No need to panic

Exactly two months from this moment, I will be done with the marathon, preferably alive and in one piece. I really want to enjoy this one, as opposed to feeling like garbage... no, cold, wet garbage... back in '06. The weather was shitty and I could have trained better than I did. It was fun for about the first 18 miles; I fought my body for the final eight. But I did it.

I found an 18-week training plan on the internet and mapped out a schedule on the calendar. With the sunny winter, I was able to get in a good number of long weekend runs before the schedule even started. I was ahead of the game.

But time has just flown by! I do have a 17-miler under my belt, but I should also have an 18 and a 20 at this point. Throw in a 21 and a 23 looming on the docket, and I'm behind. I'd like to get up to 23 before the race. Although it would be nice knowing I can physically handle the distance, running a 23 would go a long way to putting my mind at ease on race day. My long run last time was only 18. Dumb, dumb, dumb...

It's supposed to be nice Saturday, so I'm going to do 20 that morning. Then, I'll shoot for 23 in several weeks. The only hiccup in my plan is the half marathon in mid-May. I'm so amped for that race for several reasons: it's my favorite distance; it's the distance for which I've set a lofty goal (1:30, PR is 1:34:01 - I've cut seven minutes off in three years); and I'm anxious to race after skipping out on Sioux City last weekend. So, I have to balance marathon training with staying relatively fresh in order to perform well at the half.

Throw in track practice a couple times a week (which I'm loving) and everything else I'm up to, and I have a time crunch. But as Tim Gunn says, I need to make it work.