What's Next??

And now for the million dollar question......

Will you do another one?!?!?

The short answer....MOST DEFINITELY!

Is there a long answer? Come on...you have to have learned by now that there is ALWAYS a long answer with me. (course, I guess if there wasn't I wouldn't have had a reason to start this blog).

As I already discussed at length in my last post; I enjoyed every second of this marathon. There is no way that I don't want to experience that again! However, there are things I need to consider prior to toeing the start line of my next marathon. (that's a great saying...toeing the start line....it's hilarious to me only because I will never actually line up on the start line! I will always be in the back of the pack, but I still like it so I'm gonna use it!)

As I was saying...changes have to occur prior to conquering my next marathon. Prior to this marathon I made myself a promise. While I was suffering through my last long run, I felt like I would never again want to train for a marathon. However, I also know myself well enough to know that when I lose my weight and when I become a better runner; I won't want my marathon time to forever be almost 7 hours (at the time I was not feeling very confident about finishing in anything under 6:59:59). So even though I had no idea how I would feel during or after the marathon, I pretty much knew I wouldn't do only one.

I asked my mom during this run if she would willing to support me through another training session. But, I told her that I would wait until I was completing half marathons in something like 2 hours. Ok, that is NOT going to happen. That wasn't a promise I made! I don't know that I'm EVER going to finish a half marathon in 2 hours. But, it goes to the promise I have since made to myself.

I will not do another marathon at my current weight.

That's as far as I've gotten in my promise. I'm not going to pinpoint a certain weight and say I have to weigh 1xx prior to doing a marathon, because I'm known to sabotage my efforts when I've put a specific weight goal on myself. But, I know that I don't want to do another one as big as I am now. I'd also like to have improved my running enough that a finish less than 6 hours becomes more realistic.

I've got some things to work on. So, the answer to what's next is to really focus on my diet more than I have been. To get back on the wagon and look at this as a way for me to meet my next goal. I mean, if I can complete a marathon, why can't I control my eating?!?! There's no reason. I can control my eating. I choose not to.

Clearly the reasons I've used as motivators to lose weight in the past weren't good enough. Apparently wanting to look better isn't enough of a motivating factor to me. The whole "wanting to be healthier" is not something I play into because, as we've discussed, I'm healthier at this weight than lots of people at a lower weight; according to my numbers.

So, what's immediately next is to complete my 2012 goal. I only mentioned this on my "running/triathlon journey"  link on this blog. At the end of 2011 I counted all the races I had completed to date in my life. I decided to make a goal of completing that number of races in 2012. I thought this number was 10 and it was nice because I had completed 5 races in 2011, so it would also mean doubling the amount of races done from 2011 to 2012. However, I apparently missed one race in there because when I was writing my races page for this blog, I realized that the number is actually 11. As of today, I have completed 8 races in 2012. I have 2 more on my schedule (Women Who Run 4 miler next weekend and Aurora Turkey Trot 4 miler on Thanksgiving Day). That will bring me to 10 races, but you know that just won't do for me. I only have to decide on 1 more to get to my 11 and I have time to do it. So, I'm going to find one more race to do and will meet my 2012 goal!

At the same time I will start on my next big goal....to lose this weight for good and really work on improving my fitness.