From CupcakeLand to Marathonsville.

The marathon training headmaster taps you on the shoulder. You look behind you. She’s wearing horn-rimmed glasses, her eyebrows raised and lips pursed. She’s holding a ruler. She’s judging you.
 
She’s judging you because it’s time to start training for your fall marathon and you’re still in CupcakeLand.
 
You’ve taken enough recovery time - a full month of rest or easy running, so what are you waiting for? Gone SHOULD be the days of “Oh, maybe I’ll just run 30 minutes instead of an hour,” or “See ya speedwork, hello couch,” or “Hey Mr. Tempo Run? I don’t even know who you ARE anymore.”
 
Sooner (not later!) it’s time to get back to marathon training.
 
After all, it is only four months out from a fall marathon. For the fine running folks that train for the distance the right way, it’s like waking up five minutes before your alarm. Your body just knows it’s time to get going.  It’s that innate feeling that jostles you to return again to the place you know you belong. Next stop: Marathonsville.
 
Marathonsville is the place where tempo runs reign, speed workouts worry and long runs dominate Saturday’s landscape. This place is where you feel complete. You stand a little straighter, your hammies are a little bit sorer and you brag a little more about your running life. And there's definitely weekend brunch involved.

How good does brunch taste after a long run? Sausages, bacon, maybe some pancakes.  And eggs benedict. Oh, the eggs benedict! The hollandaise sauce is like liquid gold that warms your soul.
 
You must return to training. If merely for the brunch!
 
And you must return to Marathonsville if only for the simple reason that come marathon day (the one you signed up for months ago), you don’t completely embarrass yourself to the running community; go AWOL on your Twitter feed and set your FaceBook wall to private mode because you’ve tanked it. To avoid this you need to start running workouts ON A REGULAR BASIS.
 
“Are you off the beer and cheesy-fries diet, yet?” My coworker Greg has asked me this almost every day since I finished the Boston Marathon.
 
He stops, pokes his head at me from over the cubicle wall and asks it in this light-hearted-joking-just-teasing sort of way.
 
“Do pizza and HoHos count in that diet?” I reply sheepishly, most days.
 
The translation to his code is clear: “Kevin, are you back to your marathon training regimen yet?”
 
With the Chicago Marathon bearing down, I will remain on the beer and cheesy-fries diet. Only this time it will be to carb-up after a very long, long run in a town called Marathonsville while smacking the ruler out of the headmaster’s boney little fingers.

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Kevin Granato is a running coach for Granato Racing, a 2:42:00 marathoner and freelance writer. Feel free to contact him at CoachGranato@TheRunningInstitute.com.