All People Care About are Touchdowns and Injuries

This is my fourth time training for a marathon, and three out of the four have been during the fall. Marathon training is challenging in and of itself, but with my insistence that it doesn't rule my life, it creates an added level of busy/pressure. When I was running my first marathon, training took over our life. We went to bed early on Fridays so I could do a long run Saturday. I needed a nap on Saturday after said long run. While my husband didn't sign up for a marathon, it ended up affecting our entire life. I remember falling asleep (I mean really asleep) during a Michigan State/Notre Dame night football game. Running you're pretty amazing, but messing with college football is where I draw the line.

Now my training challenge is fitting in college football (with two sets of season tickets in East Lansing and Morgantown, WV) and marathon training. It's a fun way to make marathon training harder! (Is that sarcasm translating?) Two weekends ago we went to Morgantown for the opening weekend of college football. I got in a solid long run the morning of the WV game (which thankfully was a night game).

This past weekend was the home opener in East Lansing. I was up hours before dawn to get in a long run which I ended up having to do on the treadmill because it was so dark outside. Are there many things more brutal than double digit miles on the treadmill? The answer is no. The monotony is remarkable, but the miles are on the books.

I was home, showered and ready for football before 9 am. It was our son's first time tailgating, and we spent several hours hanging out with friends. We park nearly a mile from the stadium, and I headed back a few hours before the game to pick up our sitter and take her and the baby home. That walk to and from the car (twice that day) was surprisingly brutal. I've discovered that sitting on metal benches for three hours during a game takes on a whole new meaning when your legs are sore for a long run.

Tailgating like a baby boss.
During the game. My eyes look SO tired.

We're early in the college football season, and I'm loving every minute of it. With about six weeks left until my marathon I alternate between feeling like I'm in a good place and being terrified that I'm nowhere near ready. So goes the mental yo-yo of training.

We'll be in Morgantown four times this fall, three of them before the marathon. I'm in Traverse City this week for my work's conference, and I'll be in Chicago in October for a girls' weekend. I'll be logging some serious miles in beautiful places, and it helps me remember why I do this. Six weeks is an eternity in marathon training. I've got this, and I've got other important autumn things to focus on. Now let's go Mountaineers!

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