To marathon or not to marathon? Opinions needed!

As you know, I tend to need at least 25 people's opinions before I decide on anything, whether it's cutting my hair, buying a bike, being vegetarian or going to the toilet. Thank goodness for the internet, which has made this tiresome process much less time consuming. Right now, I need some expert advice from my fabulously expert readers.

Here is my dilemma! On Sunday it will be exactly 10 weeks until the Luzern Marathon on October 25th. I'd still really like to run the full marathon distance, but the past month or so has been fairly rubbish in terms of training, and I feel like I've lost a lot of my fitness base. I did run the 10 miles on Sunday, but it wasn't easy and I hurt a lot afterwards. Today I went for the usual 8 km trundle round the forest, felt like I was running through treacle and ended up walking quite a bit.

However, I'm kind of blue at the moment and I really, really need
a) something to look forward to and
b) a challenge to motivate me a bit

I've been checking out some training plans and I am not too far off the distances I should be at, 10 weeks before the marathon. What worries me is that I don't have the miles "in my legs" that I need.

So my question is - if I was to jump into the middle of a training plan right now, would I just end up getting injured? Or just find the whole marathon a miserable experience? Or is this a realistic plan if I train thoroughly from now on (bearing in mind I've never trained thoroughly for anything, ever.)

Or should I go for the half-marathon, look on it as preparation for the half-ironman next year and prepare properly? The marathon is simply 2 laps of the half-marathon route, so I wouldn't be missing out on anything, I'd still get a trip to Luzern and do something I've never done before. It's just that "half-marathon" doesn't have the same ego-boosting kudos as "marathon".

What do you think? Any and all thoughts appreciated!

Basel Bruggelauf - sort of a race report

This was always going to be a "just-finish" race for me, and that's exactly what I did. 72nd woman out of 121. 1 hour 33 mins. A new PR (cos I've never raced this distance before). Not bad, not great, happy to finish but it was hard going.

This is a beautiful race, crossing 5 of Basel's bridges. It deserves a good race report, but my brain is on vacation.

Highlights/incidents:
· First 3 km were just fun, I was so happy just to be there and running
· After the first water station at 3 km, wasn't feeling so happy anymore. Running up the north bank of the Rhine in full sun, I felt so tired and sluggish I was having serious thoughts of "how can I drop out and not lose face".
· Around 6 km (?) a skateboarder came whizzing down a side path directly towards me and 2 other runners. I had to leap out of the way in order not to be in a major collision. The other runners shouted "Arschloch" (no translation necessary!"), but I felt a bit sorry for the poor guy, as he just looked totally bemused. He didn't apologise though.
· Anyway, the adrenaline did me good and I began to perk up.
· By the water station at 7 km I was back to being happy just to be there.
· The km markings were completely random as far as I could tell - I saw them at 3, 7, 10, and 11. I also saw one saying "1" when I'd already been running for an hour.
· I almost started an international incident near the end, when I stuck thumbs up at some Sri Lankan guys in the park who were cheering everyone. I know they were Sri Lankan because they shouted after me "no no, not good for Sri Lankans." Apparently the thumbs-up gesture is considered extremely rude in Sri Lanka as it is in Turkey and Iran. Oops.
· As I crossed the second-to-last bridge I was so taken by the view that I ran into the railings.
· My knees hurt, my hip-flexors hurt and my feet hurt - I am so spoiled being able to run on trails all the time, I need to do some more training on pavements.
· I had no finishing sprint, I was toast by the end of this race, and hobbling around still yesterday.
· If you wanted a race T-shirt, they were 15 CHF
· They did give you a rose when you finished, which was great.
· My friend was 25th woman, yay!

Overall this was a wonderful race. Friendly (as friendly as things get here anyway), extremely well organized and the route was absolutely beautiful. Highly recommended if you find yourself in this neck of the woods any August.

Beds and bridges

Gah, I have been grumpy. Oh yes I have. I've been out of action with a definitely-not-swine-flu virus that started last Friday evening and knocked me out for almost a week. Spent much of Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday sleeping. I haven't been running since last Tuesday (10 days ago!), I haven't even touched my bike since my jaunt with the triathlon club and I can't even remember the last time I swam.

Anyway, I'm feeling a lot better today and starting to think that I can maybe give the Basel Bruggelauf (Bridge Run) a go on Sunday. It will be my first 10 mile race, and I've been looking forward to it for months. I had hoped to try for a decent time as well (my friend came in as 20-somethingth woman last year and I am nothing if not competitive) but now I'll be happy to finish. I think it may be exactly what I need to kickstart my training again. I miss it. And I need it.

Joe Friel reckons it takes two weeks before you start to actually lose fitness. Let's see if he's right….