Should I start to marathon train now?

June is the decision month of when (or if) I'm doing a marathon. I belong to an e-mail group of runners in the Doylestown area training for the Mohawk Valley marathon. I received an e-mail from the group last week that training for this event should start June 4th (Yikes!). I haven't counted but I didn't think it was 16 weeks away for that event. I did look at other websites and they suggest June 25 as the start of training. (Yes, I know I should REALLY just count the weeks out myself but now rely on the internet to do everything for me.)

In any event, I did have a chance to go out 4 times last week. I ran 6 miles around Lake Galena on Tuesday night. I did my usual stupid thing and sprinted the first 2 miles even though it was in the 80s (F). Note to self--it's summertime and you can't do that anymore. I wound up run/walk the last 4 miles.

Thursday night, I ran 2.5 miles with my wife in New Britain Park. She is training for a 5k and hopes to do a 10k by summer's end. I find these runs beneficial as it is (a) quality time with my wife and (b) short, slower runs keep me loose.

Saturday was 5 miles around my neighborhood and it was hot again. Nice, sunny, beautiful, hot day. And I ran around noontime. I don't do well on these kind of days but I did finish the course I set out to do.

Sunday was around Lake Galena again in Peace Valley Park. It was a nice slow run and did 7 miles. So, not bad, 20.5 miles for the week.

I bought a SUV with a bike rack on the roof and finally had the chance to figure out the bike rack part of it. My wife bought a bike for me a few years ago but, since I started running, really didn't have a chance to use it. But now, I'll be taking it in this week for a tuneup and start using it for cross-training.

All of this is a radical departure in my marathon training from the past. I've seen websites and articles of how many times and what I SHOULD do to train. But, reality always strikes and had to settle to run when I can and pretty much rely on the scheduled long runs to get me through a marathon. Hence, my half marathon PR time is not a clear indication of what I have done with a marathon PR.

Because I know I don't train well for marathons, I don't get too competitive about it and do it for fun (sort of like taking a sledgehammer to your legs for the fun of it.) Don't get me wrong. I DO want to break 5 hours and even 4:30. But, I don't get too upset if I don't. I hope I can keep up the training schedule I did last week, for the whole summer.

(Note: On the Falmouth Road Race website, it states that if you haven't heard by June 4 from them, then you can safely assume you are in the race as the lottery was May 30. I haven't heard and neither has Steve so it looks like the race is on! All of the above is for marathon training but I also want to make sure I'm in the best shape I can be to beat Steve this year at Falmouth! Right now, I know I have the people from the Doylestown area and Nigel from the 'Running from the Reaper' podcast in support of me to beat Steve. He will be buying the beers after the race!)