Am I crazy? Considering a marathon?

So I have been planning to run the Arizona PF Chang's Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon in January with my sister.  She is doing it as part of Team in Training as she is a recent cancer survivor and I wanted to run it with her to support her and as prep for our planned Disney 1/2 marathon in Sept. 2010 as a family.  The last 2 Saturdays I have gone with her for her team runs and I haven't switched over to her program yet because I only have 2 weeks left on the 13 week run/walk program I have been doing and I really want to complete my program.  Based on the length of the run timewise that I needed, I ended up running both runs with the marathon group.  They've just started training so they were only at 3 miles one week and 4 the next.  I have gotten up to just short of 5 miles on the program I am using.

Well, as I was finishing my run, I was like, wait a second, I just ran with the marathon group and it was an easy relaxing run for me, could I, might I, should I possibly consider doing the marathon instead?  What do you guys think crazy, insane, totally doable, all of the above?  Just deciding to run a half was a big deal for me so this is a little intimidating but the more I think about it, the more I kinda want to do it.

Rebecca

Wow, Rebecca, that's an awesome goal!

I guess a lot depends on how long you've been running. All the information I have read recommends that people run for at least a year before training for a marathon. I think that is probably to help prevent overuse injuries and make sure people are committed to the thing. I know that to prevent overuse injuries they recommend increasing distance by just 10% per week, so if I do 25 miles this week, next week I can do 27.5 miles, etc.

THAT BEING SAID, my mom ran in the 1980 LA Marathon after training for only 5 months, at the age of 44, so that just shows you what you can achieve if you really want it! My mom has been a real inspiration to me in that regard. But I am going to hold off on the marathon until Portland's 2010 event because I want to be sure I can keep up the running and gradually add the distance over time. I don't want to poop out too soon!

Keep up the fabulous work and keep us posted!

This is my 2 cent's worth...

It is completely doable at this point in time, but I want you to realize that by November and December you'll be putting a LOT of time into long weekend runs.  If you can commit to the 5 months of training and can take the time on weekends to get all your long runs in, you'll do great.

I've done the RNRAZ marathon twice and the half 3 times.  This last one I was only able to complete a 16-miler as my longest run and it was not a really pleasant marathon experience, although there was no question whether I'd finish.

So, if you want it, GO FOR IT!

Linn

I think you have enough time to build up your mileage to finish the marathon.  However, I would give some thought to your original goal of running with your sister.  If you were planning to actually run the half at the same pace to cross the finish line together, that's a pretty powerful experience.  My most memorable marathon was finishing hand-in-hand with my husband.

Cassie