I am wrapping up my master's degree in two weeks. I will have a paycheck and a bit more time on my hands (I hope). I have two options for an end-of-summer event. I seriously need some help with this one:Option 1: The Heart of America Marathon in Columbia, MO on Labor Day. A small race, small entry fee and nice venue. I've never ran a marathon and really want to.
Option 2: This one is way more work, way more money but way more rewarding. It is the Pelotonia Bike Tour for Cancer Research in Columbus, OH at the end of August. Lance is riding. It would be 100 or 180 miles and I would have to raise between $1500 and $2000 dollars. I hate fundraisng. But it is a great cause and... did I mention Lance was riding? Judas!
I just can't decide. I think I might regret biting off more than I can chew with the Pelotonia with starting a new job but it is definitely the more epic of the two options. My sweet wife says she'll support either one and that makes it even harder. Usually she is in integral part of these kinds of decisions.
Posts
Option 1:
ReplyDeleteConsidering if you start today, you are starting late for marathon training. I'm confident and being truthful that through your moving process and the initial first few weeks in moving to Hannibal and getting adjusted to your new job/life, you will miss a few workouts here and there to the point you aren't as effective with your training- so you really aren't starting your marathon training for real until the last week of june/early july. Having 1) late start in training and 2) guaranteed missed workouts, may spell for disaster in terms of injuries and stress/pressure to perform.
History showed that even with alot of time to train for the flying pig marathon with 20+ weeks, you had to cancel. This time around with option 1, you are trying to run your first marathon with less time to train....NOT good.
Option 2: Biking is your strong point. I feel this is your specialty and if you had to ride 100 miles on a whim monday morning, you can do it. (sigh...if I had to run 26.2 miles on a whim, monday morning, I can do it...). I highly recommend you doing this over a wishy-washy marathon preparation because its: 1) Less stress/training on you 2) You can use your new bike that you obtain this year and see how good you can be with the bike 3)You can always say you were in the same race as Lance (he ain't gonna be in these types of events forever) 4) You get to visit Columbus/friends again
I'm kind of iffy about the fund raising part, but maybe if you fund raise for cancer you will be blessed in not getting cancer down the road. lol. So the only downside with this event is you will raise $1500+ for this event, travel to and back from Columbus: $100, food, possible lodging, higher event registration, etc. Just more money.
Conclusion:
If you are trying to make your mark in a marathon and have a decent run time, this will not be the marathon you will do it in. You can't get faster with less training time, you will only breakdown and injure yourself. i just can't recommend this for health/safety reasons and I'm confident many of my marathon members will say the same thing.
You are awesome in biking to begin with, a 100 miler will only make you faster, stronger and be more conditioned for the biking part in an Ironman one day.
Good thoughts. Thanks, Yanganator.
ReplyDelete