Marathon Maniacs- Do I Want In?

Reading other runners' blogs has opened my eyes to a wide world of running and exercise. It mostly has reminded me that despite running six >15 mile training runs this marathon cycle (2 of them over 20 miles, w/ two more 20 milers to come!), I am decidedly NOT hardcore. You should see some of these folks' work-outs! Multiple hours a day, only 1-2 rest days a week. Even people who are slow like me still put in a lot more effort than I do. This has taught me a fes things:

1: I need to step it up big-time for my next marathon training cycle. (First, I need to choose my next marathon for after Chicago). Key goals for next cycle will be: more race pace work during long runs, using my Garmin more consistently, and including more "tune-up" races to check my progress.

2: I need to work on my mental game. I am nowhere near my potential and I know it.

3: I need better goals- more aggressive time goals and concrete long term goals.

I can't do much about #1 before race day (Chicago Marathon, 10/10/10) because upping the intensity now probably isn't the best idea. I'm doing a 20 mile pace run next weekend and then the taper begins. I can and am working on #2. Mostly by reading books on the topic and implementing their recommendations. Advice, suggestions are welcome. And I'm starting to address #3 with my "50 in 50" goal. That's a long, long, long term goal.

But through blogging, I learned of another goal that is pretty big, pretty impressive (I think it is, anyway), and one I can attain this October. Achieving this goal would be a "consolidation prize" if I don't achieve my sub-4:15 marathon on 10/10/10 (but OF COURSE I'll make sub-4:15, gotta stay positive). Or, if I do both, I could have the most productive running month I've ever had. What is this goal, you may ask? It's qualifying to be a member of the Marathon Maniacs!


Marathon Maniacs is a group of folks who love, love, love marathons and are, well, a little maniacal about it. Some people believe anyone who even thinks about running 26.2 miles is maniacal! I, of course, disagree;)

On the "Are you a maniac link" the website asks:

"Do your thoughts switch to the next scheduled race immediately after finishing a marathon?" Check!

"Are you signed up for more than one race right now?" No, but I usually am.

"Do you know specifics about many of the marathons? Dates, courses, years run, etc?" Check!

"Do you know the story of how the marathon got started and why the course is 26.2 miles?" Check!

"Do you read books on marathons like Marathon and Beyond?" Check!

"Is http://www.marathonguide.com/ book marked on your computer? Do you look at the race schedule more than once a week?" Check! Check!

"When asked about your racing from non-running people, do you find yourself talking with great passion to the point that the person that asked the question regrets ever asking?" Check! Sorry, friends! But thanks for asking!

The questions went on and on I said yes to all of them except for "Have you run marathons on back to back weekends?" Not yet.

I continued exploring the webpage and started to think that this might just be a crazy enough group that it is worth joining. How do I qualify?

Here's what the "Criteria" link had to say:




WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? No way can I do that.......maybe if I was retired and independently wealthy.


Let's take it down a notch:



Possible, but isn't going to happen anytime soon.




Then, I found the more modest "bronze level". This I can do:






Happily, I may just be able to pull this off in October. Stay tuned to see where and when.....

For now, I need to go wash my dri-fit clothes for my 23 miler tomorrow:)