Why I Quit Marathon Training

You might be asking yourself, “Girl, why did you even START marathon training- sounds awful.” You wouldn’t be wrong.

Let me just say that running a marathon is incredible. Less than 0.01% of the human population has ran a marathon. It’s a FEAT. It is challenging physically and mentally. It pushes the human body beyond what it is used to doing. It takes TIME (a lot of time). It’s an incredible goal and accomplishment that I am applauding everyone for. I simply do not care to be one of the 0.01%. At least not in this season of life.

I do consider myself a runner, though. That identity shift just started happening for me over the past few years (a story for another day). One of my favorite forms of exercise is running and I consistently run 3 times per week for maybe 2-5 miles each session. I enjoy it a lot. I ran my first half marathon when I lived in Chicago and I had never been more proud of my body than when I finished. 

But, when I tell you no ounce of my body or soul wants to run a marathon, I’m not exaggerating. 26.2 miles?! No thanks. It is simply not what makes me happy- hours and hours and hours and hours of running, high risk of injury, strict exercise regimen that does not leave much room for additional exercises. It’s just not for me.

So, how did I get roped into training for one? Ah, let me tell you.

My sweet fiance recommended we run a marathon together. He is an all-or-nothing kind of guy and was eager to share in this experience together… a true couch to marathon story for the ages. I hesitantly agreed to race with him and started planning our training session. 

At that time, I was not consistently running, so when I saw the first week of Hal Higdon’s Marathon Training Program required a 6 mile run, I was dead. NOPE. I decided then and there that I would need to pre-train for my training program… yeah, you read that right.

I put together an 8 week training program to complete before starting the Higdon 18 week program. That is 24 weeks in total or 6 months of training. 

Long story short, I completed the 8 weeks, then about 10 weeks of the actual marathon training program before I had it. I was so done with the training, the hours of running, the countless long runs, wasted weekends, and sore exhausted body. I was SO not having fun. So over it. Done done done. At that point, in the training, I had run multiple 13 milers, 10 milers, and 8-9 milers. I had ran more in my life than I ever had and I hated it. Sure, I was proud of myself, but I was just not enjoying it. And to think, I still had 8 more weeks to go, most of which consisted of 15-20 mile runs. I was so over it. So I quit.

So where did I go wrong? Am I just not cut out for marathon training? How do thousands of people train for marathons every year? How do people go from couch sitting to running a marathon and I couldn’t? How does someone who considers herself a runner and enjoys running, not be able to train for the race of races? Am I a wimp? Weak? Or worse, a quitter?

These thoughts ran (pun intended) through my head for about a week before I profoundly realized the real reasons I quit marathon training.

Why I Quit Marathon Training

I didn’t want to run a marathon in the first place. So no crap I wanted to quit. You have to have some deep desire to complete a marathon, well, in order to complete a marathon. And I did not have that. While I love running, have done it consistently for years, and have run “long” races in the past, no part of me had the deep desire or goal to run 26.2 miles. I was simply joining my fiance’s goal in completing a marathon. Now, this “I don’t want to run a marathon” is different than my half marathon attitude of “I don’t want to do this, but actually think it’s an awesome goal and something I hope to achieve… but running a lot sucks… and hurts… but I think it will be worth it.” As my mentor stated, “The only way you’re going to complete a marathon is if you want to complete a marathon.” Isn’t that simple yet profound? To note, my mentor is one of the strongest runners I know, has ran countless races, and the sport is very much rooted in her identity, and yet, she herself has never ran a marathon. Why? She didn’t freaking want to. That’s why.

I over trained early, and was over it by the end. I stupidly tacked on a whole 2 months of training for no real reason. I pretended like it was to prepare for the actual training, gain some strength, stretch and exercise major muscle groups, and get my body and mind ready. However, what those 8 weeks of pre-training did was exhaust my mind and body, so by week 18 of training (when I should have been running a marathon based on the normal marathon training plan), I was still 2 months out from race day. It was just too much. I would maybe recommend 2-3 weeks to prep your body, but not 2 months.

I am truly scared of major injuries and their repercussions. As a medical provider, I see what years of wear and tear on your muscles and joints looks like. Not pretty. My biggest fear with running or over-exercising is serious over-use injuries and being sidelined for weeks, months, or even years. While I chalked this up to “well, this is the youngest I’m ever going to be, might as well do it now”, I was feeling some pain and discomfort in my knees and feet that while chronic, were exacerbated by the excessive training. I did not want to risk injury on an event/race that I didn’t even want to do in the first place. Sure, I would risk it on something I did want to do… but not on a marathon in this season of my life.

So, what did training for 18 weeks to run a marathon and then quit teach me?

What I Learned From Marathon Training

It reaffirmed my belief that we should challenge ourselves and go out of our comfort zone, without blatantly doing something we don’t want to do. This can be a difficult line to walk, and certainly can get fuzzy from time to time. One question that helps me discern the difference between something I don’t-want-to-do-but-will-be-good-for-me and something I simply don’t-want-to-do-period is this: “Are the inherent challenges of the activity challenges that will push you to be the best version of yourself, or challenges that will deplete you and drag you down.” For example, the challenges to running a marathon are the time, energy, and strictness of the training. That is a challenge for some that is thrilling and most certainly pushing them to the best version of themselves. However, for me, the energy, exhaustion, and strictness was actually quite depleting and unhealthy for my physical and mental health. It took me years to re-learn how to move my body in a healthy way (a story for another day), and while I love setting goals, a strict workout routine was simply depleting for me. Who knows what the future will look like, but ask yourself what this season of your being actually needs.

It taught me that I can comfortably run 7-10 miles. I can comfortably run 7-10 miles, and then go hop on a plane to attend a wedding or get brunch with my friends or go sightseeing or do any other typical daily activity. Prior to my training, that type of mileage would have wiped me out. It is much more accessible and manageable for me now and I love it. It has made me a better runner.

 It taught me that I can run a marathon. It taught me that if one day, I do in fact gain the desire to run a marathon, I will be able to do it. Period.

Finally, I learned that we can break societal norms and not live up to expectations that are completely arbitrary and made up. For instance, when I learned my mentor, who is such a runner in my mind, had never ran a marathon, I was shocked. “But you’re a runner,” I exclaimed. But, like, what the heck does that even mean? Why would I think to be a runner you have to complete a marathon? Something about this experience opened my eyes to the simple beauty of letting myself redefine what it means to exercise, run, achieve goals, and move my body.

So, there you have it. I will not be running in the Dallas marathon and I couldn’t be happier! I instead think I will run the half marathon and fully enjoy it.

Anyone else try something and then quit because they realized to their core that they had no desire to do that thing? Isn’t it fun to realize that? 

This story would be much longer and more complex if I went into great detail about various things that I have only kind of thought about (my half-thoughts some might call it): the chokehold “learning about my identity” has on me, how movement has looked vastly different in seasons of my life, how much I am obsessed with mentorship, and my deep honest fear of getting older and less mobile.

But I’ll save all of that absolute rambling for a different time.

Always rooting for you.

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