I guess I should have seen it coming. It's never easy to say this... but I've got the blues.
After my two previous marathons, I was stricken with post-marathoner's depression, which is quite common after one trains for several months, blinding themselves to anything that might occur after a particular end-date. Regardless of how that fateful day goes, the runner is left with a "What now?" feeling in the days and weeks after the race is over. Only, this year, it's a little worse, because as I try to fight the blues, I also have to tell my heart-breaking story.... over and over and over again to everyone who asks. My friends, my family, my Zumba students, my co-workers... even the FedEx guy. I probably need to just wear a t-shirt that says, "I tried; I failed." Kidding aside, here are some of my general feelings about the "What now?":
50 in 15: I love running, and I'd love to travel more. So, I came up with a goal: Do 50 half marathons in 50 states by the time I'm 50. This gives me a hair over 15 years to complete this task, but luckily I can already tick off Ohio and Nevada. Which state should I do next? Suggestions for particular races?
Zumba and... more running (sort of): The one thing that I often lament about dedicating as much time and effort as I have to full marathon training is that other things that I love have taken a backseat. No more, I say! Surf over to my Zumba page and check out my new class starting next month in Sayler Park. I will also be running, er, mucking in the Cincinnati Mudathlon this August, as captain of team "We Don't Get Drunk, We Get Awesome." If you'd like to join my team, you can do so here: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=628096531#!/event.php?eid=184821604901958.
Another Full: While I laid out reason after reason in a previous post as to why I probably won't run another full marathon, the way this one turned out makes me think I might want to give it another shot next year. On the other hand, if I keep chasing after the glory that may have passed me by years ago, I'm going to turn into Brett Favre. (And no one wants to see that.) So, it's still up in the air, and I'll wait until January 1, 2012 to make my decision.
1 comment:
I was feeling the same after not finishing my first attempt at the marathon (due to dehydration and passing out on the course!) All I will say is give it time before you say no more. I came home and said I was done marathoning. I ended up finishing what I started 8 weeks later and am still running them 4 years later. Redemption is sweet. I'm just saying!
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