I've been encountering runners left and right recently, whether these encounters are at church or through various other activities. The nice part about living in the South Bay is that there are tons of these opportunities to "run" into groups of active people.

Lately a lot of friends I know are gearing up to do a half marathon or a marathon. There is the Nike Women's Half Marathon that is coming up that a few of my friends are running, curiously mostly girls. Then someone mentioned the other night the Silicon Valley Marathon to me.

I'm fairly comfortable at running and depending on the location I usually enjoy it. My longest run to date has been a 12K. I remembered my training for that was a weekly Sat. morning run that is a 5 mile loop from the Marina Green to the base of Golden Gate Bridge.

Part of the problem that I have to come to grip with at this point is whether I have the time commitment and the persistent to train for a marathon. I tend to enjoy a variety of sports — swimming, biking, basketball, rock climbing — to imagine being singlemindedness and train for a marathon. Can I give up my love of these sports for 12 weeks or more to focus on training for a marathon? Will I commit on improving my speed and mileage? Will I commit to tracking my mileage in a training log, my dieting, my recovery routine, and so many other "strategies" to completing a marathon? In other words do I have the self-discipline to stick to a training regiment.

If I were run one this year it would be the relatively flat Silicon Valley Marathon on Oct. 30. Hmmm this will give me 12 weeks to train for it. Now I seriously need to reconsider that iPod or Shuffle. Also I'm seeking a running buddy.

Resources:
Jeff Galloway
Nike
San Jose Fit