Should I Run a Full Marathon This Fall?

peaceful gravel road- perfect for a late afternoon run

About a month ago I started seriously considering running a full marathon in November. After all, I'm training for a half at the end of June and another half at the end of August. It wouldn't be that difficult to keep training and run a full marathon.

However.

The last couple weeks have shown me that it's just not a feasible plan right now. As my workouts get longer and longer, I have less and less time to do other things, like run my businesses. Work has slowed to a crawl since my mileage picked up because I just don't have the time or energy to spend on work-related tasks. Since our goal is for my businesses to replace Mr M's income, I really need to be spending more time building them into successful, profitable enterprises.

So I won't be running a full marathon this fall, despite the timing initially seeming good.

In fact, I've decided I won't be doing the second half marathon at the end of August either. Time for work is again a consideration, but so are my feet. The plantar fasciitis isn't going away (not with all the mileage I'm putting on them) and continuing to train without giving them a chance to heal just isn't smart.

I'm not looking at these decisions as failures on my part, but as opportunities to redirect my focus and energy.

I'll keep running, but at a lower weekly mileage and after giving my feet a chance to heal properly. Mr M took our bikes to a local bike shop for much-needed tuneups, which will allow me to do some cross-training as well.

More time and energy will allow me to focus on my businesses so I can really dig in and make some progress. Lately I've been feeling like I haven't been making much progress and as a result I've been feeling dissatisfied and frustrated with my entrepreneurial efforts. I'm not hitting my timeline goals and I have some catching up to do.

It's important to be flexible in life. Changing my goals and adapting to our current circumstances is just one way I'm working on being more flexible.

And I'll be running more half and full marathons in the future, when my schedule isn't quite so busy.