You Know You’re Training for a Marathon When:

So I wrote a little post the other day about what I saw on my 20k long run on Saturday morning. It wasn’t until today that I realized I ran (pretty much) a half marathon as a training run. I didn’t even think about the distance. I just busted it out like it wasn’t no thing. That’s when I decided that I’m officially like a runner or something. I ran a half without even wanting to brag about it! Well… until now.

The return of smug Obama.

 

It got me thinking about other aspects of my life that have changed since starting training. So here goes:

1. You run a half marathon as a training run and don’t think to brag about it. But uhm hey, do it please! So I’m not the only one.

2. You can’t go out on the weekends anymore and you’re cool with it. Friday’s out, you’ve got to load up on carbs and hit the hay early in order to get out at 5am for your weekend run. And by the time 5pm rolls around on Saturday, you’re dead on your feet. Maybe something to do with running around in circles for three hours? People ask you to come out but you’ve already made plans with another bowl of pasta and a couple episodes of Criminal Minds.

"Sorry guys! I've got to stay in and read this biography of Jeff Galloway!"

 

3. You do several loads of laundry a week consisting only of running gear. Your towels fall by the wayside (you don’t want your expensive Lulu tights to pill) as you do load after load of specialty shirts, snot-covered gloves, mud-splattered jackets, and socks with suspicious blood stains on them. By the way… no matter how often you clean them, those stains are there for keeps.

4. You’ve stopped trying new food in fear of what it’ll do to your digestive system. Someone at a party (mid-week of course, we’ve been over this) offers you a spicy Indian dish. You laugh and refuse. You don’t want to know what will happen during your 10k the next morning. Nothing good can come from that stuff jumping around in your intestines tomorrow. Trust. Me.

5. You’ve stopped feeling embarrassed about leaving the house with a head lamp on. You’ve got a run to do before heading to class/work/whatever and if that means strapping on a unicorn horn you’re a-okay.

6. People start asking you if you’re that girl they see every morning on the roads. You sheepishly nod and they invariably tell you you’re crazy. You’re used it by now. As a little small-town addition to this, I’ve been told that I cause quite a lot of discussion on the commuter buses that drive past me several times every run. I know all the drivers (very. small. town.) who then tell everyone my name, that I’m training for a marathon, and that “I’ve got a good head on my shoulders”. Booyah, thank you bus driver man.

7. You eat and eat and eat and god you’re always hungry. What more do you want from me body? I can only eat so much in one day!

Breakfast

 

8. You know exactly what you’re going to be doing at 6:45am on March 28^th. Running of course, what else? You may be like me and have your schedule set until November.

9. You tire your dog out on runs, not the other way around. “Come ooooonnn Ruby just 3k left! We can do it!”

10. You consider a 10k run as a nice, easy, mid-week run. Then you think about when you first started running and a 10k seemed like an impossible feat. Then you feel amazing.

 

Have you noticed any big changes in your life after starting your training? Hopefully they’re all positive ones (or at least not too bad).