How the Big10k Accidentally Led Me to Marathon Training

Last weekend some runner friends and I took on a 10k race in Chicago. This was my third year in a row racing the "Big10 10k" and I thought I owed it to the race to mention it in this week's post because, in a way, it's the reason I'm currently training for a marathon.

Let's go back to the summer of 2023. At this point in my running journey 10 thousand kilometers sounded like an extremely long distance to cover. I'd probably been running 2-3 miles several times a week when my Dad first mentioned running the Big10k.

It seemed like a very serious training commitment. Truly, I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it. Nonetheless I accepted the challenge and we embarked on a 10-week Nike Run Club training plan. We took things very seriously and completed every run. When race day came around, the furthest I'd ran during training was 6 miles, so whether or not I'd make it to 6.2 was going to be a mystery. It was close but I did in fact survive AND crossed the finish line. 

This riveting story continues... I continued running 4-5 times a week, and when the 2024 big 10k sign up came out we decided to run again. Still, my dad, sister and I felt that we needed to use a full-on training plan in order to get to the finish line. So that's what we did, and we took it just as seriously as the first time. We PR'd and were so excited to have another medal around our necks.

It was after that race when we started wondering what to do with ourselves now that we weren't training for anything. My sister casually threw out the idea of running a half marathon and I thought that was insane and close to impossible.

Come October, my dad, sister, and I completed our first half marathon. The training, of course, was a lot more intense than 10k training. It was one of the most difficult things I've done, but it's crazy to me to look back and think about how hard I thought 6.2 miles was when now that distance is a shorter recovery run in marathon training.

Since October I've completed a 5 mile race, a 15.5-mile race, a second half marathon, and my 3rd Big 10k. Clearly I've became slightly obsessed and I think a big part of why is because running allows you to make things you once thought were impossible, possible. 

If you were to ask me in 2023 whether I would ever run a marathon I would've confidently answered "absolutely not" and thought that it would've been extremely unnecessary. Each race has made the next more approachable and has left me wanting more (but I promise 26.2 miles will be the furthest I ever run).