Come to Jesus Meetin' (and weekly mileage)

Last night hubby and I had a "come to jesus meetin'" about the marathon training. Let me preface this by telling you all that my husband LOVES to debate. He has a double-major in engineering and philosophy and I think he might even consider it a hobby. In addition, we are both extremely stubborn and first-born children that like to boss others around. It makes for great marital strife and is a constant source of amusement for our friends.

I have found the best way to have productive debates with him is to remove myself from the situation emotionally and think about what his issues might be and have hard facts to counter his points. In addition, it's really important to stay focused during discussions because you can end up "throwing in the kitchen sink" and fight about every little thing that the other person has ever done to irritate you. So, I used Runner's World Smart Coach to develop a plan that would have me running about the same amount as I am currently running during the week: 48 to 69 miles a week and only 5 runs longer than 16 miles over the course of three months. Adding up the amount of time that these longer runs would take and the actual marathon itself, we're really only talking about 15 more hours out of our life. In addition, I brought our handy little white board which he loves to use during our discussions and had him write out all of his concerns about the race, which included: time constraints, injury, and giving up a whole weekend to run the actual race. From this discussion, I learned that he was making some assumptions about the level of training required (i.e., much more than I am currently doing) and that I would only be willing to run a marathon that required travel. I also reminded him that I am supportive of his hobbies (other than debating): CrossFit, training for the 1/2 marathon we are running, and his monthly gaming event which takes about 6-7 hours. Granted, if you were to add up the amount of time he spends watching Nathan while I run, I think I definitely get more "me time." We decided to couch the discussion until I went back to work. We will re-evaluate then whether I would be able to continue running at my current level and progress to more training for the marathon.

Thanks for everyone's advice. It's good to hear from other active woman about how they manage their interests with their family's. I imagine that things will have to change when I go back to work and I will be joining some of you in the wee hour or lunch time workouts (which I am dreading). I often think that it is easier to be married to someone more laid back about exercise, but I also think that it makes me less dedicated. I guess that can be a good thing. It's not like I'm going to the Olympics or anything.

Weekly Mileage
Monday, March 9, 2009: Body Pump, 9.4 miles
Tuesday, March 10, 2009: 8.6 miles, MTV Yoga Video
Wednesday, March 11, 2009: 10 miles, spin class (my first in a LONG time!)
Thursday, March 12, 2009: 9.4 miles, Body Pump
Friday, March 13, 2009: 70 minutes elliptical, MTV Yoga Video
Saturday, March 14, 2009: ~14 mile run with Chill Runner (yeah!!!)
Sunday, March 15, 2009: 10 mile run w 4 miles @ 6:22 and 1 mile @ 7:05
Total Mileage: 61.4 miles

Good news! Chill Runner and I actually met up for a run on Saturday! It was great to run with her and we had one of those conversations that roamed all over the place ranging from giddy to very serious. I loved it.