Errr…

All I needed was a little nudge.

The next day I was on the phone with the Carlsbad Marathon race organizers handing over my credit card information to upgrade to the full marathon.

Yeah, I am that easy to convince.

Seriously, over the past few weeks of trying to find an acceptable marathon race in the January-March timeframe,  I had been thinking that perhaps I had made the wrong decision to register for the Carlsbad half. I kind of put it out of my head because I wasn’t sure I could even upgrade. Turns out you can if it is not sold out.

Then hauterunningmama decided to tweet me that she was thinking of registering for it and that was it. Yes, I would jump off a bridge if everyone else was doing it (Ok, maybe not, a marathon is not going to kill me. Well. Hopefully not). I rejiggered around my training plan to see if I could do it without sacrificing the number of long runs. Turns out I can squeeze in an 18 miler, two 20’s, and a 22 and still have a proper 3 week taper.

I think, in the end, the idea of doing a local marathon really sold me. The course support for Carlsbad is surprisingly awesome. For a medium-sized race, a lot of locals come out and cheer. Sure, I’ll probably be lonesome for long stretches when we’re running inland, but running along the coast will be great. And, it’ll be easy for friends and family to find me on the course. It’ll be interesting to be in marathon training again – haven’t run one since 2003!

This weekend? Temecula Half Marathon. It’s a tiny (250), sold out race. And I’m a little concerned about the difficulty of the course. And how dirty my kicks will get (I know, First World Problems). I think I am really just going to  go out slow (8:45-ish). I did that with Highland YMCA Half which was a bear. If this turns out easier I’ll have a lot left at the end. Time to try to actually run a longer race with a negative split! No more bonking!