The first step

I had long had "run a marathon" on my list of things to do before I die, but never really thought I would do it. A few years ago I was running 3 or 4 miles at a time and, after returning home from a run at the nearby middle school track, I calculated that it would take a bit more than 105 laps of the 400 meter track to equal the 26 mile, 385 yard marathon. I wasn't going to kid myself. I could never do that.

In August of 2004, however, a couple my co-workers were talking about trying to run a marathon. They were both up for the idea, so I figured if it was something that I ever really wanted to do, that would be the time.

We all signed up for the 2005 Freescale Austin Marathon and started training. Although one of them was injured in training and the other eventually chose to run the half-marathon instead, I forged ahead and completed the February 2005 race in unseasonable heat and stifling humidity in just under five hours.

At that point I didn't think I would run another, but then decided it would be a shame to "waste" all of that conditioning. I kept running and ran the Freescale again in 2006, this time in sub-freezing weather. I improved my time by nearly 17 minutes.

I'm never going to be one of those "50 state" marathoners or someone that knocks out a marathon whenever the mood strikes. No matter how easy world class marathoners make them look, for regular folks like me, they are hard.


After finishing the '06 Freescale, I decided I might have one more in me, so figured why not go big? I registered for the lottery for entry into the 2006 New York City Marathon.


July brought great news! I had beaten the odds and was chosen for NYC. I diligently followed an 18 week training program that called for runs six days in most weeks. Although I'm no gazelle, I finished!

After NYC, I pretty much decided that my marathoning days were probably over. I figured I would continue to run some 10k races and maybe I would gear up for a half-marathon sometime, but while a five, six or even 10 mile runs in good conditions may be considered "fun," rarely is it possible to run 12, 16 or 20 mile training runs with any of the words, "fun," "enjoyable," "invigorating," or any other such words being appropriate.

So, where am I now? Well, I think I have one more left in me. Which marathon? There is only one that could possibly top the New York City Marathon - and that is Boston! I received word yesterday that I had been accepted to the Melanoma Foundation team for the 2008 Boston Marathon.

I'm obligated to raise money for the Foundation in return for an entry into the race. I plan to do my best to meet my goal. Stay tuned to this space for more in the coming days and weeks.