why a marathon

It is difficult for me to explain to non-runners why I'm running a marathon. I'm not even sure I have a logical reason for wanting to do one, but I can trace the thinking process that got me here. I always ran for exercise, and I've never been into biking or swimming. In 2002, when my husband and I lived in New York, we went to watch the New York City marathon, which was thrilling. Although tons of spectators line the course, we had a fairly easy time getting a good spot on 59th Street to watch the first runners come in. We ambled around Central Park and 5th Avenue as more and more runners neared the end of their races, cheering for the ones who wore nametags and marveling at how some of them looked like they were in tremendous pain.

I started browsing the New York City Road Runners website and found a running partner who lived in my neighborhood, an amazingly athletic Austrian woman who had just run the NYC marathon herself. She was "recovering" and content to run a 9-9:30 minute pace with me, but sometimes we ran faster. We ran up unbelievably steep hills, in unbearably cold weather, through desolate, tree-covered parks on the uppermost tip of Manhattan where we lived, with views of the Hudson River below us. She pushed me in a good way, and I'd never run as hard in my life. Hearing her talk about planning to run the Paris marathon (or was it somewhere in Italy?) sounded incredibly exciting.

I started running races the next year, and that was fun, too. I was afraid I'd be too slow or that my competitive instinct would get the better of me, and that it would somehow ruin running for me. This hasn't happened too much-- I can sometimes place in my age group for small town races, but in big cities there is too much competition, so I just focus on doing it for myself and for the sheer thrill of physical exertion.

The idea of deciding to run a marathon this year dawned on me slowly, but I was having a hard time training in the Florida heat. I was getting in a rut with my running routine. Three hurricanes later, I joined up with Team In Training, two months after they had begun their training sessions. My longest run was about 6 miles at that point, with three milers during the week, and I jumped in at 9 miles, which was where the beginner group was. That may have gone against the whole 10% rule, but oh well. For the first several weeks of training I felt great. I had a few bad runs, especially the 16 miler where I hit the wall, but overall it has been pretty fun to train with other people, and the whole Leukemia Society deal has added an increased urgency and sense of purpose to the goal.

What's really interesting is observing how your body responds to the new intensity of the running. There are all kinds of things to figure out nutrition-wise (I still am not sure why I gained weight through all this), and in terms of what to eat to keep up glycogen stores during long runs. (I highly recommend Gu and Snickers Marathon Bars). Each week brings some new type of ailment-- chafing, blisters, and for me the dreaded Achilles tendonitis and shin splints. Those were fairly disheartening, but facing injury also taught me to be very, very careful with my body, and to respect the stress of running these unbelievable distances in a single run.

Currently I'm in the taper phase, and I really do have unbelievable amounts of energy these days. I'm thrilled because the shin splints and Achilles tendon have been quiet lately. I can't wait to actually run the marathon itself-- to me it has become one of those rites of passage that is filled with mystery and wonder, and if all goes well I'll actually get to experience it. Ten days and counting...