Publix Georgia Marathon - The Plan

I feel funny calling this a plan since this is probably the furthest from a plan that I have ever had going into a race.  The plan in a nutshell is, run and enjoy.... with a twist.  The twist is that I am not running the Publix Georgia Marathon, but will in fact be dropping back to the Half Marathon at the Expo.

I have thought about this a long time, called all my lifelines, and yes even polled the audience here, on the 26.2 Quest Fanpage, and even on Daily Mile and I have decided that I will play it safe and drop back to the half marathon distance.  This was not an easy decision and I did flip flops throughout the process that would make any politician jealous, but ultimately I put pride aside and have decided on the 13.1 instead of the 26.2.

There will be plenty of marathons in the future that I will be better prepared for.  Marathons that I can approach the starting line with confidence - both the confidence that I have trained sufficiently and that I am injury free.  This one was not meant to be my third marathon, although I still did learn a lot in the process of training for it.

I am nearing a week of rest in that I have abstained from any and all running.  my thigh was telling me it simply had enough and it needed some rest and recovery.  I will be heading out for a test run in the next couple days and am a little bit nervous in what I will find.  There is still a slight possibility that I will completely pull from the race if my thigh hasn't gotten any better, but I see that as only a remote possibility at this time.

With race day less then two weeks away the excitement is definitely in the air and all over the social media landscape.  I will be volunteering for packet pickup on Friday at the Expo and am really looking forward to it.  I volunteered at the mile 18 water stop in the 2009 Georgia Marathon, known then as the ING Georgia Marathon, and even though it was a long, tiring, and cold day, I still look back on that day with fond memories.

I have not yet decided what pace I will run the half marathon at, but I will most likely not try to set any new records.  My initial thoughts are that I will run it similarly to how I have run my recent long runs, but the runs I get in between now and then will further decide race day pacing.

Like I said, in a nutshell - Run and Enjoy!

Remember, today is your last day to enter to win a pair of MY RUN Movie tickets!

15 comments:

  1. Congratulations on making a hard decision. Good luck on your new half!

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  2. What a tough decision. Congrats on at least staying in to enjoy the fun of running. It's easy to lose the pleasure of the run when faced with disappointment. Good Luck!

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  3. Sounds like a plan... Never an easy decision.

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  4. I had to drop down to 13.1 before my first full because of injury. I ended up walking the half with a new friend (blogger) and it was SO MUCH FUN!

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  5. Thanks all for the encouragement!

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  6. I know all to well how hard of a decision this was to make as I faced it myself back in October with Grand Rapids. It's better to toe the line prepared to handle the distance then risk injuring yourself further. Have a blast in the Half and use it as a base to go for your next one.

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  7. Running to enjoy and being realistic about your fitness is a very good plan.

    Always better to run for fun than sitting on the couch.

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  8. Thanks Morgan, Andrew and Sue, and Mike! I am at peace with it which is the important part! :)

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  9. Sounds like a good non-plan plan.

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  10. Good luck Tim. Hopefully your thigh feels better when you go for your next run.

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  11. Sounds like you're being smart, something I'm struggling with myself over right now.

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  12. Thanks David, Patrick, and Kate. I hope you make the right decisions as well Kate!

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  13. Get out there and enjoy! So happy to be part of the audience poll.

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