I still want to write a full follow-up similar to Ross's, but this post is just going to deal with the direction of the blog now that we're in the post-race emptiness.
Before I say anything else I'm going to make a plug: January 8, 2012 Disney World Marathon
I was really excited to run a marathon for the same reasons that Ross listed: get to see my friends, gives me a reason to go out and train (not just jogging), gave us two reasons to get together (the half and the full marathon), satisfaction with the fact that I'm not dead and I can still carry myself a reasonable distance on my feet, and, of course, the blog.
With the exception of the blog, these were the reasons that I asked Sam and Ross to run another marathon. That and the fact that I really enjoyed running the NYC marathon. I would not say it was about racing, beating other people, or even getting a good time (which ended up not applying to me anyway). For me, it was about running with friends, which was my favorite part of being on a college team in the first place.
I do still enjoy competition, but I'm not compelled to compete the way that I did when I was in college. I'm also apt to throw in the towel when the going gets rough because I feel like I've already proved my point competition-wise. Post collegiate racing feels like an attempt to recapture something rather than discovering something new.
With all of that said, I would like to put out the idea of doing some joint 5ks, 5-milers, 10-milers, and the like. I'm all for completing another marathon a year or so from now, but I think this would be lower pressure with less pain and less hiccups to training (or less need to train up for them). I've been running these with Mongeon in NYC, but I'll soon be all moved out and I'll have a car and a functioning license in Pennsylvania.
This would also allow for many more meetups. We could even cycle. One in Pittsburgh, one in State College, and one in Syracuse. Smaller races would also mean no reason to take days off (unless we wanted to). Also, with smaller races there's always the off chance that one of us could actually win.
Anyway, I've been trying to pick a good 5 miler in Pittsburgh in either August or September, but I would be open to others if you know of any.
What do you think?
I think Disney made my short list initially, but somehow I got convinced to nix it. Don't remember why.
ReplyDeleteWell, I think we should strongly consider the Disney marathon. It is easily my favorite of the bunch. I'm considering running it by myself if no one takes me up on it.
ReplyDeleteThe other one that I liked was the Carlsbad one. Dry heat would be preferable to humidity (New Orleans does not strike me as good marathoning weather).
What do you think of smaller races?