Week 1, Day 1: Here We Go!

Welcome to my blog! I hope you will follow me in my 18 week quest to train for and complete the Chicago Marathon (October 10, 2010). To begin, let me offer you a short history of the marathon itself.


The marathon dates back to ancient Greece...Athens to be exact. Legend has is that a soldier by the name of Pheidippides made the trek from the city of Marathon to Athens with news that his army had victory in battle. And with that grand news...he fell down dead.


Flash forward 1500 years. Today we run marathons, races of 26.2 miles in length, commemorating Pheidippides extraordinary effort. Of course today, we have a lot going for us that he did not have. Gatorade stations, gel packs, technologically advanced footwear, and of course, ibuprofen (can I get an amen)! A marathon is a run that is 26.2 miles long. There is no such thing as a 5 mile marathon. That may seem like an unnecessary detail, but you would be surprised how many people have told me that they too have run a marathon...that was 3 miles or 10 miles long. No, no, no people. 26.2 miles is the marathon and you cannot say you've run a marathon unless it was that distance. But WHY do we do it?


I can only answer that question for myself and the best way to explain putting myself through the torture of training for and running a marathon can be summed up with this quote...


"Find your own play, your own self-renewing compulsion, and you will become the person you were meant to be."
--George Sheehan


Running has helped me become the person I'm supposed to be. It infiltrates every nook and cranny of my life and makes me reevaluate everything I do. Running raises your expectations of yourself and makes you work...hard...at everything. It's a love hate relationship to be sure. But once the running bug gets you...you'll never be the same.


So here's my plan. I will be following the master, Hal Higdon, and his marathon training schedule for Intermediate II. It can be found in his book, Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide. This book is the Bible of marathon running and I highly suggest you pick up a copy if you have any inclination to run. I also must say that this will be my second marathon. I have completed one marathon already; October of 2009. What makes this marathon any different you ask? My expectations. My first marathon was more of a question of whether or not I could do it...could I run 26.2 miles without quitting or dying or cursing every last skinny runner that passed me. This year - it's about being serious about my training, my health, and my finishing time.

So...I'm off...training schedule plastered to my fridge: to run. One day at a time, one mile at a time.