I’ve mentioned a zillion times that I am participating in a series of races this summer in order to raise money for First Descents (and yes, if you haven’t donated yet, shame on you! But don’t worry: you can click here and send a little money their way. Trust me, you’ll sleep better at night!) Through this fundraiser, I’m competing (or already have finished) a snowshoe race, a 7k run, a long distance duathlon, a 10k, a metric century cycling ride, an 8-mile adventure race called the Tough Mudder (google it; can we say BRUTAL?!), a sprint-distance triathlon, and an outdoor adventure race involving kayaking, trail running, mountain biking, and orienteering. And yes, I will complete all of that by the middle of August. I swear.
But none of that is the point. I am ready for all of those races and have more-or-less been training for them for a bit. However, I’m starting to look past those into the fall and the bottom line is this: should I run my first-ever full marathon???!! I can’t decide!
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Last year, the Denver Marathon was converted to a Rock ‘n Roll series marathon, and it looked like a lot of fun. I have contemplated doing a full for awhile now and it’s starting to nag at me. Should I do the Denver RnR? I could always do the half-marathon option, but I’ve already done 2 before so I know that it won’t be as much of a challenge (although I suppose I could challenge myself to finish quicker than the 6 snails and 4 tortoises that beat me last time). My concern also stems from my knees. This may sound weird, but I have healthy knees. No problems or anything…..but I noticed after my half last year that my knees were pretty sore. I iced them after the race and the pain went away after one day, so it wasn’t anything major. But if they were that way after 13.1 miles, do you think they will be able to handle 26.2?
I’m starting to lean towards a “yes” on this, but I’d like some help here! Registration fees go up at the end of the month, but I’m pretty sure I won’t decide by then. I would like to decide soon though so I can A) train properly without breaking every bone in my legs and B) not get sad if I try to register and realize the course had already filled up. That would be tragic. Or I could just do the half marathon too….aaaghhh!
So what do you all think??? Should I do it or stick to a half? How did you decide to run your first-ever “longest” distance race?
PS Go check out this great giveaway over at Training Like a Girl!