already tired. How am I ever going to run 26.2 miles!?!” To help me prepare to tackle this hurdle, I’ve been reading the book, “The Non-Runners Marathon Trainer.”

In one of the early chapters, it says this.

You are going to need a lot of confidence and optimism to keep going on the training in the next several weeks and to keep going in the marathon. Maybe you already have that confidence and optimism. Maybe you are already convinced that there is no way you are going to quit on the long runs or in the marathon either… But maybe you are not yet so confident of that. Maybe on some days you think that and, on other days, when you are not feeling very strong, you wonder if you’ll be able to do it. So, if you think you need to develop that attitude, how are you going to do it? Here’s how. By acting as it were already true.

Later on in that same chapter, the author warns against telling your friends and family that you are going to “try” to run a marathon. Rather, he suggests that the attitude necessary to complete your training and finish the marathon is the attitude that says, “I am a marathoner, and on December 5th, I’ll be completing the White Rock Marathon.”

I’ll admit it. I’m not there yet, but just as I am trying to train by body for this event, I am trying to train my mind as well. In the short term, I’m going to stop telling people that I’m going to “try” the marathon in December.

I’m going to finish.