Have you been considering signing up for a marathon? Are you trying to decide if you’re ready of if this is the right time?

Training for a marathon can be a fantastic experience, but it is not for the faint of heart. If you’re doing it the right way, it will be over four months and touch almost every aspect of your life. Before you take the plunge, here are five questions to ask yourself:

Are you ready to make the commitment?

Marathon training and everything that goes into it requires a lot of time and sacrifice. There are days you will run for over 3 hours. You’ll be eating constantly (or it will at least seem like that), you’ll have to say no to some events or leave early to get to sleep, and you will have less free time and energy. It’s more than just the running, it’s also the fueling, the recovery, and the other things that go into a successful marathon. To be successful you need to be ready to commit to the process.

Do you have the base?

Generally, the most successful marathons have years of running and a substantial base of miles under your belt before you undertake marathon training. Sure, some people can and have done a couch to marathon training, but for the vast majority of folks, a very solid base of miles is critical. If you don’t have a long running history (and even if you do), it is essential that you sustainably build your base to a level that you can jump in to your training plan at about the same mileage as the first few weeks. I cannot stress enough that this does not mean jumping from 20 miles per week to 40 miles per week in one month. Build in enough time until the marathon to not just execute a training plan, but also build a solid base of miles.

Do you have to time and capacity?

Marathon training takes a lot of time, even beyond just the time spent actually running. Is there room in your life from both a time and mental capacity for this. Do you have a lot other things pulling you in multiple directions? Are there a number of other, high priority things that need your attention? Do you have a lot of stress in your life? Even though running can help relieve stress, it is also a stressor. Be realistic about whether you have the time and energy capacity to undertake a marathon training plan. It may be that now isn’t the right time for you.

Is your support system on board?

No one runs a marathon alone. Whether it’s a spouse, roommate, friend, kids, neighbors, coworkers, running group, there are people you will rely on to get you through the process and that your marathon training will impact. Make sure that the people that will be impacted the most are onboard with your plan to train. And that you will have the support that you need when the going gets rough. Because it will get rough at some point.

Why do you want to run a marathon?

Whatever your reason is for deciding to train for a marathon, remember this reason. There will be points along the way when you will need to remind yourself why you undertook this crazy endeavor.

So ask yourself these questions before you decide to run a marathon. Then you can be sure that you’ve started out in the best possible position to tackle this amazing challenge.