Marathon Training! Weeks 16 and 17

It’s probably a good thing I didn’t write this post on Friday. If I had, it probably would have been a rambling mess, saying that I hated marathon training and I was quitting it altogether. On that day, I had a really bad run. It was supposed to be a long run of 12 miles, but for a variety of reasons, I made it (barely!) to only 7 miles. Afterwards, I told Husband that I hated running and I was going to quit the marathon. He called my bluff. He didn’t overreact. Instead, he gently and patiently asked, “How would you feel if you quit?” I told him that I would feel very disappointed, especially since I’ve worked so hard for almost a year to get to this point! He smiled and said, “Well, I guess it sounds like you’re not quitting.” Darn! He is a clever one, and he tricked me without me even knowing it. But, I’m glad I decided to keep going. I’ve realized that not every run is going to be a good one, but the important thing is that I keep trying. Yesterday I ran a 3-mile run, and it turns out that it was my fastest run ever! I would have never experienced that if I had quit last week. I know I have a lot more challenges (and a few lingering doubts) to conquer in the weeks ahead, but I know I have the determination to keep going. And if there’s ever another time when I’m close to losing hope, I’ll have a clever coach by my side to ask me, “How would you feel if you quit?”