So I’ve been struggling with my running a bit. My workouts have been great and I’ve been hitting about 35-40 miles per week for over a month now but… I’m not really training for anything. Dopey, while on the horizon is not really that close so I don’t really feel like I’m training for that yet but I also want to keep this innate motivation that I’ve built going!
Don’t get me wrong, taking this break from marathons and intense training has been just what I needed. I’ve found the fun again and got to push myself in ways that I can’t when I’m mostly focused on just getting a lot of miles done in a week. It was the right thing to do at the right time but I’m itching for a marathon again!
I have been thinking about running a fall marathon but that grad school/intern life has meant funds are low and I also don’t really “just” want to run another marathon in Colorado but even a weekend road trip to a race is kind of out of reach right now. (Plus I have a wedding to save for!)
So what’s a girl to do? I had been searching and creating budgets for a variety of races and nothing was feeling quite right until… I found the Cheyenne, WY marathon! I’ll get to check off another state and it’s under a 2hr drive which means I can drive up the morning of (albeit I’ll have to leave at 3am) and come back after the race the same day, maybe even throw in a stop in Fort Collins for fun/lunch!
The kicker? It’s in a month, eep!
This however isn’t out of reach since I’ve kept my base. I can’t stress how much having a running base pays off and gives you the freedom and confidence to do crazy stuff like this. Even just 25 miles per week is enough to make an impromptu 5k or 10k possible, maybe even a half marathon! It promotes general fitness and allows you the flexibility to race when you want.
I love my base!
Anyways so I’ve been running between 35-40 miles for about a month, I ran 16.5 miles last weekend so with just a few more long runs and then a quick taper (might cut it down to just 2 weeks) and then race day! It’s kind of fun just jumping in like this however, it does mean my goal will be to just finish and have fun. I just want to connect with the running community, run the miles, and keep chipping away at my lifetime running goal of a marathon in each state (this will be state 10 if I’m counting correctly!).
Love what you do, don’t be afraid to jump in, and let’s go out and run the world friends!