Common Marathon Questions...

There are several things I hear a lot of when I've told people I run marathons. Such things as "I could never do that." "Are you crazy??" "Really?" "Do you just start out running 10-26 miles???"

"Are you (me) crazy??" So let me first start by saying I'm not crazy. My sheer recognition of this fact tells me I am self aware enough to realize that, perhaps to people's disappointment (sarcasm noted) I feel I am quite sane. My running distance actually helps keep me balanced in a way I've never had before. Maybe it's the endorphins, or just the fact I can drink Gatorade and not feel bad about it. Whatever it is, however I feel quite sane just doing something...different with my spare time.

You hear a lot of people say "I could never do that," my common answer is "Have you tried?" Common reply is "No but I KNOW" First off, if someone had told me three years ago I would have run two marathons in 6 months, then be training to attempt two marathons in under a month I would have referred back to my first question. However what I've always said and believed is you never know how badly you want something or in some cases NEED something until you get there. You may not THINK you can do something...but trust me, you could, you can if you want to. But somethings you have to REALLY want. This is one of those things. It's fun, it takes your mind off a lot of issues and quite frankly, it gives you (well it does for me at least) clarity on things I probably would have bottled up.

"Really??" Yes, really. I run marathons, half marathons, 10ks, 5k's, 2 miles, a mile, down my block kind of runs. So again. Yes, really.

"Do you just start out running 10-26 miles???" I wish. No I will train for 4 months or so before a full marathon. I've actually taken 4 months off since my last marathon with little activity. Mainly because I listen to my body. I know how tough my last marathon was and I wanted to come into this training season with fresh legs. I know having been through this regiment that I can be marathon ready in 3-4 months so I trust my training and more than that I know my condition is better than it was a year and a half ago, so I should be able to slowly build up and be where I want to be.

"Seriously you have to be crazy to do two marathons in 27 days" OK I will relent a bit here, it is a lofty goal. But anyone who has known me, even a slight amount of time, knows I need tangible challenges it's what keeps me sharp and fresh. To push myself this hard will make sure I'm training constantly, keeping myself disciplined and hungry. I want to run both that's in all 52.4 miles But to do this, I am going to challenge myself to be as disciplined and as trained as I can be and let my legs carry me the rest of the way. I may pull my Zune out, but I like to run without music so we'll see!

One of my coaches Christine Luff has a great piece she does for About.com so if you get a chance sign up for it. There are lots of great tips and pointers!

http://running.about.com/gi/pages/stay.htm

Also plug here for my donation site, which is up and I'm tying in both of my marathons to Team in Training this year, so you can now donate (I'm trying to hit $8,000 to fund cancer research) at http://www.scottiwatarunning.com/
if the above site doesn't take you there try: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nyc/rnr09/siwata

Happy Running!