what next?

[marc_read]

Well feeling a bit lost at sea....finished my marathon..amazing experience and thinking well where do i go from here. One thought is that I try something like a triathlon or an ultra marathon...really i don't want to do go further or diversify. I'm thinking well i'm happy where i am Maybe I try to do one marathon a year and perhaps different marathons . Manchester was fantastic, I'd recommend it to any one. And would love to see and run other marathons. Marathons though take up a lot of time and well I'm not young. I couldn't imagine though not running on a regular basis and like having goals and targets in my running.....requires some thought as improving my times in itself doesn't really do it for me. Wondering what other people decided to do after finishing their first marathon?

[misswobble Marathon]

There's duathlon and aquathon too apparently 🙂

If you don't want to train for marathons that rather rules out ultras 🙂

I think it's quite common for runners to feel a sense of anti-climax after a marathon.

World's your oyster. Mix things up. Have you tried fell running? Different kettle of fish completely but suitable for older runners

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

After my first marathon I'd already booked the second one, but my real goal was to do the London Marathon (haven't made it so far!). After my second marathon (in April this year) I wanted to cut down my running hours for the rest of 2017, so I'm doing my first triathlon (a sprint tri) partly with a view to getting into sea swimming (and more triathlons if I like it!), and working on my 5k speed (and getting more involved with my local parkrun). I'm doing another marathon next April, and thinking about another for soon after. Also thinking about an ultra I quite like the idea of marathon tourism, because I've heard of some really nice races in other countries. I'm not getting any younger, so...

[Tomas Marathon]

After my first marathon I had a bit of a burn-out. I tried half-heartedly to go on regular runs, but about 6 weeks later that stopped for quite a while. But time heals everything, and after a while I decided to sign up for another, and used that as a reason to get back into regular disciplined running with increasing distances.

So I can recognise what you're saying. I think it's important to give yourself time to absorb all the amazingness of what you have achieved. Go easy for a while, re-find the joy of running just for the sake of running. And when suddenly it feels like you "have to" prove that the first one was not just a fluke, then's the time to sign up for another.

I don't think ultras are for me. But I would like to use this year's marathon as the first of a regular annual event. Something that keeps me training over the cold and miserable winter months, so I can be in shape to run and enjoy it all summer and autumn

[marc_read Marathon in reply to Tomas]

All sounds very similar to my situation..some very good thoughts and ideas too. Thank you.

[ju-ju- Marathon]

Great ideas...... and for me, my plan is to do one marathon a year as I find the really long runs hard, and i am not young either so i know what you mean!!!!!!. However in-between I keep up my running streak and focus on my yearly goal and work in other goals as I am able. To aim for a tri is a great idea if you can follow the training plan??

[Saralexis Marathon]

I was thinking 'never again' as I finished my first, but within four days I'd signed up for my next in October. Focussing now on a sensible re-entry...