Marathon Training: 3 Weeks To Go

What is up with all this cold weather? It's killing my motivation! Regardless, this morning I ran the 3M Half Marathon. I figured I was already signed up for it, so who cares if it's only 34 degrees outside -- can't let money go unused! The runners were about half and half wearing long pants or wearing shorts. I debated this decision for a long time before setting out, so I felt the need to notice this. I figured in shorts I would freeze to death waiting for the race to start, but in long pants, I would probably overheat before the halfway point. So, I opted for freezing at the beginning. I actually did see two guys running only in shorts, and I felt bad for their skin, but everyone has to do it their own way, right? I ended up finishing the race in just over 2 and a half hours, on about 11:30 min/mile pace. I felt really good with it, because here's the best part:

I ACTUALLY COMPLETED A RUNNING EVENT WITHOUT HAVING TO WALK!!!!

Surprising as it might be, I've done lots of triathlons, and I've always had to stop and walk parts of the run sections. This has always been demotivating to me, and is why I decided to actually learn to run. And I really feel like I'm learning that particular skill. Sure, my training derailed a bit when I got sick in the fall, but I've still built a bit of a runner's base, and I think I could actually run in future races.

I'm still planning to do the marathon in a few weeks, even though I haven't finished enough of the long runs to know that I can run the full marathon without walking. However, I'm going to do it anyway, and we'll see what happens. I'm looking forward to it, and am remotivated to do my runs this week and get back on schedule to do a marathon in the future that I can actually finish.