How many marathons?

So following my run at the weekend in the Hunter Valley Marathon it's really got me thinking about how many marathons should I run in preparation for my little jaunt around the desert next year. Initially I was going to do one marathon (Canberra) as a test of my fitness and to put a stake in the ground.

However having done the Hunter Valley marathon, I've firmly caught the bug. It was also interesting to read a post by Ian Sharman on UK MDS website about the fact that he ran pretty much a marathon every other weekend in the build up to the event. He came 13th overall, a great achievement.

It's also got me thinking because of the way I feel after a marathon. After Canberra I could barely walk, however after this weekend. movement is a lot better. Obviously it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that the more marathons you do, the better you are at recovering from them. I've recently started posting on the Cool Running Australian website, and there is a healthy set of runners on there who appear to be running marathons on a very regular basis i.e. 1-2 a month. I'm sat here now thinking it would be great to compete in the Cities marathon this weekend, but instead I'm doing the Bay Run 7km.

I suppose I'm answering my own question, but essentially it boils down to how much you want to train and what you want to achieve. I want to do the best I can possibly do. I initially said, just to finish and that still has to be the end goal, but now I'm thinking top 200. However I know that if I do that I'll want top 150. Who knows. Personally I think my training is now going to evolve much more to incorporate as many marathon race events as possible. The only bugger is that in the build up to the MDS in March, we're slap bang in the middle of summer, so events are few and far between. Still I guess I'll just have to get out there on my own and run in the blistering heat - good preparation I say!

One thing is for sure - I have the marathon bug now. There's a little bit between 35-40kms that hurts like hell, but I need to do it more often so I can get used to it more often! If that makes any sense! It does raise some interesting points though about how to train for an event like this. There is no template as the event is quite unique, rather like a game of rugby, it's for all shapes and sizes and is what attracts many people to it. It's interesting to see how my training has developed as a result. I said at the start if this, my goal was to reach 3hr 45min marathon status and then maintain that through to the race. I'm a 3hr 30min runner now, and I want more. I told the missus last night that I want to aim for a sub 3hr marathon once this is done? 10 months ago I'd have told myself I was an idiot. Now with the right application and training I might be able to do it - who knows?