In December 2009 I decided I was going to run a Marathon and 12+ months later I did it. Now I’m training for my second marathon which is rocketing toward me on November 5th. I’m not worried about this one. I’ve been training (did a 16.5 mile run today!), still have plenty of time and there’s a vacation (Hawaii!!) to be had at the end of this month which will surely refresh me as I’m taking that week off and starting in on my last 8 weeks of training when I return.
The marathon decision isn’t to be taken lightly though. It takes a lot of time out of your life to run all those miles, trust me! And it means you already have plans on every weekend for the next 16-20 weeks…running and recovery. It also means that you’ll need to go to bed before American Idol goes off the air for the night. And there’s also a nutritional component that many forget about. Meals need to be thought out a bit more especially pre-run meals and then there’s what you’ll eat/drink for energy while on those long runs because from mile 6 to 26.2 plain water just won’t do it for you anymore. Basically, it’s a huge life changing decision that you’ll need to make with the help of the people in your life since the decision will effect them too. Know what you’re signing up for…it’s not just one morning a few months from now.
I must say that after training for my first marathon I’ve been more cognizant of my time commitments. Even more so now that I’ve decided to go for another marathon of sorts. Tomorrow, (Monday) I officially start my PhD program in Adult Education. I’ve been taking a few classes toward that goal as a non-degree seeking student for the past couple years, but now the real academic “training” begins! This academic ultra marathon will take several years!
Of course there are only so many hours in a day. So I’ve decided to limit myself to running half-marathons or shorter distances starting next year and moving forward while I work on my PhD. I’m excited about this decision! This means that I can focus on primarily one specific distance and improving my time for the 13.1 miles. I’m thinking I can not only break the 2-hour mark, but also cut another 10-15 minutes off my time after that!
Have fun training for all your marathons both the physical and mental kind!
Happy Training!
Brian
Running Down a Dream 23's Blog 
Great article Brian! There are only so many hours in the day. Sometimes I think it could all work out if I was just an insomniac 🙂 Ha! All the time I would gain and maybe some loss of brain function, throw in injury and a little crankiness. Okay, sleep is better but still it always feels like a few more hours a day would help!
Have a safe and fun trip to Hawaii! Oh! I ran 15 miles yesterday. Trying to stay caught up with you so we can do a long run together soon! We need to catch up.