60 Days Until Marathon

My brother informed me today that the marathon is just 60 days away. The training seems to go so fast until you get into the really crazy long runs (now!) 20+ mile runs are generally not a lot of fun no matter who you are. Just sayin'.

I have been thinking about my 23 miler coming up in a little over a week. Because of the issues that I had on the 20 miler (lack of bathroom facilities when needed, lack of cold water, etc.) I'm seriously considering doing this run from my house.

There are a couple of problems with that :

1) The roads out here are pretty hilly & sunny. The bike path where I would normally run is mostly flat & shaded.

2) Will I be able to handle going to my house to use the bathroom/get drinks and then be able to continue on with my run? Or will the temptation to stop be too strong? I'm pretty sure I have the discipline to keep going, but how much will it affect me mentally? Hmmm..

3) Then there's the issue of planning out the best route. I have never run this type of distance from my house. I think the longest run I've done from home is 13 miles (which was an accident! by the way, but that's a story for another time).

If you do not follow Jeff Galloway's training plans, you may think running 23 miles is nuts (actually, it IS nuts. Period.). Most marathon training plans only have you run up to 20 miles and that's it. However, if you are using the Galloway method to train, he has you run up to either 26 or 29 miles depending on which plan you follow! There's a lot of research behind this and I did follow the same plan last year so I know first hand that it works. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

If you'd like more information on Jeff Galloway, visit his website: http://www.jeffgalloway.com/

I do have some time to gear up for this run. I have to consider the mistakes I made on my last run and try not to get caught up in the negative talk. After this run, I'll just have one more ridiculously long run left before marathon day! Yipee!!