Marathon Journey Starts Saturday, June 13th

I wore some new running shoes Saturday and ran 2.5 miles in them after an hour swim. That's when I realized that they were special running shoes. Why? Because they're going to be the shoes I wear to run the Chicago marathon. My first marathon. Hey! This is a blog about my marathon journey and a way to psych myself up for the big day.

I never thought I would run a marathon. So what happened?! Well, I started doing triathlons about six years ago and you have to run a lot in those. The most I've run is 13.2 miles or a half marathon. At the end of a half marathon, I'm extremely glad it's over, and sorry for the poor devils doing the whole 26.2 miles. On Sunday, October 11, 2009, I'll be one of those poor devils.

Okay, a big reason I'm signed up for this marathon is that my wife, Sheila, decided to do it first and invited me to join her. Her committing to do one first brought up all kinds of man feelings in me. Five years ago I couldn't get her to run a mile. Now she's done signed us up for the Chicago Marathon. Let this be a lesson to everyone who starts running 5K, 10K and half marathons. After thinking on her invitation, in a moment of weakness, I said yes. What else could I do? Now, it's less than four months away and time to get serious.

Mentally, my thoughts and determination came together for me Saturday morning as I begin reading Jeff Galloway's book titled "Marathon. You Can Do It!" This Sunday morning at 6 AM I also got in a 6 mile run at the highschool with my wife and three friends. I'm on my way!