Vermont City Marathon.... the WHOLE thing!

Rhode Races Half Marathon, 2015

Two years ago I ran half of the Vermont City Marathon. It was my first half marathon and I trained really hard for it. When I signed up, I remember my apprehension. Was I really ready?

I used the Hal Hidgon Half Marathon Novice-1 Training Plan. It was 12 weeks of awesome and I finished in a good (for me) time of 2:17.

Fast forward to December 2015. I was thinking about what half marathons to sign up for in 2016 and I thought again about VCM. It had been so much fun, so much energy and excitement and right in my hometown. I wanted to do it again. Signing up for the half marathon required finding a teammate and registering in a lottery with no guarantee of being selected to run. Whereas signing up for the marathon required just signing up.... so, yes, the thought crossed my mind. I've run half, why couldn't I train for the whole thing?

I decided to start taking running seriously again, running 4 days a week including a weekend long run of 5-7 miles, and decide by January 17, the last day before a registration fee increase.

Last night, January 17, I decided to go for it. I had googled "why to not run a marathon" several times and didn't fall into any of the categories mentioned. I had also looked up the Hal Hidgon Marathon Novice-1 Training Plan. I have the time to train (the plan calls for 18 weeks) and as it turns out, this is the time in a runner's training that they often start to think of running a marathon, when they've been running for a couple of years and have run several halves. So it appears I'm on track (pardon the pun).