On Not Marathoning...

Somewhere in the middle of my 15 mile run last week, I decided not to run the Philadelphia Marathon in the fall. There are many reasons for this, none more important than the other:

1.) Physically, I don't feel up to a strong build. Three years ago, all of my easy runs were around 8:15/mile. Now, there's nearly all at 8:40/mile.

2.) Emotionally, I don't feel ready for the burden that comes with focusing on a marathon. Previously, I'd done one marathon per year, but with doing one in the spring, I'd doubled my frequency. While that's nothing to people who run marathons, I think it's a big difference for people who focus on peaking for them.

3.) Meteor-logically, the weather wins. Interesting: before this year, I would've called myself a great summer runner. I don't feel like one anymore. Global warming, 1. Marcus, 0.

4.) Vocationally, I'm just busier. That isn't a complaint about my job - I love my job and 99.9% of the people in the world have it harder than me. But it's been taking a bit more out of me for the past few months, and I expect it will for the next few, too.

There's part of me that's already regretting this decision and I know that part will get bigger when the weather turns and my friends start busting up great times, but the fact of the matter is I'm not set up for a great time right now. Instead, I'm going to enjoy the fall and race way more than usual. I can already point to five short races I want to do - only one of which I was preparing to run before I shelved the plan.

Hopefully, after a season of that I'll be hungry enough to give the effort that I think the marathon deserves.

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