Running a marathon.
The marathon itself was fine. Yes, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong on the actual day, but I still hit my target time and finished with all my toenails so I take that as a win. But the training was what really made me question myself.
I have always been a runner, but when it came to the marathon training I had no time or headspace for anything but running. Any free time I had after work was spent running, and if I wasn’t running, I was thinking or preparing my next run, or meal prepping to fuel for my next run. I am also not a very fast runner, so for my longer runs (which you are meant to run slower than normal anyway) I was often out of the house for 4-5 hours at a time. There was also the added challenge that sometimes – as with all hobbies and sports I am sure – where your body just does not show up for you, and it was during these runs that I really had to dig deep mentally (and even spiritually at times) to get through it. I am still proud of the fact that I never missed a training run, nor did I ever not complete a run. Sure, there were some runs that took twice as long because of cramps, or mental blocks, or just my legs not wanting to work properly, but I always hit my mileage for every single block – all 16 weeks of it!
I am so proud of myself for committing to it though, and it was a big Bucket List goal so I do not regret it at all. If anything it has taught me that I am not a fan of marathons. For me, I worked out through all that training that my ideal race would be a half marathon – enough of a distance to be a challenge, but not such a big distance that my whole life has to revolve around the training.
Taylor Talks Vegan 