A common transition after the triathlon season in the Northeast is to plan a fall/winter Marathon. This allows athletes to maintain a base for the next tri season, all the while not letting the colder temperatures steal their fitness spirit.

But I had a different motive for a fall marathon. This season I competed in my first Ironman and leading up to the big day I was advised by many Ironman veteran friends to have something planned for after the race to help with the post Ironman blues. I took this advice and signed up for the Philadelphia Marathon.

It was a perfect plan and after a proper recovery from the Ironman I focused on setting a PR in Philly. I knew this would be a challenge, considering my body has never had to recover from an Ironman before, but I found training for this marathon much more relaxed than the previous 9 marathons.

It I dare say it out loud, it felt easy. Not that the training wasn't tough and often times grueling, I certainly had thoughts of 'how can I do another mile repeat in Zone 4' conversations with myself. But, the truth was, all my training from the Ironman transferred over into my marathon training smoothly. I was running times faster than I have in 13 years. I started to feel as though there is definitely something more to this, and worth researching further.

I am sure that results and opinions will vary for each athlete and coach. If you're also a runner turned triathlete then my guess is you will easily understand what I mean when I say that I felt as though I was a horse in a starting gate let free to race the Kentucky Derby. While still maintaining my triathlon base, I was able to let loose on the running. I no longer had to hold back and was free to give running my all. This was a tough transition for me when I chose to become a triathlete, but now I have no regrets. I can be a triathlete and a runner! In the end I did not PR in Philly but I am so excited to start working toward the next triathlon season, then come fall next year, I will try to PR again!!

In the meantime, I will continue to research 'Marathons after Triathlon Season' so please contact me with your experiences. I would love to learn from them.