I survived our biggest weekend of the work year! And in the process I fell off my training plan for a couple of days but I did manage to get in my prescribed 2-hour run before going to work on Saturday. How I am still standing today is a miracle.

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Last weekend after the Scotland Run, I went to brunch with a couple of teammates and I made a comment about how I was going to “retire from marathon running” after this year’s NYCM. As soon as I said it, I was challenged by my friend, Julio. He said something along the lines of “But will that be enough for you?”. It really made me think and continue to think about whether or not it will be enough for me.

Captures how I feel when I am waking up early!

So to put this into context, I really hate waking up early on weekends, by early I mean before sunrise to go for a long run or a race. Every once in a while it is okay, but consistently, it stinks. It takes me away from a normal morning routine – like eating breakfast leisurely and catching up on the news, and from just getting an extra couple hours of sleep. When I woke up for the Scotland Run last weekend at 5:30AM (and I realize that this may be late for some people) before the sun rose, I was wondering how I would survive another marathon training cycle waking up early every single weekend for long runs. Aside from waking up early, the amount of time I would need spend on running, argh, I just really wonder if I’ll be as committed.

Fast forward to this brunch conversation. Will it be enough for me? And the answer is likely no, I got all antsy this winter when I wasn’t on a training plan for something and then I went ahead and signed up for back-to-back half marathons. And regardless about how much I complain about the amount I run or how early I wake up, I came home on a high from the PR and was blabbing away about how if you have an extracurricular activity you love, then perhaps you don’t need everything else to be perfect (i.e. work, etc).

Anyway, speaking of will it be enough? I found out today that I got into the Chicago Marathon lottery along with all of my teammates that entered as well. (Not much of a lottery maybe, then, huh?) It’s going to be one big party in Chicago. It’s definitely craziness in numbers and that may be partly why it will never be enough. However for the time being, I’m scared out of my mind for two marathons all within three weeks of each other and am still seriously contemplating retiring after NYCM. But check back with me in November.

How do you know if it will be enough for you? I totally wish I had a crystal ball that would tell me. I’m such an un-relaxed planner.

P.S. I love running, most of the time while I am running and definitely when I am done.