How can you tell someone has run a marathon?

I have a confession. Please don’t hate me. Last year I did the Chicago Marathon, followed 3 weeks later by the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. At mile 20 of the IMM I told myself “Don’t ever sign up for 2 marathons this closely again!” Then I finished within 7 seconds of the Chicago, so it wasn’t actually horrible (just mental). THEN I signed up for both races again this fall. It gets worse.

“How can you tell someone has run a marathon? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you!” Guilty.

I’ve only been able to do a half when a full is offered once. I just can’t seem to allow myself the ease of a half if there’s a full option. I guess I just like the punishment. LOL

I love the mental planning I do for a Half. I can really nail down a pace and stick to it. That gives me some satisfaction. Yet I have finished 3 marathons within 37 seconds of each other… so that’s even more precise. I really do hope at some point my brain kicks in and says “Who gives a crap what others think about you?! Why are you running? To impress people or to stay healthy?” I need help! 😉

When I started running 5 years ago, it was purely to lose weight. I had NO desire to do a 5k or anything else. But then I caught the bug. And now I am addicted, and I have slightly lost sight of my original intent.

I’m the same way about half marathons, I now don’t want to run shorter races. I’m not quite ready for a full yet but I’m hoping someday I can feel the way you do. It’s awesome to have that confidence and ability. 🙂

Do what YOU want to do… After all… This is a sport… Have fun!!

I get so mental about it all. I will be 40 this December, so part of me wants to take advantage of the abilities that I have. I have only been running for 5 years, so hopefully I still have years ahead of me… but I don’t want to use up my time too quickly 😉 I over-analyze everything!

I do still purely and wholly love running. It has never felt like a punishment or a chore. It has really empowered me and given me a sense of accomplishment and pride and self-worth. I just get afraid that I have gone too far. Thank you all for listening to the crazy thoughts that I should leave INSIDE my brain. LOL

Are you looking for us to talk you DOWN from the full? Or maybe point the finger at you and yell, “Run ADDICT!”? Sorry, you’re in the wrong group. It’s more like, “Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated!” 😉

Turn the brain and the garmin off… And RUN! 😉

I wish I knew what I was looking for 🙂 I will never stop over-analyzing everything! I think that’s why I enjoy running so much. I only need some shoes and shorts and the distractions of the world disappear!

Conversation went like this: I ran 2 marathons within 2 weeks like year and didn’t think it was wise to repeat. I am training harder this year for MCM expecting to shave 20-30 min off of last year’s time which means i shouldnt run another one 2 weeks late this year. But this 50K looks so good and there won’t be one until January… Lets just say I haven’t made my final decision yet 🙂

I contemplated running the Twin Cities and the Chicago back to back this year, but with only having 1 marathon under my belt, thought experience should be more before I put my body through something like that. Good Luck to you ! Inspiration to run 2 in 2-3 weeks!

I will say this – Running 2 marathons that close together seemed more mental to me than physical. I am not a hardcore marathoner, so the physical strain isn’t horrible. My marathon times are all 4:15, so once I have trained for a full, my philosophy was to do them both, rather than having to train more than once in a year. I knew I’d never be in as good of shape!

I have done several full marathons and lots of half marathons. For me and probably you given your race times, the half is a race and the full is run to survive. Nothing wrong with racing.

My first was 4:35 and felt great after it, I now know I could get better, would like to hit 4:20/4:25 this time around. I was addicted to my Garmin and didn’t allow myself to flux from my 10:30 plan. But knowing how great I felt after I plan to push a little harder this time. Although any decrease in time I will take!