Marathon Goal Postponement????

Earlier this year I signed up for the Walt Disney Marathon, taking place in Walt Disney World on Sunday, January 8, 2012.  It is a 26.2 mile run that I'm told is primarily flat and easy (I don't know about you, but nothing about running is easy!!).  Runners have a maximum of 7 1/2 hours to complete the entire race.  If you don't maintain a 17 mile per minute pace, you will be loaded onto a bus and not given the opportunity to complete the race.

To date, I have completed multiple 5k's, a 10k and now a Half.  The next step is a full marathon, but after this weekend's race, I've seriously evaluated the overall timeline of my goal.  Am I being realistic in in trying to complete FULL MARATHON in January?  January is only two and a half months away...again, am I being realistic??  I've enjoyed this training process.  The relationships developed and support received has been priceless.  I know that I would not be at this place had not various people walked (or run) along side of me

The Options
1.  I can train really hard and purpose to run the race regardless of my training time.

2.  I can postpone my participation in the race until 2013.  That way my time is improved and I'm way better prepared.

3.  I can set a goal to determine my participation in the race - by December 19th, if I can run 13.1 miles in 3 hours and 15 minutes, then I'll participate in Disney, if I don't make that time, then I postpone my participation in the race.

I'm pretty torn.  I feel like #3 is the best option....but at the same time, I don't want it to seem like I am quitting or backing off of the overall goal.  The challenge with training is that I'm so tired from work and school (doing both full time is overwhelming) that I don't want to train.  I don't want to get up early and it's too late to go out at night by the time I finish homework.  Like right now as I type this, I just finished homework and it is 3:11am.

If I take option #2, I can complete a 5k each month and participate in a 10k quarterly and do the Baltimore Running Festival Half again to evaluate my overall time.  That puts me in a better place of being prepared for any distance race and my time would half to improve with completing so many races.

If I take option #1, I can purpose to get 4 to 5 hours of sleep each night.  Doing that will allow me to participate in bootcamp & a 5 mile run in the am and then an evening run before homework.  That seems like a lot - but if it were easy, everyone would be doing it right??

Ok, I'm going to bed and will make an official decision tomorrow morning.  Stay Tuned!