Good morning friends! I hope everyone is having a great week! This week I have the chance to hang out with all my East coast co-workers so it’s quite a busy and fun filled week but I’m loving it! I didn’t curl up in bed last night until 12:32am but I was up at 5:30 this morning for my morning run! Without it, I’d be half asleep today!

I’m so glad that you all are enjoying the Marathons+Moderation series! Each week I get a number of emails, in addition to the post comments, regarding the series. It really is here to help everyone realize that’s each person trains and approaches marathons in a different way!

In case you’re new to the series, today is the 16th guest post! Each week I feature a different runner who may have 12 years or tenure or just trained for their first marathon!

Marathons+Moderation Guest Post 1                         Marathons+Moderation Guest Post 2

Marathons+Moderation Guest Post 3                         Marathons+Moderation Guest Post 4

Marathons+Moderation Guest Post 5                        Marathons+Moderation Guest Post 6

Marathons+Moderation Guest Post 7                        Marathons+Moderation Guest Post 8

Marathons+Moderation Guest Post 9                        Marathons+Moderation Guest Post 10

Marathons+Moderation Guest Post 11                                  Marathons+Moderation Guest Post 12

Marathons+Moderation Guest Post 13                                 Marathons+Moderation Guest Post 14

Marathons+Moderation Guest Post 15

Today’s guest post comes from Gia, a New York City runner who is training for her 5th marathon! This time around however, she’s the mother of two adorable twins! Training for a marathon after kids is a whole different ball game. Therefore, Gia’s guest post is split into two parts: what she’s learned from 5 marathons and then training as a mom. Part two will come next month so stay tuned!

Hi Healthy Happier Bear readers!  I’m Gia from RUNgiaRUN and I’m so honored that Ashley has asked me to share my thoughts on Marathons + Moderation with you all.

This November I will be running my 5th marathon!! (NYCM)  I did not take your typical route to becoming a runner.  I was a ballet dancer as a kid, never played organized or competitive sports and loathed PE.  I began running 10 years ago as a form of stress relief and I fell in love.  5 years later I did my first race and soon after I began marathoning.  Now I am hooked.  Running is my joy. 

I know what you are thinking, oh she’s just another crazy runner girl.  I promise I’m not … I learned through experience.  I used to focus on the accomplishment and competition of running vs the joy that it brings me.  I almost burned out … which would be tragic because like I said, I love running!!

Finding the joy in running is something that takes work.  I like to say that the key to marathoning is to maintain the fun and the best way to maintain the fun is through moderation.  If you’re too serious about your training, the fun gets lost and you may not ever want to marathon again.  Don’t take it all so seriously.  Train smart but keep it light and don’t loose sight of the joy.

Here are my top 3 tricks for Maintaining the Fun and moderating your marathon training

Schedule a "Free Run". 

One day a week I leave my technology behind and just run.  In marathon training I usually do this as a recovery run.  On this run I am purely running because I love it.  I’m not focusing on a specific pace or route.  I’m not running because my schedule says I have to.  I’m just running … and loving every second of it. 

Make running conversational. 

Marathoning can often be thought of as a solo sport.  I say make it social … I have made some of my best girl friends through running and we use our runs to catch up on each other’s lives.  If you are looking for a running partner there are a ton of ways to find one.  Twitter, send a tweet out to your network and see if anyone wants to join you for a run.  Local run clubs are also great, many running stores have group runs or can suggest groups that meet locally.  

Be creative with your run route

Find new routes, run while you travel, don’t get stuck in a rut.  My favorite way to do this is to search for runs on mapmyrun.com.   You can search by zip code and see other runner’s routes.  It really opens your eyes to different paths in your area.

I hope that these tips can help you all find the balance of marathoning and moderation!  Happy marathoning to you all and Cheers to joy filled running. 

RUNgiaRUN – Deep Breath. Long Run. Big Hug. Repeat.