I ran a marathon…now what?

So it’s been five days since RnR Nashville and I am still riding my runner’s high. I did my first run since the race last night and it wasn’t terrible.

But now that I’ve accomplished such a big dream, now what?

For now, I want to work on speed at short distances. I’m not sure if that means trying to break my high school PR in the 5k or trying to break 2 in the half.

But I love running. I love the feeling of accomplishment when I’m done and I love how I can always get better — there is always a new goal to strive for.

Will I run another marathon?

Never say never. While for the longest time I thought I might be one and done with the marathon, now I’m having seconds thoughts. What could I do on a flat course with more training? Could I break 5? Could I come back next year and crush those hills?

While for now, I don’t see another 26.2 in the books, I’m not completely ruling it out. Honestly, marathons take a lot of time to train for (duh), are exhausting emotionally, physically and mentally and they are usually pretty pricey (not including travel, hotel, etc). I don’t have a lot of big races (or long distance races) near me, so deciding to run a marathon requires a lot of thought and planning.

Whatever comes next, I’m excited about the journey!