I made up my mind, partially on a whim perhaps, only giving it a few hours of thought before sending an email to all of my friends and family announcing my intention, but it’s official and there is no going back now- I am going to run a marathon!
What is a marathon?
For those of you not familiar with the details, a marathon is a long distance run of 26.2 miles. The marathon I am entering goes on for a maximum of 6 hours (after 6 hours you will be picked up by a truck if you are still on the course). Given the time limit, it’s not like I can just plan on walking it and gutting it out. I’m going to have to run! So in the worst case scenario, I would need to average 4.3 miles per hour for the full 6 hours in order to finish. By the way, my goal is simply to finish- I am not going to worry about my time- I just need to make the finish line before they kick me off the course. 
So…that’s up to 6 hours of running. Today, I ran for 3 minutes straight. It doesn’t take much math to figure out there is a huge gap between where I’m at now and where I need to be. Fortunately, I have a little less than 8 months to prepare. By the way, running for 3 minutes is part of a training program I am following for the absolute beginner who is not already running regularly. I could do a little bit more if I tried, but honestly not much more.
Why run a marathon?
If you’ve followed this site at all since I launched, you know that I’m trying to get out of debt and lose weight. Making progress getting out of debt isn’t too bad- I would like it to go more quickly, but I can clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel. Losing weight however, that has been much more challenging and I honestly do NOT see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve only lost about 20 pounds and my pace has basically come to a stop lately. I need to try something different! I think a marathon qualifies as something different- wouldn’t you agree?
This is a big, scary goal! I was instantly nervous and somewhat regretted sending out the email announcement to my friends and family. However, I received an amazing response of support and even got a few takers who want to run with me. I was really energized by that support and honestly there simply is no going back now- I have to do this.
This is a big goal, but it is achievable. Every year thousands of people run in, and successfully complete, marathons. Young people, old people, fat people, and fit people. It is entirely doable with proper preparation and planning. To that end, I have already read one book, have another sitting here at my desk, found some good web resources, and officially started my training this week.
Too early to declare success, but…
The coolest part about this plan so far is that I’m not focused on exercising for the sake of losing weight, but I want to exercise so I can successfully perform at this event. That creates a different mind set. I WANTED to work out today. That is not my normal attitude toward exercise. Up until now, it has been a battle to FORCE myself to exercise. I just didn’t have the motivation. Now I can focus on the end goal of finishing a marathon and let weight loss happen as a result of that, but losing weight is not the primary goal now.
The Event
I will be competing in the Tucson Marathon, which will be held on December 7th, 2008 at 7:30 AM.
This is my second public declaration of my intentions to complete this marathon (first was an email sent to friends and family). I am mostly anonymous on this blog (you really only know my first name and now where I live), but I still have a level of accountability here and some day I will likely reveal more about myself. Since that is the case, I must live up to my words and finish this. Stay tuned for more and wish me luck!
P.S.
Shout out to J.D. at Get Fit Slowly for putting the marathon idea back in my head. If he can do it, why can’t I?
April 11th, 2008 at 3:55 pm | MMJ said:
That is awesome!! I did a relay marathon a couple of years back. It was 4 of us doing a quarter marathon. Quite fun. I wish you the best of luck.
April 11th, 2008 at 8:05 pm | Clever Dude said:
You may have seen this link on GRS, but after running my first marathon, I wrote up a series for other first-time runners who are also running their first marathon. I moved it over to my wife’s site since it’s more appropriate there.
I want to warn you, though, that you shouldn’t expect to lose any weight. I started at 226 and finished at 226 (my dietitian wife explained the reasoning). A marathon is about maintaining a rhythm rather than a weight loss program. However, I ended with much more muscle than I started, even if at the same weight.
It was a tortuous training during the summer, and I’m sure the Arizona summer would be much worse than DC! I really, really recommend finding a training buddy to keep you accountable too.
But I commend you on your attempt and wish you good luck!
April 11th, 2008 at 10:37 pm | traineeinvestor said:
Doing a marathon is a big challenge and the feeling of accomplishment when you finsh is amazing.
Check out sites like Runners World for advice on training, hydration and nuitrition etc.
In addition to checking with a doctor, you should also make sure you are wearing the right shoes (different people have different needs) to avoid injury.
Good luck.
April 12th, 2008 at 7:34 am | Eden said:
@MMJ - Thanks! The relay marathon sounds like a lot more fun.
@CleverDude - I had not seen that series before. I’m going to check it out now. Very interesting results on your weight loss- definitely not what I was expecting. It’s hard to believe though, because I have so much fat to lose (I’m starting this at 247 pounds) and going from very little activity to greatly increased activity should result in me losing some weight. I guess I’ll find out soon enough.
@traineeinvestor - thanks for the advice. A visit to a doctor is on my to-do list as are a good pair of running shoes. From everything I’ve read the shoes seem to be the most important purchase in this whole process.
Thanks all!
April 12th, 2008 at 5:37 pm | Brian said:
Good Luck. Don’t worry about the time, you can beat it in your second marathon.
April 15th, 2008 at 8:01 pm | Eden said:
Thanks, Brian. I agree, I’m not worried about the time, except that I need to finish under 6 hours or they will kick me off the course.
May 7th, 2008 at 8:40 pm | Serendipity said:
It’s just my first time to your blog, but dude, I admire your goals! I’ve always wanted to run a marathon but haven’t ever committed to the training. Emailing friends and family sounds like a great way to commit–I may copy your idea when I get the guts to go for it.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:49 am | Eden said:
@Serendipity - thanks! It’s a big scary goal but the public declaration is really helping me stick to it (so far).