What happens with a deferred marathon? A whole lot of emotions and trying to figure out what’s next.
This is not the post I thought I’d be sharing today. Ordinarily, I jot down some thoughts on paper throughout the day before putting everything together and typing up a full post on WordPress. I had a two-pager all handwritten and ready to go. I thought the post I was going to be sharing was about my goal marathon and all the things I was going to do to pump myself up for it.
And then I deferred.
Yes, you read that right. I deferred my entry to the 43rd Marine Corps Marathon. And now I’m feeling the complete gamut of human emotion. On the one hand, I’m relieved. There was a lot of stress surrounding the race for me this year. Deferring lifted a huge weight almost instantaneously. But on the other hand, I’m really dejected. I had big plans for this year’s race. Heck, even my husband signed up for the 10K. It was going to be epic!
A Deferred Marathon: Now What?
This was obviously a hard decision. One that had been considered heavily for a week. And I know I made the right one. Am I heartbroken? Yes. But it’s for the best. Plus I deferred; I didn’t transfer. Which means I’ll be back in D.C. next year for the 44th Marine Corps Marathon!
What’s next?
After I officially deferred, I spent the remainder of the day swapping emails with my coach at lightning speed trying to decide what’s next for me. Right now I’m debating whether I should still tackle a full marathon in just a few short weeks or if I should perhaps dial back the distance and instead focus on speed. Same race — two different distances. There’s also the teensy tiniest possibilities of traveling for a full a month later but there would be a lot of planning to go into that so it’s not likely.
Running hard for 13.1 miles is super hard. I’m not sure if I’m ready to be uncomfortable for that long. But running 26.2 miles is just as hard, just in a much different way.
Am I ready for running hard for two hours straight? Or will I be satisfied with a longer and equally difficult race with a slower sustained pace?
My coach and I will surely continue the discussion over the next day or so, and hopefully I’ll come to a decision in which I’m both confident and comfortable.
And in the meantime, I’ve always got Iron Horse on the horizon!
Stay tuned!!
Let’s talk!
Have you ever deferred or bowed out of a huge goal race?
Which distance would you choose if you were me?
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