After The Thrill Is Gone

For the past 20 weeks (and more likely, since March), my mind has been consumed with one thought: finishing the Marine Corps Marathon. Now that the end is near, in a week I will be faced with the post-marathon blues. What do I have to train for now?

I have been giving that a lot of thought, and as of today, I think my plan will be to run a number of 10-milers next year. It's my favorite race distance, and to date, I've only done 3 of them. The races I'm targeting:

1) Cherry Blossom Ten Miler: a signature event for the Washington, DC, metro area, and a race that I've never tried, usually due to conflicts with other Spring half-marathons I've been training for.

2) Broad Street Run: Back in 2009, this was my first race over the 5K distance, and with it being held in the area where I grew up (Philadelphia), I hold a special fondness for this race. Plus, the course is flat-to-negative sloped, so it's easy on the legs.

3) Army Ten Miler: another great race in our Nation's Capital. I ran this in 2010, and thoroughly enjoyed everything about this event.

4) Reston 10 Miler: this race is in my current hometown, and although it's hilly, I ran it well preparing for the Rock & Roll USA Half Marathon this past March. I have to support the local races.

I also believe that I should take the remainder of 2012 to get in the habit of doing core work and restarting my strength training workouts. These are areas that would help me improve if I were to just put in some effort. I am guilty of neglecting these 2 areas and focusing just on roadwork.

As for other race distances, I don't think I'm going to try another marathon again anytime soon. The time it has taken away from my family wasn't something my wife was particularly happy with, so I think I'll just cross "finishing a marathon" off my bucket list and focus on races up to 10 miles, and throw in an occasional Half Marathon when the occasion suits me. I enjoyed the challenge of marathon training, but there are more important things in life.

One thing that I'd like to explore, though, and would need to discuss with my family beforehand, is possibly training for a 50K in 2015 (the year I turn 50). I believe that could be a rather unique way of celebrating a half-century on this planet, but we shall see. Until then, I will be focused on continuous improvement and overall fitness.