Marathon Training

I am on week #16 of my marathon training schedule and on Saturday (April 18th) I will be running my first marathon ever. I posted back at the beginning of March about how I was water jogging. If you missed out - check of that blog post HERE. I made an effort each week to get to the pool twice a week and water jog for 60 minutes. It has been a fantastic experience. I have been so thankful for that opportunity and I think it has helped with my recovery after long runs. 

I never thought that I would be getting ready a marathon. I have run 7 half marathons over the past 5 years. I started with a half marathon in Illinois after working at NIFS (National Institute for Fitness and Sport) and was inspired by my boss who was an iron man competitor. I thought I could run 13 miles. Up until that point I had never really run over 8 miles. After that first half I started to get hooked. Then in 2014 I decided that I wanted to try to do a marathon. My goal was to run a marathon in November of 2014, but that didn't happen. I was kind of disappointed, but decided I should do 26.2 miles before I turn 27 years old (at the end of April). So on Saturday I will complete my first marathon - 26.2 miles while 26 years old. I never imagined that 5 years ago when I ran my first half marathon I would be running a marathon in the future. 

August 2010 - Very first Half Marathon in Illinois with my sister Ivana. 

It has been an amazing learning experience in discipline. I trained the entire time outside. I don't belong to a gym and I had to run outside. In the rain, snow and ice. There were a lot of firsts for me - first time running in sub-zero weather, first time running over 13.1 miles and first time running for more than 2 hours. 

If you have ever wanted to run and thought about a marathon. You should do it! It is challenging and there were days I didn't eagerly anticipate my cold run outside, but it was worth it every single time. 

Looking forward to Saturday and rocking out 26.2 miles!