Two Big Decisions

Training has been going well lately, and it's been begging the question, what's next. I've been able to push myself - up to almost 14 miles - with no discernible difference in my leg. In fact, the weeks that I don't run much, the leg actually hurts more.

So, despite the annoying, always present, tingling and achiness, I've started to set my sight on some bigger thoughts.

I've looked at the calendar, done some research, and have decided. My next big race will be (drum roll please):






(and, yes, I mean marathon, not the half!)




I dutifully have written down a training program that will take me from this week to August 29th. I'll admit, I'm a bit worried, as I've written down some pretty heavy mileage (July calls for 147 miles!). I am excited though, to think about running 15 miles in Siena and 16 in Germany while on our honeymoon :). I asked Ed if he thought we'd be able to run 16 somewhere in Germany. "Can we run 16 in Germany?" he scoffed.  "We can run 30! 40! 50!" I think we'll stick to the schedule, but glad to know he's so confident :).

This marathon seems like a good "first" choice. Much like my first marathon, it's flat (which, while I love trails, just feels safer to me). It is also a modified out and back, that you do twice. While that sounds not too exciting, it's on mostly trails and I think it'll feel less scary jumping in with an increasingly familiar course. Ed is planning to run a 50k the previous day, so I'll cheer him then, and he'll cheer me at mine. This will make the format of the course even better, because from one spot, Ed will see me 4 times!

Santa Rosa is beautiful - quiet wine country. I think a nice, subdued race will be great.

This training also makes for a fun summer. Early August, where I hit my heaviest mileage, I'll be happily on summer break, and once I start tapering I will (hopefully) be back to teaching.

So, we'll see how all of this goes. My leg is actually pretty sore at this exact moment, which makes me worry that all these plans won't pan out, but the fact remains that my leg's pain has been constant for almost 3 years, despite the amount of running that I do or don't do. I don't think waiting will do anything - I'm ready to try. If the pain really gets worse, I'll stop, but by the end of July, I should know.

My second big decision (which will seem much less big after this announcement) is that I've decided to start a push-up training program. I'd love a somewhat more toned upper body before the wedding (which is in 7 weeks!) and I stumbled upon this: http://hundredpushups.com/index.html.

I'm all signed up, and I did my first workout today. While I really wanted to do real push ups, I had to go with modified knee push ups - just not strong enough yet. I've only 'officially' scheduled the first two weeks, so we'll see how this goes. Maybe I can switch to the real push ups at some point :). My arms are a little sore as we speak, so I'm excited to see how this goes.

Wish me luck with all of this craziness!