This is the year I'm actually going to run a marathon. There. I said it! In fact, it's one of my New Year's resolutions. It was last year's, too . . . but I chickened out. Now, before all you millions and billions of strangers (hey, guys!), I'm claiming it: I WILL run a marathon in 2017.
And now that I've said it, I can admit that I'm completely terrified. Though I ran my first five half marathons in less than two years, this is a big, lofty, scary goal for me. Instead of leaving one huge, daunting goal looming in the distance of 2017, I decided to give myself more actionable objectives to better structure my year for success (hello, I'm an A-type, nice to meet you).
And I know it might seem like I'm a fitness editor, and that this is no big deal since I work out literally every day, but please keep in mind that in 2014, I couldn't run a mile in under 15 minutes without stopping to take several breaks. I've proven myself wrong before, broken down walls internally, and surprised myself in ways I never could've dreamed of — and if I can do it, anyone can do it!
Are you thinking of taking on this big challenge in 2017? Let's do it together! Here are some benchmarks I'm giving myself to set myself up for my first big 26.2 . . . and all the miles leading up to it.