The First Steps to a Marathon!

It's official. I have signed up for the Philadelphia marathon which is on November 18, 2007. (Bib # 6430) And, Steve from Massachusetts (aka SteveRunner) has also signed up. (Bib # 6433) And, for any of you who follow Steve's podcast, I have found Blueberry Ale in the Doylestown area and am happy to buy the one I owe him from the Falmouth race when he comes down.

First, let me say, if you are a reader of this blog and you can do a marathon in less than 4:30, this week's episode is not about you. I thank you for checking in. See you next week!

OK, now that we got rid of those 'fast' people, here's a little secret for the rest of you. If you have never done a marathon and kind of wanted to, let me put your mind at ease---You CAN do a marathon. You probably thought I meant CAN'T. Oh no! You CAN do a marathon. You may not scare the Kenyans with your speed and you may not be able to run the whole thing, but there are ways of training so you can participate and finish a marathon.

But (isn't there always a 'but' to these things?) you need three things--reasonable health (as they say, check with your doctor before you start any exercise program), patience and a spirit not to give up.

What do I mean by reasonable health? You don't need to be a super athlete. You just need to have been exercising for a period of time. Or, at least, willing to start exercising on a regular basis. And I don't mean you have to exercise everyday. And, you don't need to eat Tofu and raw oats for the rest of your life. But, if you are huffing and puffing to get the mail at the front door, you might want to get in enough shape to, at least, get the paper at the end of the driveway. Hey, it's a start!

And, what do I mean by patience? If you are a runner and only have done 5ks, I wouldn't sign up for a marathon this year. Or next year. And, that's when the patience kicks in. Because it will take awhile for you to get used to the idea of running for that length of time.

In the beginning of 2004, I decided I wanted to do my first marathon by the end of the year. So, I trained for the Cape Cod marathon, which is run at the end of October. The month before the race, I wound up with Iliotibial Band Syndrome, which is pain and inflammation on the outside of my left knee. I rested as much as I could leading up to the race and ran the first half of the marathon in a reasonable time. But, the second half of the race, the pain kicked in and I wound up walking most of the last half of the race. Yes, I finished, but I didn't feel I did anything special (especially since they ran out of medals at the finish. They did mail me one later.)

If I had to do it over again, I would have waited the following year. Because, my pain was caused by socks that were comfortable for a 5k but uncomfortable for a longer distance run. And, I never bothered to change running shoes that year from last because they were still good, right? In that first year, I learned so much about what worked and, especially, what didn't work in my training leading up to the race.

So, if you can do a 5k, then make it a goal to do a 10k and a half marathon next year and wait for the marathon the following year. You just need to know what it's going to feel like to be out there for that long. Believe it or not, it does get easier as you do more and more longer events.

Now let's talk about spirit. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, running is 50% physical and 90% mental. You need to convince yourself you CAN do this! And, you need to keep convincing yourself, that you CAN do this! Because, physically, you WILL be able to do that. But, your mind will try to convince you otherwise. You need to have the will and determination to realize that pain is temporary but accomplishment is forever!

You will be out there for 5 hours. Or maybe more. And your friends and families will think you are crazy and try to talk you out of doing it. But, don't listen to them. Because something inside of you tells you that its important to do this. And, keep listening to that voice (but ignore the one that repeats RED RUM! that voice is creepy) while you are training and participating in the marathon. It is that spirit that will get you through and help you along the way.

I plan on training and participating in the Philadelphia marathon using the Galloway run/walk method. If you don't know what that is, I will talk more about it later.

Out of the three, spirit will become the most important. You can get yourself in physical shape, be patient along the way in getting there, but, when the gun goes off at your first marathon, think to yourself--I CAN DO THIS! And, you will!

Note: I ran 5 miles on Wednesday and started my long run training on Sunday with 16.5 miles. Good luck to my friends Eric, Kelly and Melissa in their upcoming marathons in the next couple of weeks. Make the Blue Dawgs proud! And, finally, I thought it would be a long time before I ever uttered these words again--THE PHILLIES ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS! OCTOBER BASEBALL IN PHILADELPHIA!