Full Marathon this 2012--- an item to cross in my bucket list

With my work as a nurse, it's hard for me to follow a strict marathon training schedule---YES. I AM PREPARING FOR A MARATHON. It's one of the things I want to cross out on my bucket list this year. *fingers crossed!

Training for a Marathon is difficult especially when your work demands rigorous physical activities most of the time--- running from one patient to another to attend on their needs, preparing for their medication and giving them on time, doing vitals and if you're having a bad hair day, responding to a CODE. After a work's day you'll find yourself bone tired from all the work and find yourself skipping on your scheduled workout. To make things worse, if you are working in a country such as Saudi Arabia, you will not be able to run outside in your regular running clothes especially if you are a woman. Remember, women here wear Abaya, a black outer garment that looks more like a black cloak to keep women's figure and faces hidden especially from males unrelated to them by blood or marriage. Lucky for me, my housing compound has a 1 km running path. I still can run even if I'd just go round and round…  It's better than to have none.

It's good that there are running sites that I can look into the net (Runner's World is such a big help!). From there, I pick some tips and suggestions on how to prepare and train for any run. Be it a 5k, a Pikermi or a Full Mary. I try to follow their tips on good nutrition, proper hydration, shoes & gears, cross training and exercises that may help in my training and in preventing injury while training.

For those Running Nurses who were able to do a full Mary, what are your suggestions and tips for me? Feel free to post. It would be my pleasure and it will surely be a very big HELP.

Help me cross out one item in my bucket list! =)

"In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."

-Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon Co-founder