what comes AFTER the marathon

Over the past couple of months I've found myself saying one phrase over and over again.  When you're running 10 hours or more in an average week you begin to miss what you'd usually do with that extra time. (I know in the grand scheme of a full week, ten hours doesn't sound like a lot but trust me when I say that the biggest challenge of marathon training has not been the physical demands but rather the huge time suck.)  I've told many a running partner, "After this marathon I'm...." and my husband has heard, "I'll do that after this marathon training is over..." more than he'd like.

Sooooo I'm going to make a short little list of things I'd like to remember that I had a longing for while running more than a half marathon every weekend for several months. And no, I'm not going to put eating lots of doughnuts and bacon on the list despite the frequency of that thought popping into my brain during a long run. 

A list of things I'd like to do after the marathon:

• Read. A lot. 
• take the time to shave my legs. Ha!
• spend quality time with my family (I've missed so much of it lately)
• sleep late on Saturdays
• crochet a blanket
• finish some scrapbooks
• ride my bike (all other areas of recreation and fitness have fallen by the wayside)
• bake something delicious (and then eat it without worrying about how it will affect my run)
• go to the beach
• perhaps clean my house