Marathon...

So we're headed to Europe in April, or that's the current plan anyway.  Paul would really like to run a marathon in his time off before residency which I completely respect.  It's quite an accomplishment and I know he has the capability to do it with those long legs...  Now I have to think about whether I will join him and when we are going to sign up for a road race.  The races that would work best with his schedule would really conflict with our trip, so I suggested that he find a race in Europe.  What a great way to see the cities of Europe and also to be able to accomplish his goal.  Well, I went out on a search and I was able to find a few.  I really would have loved to join the Paris France Marathon, but that one is sold out unless you go through American travel agencies.  The other options are northern Italy and Vienna City, Austria.   I think Italy would be great but it's a week earlier than Austria's race.  If I start training today, that leaves me only 12 weeks to train for a race, which is substantially sorter than the recommended 18 weeks for a beginner.  I was talking to roomie Jera and she said to go for it, and I would say that I have to agree.  This might be the only time I would be able to cut out that much time to train for a race.  I could train for a half marathon no problem, but a full marathon is a little more frightening.  I guess we can see how it goes... 

Here's the training schedule I would would try to follow:

http://www.marathonrookie.com/support-files/16weekmarathonschedule.pdf

That said, I would have to shave off a few weeks of the schedule.  If I start today, and make up the Monday and Tuesday runs, and we did the Vienna race, the most I would have is 14 weeks.  Eeeek!  The benefit would be that I would be in amazing shape for our Europe trip and the start of medical school! That's definitely a perk, but one drawback is that when I run, my muscles tend to tighten up really fast, so I would make sure to do yoga on my rest days to try to improve my flexibility.  I really want to join a ballet studio when I get to medical school, so maintaining my flexibility is a MUST.  If I can pull this off, I would definitely have the endurance!

Well, that's the plan.  I will start today with a 3 mile run down to Walgreens and back.  Tomorrow I will attempt to run at the work out room in the Hilton during my interview.  Friday will be the same challenge, trying to run in the Hilton.  Saturday, that's a nice long 5 mile run which I will have to do in the hotel before I leave back for Madison, or flip-flop my Saturday and Sunday workouts.  It's too bad it's so darn cold out, because I am not a huge fan of running in cold weather... come on Spring!  All I know is that Paul is going to kick my butt...